Buying

I've been a real estate investor for a while, over a decade now, that's how I got into the real estate industry then into being Realtor full time. Going in I knew it could be a rocky industry and it has been. I also knew there were many ways to generate income as an investor: both passive and active. I'll skip the active here because what that really is is a job in itself, not investing and I want to concentrate on investing and one particular example of how well it can work, especially now.  

The example below is based on an actual property that I personally purchased in the last 6 months. I'm using it because I know all the numbers, inside and out, but I won't disclose the property address and I don't keep real estate in my name either. 

The

Being an agent who helps both buyers and sellers is rather enlightening and quite beneficial. Add to it being also a property owner, buyer and seller and you can see that we get to view it from all sides. I believe this is a benefit to us as agents and a benefit to our clients. We're all the above in any market that has been around for over the last decade. 

In this market where inventory is at a long time low it would seem that sellers have the upper hand, and for the most part they do, but imagine having to deal with choosing from several equally good offers.

Imagine each party calling you to explain their situation and motivation vying to be the one to get the home? To be that one on this property after you, as the buyer, have already put in

For the last few months AWC homes have been included in the data feed of all listings. There are many reasons for this, one of which is that for many putting in back-up offers has been a successful method to getting a home.

Back up offers on short sales are more often successful then normal because first position buyers commonly get tired of waiting for approval or find another home during the wait. Once that happens whomever is in the back up position goes to the head of the que. It's not ideal for those who have time constrains, but many don't, especially investors.

This is now changing. Many of our partner agents have expressed that the people they speak with prefer not to see AWC homes at all, since seeing so many has left them frustrated and

Just released into the market in the Roosevelt historic district in downtown Phoenix.

This quintessential craftsman bungalow is a classic historic Roosevelt property that retains the historic character and charm yet it’s well suited for modern urban living with all the comfort and conveniences.

This is dream home. As an agent I feel proud to represent such a well preserved and well modernized home. Unlike so many homes that have been updated this one leaves very little to be desired. Simply lovely.

Please check out the property specific page for all the details and huge photos.

Check out the dedicated page for this listing.

Each of the home search pages and neighborhood pages here at Phoenix Market Trends  have three available views: thumbnails, list and map.

My favorite for most pages is the list since you get a little more information about each homes and larger initial photos. 

The thumbnails view simply shows a larger photos and the basics.

The map view displays the homes as show on the right, both a photo and basic information plus where they are located on a map. 

In addition you can change the map to a map view, terrain view or satellite view.

Most pages, were there are is a good number of homes, will display, in blue in this example, a segregation by price. 

So if you're looking at, for instance, Vistancia homes for sale, you can quickly only

I saw this question somewhere on the net, but I can't remember where. It surprised me a little that someone would question the legitimacy of it.

Q. I have been in the market looking at buying property for a few. Lately, I noticed that a property will go on the MLS one day and next day it is in contingency. Is this legitimate? 

A. To answer I'll give you and example of the last weekend in which I put in 5 offers. House 1 had 5 offers on the first day. House 2 had 3 offers in the first half of the day it hit the market.

House 3 had an offer accepted the same day it hit the market. House 4 had 30 offers on the second day it was on the market. When I called the listing agent, she said, "I have about 30 offers in my inbox so far and several agents

That's how it is. Either everyone is buying 10 homes each with high leverage in 2004-2007 or no one is buying homes like in 2008-2009 or everyone with cash on hand or any ability to get a loan is buying a house in 2011 and especially in 2012, after the market hit bottom. It's been a long time since we had any balance between buyers and sellers.

So when you ask an agent, if they have any offers and they reply that they have 30 so far, or if a home is on the market 1-2 days and already the seller has decided that no more people can come in because they have had so many and there are already offers coming, you know you have a balance issue. 

Now the market is a seller's market, even if those sellers are distressed. 

Interestingly I still get

Looking at stats is fun and often very enlightening. I use Clicky for tracking websites amongst others in case you're wondering about the display below.

One of the interesting things is where are visitors coming from. This is also indicative of where many buyers and investors are from. In this snapshot we're only focusing on U.S. and Canadian visitors over the last couple of months.  All these are individual ip addresses so repeat visitors are, for the most part, not here, nor are my visits which I block.

Besides the obvious Arizona visitors, California takes second place as is expected. Californians buy a lot of property there. Next are Canadian visitors. 11.2% of visitors are from Canada. You can see where Canadians are buying in Greater Phoenix

One of the cool easily accessible tools within the Phoenix homes search is the map section.

The map section shows you where the homes is on a live active map. But there is more. 

• You may want to know how to get from your current home to this home.

• You may want to know the distance from this potential new home to your job, family or favorite park.

• You want want to know one one of several of these things. In fact it should probably be part of your due diligence when vetting home for your short list.

Well you can. 

Each listing has a map and directions tab. At the bottom of the page you can simply put in your 'from' address and voila, you'll get a map of the route and distance. 

It does not have to be an address. For

Lately I have to tell a lot of people that 'this home is pending' or 'under contract' and sometimes I get a question, "what does that mean?"

It means that a seller and buyer have come to terms, to an agreement on the sale/purchase of that particular real estate and put in writing. The property is sold subject to the terms of the purchase contract and any addenda attached to it.

Once this happens the seller cannot accept another offer, unless that subsequent offer is in a back up position. A back up contract may go into the first position, subject to the term of the back up agreement, if the first position offer falls though. 

A transaction that is pending is one in which the seller has more confidence that the transaction will close. There are