Making the Move – The "Prescott Pickle Lady"

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.

Video Transcript

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

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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.

Video Transcript

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

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Sewer Scope Inspection

Sewer scoping isn’t sexy, but if you watch today you’ll find out how it could save you from dealing with a lot of crap. Literally!

Video Transcript

hello peeps hello or he says hello peeps hello peeps di Rand bro Here I Am the pickle lady I’m the sidekick he’s the sidekick we are here to talk to you about some real estate things that we think might be helpful to you yep uh something we’ve learned and it’s very important um especially if you’re buying an older home yes so any home you know gosh earlier than the 90s I would highly recommend that you have with something something that’s called a sewer scope Sewer Scope it’s not sexy it’s not fun it is not sexy um it’s nothing to do with you personally they don’t they won’t scope you okay yeah you’re not getting scoped you you won’t get personally scoped so they basically they find uh uh they find the wash out for the sewer it connects your your home to the city sewer yes and they put a well they put a camera and a snake camera with a camera and they check the uh how well the pipes are doing um if they’re functioning they check to see a lot of these homes especially homes in the 40s and 50s are with galvanized pipes or pipes that have eroded because they’re very old old which uh a lot of people don’t know if you buy an older home and the pipes are corroded and filled with rust um they stop performing Y and then it can come back up into your house and then you call the city and say hey my pipes aren’t working you got to come fix this well guess what it’s on you nope um they do not come replace pipes in your front yard to the city sewer they don’t they’re just resp responsibity they’re responsible from the hookup on that’s right but you are responsible for getting your your to to their pipe so if your pipes aren’t working then they’re going to have to be fixed and it is very expensive it can be very expensive because they even have to do Street repair yeah you got to jack it all up sidewalks streets curve all that stuff has to be jacked up and then um and then replaced and then it can be very bad very very costly could be 30 to 40,000 so anytime we sell a home that’s exceptionally you before 1980 we always have a sewer scope go out because particularly if there’s a lot of mature Landscaping there’ll be a lot of trees and bushes well you also will get root intrusion and so those will go right through those Rusty pipes they’ll find a little opening and keep digging the way into there and then all of a sudden you’re clogged with rust and Roots yeah so nothing can pass out into the city sewer and then oh god that hurt something happened I had some root I think I had root intrusion myself root intrusion that was weird that was so weird one one thing I’ll point out we looked at some warranties that are available um home warranties home warranties that might cover that and there are some that are out there but usually they exclude rust and they exclude root Ro which are the two things that are going to kill you so if you buy an older home we always recommend um ask the seller uh go ahead and and mitigate these root intrusion and you can get it reamed out it’s not the end of the world yeah it’s just something that you should definitely investigate before you buy that home because you don’t want to find out five years down the line you’ve got a $40,000 pipe repair and maybe warranty will cover it maybe it won’t so I would always thing that’s bad about that to at least in this market is if a home is older generally it’s more uh less expensive so you might be paying $40,000 for a sewer repair uh a sewer pipe repair on a home that cost $400,000 yeah you know that’s that kind of hurts yeah and so you want to especially if you buy an older home have the Sewer Scope see what’s going on they could be perfectly fine they could indicate some root intrusion have it reamed out yeah and once you and remove those bushes remove those trees so it won’t happen again then your pipes will continue to perform so it’s not the end all like oh everything has to be replaced that’s not necessarily true it’s just things to mitigate that so your pipes continue to perform at top you know top top capacity one thing to know if you do have an older home uh you like once a month you can flush down what is it that’s right it’s called copper sulfate copper sulfate so if you’re in an older home right now it’s simple simple simple and you’ve got a lot of trees and maybe you don’t want to cut them down have the pipes ringed out and have those roots chopped out of there then every month after that to prevent further root intrusion uh you get a half a cup of copper sulfate and all you do is pour it in your potty pour it in your toilet only your toilet nothing else not your sink not the bathtub just the toilet flush flush flush that copper sulfate will get in there and dissolve any future Roots yeah the roots the the the trees don’t like it so yeah trees don’t like it so so you that it’s if you’re going to get if you get your pipes reamed you want to start doing that if you haven’t had your pipes reamed yet uh you might want to just start doing it because that’s cheap the reaming is not that expensive at the very least just start with the copper sulfate and uh you might prevent some problems yeah I do believe to have your pipes red out I think it’s like 175 175 an hour okay so if you’ve got extensive extend you know I mean you’ve got long pipes I mean that could be a little but it’s well worth it particularly if you’re buying a beautiful older home in the historic district or something like that it’s an easy fix yeah but it’s something you should be aware of most people don’t aren’t aware yeah yeah so yeah get your pipes reamed out yeah it doesn’t sound right but you know what I mean picol lady really knows her uh really knows her that’s our tip of the day if you like tips place to go is pickle 411.com that is our free information site whether you buy or sell or somewhere in between there’ll be something there waiting for you that will amaze us down educate inform and Mesmerize there you go and it’s all absolutely free that’s right and we’re happy to share our wealth of knowledge and every day and our Shenanigans and our Shenanigans mostly Shenanigans mostly shenan every day I learn something new sometimes I don’t want to learn but hey that’s life yeah living and learning and learning that’s what we say every day all right my friends hope this is helpful to you particularly if you’re looking at a Charming older Cottage we know the people to get your sewer scoped and we’re happy to recommend all right take care and have a beautiful beautiful day bye

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Post Possession

Sometimes the simplest solutions are not the best.  That's especially true when it comes to moving out of a home you just sold.  You'd think it would be no big deal to leave a few things in the home after you close - especially if the buyers don't mind.

In this episode we explain why that's not a good idea.

Video Transcript

good evening good evening people hello hello hello hello hello this is uh Randall and Diane bro here in the beautiful city of Prescott Arizona we are your number one top team in terms of service connections helping you find the right place uh and we would love if you’re coming to visit and you find a great place if you want to talk about something that could happen and you might think about and we’re going to tell you why it’s not always the best thing not always the best idea that is post possession post possession so post possession sounds like a technical term basically what that means is if you are selling your house and your house is closed it’s no longer your house right but you want to keep some of your stuff in the house after you’ve closed that is post possession and it’s kind of a it’s kind of a bad idea um just in terms of lawsuits so there are millions of homes that are bought and sold every year uh you know when you’ve got that much going on everything happens at some point and people have just found that in transactions where there was post-possession it could lead to some crazy lawsuits it can be pretty scary so a lot of people are like oh we really like the seller and the seller really likes the buyer it’s a great idea would you mind you know or sometimes the seller says I’d like to stay in the house for two months after you buy and some sellers even will say I won’t even charge you you know rent right yeah but I still want to stay here yes um and some people are fine with that I and my broker not a good idea it’s uh can work it it can be very very scary and even the Best Buy or seller relationship can go sour fast and then if that seller is still keeping all of their things in the house or you’re keeping your things in the house and you’re like I could have sworn I left that jewelry box yeah where is it now where is it now yeah you would be surprised or God forbid there’s uh Mother Nature comes along and the roof starts leaking and your beautiful artwork that you had left stored there gets damaged I mean it just opens a whole can of worms that can be really really bad and you know sometimes we try to explain this to clients they don’t want to hear it they’re like but they’re friendly we’re good we’re good we have a good working relationship yeah yeah you’d be surprised how fast that can go south yeah well if if you have a seller that let’s say we want to close and the seller wants to stay there a month or two months you can fix that right so that is essentially a short-term lease you can do an official lease it is a legal document and that it and they’re the only people who are in the house only their possessions are in the house uh and so and you’ve got a legal document that is a contract by the way you need to have some consideration not a good practice Yeah and the reason why is it’s not a valid contract if there’s no consideration so that’s just a technical even if you just put a hundred dollars not even a hundred dollars and you come to terms that’s fine there has to be some consideration for the contract to be valid uh you’ve got a contract in place uh there’s only one party in the house there’s only one party’s possessions in the house that’s workable yeah we can do that even if it’s just a week or a few days you can do a very short-term lease and you can make that work uh maybe not so good is the buyer moves in and you still have possessions of the seller there you can never go buy a handshake we’re good friends right this was a good transaction let’s just shake hands we would never as professionals uh and is one of the top Professionals in the city yeah not a good practice not a good practice you know I always have something illegal in place yeah you leave something you spill coffee on it or or you know um technically from a a legal standpoint anything that is left in the house after close becomes the virus you know if you don’t move it it’s theirs um so as a seller you should understand that um as a as a buyer you know they if they you have their possessions in your house and something happens to it uh you may see them in court you know you’d be surprised uh so you know when we kind of say hey I wouldn’t do that I am not comfortable with that I’ve never heard of a zero free rent back for two months it’s not that we don’t want to help you I mean we will we’ll make it happen but please take our advice we’ve seen things go really really bad and we’re trying to help you legally and you know that’s what you need to do you need to make it above board and you know shaking someone’s hand and saying I promise I’ll be good yeah uh can sometimes backfire yeah a lot of what we do for you is prevention you know just trying to keep bad things from happening and if they don’t that’s fine you know but precautions are always a good idea always we’re looking out for your best interest and we always want to protect you that’s that’s what our job is yeah so anyway when you’re thinking about post-possession we’ll try to get you a nice contract written up for a lease back where everything’s good and it’s all above board and you’re legal and you don’t have to worry God forbid if something bad should happen exactly so keep all that in mind when you’re looking and you want post possession and oh they said it’s okay listen to Mom and Dad Mom and Dad are here to help you we know we can go back we’ve done hundreds of transactions hundreds and hundreds believe me we know so that’s our little so for the day so if you want to talk about post-possession we’ll make it happen but do it in a way that protects you protects both parties that’s our tip of the day if you want more tips a place to go is pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you’re a buyer or seller or somewhere in between there’s something waiting for you that will amaze and Astound you and tickle your funny bone there you go all free all free take care great rest of your day bye

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Love is in the Air

Since Valentine's Day is upon us, we thought we would talk about what the world needs most right now: Love.  We discuss the kind of people you are likely to run into and the relationships you can look forward to once you move to our little town. 

All heartfelt.  In fact, tears may have been shed.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps and this is Randall and Diane bro here in Prescott and we wanted to wish everybody out there a very Happy Valentine’s Day Happy Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day you can give me a kiss yes nothing what kind of accent is that I know it’s kind of my Texas code oh no Ikeas Texas has two syllables yes he is yeah yeah so uh we’re going to talk about love is in the air Love Is in the Air I was in the air and I put on my pretty little pink jacket to kind of commemorate day and uh the Valentine Vibe one wanted to kind of give out the Valentine vibe to everybody out there so we wanted to talk about something that I have found which is um unusual I haven’t really experienced this in all the other areas I’ve lived in which have been a lot but when we moved to Prescott most people here are already retired established they’re just enjoying life enjoying the good life and what I found is I’ve really made some very deep friendships here people here are very open to forming long-lasting good friendships they have your back here they really do I I think maybe in the real world in the real life when you’re struggling to make your living and saving up for your retirement there’s a lot of competition and right you know there’s keeping up with the Joneses and um that’s life in America I guess um it could be just Prescott it could be just retirement but what we have found is that people reach a certain age and they come to a certain place and they relax everybody’s chill here everyone’s chill here super chill there’s no uh competition there’s no everybody’s just very laid back and very accepting of each other we’ve all had different life experiences we’ve all walked different paths um but now everybody’s like you know what we’re done we’re good and they just enjoy who you are for what you are yeah there isn’t any judgment there isn’t any so we have a little bit too much to drink and we’re dancing a little crazy we’re all embraced everybody’s just having a good time there isn’t oh can you see this can you see that oh she has this and I don’t have there’s none of that all of that is over and it’s really very refreshing yeah very refreshing yeah everybody’s just like you know I accept you for who you are I love it I have made more friends here I’ve lived I’ve had good friends in other areas but it’s just all I mean most of the people I meet here and spend time with we’ve become good friends absolutely no Frenemies no friends we have a lot of clients that have become quite dear friends as well and we love that so the circle just keeps growing and growing and growing and it’s it’s really deep nice friendships these are people any one of them I could call whenever middle of the night and say I’ve got a problem and they would be there they have your back yeah and I don’t know if it’s a symptom of life in Prescott because we’re so chill and laid back I don’t know all I know is I love it yeah I think it’s so nice it’s just nice to hang with people who are who were great to have your back they have your back you reach a certain age too you you have uh you know health issues or yeah or or this and that and if you do you’ll find that people here will be there for you yeah they’ll help you out and can I take you to the doctor yeah can I bring you a meal um it’s lovely there isn’t the hustle and bustle of you know life and running from job to job we are good friends and they are here for you we’re here for each other yeah and it’s it’s lovely plus we just have a good time yeah uh they’re a lot of fun yeah and um lots of things to learn everybody’s had a different experience so you know maybe you’re talking about adult children this that and the other it’s just nice to have sound you know people that you can bounce things off of and get some good advice yeah absolutely business-wise too right this wise too yeah lots of smart folks here lots and lots of smart people accomplished very well accomplished but I think the other favorite thing that I love here which I’ve never had and at first it kind of took my breath away or kind of made me feel wait what but people here a lot of our friends end with okay sure do love you have a good day love you and they always you know just on a basic phone call hey okay good to hear from you okay all right I’ll talk to you soon love you and I I love when people say that I think it’s great yeah everybody’s like okay love you they have other areas of the country that we’ve lived in spend time in no people from and unless you were you know you were born there and you know your grandparents were born there uh you’re not part of the community you’re not going to be in the fold and that’s just not the case here every now for the most part is uh from someplace else they’ve moved here to retire there are natives here obviously but a lot of the people you meet they are coming here just like you would be uh and don’t know anyone so they bond yeah wait yeah that’s a good word we all Bond we’re all our own little family and uh honestly it’s kind of nice to have somebody say love you you know especially as we get older you know moms and dads are gone so it’s kind of nice to hear it from somebody you know what I mean and um it’s sweet yeah it’s really sweet and uh it’s nice to have these really good bonds yeah so if you’re thinking about Prescott you’re worried about how well I make friends how like everybody here is pretty open to Friendship yeah and uh you’ll make good food and good friends good people they have your back so to all of our friends out there you know who you are we’re selling we love you yeah we’re selling them I’m not going to give you their names because they’re I don’t want to share them all no but that’s not true we’re glad to introduce you to people absolutely we’ve got some really good people here and you can meet them too so don’t be afraid about making new friends here you’ll meet some good quality people and we’re very lucky to have our friends in our lives and we thank you guys I’m not going to tear up I’m going to keep it together so the the tip of luck the the today’s love this is a tip of Love tip of love if you want if that could be a different country that’s a different show yeah we’re going to keep this PG so uh if you’re looking for more tips a place to go just pickle411.com whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere between there is something there waiting for you that will entertain Amaze astound and tickle you absolutely and so to everybody out there Happy Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day cheers to you Happy Valentine’s Day yeah tell people you love that you love them absolutely that’s what the day is for that’s what the day’s for bye folks go out with love bye

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Clever Low-Pressure Tactic

Buying and selling real estate can be one of the highest stress situations you'll ever face... or you can turn the tables and make it downright enjoyable.

In this episode, we reveal a little-known low-pressure trick that lowers your stress and gives you the edge in negotiating.

Video Transcript

hello this is Diana Randall bro here coming to you live from Prescott Arizona we’re happy to talk to you about if you’re thinking about moving and you’re like wow I gotta sell first I don’t know what a drag I can’t get my time frame to line up so we wanted to talk to you about buy first then sell yeah it’s a new program it’s designed to help you out one of the things we observed is that when we have buyer we have buyers that are um full of cash a lot of times what they’ll do is they’ll just buy a house right they’ll buy a house they’ll move their stuff in and then they sell it really reduces the uh the pressure associated with the whole deal uh it doesn’t force them into a house really quick so they have the time to find exactly what they want and when they’re negotiating on the buy side they’re not under time pressure they usually negotiate better deals and on the sell side same thing they’re not in a hurry and so they can negotiate a better deal uh not a lot of people fall in that category and unfortunately they can’t um enjoy those benefits but now there’s a new program that’ll do that and it’s called buy then sell so buy themselves yeah it’s great so we have a number of contacts that we can connect you with where you can get a bridge loan but it’s not the bridge loans of yesteryear this is a really great product uh you can identify a home here in Prescott that you absolutely love you don’t have to worry about losing out because you’re under a contingency and perhaps your home didn’t sell in time so you can identify it put the offer in if you qualify if you qualify depending on your credit of course if you’ve got great credit you get cash up front from the company they give you the cash up front for you to buy the home that you’ve identified here in Prescott you then can negotiate better right because you quote have a cash deal yeah from the from the seller’s point of view your offer is a cash offer it’s considered a cash offer which always gets priority always a cash is King cash will win out on any kind of bidding war that you may be in so you will win that you’ll get the home you’ll get to move in you’ll you’ll get to slowly but surely move in without all the pressure of oh my gosh I’ve got to sell my house and now I got to get the house packed up and I got to get out of here this lets you have some Breathing Room it lets you identify the home you love you won’t lose it you can buy it you know it’s there it’s safe it’s sound it’s waiting for you you can slowly start to move in yeah then you can stage your existing home that you want to sell and and not have to worry about being there and Fielding calls for showings and all that you pack up you move here to Prescott you let it sit there yeah you let it sit there while it’s selling and it’s a lot less pressure it’s a lot less trouble yeah uh you don’t have to keep your house picked up and cleaned while you’re waiting for the next showing you don’t have to sit there and be like I have 10 days to get this sold otherwise I’m going to lose my house in Prescott yes all that foolishness goes out of the window yes the good thing is there are fees associated with getting the buy then sell program but here’s the thing the amount of money that you pay is offset by the extra money you’ll get by being able to negotiate better deals on your buy side and your sales side that’s true and honestly we’ve done this a couple of times and it’s almost a wash I mean it really ends up being very cost effective yeah and when you just think about the the reduction in pressure dealing with the movers the moving right and the state the logistics the logistics yeah it’s just kind of a no-brainer kind of a no-brainer the other good thing is I think a lot of people think oh if I get a bridge loan I’m then paying two mortgages I’m paying the mortgage on my existing home and I’m paying the mortgage on no you have up to a year to get your existing homes sold yes you do not have to pay any not even interest during that time frame now the interest is accrue yeah it’s a crew but it’s not like you will have an additional house payment or interest payment to make during that year process it won’t take you a year to sell you might accrue a little interest for two or three months yeah that’s it then you sell you pay off the bridge loan yeah boom comes out of your comes out of yourself it’s a beautiful thing if you have amazing credit uh and you qualify we highly suggest it because sometimes we get people who come in they absolutely fall in love with a house and they’re heartbroken because they know I don’t even have my house on the market yet right there’s no way I can get this together I can get this sold to purchase this one right and it’s very upsetting you know to leave a home you love that you’ve you really want so we think it’s a great product we’ve had enough friends uh it’s a great idea use it and I love it if you think about it you the pressure is okay so let’s say you sell your home first well now you got to find a home really quick and you don’t want to that’s a lot of pressure you gotta hustle down here and yeah I gotta find it got it and you’re gonna settle for something maybe that’s not on the market right because maybe that perfect one isn’t quite there it isn’t there so you’ll be like well this one is okay I mean you’ll you end up settling we hate when our clients we want you to be happy we don’t want you to settle we want you to be happy and excited or you find the perfect home and you put an offer in it’ll it’ll have to be a contingency yeah so you’re going to have to pay top dollar yep and then you’re going to have to Discount your home wherever you live now to get it to move as fast as possible hustle it’s just it’s you’re behind the eight ball this gets you out from behind me so if you are fortunate enough to be in a position that you could qualify for this bridge loan product hey it’s something to really consider if you really had enough and you want to get out of Dodge where you are yeah there’s other options available to you yes that will help you get that done faster and quicker now we have no vested interest in this at all oh absolutely no actually we’re not allowed to have any vested interest in the lenders that we we recommend to you just to be clear yes and if you want to do it the hard way you know we’ll help you that’s what we do absolutely do it well uh but this is another option for you so something we just thought we’d throw that out there to you folks out there and um who are still thinking of the bridge loan as the olden days when you had to pay all this extra payments every month just wanted to give you a little heads up the product has changed it’s very effective it’s easy and it’s well worth it if you are ready to really make the change and you don’t want to wait another six months absolutely so that’s our tip of the day tip of the day if you’re in the tips the place to go is pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller or somewhere in between there is something waiting for you there will Amaze astound and entertain you and tickle your funny bone heavily hopefully all free all three all right thank you for listening we appreciate your time and have a great day bye

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Hotel Recommendations

Heading to Prescott to check out the city?  In this episode, we give our thoughts on the best places to stay... which may surprise you.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello this is Diana Randall bro here coming live to you from Prescott Arizona and uh we’re launching into a happy 2023. woohoo absolutely can’t wait so we were already into the first week of January and we are pleasantly surprised tons of calls right tons of calls tons of calls things are picking up it’s heating up again so it’s been a great first week of January lots of people coming in for the first time to visit and the number one question is where should we stay where should you stay where should you stay when you come here well we kind of are of the penguin of the we are of the opinion we are of the opinion I’m struggling with my words today that’s why I’m here that’s right Mr sidekick’s gonna fill in for me when I can when I can’t get it out but anyway um instead of trying like an Airbnb or something like that we kind of think just go with the old tried and true you’re going to be busy we’re going to be looking at houses yeah uh stay around the square then when you’re done you can easily walk to some nice restaurants see some of the nightlife on Whiskey Row and uh so our top three yeah would be Spring Hill Suites Spring Hill Suite so Spring Hill Suites is a couple of blocks from the main Square here obviously it’s a chain hotel so you know exactly what you’re getting right if this is your first visit to Prescott I wouldn’t go too far off the beaten path in terms of your hotel Choice there are some old sort of I don’t know one-off hotels you know they’re not chains and you may like that kind of thing but if you get into some place the room is small or the bathroom is weird or you run out of hot water don’t be so Charming yeah it’s going to color your whole visit to Prescott so I first trip in just driving through chains yeah and Spring Hills is a is a great choice it’s comfortable they have breakfast there and it’s close to the square another good one is the Hilton Garden which is a relatively new hotel a little more upscale about the same distance from the action uh that one is on Montezuma at the end of Sheldon Spring Hill is on uh Sheldon Sheldon yeah right now uh Spring Hill is super close too you go a couple of blocks to my favorite one of my favorite restaurants papa is Italian all within walking distance My Thai Cottage oh yeah exactly and the same thing with the Hilton yeah Hilton Garden there’s a great restaurant called Triple Creek in Hilton Garden a number of places within a block there’s a great pizza place there’s Farm Provisions lots of good stuff so all within walkable distance and you know you can feel safe you don’t have to worry it’s all great neighborhoods honestly there really isn’t anything unsafe around Prescott yeah negotiate across in the street absolutely easy walking easy walking the other one we also like to recommend is the haciampa Inn yes so this is a old school yeah Lovely Hotel beautiful great Lobby great bar there come on all Art Deco the rooms have been recently renovated we can’t really say well we haven’t seen them so we can’t really say yay your name on the runes themselves but if you absolutely have to do a non-traditional Hotel a non-chain Hacienda and it’s probably your best bet so charm 1927 1927 it is a block from the square super location yeah they have amazing restaurant there a great bar with music sometimes and and it’s just extremely Char I mean completely Art Deco yeah it’s lovely don’t blame us if you don’t like the room yeah I can’t vouch for the room but we have heard that they’ve recently renovated and um we hear it’s nice it’s where we always like to meet our clients too yeah yeah we always meet in the lobby we chit chat before we head out for the day and all of these are also good places to stay when you finally pull the trigger you get your house here sometimes there’s a lapse when you’re waiting for the moving van to come all of these offer long-term renting so if you have a week where you’re waiting to get in your house yeah they have some sweet hotels further afield actually when we moved here we stayed in the Spring Hill Swim sure did uh they allowed pets which yes we had three of them at the time yeah so uh yeah that that it it and it was very comfortable and very nice yeah so for all of my fellow pickle peeps out there who were thinking about uh upcoming visits uh those are the top three that we would recommend for your initial visit then as you come here and you get your feet wet and you learn more the lay the land you might discover something else you might want to try but I think just for the first time these are great ones to stay in terms of being close to the square and we’ve had a lot of friends who’ve done who’ve stayed there and then they said wow it was good for us to stay there because then we discovered restaurants and we really learned more about Prescott yeah so that’s our Spiel for the day tip of the day so if you are looking to come to Prescott anytime soon check out those three hotels book your appointment call us up we’ll have a good day we’ll go take you on a nice tour of the city as well as look at some great houses absolutely we got plenty more tips for you if you’re into that if you want to check them out you can go to pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you are a buyer seller or somewhere in between there is something there that will Astound you that’s right so you should check it out all completely free free yeah Free People free absolutely we don’t charge anything yeah real estate and we’re here to serve you we are full service it’s full service full service all right that’s it for today have a lovely lovely rest of your day and uh here’s to a beautiful start to 2023. Cheers

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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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Moving Sales

Need to adjust to your new downsized lifestyle?  Or maybe you've got some special items that just won't make the transition, and you'd like to see them find a good home.  One great option is holding a moving sale.  In this episode, we discuss how we can help you with that.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello this is Diane and Randall bro Randall who said it best Diane and Randall bro you don’t know my name yet I said Randall it just came out weird about it I like the way that came out but anyway that’s right very sexy yeah my former life has come out I am reincarnated reincarnated that’s what the fortune teller said I believe it I don’t know why I just believe it there are days here to talk about moving sales today this is my new favorite thing we love doing this something as a full service concierge yes real estate team yes that we provide and we love doing it it’s a great time yeah when you sell your house it’s not just about selling your house obviously you go to a realtor to help you sell your house but selling your house is just part of a process they got a lot of stuff that has to happen yep all part of that and one of them besides crying as you’re packing up yeah all the packing and everything is you may have some things that you want to donate you may have some things you want to sell yes so a lot of our sellers they like to have a moving sale they like to see some of their favorite pieces go to people they know in the neighborhood or just just somebody nice so moving sales is something to make a little extra money you just make sure that some of those special things that you’re not going to have room for anymore go to someone I mean as you know when you move especially if you’ve been somewhere a while you are probably downsizing and you need to divest divest the best of your belongings what do you do what do you do so we as part of our service we like to help you uh set up a moving sale yes so we will come over we like to work on the porch or wherever your garage uh help you the day of the sale we will promote it on all of our websites we will promote it to you directly to Realtors we will uh put it on all the signage uh we will promote the hell out of it yeah we do we do and uh arrange for so we started doing this a while it’s just so so successful so much fun and uh our sellers really appreciated the neighbors really appreciate it yes yeah it’s just a very positive experience so it’s become just part of our stick now it is just a matter of course we ask people do you want a moving sale we’re help we we bring our own we have large conference tables yeah that we bring over we share with you we help you set it up uh when it’s all said and done we uh try to help if you’re ready to load it up and go donate it for anything you’re not taking with you that maybe hasn’t sold I mean we do it all we’ve even had to rent a U-Haul truck for some some yeah and uh load it up and take it over to Goodwill yeah we did some some things that we were left with we brought over a lot of people yeah so we listen people what basically what we’re saying is this is full service this is full service we don’t just put a sign in your yard and say see ya and we’ll let you know when you get a contract yeah there’s a lot we know we get that and we’re going to help you with everything we possibly and it’s really just speaking from our own experience when we moved from Texas oh my gosh we had so much stuff we didn’t even know where to start and what to do and how to handle it and so a lot of our what we offer to our clients is just from our own personal experience and so we find the moving sales very effective of course I always have my pickles that I hand out yep and you never know who might come to your moving sale right and a lot of people come from Vehicles well they do but you know I didn’t end up buying something so it’s that’s fine then they end up you know either buying your stuff or they’re like uh you know maybe they might even be interested in your house you never know another quid pro quo here is that the pick lady and I have first dibs on your stuff yes thank you we basically purchases we get some good swag some good stuff lovely lovely and we’re like yeah can we could I buy this instead sure so yeah it’s a lot of fun and you know we just kind of sit on the porch and you really get to become good friends with your sellers and we it’s just a good find something good bonding so anyway if you are looking about listing look thinking about listing or selling uh keep that in mind we’re happy to help you with everything sale or whatever help you may need I mean we are truly Hands-On so moving sales is a good tip well if you’re looking for other good tips place to go is pickle411.com our free information site uh in particular you might want to check out if you’re a seller you might want to check out our seller’s Corner which is all the stuff that we have that’s specifically for sellers so I hope to hear from you soon and uh always stop by our moving sale I’ll have pickles for you for you all right take care have a wonderful evening bye

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Good Neighboring

If you're coming from a big city with all its big city ways, you may have developed some survival skills that won't serve you so well in a sweet little town like Prescott.  In this episode, we discuss what neighbors are like here and how you can best become a welcomed part of the community.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello hello hello hello peeps I felt a song coming up yeah I was thinking Age of Aquarius kind of somebody here is teaching himself the piano so yeah all night long I hear the 80s Aquarius over and over and over it’s been great there is aligning with Mars that’s what they say this is Diana Randall bro here in Prescott I am your local pickle lady I always have pickles on me so in fact yesterday I’d say this I was at the gas station and three guys came up to the van I have to be honest I was a little alarmed at first I was like hey can I I was they just showed up and they’re like do you have pickles and I relaxed and I said I sure do and they’re like do you really I said I sure do so if you see me in my van which has pickles emblazoned all over it I always carry pickles with me and I’m happy to share them with anybody even at the gas station she produces about five gallons of pickles a month that’s right and we actually one of the things on the calendar every month is the recycle production restock the cars with Pickles that’s right so anyway happy to share but uh and that’s that’s just all in as we call in a size this is an assignment that’s what we call it in the biz In The Biz this is inside yeah but anyway uh so uh this is Randall and Diane bro here your local agents uh Elena she’s speculating and I am also the pickle lady I I wear both hats and I enjoy wearing both hats uh so we wanted to talk today a little bit something about something called good names good neighboring something important you need to understand about the city of Prescott yes is that city of Prescott is a small neighborly Town yes and the whole idea I remember years ago there was a insurance company and their slogan was like a good neighbor State Farm is there a State Farm full yeah State Farm yeah okay uh there was a company there was a company name which is a great whoever did that advertising great slogan great slogan yes the only problem is people have lost the concept of a good neighbor yeah so they had to change their they had to change their marketing because nobody knows what that means I know well I hope it’s still alive and well it’s still are very much alive and well in Prescott and so I kind of wanted to give everybody a little education when you’re moving here and particularly if you’re coming from a big city or a big metropolitan area you’re used to get congestion and traffic and your walls are up in Europe you’re always on the defense and you’re you know there isn’t um that one-on-one contact because you’re afraid somebody might you know jump you or something yeah yeah when you move to Prescott leave all of that behind in the big city don’t need to do that here um if you have a problem with a neighbor here you don’t need to immediately go to homeco or your HOA company yeah you don’t need to immediately or call the cops or anything like that we are a sweet still laid-back yeah gentle little town you know people you can nicely go knock on the door and say hey can I talk to you about something yeah and um everybody here is pretty chill yeah uh provided you don’t go in with guns blazing and your calm cool and collected most people here are very receptive and kind and say oh my goodness thank you for sharing this with me I didn’t know and I’m going to work with you on whatever the issue may be well it has a little warning here too if you do go in guns blazing and call the police or oh yeah your HOA or whatever for being a good neighbor your your well is going to get poisoned like we again we are a small town yes and word spreads fast yes so if you do something like you move in and three weeks later you’re reporting somebody if you’re brand new head out yeah and that’s it then you’re the difficult that’s your brand that’s right so here’s the thing when you move when you do that usually when you move in neighborhoods here people have been here a number of years so we all have established relationships we’re all neighborly if you’re the new kid on the Block and you’re only here two or three weeks and you’re already starting to complain about somebody and Reporting them or calling the police it’s not going to be good for you you’re going to be labeled that new difficult neighbor who came from the big city yeah you don’t want that reputation you don’t want it and you don’t need it chances are you’re going to come here you’re not knowing anyone that’s right I want to develop some friends not a good person not a good first step so to all of our folks moving from big cities from all over Washington California uh Oregon we’ve got people from New Jersey you know what we’re chill here it’s chill why you want to be here that’s why you came here yeah yeah so we just want to give you a little public service uh information so that you you get started on the right foot absolutely take that first right step uh no need to do all that and of course we certainly don’t want to talk about suing and all that oh no we don’t do that here we’re chill uh Prescott’s Uber chilled yeah yeah nice small town friendly people will respectfully listen um and try to help you out and make adjustments if they need to for whatever you’re having an issue with hopefully a good tip a good tip so just want to let you know leave your big city ways we had to do it too we came from a big city and we really relax don’t flip people off right yes it’s chill it’s chill it’s a lovely little town lovely little town keep it copacetic if you want more tips the the if you’re looking for other tips place together411.com that is our free information center whether you are a buyer seller somewhere in between months of free and wonderful information there waiting for you about real estate about Prescott about life life philosophy how to be a good neighbor how to be a good neighbor yeah all those things it’s all there try to be chill all right thanks folks thanks for listening to this public service announcement we certainly appreciate it and I hope you have a beautiful day take care bye

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Renting First

Moving to a new town for a new life is a big, bold move.  Lots of our clients consider renting first... kind of like putting a toe in the water before diving in.  In this episode, we explore this option and share lots of good tips and some pitfalls to avoid.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello beeps this is Diane bro your fellow pickle lady and this is my pickle peep Randall bro Mr sidekick Mr sidekick pickle ladies sidekick uh love to meet all kinds of new folks and make your dreams come true that’s right so what we get a lot of questions about is I’ve sold my house I’m not sure where I want to go maybe I’ll rent first and that is that can be a very sensible logical step to take uh but I must let you know if that’s what you have in your pocket you think I’m just going to rent first and then I’ll find uh you should know right now Rancho properties are pretty hard to find yes in Prescott um just to give you a heads up uh they are a lot of them are already taken up we’ve got a lot of new building going on so there are a lot of homes that are being rented out for up to two years now the speculating has inside scoop on some places uh but just as a general warning it’s hard to find good rentals it’s very hard to find a good rental yeah and the thing to remember is um there are very few that will allow you to go month to month yeah it’s gonna I know one person which I’m happy to share when you call me um but for the most part they want a minimum six month lease yeah if not most of them want a year yeah so keep that in mind if you think I’ll just rent a place for three months and then I’ll find my dream home and buy that may not work out for you that’s right because most of them are not month to month and most of the these may not be where you want to stay that’s right um although there are some great rental properties out there you should be aware it’s a little harder to find a great outstanding rental that you would want to live in that will only give you six months most of them uh one at least a year so keep that in mind it’s a little bit harder to find because we have had a lot of new construction so people have grabbed up those great rentals and they’re staying put while their homes are being finished you might have better luck with Airbnb yes and kind of the fault the ultimate fallback is just to run a sweep yes you can go like to a residency yeah like a Residence Inn something like that again if you can find availability uh you can get a better deal if you rent a month at a time yes uh in terms of finding a new home it’s not going to take you six months to find no if you are ready to buy uh you know a couple of months tops and you you’ll probably be ready to go uh yeah it’s it’s hard to find rentals a lot of people have the same idea yep if you haven’t really decided that Prescott is your city then uh yeah you don’t want to commit to six months you know you want it’s a lot plus it’s two moves yeah who wants to move and put everything in storage here and then pay for all the storage and then have another move and hire people to move you into your home so lots of things to think about when it comes to renting a little harder to find the logistics of it all the move of it all it can add a lot of extra expense yeah so things to all keep in mind I am very happy to share a number of rental companies that I can refer you to that perhaps they can help you find that place if that’s really what you want to do happy to do that and um so just keep that in mind though a little bit harder to find there is a lot of extra expense to moves yeah when we moved here we thought about renting and I thought oh dear God I can’t do another move yeah let me just find my place and move right in and jump in and just um you know start my life yeah so that’s what we did yeah I would recommend a one-two punch and that’s what we did your first bunch is come here and spend some time here yep uh I would say a week you know uh usually I mean we people come in for tours and by the end of the day like this place is amazing so it’s not going to take you that long to make yourself decision not at all um so that’s your first punch once you know that you want to move to press it the next time you come if you’re ready to buy a call the pickle lady we will get you an amazing property and we’ll we’ll be able to make that happen to you so you have a nice smooth and easy transaction use it easy yeah don’t absolutely don’t do too much yeah but if you really want to I’ll try to help you and provide some names and hopefully you can find a great job yeah absolutely depends on availability all right just wanted to let you know rentals are not a dime a dozen here no so keep that in mind um because I don’t want you to be caught like I thought I could just rent and then you find out otherwise it’s a little harder that’s right so I want to give you that want to set your expectations okay all right so if you need any help from us feel free to contact us at uh you can find us at pickle411.com that is our information center all free all wonderful information all things real estate all things Prescott whether it’s buying selling homes or just having fun in a good cocktail there you go that’s a place to go that’s what we’re all about okay hope to hear from you soon thank you for listening and take care have a fantastic day bye 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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Picking the Right Lender

You may have heard that weirdness prevails in the real estate market these days, and nowhere is that more true than with lenders.  In short, lenders are struggling right now... big time.  In this episode, we discuss some of the major lender fumbles we've seen recently and how you can avoid the nightmare scenarios that have become all too commonplace in real estate transactions because of them.

Video Transcript

hello friends this is diana randall bro your local friendly husband and wife realtor team located in prescott arizona she’s depressed pickle lady that’s right i am her sidekick in arms that’s right sidekick have arms i’m not sure i’ll get some water i’ll get some more or at least some tools sidekick but yeah you probably do but tough topic too yeah a tough topic it’s something that um i try and try again some people listen and some people how shall i say i think they know better than mama and that is using an out of state lender so we’ve been having a lot of trouble with lenders um and that’s just i mean the lending process the lending process you know we’re going the whole covet thing and logistic problems and i i don’t know what but we’re finding it very hard to match our buyers with lenders who can close in a timely manner well yeah and this is my biggest pet peeve lately particularly if you use an out of state london oh i have a relationship with them i’ve been with wells fargo for 25 years it doesn’t mean a thing okay you are assuming that when you hand off this loan to somebody to start processing it that you’re going to have your particular banker every step of the way sadly my first month that’s not what happens they’ll have a separate team for that they have a separate team for that so the first person who sells you that loan they’re out of the picture they get their commission and they go off and go sell another loan yeah and then your loan is sold you know it’s passed on to another team and it goes into underwriting well every underwriter they pass on to another person to another person so when you run into a glitch and you call your original person they’re like oh that’s not me anymore now it’s joe and kathy and susie so then you may be hunting down these people who they’ve passed it on to somebody else you never get the same person so consequently um when we have a closing date which by the way is a contractual obligation you’re obligated to close on that date and lenders don’t seem to understand that it’s a contractual obligation and so this is what i tell some of these lenders hello it wasn’t a suggested closing date it’s like underground it’s like under contract this is a legal thing yeah if we’re supposed to close march first you’re supposed to have it all done march first so we’ll get a call from the we’ll get a call from the lender oh good news we got the appraisal scheduled for the fifth like okay we gotta close on the first we’re closing on the first that doesn’t help me yeah so a lot of times you know that’s very frustrating so from the get-go i call these out of state lenders and i say order your appraisal today don’t order it two weeks from now because we’re never going to close on time because a lot this is another thing you should you should know out-of-state lenders have to contact an appraisal uh company of their own in-house and then they that in-house appraisal company says let me get you an appraiser i don’t know who i don’t know anybody in that area but i’ll get one from phoenix what a nightmare because the phoenix appraiser comes up here he looks at it he doesn’t know the press get back i don’t know the market they don’t understand i understand the market to do a decent appraisal that’s correct and i’m sure the same is true you can’t get prescott appraisers and go down right really i mean you gotta know you need to have somebody familiar with it yeah you need to have somebody local who really understands the market understands that that side street is really not a major highway which we’ve gotten that’s not a major highway um so you don’t have to you know detract you know at deduct a hundred thousand dollars that’s not a major yeah we’ve had one it was uh oh well the the comp was uh it’s a good comp but the comp has a view of the golf course and the subject property doesn’t okay the subject property overlooks granite mountain it’s a much better view so you know we try to advise of course we can’t tell you i mean that’s absolutely one hundred percent yeah he should pick the land and you’re right that’s your right to do that but when we gently try to guide you try to find a local lender there’s a reason for that we want you to close on time we don’t want you to arrive in prescott and your house has enclosed and your stuff is in transit in a truck and you have no place to move in yeah and it has happened it has it has happened and then suddenly you’re in a hotel for two weeks while you’re waiting for it to get out of underwriting because they didn’t go into underwriting until five days before your closing date yeah nobody’s going to get you out of underwriting in five days and get the appraisal done in five days it’s just not happening you’ve got sellers that are selling in the seller’s market that may or may not be that’s right uh they may not appreciate your situation yeah they want to close because they’re moving on to their next chapter so when we gently suggest please try a local lender preferably a mortgage banker not a bank like wells fargo or you know one of those uh yeah don’t go with a mortgage broker go with a mortgage lender a mortgage banker they will hold your hand all the way to the end because they don’t get their commission until you close so they are invested they are committed because they would like to get their commission and so keep that in mind it’s not to mind your business or tell you what to do and you know i appreciate you know every person i know who thought they had a great relationship finds out maybe not so much yeah and just to be clear most of the clients that we deal with um they are of retirement age yes and uh they’ve region reached a certain level of success most of them do have personal bankers yes so we’re not oh you know i have a personal banker your other clients probably didn’t know they all have a personal thing and it’s not the personal banker’s fault yeah they’re it’s just their process when you’re with the national bank they set you up they do the initial paperwork and then their process is to pass it on to the other parties and it’s not that they’re bad people yeah or you know well they’re dealing with their process it’s a very it’s a very tough situation at this at this particular moment uh some areas like the california banks are really struggling the northeast banks are really struggling uh we had a we had a broker in the midwest so we figured oh that’s okay she sourced it to a bank in california that was a disaster it’s it’s uh it’s a bad situation right now we try to ride shotgun with the lenders for our transactions for our buyers we don’t know all the ins and outs we’re not lenders we’re not right now we don’t do that for a living i mean we try uh the local people we use here they know how to run rough shot they know how to do it they know how to get it done and it’s best to absolutely let them do that you know your bank may or may not respond to a stupid realtor from prescott arizona yeah i can call my local lender and say hey we gotta is there hold up can you tell me what’s going on what can we help to facilitate so we can close on time and i can get that person right away we can communicate clearly effectively and get the job done whereas if it’s an out of state lender they don’t know me from a hole in the ground and they’re like oh i don’t do that anymore it’s passed on to this person and they can’t really we don’t have that kind of relationship so keep that in mind it’s not to mind your business it’s not to tell you what to do it’s just if you have a particular date in mind that you want to close you want to close and uh local lenders are the way to do it they really try hard and they try to make it happen they know the right and they know the ropes and they also know local appraisers that they can get in and get it done so i’d all share this recently we just had one and we were supposed to close on a friday and they called the day before and said can’t close on friday because that is actually lincoln’s birthday not president’s day the 21st lincoln’s real birthday was february 18th so in california we celebrate uh lincoln’s birthday so we can’t send out any wires yes evidently they only figured this out the the day before the day before on the 17th uh i don’t know if that was really the story or not that declared the holidays so it’s weird things like that weird things out of state lenders will have weird rules i don’t know california’s rule about lincoln’s birthday but apparently on february 18th they don’t send out wires in the state of california and they’re allowed to do that so yeah every day i learned something new and another good example is uh ordering out the appraisals it is a matter of course that uh lenders will order out the appraisal kind of when it’s clear that the home’s gonna inspect yep you know that it’s gonna get get past the inspection period that’s when they’ll do it too late you can’t do that now you can you got to order it right away and if you if that means the lender is going to have to eat the appraisal fee yeah that’s just the cost of it but here’s the thing they don’t eat the appraisal fee they passed on to you they said oh we can’t get the appraiser out so i hope you don’t mind instead of paying six or seven hundred dollars for your appraisal you now have to pay the expedited fee yeah twelve hundred dollars fifteen [Music] they can get it done overnight yeah but you’re gonna pay extra for that so try to go local we have everything local in-house we can get it done it’s nice and smooth and you know typically we close on time about 98 of the time uh out of state um it’s been i can’t promise you it’s been rough lately it’s been rough that’s all we can do is just tell you our experiences with this in the end the your lender choice that you that’s your choice 100 it’s your choice whoever you choose we will do our best to make sure that you close on time uh but we just wanted to share some of our experiences with you some other considerations you may want to yeah just be aware you may not necessarily close on time if you’re going out of state we can do as much as we can try may not happen for you we sure will try i love to nag it’s my favorite thing to do i call every day hey it’s the pickle lady again heard anything yeah heard anything heard anything remember the closing date is not a suggested date yeah we want to close on this day we’ve been struggling with this for the last several months so yeah so we want to share and you should know too because you know we don’t always buy houses every other year sometimes it’s been 20 years and you kind of forget so this is our knowledge we want to share with you absolutely take take away from it whatever you wish but we hope you listen to us [Laughter] more information you can check us out at pickle411.com that is our information site whether you are buy or seller somewhere in between information about lenders and all that kind of stuff about real estate i also got best restaurants to go to and press get things done i’ll love it i’ll live all of it’s there all of it we love to talk about a whole bunch of stuff yeah not all of it’s complaining about linda no that’s right very strong very small just a small percentage all right my friends you guys have a great evening and thanks for listening hope we taught you something new take care bye

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Big Personalities Beware

Charming, loving family homes are very personalized - and often very hard to sell.  In our continuing series on home staging, we explain why that is and what you should do about it to capture top value for your home.  Check it out!

Video Transcript

yeah we gotta make sure we’re recording these sometimes that happens folks yeah we just we do uh some of our best episodes one of our best episodes we’re not recorded and then he comes upstairs oh my god by the way uh we weren’t recording yeah hello hello you’re seeing a little behind the scenes behind the scenes stuff she’s the pickle lady that’s right i am her partner in crime and uh we are here in prescott arizona real estate agents uh extraordinaire correct yeah i am diane this is randall grove we are happy to uh help you guys out when you come visit if you’re looking for a home happy to help you list if you’re ready to do that yeah so we’re doing we’re we’re doing seller tips we have a series of seller tips and we wanted to focus on staging yeah uh and staging tips when you’re trying to sell your home as i’ve said before uh professional staging is not that big a deal here in prescott there’s not a lot of that going on there’s some yeah not a lot of that for the most part the sellers themselves or their agents are responsible for staging the home but just because no one’s paying money to have it professionally done does not mean it is not important it is vitally so it is and it’s necessary absolutely so this little staging tip is all about depersonalization depersonalization yes when people come in they don’t want to see i have pictures i know uh pictures of your family your children your daughters your wedding you and your wedding dress this that and the other i am so guilty of this yes i consider my daughters my own works of art yes so i’ve got beautiful portraits of them when they were four beautiful portraits of them when they were 18 it goes on and on and on i am the biggest one guilty of this but when i go to sell it’s all coming down when we go over to someone’s house uh just you know socially and their house isn’t personalized it’s kind of creepy yeah i don’t like you go in you don’t see any pictures of them or i think that’s with their children it’s like this person must be in witness protection yeah something i’m a little suspicious a little suspicious so we like homes that are warm and personalized and that the personal touch with all the pictures there’s nothing to say there’s anything wrong with decorating decorating your home in a personalized way it’s just when it comes time to sell that can get involved some of that needs to come down not all of it you keep a cute little picture tucked here and there yeah that still gives the warmth of hey this is a nice family home yeah we’ve had a good time here we’ve got good memories it gives good juju yeah but if it’s too too much of it yeah then people can’t see past my family moving in here this is where i could hang my portraits yes this is where i could hang my grandchildren’s pictures yes so if you’re covered with all of your stuff and it’s too much of it they can’t see past it and they can’t see themselves we want them to get an emotional connection to your home i’ve got to live here my family would be so happy here so a couple of points there first of all uh the reason why you do this is that uh the reason why stage in general is that people do not make rational decisions in buying a home they make emotional decisions they do and buying a home and you may say oh they can look past all my stuff where they could you know they could go home and photoshop it all out you know or they could you know do it in their own minds but what we’re telling you is they don’t in practice they don’t that’s not how they make decisions uh most people unlike investors most people most buyers will make an emotional gut decision in connecting with a home and if your personalized stuff doesn’t connect with them it’s going to get in the way of that process and they’re not going to connect with your home and they’re not going to want to move forward that’s true the other thing to kind of de-personalize is besides you know family photos or you know is anything that of religious nature that’s if you are overtly you know if you’ve got a lot of religious or even i hate to say it patriotic yes um which i don’t agree with but um yeah i mean we have religious stuff in our home we have oh you know that’s how we personalize our home right some people it could be that they are not religious correct it could be that they have a religion that is different than yours right and it’s not like they say oh you know i would say i’m jewish and all these crosses are around or vice versa and they say well you know i don’t i don’t like all these crosses i don’t like this house they won’t even be able to articulate it correct they just won’t connect with the house they won’t even be able to explain why there was something about the house that just didn’t feel right right you know and that’s what we’re trying to avoid absolutely i mean i have all of that i love it all i have buddhas i have catholic things i have dude jewish thing yeah i like to cover my bases i have it all i i want to make sure i got i have crystals you name it yeah i have a very eclectic home yeah i will say it’s very clever but that may not connect with a lot of people and it won’t they may be like what does she have some weird stuff weird stuff that was a weird house and i’ll be the first one to open it it is so i agree you know so when i do go to sell i will remove some of those items just because again we want it to be a clean slate yeah that people can see you know their special things coming in their special photos right uh portraits and things like that a quick rule of thumb when it comes to family pictures so if you go to a place like say michael’s and you buy picture frames most of the picture frames will have pictures in them yep you know showing you you know this is where you would put your family but they’re kind of sort of generic looking family photos if you don’t have a lot of family photos and it just looks like a family there’s nothing particularly different like it it could be the picture that they put in the frames at michael’s and sell the to sell the frame if that’s the case then it’s probably not so personalized that you need to get rid of it but if it’s you know like uh halloween costumes or something just kind of strange that you wouldn’t see at michael’s then you probably need to yeah yeah that is just keep it light keep it simple keep it not too crazy like my house and you’ll do just fine but the most important thing out of all of this is when your agent is nicely suggesting hey you know you might want to remove this you might don’t not argue but don’t get defensive don’t be insulted it’s not meant in that way at all it’s just having done this thousands of times and helping people find their place and the feedback we get back we know what your house will be tagged about it’ll be like oh gosh did you see that that was terrible and so just listen to us ahead of time and save yourself a lot of heartache yeah and it may not be fun to hear and it may be i’m not really comfortable i understand i mean i get tagged myself so it’s a it’s a pain but we’re telling you it will put money in your pocket it will put money in your pocket and it will save you uh you know have the house sold pretty quickly so it’s all in your best interest too personal absolutely in your best interest so depersonalize depersonalize depersonalize and when someone suggested like we suggested to you just take it with a good heart and say okay thanks all right good points here if you look for more good points you might want to go to pickle411.com yep that is our information center everything there is free highly entertaining and insightful yep it’s one awards no it hasn’t won awards not yet we’re waiting for an award i feel like it’s coming yeah the pickle i just have a pickle or something it’s coming yeah we feel it i think it’s coming i feel it yeah all right and if you’re watching this we want to wish you a happy new year happy new year to you because uh 2022 i think it’s just going to be amazing for everybody we’re going to turn this around turn this ship around and everybody’s going to be the ship chip oh i thought you said something else no okay no you could turn that other thing around too well yeah i’m done with that yeah it has been pretty good yeah so i would agree but we’re going to turn that ship around 2022 is going to be amazing yep i just feel it it’s going to be a good start for all of us so here’s to a happy healthy and prosperous 2022 and give us a call to sell your home and we’ll give you some more tips in person that’s right all right take care bye

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Schedule Your Fun

Visiting Prescott is always a lot of fun, but it pays to plan in advance.  HOT TIP: Even if you aren't ready to buy... even if you're not sure this is the place for you... schedule some time with the Pickle Lady.  Here's why you'll be glad you did.

Click Here to Schedule Time on the Pickle Lady’s Calendar.

Video Transcript

here’s my new phrase i love to call everybody i call my daughters us chicken leg chicken leg chicken what’s up chicken legs what’s up chicken wing what’s up turkey leg and they’re like i don’t know i like that little draw you throw in there yeah yeah she’s the pickle lady diane bro i’m randall bro realtors and prescott and this is our informative video to help you buy sell or just have fun here in prescott arizona and in case you didn’t realize or you haven’t caught on yet um he’s the straight guy and i’m the he’s the wing man oh you think i’m yeah i’m the funny one i think you’re the one man you’re the chicken wing you’re the chicken wing man chicken leg i’m the leg i’m the chicken you’re the turkey leg anyway she’s trying to establish uh you know who’s who and his videos but anyway we are here to talk about something that actually makes me brings a tear to my eye makes me sad makes me cry and i really want to emphasize uh to those of you watching if you are planning a trip here and then you you arrive and you decide hey i think i want to see houses it’s very hard for any agent out there if you call five minutes before and say i’d like to go see i want to see this house and i’m right outside it right now x y and z and i listen most of the time i’ll throw my bra on i put my bra on my shoes i’m out that door and i’ll make it happen sometimes though i’m already booked with another client or we might have a plan we’re having a mammogram or something yeah you know i mean we do have lives unfortunately that’s a very weird thing yeah yesterday i was just thinking you you’re gonna call can you come show me well you know well not right now i’m being squished yeah and you ladies out there know what i’m talking about i’m being quick so we highly highly highly recommend if you are planning a trip give us a call i’ll put you on the calendar and then i’ll work around your schedule so your trip is not ruined and you can’t go see something or you have to wait a couple of days till we’re available yeah um nothing really bothers me more hurts my heart when it’s like i just i can’t i simply can’t i can’t make it um we appreciate that you are taking you know time uh uh money effort uh to get here right whether you’re flying or you’re driving and uh you know you’re spending money and you’re spending your time and want you to have a a good experience absolutely if you are not planning on buying anything that’s okay absolutely i mean we’re not expecting you to buy a house as soon as we see you we get the fact that you’re going to have to you’re going to want to see the town and make sure that this is where you’re going you’re going to want to settle right that’s fine as i always say what do i say i understand it’s a process it’s a process yeah we have absolutely no issue spending about five or six hours with you giving you a good tour of the town and previewing homes that fit your requirements and usually we end up with lunch somewhere yeah and we actually have a fun day yeah it’s a great time this isn’t oh i’m gonna take you to see three houses and i’m gonna kick you out of the car no we really go to great efforts and we want to give you that experience so if you kind of call within five minutes i can’t quite do that first of all also you need to know when we preview homes those are all scheduled appointments yes um you can’t just arrive and and the people will leave their house yeah it takes you know an hour or two to schedule all that up because in particular if the homes have uh sellers living in them right you know you gotta arrange all that that takes time to set that up and you gotta do all right this one’s gonna start at ten and end at eleven the next one’s gonna start geographically map it out know and we want to give you the of you ultimate experience we don’t want you to come in and well i can only show you this house because i can’t get you into any other homes right now so keep that in mind and the reason why i say this is some people say i just want to visit first and see what i think i can guarantee you’re going to love this time you’re going to love it yeah 100 and then you’re going to be here and you’re back damn i do kind of want to see more and some people say i’ll find the neighborhoods myself very difficult very hard to do when you’re not from this area and you don’t know the lay of the land and we know firsthand when we came to because we did it oh we’re online and we’re looking at homes and i thought we could do it you know when you find the ones that you think are nice and you drive over to see them and you find out oh i have no desire no i can’t live here yeah so we were you know we spent a day or so um looking around on our own before we were scheduled to meet with our real estate agents and uh what the next day they immediately took us to our neighborhoods like oh my god this is we didn’t even know this this is it this is what we’re looking for you’ve dialed in the frequency that i’m looking for exactly and we could do the same thing for you so and we want to do this for you and we want to have fun and of course you know i want to be prepared have my pickles ready everybody who goes out with us gets our famous pickles yeah and uh take a look at our date tours too we’ve got uh five or six different day tours lined up with an itineraries for you know if you’re a dog person these are the kinds of things that you can do with your dog if you’re a music person these are the music venues uh if you want to hit whiskey row you know there’s a day tour for that so we have a lot of preparation for you and we give you a huge binder that’s just loaded with all kinds of amazing information so i highly recommend book with us don’t just come in here cold we’ll be in advance we want to make it happen we want to give you a really really good taste of what it’s like to live here and present and have a good time and if you end up not moving here at least you’ll have a great little vacation and we’re fine with that if you’re not ready to buy how many people we have so many friends that came here three years ago and it took them three years to finally close yeah we don’t care it’s fine with us please don’t think and people will say i don’t want to waste your time it’s okay yeah that’s what we do that’s our job that’s our job we’re here to serve we’re here to take you and if it takes you three years it takes you four years it takes you whatever we’re okay with that so please don’t think you’re wasting our time we love doing it we enjoy doing it and it’s a lot of fun so when you’re thinking about visiting and you’re like maybe i don’t want to do that wrong answer just book the day and we’ll take you out for half a day and then you’re free to go do the rest of your visit however you want but we’ll really give you some good accurate and informative and uh info yeah informative information informative information action-packed action action-packed action and informative information and some chicken legs and some chicken chicken free free pickles no we don’t do free chicken but we do have our cars always always fully fully stocked with pickles and with snacks and with drinks for for you guys when we take this tour yeah it’s a good time it is a good time all right so that’s our little tidbit for the for the day if you’re thinking about visiting just book it with us in advance in advance and we’ll have a great day all right so cheers to you bye

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The Big Picture

Part of starting a new life in Arizona is making space for pieces of it in your home, and if you have the wall space for it, we know just the thing.  Come check out our own ginormous new addition of Arizona spirit that just couldn't be more beautiful.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps all of our fellow pickle piece and there we hope you guys are having an amazing summer we sure are yeah uh this is diana randall bro here in prescott he’s randall she’s dying i’m diane we’re realtors here in prescott arizona that’s right when you come in and you visit us to go look for a home uh you’ll find out why i’m the pickle lady bring me some of my famous cajun pickles happy to do that i give them to all my friends family yeah folk out there but anyway hit or announce our how many years we’ve been married it’s unbelievable 35 years 35 years 35 years in june yeah a couple of weeks ago we keep saying it because it’s shocking i know you’re gonna wrap your mind around the number that big so we’re very lucky right thanks to all the people at our wedding who took bets on how long it will last i don’t know if any of you are still in the pot you lost i’m thinking all of you need to pay us yeah you should pay us you should pay us yeah because we made it so number 35 35 is a special number for me i don’t know so much for you it’s a special that’s how much you make i was number 35 on my high school football team my nickname was bromine turns out the number 35 on the periodical chart of the the periodical chart of elements number 35 is bromine and as you know our last name is bro last name is bro i had 35 stitches on my face when i was 5 years old 35 followed him a lot yeah 35 we have my parents [Music] 35th anniversary is a lucky number for you lucky number so you know usually we like to joke and say we take it day by day but so far so good we’ve made it this far so we decided to double down and invest yes and a beautiful beautiful work of art uh it’s it’s fits us we’ve been meaning to collect more arizona stuff as you know we’re both from new orleans so we’ve gotta still have a lot of new orleans stuff we have some houston stuff so i’m gonna start collecting some arizona stuff so we did let’s get with the program let’s embrace the area that we’re in and where we’re living so we decided to go to a local gallery here in wrestle gallery gallery right on whiskey row correct and we thought you know what i think i mentioned this before prescott actually has a huge art scene oh yeah huge art scene lots of galleries um you can find all kinds of beautiful pieces and sculptures and whatnot yeah but we decided let’s get a beautiful beautiful picture for our 35th a beautiful work of art and um in a while yeah so the the artist’s name is theresa rose theresa rose she’s sometimes go by tree tree rose which was a nickname that her dad gave her this is such a cute story they tell it to you every time you go to the couch i know but we love it it works it worked all night yeah absolutely so we’ve been eyeing her stuff for a while a long time beautiful high resolution photography uh she doesn’t photoshop the life out of it you know she waits until just the right light and then she captures it she captures the majesty that prescott has to offer yeah so she’ll go out sometimes at four o’clock in the morning if she does a night shoot so you can see the sky just lit up with stars it’s unbelievable it is unbelievable it almost looks fake yeah it almost looks like but it’s not the beautiful thing is that is the nature that surrounds us here in where we live yeah where we actually live yeah you know real uh country cowboy western folks so a lot of the arizona art uh you know that captures all of that horses and cowboys and lovely little circles and some people do we don’t uh so we wanted to get a picture that that talked about arizona with just nature just just the natural form yeah wrong and she does and so it’s just gorgeous as everyone knows i love the rocks i love love i love the rocks so you’ll see yeah we captured sedona yeah the picture that she got is just all the beautiful rocks of sedona which is my absolute favorite and the beautiful skies there’s nothing like a sunrise or a sunset here in arizona uh the skies are filled with lavenders pinks and purples it’s gorgeous yeah and she captures it just as a wonderful artist gets out there and captures it at its finest so we are very proud owners of this beautiful piece of pork right behind us and it’s uh it’s on metal uh yes it’s done on metal so it’s pretty much i mean i guess you could destroy it if you really tried but i mean it’s not we don’t delicate like a lot of art is you know it’s robust and it does come all of her work comes in different sizes yes we we just we got the big cup we got the biggest because we’ve got a big giant wall we have a big giant wall and it fits perfectly and so when i have a bad day and i’m upset about whatever’s going on i just sit and look at that sky view and and the the rocks of sedona and i feel somewhat namaste now if you’ve got the wall you just you know you got the wall space you’ve got the wall space got to go check it out you’re only married 35 years once yes and uh we just decided to go for broke a little trouble hanging it had some issues hanging it little marks on the wall we got cleaned up and so now it just looks beautiful it was a little scary yeah uh the people had to hang up you know how you know just stand on a ladder i was like i don’t want to watch it but i want to watch the wall is right beside the the stairs going down that road it was tricky getting a ladder to yeah but we got yeah but here’s the thing if you get it yeah we knew better than there was no way we could do it uh we might be divorced before we even hit a pudgy dead husband yeah or divorced you know but anyway we’re divorced that’s true yeah arguing everybody make it at 36. that’s correct and i know it is a day by day i get it up it should say it’s crackhead it’s crooked so yeah we knew we need to get professionals so we just wanted to share that with you if you come here there are amazing galleries there are amazing art western art photography as we’re talking about of all the nature here it’s very very unique yeah and we are very proud to be an owner of tree rose from ian some work for me and russell gallagher a lot of other really great artists oh beautiful things ian russell’s gallery there it’s uh you can’t really and cool sculptures cool sculptures yeah javelina sculptures they look real yes yeah i like those too yeah i like the uh the the bar stuff they’ve got stuff that’s really it’s kind of neat to go over your bar this is some really cool there’s that one artist that did the beatles crossing yeah um uh sheldon not sheldon uh gurley as the main guy whatever trying to impose that so we encourage you when you move here expand your horizons get rid of the old stuff that you had in your former home get in here and embrace the new and try some new art here at one of the many galleries here in prescott and uh you’ll be amazed at some of the unique artwork here absolutely all right happy anniversary to you hope you enjoy our picture we sure do uh we love it and uh give us a call if you would like to list or if you need help buying a home that’s what we’re here for the best source of information is pickle411.com whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere in between it all starts at pickle411.com sometimes i forget he gets it he gets annoyed but anyway pickle411.com there it is check us out we’d love to hear from you and we’d love to help you make your way here to prescott and discover the beautiful artwork that prescott has to offer bye have a good day

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Utilities – How to Contact

Here is a document with the contact information you need for local utilities: Prescott Area Utilities

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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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Selling Your Existing Home

Some Tips & Resources for Selling Your Existing Home

What’s Your Home’s Value?
We’d be glad to help you get an accurate assessment of what your current home is worth on the market today. For areas we don’t know well, we can generate an extensive Seller’s Report for you. This will give you a fair estimate and also provide much of the information a buyer will want to know about your property and the surrounding area. This will provide a starting point for you and your listing agent in marketing your property.
If you are selling a home in Prescott, we can provide additional support and give you a more accurate estimate.

To request this service, click here: Home Valuation Report

Finding a Good Listing Agent
If you do not have a Realtor or would like help selecting one, we’d be glad to help you with that. We have an extensive network of industry professionals, so we can find good agents in just about any area of the country.

To request this service, you can use the contact form here: Contact Us Form
In addition, we’d be glad to answer any questions you may have or assist in any way we can with your “outbound transaction.”

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Dump It

Moving generates lots of stuff you’ll need to dump, especially boxes. Here’s what to do with that in Prescott… and a delightful early Christmas present.

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