Click to download PDFMonth: March 2025
Event Calendar – March 2025
Lakeside (Prescott Lakes) Home Sold for $850,000
What can you buy in the $800,000s?
This home sold for $850,000
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com
Cleaning Tile
We have a home-selling horror story for you today that you don’t want to miss! Just when you think you’ve done everything to prepare for the all-important final walk-through, this last-second cleaning goof can ruin everything! Tune in to find out how to avoid it.
home yeah so this particular home had the kind of tile that looks so much like wood yeah beautiful beautiful uh floors they were done with a Polish that made them shine yes and uh some people like a glossy finish some people like a matte finish uh these folks I guess really liked a gloss finish and they were using a certain cleaning product uh to get that look to make it look like polish wood even though it was tile and even though it was ti so the important thing was when we went to go do the walkth through uh they had a cleaning service come and clean the home well . they different product they used the wrong product and guess what it stripped it it looked horrible so a very bad feeling to walk in and see yeah this was the walkth through so this is the day before closing and it it just looked like all the floors had been destroyed yeah instead of having that beautiful shine in patina it was like some parts were still glossy and some parts looked really weathered and stripped and so it’s important when you have tile floors use the proper products on the tile floors if you deviate if you use something that’s really not meant for tile number one it can destroy the tile um and number two it can be like what would happen to us um and then you have to figure out how do I do this so our folks it luckily did not destroy the color of the tile no it didn’t they they were evidently the product they had been using had wax or something in it and then when they changed products that’s what you saw on the floor they were able to strip it all off start over but what he had to do was strip it all off yeah had to strip it all off very labor intensive and then they decided we don’t ever want that shine again we don’t care it’s tile as tile as tile so be very wary when you’re starting to put products on your tile floor um it can really do some crazy damage yeah particularly if using a product that’s intended to make the floor look different in this particular case look glossier than it really is yes now if they had told the cleaning crew which product to use it been fine you know they would have been fine we would have closed of course our buyers the first time they went to clean the floors they would have been stuck with it uh but you know this is this is the story of something happening right before close you don’t want to have any surprises you don’t want to have any surpris let’s say you’re having a a dinner party yeah and you decide that you’re going to mop the floors they look really really good and you change products yep wrong that’s the wrong time to try a different product stay with the same product always check with the flooring company and say what can I use for my tile now if we get a problem call us we have found a great company recently Thompson steaming they can come in and clean all that tile for you if you run into this problem yeah um and they can make it look great great they are amazing even on engineered wood flooring yes they did a great job for for client with engineered wood yeah so there are ways to get around it um but you know just not try to avoid that problem in the first place and then you don’t have try to use the right product if you’re using some crazy product be careful when you switch to something else you got it that’s basic tip or you can be like us we just don’t really mop or do anything . we’re pretty chill use water yeah we’re pretty chill we’re like whatever do too much it looks good enough it looks good enough but uh anyway so we just wanted to share that tip with you be super careful because sometimes the damage can’t be undone and then you got a much bigger problem so we just want to share you know one of our experiences and let you know and uh anyway so if you are looking for any tips advice if you’re coming in to look at a home feel feel free to reach out to us at you can find us at pickle 411.com whether you’re a buyer seller or somewhere in between you find something there that will Amaze a stound educate inform yep aound dot dot dot dot dot a lot of things to you ditto ditto ditto yeah and of course you’ll find us there that’s right and we’ll have fun so anyway hope that you’re having a fantastic day like we are today and uh we look forward to seeing you next video take care bye bye
Fire & Sword
Imagine: Your friends are visiting and you want to show them a fantastic night out on the town. What do you do? You take them through Prescott’s historic secret tunnels to the hottest speakeasy in town! Tune in to this week’s episode to learn about Prescott’s hidden gem.
hello hello hello hello peeps we’ve had some great former clients call us and they’re like we know you and Randall will know where we need to go to take our out of town guest so this is Diana Randall bro your friendly husband and wife team here in Prescot Arizona your real estate team and we have been to all of those places oh yeah we discovered but three during the aconite uh before Christmas yeah well we had actually we had discovered one before had already discovered it and that’s the one we want to talk about today that is fire (00:38) and sword speaky underneath the St Michael’s hotel in beastro which is on the corner uh uh at the beginning of uh whiskey whiskey R so it’s just been open probably three months now yeah there about so you go take a flight of stairs down into fire and sword and in there’s huge beautiful bar they have live music great tables do they have some food I think they might I think they do by now I’m not sure so you can kind of go down there listen to some great music have some great cocktails with friends it’s definitely got that Speak Easy Vibe it’s cool you’re up to (01:18) something no good and absolutely and it’s kind of in a space uh off there’s a lot of hidden tunnels underneath Whiskey Row from back in the day way back in the day when the town was just starting out they had a lot of hidden tunnels and so this has been one of those spaces that they have totally renovated and reopened so to some extent it’s sort of um historical and uh authentic you know it’s just a good time so no police raids or anything no no we’re not thank goodness we’re not in prohibition times so we don’t have to worry about that but I’ve had a lot of clients (01:55) call a lot of former clients call and say I know you would know what’s the name of that place are there any I know there’s new speak eases coming up so I’m like yes and we will talk about really really good one really cool venue fire and sword fire and sword so we cannot say enough good things about it when you come in town ask someone ask your hotel where is Fire and sword again it’s a flight of stairs down underneath the St Michael’s Hotel yep on the corner of Gurley and Mont Gurley (02:24) and montazuma and uh great place good time to go especially as we’re getting well we’re not quite there yet but in the summertime when it’s nice and hot oh yeah that’s going to be a great place that’s going to be a great spot below yeah and have uh some cocktails with friends and listen to music they’ve got uh some of their own cocktail Creations my favorite is called mcal lator uh it’s a mcal mcal uh base drink a little smoky really delicious yeah you try that one if you’re into that kind of thing but they had a number of other cocktails uh all well Blended bartends are (03:00) excellent yep very good place so we had a great time and we went with a bunch of our friends and uh so we strongly encourage you when you’re coming to visit or if you’ve already moved here try it out bring your out of town guest if you’re already living here it’s just kind of a fun experience so uh fire and sword cheers to you cheers to you and uh we hope to see you there maybe one evening and we’ll get to meet you and say hello yep all right take care and have a great evening bye by
Cash Discount
We all know cash is king, but in this day and age the cash discount on a home may be less than you were hoping for. Join us on this week’s episode for tips on how to manage cash discounts and use them to your benefit.
good afternoon hello peeps oh yes wow right in my ear hello peeps okay very good she’s pickle lady I am I’m her sidekick we’re here in presca Arizona that’s right she’s the presc pickle Lady this is our video and so now we all know where we are here we are here we are so we are happy to come to you today and talk about cash discounts cash discounts so if you pay cash you can expect a discount yep that’s most people know that already understand cash is King cash is King people always like cash cash deal will beat a similar deal that (00:37) doesn’t have cash that’s right uh so because of that sometimes you can get the house for a bit less uh you can certainly get it less uh than if you had to take a loan uh if you’re putting a lot down that’s kind of cash equivalent sort of the same thing uh but if you have a loan sort of minimum down well there’s a risk that the financing is not going to go through the will lose time on Market you know all that kind of stuff and you know the cash allows you to go faster you know so sellers like cash and because of that they might be (01:13) willing to lower uh but not as much as you might think that’s right you know people come through waving their cash you know sometimes literally no that’s not true open up a briefcase full of $750,000 I don’t think so but uh they do they do sort of wave their cash around and expect big discounts 50,000 100,000 it’s not going to happen that’s not going to happen not in this market not in prescot’s Market I should say let’s clarify other states that may be happening but in preset our values are pretty holding yeah pretty holding (01:49) pretty St stable most buyers who come through presc are pretty well qualified absolutely so I mean look at it from the point of view of the seller I like this cash offer because there’s no question there’s going to be they’re going to qualify the it’ll go faster because there’s no underwriting or any of that so it’ll be a quick appraisal no appraisal so I don’t have to risk whether the it’s going to appraise or not so there’s a lowering of risk there is a speed up of the process and there’s sort of security uh you know if you save a month (02:27) on Market the equivalent would be you know let’s say $4 $5,000 maybe if you’re talking about uh you know a million and a half home uh you know somebody might rent that for $4,000 $5,000 a month so if you push it up a a month you can think well there’s probably value for or $5,000 not $100,000 no not1 so you know typically what we find we just had a cash deal out in Prescot Valley I believe the home was listed for 650 cash deal so they came in at 6 40 they grabbed it and ran with it they’re not going to say oh I’ll get it for 625 or (03:05) 600 it’s just not going to happen now if the if the seller has had a sale fall through or maybe a couple of sales fall through instead of 10 you might be looking at 20 maybe if the wind’s blowing right to 30 maybe not very often you’re starting to push it even at home at a million dollars you’re starting to push the value of the cash offer that’s right so just we like to when people come in town we like to kind of set your expectations so if you’re coming in with a cash deal even though your state California Texas any of the other states (03:40) around oh well we’re coming in you know we get 30% it’s really not happening here I mean in other areas like Texas might be a good example where they have a lot of buyers who will not qualify you know the deal will fall out uh if it’s um you know if if they’re not qualified and there’s a good chance they won’t be qualified preset doesn’t have that most of the buyers are pretty firm right so yeah in a market where it’s very common for buyers to come in and not qualify cash looks really really good but it’s not as valuable here because we don’t (04:16) have that situation we have very qualified in fact overqualified buyers so um anyway so we we like to kind of share this with people to kind of set your expectation uh when you’re coming in especially if you’re getting ready to make an offer we will guide you in the best way possible uh we will not make you overpay but we just have to let you know you’re not going to come in here and and get you know 40% 30% off it’s just not it’s just not going to happen I’m sorry I wish I could but uh you you’ll have a rejected offer is what will (04:47) happen and we don’t want that to happen hopefully a counter yeah so or definitely a counter for sure so keep that in mind when you’re coming to this Market just see kind of know how we operate here and uh it’s important to know what you’re stepping into and what you can expect during the process y absolutely so we hope this is a a helpful little tip yep if you want more tips place to go pickle 411. (05:12) com that’s our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere in between there’ll be something there waiting for you that will Amaze Astound entertain and inform hopefully all for nothing all for nothing all for nothing all for nothing so we hope to hear from you soon and uh please enjoy a beautiful day bye bye
Fire Preparedness
With so many recent fires and natural disasters it’s normal to feel anxious. We’re here for you! We’re not only sharing tips for fire preparedness, but also telling you about a sanctuary that’ll make you feel safer than ever. Want a hint? The sanctuary starts with a “P.” Tune in and find out the details!
hello hello hello hello peeps uh happy to say hello to all of our fellow pickle peeps out there this is Diana Randall bro she’s pickle lady I am and I’m coming to you live from our beautiful little mountain BG yeah isn’t that a cute name ber yeah also town here in the mountains of Prescot Arizona say studio for our studio well we also are studio in the bur we also are in our special studio in the bur it’s a Burg Studio we have our own Green Room in our house that where we shoot all this great stuff for you guys that’s right so uh something we (00:38) wanted to talk to you about quite serious is fire preparedness fire preparedness um obviously this is a topic that’s very important uh and to a lot of folks out there especially those poor uh Souls out in California who have been subjected to the terrible tragedy of all the fires out there yeah absolutely now now we’ve talked about fire before fire preparedness prevention uh the firefighters we we’ve talked about fire a lot we get a lot of questions about fire I guess for obvious reasons (01:10) but we thought important it’s important we thought we just reiterate just because now fire is kind of top of mine so we thought we just uh recap some of the stuff that we’ve set before definitely so one good thing about our little town is uh we are very uh Progressive in treatment of potential fire risk and things like that proactive we are extremely proactive Progressive has come to mean a whole lot of things so well true well you know everything has come to mean a whole lot of other things you (01:40) know what I mean we are we are in other words we’re on the ball we’re proactive uh we don’t fool around our budget is there uh it’s never cut no um we stick to the budget we our mayor’s great about making sure the the policies are in place and follow through more importantly um so we have never we’ve lived here what eight and a half years yeah never ever have we even come close nor have we been required to evacuate uh because of the preparedness that our town has in the preset is sort of firefighting Central it it really is so the a lot of the uh well most of the firefighting (02:26) capability comes out of preset so the the airport here is where they launch all the firefighting uh Aviation uh you’ll see when there’s a fire going on somewhere they planes taken off constantly they fight everything all the way up into Flagstaff all the way down into the valley close to Phoenix and everything in between uh so the firefighters this is where most of them live because this is where where they’re coming out of and so a lot of pride in fire firefighting fire prevention here very (03:00) much honor our firemen and appreciate all that they do so a lot of folks who move here and brand new will be especially in the spring sometimes in the fall they’ll say oh there’s a fire there’s a fire it is just uh control burns control burns thank you you took the words right out of my mouth control burns it’s just control burns which is believe control burns here now in some areas uh you know people don’t like control burns or raking the undergrowth or whatever uh because they want to be natural what you need to understand is nature has a way of removing the undergrowth (03:35) it’s called fire right uh it’s very natural for fires to occur uh very natural for Forest to burn it’s been going on for thousands millions of years uh you know the the homes that burn in California from Nature’s point of view that’s just undergrowth right it’s just but that’s what nature does so if you don’t want homes to burn um you can’t go 100% now natural you you have to manage the forest and so we are very good about managing all of that um and so we will have these prescribed Burns do not panic every now and then if you see some black clouds and smoke it is our (04:14) fire department doing their job and protecting our little town um also we have two reservoirs here Watson Lake and Willow Lake and they are never run dry no uh they’re always pretty full and that is where a lot of our water is pull cold during during the firefighting so you’ll see like the big Chinook helicopters hovering over Willow Lake sucking water up it’s kind of cool it’s kind of cool watch it’s actually kind of cool to watch uh the process in place so you never have to worry very rarely uh unless we just don’t have a lot of rain or snowfall does it really get super low (04:50) um it’s pretty uh pumped up and active you know so it’s it’s all good we have good water source to fight fires yeah the other good thing here is our fire department ments are always open ready willing able give them a call they’ll come to your home and tell you how to protect your own home and how to be in the best firewise position so they’ll come out and tell you this tree has to go too close to the house they’ll give you the parameters they’ll walk you through it free of charge so it’s (05:22) a great program and everyone should utilize it especially if you’re living closer to some of the trees and things like that they’re happy to do it it’s part of their job willing to do it and everyone should really take advantage of it the other thing you should be aware of is so far so good we have not had a lot of um cancellations for fire Insurance here we are not required to have separate fire insurance as in other areas um yet so so far so good you don’t have to carry a separate fire Insurance uh there might be especially after what’s happening California (06:01) maybe some changes in rates but so far so good for people living here I mean nothing has changed here so yes and the fire insurance if you want it it is available right um most of the fires that our guys are putting out here in Prescot or in the forests in the mountains and stuff like that it you know basically never gets close to the city proper no and when there are fires within the city itself they are on it and immediately immediately so uh living here eight and a half years never had to (06:34) be evacuated never even came close thank goodness so uh just wanted to share that with you guys if you’re very concerned about the safety of our little town here and fires you pretty much are are are going to be okay um so nothing to number a number of people displaced looking for a place to go uh other people are kind of opting out and looking for a place to go we know you don’t want to go from fires to fires absolutely so just want to make it clear that you won’t have those kind of problems we don’t have those issues here and uh we’re on it we’re on it people um any of the fires (07:13) that you have heard about in Arizona usually from our town are about an hour out yeah there really are in desolate desolate areas far away and maybe it’s from a lightning strike or spark or something like that um but they’re right on it and take care of of it have never had major issues in the town proper so if you are concerned about that and wondering where can I land next where should I go we just wanted to let everyone out there know give you peace of mind if you come here you’re going (07:46) to be okay we’re we’re we’re on it and so to all of our folks out in California our hearts go out to you uh we wish you nothing but the best as you try to rebuild and we hope the best for all of you and uh anyway we just wanted to give you a big virtual hug wherever you are and uh we hope that uh you land on your feet soon so this is Rand and Dian bro coming to you here from Prescot Arizona if you need anything you can refer to our website yeah best place to go is pickle 411.com that is (08:20) our free information site whether you are a buyer seller or somewhere in between there’s something there that’s waiting for you that will Amaze Astound entertain and in form there you go so come see us come see what we’re all about take care and have a great rest of your day bye bye
Prescott by the Numbers – February 2025
Prescott is back on top again… sort of.
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Screwed Again
If you want to avoid losing time on the market with a home that won’t sell due to the price not reflecting the market, then tune into this week’s episode! We have ways to help everyone avoid getting screwed (by the market)!
hello hello hello hello peeps we’re so excited to be here today absolutely coming to you from our wonderful quaint little town Prescot Arizona she’s presc pickle lady that’s me I’m her sidekick s girkin that’s right this is Diane and Randall bro uh so we wanted to talk to you about it’s kind of a kind of a disappointing thing that happens occasionally yeah it’s happened two or three times now it is a shall we say pattern or dynamic between listing agents and their clients the sellers we’ve seen this this same pattern of of (00:42) uh Behavior or whatever before and we just want to call it out make people consciously aware of it because I think a lot of people do this to their listing agents without really thinking it through and they don’t think things through so the the most important thing is if you’ve only been in the market with an agent for maybe two months and uh you haven’t quite gotten your offer and we talk about price well maybe we need to readjust price maybe what is your bottom line and if you stick firm to that bottom line um it makes it very (01:11) difficult particularly if you get a good cash offer to meet those requirements and make it happen so what happens is you get frustrated we get frustrated and then all of a sudden well we’re just going to move it on to somebody else we’re going to list with somebody else because we’ll we’ll get it you know we’ll make it happen so the unfortunate thing about that is you lose time on Market because then the new agent has to come in has to retake all of the pictures has to start the whole process all over again so you’re going to lose (01:40) about a month of Market time all because in essence you don’t want to admit that you were wrong about the price so this latest time we had a couple they wanted to sell their home for 1.1 million that was kind of their Break Even uh honestly the market would not support that we told them that we said you probably should yeah you probably should be selling more like a million maybe a million 50 but we are willing to do what you want at least temporarily and here’s part of the con you know the seller will say we’re in no (02:15) hurry yes uh we have plenty of money we’re willing to stick it out to get top dollar yep and then okay I you know I’ve met very few sellers who’ve told me otherwise we’re we’re ready there is no such thing as a patient seller you get into the situation and it’s annoying and you want it to be over as a very stressful time when you’re listen and I think everyone thinks my house is fantastic and it’s going to sell within a day it’s not covid times anymore folks yeah um there aren’t the biddy Moors anymore it and we don’t we don’t want to (02:50) be right no okay we would love to be able to wave our hands and change the situation for you we’re just telling you it is we have no vested interest in it being the way it is it’s just the way it is yeah and sometimes we had videos on this before sometimes you can find stupid money in the short term and we’re perfectly willing to try that for a few weeks and see if we can do that for you uh but you know in this particular case uh we actually got an offer around a million which is where we thought it a little bit over sellers refused to (03:27) accept it uh waited all of like three weeks uh this was like during the Christmas season where there are no showings anyway and call to tell us that well you’ve been fired we found another agent that we think can help us and then we found out well we’re going to list with her for million doll actually yes so had they accepted the first offer we were trying valiantly to they said millionar was there bottom line period end of sentence bottom line okay fine we made this deal happen for a million that offer decided it’s still a little too (04:04) much uh we want to walk too many upgrades for this house we’re walking okay well now they did not like the answer so they went on with this other agent who listed below a million yeah and they lost a month on the market and lost good quality times now here’s the thing all basically because they didn’t want to admit oh I was wrong well any but if they had just said look let’s just go a little under a million we would have been done in at by Thanksgiving oh yeah it would have been closed it would have been finished it (04:38) would have been um but they were determined to make that million doll Mark now they’re listed below a million so they’ll never get it they’ll never get it after commissions and after everything else they’re really going to be clearing you know scraping so the thing is trust your agents hang in there with your agents well first of all know you can trust absolutely and then trust them yes yeah so we’re happy if you want to try for a top dollar fine let’s try it let’s try it we’ll try it for a couple of weeks if we’re not getting there (05:11) we’ll lower the price where we thought it should have been you know in the first place we’re always willing to give you some leeway give you some opportunity but after a while we you know we need to just kind of reflect the market and move where we need to go and then close so if these you know people had just hung in there and said you know what it’s okay let’s just close it under a million will be done they would have been done months ago now it’s still on the market still on the market still hasn’t sold yeah as I said before we (05:42) have no particular vested interest at any particular price point yeah you know most people believe that real estate agents just want to price the things so low that it’s easy to sell so they can move on to the next sale maybe that’s true of some agents out there H it’s certainly not true of us it is not unusual at all for us to tell the seller your price expectations are too low we had a really good really good friend they they wanted to list the prices so how much you want to list it for and he says I don’t know 800 and we’re like 800 (06:13) he said yeah what’s wrong I said no we’re going to sell you a house for like a million dollars it’s based on the market you know it’s it’s is what it is and we want to tell you what it is we we don’t have any vested interest way we are truly looking out for your best interest trying to get you the most money in your pocket and we’ll try it your way if it doesn’t happen please listen to what we’re trying to suggest and adjust accordingly because nobody wants to be on the market this six months yeah this is like the second or (06:44) third time third time at least I can think of at least two other where so listen Toom and D instead of just lowering the price with us they fire us and go to another agent and then they price it where we told them they it’s like it’s nonsensical why did you do that you know it’s not logical it’s not logical and it’s very bad business for you you know um so we want to help you get a good price get a fair price get it sold get it done quickly and again this other home had just said we’ll go a little bit under a million they would (07:16) have been done by Thanksgiving yeah so now here we are in February and it’s still and we are not the kind of people that tell you I told you so told you so although you might think this video is yeah not it’s not I’m just saying this there is this Dynamic and you should just I’m calling it out because I think everyone who’s done this to us has done it without really thinking it through right you know it’s an irrational response and they’re doing it irrationally and not really thinking it and we totally get the stress you’re under the time (07:51) constraints it’s just not a pleasant process to sell your home it really isn’t um another thing you should also know the higher the price point these homes this is not a California Market where these homes will be snatched up in a day or two yeah we take the higher the price you know might take three or four months to get a really decent offer yeah so you have to be patient and buy your time and then we’ll get a good quality buyer ready to close and it’ll be a nice seamless transaction so take a deep breath trust in your agents don’t lose (08:27) time on the market by shopping around and now I’ll try this one oh wait now I’ll try this one no now I’ll try this one it’s really you’re going to be shooting yourself in the foot in the long run so that’s our little tips to you little tips of the day to our fellow uh listings to be that’s right and if you’re thinking about listing your home um just try to be calm cool and collected and uh let us guide you in the best way we can and get you to the Finish Line Okay so that’s our tip of the day this is Diane and Randall bro (09:02) coming to you from beautiful Prescot Arizona you can reach us at pickle 411.com that is our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere in between there’ll be something there waiting for you that will Amaze Astound entertain and inform and it’s all free it’s all free it’s all free okay friends take care and have a wonderful day bye bye