Wind Down – Page 6 – 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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Vacation Buddies & Splitter (Splittr)

One of the joys of retirement is travel, and there's no place you'll find more fun people to travel with than Prescott.  

In this episode, we share stories of the great trips we've recently made with our buddy groups... plus a cool app that makes paying bills for large groups a snap.

Video Transcript

Gemma Bell Randall this is Diana Randall bro here in Prescott Arizona we are your local hopefully favorite Realtors yes we sure have a lot of fun yeah we do meeting everybody new and old and uh having friendships after we sell we’ve met some great people but uh in fact some of these people have become such good friends we are now traveling yeah so traveling groups is a big thing here yeah people make friends they end up forming little groups the groups get bigger yep uh so uh we’re we’re about to head out uh on a little jaunt yes uh with eight of our friends including us so six of our friends yes yeah uh we just got back from uh another one early in December we went to Key West yeah another eight people for 10 days yeah so it’s real big here I guess because most folks are retired unlike us but that’s okay yeah we try to schlep in there anyway get in there and have fun with all the retired folk but uh so yeah they’ll reach out and say hey I’d like to get a couple of airbnbs nearby who wants to join us I want to get a condo I want to get this I want to go I want we want to go on a cruise does anybody want to join us and we’ve been invited to several of those so much fun yeah now we haven’t been on vacations before friends family and honestly um it’s a mixed bag you know if you don’t quite gel with the other people on the trip you know it’s gonna it’s gonna keep nagging you the whole time we’ve had really good luck we’ve had a great time yeah everyone seems to be of the same mind and uh we we’ve had really good luck with with uh with our vacations with our friend groups absolutely and you know once you have one you know they kind of roll over then you do another trip yeah you know you kind of have the uh the draft you know where one one couple gets traded off to the other and you get you can’t quite make it but you have somebody else that’s in the group that could fill the Slime substitute absolutely yeah but we all get along great yeah um and so we went to Costa Rica we’ve done Key West we’re going to do New Orleans I mean it just gets more and more fun yeah and we’ve just had the time of our lives that’s all I can say and so when you come to Prescott and you make some of these great friendships you know you’ll see a lot of this going on people love to travel together and I guess you know it’s fun because you don’t have the baggage Family or all your friends you know you can just go with you know everybody’s kind of new to the game here so maybe we’re all on best behavior I don’t know the best behavior well yeah we do yeah we do hit it hard yeah we do hit it hard but uh it’s it’s been uh one of the nice perks about living here is meeting people especially we’re you know we haven’t really traveled too too much but these folks have so they can set it all up yeah they can tell you oh this is great this is great we’re gonna do this and I just tag along and I have the time of my life yeah so the the mechanics of this thing is you plan a trip you’re going to plan it you know months in advance uh you know you have a group that wants to get together generally you’ll have you know some dinner meetings where you talk about where you want to go what do you want to do once you pick the place who’s in you know who’s definitely in and then once that’s settled out you have another meeting all with drinks so that’s also part of the fun it’s part of the function yeah so here are all the excursions that are available who wants to do this who wants to do that and then you go on your on your launch day you know and it’s uh so that’s one of the beautiful things about living in Prescott is it is a retirement kind of community and so people are free and available to you know make these great trips yeah and if you’re lucky enough and they include you you say yes and you go and then you have a great time yeah that’s kind of one of the perks about living in a retirement kind of town it’s it’s lovely the other great thing we discovered and well shout out to Charlie bomberger and Bob swelgin you know who you are good friends uh it’s a little program that they introduced this to called Splitter Splitter so this is our other tip to you guys yeah so it’s split like splitter but but no e it’s special s-p-l-i-t-t-r yeah splitter it’s a German app you can put it on your phone so your your credit card may not like it at first so you might have to uh tell them oh yeah it’s it’s uh it’s a validate it’s not very much uh well I think it’s free it is a free app you can get it you can get the premium version but we did not we did not Yeah so basically it’s about splitting costs of things yeah so when you’re with a group of people or your family yeah every time you say I’ll pick up for the whole group it goes on to the splitter app and at the end of the year at the end of the trip I should say it splits up what everyone paid what everyone owed and tells you who owes whom what yeah and it’s a lot of fun it kind of becomes a competition yeah uh oh I’m ahead of the game so you know somebody else needs to and and everybody starts buying a vine to pay for the meal yeah and so at the end everybody basically pays the you know it it it washes out it all washes out what’s really cool about the app I mean obviously if it’s just splitting everything four ways let’s say uh the arithmetic on that is pretty straightforward but uh like when we were in uh Key West I uh I uh paid for a few Ubers but not everyone could fit in the car so I’m thinking well I’m just gonna I’m just gonna pay for the Ubers and I will put it through splitter because not everyone was in the car oh no you can you can make a subgroup and say okay I paid for an Uber and this couple and this couple were the only ones in the car and it will just divide that expense among those two couples so it’s really nice it’s really really cool yeah so you can you know divide it up any way you need to yeah you go to a big meal and you’ve got a table of eight little bills for each single person some restaurants won’t allow you to do that well somebody picks it up and then you put it on splitter yeah and then you know it washes out somebody else will pick up another meal so it’s uh it’s kind of fun and it kind of became a little competition I got it I got it I got this bill I got this bill it’s a lot of fun especially if you know if you’re if you’re drinking it because yeah yeah really quite funny well you know I always kind of think that when you do things that everyone’s kind of splitting things and taking terms of Spain that you end up being pretty even and you do uh you know but the splitter’s nice because it makes sure that everything’s Fair yeah nice and clean super clean and easy you don’t have to do the addition subtraction yeah it does it for you so anyway that was a lot of fun to learn on our last trip so we had a lot of fun with that and we will continue to use splitter in the future for sure absolutely so if you’re looking uh you’re thinking about Prescott get on over here oh my gosh there’s so many great people to meet and then maybe you can take future trips yeah and you can get the splitter app yeah one day we might be on splitter we might be yeah we might be splitting bills with you on Twitter we hope so that might be fun anyway so that’s just our tip of the day and we just were talking about our past vacation we just took and how much fun it was and how nice it was to just go with a new group of friends and just have the time of our lives and isn’t that what it’s about no it is exactly getting ready to retire get on over here and have some fun with all the other retired folks that’s it all right that’s our tip of the day if you’re in the tips the place to go it’s pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you are a buy or seller or somewhere in between there is something atrocious and wonderful not atrocious not atrocious entertaining yeah formative all free all right so give us a call we’d love to show you around our beautiful town and look at some great houses and help you get over here as soon as you can all right take care have a great evening 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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Parties on the Terrace

Some of the most happening social events around Prescott are the parties held on the terrace at the clubhouse in Prescott Lakes.  Even if you don't live in this subdivision, you can still join in.  In this episode, we explain how that works and why you don't want to miss out.

Video Transcript

good afternoon my fellow pickle peeps hello hello hello Diana Randall bro here coming at you from Prescott Arizona happy to be here yeah we’re starting off our new year yeah we’re getting the gears going uh we’re excited to be back in the action started some action and we had a lot of fun uh New Year’s Eve New Year’s Eve great time and so we wanted to talk about we actually live in Prescott Lakes we wanted to talk about the amazing social amenities that Prescott Lakes has to offer all right so if you don’t know Prescott Lakes Prescott Lakes is the largest subdivision in city of Prescott and I believe it is the second largest in the Prescott area there’s one subdivision on PV it’s a bit bigger yes it’s a big place they have about 1500 Lots probably about and now I’m saying maybe 1300 1350 have been developed totally yeah just some idea how big that is so Under the Umbrella as I call it of Prescott Lakes are about 13 different neighborhoods yeah we all go to the one center of the of the whole development which is the club and uh so there they have a private restaurant it’s amazing they always have something fun going on always always always and now that covet is lifted we’re back back in action so we wanted to talk about this New Year’s Eve we actually went to the club it was open for New Year’s Eve they had a live band they had an amazing Buffet um and we had a good time The Time Of Our Lives it was a good time yeah just to be clear so if you live in Prescott Lakes you will belong to the club that those two go together it is uh it’s not optional you you pay monthly dues you belong to the club you belong to the athletic center uh and if you’re interested that we can give you more information so here’s a great idea if you’re looking here in Prescott you find a house that you absolutely adore and but you want the social amenities that Prescott Lakes has to offer but your home Falls outside of that jurisdiction so to speak you can get a social membership I think it’s 60 or 65 dollars a month and that enables you to come to the restaurant and enjoy all the social events that they have one being uh New Year’s Eve we were there you could get tickets to that and you could go the other being um party on the Terrace which is always fun right yeah so the party and the Terrace they do that two three times a month oh I don’t know that much but yeah well it depends on the month this month they’re doing I think they have three of them but uh it depends on the month but uh yeah they’ll have live bands uh there’s a nice Terrace outside the club and has a beautiful view uh the weather’s good they’ll do it outside there’s a fire pit people hang out by the fire pit they’ll have live music they’ll have a great buffet dinner yeah it’s really uh dancing drinking it’s lovely it’s lovely lovely the other good thing is uh there are clubs within the club here at Prescott Lakes and with the social membership you are allowed to join some of those not all but some if it doesn’t involve the athletic center you can still come do bridge club book club The Women’s Club uh there’s a variety of them that are open to you so if you’re new here you can still kind of enjoy some of the Prescott Lakes social amenities we have a lot of friends who do not live in Prescott Lakes proper but they belong and we go out we have a great time yeah and meet them for dinner meet them for lunch the club is always having amazing brunches they have a beautiful Easter brunch Mother’s Day Mother’s Day Father’s Day so if you’re always kind of Prescott legs they’re essentially two options if you’re a big golfer you may want to join the golf as a golf membership golf memberships are not uh limited to just people in Prescott lake so you get a golf membership for a little bit more you’ll get access to the Athletic Club and everything so right uh if you do that it what you pay is marginally more than what you would pay if you lived in Prescott if you’re not a golfer do the social membership 60 65 absolutely no-brainer have a good time yeah and we’ll see you there you know eat in the restaurant we’re always there and it is a tremendous way to meet people new to the area yeah lots of people are not from here and they become members and it’s great to meet people and make some new connections yeah absolutely we highly recommend it we love the club we love the social membership so don’t be sad like oh I love what it has to offer but I bought a house outside of Prescott Lakes not to worry yeah we can still make it happen and you can have fun and we’ll see you there absolutely okay another tip if you’re into tips check out our free information site you can reach it at pickle411.com lots of information about real estate about events things to eat places to go things to do it’s all there whether you’re a buyer seller somewhere in between there’s something waiting for you that will Astound an amazing maybe I hope so all right friends that’s it for today have an awesome rest of your day take care 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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Pre-Inspections

One of the most discouraging things that can happen when selling your house is when something unexpected shows up during your buyer's due diligence.  There's a quick and easy way of avoiding that, which we explore in this episode.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello today yeah I don’t know I hope everybody’s having a beautiful day and life is treating you well we’re having a beautiful day I’m here to share it with you that’s right yeah we are so excited this is Diana Randall bro here with exp Realty pickle lady I’m a psychic that’s right we are very excited here to talk to you today about something I think it’s important for all people getting ready to list particularly if you have an older home yes uh I in fact if you have an older home I would say it’s almost imperative yes big word imperative narrative I like that word it’s imperative meaning you must you must do this if you uh have a home even if it’s maybe fairly new um and you want to make sure you’re ready to sell you’ve got to get this concluded and move on have your home pre-inspected free inspection free inspect it don’t rely on the buyer to do it yeah you do it we have a great inspector that we use uh he’s part of our team he’s amazing he will come out and pre-inspect and uh from top to bottom roof uh HVAC a dishwall everything and he will write up a 60 70 page report his name is Matt gormer yep with national inspection I just calling that Matt call Matt we’ll look into that we’ll look into that National inspection yeah National inspection and he’s he’s just grateful he’s great uh very very knowledgeable so he’ll come out and depending on the square footage it’s probably anywhere from 325 to 375. yeah well worth the money yeah right just to clear up any confusion you guys might have if if you’re not from Arizona we are uh this advice is for sellers in Arizona and other states like California some of the other states it is customary for the seller to do a pre-inspection that’s just sort of the the normal procedure and then uh so they offer those inspection reports to would-be buyers Arizona doesn’t do that correct Arizona the buyer will do their own inspection and get their own inspection report what we are suggesting is that even though it’s not customary sellers particularly uh people with older homes or a home that let’s say a home any home that has been built uh 10 years or more ago or has not been renovated for more than 10 years right you probably want to do a pre-inspection because nothing is worse than getting under inspection I mean getting under contract pardon me getting under contract and everybody’s excited we’ve opened escrow we’re moving along and then we find a slew of problems yeah so as the seller you don’t want to be hit with these surprises yeah oh my gosh I had no idea really that’s wrong that’s wrong that’s wrong and then guess what sometimes can happen the buyer can walk and say you know what it’s too much yeah I don’t want to do it I don’t want to touch this with a 10-foot pole even if it’s little things yeah I’ve got a lot of little things right goes through a buyer’s mind is well what else is wrong with this house correct finding uh when you when you show them an inspection report and everything’s been addressed yep or they do their own inspection and it comes back really clean makes them really confident right they feel good they’re excited yeah and what sellers need to understand too now is that the market has changed and now sellers are competing for buyers yep and so if you have a buyer and they’re considering your house which is say a little older or a brand new home they might go with a brand new home just to avoid all so to make yourself competitive a pre-inspection is a good investment and you know take care of some of the problems that are on there before you even go on the market before you go on so then your house is just you know you have a confidence that you know what if I go under contract this is not going to fall out um I’ve taken care of everything they should be very happy with the home they’re about too high and so it’s something we kind of advise and and we’re so happy when some of our clients will take us up on that yeah and then you’re going to be surprises and you’re more likely to get an offer there too we’ve had any number of buyers they just look at the home and just say there is no way this thing it’s going to inspect out right you know we’re going to do an inspection I know they’re going to be issues right for whatever reason they don’t think the the seller is going to be amenable to repairs or whatever they don’t even bother making the offer yeah they’re like yeah it’s too much oh my God inspection report in their hot little hands that shows yeah we’ve addressed all these things and it shows pride of ownership right it makes them feel good these people cared for their home these people really invested their time and money in the home so I’m buying a good product I feel now good about making an offer on this home yes and like I said we don’t want to be under contract and it’s like oh really yeah I had no idea the heater didn’t work yeah not a good thing you don’t want to go back and say be surprised you know what I mean yeah you’re going under contract you’re calling movers you’re you’re moving on with your life oh guess what you know right so we are big Believers in having your home pre-inspected even if if it’s a fairly new house five years old it’s still good you know there might be some things you’re not even aware of yeah we just recently had a brand new home which was more than what was reported in the county turns out we were right yes uh so yeah even even that’s a little thing lots of little things yes uh it’s it’s a it’s a good insurance policy absolutely we cannot speak highly enough and for those of our clients who believe us and like to take our advice we thank you cheers to you for agreeing to the pre-inspection it gives you uh you know when you put your head on the pillow no worries you’re free no fretting because you know you’ve done everything you possibly can to get your house ready to be in good shape to sell that’s right so that’s our little tip of the day to our fellow sellers to be that’s right you want more tips the place to get it is pickle411.com that is our free information site whether you’re a buyer seller or somewhere in between there’s plenty of information for you about real estate about press get things to do things to eat places to go all kinds of stuff all kinds of not just real estate not just real estate fun stuff fun stuff too yeah that’s what we’re also that’s fun too it can be a lot of fun enough for pre-inspections it’s fun for math it’s fun for Matt okay so thank you for listening to this handy tidbit of the day we appreciate that and we hope that you have a wonderful evening all right take care bye

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Sun Shades

We recently discovered one of the best and most cost-effective ways to help transform your outdoor space into a comfortable retreat you can enjoy all year long.  

Why didn't we do this years ago?

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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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Asbestos

Older homes can have dangerous stuff in them... things like asbestos.  In this episode, we discuss common places where asbestos can lurk and what to do if you find it.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello peeps this is Randall and Diane bro here coming to you live from our little town of Prescott Arizona we are here to kind of talk about some things cut them Charlie Brown yeah you know poor Charlie Brown but anyway we are here to talk about something that you know eor-ish Charlie brownish related asbestos asbestos kind of the thing about asbestos is every year there’s less and less to talk about right asbestos has been identified as a problem since I guess the early 80s yep and uh for the most part it’s been eradicated in most homes certainly all new homes yeah uh but from time to time you have a home that dates back to the 80s no not even really it’s like 1974 earlier and maybe even I think 74 to 80 is you know because they were still using asbestos yeah some of the materials yeah yeah even though they said no more asbestos they grandfathered in existing materials so yeah so the the uh yeah so there’s no hard cut off like in lead-based pain correct our cutoff is 78 anything 70 and later you’re fine yeah that’s right and it’s a big No-No there’s no hard cut off in asbestos yeah but basically the most common uh things for asbestos sometimes they would do duct insulation uh we have yet to see that the one that is most common here and probably most common around right around the country is the dreaded popcorn ceilings yeah popcorn ceilings are notorious especially if they were put in in 1974 1975. although you were sitting in high cotton when you put up those popcorn ceilings everybody thought you were you know put the glitter in there I mean the glitter was even more that was an added step but you were pretty fancy if you were doing it along with your sunken living rooms the prince Acoustics but that’s right it does it is pretty cool but however is it fine if it just stays in place sure but boy if you try to remove that you’ve got to have that abated immediately super fine particles just floating you can’t even see it yeah if you if you are if you have a home you’re trying to sell and it has popcorn okay chances are it’s gotten asbestos nobody is going to want a popcorn ceiling nobody nobody you’re going to want to pull it down yeah even you know the people talk about oh Grandma’s gonna sell her home oh my God even grandma doesn’t want popcorn nobody wants popcorn anymore I really don’t think it’s all that bad I really don’t I mean it doesn’t really offend me but I’ve seen people accept really pretty gross stuff but popcorn ceilings for whatever reason the whole body wants popcorn so if they’re gonna buy your house they’re going to want to remove it if they’re going to remove it that’s a problem if there’s asbestos so you’re gonna have to Abate it you’re gonna have to Abate it and there are companies we can help you with every step of the way uh they will come out and take three core samples from three different locations in the home it is shipped down to Phoenix it is tested and then they give you the percentage um and they will then refer you to abatement companies of which we know you know several of them here I’m sure you ask for for popcorn sealants make sure you ask them to measure the square footage oh yes of the popcorn typically to Abate that to you know have it all scraped down if you do do have asbestos it’s about 450 a square foot a square foot yeah so keep that in mind it’s it’s not a cheap Endeavor to repair that and get it all cleared and then after it’s all scratched up that is good I should say that it is as of November 2022. that’s correct yeah that price written in stone remember Stone but yeah as a a and to make the math easy you might want to do five dollars a square sure the other thing is to once it’s uh abated you’re gonna have to do air tests that’s to demonstrate that there’s no asbestos in the air still uh still correct and that’s probably going to run you another 12 1200 1500 and there’s a separate company that yeah that will come out and test the air quality yeah generally all very important steps yeah generally they’re two two types of companies there is the inspection company inspection and they’re not the same because you don’t want one right you’re a baby we swear it’s all clear now no you need to have somebody that’s why they do it that way right so we have uh all of those people in place if you fall in love with something there’s some great great you know Brady Bunch houses here in Prescott yeah built in the 70s I love them they’re darling no we we’ve actually we’ve gone through an abatement uh you know we uh we were representing the buyer uh we had the popcorn inspected sure enough there was asbestos uh we asked for the repair the seller agreed to do that and the abatement company came in they wear their little booties and a little you know they take care of business and they you know they do all these plastic tunnels you know the the with the plastic that they put up yeah everything it’s hardcore and uh yeah but I mean they come in they do the job yeah they get out that’s done and it’s done well it’s done well and we tested everything was fine yep so it’s not a deal killer but in general I think for most people you’re probably looking at about 10 right uh to Abate that and so you are a seller uh we would advise you if you’ve got popcorn test it if it’s you know chances are it’s going to be bad well even if it’s all right so if you’re gonna if you’re gonna take down the popcorn test it first don’t just take down the pop never take down the popcorn ruin your health okay absolutely you first have to have it tested and uh and if it’s um if it there’s no asbestos you could think about leaving it up and you would have the documentation and demonstrate that there’s no asbestos right uh but for the most part you want to take down popcorn take down take down the pop before you before I love to eat popcorn I think it’s delicious do I want it in my ceiling not really not really but so that is our tip of the day for asbestos it doesn’t necessarily mean end of times end of the world I have to walk away from this house there’s some fantastic homes with beautiful bones they just need to you know get a little you know up with the time so don’t necessarily rule it out but you should be aware of the cost you should be aware that it can be fixed but always test test test test it’s very important very important so that is our tip of the tip of the day we’ve got lots of tips for you lots of tips yeah our free tips you can find at pickle411.com whether you are a buyer seller or somewhere in between there is information there waiting for you that will Delight astound and inform you that’s that’s a lot to deliver but we sure try I’m cocky and it’s good yeah you’re feeling strong today I’m feeling strong he still had a big bill of goods here yeah but reach out to us we’d love to see you we’d love to take you around give you a tour of our lovely town and see some awesome homes absolutely I hope to hear from you soon take care bye

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Property Taxes

Are property taxes ever good news?  Well, they come pretty close in Prescott.  

If you tired of paying through the nose for services that never materialize, then this episode is for you.  We talk turkey about taxes here in Prescott and how they compare to those in other, less fortunate places.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello and happy good afternoon how’s that that’s good Happy good afternoon happy good afternoon yeah you’re good and happy this is Diane and Randall bro you’re a fellow thank you for identifying yourself she’s pickling I am the pickle lady as well uh thank you for listening to our current little Vlog that we’re about to do it look at you we’re happy to have you here isn’t that a Russian name I don’t know but anyways we’re just delighted we’re with exp Realty we’re local Realtors here in Prescott here to talk to you about a lot of questions we get about property tax property taxes it weighs heavily on a lot of our out of town people who come in heavily heavily and I swear I swear on on the Holy Bible I swear whatever you need me to swear on uh we do not have a stepped up tax appreciation as you will find in other states such as California yeah uh maybe at Oregon and Washington when you buy here there might be a slight adjustment on the current property taxes on the home you’re purchasing but it will not be a dramatic increase like oh they bought this house for 200 000 and now we’re selling it for six hundred thousand so I guess the taxes are going to shoot Sky High does not happen does not happen that way so I swear yeah we had uh two back-to-back years in Prescott uh 30 appreciation during the Covenant market and during that time I think property taxes actually went down yeah they actually went down so so we have a zero-based budget approach to government here in Prescott the uh I guess it’s the county I don’t know the city the whoever mayor who the mayor he gets down he must have a meeting yeah they they figure out what their budget is and they plan to have no money left over at the end so they they put together this is how much money we need to run the place at this point this is all the property that we have and they kind of back into what they need to charge so that they break even right what’s the most important things that we need to address this year yeah and uh they take care of it it’s a very Progressive little town yeah um we don’t have potholes we don’t have roads that need work on we don’t have confidence yeah it’s pretty confident I don’t know what they’re doing they kind of know what they’re doing um things are handled here so they’re not always looking to gouge you for more money taxes they just don’t do that so I mean your taxes might go up fifty dollars yeah might go up 100 might go down 50 it just really depends on what the city is looking at and what their needs are to accomplish for the upcoming year so I know it’s hard to believe yeah we’ve been here six and a half years I think my taxes might have gone up total at the maximum two hundred dollars that’s it all right so now as we are recording this this is November of 2022. yep and let’s talk a little turkey so oh let’s say I have a home it is in Prescott Lakes uh cost of the home is 750 000 okay what’s the property tax probably going to be probably anywhere from 2100 maybe to 2500 yeah that’s per year per year that’s the other question we always get so do you mean every six months no that’s quarterly right no no it’s not quarterly it’s not semi-annually it’s once a year once a year that’s it and it won’t sell out when your property values go up that’s right some homes in here it might even be 1800 1900. uh taxes are extremely reasonable here so when you’re looking to move here think about all of that your cost of living is going to go way down think about just the savings alone on your property taxes we have some people in our car they’re paying 11 to 15 000 a year yeah I mean that’s like a fancy vacation you could take yeah yeah that’s like oh now we can that money’s freed up now I can go out and really enjoy life without sweating these huge property taxes yeah in other states and so we swear they don’t go up they don’t go up you’re not going to have a crazy stepped up tax appreciation it’s uh pretty chill here yeah we need to do another wind down on property tax but I would just give you the short version because I know that’s what you’re thinking yeah but they’re going to get me with income tax right oh yeah um I knew what you said so okay here’s the thing most of the people who are coming in they are going into retirement when you retire your income goes down so uh even though you have lots of assets you’re supposed to pay on your you know your annual income and for most people retiring that number goes down yep uh even if that’s not the case the income tax here is reasonable yes it’s really really small yeah our property taxes are lower we aren’t going to get you in the income tax yeah it is it’s still pretty reasonable that’s not like the state of Texas we used to live in Texas oh no no uh income tax no income tax yeah but we’re paying 12 000 in property tax from a home they get you in other ways for 350 000 yeah guys something like that they’ll get you another one we’ll get you yeah so um yeah add those two together yep uh and uh the both of them are very low here so taxes are a good thing so it’s a it’s a happy day and you you will be happy too when you’re going on a cruise are you taking a little John to Hawaii instead of sending it to whatever state you’re living in that’s right for your you know 30 year old home yeah yeah that’s just my opinion yeah so a little good news for you a little good news that’s a a little another tip so we got plenty of tips for you a tip from the Bro Team from the pickle lady here in Prescott Arizona we hope to hear from you soon you can check us out at pickle411.com that’s our free information site whether you are a buyer seller somewhere in between just looking for a good time I just want to know about taxes that is the place to go pick a 4-1-1 be careful on the good times I mean we’re not making all kinds of here yeah yeah you know what I’m saying within reason within reason people all the fun that the law will allow are described for you within reason yes there you go all right hope to see from see from you soon oh my God it’s a Friday and I’m tired I don’t know I didn’t even say speak it that’s right the English you speak it I speak it as well anyway hope you have a lovely day and thank you for listening to this public service announcement over and out

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Holidays in Prescott

There's a reason why Prescott is called "Arizona's Christmas City" -  it's so friggin' quaint you'll want to overdose yourself on hot mulled cider - put yourself in a cozy little coma.  

Lights, music, and good cheer abound.  In this episode, we cover what the Holiday Season is like in our little town (which extends well into January, by the way).

Video Transcript

people eaters you yes understand what you were saying I got it I got it this is Diana Randall bro coming here to you this morning from the lovely Prescott Arizona she’s special lady I am the pickle lady when you come here to visit you’ll find that why I will give you a jar of my delicious Cajun pickles very good uh yeah the Beloved pickles yes anyway good time to come is the holiday season always always wow no bad time to come true uh if you if you’re thinking about spending time the holiday season taking a little trip risky might be a good choice yeah if you want to do something kind of different like you know what kind of in between Thanksgiving and Christmas head on up here and visit Prescott yeah we will have over a hundred thousand lights and all of the trees around our beautiful Courthouse Square lights in the Square uh it’s so ridiculously Charming as I tell everyone when I take them in and they come to visit we could be in a Hallmark movie or a Hallmark card whatever anything Hallmark related you know what I’m talking about when it’s sweet pretty yeah it’s pretty open it’s darling never just absolutely it’s like something out of the 50s it really a parade it’s so nice so it’s just a small town small town at its finest yeah and Prescott is so freaking Charming that it has even been labeled Arizona’s Christmas City yeah that’s the whole state it’s it’s in our little Hamburg ER three off you thought I was gonna say little town how about a hamlet Hamlet said Hamburg I did it’s a mac oh hamburgers edit that out what no it should be maybe it started off that way now and now I sound dumb that’s not where hamburgers come from but you can get a hamburger here for the holidays or otherwise that’s right but it’s very Charming lots of beautiful shopping to do around the square and all of our nice little individual stores and boutiques and yeah for uh acronite so I think we did another video on at night uh so just briefly it’s a very special night here that’s Christmas related uh this year it is December 9th I think it is it’s like a Friday they’ll light up the tree the Christmas tree and it becomes official all the stores around the square will stay open late it’s a great charity uh charitable event and you can travel from store to store and make a donation and they’ll have live music and it all benefits uh musicians and young students uh needing musical it’s a great idea yeah great event every year yeah and uh the lights and everything all the decorations stay up into January they have a long time yeah it stays up a while so if you can’t make it for the holidays proper uh because I still have some time in the early January mid-January uh something to see for New Year’s Eve we have uh our own answer to the ball drop yep we have the boot drop the boot drop it’s a big cowboy boot we don’t do the disco ball the little ball we do a boot we do and for the early birders which there are quite a few here uh they’ll drop the boot at 10 because it’s midnight on the East Coast so exciting with the ball and Time Square if you are one of the people like to stay up later they’ll drop it again at midnight and make it truly official you stand around and wait for the other shoe to drop how long have you waited for that joke that was a good one yeah well anyway we’d love to see you we’d love to share with the Christmas spirit the holiday spirit is all about in beautiful beautiful spirit a couple of weeks in January it doesn’t matter it’s a great time it doesn’t matter come see us we’ll have a good time yeah so and maybe we’ll see you around the square we’ll you know cheer cheers into the new 2023 amen God willing we’ll all be there a couple warned cider with you that’s right so don’t miss it and come see why Prescott is called Arizona’s Christmas City not to be me that’s to be missed uh so if you uh or want to learn more about holidays in Prescott mm-hmm uh along with other tips you can check out our free information site you can reach it at pickle411.com uh we have information there about acronite and the boot drop and all kinds of stuff stuff about real estate stuff about life all highly entertaining informative and infusions usually entertaining I can’t I can’t make you know all promises it depends on your sense of humor it depends on your sense yeah because informative nonetheless but you should really come see it what it’s all about it’s beautiful and so we hope to see you floating around and give us a call we’d love to take you on your own personal Christmas tour if you’d like Holiday Tour Holiday Tour we’re here absolutely there’s a little bite in the air Winter’s in the air great time to visit hope to see you soon take care bye

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Cover Bands

Prescott is a hot scene for good cover bands.  Whatever your taste in music, there is a cover band waiting at one of our local theaters to delight and entertain you.  With plenty of nearby dinner options, great music, small performance venues, and audiences that like to get up and dance - cover band nights in Prescott are do-not-miss events.

Video Transcript

good morning to all of our fellow pickle peeps out there hope that uh you guys are making it through and survive the holiday season holiday season it’s uh well well underway yes it is so we’re still busy busy busy here it’s unbelievable um despite all the craziness that’s going on out there in the world uh things are still rolling here in Prescott so moving on So today we’re going to talk about this is one of the top things that we love about Prescott we have so much fun yeah um there’s a lot of bands that will come here and play at the Elks Theater sometimes you have a pie Community Center yes um all over yeah and uh they’re great yeah they are now we do get real bands we do most of those uh play at the Finley Center in Nebraska Valley is a big big arena uh but what’s nice about the cover bands is it’s a smaller venue uh so uh generally they’re in the Elks Theater uh audiences you know 400 people maybe yeah something like that uh beautiful historic building and the cover bands generally are good they’re very good I mean astonishingly good yeah we just went to go see a cover band for Janice Joplin yeah Janice Joplin amazing she was good it was good uh we saw the Eagles the Eagles cover band they don’t call themselves The Eagles then I would call it like we saw it like Carol King was tapestry yeah yeah yeah you know we also saw Carol King that was another good one she was amazing yeah I thought she and her group were amazing the Eagles were really really good really good though our oldest daughter was like really we’re gonna see Eagles he’s like no yeah adjust your aren’t one of those guys did he was all excited but excited after she saw the show she was equally as excited we had a good time Dancing Yeah up in the balcony yeah which we’re not supposed to yeah I was corrected after I was severely reprimanded you’re not allowed to dance in the in the upper balcony only the lower yeah unless you have a walker I guess I’m falling over the side I don’t know but we had a good time anyway they seem to be having a really good time yes so uh but anyway you can also dance on the bottom floor and they do and part of the part of the presentation part of the entertainment is the audience yep a few great dancers yeah some great dancers some Usual Suspects there’s a a couple that will go out they are obviously very well trained yeah and beautiful dancers oh yeah yeah uh there’s a guy who just kind of hangs on the edge of the uh that’s right the stage and just kind of stares he likes to have fun yeah that’s what he does I like to dance uh yeah you know especially after a lot of wine I think I’m the greatest dancer in the world after video footage I realize I’m not but in the moment I have a good time I hate that yeah anyway yeah we have fun yeah great tickets good time go out and have a nice dinner before at any of the restaurants really surround round in the square and then you can walk right over to the Elks and have some good live music and dancing really good so we have a great time we love it we love it we love it highly enough of the cover bands yeah we’ve got really good luck with that travel here to Prescott yeah so we hope to see you there maybe one day One Day concert there all right so that’s our tip for today if you want more tips whether it’s about living in Prescott or real estate or anything really anything to do with breastfeed life in general you want to chit chat you wanna just Chit Chat go to pickle411.com that is our free information site lots of good tips there uh very informative and entertaining and just astounding people from all over the world they just you know love our love our lovers all over the world all over the world I don’t know about that I don’t know there might be one or two I think so I don’t think we introduced ourselves in the beginning yeah we’re Randall and Diane she’s a pickle like that’s right in case we didn’t do that yes we didn’t do that this is Randall and Diane bro live here in Prescott yeah no editing Here I Am the pickle lady we are with exp Realty and we are excited to share our beautiful Hometown with you and possibly help you find your new home here all right go see a cover Batman or go see a cover band with you yeah either way just let us know we’re easy we’re fun we’re open cheers have a great day thanks for listening bye bye

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Prescott by the Numbers – November 2022

Prescott area home sellers are holding the line despite the media blitz of real estate gloom and doom.

Click Here –> Get Latest Pickle Reports

To get the Full Home Value Report,
the Latest Home Comps, and
Top 100 Subdivision Snapshots,
Click Here –> Get Latest Pickle Reports

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Event Calendar – December 2022

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Jazz Nights

One of our very favorite outings is Jazz Night at Prescott's historic Elks Theater.  The series covers a different style or element of jazz each night.  The music and the players are amazing, and the venue is always a delight.  If you go, you'll probably see us there, because we try to make them all!  

In this episode, we tell you all about it.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello oh peeps that’s what I’m doing what’s that oh oh jazz hands jazz hands yeah you’re more like Mickey Mouse yeah yeah there you go so for those of you whose children were in theater it was hours work oh we’re a dance you’re very familiar with jazz hands oh yeah so I thought that would be a good intro a good opening to talk about jazz night jazz nights at the Elks Theater I was theater we love it so uh during the covid um they uh they couldn’t use the big theater because there were too many people you know I’d see too many people so they started using a smaller venue which is on the third floor and uh people kind of like the smaller venue too it’s more intimate and it’s kind of like a summer Club but yeah we don’t have supper but you do have wine and um and you can sit and listen to beautiful music yeah yeah so uh they had a jazz series yes uh which I I assume that they will continue again or they’ll have other types of music there uh we must have gone at least a half dozen times oh yeah and you go it’s it’s uh I’d say a couple hours a couple of hours and you can see live jazz performed I mean you are like within feet right there yeah of the of the musicians and just amazing and If These Guys these guys are just the real with the guys yeah what’s his first name Sama put you on the spot yeah uh it’s the vax band yeah he’s amazing oh my goodness Max is in the old IBM computer guys who have obviously been there and done that yes and been doing Jazz for a very very long time just amazing sometimes they will have every Jazz night with something different Mike bags good job I have the heart listen it’s the end of the day we’re a little tired so please forgive me forgive me yes forgive us like because we love him he’s amazing he always has music for sale as well which we love to buy and listen to we’re in our car yeah um but every he heads it up and every uh Jazz night is something different one might be South American Jazz one might be music from the movies Jazz uh one might be New Orleans style jazz I had no idea there were so many different flavors of jazz but I have been taught yeah and stone the latinum that was your favorite but all of them were good and they were just so good so we want everyone to know that Prescott has culture people absolutely we are a pretty you know educated people here who love music who love museums who love art uh we’ve got a pretty big artsy scene here in our little town you wouldn’t think so but we do and it’s lovely now if you’re if you’re looking to do dinner and then music after a couple of tips first of all you need to know if there’s going to be a show in the big theater if there’s a show at the same time in the big theater uh then restaurants right around the square because the Elks Theater is like a couple of blocks from the square uh restaurants that are really close to the Elks Theater are probably going to be kind of packed yes not not terribly but you might want to go a little bit further afield there are plenty of other restaurants to choose from uh but for jazz night the Jazz venue is so small that really we didn’t have trouble I think we did the Hacienda right across the street one night we just went right across the street eye around the corner a couple of nights and had no trouble getting a table Waltz right in it’s just a just a great time the music it’s kind of old-fashioned like in the olden days your folks used to go have dinner at a supper club and watch some entertainment yeah it’s very similar here wow that’s very nice better though yeah because uh you know the thing is uh Prescott draws on uh the Phoenix market so they have musicians that do very well Regional world-class musicians uh you know they make their way up from Phoenix for our little events and you would be astounded at how good the music is these are World Travelers uh well seasoned musicians that have been around the world performing so um it’s nice it’s not going to be like your nephew who’s just learning how to play the trumpet yeah not like a high school recital this is amazing yeah and just hearing the stories they tell about Jack oh yeah I mean we don’t really stop to think about how new jazz is it’s you know barely 100 years old and it has changed so much and going through so many different Evolutions uh and just hearing people who lived it tell you the story yes and about people that uh you know the the big names of jazz and how they played with them and the stories absolutely that’s fascinating very inspirational so if you’re into music uh if you’re into fine dining and then going to music Prescott is the town for you it’s kind of got it all people yeah it really does it’s really nice really really nice um so we just wanted to share with you I want to have a shout out to Mike vatz and we so appreciated all of the Jazz series that we attended it was just a great time and we look forward to him coming back yes absolutely yeah absolutely so that is all for now and we hope to see you watching some live music yep so we got a bunch of other tips in terms of things to do around Prescott you can find them on our information site you can reach that at pickle411.com we have information on real estate we have information on Prescott events things to do things you should know and just on and on and on all of it very informative some of it fun most of it is we try to keep it funny some of it’s a little nutty some of it some of it gotta make it a little fun we try I’m trying anyway so we thank you for listening and we hope to see you around the square at some point all right take care bye bye

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Bistro St. Michael

We're happy to announce (finally!) that St. Michael's Bistro is back in operation - at least for breakfast and lunch. New digs, new layout, and new menu items. We'll see you there!

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Our eXp Adventure

Ever hear of eXp?  Lots of people ask us about our new brokerage; many have never heard of it.  

Well, eXp is a completely new and effective approach to conducting real estate transactions.  We've been meaning to talk about it for a while now, and we thought we'd start with our wild trip out to Orlando for our first mega eXp meeting this summer.

Video Transcript

hello hello hello hello Diane and Randall bro here uh I am the pickle Lady of Prescott Arizona this is the uh my better half part of the pickle team Randall James that’s right and we are here to talk to you about something exciting that’s our uh brokerage has every year so about a year ago a little over a year ago uh we switched to a brokerage called exp uh exp Realty yep uh we’re not sure what exp stands for and people but I like it it’s cool yeah expensive expressive you know exp a lot of good words begin with ESP sure expect this like explain no just I’m trying trying to explain what exp is okay great brokerage great brokerage with a completely different concept on how real estate has done a lot of real estate brokerages spend their money on brick and mortar exp does not we are a technology driven firm we are not broken out by state we have one brokerage for the whole world no franchises no franchises okay National an internationally owned firm yeah it’s super cool yeah so uh as I said we’ve been there for about a year it’s working great and uh they have wonderful events yep uh so we wanted to talk about one of the events that we went to this this just this past summer yes we never did get around to talking about it so here we are yes uh so we went to the shareholders event in Orlando Florida over the summer and had a wonderful time very just very impressive um you know absolutely the best of the best speakers yeah really wonderful speakers uh you know they bring in people who really know what’s going on in real estate and around the world uh talking about the future of the firm the future of real estate it was just it’s very inspiring very inspiring one of the really cool things about the event they uh they rented out all uh well one of the points at Universal Studios yes so uh I don’t know how many people we have but it was a pretty small group to be given free reign free the bad thing is we learned can’t do roller coaster it was great and I love them but even I at the end I was like a little wonky after that you know what I think I’m reaching that age I was a little disappointed around too much but they had a uh we went through the green gets Bank yeah uh the Harry Potter ride the Harry they have a different Harry Potter ride than Universal Studios out in California so we had recently done that and uh so we went through the Harry Potter ride uh several times because you can just walk through lovely lovely they are first class uh brokerage 100 first class brokerage uh every state has their own online Arizona Brokers that they can access everything is through the world the EXP world it’s all on the computer so if you are a really tech savvy person you will just slide right into this yeah about brokerage and love it yeah and we have instant access to any Arizona Brokers that we need yeah we just go you know no waiting for oh the broker’s not in town or the broker’s not in the office leave a message not here so we’re just excited about it uh you may not have heard of our brokerage if you’re not a real estate agent there’s a good I just want to let you know that they have your back are broken yes world class and they are up and coming and we are very proud of them a 88 000 yeah realtor strong that’s right yeah so if you need help in another state uh we can hook you up with somebody with other people yes if you are a real estate agent and you’d like to learn more about exp it is something to say about that uh so just wanted to let you know you are on Solid ground with us and exp yeah and share some of the fun that we had at our shareholder event yeah um so it was a great time good times we’re happy to be with uh this brokerage had taught have learned and been taught so many good things and just delighted to be here and delighted to have them as our broker to represent you yeah and uh so yeah we are we’re excited about our new world yeah so we just wanted to understand he’s getting ready to go to Vegas next week yeah we have another event coming up today you know we don’t have an office everything is virtual um so they try to have events where people can be face to face which is nice so um so we just wanted to share that little bit of Gossip we thought it was cool yeah absolutely and we wanted to share what a good experience we’re having and we hope we bring that to you yeah as we represent you always sharing lots of stuff the place to find it all is pickle411.com that is our information site everything’s free everything is fascinating and highly entertaining you’ll love it all so check it out okay wow that was a lot yeah there you go you like that yeah I do good job good job all right have a wonderful day all right take care bye

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The 60% Rule

Chances are the Covid real estate market spiked up the value of your current home quite a bit.  So cool, right?

What many of our buyers don't realize, though, is that the same thing happened in Prescott.  So what you're looking for may not be priced the way it was before masks.

In this episode, we give our thoughts on where we stand in the post-Covid market and what you can expect to find here now.

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