By Scott Gaertner
Thirty days ago, I wrote my article for the April edition of this paper on the topic of how to evaluate multiple offers on your Scottsdale North home. I wrote it because, at the time, we were in the best real estate market I had seen in my 30+ year real estate career, and multiple offers were reasonably common. I thought it would be helpful for you to have some tips on best practices. As of this writing – just 30 days later – not only are we no longer seeing multiple offers on homes, sellers are lucky to get multiple people to tour their homes! Incredible.
Above is the “Cromford Supply v Demand Index” for Valley real estate. This snapshot was taken roughly two weeks after Governor Ducey issued a statewide Stay At Home order through the end of April. At the time of this writing, demand is slightly below normal and supply significantly below normal, but the lines are moving toward each other.
The lines at this point are still pretty far apart, but if they continue to come together or actually cross, prices will be affected. What the supply and demand chart above will look like in the coming months is anyone’s guess. Many believe that the unprecedented national business shut down due to COVID-19 will drive our economy into a recession, or even a depression, later this year. If that is true, how long it will last, and how much that would affect the housing market, is open to debate. But I think we can all agree that our world is changing.
That statement couldn’t be more relevant than it is right at this moment, especially when it comes to buying and selling a home. Amid all this uncertainty, some home buyers and sellers still find themselves needing to buy or sell right now. What do they do? We believe it has never been more critical to work with a professional than it is at this very moment.
The Future of Real Estate is Now
At the Scott Gaertner Group, innovation is our niche. It is who we are. Our entire team of professionals focuses on being better every day by continuously seeking the newest and best practices. For the past 15 years, we have traveled to quarterly conferences around North America to meet and collaborate with the best brokers. We are capitalizing on the relationships we have created by talking with those brokers via teleconferences. We have been, and continue to be, coached by one of the largest coaching firms in North America on current trends and newest technologies. Our company, Keller Williams, is the number one real estate franchise in agent count, closed units, and closed sales volume in the United States. Company collaboration is key. The Scott Gaertner Group has always been industry leaders, and these technologies are nothing new to us.
We have implemented the ability to have a 100 percent paperless experience, from when a home is listed, to when the buyer signs his final John Hancock. Removing the need for paper means you don’t have to physically meet a single person to sell your home. You can do it all; the listing, the showings, and even the signing of the contracts, from the comfort of your couch because we can handle everything online. The only visitor you will have from us is our professional videographer or photographer. And you don’t even need to be there for that.
Despite the uncertainty and the stay at home orders, we are still selling homes. Some of our recent sales are to buyers who have never physically been in the property. Having buyers commit to a sale sight unseen speaks volumes about the clarity and quality of our visual marketing.
Virtual tour usage is up over 495 percent, and when it comes to photo and video marketing, we have always been at the forefront. We offer our services with state of the art equipment and can perform it all; professional twilight photos, videography, drone footage, and even 3D and 360-degree tours. We can’t tell you what is going to happen to our economy or our real estate market in the coming months. But what we can say to you is, “We got this.”
Contact us today to schedule a no-obligation virtual consultation to see when the best time will be for you to get the process started.
Scott Gaertner is an Associate Broker with Keller Williams Northeast, who for the past 25+ years has helped more people to find their lifestyle niche in the Scottsdale North area than anyone else. He also contributes his thoughts on lifestyle interests in the area.
