Back from a Rare Day Off
That was a pleasant interlude … turkey, family, ASU football (painful as it may have been to behold) … and above all, a rare day off.
Few are the days where something real-estate related doesn’t creep onto the calendar, either by design or by accident. Even when there aren’t clients with which to meet, there are posts to write and statistics to examine and websites to work on.
Yesterday marked our first day off in about 2 1/2 weeks. That’s a good thing, mind you, but it also is a bit of a tiring thing. There’s only so many times your wife can ask you if you want to check the baggage under your eyes before you figure something’s up.
These are supposed to be the winter doldrums, a phenomenon common in areas where things like snow take place but also seen to a lesser degree here. (Winter’s trying to kick in … it’s 52 degrees out right now after we were setting record highs a few days back.) But instead, the past month or so have been the busiest I’ve had since real estate’s hey day back in 2005.
Why? Here’s what I’m seeing and hearing …
- Canadian winter visitors are looking to take advantage of still favorable exchange rates and purchase rather than continuing to toss away cash on high-priced seasonal rentals.
- More and more buyers are understanding the near-impossibility of picking a bottom and are settling instead for making their own deal now while inventory’s high and holding the property for the long-term.
- Many homebuilders will give away the farm if only you ask. They’ll protest a bit, but at the end of the day they want to sell more than you want to buy.
- The Internet is great for the initial search but you need to walk the properties and drive the neighborhoods before getting serious about a purchase.
- Interest rates remain extremely low.
I’ve put in about 750 miles of driving in the past week, viewing properties from far east Mesa to Gilbert to Avondale to Glendale and Westbrook Village. I’ve lost count of the exact number of properties (there were 15 on Tuesday) alone but it’s been an enlightening couple of weeks.
I’m sure the coming months will be just as action packed.
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Feel free to lighten your load and refer out some of that east side stuff…
We’ve seen a lot of buyer “activity” lately as well. Many seem to be getting far more serious and actually ready to buy than just a few weeks ago.
Guys, I’ll repeat what I’ve been saying for a few months now. Phoenix is very shortly about to live up to its name.
I’m not disagreeing with you, Jeff … there are signs every day that something may change … nothing close to 2005 but enough to get some traction, perhaps.
I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.