The Phoenix Agents » General Musings

Merry Christmas!

Chris Butterworth — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:25:43 +0000

I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas! is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like:

Pure fun – surfing bulldogs

Heather — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:35:22 +0000

Sometimes in Phoenix in August, it’s just too hot to think about real estate. This is one of those days. I just couldn’t resist sharing this YouTube video that my friend Christopher Robin Baker over at Coldwell Banker sent me. Enjoy!

Pure fun – surfing bulldogs is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.

Other posts you might like:

Random non-real estate related post

Heather — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:55:06 +0000

Nothing real estate related here at all. Just found a cool new blog that I added to my feed reader, called JetHead: The World from 30,000 feet at 500 mph.

JetHead is over at WordPress.com and it’s the periodic musings of a commercial airline pilot. He flies a 737.

I’m typical of the major airline pilot: seven years as an Air Force pilot flying worldwide, twenty-five plus years in [American Airlines] cockpits, captain since 1991, and many, many thousands of pilot-in-command hours with the commensurate number of take-off and landings to match. Like all of our cockpit crews, “this ain’t my first rodeo.”

My favorite post so far is the one called Fearful Flyers: What Not to Worry About. JetHead goes into great detail about the safety engineering on big commercial jets ….and then throws out this little chuckler:

Your jet is designed to endure a shaking like Charro on crack and still go about its business. Although I’ve never asked a nervous flyer because I’m trying to calm them, not piss them off, if you are a white knuckle flyer, do you worry about your car falling apart whenever you cross railroad tracks? Probably not–even though your car is NOT designed with the stress tolerances of our jet. Just something to think about.

Some of his posts are technical, like comparing the old MacDonnel-Douglas MD80 to the brand new Boeing 737-800. But some are “sketch of life” type posts, like extra-odd people he finds in the airports during the Christmas holidays.

Now, at the airport, odd stuff is a given. That’s because odd people still have very little time and so must go by air, I suppose, to share their weirdness with family and friends.

Plus JetHead has beautiful photos of his time in-flight. Cruise on over and see if you like what WordPress.com has to offer. Or check out our blogroll of interesting and useful blogs about real estate, life, tech & geeky stuff, and other stuff like design. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: post author did not receive anything of value in return for writing this review. This blog does not currently publish paid/sponsored reviews of anything.

Random non-real estate related post is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

Social media changed us in 2010

Heather — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:57:00 +0000

I got the coolest email today from LinkedIn, to which I belong. They sent me an email with the subject “Heather, 8 of your connections changed jobs in 2010” and it came with the following link/photo:

Isn’t that cool?

First, what an awesome way for LinkedIn to get in front of their ‘customers’. Brilliant email marketing idea! Note to self: adapt this for my own use.

Second, I already knew about 7 of the 8. But what I find amazing is that I was aware of 50% of these job changes solely because I’m involved in social media.

We all know the jokes about being glued to our smart phones. We’ve seen people who can’t get off their phone at the gym, who shout “I might lose you” when they enter the elevator. And that guy who’s texting during his son’s soccer game is so well known he’s got his own commercial! Phoenix banned texting while driving over 2 years ago. Tweeting is an international phenomenon and Facebook has 100 million users.

I admit: sometimes I’m overwhelmed by Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

But this little email from LinkedIn made me realize that no matter how behind the tech-geek curve I feel, and no matter how many days I wake up and resolve to “do better” at keeping up with the fire-hose of information spewing out of my BlackBerry, social media has really changed my life

Overall, I think it’s a net-positive change.

You could argue that social media is making us all behave more like we have ADD. And it’s probably true that social media is making our “friendships” more shallow.

But really, how deep a friendship do I need to cultivate with 3 people I used to work with, 1 of whom lives and works 3,000 miles away? And how involved do I need to be in daily life of the sister of one of my best friends? Not very.

But it’s awfully nice to keep in touch with these people. To know when they get a promotion, or start planning a wedding, or have a baby or grandkid. It’s nice to be able to shoot them each an individual Tweet or IM to say “hey, good for you! thanks for sharing.”

It’s kind of like waving at an acquaintance from across a crowded party. I don’t imagine these folks expect more than that from me. And I don’t expect more than that from them. I just think it’s nice to have the chance to smile and wave, and wish somebody well across the virtual social media cocktail party.

Want to share waves with me across the social media landscape? You can find me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, on the political blog written by my alter-ego the PoliticalB!tch, and finally on the bookclub website I run.

Social media changed us in 2010 is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

Lease Purchase, Rent to Own

Heather — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 12:43:00 +0000

Rent to own and lease-purchase agreements are cropping up in the Greater Phoenix real estate world these days. They’re a natural result of the continuing tight credit market.

Lease-purchase and rent to own are essentially the same things. A lease with a purchase option is almost the same, just with more complicated legalese thrown in there.

We don’t typically assist folks with leases that turn into purchases, no matter what the terms. We feel strongly that you really should hire a lawyer if you’re going to do anything that involves renting a house now and buying it in the future.

Here’s some brief thoughts on the situation; I took these from a quick email I sent out earlier today to some friends of ours.

Rent to owns (lease-purchase and lease-purchase options) are usually a little tricky –

does tenant pay a little extra each month towards down payment?
or does the tenant pay a lump sum amount now? (usually several thousand dollars!)
if so, who’s bank account “gets” the deposit(s)? does that money earn interest? for whom?
under what circumstances are extra payments refundable?
what happens to that extra deposits/payments if the rent is late a day or two? if it’s late several weeks?
do you value the purchase price of the home now or in several years when the purchase happens?
do you get an appraiser? who pays for the appraiser?
what if the appraisal comes in lower than the agreed-on purchase price?
what if either side changes their mind between now and the purchase?

As you can see, there are a lot of questions. We recommend you hire a real estate attorney to help you figure out the answers. Call or email us, we know several excellent Greater Phoenix attorneys!

Lease Purchase, Rent to Own is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

How many Realtors in Arizona?

Heather — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:22:00 +0000

According to the Arizona Department of Real Estate, at this moment in time there are 39,682 people in Maricopa County with active real estate licenses.

How many Realtors in Arizona? is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

More Bad MLS Photos

Heather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Wow! You mean that stuff on the counter comes with the house? Cool!

More Bad MLS Photos is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

Fun with FICO

Heather — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:42:39 +0000

Isn’t this a set of interesting statistics?

In 2005, 46% of consumers who opened a new mortgage had a FICO score less than 700. In 2008 this percentage had dropped to 25% . Fair Isaac (creators of the FICO score) reports that borrowers in the Northeast continually present the least amount of default risk nationally for real estate loans.

It’s good news that creditworthiness increased in the last few years. I know someone who actually got a mortgage offer in the mail for their dog in 2005. Their dog!

It’s pretty common wisdom that the foreclosure rates need to fall in order for a real recovery in real estate to happen. Maybe the 2008 and beyond buyers who were more creditworthy won’t default on their mortgages and we’re near the light at the end of the tunnel. On the other hand, if the dismal unemployment rate continues, that’ll mean more foreclosures and more uncertainty in the market.

Wishing I had a crystal ball. . . .

(stats provided by Rob Chrisman of Mortgage News Daily)

Fun with FICO is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

No related posts.

Real Estate Funnies

Heather — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:51:19 +0000

Sometimes my job makes me giggle. Today was one of those days.

Received a fax today from a seller’s agent in response to an offer my buyers clients made.

List Price $695,000 Buyer’s Offer $660,000

Note: Sold comps in the past 60 days are $685,000 and $669,000 with a recent low of $625,000 and a recent high of $715,000. I sent copies of those comps with the buyer’s offer, explaining how they’d compared the Seller’s house to each of the sold homes.

Seller’s Counter: $690,000 and a note that says “Bank of America appraised it in January of this year at $810,000. Would you like a copy?”

Would I like a copy?!? Um, no. If you really thought your house was worth $810,000 you’d have listed it at $810,000. And it would have sold. But you listed it at $695,000, and we all know you’re not leaving $115,000 on the table out of the goodness of your heart.

We all know the house isn’t worth $810,000. The question is, is it worth the $660,000 we offered?

Dear Mr. Seller,

While you might hope your house is worth $695,000, we all (should) know that non-bank owned homes in this price range are still a buyer’s market. We offered 93% of your asking price. You countered us at 99.3% of your asking price. We’ll come up a little bit more. But you’re going to have to do better than dropping $5,000, or you’re going to have to wait for another set of buyers to come along.

Sincerely,

Buyers.

PS – Our Realtor has a letter from a book agent who says he can get her a $250,000 advance on a book deal for her blog. Would you like a copy?

Real Estate Funnies is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

But It’s A Dry Heat

Heather — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:04:13 +0000

“It’s a dry heat” is a ubiquitous phrase in Phoenix every summer. Like most stereotypes, it’s ever present because it’s true.

To a point.

“It’s a dry heat” works for me personally up to about 103 or 104. After that, it just feels hot no matter what, and my stock reply to “dry heat” is ususally, “Yeah, so’s my oven.”

On the other hand, late spring and early summer evenings are some of my favorite things. One truth about dry heat – at least in metro Phoenix – is that as soon as the sun sets the temperature drops quickly and noticeably.

Last night as I drove home from dinner with Dad on his Day, my car displayed 92 degrees at 9:00pm. I rolled down the car windows and popped the moonroof and it was one of the most pleasant drives I’ve had in quite a while.

But It’s A Dry Heat is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Other posts you might like:

the shrinking middle class

Chris Butterworth — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:25:54 +0000

I was talking with my neighbor last night about the current state of the market/economy (as if anybody talks about anything else nowadays). He made a comment I found interesting:

"Half the people we know are losing their homes and cars, and the other half are buying up property for $60,000 a home. We feel fortunate that my job is secure and we haven’t had any negative effects from the current economy, but we don’t understand how all these people had that much cash lying around to buy cheap property…?!"

My guess is that most people out there are like my neighbor; you just never hear anybody talking about things being "ok" – it makes for a pretty boring story to tell your friends!

You hear sad stories about people getting laid off or losing their home, and you hear success stories about people buying great investments. Makes for a more interesting conversation (and news report).

Your ready for the middle class’s return to prominence Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

the shrinking middle class is a post written by The Phoenix Agents at Thompson's Realty. If you're reading this anywhere other than a feedreader (rss subscription) of ThePhoenixAgents.com, the site you're reading this on is guilty of copyright infringement.

Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. Analyst. Husband. Father. Writer. Amateur Photographer. Triathlete. Soccer Dad. Big fan of technology, efficiency, and the Arizona Wildcats.

Other posts you might like: