Paradise Valley and Scottsdale REALTOR | Marta Walsh

What’s New in Gainey Ranch real estate?

Marta Walsh — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:27:13 +0000

Gainey Ranch real estate has gone through a bit of a transformation in recent months. The good times are back, to some degree anyways.

The home I listed in the Greens had been on the market for 4 years, with 5 different REALTORS. I had it under contract in only 8 days!

When I was running comps in January to help price that listing the really noticeable thing was the lack of all sales activity. Lots of things were on the market but nothing much actually selling.

There are only 2 distressed properties in Gainey Ranch active for sale as of today.

Now the inventory is lower it’s becoming much more a sellers market in Gainey Ranch. So if you are thinking to sell now is a good time to get prepared with de-cluttering, fixing problems and generally being ready to list after the summer heat subsides.

Gainey Ranch Real Estate | What’s New To Market

Showing properties 1 - 10 of 38. See more Gainey Ranch community real estate.
(all data current as of 5/17/2012)

$425,000 : 7700 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 149, Scottsdale

2 beds, 2.50 baths

Home size: 2,156 sq ft

Lot size: 1,388 sqft

Year built: 1986

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 1
$425,000 : 7272 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 104, Scottsdale

2 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,428 sq ft

Lot size: 53 sqft

Year built: 1985

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 8
$339,000 : 7272 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 102, Scottsdale

2 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,417 sq ft

Lot size: 51 sqft

Year built: 1985

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 8
$1,295,000 : 7323 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 8, Scottsdale

4 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 4,429 sq ft

Lot size: 9,229 sqft

Year built: 1989

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 11
$995,000 : 7878 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 20, Scottsdale

4 beds, 4.50 baths

Home size: 4,761 sq ft

Lot size: 9,672 sqft

Year built: 1988

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 13
$775,000 : 10050 N 79th Place, Scottsdale

3 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 3,090 sq ft

Lot size: 12,133 sqft

Year built: 1995

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 13
$2,249,000 : 7760 E Vaquero Drive, Scottsdale

5 beds, 6.50 baths

Home size: 9,057 sq ft

Lot size: 41,889 sqft

Year built: 1989

Parking spots: 8

Days on market: 17
$435,000 : 8989 N Gainey Center Drive, Unit 146, Scottsdale

3 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 2,048 sq ft

Lot size: 278 sqft

Year built: 1994

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 19
$679,500 : 7760 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 43, Scottsdale

2 beds, 2.50 baths

Home size: 2,230 sq ft

Lot size: 197 sqft

Year built: 1986

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 20
$419,000 : 7700 E Gainey Ranch Road, Unit 225, Scottsdale

3 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,871 sq ft

Lot size: 186 sqft

Year built: 1993

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 23

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Scottsdale Homes For Sale

Marta Walsh — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:26:45 +0000

Scottsdale real estate news is completely different than it was only 18 months ago. The new news is the lack of inventory.

Today is the time to send my monthly real estate newsletter which goes to all of my clients. The big story in real estate at the moment seems to be the lack of inventory. Buyers are really noticing the lack of options on the market when looking.

I needed to grab the chart below of the total inventory of Scottsdale homes for sale so I thought I would turn it into a blog post also.

There’s no real defined normal in terms of inventory. But as of today fully active for sale single family homes in Scottsdale stands at 1,392.

Here are how many single family homes sold in total in previous years.

2006 – 4,335
2007 – 3,482
2008 – 3.017
2009 – 3,775
2010 – 4,310
2011 – 5,015
2012 (To Date) – 1,965

Stats taken from Arizona Multiple Listing Service.

Bottom line to replicate last years sales figures of 5,015 there’s needs to a huge amount of inventory hitting the market. This is definitely as sellers market for all but the priciest homes.

Scottsdale Real Estate | Price Per Square Foot

Marta Walsh — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:58:56 +0000

Scottsdale real estate at the height of the boom pushed above $300 per square foot, as the median price you would have to pay for a home.

It bottomed out under $200 per square foot.

Now it’s definitely crossed above $200 per square foot.

On some of the custom estates in North Scottsdale the MLS listing details would often say things like “you couldn’t rebuild this home for this cost.” One of the reasons new build effectively ceased was just the sheer costs involved in building a home were too high when matched against prices of existing home sales. That and there was 45,000 homes in the for sale inventory.

Oregano’s, Scottsdale.

Marta Walsh — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:08:28 +0000

After arriving in Scottsdale one of the very first places I ate was Oregano’s. The location at the intersection of Shea and Scottsdale road. Since then it’s been one of my families favorite places to eat.

Yesterday we decided to take a trip to the location in Old Town, Scottsdale. As we pulled up much to our surprise that location is now closed! But don’t fret there was a big banner pointing further down Scottsdale Road.

Oregano’s Pizza Bistro
3102 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Oregano's Pizza in Scottsdale

One thing you will know if you’ve visited Oregano’s before is that there is always a wait to be seated. In the 2 Scottsdale locations thats been the case for sure. However, this new location is huge! So I think wait times here will be minimal.

Having only been opened since Monday the new location is already running like a well oiled machine. Locations seems to be popping up all over Arizona these days, so everyone can find a local one.

By the way the food, was simple and delicious. The staff are always so amazingly friendly too

Paradise Valley Real Estate | What’s New On The Martket

Marta Walsh — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:29:59 +0000

Paradise Valley real estate inventory is super low at the moment. That makes every new home that hits the market of interest to real estate agents. Normally they are working with a number of buyers and in the Paradise Valley market they tend to have very focused wish lists of features they would like in their dream home.

Inventory is pushing up off the bottom as sellers start to have confidence in the market and the prices they might achieve on a sale.

Paradise Valley Real Estate | Newest Listings For Sale

These are the 15 homes that most recently hit the market. If you see anything you like just give me a call

Showing properties 1 - 15 of 300. See more city of Paradise Valley real estate.
(all data current as of 5/17/2012)

$559,000 : 5101 N Casa Blanca Drive, Unit 33, Paradise Valley

2 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,465 sq ft

Lot size: 1,600 sqft

Year built: 1969

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 0
$925,000 : 5101 N Casa Blanca Drive, Unit 309, Paradise Valley

3 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 2,769 sq ft

Lot size: 4,000 sqft

Year built: 1992

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 0
$1,395,000 : 7342 N Brookview Way, Paradise Valley

3 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 4,790 sq ft

Lot size: 42,744 sqft

Year built: 1959

Parking spots: 2

Days on market: 0
$3,500,000 : 6303 N 33rd Street, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 6.00 baths

Home size: 10,452 sq ft

Lot size: 1.05 ac

Year built: 2010

Parking spots: 4

Days on market: 2
$2,500,000 : 5701 N 32nd Place, Paradise Valley

3 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 5,100 sq ft

Lot size: 1.05 ac

Year built: 1995

Parking spots: 4

Days on market: 2
$1,695,000 : 3901 E San Miguel Avenue, Paradise Valley

4 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 4,677 sq ft

Lot size: 1.04 ac

Year built: 1967

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 2
$4,999,500 : 4550 E Foothill Drive, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 7.50 baths

Home size: 10,000 sq ft

Lot size: 1.10 ac

Year built: 2004

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 2
$1,649,000 : 6600 N Cardinal Drive, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 6.00 baths

Home size: 5,277 sq ft

Lot size: 41,901 sqft

Year built: 1993

Parking spots: 5

Days on market: 3
$2,299,000 : 6918 E Bronco Drive, Paradise Valley

6 beds, 6.50 baths

Home size: 7,812 sq ft

Lot size: 1.15 ac

Year built: 2003

Parking spots: 4

Days on market: 3
$1,499,000 : 5000 E Cochise Road, Paradise Valley

4 beds, 4.50 baths

Home size: 4,860 sq ft

Lot size: 25,903 sqft

Year built: 1998

Parking spots: 5

Days on market: 3
$1,350,000 : 6849 E Pasadena Avenue, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 5.50 baths

Home size: 5,600 sq ft

Lot size: 19,693 sqft

Year built: 2009

Parking spots: 13

Days on market: 4
$2,125,000 : 5800 N Casa Blanca Drive, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 6.50 baths

Home size: 5,240 sq ft

Lot size: 1.14 ac

Year built: 1996

Parking spots: 4

Days on market: 5
$1,349,000 : 6754 E Caron Street, Paradise Valley

4 beds, 4.50 baths

Home size: 5,324 sq ft

Lot size: 41,331 sqft

Year built: 1991

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 5
$1,775,000 : 5824 N 33rd Place, Paradise Valley

5 beds, 5.50 baths

Home size: 5,825 sq ft

Lot size: 1.09 ac

Year built: 1984

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 6
$639,900 : 6641 E Ironwood Drive, Paradise Valley

4 beds, 3.50 baths

Home size: 3,181 sq ft

Lot size: 1.03 ac

Year built: 1974

Parking spots: 3

Days on market: 6

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Arizona Has Highest Density of Realtors in the US

Marta Walsh — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:32:40 +0000

Arizona real estate is a crowded place. Almost everyone is a realtor

According to NAR, the top 10 states with the most Realtors per capita are:

Arizona, where 1 in every 168 residents is a Realtor

Hawaii, where 1 in every 173 residents is a Realtor

Florida, where 1 in every 175 residents is a Realtor

D.C., where 1 in every 193 residents is a Realtor

Nevada, where 1 in every 200 residents is a Realtor

Full story at AGbeat.

So if 168 Arizona residents are a Realtor what does that mean?

What’s The Difference Between a Realtor and a real estate agent?

A realtor is a member of the National Association of REALTORS. Then locally they will be a member of a local REALTOR association. I am a member of SAAR, Scottsdale Area Association of REALTORS. Below is the NAR’s own definition.

A real estate agent is a REALTOR® when he or she is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, The Voice for Real Estate® — the world’s largest professional association.

The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

A real estate agent is anyone with an active real estate licence. So all REALTORS are real estate agents but not all agents are REALTORS.

The main operational difference locally is access to ARMLS. You must be a member of a participating local association to access Arizona Regional Multiple Listings Service. I have no clue how anyone could transact a serious amount of real estate deals without that access.

Real Estate Agent Numbers

So when you take into consideration non realtor agents the 1 to 168 number is probably even lower.

The average household size according to the latest census was 2.63. So that’s 63 households per realtor. That’s not very many. Because we have so many vacation homes the number is larger though.

How To Pick a Real Estate Agent

Ask for examples of marketing materials, previous MLS listings, photographs of prior listings.

Ask for references directly from past clients.

Interview more than one. A NAR statistic shows people overwhelming go with the first REALTOR they meet. Much better to see how you mesh with 2 or more.

Lastly don’t assume cheaper is better. If your agent can’t negotiate their own commission how on earth will they be able to negotiate you the best price for your home.

Sotheby’s New Sales Record

Marta Walsh — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:02:15 +0000

Sotheby’s set a new record sale price for a painting sold at auction. The sale in New York City of Edvard Munch’s The Scream netted a dizzying $119,900,000.

Full article in the WSJ.

Congrats to Sotheby’s.

Commissions

One part of the story that interested me was the commissions charged by the auction house.

The work had been priced to sell for about $80 million. Sale prices, unlike estimates, include the auction house’s commission, which is 25% on the first $50,000, 20% up to $1 million and 12% above $1 million.

That makes the 6% commission to sell your home with an amazing Sotheby’s Realty agent such as Marta Walsh looks remarkably low.

Scottsdale Real Estate Market Speed

Marta Walsh — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:44:06 +0000

Scottsdale real estate is moving fast. Really fast. To the point where buyers are getting a little frustrated.

I’m finding the days on the market for homes that are in the 300′s and 400′s is really low right now.

My listing in Gainey Ranch went under contract in 8 days.

Below is a chart that shows the trend for days on the market broken into price quartiles. As you can see all of the market sectors are declining in average days on the market.

How Does This Impact Home Buyers in Scottsdale?

When days on the market goes down. As a potential home buyer your awareness needs to go up.

1. Get ready to buy before you even start looking.

Get pre-qualified. Get documentation ready. Have your down payment ready.

You don’t want to be in this market, find a dream home and then say we love it we’d like to put in an offer and realize it’s going to take you weeks to get a pre-qualification from a bank.

Even cash buyers should have as much liquid and provable cash ready.

2. Go in with a decent offer early.

The time for lowballing is gone. There are many multiple offer situations in the market. You want to be taken seriously early on, even if you do leave some room to negotiate in the first offer.

3. Be On Top of the MLS

In real estate. What’s new is what’s hot. The good stuff gets noticed. You need to be in the MLS every day. Preferably your agent is doing it for you. But time is of the essence.

I heard of one short sale recently that was listed on a Friday and had over 40 showings by Sunday.

4. Don’t Panic

It’s not bubble V2. There’s lovely homes at fair prices to buy. Just understand the pace of the market has moved from over 200 average days on the market to pushing under 100 days. With interest rates so low still it’s still a great time to buy.

Scottsdale Real Estate Market Rising

Marta Walsh — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:54:09 +0000

Scottsdale real estate much like the rest of the Phoenix metro area is on the rise.

When mainstream media such as AZ Central publishes the news on the front page it’s starts to build the momentum even further on the street.

The numbers always sound more impressive on the way up. Remember if prices dropped 50% from their peak they to increase 100% just to get back to where they were before. Home prices need to go up 100% just to get back to where we were.

Phoenix House Prices

Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory at ASU, doesn’t expect home prices to continue to climb as fast as they did in March over the next few months. But he projects metro Phoenix’s housing appreciation for 2012 to reach 25 percent by September.

Orr credits the turnaround to steep drops in foreclosures and in the number of homes for sale, coupled with an increase in sales.

Fewer foreclosures means fewer inexpensive homes for buyers. The number of homes taken back by lenders in metro Phoenix is down 60 percent from March 2011.

Housing inventory has dropped steadily during the past year because of a record number of investors snapping up properties out of foreclosure.

Full article in AZ Central real estate section.

The article mentions that much of the rises have been driven by investors. These are not just individual investors any more. REITs and Hedge funds have been building large portfolio’s of single family homes.

What Does This Mean For Investors

Still want to invest in Arizona real estate? There are opportunities still but there’s just so much competition at the lower price levels. So the real opportunites may be to do less deals but at a considerably higher deal size. Picking up 20 single family homes for under $70,000 is no easy task any more.

So look for deals in Scottsdale in the $400,000 to $800,000 range. There’s still real estate buying opportunities in this area.

Rain in Scottsdale

Marta Walsh — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:09:04 +0000

Raining this morning in Scottsdale, Arizona. That may not be news in the rest of the country but for us in Arizona it’s a welcome relief from what has been a pretty hot April.

Rain in Scottsdale

But don’t get used to it the rest of the week is all sunny in the 90′s.

Weather forecast for Scottsdale