Finding Your Home – Page 6 – The "Prescott Pickle Lady"

Prescott (Ponderosa Park) Home Sold for $480,000

What can you buy in the $400,000s?
This home sold for $480,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott (Prescott Highlands) Home Sold for $550,000

What can you buy in the $500,000s?
This home sold for $550,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

The When To Do It Game

There is an optimum time for every aspect of the home-buying process, and doing things in the wrong order can have BIG costs. Watch today’s video to find out what that means for both buyers and sellers.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps this is a midday hello midday hello from Rand and Di day we are your local husband and wife team here in thank you in Prescot uh happy to show you guys around show you what our life is like here we love it and today we are here to talk about when to do it yeah so this is uh another game so we did we did our in games and so I thought we’d do another game this game is when should you do it yeah so a lot of times we run into trouble in transactions When Buyers try to do something at the wrong time yes there’s a there’s a place there’s a time for every purpose and so that is never more true than when you’re buying a house yes so uh the first thing on our wi Todo game is views views when do when do you decide whether the views of a home are are are appropriate or not like they’ll make you happy what views do you want when do you decide that well I you know you go look at the house and if it’s something you really fall in love with I would recommend hey come at sunset too yeah you want to see the sunset you want to see the sun rise you want to see where is the you know am I east facing west facing what you know um those are all important things to think about and if you’re like I’d like to really see how the Evening Sun is here make another appointment yeah go back in the evening in particular if you’re an outdoor person you spend a lot of time on your porch and that’s your thing you should feel it at all hours of the day yes and see how expansive the view is uh I don’t know is there traffic in the afternoon that all of a sudden your view is bumper to bumper traffic you won’t have that but I’m just saying something like that what are your thoughts well in terms of deciding what kind of view you want you should be able to do that before you put in a contract you know you looking at different homes get an idea of the different kinds of views that are available get an idea of the money it’s going to cost you to upgrade to different views there are some views that will drop $150,000 on a home yep boom that’s what you’re gonna pay so decide are you okay with a peekaboo view a peekaboo view like what is you know and do that in your mind before you decide and you know before you put in a contract that’s right you should kind of know what kind of view you can afford or want to afford what kind of view you demand um how important is it to you are you okay with a peekaboo are you okay with rooftops behind you yes some people they they see a mountain in the distance and then they’re like but I can’t stand these Ro this this houses below me I don’t want to see those rooftops so things to think about what Will bide that after you’ve gone under contract and you already passed in inspection y you should know what you want want before you make an offer absolutely in terms of looking at what it looks like in the evening versus the morning if it looks like it’s going to work go ahead with the contract once it’s under the contract then you can do your due diligence on The View as part of sure the inspection period then you’ve taken the mo the home off the market and you won’t lose it while you’re trying you’re waiting for Sunset that’s right yeah that’s right fuse fuse that was a good one okay okay next up Sol solar solar so first off S leases are a pain in the butt they are a pain in the butt you got to know that they are a pain in the butt yeah so you should decide beforehand whether you’re even going to do that or not right um certain information should be given to you uh upfront about the solar a lot of Agents don’t though uh we will not be able to if the information on the solar lease is not provided by the listing agent we will not be able to get that information until we’re under contract and the seller has called The Solar Company and told them that we’re under and give them permission they will not talk to us they will not discuss the terms I’m I’m a big fan of owned solar so if you own a home and you’re thinking about listing it and you already have paid it off that’s great that’s easy peasy it’s an easy transfer you give permission you the owner give permission to the buyer to put it in their name simple title handles it it’s beautiful yes one thing to consider if you have solar consider paying it off most people do not want to assume your solar loan yes they just don’t I think solar can be great it’s not really necessary here in presca though our utilities are very reasonable so uh keep that in mind if you are have a solar maybe consider paint it off before you put it on the market because most people will walk away they will walk away they don’t want to do it they don’t want take it on if it’s own they’ll love it yeah if they’re own then they’ll love it if if you are the buyer if a solo lease is a deal stopper for you you can determine that before You’ even put in a contract the reality is though if you’re amenable to a lease you just need to see the specific terms you’re probably not going to be able to do that until inspection period correct yeah so don’t try to do that by the way you can’t get so we’ve had yeah we’ve had uh buyers that insist like they will not do a contract until they get all the terms of the lease well you know the listing agent did not have that information available right it took you know a week to pull that information together and we lost the house because someone else came and got it so inspection period And if you are an owner and you do have a lease provide all that right away to your listing even if your agent doesn’t ask for it provide provide it because people always want and they want to know some of it stays steady the monthly payments some increase over time and you should also make considerations yeah you should also make your utility bills available yes your electrical utility bills available right so that people can see the impact it’s had on okay next one all right next up proof of funds pre-qualification always do this before you even come in uh before you come in just do it short answer that’s it uh short answer yes um because if you do see something and you want it um then we lose a day or two while you’re getting that uh you know handled we have a local lender here who can spit it out in like 30 minutes it’s not hard to do but it’s also important for you to understand financially how much can you truly afford you kind of think I think I can do 800 and then you go get your prequel and you find out it’s really six so there’s no sense in wasting your time looking at homes in the eights when when you can only afford a six yeah so always get yourself pre-qual get your ducks in a row doesn’t cost you anything no any contract you have to write must have a pre-qual attached it’s not us we don’t make the rules it’s the State of Arizona you have to prove as you’re putting this contract in that you truly can afford to do this and you’re in good Financial standing um and if you’re paying cash you have to have proof of funds so make sure you have all that ready because if you see something you fall in love you might lose it while we’re trying to get these other things together I we try to do some tricks to try to try to get it for you before you have all that in place there’s only so many things we can do only so much just so easy to come in that’s a no-brainer you got the gun loaded you’re ready to Sho get it get it going all right Family Ties Family Ties this is something we run across a lot always uh we have a lot of people who come in and say I’m not going to tell my kids about this and they fall in love they put an offer in and then the kids are back home how can you do this to us how can you leave us how can you leave your grandchildren and then they break the contract so just be honest and open with your children um we want to start a new chapter we you know need to preserve our funds explain to them why you’re doing this and then they can start to adjust to the idea of mom and dad moving on or moving away it’s very important yeah absolutely CLE they came in uh we worked with them over the course of two years uh they came in three or four times yeah lovely we finally found a house for them uh and they were so happy yeah they were so happy really happy and through the inspection uh we were getting to the point where I I think all of the repairs were going to be done it’s like the last day of inspection period if I go any more then they’re going to lose their earnest money and I get the call I can’t break up this family we my kid put the guilt trip on me my kids put the because they hadn’t said anything to the kids until it too they were under the contract yeah it was a shock and so you know so the sellers had to take their home off the market you know we had all these buyer trips and everything this was going to be a non-starter from the beginning uh and it was never going to go any other place so obviously that wastes our time and our effort but also the family I mean you’re coming in you’re looking around you’re getting excited it’s not going to happen yep uh family have Frank discussions have Frank discussions yep and be very transparent to your family to your children let everybody know because you know you might fall in love here and then you got to go back home no we mean a lot of people that that they’re their children will never have that kind of say so about where they go and that’s very clear to them you may be in that situation but if you’re not if you’re like this other couple and you know the kids will have a lot to say about it don’t keep it a secret don’t wait until the end yep do it up front Okay Okay that was a good one uh half bath so this uh the the home either does or does not have a half bath off of the main room so when is the best time to uh figure out what you want and whether the home has it or not well before you go on the home tour yeah it’s a must have you need to say that communicate that quite clearly to your agent this is a must have I some people can Overlook it some people have got to have it anything whether it’s a halfbath anything in the home that’s super super important to you just say it’s a it’s a deal breaker for me if a B and C are not there yeah we let us know before we we we don’t want to show you five or six homes and none of them have a half bat yeah none of them have a half bat and then you decide into the inspection period suddenly you absolutely have thought about it and now I absolutely have to have half that’s right don’t do that do that don’t do that so sit down and make a list of everything that is so important it’s very easy to determine whether our home has a half bath or not what we can’t do is tell you whether you want one or not and the time to decide whether you have to have that or not is really before you start looking at houses and we can’t create one for you I can’t poop you a half bath I can’t do that we can put a body in the front you know it either Haz it or it doesn’t uh decide that up front so that’s it so everything for every everything there is a purp there is a time for every purpose what is that that’s a that’s a song Ecclesiastes I don’t know and a and a Bible thing a Bible thing yeah Ecclesiastes okay so that’s our little tips for the day as you’re thinking about uh buying or selling like the game thing yeah do some more games okay all right that’s all we hope to hear from you soon give us a call we’re here to help you on the next steps bye view_moduleinsert_chart

Prescott (Pinehurst Estates) Home Sold for $475,000

What can you buy in the $400,000s?
This home sold for $475,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Spec Homes

What’s a “spec?”

Today we explain the differences between a custom home and a spec home – and what that means to your buying process. Check out today’s video to learn the pros, the cons, and why you may or may not want one.

Video Transcript

Good morning morning peeps Diane and Randall bro here hello hello hello we are here to share with you uh some of our some information about what a speck home is yes a lot of people don’t seem to understand the concept Speck home yeah so Speck home is short for speculative yep right so the uh it’s not speculative on the buyer part it’s speculative on the Builder part so this is a home they don’t have a buyer for they uh design the home they build the home in anticipation of finding a buyer while it’s under construction while it’s under construction so a lot of this is a lot of the parts of the home are predetermined yes the paint color the exterior the elevation of the home the interior I like Speck homes because sometimes they add a little bit more extra yes it’s not necessarily A stripped home actually sometimes they add in some some pretty good extras that if you were to build it yourself you might cost you more money yeah um so they kind of are betting uh that you know they start construction they are floating alone while they’re building yes so they’re going to make it special and nice to attract that buyer to come in and snatch it a lot of the a lot of the money or the the the the cost associated with building a home is driv driv by the custom process so people come in and they want to change things and those things need to be redesigned redrawn um and you know you need to get the change of materials you got to find suppliers you know all that takes time and effort and money and but if they do a speck home they they don’t have to go through all that that’s right they call the shots they usually get an interior designer to come design something beautiful have a beautiful color scheme it all Blends together and then they can just spit it out they just follow the the the program and get it out and give you a quality home yes with a lot of nice extras yes so but you should know that with a spec home you cannot make a lot of changes yes most Builders are like we will not pro quote right so you’re getting a lot of house for a good price uh your home’s going to have broad appeal a lot of times when people build custom homes they think they know better than the builders and they make changes and when it comes time to sell sometimes it’s it’s harder because the home does not have broad appeal right it’s so specific to that owner back homes will always have broad appeal correct the the choices that they make will have broad appeal yes uh and Builders they kind of know what they’re doing because if they screw up they lose money so they learn pretty fast yeah so you get a lot for your money the quidd pro quo is that you can’t make a lot of changes you really can and we know from building our own home uh yeah I was like do you think maybe we could move this window no uh can we do this no no no because it just uh loses time in the build sometimes they can’t find whatever you might want to change um again you lose more time which is money to them you know because they’re still paying on this loan while they’re building and they’re like we can’t find this item you want yes so you know know when you sign on a spec it’s a spec for a reason yeah you cannot do a lot you cannot make a spec home a custom home um some Builders may work a little bit with you if if you come in yeah if you come in early in the building process they might let you pick a different color or you know things like that but for the most part they don’t even like to do that because if you fall through for whatever reason that’s you can’t buy then they’re going to have to sell a home and you you’ve picked out the color right so a lot of may not attract the other which may not attract a lot of people so a lot of times in spec homes you know we’re going to put in Builder grade carpet can I change the floor no can you just leave the carpet out no we’re going to put the carpet in and you’re immediately going to have to tear it out and put the floor down that’s the process that’s the spec home and a lot of Builders will hold you to that yes it it’s kind of it doesn’t seem to make sense but the reason why it does is because you’re not costing them money you’re not costing them time they’re able and in in exchange for that they they kind of give you a barn yeah you do you get more of a loaded home I think yeah so when you’re considering a spec home the the pluses are you know not a lot of problem or decision makings that you have to make it’s made for you um so if you like the product and you like what they have it’s like this is awesome great maybe some things may not be your cup of tea maybe they’ll work with you a little bit but you should know you’re probably going have to get exactly what they offer you because that is what a home is get out of their way let them finish the home and then make whatever changes after your closes that’s right that’s our advice to you and bu but you can get something really beautiful with really beautiful one of the things we wanted to clarify is that in a lot of people’s mind a speck home is stripped no usually it’s the opposite usually the speck homes are dulled up yeah they add some kind models us up yeah to entice you yeah all right so that is our tidbit on Speck hom so if you’re thinking about it know that you know you pretty much have to go with the product they have selected unless you get before they’ve even poured a slab then maybe you might have some different colors to pick from you know but most of the time it’s like here’s your four colors that’s it what do you want that’s right so keep that in mind because you don’t want to be disappointed will try really hard to make everybody happy the buyers and the we want everybody happy and enjoy their new home so just go with the process and try not to fight it too much it’ll you know help you with a a better stress level definitely yeah definitely so anyway that’s our Spiel on Speck homes they can be amazing you can get a lot of stuff uh for a great price yep and uh it takes out like I said a lot of the decision making and pulling your out so it’s kind of nice yep all right so that’s our deal oncc Speck homes specom that’s our tip of the day that’s our tip of the day if you’re into tips the place to go is pickle 411.com that is our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere between there’ll be something there waiting for you that will Amaze Astound entertain inform yep all those things overwhelm all of it all right Kajol Kajol that’s a good word that’s a I don’t even know what that means I like that word convinc yeah alred alred Alfred all right friends we hope to hear from you soon and H make sure you visit Prescot we’d love to see you absolutely bye bye

Prescott Lakes (The Estates) Home Sold for $975,000

What can you buy in the $900,000s?
This home sold for $975,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott Valley (Unit #19) Home Sold for $503,000

What can you buy in the $500,000s?
This home sold for $503,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott Lakes (Astoria) Home Sold for $615,000

What can you buy in the $600,000s?
This home sold for $615,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott Lakes (Pinnacle Views) Home Sold for $750,000

What can you buy in the $700,000s?
This home sold for $750,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott Lakes (Pinnacle Views) Home Sold for $700,000

What can you buy in the $700,000s?
This home sold for $700,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott (Estancia De Prescott) Home Sold for $925,000

What can you buy in the $900,000s?
This home sold for $925,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott (Willow Cove) Home Sold for $598,000

What can you buy in the $500,000s?
This home sold for $598,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott Lakes (Summit) Home Sold for $902,000

What can you buy in the $900,000s?
This home sold for $902,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Fabulous Fireplaces

Today we’re doing a braindump of everything you need to know about fireplaces in the Prescott market. Inside or outside, wood-burning or gas, we share how you can light a fire in the hearts of your buyers or sellers…even if a house has no fireplace at all.

Video Transcript

good morning good morning hello hello hello hello peeps Diane and Randall bro here your local uh real estate team husband and wife team musical theater uh I if you come on a tour with me sometimes you’ll see as I get tired especially I start singing along delious I get Delirious so that’s all part of the treatment when you come on part of the experience part of the experience uh I’m not a good singer but it does make fun like hello let’s go to the next neighborhood and then I realize everyone’s looking at me what’s wrong with her but it keeps me going keeps the energy going so that’s song in your heart all right today we’re here to talk about fireplaces fireplaces all for them yes so first of all fireplace is a cool thing to have in presc yep uh particularly during the winter you know and during the it’s just so nice and cozy and everything else so uh people ask us a lot about fireplaces though we thought we’ just sort of unload everything we know about fireplac fireplaces so yeah one key thing is um a lot of times people opt not to put one in especially if they’re building because you know it saves some money and this that and the other but I will say for resale in particular in Prescot yes uh you really should it’s a good investment spend that money get that fireplace in creates a focal point for your grave room that’s right and I have had new numerous people come in they absolutely we’ve had many many houses some without a fireplace and they’re like we absolutely love everything about this house but no fireplace no fireplace so a couple of things about that number one it’s very easy to install a fireplace yes you do not have to cut through your roof and make a chimney and all that you can actually make them now you can vent them out through a wall onto your porch very simple very easy very safe so very safe and if we our fireplace does that both of them we have two we have one upstairs one downstairs they both vent out they do no big deal and so if you are to identify a home and you want one we’ve got some good folks that can come and install one for you and it goes anywhere from five maybe to 10,000 depending on your selections and what you pick and and the stone the ston work is the most expensive thing because it’s labor intensive the rest of it’s really no big deal yeah so some people here do beautiful stone just to The Mantel some people do it all the way up to the ceiling um they do river rock they do slay I mean they you name it they do it it’s beautiful um and now they have the new ones um everything here will be gas run to you will not find any wood burning fireplaces very inside very few homes will have it um it’s kind of become uh a fire thing a fire hazard things so people don’t like smoke in their homes so so it’s a you know there’s this ongoing evolution of fireplaces so it used to be if someone had a fireplace in the home and they Fire Hazards burned wood and and there’s something to be said for a wood fire but there’s something to be said against it Cinders and smoke in your home and everything so for the most part there are no fire places with wood inside uh they do have wood burning stoves pellet stoves things like very popular here and that will heat up your whole house they will it’s amazing mhm the first thing they did when there was the conversion over uh away from real wood into gas is you had these ceramic logs so ceramic logs were the first thing you had had to make it look like it was a real fire and and there was real wood and real Cinders and everything and there’s still a lot of those around uh but now it’s like people have kind of separated the idea of a fireplace and wood in their mind so a lot of the fireplaces we’re seeing now are are the modern type with the White Rock way more contemporary um and they’ll be instead of the big square with a fan to push the heat out they’ll be more rectangular narrow um some of them will have you know you’ve seen it the glass rock and different color rocks and you can change the color of the flame and so and uh some people here have kind of a dated fireplace they call the fireplace company and update that so that too is an option if you are not a fan of the heavy River Rock and you want to have something a little more contemporary the key of the fireplace I think in terms of the type of fireplace you want is it depends on the kind of home you want if you have a contemporary home you probably want to go for the newer contemporary fireplaces we just uh we just met with a a lady who’s selling a French provincial home mm and her fireplace is gas but it it looks like a traditional wood beautiful that goes well you know you put a contemporary fireplace in that that would look sort of goofy right so yeah you you want to kind of lean into whatever the overall style of the home is absolutely so if you’re coming here and your heart is set on a fireplace you find a house that I just love everything but it’s minus the fireplace don’t let that throw you we can that’s we can fix that we can fix that if there’s a fireplace That’s Heavy brass from s you know with the 1776 with the the eagle remember we all know what that is we all remember you know yeah again fireplace can come in and upgrade you in no time flat and make it more current so if you’re thinking also about building a house just add the fireplace add the fireplace if you are a seller particularly if you have one of those homes that doesn’t Scream by Me By Me by me put in a fireplace they’re not expensive you would be surprised at how important fireplace places are to our buyers here we hear in this town we hear it most of the buyers that they mention I want a fireplace it’s as important as backsplash uh uh marble tops three car G three car garages I mean it is a very important feature so if you don’t have one I would think seriously well either put it in or offer it as or offer as an option as an option say hey give fireplace allowance fireplace allowance and what we do is uh we’ll have a a fireplace virtually installed uh you know doing the Photoshop thing to give people an idea what it might look like and that’s a that actually works really well it does then they can see the vision then they can see the vision and and that’s good for them yeah so in terms of outdoor fireplaces in some areas they really don’t want you to use wood although some people do uh but even outside outside the uh um fireplaces and what do you call them little fire pits fire pits yeah a lot of those are gas as well and a lot of them are moving away from the wood look and more just rock just anything that will hold the Heat and radiate it uh just nice and clean easy to light easy to turn off no fuss no mus yep uh so that’s easy peasy easy peasy yeah and we love it yeah we love our fireplace uh I don’t even run the Heat or sometimes during the winter I just put my fireplace on I get cozy yeah and uh it’s it’s delightful especially when it starts to snow right yeah that’s right couple of tips um so if your fireplace so most people are familiar with the fireplace there’s like a little grade under it you open up the grade and that’s where you the the pilot light and all that stuff is that is p um that is the older the older versions uh now they have automatic sparkers yeah uh if you have a fireplace you you’re looking at a home or your building a home uh or you just bought a home and you can’t open the gr chances are it is an auto sparker um when you are lighting it for the first time it takes longer than you think to light like maybe up to a minute so uh so don’t think your fireplace is perfect it doesn’t work it doesn’t work yeah don’t so we have gone over to many a house three or four times I’ve my fireplace doesn’t work my fireplace doesn’t work and I go is like where’s the switch there it is and I turn it on and they’ll say see it doesn’t work and I say just wait just wait just wait yop so particularly if it hasn’t been used in a while so which is pretty cool to have an automatic igniter because in the olden days you’d have to get the fire stick you know and so it’s it’s all good stuff people it’s all good stuff yeah the fireplaces are improving just like everything else okay so that is our information on fireplaces that’s your tip of the day if you like tips place to go is pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you are a buyer seller or somewhere in between there is something waiting there for you that will Astound Delight inform and entertain you and it’s absolutely free it’s absolutely free so thought we’d do a little talk about fireplac the the cold weather’s coming cold weathers are coming all right hope you get to snuggle soon all right have a great day bye bye

Prescott Lakes (Willow Park) Home Sold for $625,000

What can you buy in the $600,000s?
This home sold for $625,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Prescott (Granite Dells Estates) Home Sold for $735,000

What can you buy in the $700,000s?
This home sold for $735,000.
See more at https://VirtuOpen.com

Bad Inspectors?

The results of your property inspection can make or break the deal. Find out what separates the good inspectors from the bad ones, and how to make sure you have the right one on your team whether you're buying or selling.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps our fellow friends out there fellow friends fellow friends fellow pickle peeps no that’s us that’s this is that’s them yeah we are Diane and Randall bro that’s who we are that’s who we are we are local real estate agents here in the lovely mountain town of Prescot Arizona presc Arizona we love to do our little videos here we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy making them and giggling and getting our way through it um we wanted to talk about something that we come across a lot um we get phone calls from fellow agents what inspector are you using and I say the name who’s our great inspector yes we’ll say his name yeah Matt gormer Matt gormer property National National Property inspection National Property inp we just call him that we just call him that he’s great guy great friend great part of our great part of our team he works super super hard he will go in and really give you the honest truth yeah and we have run across we’ve used Inspectors That Gloss Over other inspectors that gloss over very important things yeah so does that help you you know close the house it does but you might have a big problem later so we would rather have a tough inspector who really catches some very bad things so our buyers aren’t caught with this later and have a big problem later on down the line so sometimes if you get a uh you know an inspector and he’s really he finds a lot of things sometimes you have to make the hard decision and say I have to walk away yeah and it’s well you should have that option if you didn’t know about the problems then you wouldn’t have that option we’ve had real estate agents uh tell us oh you know I I I heard about him he he uh um cancels a lot of transactions you know he he’s such a I’m glad because that’s what I want him to do exactly I I want the best for my buyers I want them to come out Buy A Home ahead and buy a home that they know is safe reliable that they aren’t going to have big expensive repairs later um we’re not in it just just for us to get our commission let’s just sell it oh I’m sorry is that broken just don’t say anything gloss it over it’s no big deal they can fix it later evidently a lot of do that we’ve had oh you need to find another inspector you know it’s no no we don’t because that’s what we want and I would go so far to say if your agent hasn’t canceled out uh you know transactions in the past because of due diligence then you need to find another agent due diligence needs to be real it’s very important our job is to represent you and make sure your home is in the best and most efficient operating um what condition condition very you conditional work yeah but you know we we don’t want you to buy move in and then find out oh wow the grinder pump isn’t working oh wow um there’s a the the slab is cracked oh wow there’s a leak in my roof and nobody noticed it nobody caught it you know we value you know our inspector you know we we really a AAR he does a great job if there’s something wrong he’s going to find it he’s going to find it and uh and and at the same time if it’s good it’s great he’s delighted he’s like this is an amazing house you’ve got a real gem on your hands um other times he can say you need to think about this you need you need to think about this he doesn’t say yes about no he doesn’t he will never say The YES or NO That Will Surprise You yes or no he will present his facts and then you know he says this is up to you but these are my findings you need to really carefully consider and go through this and decide what’s worth it to you in terms of later repairs yeah absolutely and so it’s important and it’s our job as as your representative to make sure you’re getting something that’s really in good working condition yeah I hate to get phone calls later this broke that broke and d and something wasn’t caught I had one house where the inspector actually said oh I don’t get on the roof I will never do that yes yes I won’t get on the roof and I’m like well okay and uh so what happened there was over a 100 crack tiles this is very important you know you need to have a full service inspect who doesn’t pick and choose oh I don’t want to go up in that attic I don’t want to go in the crawl space I don’t do the Not A Good Inspector roof that’s not a good inspector that’s not a good inspector you need somebody who gets in there and does every possible a lot of times the problems are found in the crannies you got to be willing to get in there yes so hats off to Matt yeah uh we’re so glad he’s part of our team yes he will also we use Matt 2 on on the cell side as well oh yeah important yeah there are sellers you know they’ll use an inspector as one of these gloss over types you they want to Gloss Over Types make the transaction go forward and they’ll hire them to do a pre-inspection when you’re the seller and you’re doing a pre-inspection you want to know everything the whole point is to get away from you know so you don’t have a surprise when you go you don’t want to have a surprise after you’re under contract so yeah we also do for our sellers we also recommend a pre- inspection especially if the home is older we never want to be under contract and about to end you know the inspection period and you find out there’s a crack SLB or the reef has a major leak or there’s mold we want to discover that stuff before you go on the market so you can address it and fix it because I can guarantee you if you have a good inspector they’re going to find it and it could queer the whole deal yeah people get scared they’re like well they these people didn’t take care of their house I don’t want to take this on yes so if so as as a buyer you need to use a real inspector a tough inspector as a seller you need to use a tough inspector that’s right that’s the bottom line inspection should be real it shouldn’t be ins should just a a you know rubber stamp something that’s right we’re looking for that’s not what we’re looking for you’re right so sometimes we’re disappointed sometimes our buyers are disappointed sometimes it can be a Heart Breaker heartbreaker but in the long run we will definitely find you something better uh where you don’t have to worry and have any angst at all about what you just did or what you just purchased yep so hang with us stay the course as I always say stay the course we will make it happen and we will find something for you even better so there you go don’t get thrown by you know get a good inspector so tip of the day good inspector good inspectors will save your hide that’s it okay if you like tips the place to go is pickle 411.com that is our free information site whether you are a buyer seller somewhere in between there’s something waiting for you that will Amaze astound and form andt Aston Vaporize Aston vaporize I I don’t know a lot of stuff a lot of stuff and the price is right it’s all absolutely friend that’s right absolutely we look forward to hearing from you put the credit cards away it’s all fre that’s right we’d love to help you in your next steps yeah and uh and introduce you to our great Wind Down inspector all right friends that is all for today have a fabulous fabulous rest of your day bye

3% Interest?

If you're waiting for the days of 3% interest to return before you buy a house... we have some news for you. Tune in today to find out what you can expect, and how you can make the best decision possible.

Video Transcript

good morning good morning good morning and hello hello hello to all beeps peeps of that’s right to all of our fellow pickle peeps out there happy to join you this morning and talk about the interest rates it makes you sad it makes me sad um sure do miss the dates uh you know when we had lower interest rates one more time we have any two and a half to 3 and half% it was a beautiful thing was a beautiful an unusual thing um honestly it was like getting free money it’s really not the most sound thing for E economy yeah and so we all got very very spoiled by that and we loved it but it’s really not the norm yeah um we did get used to it and we were adjusted to it but if you recall from the 70s and ‘ 8s interest rates used to be like 13 14% so we just were blessed for a little while there but it’s really not the norm no not at all and and and some would argue not even healthy to have a not really healthy for the the in terms of predicting where uh interest rates are going people will talk about the fed or they’ll talk about the inflation these are all things that people you know spend a whole lot more time studying that and actually get paid to do it uh we don’t do that uh but you know all those things are um uncertain one thing that you can hang your hat on is demographics demographics are unchangeable so we had Baby Boomers and then we had the what was it Gen X and then Gen Y is essentially uh the Millennials yeah the so we’ll talk about those three baby boomers are huge you know we had a bunch of baby boomers Gen X was the baby bust yep and in Millennials they call the echoboom yes so here’s what you need to know uh when people reach a certain age they start investing you know they’re kind of past raising the kids and all that and they’re reaching the maximum of their income potential they start investing money that is the supply of money oh is it yeah that’s that’s where investment dollars come from it comes from people investing right never knew and you got to have money to do that and Baby Boomers during the time we had very they had lots of money cuz most of them had not retired yet M okay mhm the people who were using the money those are people who are doing things like buying homes starter homes cars raising children education those were the Gen xers or the baby Busters okay that’s me that’s you yeah she’s a baby buster I’m a baby bu yeah I’m the youngest I’m in the the cohort the youngest of the uh the Baby Bloomers yeah yeah so what we had was we had a bunch of people supplying money and very few people demanding money so interest rates went down yes it’s it’s just that simple I mean all the other you know factors and everything it came down to demographics y yeah so that’s why it was so it’s so unusual to get demographic shifts historically unless you have you know a plague or something uh well we kind of did yeah we kind of did we kind of did we didn’t that was not a plague plagues kill you know third a third of the population had nothing like that but anyway well not good was not good but it it did not affect the interest rate No it sure right all right so moving forward what we have is the Gen xers the baby Busters are now entering the phase where they can invest and the Millennials the the echo Boomers they’re going to start borrowing so what that means is you’re going to have very high demand and very low Supply meanwhile the Baby Boomers they’re all probably let a three4 of us have reached 65 now something like that so most the rest are dead dead or retired you know but for the purpose of this conversation they’re not investing money they they if they invest their money they put it in very safe stuff you know T bills or something like something very conservative because they have a nest preserve it MH so we’re going into a phase now where you can anticipate very low Supply and very very high demand of money and that my friends means interest rates are going to stay hot yeah which is kind of a bummer yeah it’s a bummer and you’re going to have some movement you know short-term things are going to move the rate around but I think the days of 2 and a half% mortgage rates I don’t it’s going to be a long time till it comes back yeah I just don’t see how that’s going to happen but historically even 7% is still a good rate a good rate uh you know as I said when you compared earlier we had aunts and uncles that had had 16% interest rates so and again even don’t let it scare you even at 7% because hopefully with time things the rates will drop you can always refinance it’s not like you were tied to this for the rest of your life with this huge Rock tied around your neck yes not really I’m sure with time things will adjust refinance at that point yeah if you have to borrow let’s just say the g rate now is about 7 and a half I think let’s say you borrow at 7 and a half uh one of three things is going to happen the interest rate is going to stay the same well you you got the going rate interest rates are going to go up thank God you got the rate interest rates are going to go down you refinance yep you know but uh the idea that in you know 3 months it’s going to go down to 3% no get past it get on with your life none of us are young anymore you need to move on some of us are young young at heart yeah be young at heart and move on with your life don’t don’t let the the interest rates drive your life cuz you could sit there waiting for I mean don’t play that game just just grab Life by the horns get out there and do it don’t let this all don’t try to play The Guessing Game I’ll wait a year or two it it it may be worse so now is the time be decisive just accept it move forward get there and start your new chapter yeah absolutely don’t play that waiting game you’ll drive yourself crazy I’m already crazy with you know um this one I don’t need to worry about the rest of that baby buster can you believe that she Buster I believe it that’s our tip of the day if you like tips the place to goes pickle 411.com that’s our free information site whether you are buyer seller somewhere in between there’s something there waiting especially for you that will Astound Amaze inform and entertain you silly and it’s all free it’s all free it’s all we don’t charge anything for charge anything we just share our wisdom yeah less than going to a pay toilet you know you go to our free information I’ve never gone to a pay toilet Remember You The Quarters oh you’re you’re a baby buster remember that yeah little quarter and you go in that’s I never heard of such a thing why is that any worse than a bathroom you just there’s a little quarter you put in that’s ridiculous used to do that used to have you used to have these metal things they called them coins [Laughter] and it was almost like a credit card oh yeah yeah I have a vague recollection anyway give us a call Diana Randle bro here your local Friendly competent smart hardworking agents we’d love to help you absolutely take care have a great day bye bye

Buying Sight Unseen

Once upon a time it was unheard of to buy a house sight unseen. Covid changed all that. Watch this video to learn about the great process we use to make sure our buyers get the house they want and sellers can trust them to follow through.

Video Transcript

good after oops I jumped ahead sorry gotta move fast yeah I can’t I got a Sprint he has to Sprint yeah with the pickle lady good afternoon this is Diane and Randall bro coming to you from Prescott Arizona our favorite little mountain town that we retired to about seven years ago no we’re not retired by work well true we moved here we moved here yeah we retired from Paris I guess I think it’s just wishful thinking yeah I think you’re right we retired from Parenthood we didn’t do that we had been empty nested so we started a whole new chapter chapter and here we are here we are in Prescott Arizona and loving every minute of it that’s right now one of the things we wanted to talk about today is sight unseen yeah so this is when people put an offer on a home that they have not physically seen and this is uh controversial a lot of sellers don’t like it with good reason yes uh it’s not it’s not it’s not a rule that’s etched in stone though so that’s why we wanted to talk about it yeah so a lot of folks are out of state and they see a house they identify a house on MLS they’re like oh my gosh this house looks really interesting and they give us a call what are your thoughts and what we always do is we say you know what let us go preview it for you we will do a walk through video that makes you feel like you’re standing right next to me walking through the house just like if you had an appointment you were local then we send it to them we edit it we Randall sets it to music he he does a voice over and we send it to you at that point if you still are really interested then we suggest let’s put an offer in and you get down here as fast as you can so you can see it in person so most of the times people love the video they’re like wow I think only one time somebody said no I changed my mind most of the time we have sold many many houses site unseen in person um particularly if people have already been to Prescott and we coach people on oh actually yeah we know that if you haven’t been here you really don’t know the neighborhoods you want to make an offer based on a video we’re going to try to dissuade you yeah but if you know the neighborhood you’ve been here you’ve selected you know I want this neighborhood in Prescott Lakes I want to view you know I want to be in a gay I want to be a gay community you know and you’ve seen all these things before uh you know with our video it’s kind of like having been there absolutely um but a lot of I can’t say a lot because uh it used to be in during covid uh they would say if they haven’t physically been in the house we’re not going to take the offer and in part that was just because every home was getting like 30 offers so you’re trying to come up with any excuse at all to cut people out now it’s more of a buyer’s market and seller agents have learned well you know maybe we should we should think about this um once you go under contract with the house the first thing that happens is the inspection period inspection period is 10 days so all you as seller you’re on the hook for setting for 10 days the worst that can happen is you go 10 days and then they say no I really don’t want the house and then you don’t get the earnest money I guess during covet people were being very aggressive I heard a story someone had never been to Prescott before put an offer in a house site unseen and they went under contract the inspection period starts and then she finds out that it snows here yeah oh I yeah so I understand from the seller Sellers and seller seller agents listing agents point of view you know you have to be responsible about that and we are quite responsible we communicate very much everything all that Prescott what it’s about what the town is like with the weather is like we’re very communicative so if you get a sight unseen offer from us yeah it’s going to be a good one people are completely educated about what they’re getting into then they have 10 days they hurry up and get down here they look at it and then usually I mean I’ve never had I think I had one person back out usually we go to you know people like I do love it which is you know make it happen people who you know they they come they see the house they’re in the house they love the house they put the camp in their tent in the house and stay there for three days and then during the inspection period you know they still bail out it’s it happens there’s a certain percent for whatever reason whether it’s buyers cold feed or a loan issue or it doesn’t inspect out well there are any number of reasons why something could fall out that’s right uh our percentage of people who do sight unseen offers that fall out is about the same as our buyers who uh who have been in the homes and that’s just because we are very uh responsible what’s the word I’m looking forward we we understand we try really hard not to bring people’s bad offers that’s not good for that’s right you it’s not good for your seller it’s not good for us and in the end it’s not good for our powers that’s right so if you’re thinking I’m out of town how am I supposed to do this if I see a house I’m going to miss out on it we’ll help you through that process yes we will we will completely educate you we will video for you we’ll talk to you we’ll go through each stage of it and then you know we’ll try to write up a contract so you can get down here and it won’t be sold from underneath you so uh we work really hard to make that happen for you so don’t think how will I ever achieve this it’s doable it’s certainly doable uh one thing you can do if you’re on our website you can look around for property videos uh and you can kind of see the style of videos that we do and I mean we walk through the home with the camera it’s like walking through the camera slow yeah and you know people really feel like they they have seen them I agree yeah all right so that’s it so if you’re thinking how will I achieve this and I’m long distance well it could happen Captain we’ve done this before we know what we’re doing we know what we’re doing we know we know a few tricks of the trade we’re gonna make it happen and try to make it uh as stress-free as possible for you okay so that’s our deal with side unseen don’t be afraid of sight unseen yes whether you’re a buyer or your seller excited insane particularly if it comes from the pickle lady that’s right yeah we’re gonna try hard we will okay my friends that is our tip for the day and we sure hope you’re having a beautiful day out there take care bye

Solar Snags

Here in sunny Prescott, solar energy might seem like a no-brainer. But if you're considering installing a solar rig on your home, you'll want to check out this video to make sure you understand all the pros and cons - especially how it can affect the sale of your home.

Video Transcript

good afternoon good afternoon folks hi hi hello hello Bonjour you know all those things that’s right multilingual there you go she’s the pickle lady I am this is a pickle that’s right Diane and Randall bro here coming to you uh your local Friendly helpful Realtors here in Prescott Arizona and we are here to talk about sometimes it’s the bane of my existence it makes me take a deep breath yeah so we’re here to talk today about solar solar can be a four-letter word yeah in my world all right so first off solar is available here uh some of the newer construction homes come with solar uh for the most part when people come from Why So Little? other areas where there’s a lot of solid they’re surprised there isn’t more of it there isn’t more of it right they’re like how come most of the houses here don’t have them well here’s the thing um our utilities are quite inexpensive yeah uh our electric bills are not super high like in some other areas of the country and people are getting these Sky High you know 900 electric bills it just doesn’t happen here so the financial component of solar is not that compelling here the people they do solar It’s Green, But… they’re for the most part it’s to be green uh absolutely most people here who do it now Phoenix absolutely they meet solar they’re running that AC constantly we don’t have a three-digit temperatures so we don’t have to run our AC we’re not running at 105 like it is down in the valley yeah that’s right um it’s very temperate temperatures here especially during summer it’s just not that bad we might get in the 90s you know and then you know uh it cools down to the 70s so we’re not really hitting that AC so hard that solar would be a positive thing we have the sun form but it the energy that it produces is a war as much as that’s right energy produced in other areas and Owned vs. Not so now I love own sonar I will say that ohm solar if you want to put solar on and you really want to help the environment and I appreciate that and I honor that I think that’s a beautiful thing and you pay it off I love it even more but if you put solar on and you take a sixty thousand dollar loan to have uh solar installed uh you should know most people who buy your in the future who might want to buy your home are not interested in assuming that loan yes most people are like I don’t want to pay how much did you pay it down ten thousand yes I don’t want to buy a 50 000 solar system I don’t want to take over this lease and I don’t want to pay it off so you’ve had sellers in their 80s and they they take out you know a 30-year yeah you know lease on solar it’s like what do you thinking and that’s not yeah well somebody is somebody’s not you know yeah they’re doing a sell job yeah and so it’s very important and so it can be a real deterrent to potential When it’s a Deterrent buyers yeah so what’s your name yeah unless you can find a buyer first of all you to find a buyer is willing to do it you’ve cut your buyers at least in half yes uh because they’re going to have to take over the lease and a lot of them they worry about you know the roof Other Worries and was it installed properly that’s right you know is it going to be damaged if they remove it and so you’ve got it opens up a whole can of worms it does um particularly if it’s leased and they don’t want to take over the lease you have to remove it it it can be a real nightmare if it sleeps we have yet to work with a lease company that makes that process fast easy yeah it’s a pretty it’s a grueling process a grueling process so if you are thinking Pay it Off about doing solar at least here in Prescott yeah pay it off pay it off because yeah yeah you’re probably going to end up having to pay it off when you go to sell yes anyway just the buyers that’s true most of the buyers will say okay I’m interested but I don’t want to take this on they have to pay it off yeah so be prepared if you were thinking about putting solar on your house here in Prescott uh there’s a lot of pros and cons Pros and Cons so the pros are I mean if you get it and you pay it off then you have you know what 60 dollar bills or less way less that can be a great thing that’s it can be yeah it can be a very good thing now some of the buildings of Mandalay in particular I know they’re doing solar in a lot of their new homes and you know that’s part of the deal it’s part of the package and it’s owned you know you’re not you’re not uh leasing it separately so you’re not going to have that same the same number of issues but our advice When it’s a Benefit is if you’re thinking about doing solar make sure you pay it off and then enjoy all the perks and the Beautiful benefits of uh owning your own solar and then if you ever have to sell your home it’s a real positive for incoming buyers yes they don’t want to lease it though they don’t want to lose it but you’re going to get all your money back but that’s when we’ll go for a premium if it does have solar absolutely and we’re saying this is and it’s owed yeah and it’s on this is 2023 uh solar technology is improving all the time that’s right you know they may come up with something that changes the whole aspect the the costs and all this so this may change but as of now given the technology that’s in place if it’s a new home and Retrofitting they’re incorporating solar as part of the package that’s okay that that’s a pretty good deal but if you have a home and you’re thinking about retrofitting I would I would discourage that yeah just just looking at this from the point of view of a realtor right it makes your home harder and trying to resell yeah for sure for sure so that’s our little tit solar yeah not again solar I think solar is amazing yeah I think solar is great and by the Diane Beats Lease Companies way if if you do have a home that is leased it has lease on solar there is no one better on the planet than bulldogging the the lease companies to get them to do the thing in the pickle lady we just released her to you know release the dogs and uh let’s slip the dogs of war or whatever it is because she goes after him and she is Relentless yeah they hate me but uh it’s not a pleasant it’s not a pleasant uh yeah happening for anyone so no so keep that in mind solar can be a very positive thing if it’s owned otherwise I don’t know yeah so that’s our tip of Wind Down the day yes do you want more tips we have plenty for you and a place to go is pickle four one one.com there’s a free information site whether you’re a buyer seller or somewhere in between there is something waiting for you that will inform astound and entertain you and it’s all absolutely free that’s right she likes much feel so silly all right everyone out there hope you’re having a great day and we hope you uh this was informative for you about solar absolutely we’re here to serve take care bye