Jay's ActiveRain Space

The biggest change in Phoenix real estate over the past 12 - 18 months is inventory. In January 2005, there were 3,402 active listing in the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. As of 15 minutes ago, there are 45,198 active listings.How has this changed the way we do business? For one, you ...

Phoenix area home sales data for June were just released, and of course the media is all over it, proclaiming doom and gloom for the entire Phoenix market. Sales are definitely down, to 2000 levels and that get the majority of press. What doesn’t get nearly as much focus is yet another record has...

The Phoenix Real Estate Guy notes: The market in many areas of the country is cooling. Phoenix has seen listings grow from 4,000 to 42,000 in just a few months. "Creative financing" such as 100% loans and interest-only loans, as well as cash-out refi's have left many people with more mortgage tha...

Not suprisingly, condo conversions are slowing in the Phoenix area. 12 - 18 months ago, it seemed like there was a condo conversion happening on every corner. I recall a client I was showing some conversions to saying, "who is going to buy all these things?"And he was right. Developers flooded th...

 I love this picture. It flys against what a lot of people think it's like in the Phoenix area. Sure, it's a desert -- note the big giant Saguaro cactus...  And yes, it's hot as Hades in the summertime. But it's also much much more. This picture was taken on March 6, 2006. Those are the Superstit...

We get this question all the time. Here’s the bottom line… Having a swimming pool built is not cheap. If you spend $20,000 on a pool, it will not add $20,000 to the value of your home. Sadly, it may add nothing to the value of your home. Don’t add a pool to your home if you expect to recoup the c...

Buy a house, get a free car! Believe it or not, it is possible to just that. As Phoenix shifts from an insane seller’s market toward (TOWARD) a true buyer’s market, many sellers are beginning to offer some unique enticements to get the attention of buyers. The things we’ve seen range from the “ty...

Look back through my main blog and you won’t see a single mention of Trulia.com. Trulia gained a lot of attention when it first rolled out. It scared (and continues to scare) real estate agents. But I don’t know why… It’s just a web site. It doesn’t replace a real estate agent. If you are not fam...

Jay's Opine: Really not all that surprising. Do you think the value of your home increases as the structure ages and deteriorates?  Generally speaking, older homes are in more need of repair, have higher maintenance costs, and aren’t as energy efficient as newer homes. Yet home values tend to inc...

Earnest Money – whenever we’re writing up an offer for a buyer, invariably the one thing that generates the most questions is earnest money. What is it, why do I need it, how much, will I lose it – these questions almost always require a lot of discussion and education. What is earnest money and...