Your Scottsdale Non Bank Owned Property Specialist!

Remember back in the day when the buying process entailed finding the home of your dreams?  When value was defined by the home that held the most value to you?

Boy I do.  I remember it like it was ... 2004, actually.

See, in 2005, everything went nutty in Scottsdale.  With rampant speculative buying driving the market up, up and away, the average homebuying Joe stopped looking for a dream home.  He just wanted a house.  Any house.  If it took bidding against 8 other Joes, he did it.  He might not have ended up with his dream home, but so what?  He'd just turn around and sell it in a couple of years.  At the current rate of appreciation, it was destined to be worth a quarter million more by the time he would be clear of capital gains.  He'd cash in his lottery ticket, and go buy his palace then.

Flash forward through a lot of headlines and a lot of heartache.  While Joe languishes in a property that he can't sell, upside down and backwards, there is a new crop of Joes looking to buy Real Estate in 2008.  These Joes aren't particularly hung up on finding the home of their dreams either. 

They want a bargain. 

Not an everday bargain like you find at Ross or Mervyn's, mind you.  No sir.  They want the kind of bargain that can only be found by jumping turnstyles with an armful of men's medium v-neck microfiber shirts.  Teal.  The kind of bargain that interrupts the mall security officer's doodles on the back of his GED coursebook for a mid afternoon low speed golf cart chase.  We're talking theft, people.

Unfortunately, too often today's Joe does not stop to consider that he actually wears an XL, and he's really more of a beige Izod guy. 

The thrill of the theft seems to have become more important than the item lifted. 

• I see Joes at the courthouse steps bidding on properties in towns of which this native has never heard.

• I see Joes pounding on the doors of any house with a "foreclosure" rider on the sign.  Sure the roof is missing, and no one can adequately explain why the house smells of cheap dates and moldy bong water, but it's dirt cheap!  (Or should I say, cheap dirt?)

• I see Joes scurrying for lists of bank owned properties, short sales and any other term that smacks of distress.  Who cares if there are no disclosures, will be no repairs, and the previous owner may or may not be holed up in the utility room with a shotgun, ill temper and a six pack of Schlitz?

Oh, but the marketing on these properties is ingenius!  The banks and their agents are modern day Pavlovs, ringing the "foreclosure!" and "bank owned!" bells.  Slap such a rider on a sign, and watch buyers drool.  Doesn't seem to matter whether the house fits their needs or not.  It's cheap!

"Let's get a great buy and wait for the market to rebound ... we'll sell it in a couple years and make a killing!" 

New buyers, same trap.

I do not specialize in short sales.  I do not specialize in foreclosures. 

I list properties for sale that feature real live owners who can make property disclosures and repairs.  Owners who typically have an equity position that allows them to price their homes competitively.  Owners who have maintained, and continue to maintain, their homes.  I list properties that will sell to the buyer who is looking for that perfect home at a great value. 

If you are looking for cheap, there is plenty of it out there.  Godspeed. 

If you are looking for value, come talk to me.

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What do you think of the mockups for my new sign riders?  A few may require really small font.

"Non Bank Owned Property!"

"Working Toilets!"

"Non Meth Lab!"

"No Mystery Odors!"

"Absolutely, Positively No Dead Bodies On Premises!"

"Has Walls!"

"Seller Responds to Offers!"

"If You Are Close Enough To Read This Ryder, You Must Not Be Looking For The House Somewhere Near Guadalajara That Was Advertised For Auction"

"Boring Old Great House In Great Neighborhood At Great Price"

"This Neighborhood Still Reflects 2007 Prices Because People Actually Want To Live Here!"

"No Portal To Hell In Garage Floor!"

"Able To Price Competitively Because Little Old Couple Has Owned House For 30 Years And Has More Equity Than Rosie O'Donnell At An All You Can Eat Barbeque!"