Does Saltillo Tile Hurt Home Resale
November 11, 2008
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Saltillo Tile Floor
It does depend on the home and the condition of the saltillo, but in general I would say “Yes, It can hurt home resale.
Saltillo tile is a soft tile, it is porous and needs to be stripped and sealed often. This makes it “High Maintenance”.
It is often found in a southwestern Territorial and Santa Fe style homes. It is also found in other styles but not by design, usually it is a preference of the owner.
If it is in one of the three mentioned above it is expected as part of the style of home and those purchasing this type of home will generally accept the Saltillo as part of the design. There are new ceramic tiles which look almost identical to saltillo maintaining the design style without the high degree of maintenance required by traditional soft saltillo tile.
Therefore, it is up to the owner or buyer to decide about purchasing a home or selling a home with saltillo tile. As a general rule of thumb I would say again Yes, it can hurt home resale because a lot of people don’t want a high maintenance floor.
Post Tags: high maintenance , saltillo-tile
Tucson have you heard of Meetup.com
November 10, 2008
Meetup.com
Meetup.com is a great way to find people interested in the same things you are. I found it the other day and have joined several groups. Two on photography, another on dining out and one for Arizona Bloggers.
Some of the groups are well established with large numbers in the group. Other groups are just getting started and have a few meetings under their belt. As more people find meetup.com I expect to see some of these groups grow.
There are about 150 groups in the Tucson area meeting for about every reason and cause you can think of.
If you don’t find a group that has an interest you are looking for, start your own. It isn’t free to start a group. But the price does seem reasonable.
First thing I would do is cruise around the site and get a feel for what is available. Create an account and setup your profile. It is free. Find a group or two you are interested in and join the group. Some groups have approval necessary to join after you apply, others are open membership groups.
I’ve applied to two groups requiring approval and been accepted by both.
I’ll be attending my first meetup this week on Photoshop.
Post Tags: Meetup.com , Tucson meetup groups
Please Check the Date for Freshness
November 9, 2008
We check the dates on eggs, milk, canned goods, drugs (pharmaceuticals, you knew what I meant) and many other things to see if they are fresh, or if they are not fit for consumption.
Check for Freshness Don't Drink Old Milk
This applies to what you read on the internet as well. There is a lot of information posted to the internet. I also know a lot of those doing the posting don’t include the date the post was written. There was a time when we all thought what we wrote on our blogs and websites would someday just disappear as new material was made available and the search engines moved on to newer content. That is not the case, now the axiom is, if you publish it on the net it will never disappear.
Recently I found a post I wrote on this blog about the Tucson housing market back in 2006 being quoted on another blog. It was treating the content of my post as if it were just written and drawing conclusions about the Tucson real estate market based on information in that post. IT WAS OUT OF DATE. The freshness of that post was as old as the eggs you found in the back of the fridge with the “Best used by Dec 2006″ Could you eat those eggs? Probably. But what would be the result? Any benefit to you from it? Same with reading old news and drawing conclusions as if it were written today.
Check the date on the information you are reading for Freshness. And have a great day. When was the last time you cleaned out the fridge? Don’t eat the two year old eggs : )
Post Tags: Expiration Date , Freshness , Old Eggs
Tucson Real Estate Don’t Test The Water
November 8, 2008
Fresh COMPS are the order of the day.
November 8, 2008
The saying goes “All Real Estate is Local” Yes there is the other saying “Location, Location, Location” but the first one is the focus for today. However, slightly modified.
Modified in this sense. “All real estate is local and changes with time.” Which is why we look at the content of this post in context of the time it is being written.
Do Yourself A Favor Don’t Test The Waters
Over the past three years it has been a practice of many Tucson home owners to “Test the Waters” by putting their home on the market at a price that is well above market value. The theory, it doesn’t cost us anything to put it on the market and someone migth come along and actually pay us what we are asking for it.
This is not so much the case in today’s Tucson real estate market, but it does still happen. How can I tell. We still see homes that are listed way over market. We still have sellers with these listing saying “No, we don’t want to show the house today, can you come back tomorrow?” We often have clients who are relocating to Tucson and are here for a weekend or a couple of day during the week to try and find a place. NO they can’t come back tomorrow they will be back home tomorrow.
There are still people testing the waters even in today’s market. It used to be considered just a nuisance and a cause of inflated listing numbers. But now there is another issue and it is a lot more serious for both Sellers and Buyers.
New Basis and Practices for Appraisals
It used to be common to go back 6 months when doing COMPS for an appraisal, setting a listing price, or making an offer. This is no longer true. Now going back 90 days or less is the norm. Home values have been coming down at such a quick rate that going back 6 months is no longer a good picture of what current values are in real estate.
If they can’t find enough properties to comp there are two things being used. The list price to sale price ratio and calling agents with pending sales to see what the agreed sales price is for their pending deal.
You can read all about it in Kenneth Harney’s column from the Business section of the “Arizona Daily Star” today.
Bottom line; if you don’t need to list your house don’t. In the long run it could save you money and get you a better offer. It is also a kindness you can offer to your neighbors who really need to sell their house.
Post Tags: location location location , real estate market
Tucson Open Studio Tour Nov. 8 - 9 2008
November 7, 2008
Tucson Art Studio Tour
The annual Tucson Open Studio Tour will be this Saturday and Sunday Nov. 8 - 9. From Noon till 5 pm. each day.
If you love art and want to get to know Tucson artists and their work then this is the weekend you have been waiting for.
- Go directly to their studios.
- Talk directly with the artists about their work.
This is a self guided and self directed tour of over 150 artist studio in and around the Tucson area.
You pick the the Artist and type of art you are interested in seeing. Make up your own tour. You can find locations and artists on the:
Not sure what you want to see? The PDF guide can give you some ideas of the various types of art to be found around Tucson.
What a great opportunity to view and learn more about the amazing art talent we have right here in Tucson.
Post Tags: Tucson Art Studio Tour , Tucson artists
A Virtual Tour After The Purchase
November 7, 2008
Service Above The Norm
The other day we were at a home inspection for our Buyers who are out of state. Actually out of the country at the time of the home inspection. The home inspector is one we have known for years and often sees me going around during a home inspection taking photos. I take a lot of photos.
He asked me what I was doing with all the photos I take all the time. He understood the reasons a listing agent would take photos of a property but didn’t grasp why I would be needing or wanting photos when we represent the buyers. “I’m make a virtual tour for our buyers. I do it all the time.” “Really, Why?”
Virtual Tour For The Buyer
Why would the buyers want a virtual tour?
We work with a lot of out of town buyers. We are “Relocation Specialists“. One of the services we provide for our buyers is the building of virtual tours so they can show their friends and family the home they are purchasing. Granted I don’t take as much time photographing and putting together a buyer virtual tour as I would a listing tour. These tours aren’t to sell a property, they are a service and courtesy to our buyers. But, what if the offer falls through? It doesn’t matter. It is part of our service to our clients. Sometimes we create them before our clients make an offer.
Over the past couple of years I’ve built virtual tours for our clients of homes they want to see but can’t physically be in Tucson. Some of those homes had virtual tours already, other didn’t. There were specific things the buyers wanted to see;, maybe it was the garage or the inside of the kitchen cabinets; these thing often are not in a listing virtual tour. So we (I) shoot and build a custom virtual tour and make it available for them to see and share with their friends and family.
Sometimes our clients don’t find what they are looking for when they are here. However, they continued to receive Dream Home Finder Matches by email. This often leads to a request for more information and the building of a virtual tour. If they made an offer and it was accepted they would drive or fly to Tucson during the inspection period. In a couple of cases this wasn’t possible, but they knew from the virtual tour they wanted to purchase the home. (I know you are saying “I would never buy a home I hadn’t seen.” I’m with you on that one. But there are people that can make that decision without ever seeing the home in person.)
Sometimes the virtual tour provided them the information they needed NOT to make an offer. Isn’t that a lot of work? Yes, but that is what we do. It is the kind of service we appreciate when we receive it and it is the kind of service we offer our buyers above and beyond the norm.
It is also good practice for building professional high quality virtual tours for our listings : ) But I don’t stop there, I build entire websites for our listings including documents, (SPDS) photos, information and virtual tours. (Self promotion concluded at this time, thanks for reading).
Post Tags: dream home finder , relocation specialists , virtual tour
Motivated Sellers and Complacent Buyers
November 5, 2008
One of the issues today is the misconception many buyers have about the availability of homes on the Tucson real estate market.
The Long Shadow
The Long Shadow
I call this living under the long shadow. Buyers remember to old day. They believe there is still a glut of houses on the market. They assume there is no rush, it will still be there when/if I decide to make an offer.
In Tucson, right now, there are areas with less than 6 months of available inventory. Some buyer are in “no hurry” and do not believe there is any sense of urgency in making a decision. Unfortunately this is as misguided an attitude as the attitude sellers had back in 2006. They were in no hurry someone would meet their price. Now some buyers believe the house will b e there waiting for them when and if they decide to make an offer. The belief being the longer they wait the probability of a lower purchase price being possible. This is the reverse gamble of sellers and it is still a gamble. Remember you can save a $1000 by waiting a week and pay $10,000 more over the life of the loan. No one knows when bottom, the ever illusive “bottom” will be reached. One thing we do know it won’t be reached in every city at the same time. We also know the inventory of available homes in Tucson is shrinking, not increasing.
Foreclosures and Short Sales
Yes they do exist here. But not in the numbers you find in other metropolitan areas of the country. If you are in no hurry and have money to spend with no guarantee of a purchase then these might be a viable option for an investor to consider. For a person needing a house as a home, it is a long arduous process. Many home buyers don’t have time (six to nine months) to invest in attempting to purchase a home.
Sellers are being realistic about pricing. It only took a couple of years to get the rose colored glasses off. It has always been about priced to sell. It still is. If you are a buyer, I’m NOT saying this is a good time to buy. I never say, “It is a good time to buy”. I do say there are some bargains in the Tucson real estate market. Some buyers are getting some very good deals.
Trying to Time the Market
Trying to time the market is never a good idea. It doesn’t matter what the market it, it is never a good idea trying to time it. Buy what you need when you need it. If you find a deal and you know you won’t stop needing it, buy more. I can tell you this. “Real Estate Agents are being advised to purchase property now for their own investment” Someone thinks it is a good market, it might not be bottom, but it is a good market for some.
Post Tags: long shadow , timing the market
