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        <title>The Latest Issue In Phoenix</title>
        <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/science-of-selling/</link>
        <description>The Latest Issue is not only a blog focusing on Central Phoenix, but also an exploration of the science of real estate, living and eating in urban Central Phoenix.</description>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/just-sold-1928-historic-homes-in-the-coronado-historic-district.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/just-sold-1928-historic-homes-in-the-coronado-historic-district.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>Just Sold, 1925 Historic Home in the Coronado Historic District</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
inPhoenix Realty Group represented the buyer in the purchase of this wonderful bungalow home in the Coronado historic neighborhood. The home was originally built in 1925 with extensive remodeling in the interim. An additional room was made in the attic: a nice feature for a small home as this. It is located really close to Coronado Park. 





Other Recent Sales in Coronado (From July 1st-October 5th 2011)






 


 


 Address


 


Approx SQFT


List Price


Sold Price




1201


E


ALMERIA


ST


2213.00


137000.00


140000.00




2225


N


DAYTON


ST


1450.00


125000.00


125000.00




2202


N


EVERGREEN


PL


1614.00


179900.00


148000.00




2230


N


14TH


AVE


1284.00


79900.00


80000.00




1450


E


HOOVER


ST


1288.00


99900.00


99900.00




1801


N


DAYTON


ST


1196.00


50000.00


65000.00




1317


E


HUBBELL


ST


1095.00


111000.00


108000.00




1533


E


SHERIDAN


ST


836.00


52900.00


43000.00




2515


N


12TH


ST


753.00


53000.00


53000.00




1834


N


MITCHELL


ST


1218.00


87900.00


87900.00




2022


N


8TH


ST


780.00


129500.00


126000.00




2208


N


13TH


LN


956.00


57000.00


57000.00




1341


E


PALM


RD


1055.00


135500.00


135500.00




1337


E


GRANADA


ST


1020.00


109900.00


103000.00




2243


N


12TH


ST


1250.00


13900.00


37000.00




2209


N


11TH


ST


1110.00


47900.00


44000.00




2534


N


13TH


ST


1398.00


112900.00


115000.00




2541


N


15TH


RD


1474.00


54900.00


56300.00




1310


E


CORONADO


RD


1445.00


116000.00


116000.00




1127


E


CORONADO


RD


1500.00


199500.00


195000.00




1136


E


ALMERIA


ST


852.00


49900.00


47250.00




1122


E


OAK


RD


1392.00


47900.00


50100.00




1306


E


ALMERIA


ST


888.00


40000.00


38000.00




2015


N


8TH


ST


973.00


44900.00


47000.00




2308


N


RICHLAND


ST


952.00


75000.00


60000.00




2529


N


12TH


ST


725.00


63900.00


63000.00




2522


N


13TH


ST


1553.00


125500.00


132500.00




2534


N


14TH


ST


1136.00


134900.00


128000.00




2317


N


EVERGREEN


 


1116.00


130000.00


127860.00





18 of the above homes sold at or above asking price.

Check out what's for sale in the Coronado Historic District.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:40:24 -0700</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/the-garage-that-comes-with-a-living-space.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/the-garage-that-comes-with-a-living-space.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>The Garage That Comes With A Living Space</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Phoenix is a car dependent city, but there is no reason to place the garage in the forefront, especially when selling a homes never mind designing the things. 


All these are the first photos buyers see of homes online. Do you want a potential buyer to see a home or a garage?


The solution can be making the entry attractive and taking the photo of it, or getting a different angle to get the entire home, but with an emphasis on the entry or a more attractive side. Or, simply avoid the front for the first photos, do the interior or the back yard.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:45:05 -0700</pubDate>
                    </item>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/why-sellers-should-not-reject-buyers-offers.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/why-sellers-should-not-reject-buyers-offers.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>Why Sellers Should Not Reject Buyer's Offers</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
By rejecting a buyer's purchase offer you literally tell them to 'bugger off' That's not a good way to sell your home.


This is almost insulting, being rejected, when a offer is reasonable according to market standards. I can understand why a seller would reject an offer if it is outlandish and simply unreasonable, but even then I don't think it's a good idea to reject the offer and it's especially not a good idea for your agent to send an email to the buyer's agent saying 'The buyer's offer has been rejected' or 'Sorry your offer was rejected [, the] seller will not pay for buyers closing costs and he is looking for no more that a 30 day closing.'  


In the second case why not simply call and state what the seller wants rather then rejecting. The buyer was truly interested in the home and was willing to pay top market price and even a little bit over market. He was willing to forego the closing cost and close in 30 days or less, but by not providing a counter offer the seller simply closed the door on the buyer and the buyer pursued another home.


Reflect before you reject.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:56:49 -0700</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/simple-and-inexpensive-bathroom-upgrades-that-will-put-money-in-your-bank-account.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/simple-and-inexpensive-bathroom-upgrades-that-will-put-money-in-your-bank-account.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>Simple And Inexpensive Bathroom Upgrades That Will Put Money In Your Bank Account</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
I almost cringe about publishing posts like this. It would seem such information is obvious and everyone does it, but that's not the reality. There are lots of dirty ill prepared homes for sale, ones that could easily be sparkled up with little effort, and this little effort helps sell homes. So let's get on with the post.


Outdated and ordinary bathrooms will spoil your chances of a sale for your Phoenix property. Take some time to transform your bathrooms from boring to beautiful on a small budget. 


Here’s what you can do:


Clean The Grout


Clean the grout, inside and out: Dirty and grimy anything is a turnoff, especially in bathrooms and kitchens for that matter. Even if everything else is clean and sparkling, dirty grout will be the start noticed. This is one of the easier ways to make a bathroom more attractive, by rejuvenating the grout of your Phoenix home. To do this you can hire it our to a professional who or you can go as easy as getting a semi hard brush and getting down to scrubbing with a grout specific cleaner. It may take some time, but the pay off will be worth the trouble. You can also borrow a steam cleaner from one of the local big box places near by. 


Update Lighting &amp; Faucets


Another easy way to bring some spark is to update the lighting and faucets. If the lighting is outdated you can buy really inexpensive replacements. If the lighting is old, but has charm, clean it and expose it. Make it look like it's supposed to be there rather then you were to cheap to do some upgrading. These older fixtures with keeping are usually found in historic Phoenix homes.


Include Accessories


Update the accessories: A trip to the local store will be fruitful if you bring back lots of accessories to give the bathroom a nice lived in, but new feeling. Staging with objects is a great idea. Hid all the ugly daily stuff like toothbrushes and in their place put in some bowls of potpourri, new bath-towels, new soap and maybe a suggestive bathrobe and bath sales that will make it look relaxing and inviting with a smell of freshness. Add to this coordinated shower curtains and you can easily transform a regular bland bath into something eye catching, something a potential buyer will remember. 


Get Fancy With The Shower Head


Another thing to do it put in a fancy shower head. No one can resist the feeling of a good shower provided by a big fancy spray of water, especially if it give a choice of pressures and flow type. Mimic a medium to high end bathroom of a hotel and you'll get the idea. Most of the things are easy and inexpensive to do. Through the power of suggestion you can have a buyer excited about buying the home instead of kringing that they will have to clean before making it their own. 


This effort pays off.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:17:22 -0700</pubDate>
                    </item>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/the-appeal-of-staging-home-marketing-strategies.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/the-appeal-of-staging-home-marketing-strategies.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>The Appeal of Staging - Home Marketing Strategies</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
While on a weekend showing tour of homes in Litchfield Park and Palm Valley a client noted how nice a home with furniture looks. Both her and her mom were well aware of being careful about paying attention to the home it self rather than the furniture and furnishings, but they said it make it easier to see their own stuff there vs it being blank space. They had a hard time filling in empty white spaces with furniture, and that's common.


The value of staging lies in helping potential buyers visualize how the space can be used, how they will be spending time there.


Staging gone bad. Sometimes empty spaces are better.


There is a flip side to having stuff in a house vs staging. You can't simply have furniture to fill the space, you have to use it as a tool to guide the eye to guide the buyer in how the space can be used. Few homes are staged and many have furniture and stuff scattered about. toothbrushes, pet toys and the like are a detriment and actually take away from the sale. If you're going to have a mess then it's better to empty out the house and leave the blank space.


Staging helps sell homes. There is no doubt about that. You don't need to spend a lot of money though in some cases it's worth expenses. Often reorganizing furniture, getting rid of stuff and making a space feel that it has a purpose is enough and easy enough to do.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:30:34 -0700</pubDate>
                    </item>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/seasonality-in-phoenix-home-sales.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/seasonality-in-phoenix-home-sales.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>Seasonality In Phoenix Home Sales</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
If you're in the market for a house than the playground probably seems busy to you despite all the hoopla about the national market being slow. You're having to compete with other buyers for homes and each time something hits the market you have to move you tush and get there fast to see the home before someone else snatches it up.


The dark red thick line represents sales in Phoenix in 2011.  All the other lines are sales in the last few years, 2006-2007 excepting because these were odd markets, not following the common trends. 





[Graph: The Cromford Report modified by inPhoenix Realty Group ]


The vertical black line is the beginning of July and the highlighted yellow area represents the peak time for sale each year which begins in spring and ends around mid summer depending on the city and area. The top is Phoenix while the bottom is Scottsdale. They both follow the same trends, but peak is about one month later in Scottsdale. 


The market has been buys this year. It will be interesting to see data for the next two months, but sales can be hampered by low inventory, not only a decline in demand. 


Does this really have an affect on pricing? Not really. There are too many other factors to consider if your a seller besides seasonal demand peaks and lows.


Remember though that sales always show up later than demand because of the time it takes to close a transaction: some 30-45 days.


In the winter sales dip in mid January as a result of low demand during the December holidays.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:47:18 -0700</pubDate>
                    </item>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/you-may-really-not-want-to-sell-your-home-if.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/you-may-really-not-want-to-sell-your-home-if.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>You May Really Not Want To Sell Your Home If...</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
You may not be ready to sell you home if the only way to see it is by making an appointment with you, the owner, and you don't call back. You don't call back even after 4 calls in 6 days.


You may not be ready to sell if the agent you hired to sell your home, after a week has not put up even one photo of your home on the MLS, even though it is required. 


That means hundreds of places your homes is listed and advertised for sale, from Realtor dot com, Zillow dot com to Redfin dot com will not have a photo of your property and as stats have show time and time again, properties listed with no photos get skipped over.


You may not be motivated to sell if your home is facing foreclosure and is listed as a short sale and the above two are true.


Knowing the things I listed above why is this home even listed on the MLS?


This, real life example, is of a home 'on the market' but really not 'in the market' It's there, but not participating, a shy kid holding up the walls of a teenage filled dance floor with his eyes down, hands and legs crossed to avoid any type of participation.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:15:48 -0700</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/what-happens-to-underpriced-phoenix-homes-in-a-busy-sellers-market.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/what-happens-to-underpriced-phoenix-homes-in-a-busy-sellers-market.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>What Happens To Underpriced Phoenix Homes In a Busy Seller's Market</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
So far twice this week our clients and I were part of a heard of people to visit a home that just hit the market.  Both homes were in Central Phoenix, but this phenomena is prevalent throughout the valley.  


Inventory of homes is exceptionally low at just over 3 months and those 3 months includes a bunch of over priced and mis-marketed homes which are really on the market rather then in it.


So when a nice property in any of the three popular flavors of traditional, bank owned or short sale comes on the market the market comes in to even out the score. When the home is priced for the market there is less of a pull, but when the homes are under-priced then the market floods in to quickly fill the void.


One of the homes is near a historic district. A nice home, clearly, but surrounded by other homes which recently sold in the range of $38,000 to $69,000 so this agent must have based the price on these recent sales: it's an agent from California who happens to have a license in AZ.  The subject  home is superb, on a double lot, ready to move in and with lots of artistic touches: a home that will meet that needs of a lot of people in the market right now.


So when we drove up I was at once not surprised and also in shock. It's been on the market only a couple of hours. When we got there it was like going to a wedding party with the streets a lined on both sides with cars and lots of Realtors all holding a clean white MLS printout of this home. I expected maybe 1-2 cars, but t here were over a dozen.


We still put in a nice clean offer at 50% above asking price. I know it would be too low and it was. The listing agent had a, "bunch" of other offers well above ours. Will this be a bidding war? Maybe. Is someone likely to overpay? Maybe, but then again this was a rare type of home and values are subject to opinion.


Another home furhter  up north, near the Phoenix Mountains, was priced just right for what it offered, but it was the lowest priced home in a very nice area. When we got there pen and contract ready there were 2 people when we got there and 6 others who viewed during the 40 minutes we were there and 1 other that drove up as we left.


These are not outliers: this is an everyday occurrence in this very busy real estate market.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:22:00 -0700</pubDate>
                    </item>
        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/10-tips-for-sellers-and-agents-to-a-successful-short-sale.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/10-tips-for-sellers-and-agents-to-a-successful-short-sale.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>10 Tips For Sellers And Agents To A Successful Short Sale</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
This is a list in part taken from recommendations made by a major mortgagor and servicing company which is currently dealing with a good number of short sales. Overall these tips are geared toward agents processing the short sale, but you as a seller and/or buyer will benefit by knowing these. Even if you hire an agent you need to know how the process works.


1. Educate yourself about the short sale process.


 Increase your knowledge of short sales and become an expert on banks process. Each lender has their own process and a key to more efficiency, less stress and success is knowing how a particular lender process the short sale and holding your self and the bank to it. The more you understand about short sales, the better you’ll be able to navigate and facilitate the flow of the transaction.


2. Set homeowner expectations.


It’s crucial that you as the homeowner and all parties involved understand the nature of a short sale transaction. 


More paperwork is required and approval and cooperation are needed from multiple parties, including investors, lien holders and mortgage insurers. 


This added work and paper trail increases the possibility that there may be delays in the process and the transaction will take longer than a typical home sale.


3. Make sure additional liens are released.


Identify all liens on the property and seek release for those that are not serviced by the lender. This could be mechanic's liens or unpaid recorded HOA dues or even city violations that have been recorded against the property.


Continue reading the remaining 7 of 10 Tips For A Successful Short Sale
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:42:48 -0700</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <guid>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/six-common-home-pricing-mistakes-phoenix-sellers-make.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.inphoenix.com/blog/six-common-home-pricing-mistakes-phoenix-sellers-make.html</link>
            <author>artur@inphoenix.com (Artur Ciesielski)</author>
            <title>Six Common Home Pricing Mistakes Phoenix Sellers Make</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Pricing of your Phoenix real estate for sale is key and it needs to be a good fit for the market from the start, otherwise you’ll get nowhere.The properties that are priced correctly for the market from the beginning sold quicker and sold for more then those Phoenix homes that lingered on the market with repeated price reductions.  


These listings that sit on the market are often referred to as ‘stale listings’.  Mind you, they may be on market longer for other reasons than price and one should not put too much weight into the days on the market as other facts, but human nature being what it is, it’s better to prevent those days from accumulating.Avoid becoming a stale listing by knowing what the common mistakes are that put properties into that category.Mistake One: Not having the home in show ready condition when it goes on the market. Unfinished paint jobs, boxes, clutter, even though it’s temporary or the end of a preparations for sale project will still hurt your sale. Your home needs to be in tip top shape when it hits the market.Mistake Two: Not doing the proper research like pricing, market competitiveness, target market.Mistake Three: Hiring an agent that buys your listing at your expense, meaning picking an agent simply because they promised to sell your home for more. Simply put they cannot part the waters of the market forces and many seller’s fall for this false sense of promise.Mistake Four: Testing the market. Testing the market does not work. This only hurts you in the end.Mistake Five: Pricing a little higher to give yourself negotiating room. This is a myth. Simply price it correctly for the market. If someone sees value they will pay the market price, but if you price higher you will lose some buyers and hurt the sale.Mistake Six: Making decisions based on emotion. Once the property is on the market and it becomes a product. The only emotions you want are ones buyers will feel toward making your house their home.




These are just six of many other mistakes often made by buyers and their agents. There are other factors important to a sale like staging, location and so on, but price is the most important because - assuming proper marketing so that the market is aware of this property - the market is self leveling and a property matching the needs of a market will sell.


 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2011 14:08:05 -0700</pubDate>
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