Get a Home Inspection Before You Make an Offer

With all the foreclosures and short sales for sale these days I have decided to start advising my clients to have a home inspection before they make an offer on these types of properties. "Why before? My offer may not even be accepted." True. But, with so many homes being sold "as is" you have fewer options. If it is a house you really are serious about and are going to make a fair offer on, you could gain so much information from the pre-inspection.

Lets say you find a house for $180,000. It is a foreclosure. It comps out at about $180,000 to $185,000. You've read that the foreclosure market is moving pretty fast and that many properties are getting multiple offers and are going for more than asking. You've done your own visual inspection and you've looked around and can't see anything out of the ordinary. You love the house, the neighborhood and it's proximity to your job. You decide to offer $175,000. Your offer is accepted. After you sign the bank's "AS- IS" addendum you then proceed to the inspection period.

During the inspection the inspector finds dry rot, water damage from a small leak under the hall bathroom, and several electrical issues. Let's just say that you estimate the cost to repair everything at $4,000. You are in an "AS -IS" situation which limits your options. Generally speaking, you can either move forward and close the transaction knowing that you are responsible for the problems or cancel the contract during the inspection period based on your findings. You would get your earnest money back and off you go to look for another house.

Here is the reason for a pre-inspection. Simply put, with this knowledge you can now write your offer based on the inspection and what it would cost to remedy the problems. So now you put in an offer of $168,000. It gets accepted and the seller is essentially paying for the repairs even though it is being sold "AS -IS."

This may not always be that easy because the utilities may not even be on. If and when it is possible, you can make a more financially sound offer and there will be no surprises. Even if you don't get a pre-inspection, it is super important to get one during the 10 day inspection period.

If you need help finding a home in the Gilbert area contact me. You can also search the Phoenix MLS.

Todd Templeton
The Valley Home Hunter

Do You Trust Realtors ?

I was reading Teresa Boardman's St. Paul Real Estate Blog and she nailed it with this post. Great points and also great comments. You get both sides.

By the way, when I get asked if it is a great time to buy, my general answer is a list of questions:

1. Do you need to buy?
2. Do you want to buy?
3. Are you able to buy?
4. Can you afford to buy?
5. Do you understand that values may still fall?

Whether or not it is "a great time to buy!", there are some great buys to be had. But I guess only if some of the above questions are relevant to you.

If you need help finding a home in the Gilbert area contact me. You can also search the Phoenix MLS.

Todd Templeton
The Valley Home Hunter

Do You Have a Pool Barrier?

It is swimming season and you've got to watch your kids around the pool. Pool barriers should never be used as an excuse to not watch your kids closely. If the gate is open, it does no good. You've heard, "watch your kids around the pool." That doesn't say enough. If you have kids and if you have a pool, you simply watch your kids, you don't just watch them around the pool.

They may be able to open the gate or learn to climb over. Many times when there is a drowning, you hear the parent say that they just went inside or looked away for a minute. It always sounds like an excuse.

Arizona has a pool barrier law. Each municipality can adopt there own standards as long as they meet or exceed the state standard.

If you need help finding a home in the Gilbert area contact me. You can also search the Phoenix MLS.

Todd Templeton
The Valley Home Hunter

Finley Farms in Gilbert AZ

Finley Farms is a large subdivision in Gilbert AZ. It is approximately one square mile in size. As far as subdivisions go, that is pretty massive. There are only about five other subdivisions in Gilbert that are that large. It borders four major streets: Elliot, Warner, Val Vista and Greenfield. There are seven entry/exits. You can get to it from all the major streets that it borders.

Inside Finley Farms is of course Finley Farms Elem. School. This school is commonly know as a "walk up" school. Many of the students walk from home to school because the school is right in the neighborhood. If you live in the subdivision, no major streets have to be crossed to get to Elementary School. That is not the case for Junior High and High School, but by then the kids are older and hopefully more responsible.

There are plenty of parks, open areas and trails for biking and walking. It is large but not too large. These homes began being built in 1995. Finley Farms has approximately 1,200 single family homes. Like most subdivisions, there is most likely a home to suit your needs. When I am there, I definitely feel a sense of neighborhood. The school is there, the parks are there, the softball fields are there. Finley Farms could definitely be for you. If you haven't found what you are looking for and are interested in seeing homes there, let me know. You can see more info about Finley Farms here.

If you need help finding a home in the Gilbert area contact me. You can also search the Phoenix MLS.

Todd Templeton
The Valley Home Hunter

A Five Year Gilbert AZ Snapshot

For this snapshot I decided to look at the same time periods from 2004 through 2008. Looking at June 1st through June 20th we see some similarities and some differences. We can also see what we already knew, prices up and then down and price per square foot up and then down. You can see we are not back to the 2004 stats that some are saying. In other words, we haven't lost everything that we had gained since 2004. As always, this is just a snapshot and these are just averages, but it is interesting to see this over a five year period. Use this information however you like and if you need more specific statistics, just let me know.

Total Single Family Homes Sold 2004: 272
Total Single Family Homes Sold 2005: 352
Total Single Family Homes Sold 2006: 227
Total Single Family Homes Sold 2007: 185
Total Single Family Homes Sold 2008: 166

Average Sales Price 2004: $226,192
Average Sales Price 2005: $338,412
Average Sales Price 2006: $370,273
Average Sales Price 2007: $360,344
Average Sales Price 2008: $289,775

Highest Price Sold 2004: $ 650,000
Highest Price Sold 2005: $1,250,000
Highest Price Sold 2006: $1,200,000
Highest Price Sold 2007: $1,540,000
Highest Price Sold 2008: $1,060,000

Average Square Feet 2004: 2,194
Average Square Feet 2005: 2,089
Average Square Feet 2006: 2,073
Average Square Feet 2007: 2,292
Average Square Feet 2008: 2,327

Average Price Per Square Foot 2004: $103.00
Average Price Per Square Foot 2005: $162.00
Average Price Per Square Foot 2006: $178.62
Average Price Per Square Foot 2007: $157.22
Average Price Per Square Foot 2008: $124.53

Average Sales to List Percentage 2004: 98.95%*
Average Sales to List Percentage 2005: 101%*
Average Sales to List Percentage 2006: 97.88%*
Average Sales to List Percentage 2007: 96.7%*
Average Sales to List Percentage 2008: 97%*
*if a home listed for $100,000 and sold for $95,000, the sales to list would be 95%

If you need help finding a home in the Gilbert area contact me. You can also search the Phoenix MLS.

Todd Templeton
The Valley Home Hunter