Insights from the SEVRAR Tempe Home Tour

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Tempe Home Tour meeting this morning. It was a small group on this hot day in the Valley, but it was very interesting to hear the in-the-trenches insight into our market. Here are just a few highlights:

– Many homeowners are choosing to rent out their homes instead of selling them right now. Rather than hand off property management services to another brokerage–and risk losing top-of-mind awareness with those homeowners–some firms are expanding into property management.

– Price per square foot on condos is rising faster than for single-family homes in Tempe. The group consensus seemed to be that condos felt the effects of the market downturn earlier and are recovering faster.

– It’s all about finding listings. It may be time to consider an old-school technique:  knocking on doors in desirable neighborhoods and asking the homeowners if they’ve considered selling.

– Looking at a “green” new build with significant monthly energy savings (more than $250/month over a similarly sized home), a buyer decided that the savings would allow them to up their home buying budget. Perhaps we should be looking not just at PITI (principal interest taxes insurance) but PITI+E (energy costs).

– One client posted their full transaction journey on Facebook–including dollar amounts for offers received. Do you talk to your clients about not revealing information via social media that may affect their bargaining position?

– Listings may be shared on Facebook groups (agent-to-agent or neighborhood groups) before they ever make it onto the MLS. Facebook haters, be warned! You might be missing out on valuable information.

Do you attend a home tour regularly? What insights have you gained? Feel free to share your feedback in the comments below.

If you’d like to have a representative from AAR attend your next home tour, please email me!

Tags: home tour, rms, sevrar, tempe