While home buyers never want to be in a position where there are multiple offers on the home they want to purchase, it happens more often than you think.  Apart from the obvious - increasing the offer price - here are a few things a buyer can do to set his offer apart from the others. Sizable earnest deposit The earnest money is an amount of money that the buyer Continue Reading

What is a CLUE report?  Most home buyers have never even heard of a CLUE report until after making an offer on a home.  The Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (“C.L.U.E.”) is a database that the insurance underwriters commonly use to track a seven year loss history for a given address, resulting in a C.L.U.E.® Home Seller Disclosure Report. In layman’s terms, it’s an invaluable Continue Reading

As a Realtor, I am often asked by my buyers, "How is square footage determined and how can we be absolutely sure the house is as big as they say?"  This a great question. The square footage advertised in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) listing is derived from one of five possible sources-- the builder, owner, county assessor, appraiser or architect. There is no guarantee that the Continue Reading

Home buyers are often so focused on the condition of the home they are purchasing that they forget that the community information may be just as important.  When buying a home in Arizona, all buyers should be sure to review the Homeowners' Association (HOA) disclosures as part of their due diligence. Remember - the best form of consumer protection is knowledge! Who is Continue Reading

One of the first questions a Realtor will ask you when buying a home is: what architectural style are you interested in?  Here are 5 common home styles in the Scottsdale area, and photo examples of each. As full service Realtors serving the Scottsdale area, we are very knowledgeable about which home styles are available in Scottsdale's various communities. If any of these styles Continue Reading

  During the home buying process, once you have a home under contract, your Realtor will recommend that you hire a general home inspector to inspect your home.  You may also want to consider a few other specific inspections:  a roof inspection, HVAC inspection, pool inspection and glass inspection. Having a general home inspection performed when buying a home is a Continue Reading

Neighborhoods are like children in the same family;  all have the same last name ("neighborhood"), yet different personalities.  So, how do you find the personality fitting you and your family's lifestyle?  Finding the neighborhood and home of your dreams in Scottsdale is easy and fun if you follow these 5 steps. STEP 1:  Make a Profile of  Your Perfect Continue Reading

  Buyers, are you using Zillow to search for a home? Please be aware that you are not getting an accurate representation of available properties due to a technical difference between how statuses are coded in the Multiple Listing Service and how statuses are coded in Zillow. ARMLS uses the status “Active" to represent homes that are available for sale.  ARMLS requires that once a Continue Reading