Making the Move – The "Prescott Pickle Lady"

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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Utilties & Our Free Concierge Service

People are always asking us about utilities, so we thought we would do an update on the cost (and availability!) of water, power, gas... and all the rest.

Also, we are delighted to announce a new, full-service, human-powered concierge service we offer to our clients for getting utilities disconnected where you're coming from and reconnected where you're going to... all completely free.

Previous Episode: Typical Utility Costs - Month by Month

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps excuse me I got a little tickled excuse me welcome welcome this is Diane and Randall we’re in Prescott Arizona coming to you live recording recording live we’re recording everyone records live yeah that’s pretty much because that’s redundant to say because yeah yeah it’s always live it’s a recording it’s not a recording we are here we get a lot of questions about this to our new folks who are buying and moving in yeah all about utilities here utilities so a couple things I want to say before we get into some of the the meat of this utilities here because a lot of people question especially coming out from California water is very reasonable electricity is very reasonable gas is very reasonable so you’re not going to be paying the high high utilities some of the bills that you see maybe in other areas of the country so we get a lot of concerned about that will there be enough water is there water rationing I just want to say real quick before we get into the other stuff no no we don’t have any water restrictions there are no water issues here they’re not predicting any water issues here any major development that goes in has to prove it has a 100 Year water plan and if they can’t they’re not building yeah they have to find another area so also not a big agricultural place here uh you know everything is zeriescape so as they say so people aren’t watering their lawns and all that so never think I had more water restrictions in Texas oh yeah we had water restrictions pretty pretty regular all the time I don’t run your water from this to this doesn’t have never happened so anyway and I just want to let you know utilities are not Uber expensive here never happen and don’t predict that they will be in the future a while ago I put together a schedule of our utilities month by month which is on our relocation Center if you go to our website prescottpicklelady.com you look for the relocation Center or you can go to Prescott relocationcenter.com and look up utilities um you’ll find our schedule there so don’t worry about that and of course ours is a little higher because I run it cold in the summer yeah yeah um but if you’re a person yeah and our house is a little over 3 000 square feet yeah so it’s a lot to AC it’s smaller so yeah so but I mean if you’re like most normal people who run their air on 75 you’ll be just fine don’t so don’t look at us as the best example the worst case I mean we’ll give you the worst case but something we were excited about and this will tie in now to utilities when you’re moving here and signing up we have a program through our brokerage that allows you just to go online and enter in your home that you’re in now and the new home that you’re going in and it will hook you up and disconnect so you don’t have to get on the phone like I did for 30 minutes and give all the information and this that and the other it makes it a lot easier yeah so the the program is called utility connect uh and it’s it’s driven by a very sophisticated technology called a human being something you contact them and they will assign you a human being who will do all that stuff for you uh the service is free yes uh they will help you schedule the disconnect of where you’re coming from and they will help you schedule the the connection on where you’re going to uh now some utility companies do not play with the utility connect people yeah uh well you know whether it’s in Prescott or you know maybe your utility company may not do that either if that’s the case then the concierge person uh will give you the contact information and tell you what you need to do so they’ll say hey whatever they won’t play with us but I’m going to give you the information and then you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way but um it sure is nice to have them help you with the disconnection yeah on the other end as well it’s a great great product and we’re really excited and we’ve had a couple of clients use it and say wow it was so much easier yeah and faster now we have all the utility numbers to call here in Prescott obviously we won’t have the numbers where you’re coming from uh those numbers can do it all we can’t do it all uh the but the utility connected will yeah um the numbers change we try to keep them up to date but that information changes and it’s different depending on what area you’re moving into the utility connect people will help you negotiate all that stuff make it as easy as they possibly can absolutely they’ll also do um your your phone your mail uh they’ll do uh I like the mail that’s good too yeah your internet connections and stuff like that that can do all that stuff for you so it’s a pretty cool product cool product yeah so anyway if you call us and we find you the home of your dreams we’re going to connect you to utility connect that’s right and uh just make one more piece of this move easy for you that’s right and that’s what we are all about as your real estate team of Prescott yeah that’s us that’s us the pickle lady oh so that’s our tip of the day tip of the tips good place to go is pickle411.com whether you are a buyer seller somewhere in between there is something there waiting for you that will amaze and Astound you yes whether it’s real to stay places to eat things to do uh it’s all there it’s all fun and it’s all amen hallelujah brother amen good job yeah okay okay hope to see you soon give us a call bye 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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