You might have seen my rant last month about wholesale buyers. These are the people who promise that they have a buyer for your house, cash, and that they will manage the sale for just 1% commission.

In my video, which you can see here, I broke down how one couple paid effectively 9.4% to sell their house.

Don’t get me started…

I’m looking for more examples of this as I am very concerned that people are not only losing their money, but they are opening themselves up to possible future lawsuits because they did not have a realtor to protect their interests.

There are really two types of deals that are lumped in to the term “ibuyers”. The first, covered above, are the companies that buy wholesale with the promise of lower commissions, usually leaving sellers without somebody to protect their interests.

The other type is commonly referred to as “al la carte” websites. Imagine AutoTrader, but for people selling their homes. It’s a different concept. Rather than you selling (unrepresented) to a buyer through their buyer’s agent at a lower commission, these sites are kind of do-it-yourself home sales.

What they promise is that you will pay only a flat, low commission. What you get may be something else entirely.

Before I get in to it, I want to say that ibuyer sites may not be the worst thing in the world if you are selling a home under $200,000 and you’ve been educated about the most important legal aspects of buying and selling a home.

Heck, if I thought I could create a website where I could also empower you while you sell your house, I’d be tempted to make it.

Regardless, if it meets your interests and you are sure you have the knowledge to do it right, go for it.

But, for now, there are important things to keep in mind.

• What are you being charged? According to our broker, sometimes commissions from 6% to 13% can be added, as we saw above with wholesalers. Read the fine print! Here’s a summary from our broker.

• Does the ibuyer website give you important information about disclosures, your liability and your responsibility. From what I’ve seen so far, they kind of just throw the paperwork at you and say “here are some basic instructions, go at it!” On one site I saw, it just instructed you do meet federal fair housing guidelines. Well, do you know about the six protected classes and how to make certain you are not discriminating against any of them?

• Is the valuation correct? What process does the ibuying site use to value your house? Can you set your own price? Licensed realtors are trained to do comparative market analysis and take in to account local expertise, which algorithms don’t necessarily pick up.

• What services do you think you are getting and how much will it cost to get better service? The range of services goes from just listing your property with no other service, to getting you to pay for add-ons, such as photography, signage and (probably computer-driven) marketing. What will it cost if you decide that you can’t do it all yourself?

• What do you know about the agent you are assigned and how much time does he or she have for you? You will be assigned to an agent, who is probably sitting behind a desk, getting paid a lower wage and helping 20 clients all at once. At the rates the charge, the only way to make a living is through volume, which means your needs matter less. It’s kinda like those 5-minute doctor visits we all love so much. Nope! No more time for you!

• Who will have your back if you are up against a more experienced agent? Just because you are assigned an agent on the seller’s side, does not mean you can match the experience or knowledge of the agent on the other side. Some services are so trimmed down that you do all your own negotiating. Even if that over-worked agent can negotiate on your behalf, do you think he or she will really fight hard when there are so many other clients to get through in a day?

• Does the agent assigned to you have knowledge of your local market? This is a huge deal, especially in historic neighborhoods and dense urban areas. I don’t care how crafty a computer algorithm is, it probably does now know the word on the street about that big development coming in at the end of your street, etc.

What is missing in all of this is the personal connection with an agent who specializes in an area or type of home and who will spend time with you –not just some limited instructions.

Just beware. You get what you pay for.

If you have experiences with wholesalers or a la carte sites, and you are willing to share, please let give us a call at 602-456-9388.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “Sewer Line Insurance?! What next? Insurance for my pet halibut called Eric?”

Well, this is actually serious business, especially if you live in an older home. Before PVC sewer pipes, sewer lines from people’s houses were made of iron or clay. Trees, especially those nasty oleanders, love to dig right in to a pipe where there is a little leak and break them open.

There was even a study I heard of on one of my favorite podcasts, Radio Lab, in which tree roots were able to detect and grow toward pipes that were not even leaking. Such as to say, they could detect the presence of water from behind the wall of the pipe.

Crazy, huh? But I digress.

Older sewer lines will eventually need to be replaced. It’s better to replace them if you have insurance. Well, technically, it’s a warranty. But you get it.

So, a few years ago, the City of Phoenix got together with a company called Sewer Line Warranties of America to provide warranties for Phoenix residents. Have a look at the Q&A website at the city.

Basically, you will be covered from the plane of your home (not under the home) to where the sewer line connects to the city’s line. On an average house, replacing that line could cost you $3,000. If you have a larger yard, just keep adding dollars!

So, the annual warranty, will cost you about $75. I have it on my house. I had it on my old house. We encourage our clients to get it, even if their house is not that old.

And, just as importantly, we strongly encourage clients to scope the pipe of any home that is older, has a lot of trees in the yard or where the drains are a little slow during inspection.

It’s definitely worth it.

Source: AZ Central

This article in the Arizona Republic illustrates a point that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while: the true value of a home warranty.

Even though we almost always negotiate a one-year home warranty plan in to a contract when our clients purchase a home, we do have a healthy skepticism toward them.

Let me start with my own story. When I owned my first home, my air conditioning went out in the middle of the summer. I needed to get it addressed, and in a hurry. I called my home warranty company to get them to send a person out. For whatever reason, they could not get to me for a couple days. So, I called a repairman to help diagnose the problem.

Around that time, they got back to me. When they found out that I already had somebody out, they told me that they could not repair it. I guess anybody but their guy puts a hex on the equipment. Basically, my warranty was worthless in relation to the A/C.

From that point on, until I bought my next home, I self-warranteed. In other words, I tried to put away every year the amount I would other-wise spend on a home warranty. If the warranty costs $500/year, I put that away in an save investment account. I figured that, if an A/C lasts 12 years, then I will have saved most of the cost of a new A/C.

The three biggest costs that arise from maintenance of a home include roof, plumbing and A/C. Warrantees may not cover roofs. They may not cover lots of things. So, I figured I’d be better off saving on my own. Have a look at the article for some good tips and things to know about the home warranty, and what to look out for.

So, why do we write in a one-year home warranty for our clients? Simple, if we can get the seller to pay for it and you get the benefit of some protection for you, why not? Always read the policy, even if you got it as part of the contract.

However, unless you don’t have the ability to save money as I described, or if some part of the home you purchase is already really old and failing, you might be able to take care of it yourself.

Like many things, it comes down to taking the time to read the fine print. We always suggest that you do.

For more tips about home buying, contact us at 602-456-9388.

Source: Arizona Republic

When you are selling your home, are you required to disclose if your home was used as the setting of an adult movie?

Yep. I couldn’t help myself. The question is designed to catch your attention –clickbait style.

The Arizona Republic already covered the question in this story just the other day.

However, its worth a look because disclosure rules are very, very important –whether you are the buyer or the seller.

If you are selling, the first thing a good you will be asked to, do after you sign your listing agreement, is complete a Seller Property Disclosure Statement, or SPDS. And the general rule is, “when in doubt, disclose.”

In other words, if you can’t remember whether you had that roof repaired after that monsoon five years ago, it is better to disclose what you know. If you don’t and the new owners find out that you knew a material fact that you should have disclosed, you could be in legal hot water.

You can best protect yourself by being honest. If the buyer walks because they don’t like something, its better than lying about it and possibly suffering greater losses later

However, there are some things that you are not required to disclose (and which your agent can’t disclose).

• If the home was the site of a natural death, suicide or homicide or any other crime classified as a felony.
• If home was owned or occupied by a person exposed to HIV or AIDS.
• If home being located in the vicinity of a sex offender.

Why do we have this list? Simple, these things could unfairly tarnish or sour a home unnecessarily.  When it comes to these items, it is the responsibility of the buyer to check it out.

So, let’s go back to the issue in the article, from the buyer’s perspective. Is it relevant that the home was the site of adult movies? Nope. Not as far as the contract is concerned. How it is material to the sale? Was there damage to the property? Probably not. (Maybe just a slight embarrassment, though.)

In Arizona buyers can cancel the contract during the inspection period for almost any reason. However, in this case, if the buyers had hoped to cancel the contract (and keep their earnest money) after the inspection period, they could not do it on this basis. Its unfortunate that the buyers did not learn about this before they finished the inspection period.

So, if you are buying a home, Michelle and I are going to advise you to complete all of your inspections –including talking to the neighbors about the “scoop” on the home– before you complete your 10-day inspection period. We have never heard of a client regretting knocking on a few surround doors and talking to the neighbors.

Do you think these buyers would have learned about the previous videographic uses of the home had they paid a visit to the neighbors? We think they probably would have.

Not that we think the production of some skin flicks is going to permanently tarnish a home. But if knowing that such movies were made in a home give you the heebie-jeebies, be certain to learn everything you can.

We are a couple of experienced and licensed agents who pride ourselves on understanding commissioner’s rules.

If you have questions about the home buying or selling process, give us a call at 602-456-9388.

New to the Get Your PHX website is an instant CMA for your home, or Comparable Market Analysis.

It is simple. Just put in your address and we will do a real analysis for you (no automated, impersonal robots here). Then we can get together and refine that Comparable Market Analysis to account for specifics of your property and your neighborhood.

This is a good time to add a note about the estimates that you can get from those mega sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia.

They are wildly inaccurate in my experience. Let’s just put it on the table. Because these sites don’t have access to every Multi-Listing Service around the country, they depend on assessor records and property tax records. Property taxes are a reflection of assessors estimates of values, not of sales information.

In fact, there is an on-going debate about what impact these estimates are having on home owners. Here’s an article on the issue from a couple years ago.

Fun fact: Zillow calls them “zestimates” because they can’t legally call it an estimate. We agents can’t even call it an estimate. Unless I am an appraiser, I can only give you a comparative market analysis, or a “comp.” If you want more accurate analysis, let us do a Comparable Market Analysis for you, which is based on the actual Multi-listing Service in Phoenix –not some algorithm based on property tax records.

Another fun fact: Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia are not in business to help you find a home or sell a home. They are in business to sell realtors like me ad space for folks like you to see while you are on their websites.

Call us at 602-456-9388 for quality analysis and more fun facts.

Here’s some news about a Grand Canyon University Buyer Closing Cost Discount.

We work with many mortgage brokers and we have a handful who are our favorites.

While we always encourage you to shop around, even among our favorite brokers, we wanted to share the following program from one of them, Matt Smith of Wallack and Volk.

Here’s the deal. If you have ever worked at, are currently enrolled at or are an alumnus from GCU, you may qualify for this program, which could save you a couple thousand dollars on closing costs when you purchase a home.

If you have any friends or family members who are affiliated with GCU, you may also qualify for it as well by merely knowing that person who is connected to GCU.

This program offers substantial Mortgage and Real Estate discounts to employees, students and alumni along with their extended families and friends, when using the services of Wallick & Volk Mortgage Bank as well as the program’s selected Real Estate Agents and Title Providers.  These discounts can be used when purchasing, selling or refinancing a home.

DISCOUNTS OFFERED TO AFFILIATES OF GCU

**MORTGAGE DISCOUNTS**

When working with MATT SMITH of Wallick & Volk Mortgage Bank, borrowers will receive a $1,295 credit covering processing and underwriting fees.  *When using a down payment assistance program, the buyer will receive either the lender credit of $1,295 or the down payment assistance grant (whichever is of greater value).

**REAL ESTATE DISCOUNTS**

When working with Ken Clark and Michelle Conley of the Get Your PHX Team, a buyer or seller will receive a discount paid at the closing from their commission of between $700 to $1,000 to be used towards their closing costs when purchasing or selling a home.  Ken and Michelle will provide the discount in the following way:

*For homes priced at $150,000 or below, Ken and Michelle will pay $700 from their commission toward the closing costs.

*For homes from $150,001 – $199,999, Ken and Michelle will pay $800 from their commission toward closing costs.

*For homes priced at $200,000 and above, Ken and Michelle will pay $1,000 from their commission toward closing costs.

**TITLE DISCOUNTS**

With our chosen title company, a buyer or seller will receive a special negotiated rate, which allows a 20% discount off the standard escrow rates.  *We cannot guarantee that this chosen title company will be used in all purchase transactions. 

NOTE: We tell all of our favorite brokers that we encourage our clients to speak with at least three brokers before choosing one. For a list of our favorite brokers, please call Ken at 602-456-9388.

Usually, you see images of our listings in this section. However, we sold all of our listings!

Its a nice problem to have, but it sure does leave this section of the newsletter a little barren.

So, I would like to ask you to do one thing for us to bring back those nice photos.

Please support our Charity Referral Network.

You may have seen the following phrase on my email signature or in the Clark Report: “You refer, we donate. Call me today to find out how we can support your favorite charity. We appreciate your referrals!”

This is our attempt to focus positive attention on those charities that you care about, and which do so much good work here in Phoenix.

Here is how it works. If you send us a referral for a home sale or purchase, and that transaction closes, we will make a donation to the charity of your choice. We will post on our blog and on Facebook that your referral was instrumental in making that donation happen.

It is as simple as that. Thank you!

Please give us a call today at 602-456-9388 for more.

The green cleaning tip for July 2017 from our friends at GoingGreenHouse Cleaning is all about air quality. After all, it’s summer time and with kids home from school we have a lot going on inside our homes.

Did you know that indoor air quality can be two to five times more polluted than the air outside? There are a wide variety of toxic chemicals lurking in your home and we often don’t think about all of the carcinogens that are swarming around in our air —from the cleaning products we use, candles, toiletries, clothing, and even the furniture inside our home, we are constantly polluting the air inside our home.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors. Arizona summers are HOT and can be quite brutal. As summer creeps up on us we tend to spend more and more time indoors. Why not protect that air the best that we can?

Poor air quality can threaten your family’s health, so it’s important to keep things out of your home that cause pollution and ensure that your home is well-ventilated.  Here are a few ways that you can ensure you are being proactive this summer when it comes to the air inside your home:

1. Indoor plants

So, how do houseplants clean the air? Plants absorb some of the particulates from the air at the same time that they take in carbon dioxide, which is then processed into oxygen through photosynthesis. But that’s not all, microorganisms associated with the plants are present in the potting soil, and these microbes are also responsible for much of the cleaning effect . Here are a few examples of good air purifying plants:

Garden Mum: In NASA research, garden mums were found to be a air-purifying champion. They remove ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from your homes air. Plus they are cheap and readily available at any garden store.

Aloe Vera: Aloe Vera leaves are full of a jelly-like liquid that is chocked full of vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, and other compounds that have wound-healing, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. So as well as being a great resource for your medicine cabinet (think burns, scrapes, bites, etc) Aloe Vera also removes formaldehyde from the air.

Spider Plants: Shown to remove formaldehyde and xylene from air. They are super easy to grow indoors but need bright sunlight. 

2. Beeswaxcandles

Regular paraffin candles are petroleum derived and can release chemicals like benzene, toluene, soot and other chemicals into the air. These types of candles do more harm than good for indoor air quality and should be avoided. Pure Beeswax Candles, on the other hand, burn with almost no smoke or scent and clean the air by releasing negative ions into the air. These negative ions can bind with toxins and help remove them from the air.

3. Salt lamps

Salt lamps are another natural way to clean indoor air. Have you ever seen a salt rock lamp or do you own one without knowing exactly what it does? Salt crystal lamps, similar to beeswax candles, emit negative ions into the atmosphere which restore and neutralize air quality. Our homes and offices are filled with electrical appliances and electronics (televisions, computers, fluorescent lighting, microwaves, heaters, air-conditioners, etc.) all of which emit positive ions. Positive ions are known to reduce our energy levels. Balancing positive and negative ions also help reduce airborne infections.

4. Bamboocharcoal

Another natural air cleaning option for your cleaning tip for July 2017 is bamboo charcoal. Charcoal can have a toxin-removing effect on the air. Use bamboo charcoal in burlap bags in you house. They work wonders for odor removal and removing toxins from the air.

5. Essential oils

Multiple studies have shown that diffusing essential oils actually kills mold and mildew. Lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree oil all have powerful disinfecting properties that will combat air-borne bacteria and also dust mites, as well. Simply put a few drops into an essential oil diffuser and diffuse away.

Keep your air pure this summer and rest assured that your family is safe at home!

cleaning tip for July 2017

Interest rates are on the way up!

We’ve been hearing talk of it for a while, but now its probably going to be a reality — not once, but maybe three times in the next 18 months.

So, what does this do to the price of a home? As you can guess, a lot!

For instance, if you buy a $200,000 house at 4.5% interest with a 5% down payment, your monthly payment (before taxes and insurance) would be $962. The same house at 5% interest would cost $1,019 per month.

That extra $57 per month difference may not seem like much. However, that is $684 per year or $20,520 over the life of the loan!

I don’t know about you, but I can think of a few things that I could do with that money. There are a few countries on my bucket list that I’d like to visit and I don’t want interest rates to keep me from going.

Another way to look at it is that in order to have the same payment every month that you had at 4.5% interest, you could only afford a house that costs $189,000 at 5% interest.

So, what does this mean? It means that you want to consider getting in to the market before interest rates go up.

It also means that you probably want to act before both prices and interest rates go up, which they are doing now. That is to be avoided!

Further, we’ve been hearing news stories that the Federal Reserve bank may be thinking of raising interest rates multiple times in the next 18 months or so. If prices in Phoenix continue to go up at the same time these interest rates are going, that could be a problem for you.

What’s the take-away? If you can buy now, you might want to make it happen.

Give me a call. I’m more than happy to help you navigate the market: 602-456-9388.

Spring is almost upon us and for a lot of folks that means time to organize and freshen up their home after a long winter. Now, before you start breaking out all your cleaning supplies, let me give you several reasons why switching to green cleaning products is the way to go this spring!

1. Healthy Home – Chemicals will no longer absorb into the skin or be breathed in. No longer breathing in harsh chemical cocktails from your typical household cleaners can reduce the risk of asthma, which is one of the most common chronic illnesses.
2. Pure Environment – Using greener methods to clean, reduces the pollutants released into the environment. This means less contaminated water and air. Most green cleaning solutions are made from recyclable packaging which also reduces waste.
3. Safe Products – Typical household cleaners pose the risk of chemical burns to skin and eyes. Green cleaning products are non corrosive and have stricter standards regarding toxicity, combustibility, and skin absorption.
4. Better Air Quality – Strong chemical cocktails come with a strong chemical odors. Green products usually include soft, pleasant smells, often from natural essential oils.
5. Less Expensive – Most green cleaning methods can be made right at home from ingredients you already have in your pantry. Why go out and buy expensive products when you have what you need at home?
6. Knowledge of Ingredients – Government regulations do not require ingredients be listed on cleaning products. When you’re making your own green cleaners at home, you know exactly what you’re using.

These are just a few of the many reasons people are switching to green cleaners. Not only is it better for the environment, but for your and your family’s health! So, before you start checking things off your spring cleaning checklist this season, consider cleaning GREEN!

I should also ad that it’s kinda fun to make your own products to clean around the house. I never even thought about it, but it kinda is!

We love and use our friends at Going Green House for their good work and their tips. We use them for our clients, too!