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Today we are going to explore the geographic drawing tool for the Arizona Regional MLS. This drawing tool is a very powerful feature that you can use to find your next home.
There are 3 different drawing tools that you can use with our MLS search tool:
These 3 tools can be very useful to you when you have decided on what geographic areas that you like the best and have specific boundaries that you would like to stay in.
Clicking on one of these tools and drawing the shape on the map will define that area as one of your search criteria. Once you have it drawn out, the Arizona MLS search tool will bring up every home that is available in that area, as long as it fits within your other search criteria.
Here are some screenshots of the tool in action:
The most basic drawing tool, great for drawing out areas of interest that have specific boundaries, such as streets. For example, a home buyer may think “I would like to find a home between Power Road and Higley Road (east and west) and between Queen Creek Road and Riggs Road (north and south). This is the perfect tool for that!
This is the circle tool, which we use very frequently to define a specific radius for your search. Many people start their home search, thinking that they would like to live within a certain number of miles from their current job, family member, etc… Just click on the circle tool, start at the center point, and draw it out…. You’re in business!
The polygon drawing tool for the Arizona Regional MLS is perfect, when you have varying boundaries that you would like to find a home in. As you can see above, we’ve followed along the south 202, to the 101 and have gone up to the 60. Double click to complete your polygon!
If this is your first time joining us, you can take the entire Learn How to Search the Arizona MLS course from the beginning. You can really learn to search the Arizona MLS just like an agent.
If you have any comments or questions please leave them below. Happy home searching!
Another fantastic interior and exterior remodel. New exterior finish and paint. Complete interior remodel. Beautiful 12” wide plank tiling, new interior trim and paint. New doors, hardware and fixtures throughout the home! Brand new custom made kitchen cabinetry, granite counter tops and new appliances. You have to see this kitchen in person! This 4 bedroom home boasts brand new bathrooms, with a master shower that has stone flooring. Walk in master closet. Brand new dual pane windows, to help with energy efficiency. Top it all off with a gigantic cul-de-sac (not a through street) lot, at just above 17,000 square feet! Plenty of room in back to park your RV or toys and put in the pool of your dreams.
What is title insurance?
Why do I need it?
If you have been doing any amount of research online about purchasing a home, you’ve probably already run into the term “title insurance.”
In almost every real estate transaction, title insurance will be needed and they are considered part of your closing costs.
Title insurance assures you, the home buyer that you are acquiring marketable title to your home when you purchase. Meaning, title insurance protects you from loss and guarantees that your home is free and clear from any “cloud” on title (a.k.a. potential claim of ownership from someone else).
Title insurance is issued to both you, the home buyer and your lender. It protects you and your home from (defective) claims from the beginning of time, until you purchase the home.
This means that there are no loans, liens, encumbrances, back taxes, easements or covenants, conditions or restrictions (CC&R’s) on the home that are not disclosed to you prior to your purchase.
If the company that issues your title insurance is unable to clear up the title problems, they will pay for your losses.
It is therefore, in the title company’s best interest to make sure that the title to your home is free and clear, or they will pay for it.
The title company will eliminate risk to a free and clear title by searching the public records for any claim to the title. They will also search their own database of title information, including public records, court decisions, laws, to ensure correct ownership.
When the title search is completed, your title company will issue a “Title Commitment” and it will detail the current status of the title.
Your Title Commitment will contain very important information about your title, including:
Click here to see a sample copy of a commitment for title insurance.
The cost of the title insurance policy is a small price to pay for your piece of mind and protection and it insures that you do, indeed, own your own home.
Homes sales in the Phoenix area are down, predictably, year over year. This continues to signify a lower buyer demand for homes in the Valley.
New inventory for resale homes is down and should start to flatten out as we move closer to summer.
Total inventory for resale homes remains flat month over month, up almost 50% year over year.
While home buying demand is still down, we are seeing fewer and fewer distressed sales each month. This is a great indication of the real estate market getting healthier overall. 90% of homes sold in the Valley are normal sales.
We are seeing what appears to be a balancing of the market, with monthly supply staying under 4 months and days on market flattening out.
Buyer demand continues to be a question mark in the current real estate market. There is definitely potential for a greater influx of home buyers:
We can only wait and see what factors will come into play that will help these potential buyers to decide to enter the real estate market and purchase a home.
Has this already happened to you?
You are looking for the best places to live in Phoenix and you receive an email with a newly listed home on the market or you search our site and find a home for sale and it looks perfect!
You’re super excited! The interior photos are beautiful and it has everything that you have been looking for in a home! This could really be the one!
You jump into your car so you can take a look at the exterior of the home and to get a feel for where it is located.
You leave the comfort of your home, expend the gas and time to reach the home, only to realize that the neighborhood isn’t at all what you had hoped for.
You drive all the way back home in utter disappointment.
It can be hard to find the best places to live in Phoenix.
We live in a (ever increasingly) fast paced world and your time is precious.
Here at Desert Premier Realty Group, it’s our goal to share as much of our experience and knowledge as possible with you, so that you can be smarter and more efficient than the average home buyer.
Here is a tool that many of our clients use to help them get a feel for different neighborhoods in the Valley and help them find the best places to live in Phoenix:
Let’s say that you’ve found a home for sale that you think has potential, but you’re not sure of the geographic area and you definitely don’t know the neighborhood.
Your could jump in your car and drive across town, spending an hour or two in traffic… Wait a minute… Haven’t we been there before?
You are the smarter home buyer.Just plug the address into Google Maps and select Street View.
Drop the little yellow guy (peg man) right where you want him.
You can have a virtual tour of an entire neighborhood and surrounding area, without having to step one foot outside of your own home.
You can get an instant quick view of the home for sale and get a feeling for whether or not it fits within what you desire.
Once you’ve determined how you feel about the neighborhood, you can decide whether or not it’s worth your time to make the trip.
The best places to live in Phoenix are where you decide they are!
See below for a quick demonstration of Google Street View.
Opening image above courtesy of Flickr and Jason Paris.
Are you aware of the up front monetary commitment that it takes to purchase a home?
As soon as you get under contract to purchase a home, a specific timeline that is outlined within the purchase contract begins. There are certain actions that you agree to take within that timeline.
For many, those specified actions include:
There are out of pocket costs that are associated with the above actions. Let’s take a look at each one.
Earnest money is part of a home buyer’s out of pocket costs and is the money that a buyer puts down on a home. The earnest money signifies the home buyer’s serious and good faith intention of purchasing the home.
When you are under contract to purchase a home in Arizona, the earnest money is due immediately.
Typically earnest money is to be deposited with the title company that is agreed upon. The amount of earnest money that the home buyer is to deposit is negotiable and typically hovers around 1% of the contract price.
For example, if the contract price is $100,000 and the earnest money that is agreed upon is 1% of the contract price, then the earnest money is $1,000. $100,000 x 1% is $1,000.
As you make your plans for your home buying journey, earnest money should be a prime consideration and knowing the potential purchase price of your home ahead of time will be instrumental.
Did you know that depending on your financing, you can receive a gift from a family member to cover your earnest money?
Here in Arizona, the inspection period for the home purchase typically begins upon execution of the contract. Usually, the inspection period is 10 days, unless otherwise negotiated.
The physical home inspection is almost always the most critical part of inspections. The home inspection will give you a basic understanding of the condition and functionality of the home. If there are any physical or functional deficiencies or problems with the home, this is when you will find out.
Soon after you are under contract to purchase, the home inspection is ordered. The cost of a home inspection will vary, depending on the size of the home and what amenities there are, such as a pool, spa, yard watering systems, etc…
For the average home, the out of pocket costs for home inspections can run from $300-$500.
The termite inspection will typically be completed alongside the home inspection. The termite inspection is actually a wood destroying organism inspection. The inspector will look for any conditions conducive to wood infestation and deterioration. And report those findings to the home buyer, the title company and sometimes the state.
Termite inspections usually cost the buyer about $65.
There are many other inspections that may be necessary, based on the home and termite inspections.
If the home inspector finds any issues with any of the major systems of the home, such as the plumbing or electrical, they may recommend that you get further evaluations of those systems.
The costs of these inspections can vary and range from an $80 service call on upwards to $250 for a roofing certification.
Although this item isn’t listed above as an inspection, it is one of a home buyer’s out of pocket costs that you must keep in mind.
When you are under contract to purchase a home and you are financing the purchase, your lender will require an appraisal.
An appraisal will assure your lender that they are making a good investment and the value of the home matches the contract price.
The out of pocket costs for home appraisals typically run between $400-$500 and up, depending on the size of the home.
As you can see, there are several up front, out of pocket costs that home buyers should keep in mind as they begin their home buying journey.
We have extended an excellent opportunity to our online community that can help to put your mind at ease as you evaluate your buying costs.
We have negotiated a fantastic promotion for our online community that encompasses the out of pocket costs for both the home inspection and appraisal.
When you purchase a home with us and use our preferred lender, we will reduce your out of pocket costs by up to $1,000, by paying for your home inspection and appraisal.
We are very pleased to have been able to negotiate this with our preferred lender and are even more excited to make the offer to you.
You may not be ready to purchase a home at this time and we understand that. For that reason, we have a certificate for you to download and keep safe until it’s time. Just present the certificate at our first meeting and you will save $1,000 in out of pocket costs on the purchase of your home!
Click here to download your certificate and claim your $1,000 savings!
How do you find the home that is right for you?
Just beginning your home search?
Or… Have you been researching the real estate market or looking at homes online for a while now?
There are many different things to consider about your future home as you start on the path to ownership. Things like:
And the list goes on…
While all of these items of consideration are extremely important to your buying decisions, there is one other item that is of utmost importance. This item will be a large factor that will help to shape the entire course of your journey.
What can you afford?
Depending on where you are in the buying process right now, the actual purchase price of your future home may or may not be your biggest consideration.
We think it should be. Just for right now.
In our many years of experience, we have come to learn that many buyers spend countless hours searching for and researching homes online, before they even know their price range.
The pendulum swings both ways when it comes to searching for and qualifying for a home. Many times buyers qualify for much more than what they think they can. Other times buyers are setting their sites on homes that are just out of their reach.
We want you to be the smarter home buyer.
We want you to work more efficiently with your time throughout your home buying journey, because buying a home shouldn’t take any more of your precious time than necessary.
Figuring out your purchasing price range early on in the home buying process will help keep you focused in on your target and keep you from looking at homes that don’t fit within your needs.
It really depends on what stage you are in the home buying process as to how you should go about figuring out your price range.
If you are less than a year away from purchasing a home, then now is the time to consult a mortgage lender.
It’s critical to speak with a mortgage professional. They have the expertise to help you understand where you stand in regards to your credit and finances. They can give you the road map you need to have your financial affairs in order, so that when it’s time to make an offer on your dream home, you are ready!
If you are over a year from purchasing a home, you’re probably fine with using a good mortgage calculator to see where you fit in.
If you are currently renting, are comfortable with the monthly rent payment and it is within your means, then you can just work the numbers backward to see what your potential purchase price would be. Once you’ve done that, you can feel pretty good that the homes you are researching and looking for are right for you!
Check out this quick video on how to use a mortgage calculator to figure out your home buying price range.
As is typical for this time of year, we have seen a bump up in sales for February, to the tune of about 700 units. The number of home sales for February 2014 isn’t quite what we saw this time last year (it’s about 17% lower).
We should see another bump in home sales for the month of March as we get into the busy season for real estate here in the Valley.
New inventory is down almost 11% month-over-month. As you can see above, this is following last year’s trend quite closely. The difference we see here is the amount of new inventory for resale homes year-over-year. We have almost 11% more homes coming on the market in February 2014 than we did for 2013. This will add to our total inventory, as you can see below.
The continued increase in new home listings, coupled with lower buying activity results in a higher resale home inventory.
Actives vs. UCB continue to diverge as we approach a more normal market. UCB on the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service stands for Under Contract – Accepting backups. UCB is a common label for short sales that are under contract.
Average list prices should continue to flatten out and possibly drop a bit, as the average total days on market begin to rise.
We continue to see lower pending foreclosures on a monthly and yearly basis. Hopefully the trend will continue, as the market becomes more and more healthy.
We are at a 12 month high for days on market. We should start to see this statistic flatten as we move into the heat of the home buying season.
It’s always tough to predict the future. If history is any indicator, then we should start to see the number of home sales pick up as we move along in the month of March and into April.
With the continued rise of resale home inventory, home buyers will continue to have more choices, which should lead to less multiple offer situations on average. This should lead to an overall flattening of home sale prices and initial listing prices.
Are you a home buyer and just starting to research the housing market? Don’t miss this article on how to receive the most up to date home sale information that is available on homes for sale in the Phoenix metro area.
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