Escape California

Thoughts for 2023

Another difficult year is past, and all eyes turn forward to the new year before us.  In this episode, we make our predictions for what 2023 will hold and share some thoughts about what it could mean for you.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello I am Diane this is my better half Randall yes we are correct uh we are fellow Realtors together and fighting in the trenches for you and all of our fellow buyers fellow sellers um we are with exp Realty and we are delighted to be here to help you guys and uh as you’re thinking about next chapters new chapters new chapters which brings us to 2023 New Year they’re getting better every year so probably the one of the worst was 20 20 was tough yeah yeah true this past year was not as bad not as bad it’s getting back crazy a lot of the uncertainty it’s things are starting to settle down I know people are concerned about interest rates and you know end of times and this that and the other and honestly the end of times thing is kind of people are past the end of times they understand the elections are behind us I think we’re going to start getting more on a smoother path now um we just can’t dwell on all of that we just have to keep moving forward and being happy and the wherever we are in whatever chapter you are don’t think about all this stuff we don’t honestly this is my opinion don’t have a lot of control over it yeah I can’t change uh politics I can’t change interest rates I can’t change uh what’s going to come this year I can’t change covet yeah um all I can do is the best every single day and put one foot in front of the other that’s right that’s how you that’s all any of us can do my friends right cheers I really that’s great cinnamon I I really believe that this is my prediction for 2023 I think wait who was it uh so I believe it was Calvin Kelvin Coolidge who termed the uh the word normalcy oh yeah right actually the actual word is normality but uh people say normalcy now he’s the one who that’s like strategy thanks George W injury so uh yeah and that was his strategy so normalcy so you know he’s after World War one and it’s like our return to normalcy yes and I think that is what 2023 is going to be for us I sure am hoping I think things are gonna chill out things are gonna get more and more normal and people interest rates are already starting to change again they had gotten so high but now as you can see they’re starting to drop again that’s of course could change again but I think what everyone the great fears that people had yeah I think it’s going to be okay folks yeah the whole Logistics and Supply thing is starting to iron itself out uh you know supply chain is getting normal again just things are just getting normal every day that goes by people seem to relax just a little bit more and so I I think that’s what 2023 is going to mean for us it’s it’s going to be a normal year and in the in the uh since the the couple of years that we just had that’s going to be a wonderful thing I I think I look forward to it and it’s a long waited we all deserve yeah absolutely some nice back to normalcy back to not worrying about everything and just having uh but it’s back to normal again but I think the most important thing I’d like to share with a lot of people is um there’s a lot of fear people are like well uh I I really hate where I live I hear I can’t tell you kind of makes me sad it kind of pulls up my heartstrings I’m really miserable where I live I hate everything about it I hate the taxes I hate the traffic I hate the increasing cost of living this is my point if you’re not happy where you are it’s not going to change it’s not going to get better it’s not like you reach a certain age you know the world was you were young and the world was struggling and you were part of the fight and you were going to help and you had time time was on your side that ship is salesman I mean most of our clients time is no longer on your side now is the time you need to read the reward that you’ve worked so hard your whole life 100 and if you sit around and you wait for the world or the the people out there to make the world better for you it’s not going to happen so don’t be afraid to make the move if you’re in your 60s 70s we’ve even had people in their 80s absolutely I’ve had enough of this and I want to go somewhere where I am happy yeah and I it’s scary is it scary to walk away and start over a hundred percent we did it all of our friends have done it have any of them had regrets not one person not one person has regretted making that big step and making a change so keep that in mind for new for 2023. yeah absolutely come over here for a new beginning let all that go if you’re busy the best time to make it happen is yesterday yep right it would have been easier 10 years ago when you’re that absolutely younger it will be that much harder 10 years from now oh yeah and and then the other thing to point out is we are a cheaper alternative you know we’re telling you you can have a great life here it would be different if we were trying to talk you into moving someplace that’s more expensive than where you are right this is not a lateral move this is not a lateral it’s gonna be cheaper here your property taxes will be cheaper your cost of living gasoline cost of housing is still cheaper than other places I mean all of the groceries utilities you name it you’re going to be like living a new life when is a good time to reduce your cost of living the answer is there is no best time it’s always good if the if you think the economy is going to the toilet oh okay well maybe it is maybe it isn’t but uh if it does would you be better off where you are now or someplace cheaper I mean I just that’s the million dollar question you know so my goal for you for 2023 is think positive think I’m going to make a change make a change I’m not going to live in fear of what may or may not happen yes if you’re really not happy where you are it’s time to change yeah it’s hard it’s scary but so worth it and we love it we’re so happy we did it so anyway 2023 of the year make it your your your time to shine your time to make pie be brave be brave all right so that’s our little New Year’s wishing for 2023. make it happen Captain you’ll be delighted with all your extra savings if you move here that’s it and we would love to help you and show you around our beautiful town and everything that living in Prescott has to offer you so we hope to hear from you soon you can reach us at pickle411.com that’s our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller or somewhere in between yep there’s something there waiting for you that you will adore oh that’s a pretty big promise but we hope we hope we can deliver on that absolutely all right so everyone have a beautiful day and thank you for listening and happy 2023. bye

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Frozen in Fear?

With all the market uncertainty these days, lots of people are sitting on their hands - afraid to make a move.  In this episode, we share our thoughts on current market conditions, where things are likely to go, and what it all means to buyers thinking about retiring, downsizing, and moving to a place like Prescott.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello my fellow pickle peeps this is diana randall bro here coming to you live from well we’re live we are alive not yet no uh but we’re here in prescott arizona uh happy to be here to talk to you about what’s going on in our crazy crazy crazy marcus so we had uh two years of covid driven craziness uh mostly seller’s market buyers struggling to get in homes homes going well over ask and bidding wars crazy times all that kind of stuff very stressful very hard particularly if you were a buyer yeah um really tough times for them out there really tough times so but nowadays things have changed things have changed cheers to that well before for our buyers that’s a good thing and for our buyers that’s a very good thing yeah things have changed it’s no longer a seller’s market it has become once again a buyer’s market uh here in prescott proper we’re not having dramatic 100 000 drops or anything major we’re having some slight price adjustments yeah we had um so this we’re recording this in july last time i ran the numbers were for june we have a seven percent price decrease which was basically taking back the appreciation that occurred since march which there really shouldn’t have been any right you know i’m not sure why i had appreciation things were starting to level in may but uh june kind of took back those two months so we’re we’re pretty much flat uh this year since march let’s say and i think that’s a a better way of understanding what’s going on here we don’t really have anything that’s going crazy right so we prescott takes a little bit to kind of catch up with the rest of the nation yeah i think that’s fair uh and so we’re starting to kind of catch up that’s why we’re seeing a little bit of that drop as randall indicated that’s why we’re seeing homes on the market a little bit longer which is fantastic for my buyers out there because you guys don’t have that intense pressure you don’t have to how do i gauge this how do i make my offer um it’s kind of nice to take a breather yes and catch up and move forward yeah absolutely the one thing that we we don’t like to see is that transaction volumes are down and what that means to us is that buyers are frozen in fear right you know there’s a lot of discussion about oh if there’s going to be a major crash and uh you know there’s a recession and inflation and all those things so we thought we’d spend a few minutes kind of unpacking that situation from our buyers perspective and give you our thoughts on your current situation and what you might think about in terms of moving forward that’s right so don’t freeze don’t freeze like us yeah you freeze you get run over by the headlights that’s what don’t freeze it happens all the time no reason to freeze no reason to panic yeah um this is actually still a good time to buy yes don’t worry about the uncertainty of the market historically if you go back in time anytime there’s high inflation or recession headed our way real estate real estate i appreciate well yes uh that was not the case in the in the crash of 2008 uh the real estate prices did go down considerably i think the average was about you know 25 30 percent which i’ll remind you is only one year’s worth of appreciation during covid we had two years of 30 appreciation uh so that would even if we had a crash we’d only be taking back one year of appreciation uh we don’t think that’s going to happen uh that’s just and we don’t see all right a couple things first of all uh the recession last time did not cause the uh real estate credit dropped the real estate crash caused the recession most recessions are not accompanied by a real estate crash because during recession and particularly inflation real estate does well yeah that’s sort of a hedge usually it holds steady it holds steady work yeah at that particular time too many loans to people who aren’t qualified easy for them to walk away which they did they did and then with the other the other issue was there was a glut of homes already on the market yeah and then when the recession you know when all that started people started walking away from their homes right and then there was even more homes on the market yes this is not the case right now not anymore anywhere not close to not anywhere close to the loans are harder to come by yeah there’s much harder to come so any buyers uh you know they’re well qualified yes uh it doesn’t make it so easy for them to walk that’s right that’s right and we have plenty of inventory right now yes the inventory is on its way up it is not uh as high as it was before covid but it’s on its way um it’s i think we’re in the 600s now uh basically that’s about half of what it used to be before covet right so we certainly don’t have a quad of homes we do not have a glitter homes we’re excited to see it growing a little bit yeah at one point it was down to 200 homes so uh we’re tickled now we have buyers come in we have plenty to show you more than we’ve had in the past two years so we’re delighted so historically aside from the housing market of uh 08 yeah uh you know real estate is always a solid investment yes if you wait let me ride this out three or four years you were going to pay more for your home yeah then if you come now well if you are in a situation like most of our buyers i call it bilateral what that means is you have a home that you’re going to sell and you’re going to buy a home here so and typically the way that works is you’re selling a more expensive home uh you’re buying a cheaper home here and you’re pocketing the difference okay i would call that the arbitrage the prescott arbitrage uh that still works it really doesn’t matter what the market is going to do as a buyer you may be thinking well i hate to buy now because if prices go down well i’ve overpaid for my house but if you’re also selling a house at the same time uh then you’re going to get 30 percent just say that it’s going to go down 30 just hypothetically so i buy a home and it goes down 30 percent i lost 30 percent well what you also lost is the extra 30 percent you would have had on the house that you’re selling the house that you’re selling is more money you’ve lost more money by waiting yeah right but in general if you’re buying and selling you don’t worry about market timing because you’re doing both at the same time now if you’re just buying or you’re just selling then you might want to be a little more hesitant about when you move but if you’re buying and selling if it’s a buyer’s market you’re going to do on the sell side if it uh you’re going to do well on the buy side if it’s a sell market that you do well on the sell side and the two will wash out yep so i would let your life situation dictate when you need to move and if we are going into a recession with some people think we are move you need to move typically people are in places like california colorado washington they’re paying higher taxes they are paying uh but the cost of living is higher gasoline that’s not going to go away that’s not going to go away all the way better particularly if you’re in retirement always better to move someplace where a living is wonderful and cheaper that’s right uh so that’s and a lot of people are concerned about uh interest rates uh here’s the thing historically interest rates are still amazingly low yeah still still not bad i mean you guys know out there yeah most of our clients are old enough they they they remember what high 12 14 18 some even 18 yeah eighteen percent i heard against the record not to worry about that and uh my my thing with that is come buy and then always you can always refinance when the interest rates will drop which they will eventually you can always change that and refinance and if you’re selling a big home and you’re down downsizing uh you’re going to be flush you’re not going to be borrowing much money anyway so interest rates aren’t as important to someone in that situation than say a first-time homebuyer who’s struggling to qualify so now is the time still regardless of our uncertain times um make your move be happy don’t get hung up don’t stay where you really feel like you’re in a stagnant area you’ve just had it and you want to move but this has thrown a kink in your plants don’t let it throw kinky yeah don’t get out there don’t get out there yeah don’t freeze yeah don’t freeze get out there make it happen it’s still a good time you will still get appreciation um even even if we’re headed towards a recession yeah real estate is still the best investment in uncertain times believe it or not yeah it really listen hit us up for a conversation if you want to talk about these kinds of issues more and how it affects your particular situation call the pickle and we’ll be glad to talk to you we’re happy to go yeah also too if you’re looking for information about the real estate market about prescott in general or just life just life just like we always like to talk yeah you can also go to people411.com which is our free information center whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere in between lots of free and wonderful pernicious information maybe not a good wordpress so please don’t freeze in fear move forward with your life do not get stuck in a rut because of all this crazy stuff we hear live your life life is short particularly if you’re in retirement age just that is so true hey we don’t know what’s going to happen get out enjoy life make your change we’re here to help you diana randall bro i’m the pickle lady come on to prescott we’d love to see you take care have a wonderful day bye

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Voting With Your Feet

The power of voting can be a lot greater than you think, especially when you do it with your feet.  In this episode, we discuss the latest trend sweeping the nation: the Great Reshuffling - and why you might consider hopping aboard.

Video Transcript

good afternoon good afternoon folks in brisket arizona that’s right this is diane and randall grove and i’m the randall he’s the randall we are here in the lovely town of prescott arizona loving life loving our little business here and loving to reach uh to you guys and chat with you about uh different topics different topics so today we’re going to talk about a new phenomenon that’s sweeping the country called voting with your feet yes it’s more than one way to vote yeah if you can’t get the result that you want you can always vote with your feet so that was a quote that actually i think it was lenin uh people asked you know did the people uh want the czar or the did the people want to end the war this is world war one you know when did the people vote uh when did the soldiers vote that they should end the war and he said they voted with their feet meaning that they had all retreated from the front and you know right just gave up the fight and uh that’s a term that’s kind of bandied about quite a bit the idea of voting with you voting with your fee and we see it all the time as agents here uh we represent a lot of buyers uh they’re coming from california washington oregon even some new jersey folks yeah and um they are voting with their feet uh they are not happy with things that are occurring in their home states and they are retired and they’re like you know what we have a luxury now and the ability to vote with our feet uh we don’t have to put up with it anymore we don’t uh and we want to move on yeah and so a lot of them are coming here to prescott yeah a lot of them are a lot of them are it’s you know it’s the last resort uh you know it’s in communist countries like cuba and east germany you know they’ll build a wall to keep people from voting with their feet because they know their people are unhappy and uh so far there’s no place in the united states that i know of that forces you to stay where you are although california tried they were trying to tax people who are leaving you know and i can’t imagine that that’s gonna stick but uh but at this point in time you can still vote with your feet and the thing about it about voting with your fee is you get instant results if you elect your candidate it’s gonna take a while before your candidates able to bring you the changes that you want but when you vote for your feet you go to some place where things are happening the way that you want them to it’s right instantaneously you get immediate satisfaction you get immediate results um depending on where you go of course yeah um and so we get a lot of people who are like i’m moving on i can’t change what’s occurring in my state i sure have tried i’ve tried to hang in there as long as i can and hoping that there might be a change and now that they’re retired they have the freedom and the wherewithal they’re not tied to a job or career or kids in school yeah and so we are seeing it more and more that people are voting with their feet and they’re going where they feel uh with like-minded people yeah and um so it’s been an interesting thing to watch uh unfold and develop yeah and so we say it a lot a lot uh and it’s a phenomenon that’s happening really all over the country uh there’s a lot of new flux uh people call it the the the great reselection the great reset i forget that i don’t know yeah but it’s like the covet thing and it’s like everyone is sort of rethinking what they want to do with their lives where they want to spend their lives covered has changed a lot of things yeah it’s changed the path for a lot of people reshuffling i’m sorry the great reshuffling i knew it would come to you yes it always does but it is interesting to see a lot of people um have the effects of cobit and they realize hey you know i was gonna retire in five years um but now i actually can live and work wherever i want yeah because people started working remotely yes so it’s enabled them to move up their plans to move to a different state yeah hopefully prescott and it’s changed their life plan and that’s all because of covet they were like we have to work at home we’re going to figure this out and once it was figured out people realized well hell i can keep doing this nothing nothing to stop why do i need to stay here i can move where i want to move ahead of retirement i don’t have to wait until i retire right which is kind of cool yeah and for those who are kind of on the other side of the the the work period you know their work careers and looking at retirement you know you reach a certain age you realize that the situation is not going to be fixed on your watch you’re just not going to live that long you know you don’t have 40 years ago that’s great yeah i mean when you’re in your 20s it’s easier to be optimistic you want to be part of the solution you want to affect change you make the world a better place you get to be an old man it’s like ah you know i just i’m tired of fighting yeah all i’m looking for is peace i want peace happiness peace and i want my money to last until i die [Laughter] that’s all you’re looking for when you retire like hey i’m done i just want to chill out and have some fun yeah definitely so anyway if you were thinking about voting with your feet particularly if you’re a vote for prescott yeah and you’re going to want to contact the people of you absolutely we would love to find you a great place here in town help you develop a new life help you develop a new life and make it happen for you so if you are thinking about coming in give us a call or look at us at uh four one one dot com there it is your information source your search begins your search begins 411.com all of it free all of it free it it astounds me somehow sometimes it’s amazing work just how much you’ve done great job on that so much well you know someone asks you a question yep and you just put it on the site and after a while pretty much all the questions are answered it starts to accumulate and we’ve got a good little source of information for you yeah yeah so anyway we hope to see you if you’re voting for your with your feet give us a call at 713-302-1964 we’ll do that as well we’ll do that too okay bye good to see you and have a great evening

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LA is Alive Again

LA is finally back open, and taking advantage of the direct flight out of Prescott makes for an easy and fun trip.  In this episode we share our adventures among the recently unmasked and give high praise to Prescott's brand new airport terminal.

Video Transcript

hello hello peeps that was very sharp very sharp that was a very crisp hello that’s a crisp pick it’s a crisp pick one of those crunchy pickles all right this is randall and diambro i am the pickle lady i’m happy to be here i’m always in production so when you come visit i’ll bring you some of my famous cajun pickles happy to do that happy to share with friends and family that’s right back from l.a back from l.a well wonderful trip yeah so beginning i’m sorry the middle of uh with june we were celebrating our uh wedding anniversary and also father’s day yes and both of our kids are in l.a so we arrived in l.a so they arranged an airbnb we had the time of our lives we went in and visited and wow california is now open yep it was crazy a lot of people by force of habit were still wearing masks yes and you’d walk in and they’d look at you kind of funny of course you know we don’t we’re kind of past the masses here and it happened for a while in uh yeah so we walk in like it’s nothing and they were like oh my god but the governor mayor dictator whatever had just declared that uh the masks were optional for people who had been vaccinated or i don’t know what the proclamation was but it was essential they were open for business uh everything was open again you could go to restaurants movies everything everything was open and it was very very exciting very busy very crowded lots of traffic it was a little insane yeah it was lots of bad service to all the restaurants were just getting started they were completely inundated with people who’ve been in quarantine now for a year yeah and they’re struggling to get staff and their systems aren’t completely up to speed yet so uh the restaurant situation was kind of wrong but uh food was good so it was good yeah the hour wait to get our receipt yeah get our ticket check to get our check i was a little over that i was like okay i want to go back home to prescott where all this is over and we’ve already worked out the kinks and we’re smooth sailing and we’ve moved forward um la is still a few steps behind great to see the kids the kids are up and about uh today is uh our youngest adeline she uh she’s been working remotely yeah this is our first day back in the back in the office back up so a lot of exciting things a lot of exciting things yeah we uh we flew out of prescott yes it’s like having your own private jet it is so sweet without all the expense yes so you know as you know they’ve uh prescott has added some more longer um runways and they just built a whole new terminal beautiful it’s gorgeous it’s gorgeous but here’s the beauty you come in you live in here in prescott you go park your car for free you walk right into the prescott regional airport they take you through security you hop on a security secure like you’re the only you know we’re making conversation with all the dsm oh yeah it’s really like socializing it’s a beautiful thing and so we sit down and we just walk out onto the tarmac and get on the little 50-seater jet by united and then zip zip right into lax yeah hour later you’re in lax you fly into terminal 7 which is i don’t know if there’s seven or eight terminals but it’s kind of on the end of the ring so you’re able to bypass a lot of the congestion with the uh the other airport so it’s easy which is really nice easy to get in and out your people can pick you up easily uh you park for free at prescott’s you know as i said so you don’t have to pay for that yeah your family or you know get on the uber right there not a lot of traffic and off you go to have fun in la or whatever if you want to call it yes and we did uh airbnb which was the first time we really did an airbnb it was cool and uh full kitchen we spent too much time but next time we’ll cook more and order in more we ordered more thai food than we could we could swallow i do love me thai and it was wonderful we had all the kids and their friends you know the place that we rented had a beautiful front yard yeah it will have kind of like a picnic so it’s great since the world is opening up again uh it’s not like la that’s alive denver’s alive so we have daily flights to denver word is they’re going to start having daily flights they’re going to try to maybe add a couple of other cities you can also fly down to phoenix and catch a flight there to your connecting flight so the word is out uh the world is alive again yeah the cities are opening up yeah so we’re planning a trip down to costa rica with some really great friends of ours in december yep out of preston are we oh yeah oh rested flying so you don’t even have to take the shuttle you can just take a quick little puddle jumper into phoenix no no we’re going over to l.a nevermind nevermind cool yeah yeah it’s just so nice uh if if possible if you’re living in prescott try to start your flight your trip trying to start it from prescott absolutely it may cost a little more a little more but boy is it worth this it’s so stress-free it’s delightful and then when you land you just hop right in your car and go home and your luggage is just waiting for you it’s already there so that is our little tip to you uh cities are opening up la is alive really all the big cities are alive again live and well you can fly to him right out of prescott right now and don’t have the time of your life maybe any help with your real estate you can contact us at 713-302-1964 that is the pickle lady hotline there it is if you’re more of an online person go to pickle411.com yep as our source of information for buyers sellers everyone in between lots of information about prescott living in prescott what it’s like to live in prescott where to eat what to do we cover it up we cover it all we love it here all free yeah pickle for warm duck okay hope to hear from you soon take care happy flying

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Solar Compass

Identifying where the sun rises and sets isn’t just for constructing megalithic structures in bronze age agricultural societies any more.

Sun exposure can greatly impact the living experience you have in your home and its value in the marketplace. Is there a precise way to track the sun’s path in the sky across the seasons of the year?

Well, ask a nerdy question, get a nerdy answer in this week’s episode. (Always be careful what you ask for.)

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Bypass Prescott’s Switchbacks

If you’re driving in to Prescott from I-10, your GPS will likely take you through some annoying switchbacks that run between Yarnell and Prescott. Unless you’re into motion sickness, you might want to bypass them. Here’s how to do that.

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It’s no secret that a mass exodus is underway in California, as more and more retirees are taking their money and leaving a state they feel has turned its back on them. This video explores why they are leaving and why more and more of them are turning to Prescott as their refuge.

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