So you're thinking "I want to sell my property in Scottsdale" and wondering if it's still a good time to sell? You may be hearing stories of the market shifting and worried you missed out on the best timing to sell.  Fear not.  Yes, the market is shifting, but it's still a seller's market.  I'm sure you've been hearing stories over the last six months about how nearly impossible it has been for buyers to get an offer accepted.  I jokingly have been telling my buyers that we no longer need to give the sellers free cheeseburgers for life, hooray! So what does that mean for you as a home seller?  Your representation is more important than ever.  And no matter the city you might be planning to sell your home in, good representation can still make a huge difference in how much you sell your home for.  The two things I suggest you look for you in your listing agent: 1. Marketing Skills & 2. Sales Skills

So how can you tell? 

1. Marketing skills.

The first thing I would do is look at an actual listing from the listing agent.  The easiest way to do this would be to ask your potential listing agent to send you some links to past listings.  You can also go to their Zillow page or Realtor.com page for some of those - keep in mind though that these might also be homes where they represented the buyer, so look closely.  The top two things you'll be looking at here are the photography and the listing description.  If the pictures don't fill the frame, the agent likely did not use a professional photographer.  One of the biggest benefits of using a professional photographer is the wide-angle lens that gets a lot more of the room in one shot.  Other things to look for in photography: Are there so many photos that it gets boring to keep clicking next? Do the most important rooms show up first like the kitchen, living room, and primary bedroom and bath? Or are you looking at the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms before you see the primary?  Buyers are human beings, and human beings have attention spans, so it's important to get the important stuff in early.  Are there pictures of things that don't matter like a photo that only includes the bed or the inside of a standard closet? Funny one for you, but I seriously see this from time to time ... is the listing agent themselves in a mirror holding their phone up to take the photo?  If so, run!


Next, take a look at the listing description.  Start by asking yourself how it makes you feel after reading it.  Was there grammar or worse, spelling errors?  Did the description help you to understand how the home would live better than simply reading the listing details, or did it repeat things that are already in the listing like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms?

Secondly, how is your listing agent candidate doing with digital marketing?  These days digital is important.  Start by Googling his or her name.  What comes up?  If you can't find anything about your potential agent, you might consider that a red flag.  Hopefully, instead, you're seeing all or some of the following regarding your possible agent: a Google Business Profile with positive reviews, their website, YouTube videos, and their branded social accounts such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.  The better your agent's online presence is, the better your chances of added digital marketing will be for you.  In addition to doing your own online reconnaissance on your possible listing agent, you might also ask questions around digital when you're in conversation with him/her.  

2. Sales Skills
This one is probably easier to ask questions directly to your agent around.  Here are a few sample questions that can give you an idea of how they are doing with sales skills.
1. Start by asking an open-ended question as simple as "tell me what your sales approach looks like"?
2. Can you give me an example of how you've dealt with objections when selling a home in the past? This one is the old HR in me.  Asking a question that asks for an actual example from the past keeps the answerer from answering hypothetically.  Almost anyone can answer a hypothetical well, but asking for real-life examples can be very telling. 
3. Who is your favorite salesperson whom you've learned the most from?
4. Are you full-time?  A part-time agent just simply won't be as tuned in to the market and what the current trends are as a full-time agent would.  Sounds silly comparing but would you go to a part-time heart surgeon?  I hope not, and while real estate is not life or death, it can be the difference of tens or sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars.


If you're thinking of selling your home here in Scottsdale (or the Greater Phoenix area), I hope you would consider me to list and sell your home.  Call me or send me a text to set up a meeting 

If you're thinking of selling your home in another part of the country, I hope this has been helpful for you to find the best agent possible to represent you.  There are quite a few agents out there, and as in any industry, there will always be the 'standout professionals', the 'I can't believe you got hired', and everything in between.  Who you choose to hire can make a significant difference in your own income, so choose wisely!

My first trip to Phoenix was a work trip, I was considering a move here for work, but I'd never actually been to Arizona (2011).  I worked for a national pizza chain and the Phoenix market was struggling.  The guys who would become my co-workers were dying for someone to come out and help as they were all being super overworked.  I promise I have a reason for telling you all this haha.  I'll never forget my co-worker driving me around to look at the homes in North Central Phoenix because they wanted me to take the job - and this area is incredibly beautiful.  And he was smart, it did in fact make me want to move to the area.  Not only are the homes huge and beautiful, but they sit on large mostly irrigated lots.  You can usually spot an irrigated neighborhood in Phoenix because they tend to be very green, with lots of trees, and you'll often see berms at the edge of the yards.  If you're asking "what do I mean by irrigated?" these lots have the ability to use canal water to flood their yards at different intervals depending on the time of the year.  Hence the North Central Phoenix area is so green and pretty.  When I think of North Central Phoenix, I think of 7th Ave to 7th Street and Glendale to Northern.  There are also some beautiful neighborhoods around there, but this is a particularly oh la la neighborhood. 

Flash forward, the neighborhood was a little over my budget and I did not move there as much as I'd have loved to, but these days I do get to occasionally show homes to buyers in there, and what a treat that is.  In this video, I had just finished work and knew I'd be in the area so I packed my tennis shoes so I could get out and walk Murphy's Bridle Path while I was nearby.

If you don't already live in the neighborhood your best bet for getting to the walking path known as Murphy's Bridle Path is to park in the church parking lot on the Southeast Corner of Bethany Home and Central Ave.  Note: the parking lot does become a Farmer's Market on Saturdays.  The path is along the East side of Central Ave beginning at Bethany Home and stretches up just a little beyond Northern where the canal crosses before you get to Dunlap.  

If you live in the area, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

There are so many benefits of home ownership.  
To name just a few benefits of being a homeowner:

1. Tax benefits
   Home owners can deduct property taxes and mortgage interest.  
2. No rent increases
   For me this would be scary, worrying about if your rent will increase or if the landlord will even renew the lease when the time comes.  Home owners will see annual taxes change and if there is an HOA in place that could increase, but shouldn't be as dramatic as the possible rental changes could be. Check out this article that shows Phoenix, AZ rents increasing by 20% and one example where a mom's rent increased by $700.
   
   
3. Pay your own mortgage, not your landlords
4. Building Equity
   A combination of increasing values because of inflation as well as paying down that mortgage every month.  Check out this video I created on paying off the mortgage early and saving money in interest while doing it.
5. Freedom of creativity with design choices
   Paint any color you want and hang all the pictures! And even beyond that, if you own your home you can make big design changes over the years and are perfectly suited to you.  New kitchen counters?  Great!  It's yours, you can do what you like.
6. Higher Net Worth
   At the end of the day for me, I choose to be a homeowner for the financial reasons.  
   Recently published by CNBC was an article that detailed the difference in net worth: homeowners vs. renters and it's really eye opening.  Homeowners in the US. had a net worth of $255,000 while renters on average just $6,300!  Talk about eye opening.
   
   
7. Increased credit score
   Taking out a mortgage and making timely payments may increase your credit score.
8. Hedging against inflation
   
   
9. Privacy
   If you rent a home, and landlord can come in to your space as needed.  If you own your home there is no need for that.  Along with that a single family home will keep you from having shared walls which could be noisy and if not in a rental community you may have less neighbors coming and going each year.
   
   
10. Pride of Ownership
    There is a sense of accomplishment that comes along with owning a home.  And it's really easier than many people think it is. 
    
    

Comment below with any benefits of home ownership that you've enjoyed!

This year (2021) from November 5 - 14 Scottsdale is putting on what they call Canal Convergence.  It's full of public art displays and live performances.  The event happens along what Scottsdale calls the waterfront district.  It's an area of Old Town Scottsdale with walking paths, restaurants and businesses surrounding a large canal.  All pictures are from this year's (2021) Canal Convergence.  Highly recommend you see it in person :)

They put on a pretty cool pyrotechnic show over the water called Floom.  It's to music and lasts about 3-4 minutes.  We found that lots of people grabbed a spot before it started, so be ready for that.  You can find the schedule for Floom in a booth on site, or you can get the schedule here: 
https://canalconvergence.com/work/floom/

Some of the art from this year:  A few of these are interactive.

Additional information can be found directly with the Canal Convergence website itself.
And should be the primary source of show times etc. just in case they make any changes.

Scottsdale, AZ | October 11, 2021— Christina Vance with North&Co. in Scottsdale earned The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing’s Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist™ (CLHMS) designation in recognition of experience, knowledge, and expertise in high-end residential properties. Vance joins an exclusive group of real estate professionals who have completed The Institute’s training and have a proven performance in the upper-tier market.
“Agents who have earned the CLHMS™ designation are performing at the highest level in their community,” said Diane Hartley, president of The Institute. “The CLHMS™ seal is a symbol of distinction. Affluent buyers and sellers from around the world look for this symbol of luxury home knowledge and expertise when putting their trust in a real estate professional.”
The specialized training and ongoing membership with The Institute provide Vance with the knowledge and tools to better serve clients. The CLHMS™ designation provides evidence of the successful commitment to service at the highest level. “I aim to always live by the golden rule, treating others how I myself would like to be treated,” said Vance.
Christina has been in real estate since 2017 and specializes in Old Town Scottsdale.  She lives works, and invests in Old Town Scottsdale real estate.  Additionally, she has her MBA from Grand Canyon University.
For more information about the luxury market in Scottsdale, AZ, contact Christina Vance with North&Co. at 480-648-6305 or joyofarizona@gmail.com.

Pictured above: Salmon colored Zinnias.  
These Zinnias are probably the plant that I'm most excited about.  I grew them from seed, and as it turns out they are actually pretty easy to grow and just gorgeous.  I had this idea that I wanted to start a flower garden and keep cut flowers in the house most of the time.  I've had some trial and error when it comes to starting seeds.  I've learned that for me, starting a seed indoors is nearly impossible.  Seeds like natural sunlight, and more of it than I would have imagined.  Even outdoors on the porch if the spot never got hit with direct light, the seeds struggled to grow.  

Zinnias somehow do an amazing job in full sun during the summer months even with the extreme heat we get.  I grew these in South Scottsdale.  They did absolutely love the Monsoon rains we got this year but were also doing well in the extreme hot temperatures we got in July this year.  Full sun, no shade and these babies are still going strong!

The more you pick these beauties, the more they grow.  They only last about a week or so indoors, and have little smell.  

Pictured above: Elephant's food.  This might be the easiest plant to grow outdoors here in the Valley. They are gorgeous and green, and if you simply water them when you think about it they'll do great.  You can even cut a piece off, stick it in dirt and it will grow!  The plant on the right are pieces I cut off from the plant on the left and they've grown bigger in just a few months and I did nothing special.  I always recommend this plant to anyone who thinks they just can't have any outdoor plants, they are SO easy.  They do need the sun, so I don't recommend them as an indoor houseplant, however that being said, just because I can't make them work indoors, doesn't mean its not possible.