The Butterworth Group

Phoenix is a pretty laid back city - guys can get away with a golf shirt and a nice pair of pants all year long for just about any occasion.  And during the summer, when it’s 100+ outside, wearing shorts is not uncommon.

This week has been interesting, though, and the dress code conversation has come up several times among my friends and colleagues.  Here’s the problem:

Today is October 2nd.  Autumn.  Fall festivals.  Leaves changing colors.  All that stuff.  Time to get out the winter clothes and enjoy the changing of the seasons!

Today is going to be 102 degrees.  Few things are less fun than showing homes, and getting in and out of the car a dozen times, while sweating profusely in your good, winter dress clothes!

Personally, I tend to use the thermometer over the calendar.  You probably won’t see me wearing anything other than shorts from the time we break the mid 90’s in May until the time we come back down into the 90’s in October. (that didn’t sound right - I actually wear shirts, too.)  Some people go the other way instead.  Tomato, tomahto.

It looks like the debate will be short-lived this year, as we’re supposed to get some autumn weather this weekend:  80’s, here we come!

Here is some historical average information regarding Phoenix temperatures and participation.

Source:  USAToday.com

Your dusting off his long pants Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Drip system maintenance is probably the easiest home maintenance task of them all; no need to worry about pvc pipe, risers, solenoids, or anything else like that.  It’s as easy as checking the emitter (sometimes called a flag) to make sure it works, and if it doesn’t work you just need to cut it off with a scissors and stick a new one on - simple as pie.  Of course, this is assuming you can find the damn emitters!

When you plant new plants (or when the builder does), the drip needs to be near the base, because their root system is small. Over time, however, the bush, and its roots, will grow significantly.  I recommend spending the 5 minutes it’ll take to move the emitter away from the bush’s center, and relocating it near the plant’s perimeter.  It’ll be far easier to keep your eye on it, year after year, if you can see it.  It’ll also be easy to make any future repairs.

I’ve watched a couple of my shrubs wilt away over the last month or so; fixing the drip line has been on my list of things to do, but I hadn’t gotten to it yet.  Here is an example of one plant which is looking particularly “sticky”.  I had to hack my way through to the center of the plant in order to extend the drip line and add a new emitter.  Once I found the old emitter, it took only a couple of minutes.  Fortunately, this is a desert plant and there’s still a little green on it - it should come back fine…

It’s difficult to see how much I had to hack away at this plant.  (you can click the picture to see a larger image.)

Here is the new emitter at the plant’s perimeter.

The new flag, up close and personal.

Your not-very-green thumbed Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

I always think it’s funny when I come across that one last house holding out against development.  I see this occasionally across all parts of Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs.  I’m sure the families are sad to see their neighbors sell & move away, but then at some point it becomes “the principle of it.”

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series - Moving Stills 1.

Your wondering what the rest of the family thinks about it Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Yesterday I was working on my sprinkler system, trying to repair an underground leak and a timer which was shorting out.  After a couple of hours of digging, testing, replacing emitters, and generally figuring out what I was going to need, I jumped in the car & headed the block and a half to Ace Hardware…

… only to find Ace was closed.  No signs about their status, and no apologies.  There was one sign referring people to the next closest Ace Hardware, and another sign from PepsiCo saying they hadn’t met the terms of their lease.  Hmmm.

10 minutes later I was at Lowe’s, with the required parts in hand.  Today my sprinklers are working like new!

I’ve been getting my hair cut at a local salon for the last couple of years - it’s a little bit more fru-fru than I would typically use, but they do great work and their men’s haircuts are only a couple dollars more than a barber shop.

This morning, at the request of my better half (that’s when I know it’s time), I called to set an appointment for a haircut.  Unfortunately, nobody answered the phone - the computer voice said it was disconnected.  That seemed strange, so I drove over there to find the store completely shut down - doors were locked and the interior was completely stripped.

Is the bad housing market and (possible) recession - as if there’s any doubt we’re in a recession - starting to hit home for Middle America?

Your wondering out loud Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Now, more than ever, it’s important to consider why you’re buying a home.  Nobody knows exactly when the market is going to heal and what the market is going to look like once it does.  Expert economists have differing opinions about what the proposed $750 trillion bailout will do to our economy - short term and long term.  (and given our government’s track record in economics, we can expect some unintended consequences as well.)

Because the Phoenix market is different from the national market, and because every neighborhood within the Phoenix market is different from the next, it’s very difficult to make blanket statements about the future.

Are you going to live in the home for a decade (or longer)?  Or is a relocation in a few years a distinct possibility?  Are you willing to take a risk on getting a great deal on a bank-owned home?  Or would you rather rent until things settle down?  What would you do if prices fall another 5%?  10%?  20%?  How would you feel if your home is worth the same as what you paid for it in 1 year?  2 years?  3 years?  What about if you decide to rent & miss the market’s bottom?

There’s no right or wrong answer, per se.  Each individual &/or family must make their own decisions.  I encourage you to ask yourself these difficult questions.  And you’re always welcome to shoot me a call/email if you want somebody to brainstorm with.

Your campaigning for normalcy in 2009 Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

We all know the market is down, and we know there are great deals available to those willing to put in the effort (and capital).  Not every bank-owned home is a great bargain, and not every home seller is desperate.  But once in awhile we’ll come across a strong investment opportunity - a great home in perfect condition, on the best lot in a desirable neighborhood, which a bank is selling for significantly less than any other home in the area!

The trouble is, I’m starting to see, hear, and read advertisements telling me how to take advantage of this market to get rich in real estate.  The process isn’t as easy as these advertisements make it seem.  But if 2,000 people buy their $500 expertise, they’ve made $1 million.  To be honest, I think they have a better chance of making a million dollars selling their course than you do by following their teachings.

I’m not against investing in real estate - quite the opposite, actually.  But please be careful who you listing to.

Foreclosures.com has compiled an extensive list of Foreclosure Gurus who have had complaints filed against them.  Give this a read before you call one of these guys.   http://www.foreclosures.com/pages/gurus_to_avoid.asp 

Your believing that when people have to sell too hard, it’s not worth buying Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Arrowhead Ranch is one of the few, if not only, neighborhood in the Northwest Valley which has a similar feel to McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale - mostly due to it’s grass-filled center medians and it’s maturity.

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series - Moving Stills 1.

Your sitting in traffic (again) Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Here’s a quick update to an earlier post I wrote about Disposing of CFL fluorescent light bulbs back in February of this year.  In it I wrote “I bet that before too long there will be enough public pressure that the places who sell the most bulbs (WalMart, Home Depot, Target, Lowe’s) will begin collecting them for recycling…”  One down, three to go!

There’s a Home Depot on just about every corner these days, so you shouldn’t have any excuses for not recycling your mercury-filled CFL light bulbs!

Your feeling greener Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

It seems like everybody’s written something lately about Lehman Brothers, Merrill, Bear Stearns, or AIG.  (not to mention Washington Mutual and Wachovia, both coming soon.)  Each one of these companies is huge and complex, and their undoings’ effect on our market are not entirely understood yet.  And that’s just independently - taken together it’s even more complicated.

I don’t pretend to be smart enough to answer all the questions.  In fact, I’m not even sure why some of these companies are getting government bailouts while others are being allowed to fail.

In steps Barry Ritholtz with an explanation understandable to the layperson:

Lehman Brothers was like the little kid pulling the tail of a dog.  You know the kid is going to get hurt eventually, and so know one is surprised when the dog turns around and bites the kid.  But the kid only hurts himself, so no one really cares that much.

Bear Stearns is the little pyro - the kid who was always playing with matches.  He could harm not only himself, but burns his own house down, and indeed could have burned down the entire neighborhood.  The Fed stepped in not to protect him, but the rest of the block.

AIG is the kid who accidentially stumbled into a bio-tech warfare lab…  finds all these unlabeled vials, and heads out to the playground with a handful of them jammed into his pockets.

Personally, I’m glad to understand that.  But it doesn’t make me feel any better about what’s on the horizon in AIG’s portfolio…

Your can’t wait to get through this mess Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

I was reflecting on a listing I took 2 years ago this month, in the fall of 2006.  A woman had had her home on the market for 4 months (with another agent) and wasn’t getting any showings.  Her listing was expiring and she wanted to explore other options; a friend of a friend gave her my number.

The market had started to soften in the fall of 2005, so by this time we had been in a downward trend for about a year.  (On a side note, most “experts” were predicting a recovery sometime in 2007.)

This particular home had been listed at $319,000 when it wasn’t getting any showings.  After doing my research, I had a blunt, but honest, conversation with her about reducing the listing price to $289,000.  She was frustrated and upset about how much the market had fallen, and she took a few days to get her arms around the whole scenario:

It didn’t seem fair that prices could drop so far so fast; $319k seemed too low when she first listed the home.

The market didn’t care what seemed fair to her, nor did it care how much she paid for the home, why she was moving, or what she wanted to get out of it.

Maybe she should just keep the house & wait for the market to come back.

Maybe she could put a tenant in there & rent it out for awhile.

If the market fell another 5-10% over the next year, and then stayed level for about a year, and then started rising about 5% per year, it would take until 2010 just to get back to where we were at that point.  (turns out to have been wishful thinking!)

She finally decided that her goal was to get rid of the house, and although she wasn’t happy about the current state of the market, she couldn’t change anything.  She could only make choices given that day’s environment.

About a month later we received an offer of $274,000.

This additional $15k reduction took another set of mental gymnastics to get her arms around - more stress, more frustration, more anger.  But she completed the exercise very quickly, and decided to accept the offer and get outta town.

This turns out to have been a GREAT decision.  Today, 2 years later, she would be lucky to get $245,000 for the home.

Your wishing he knew what the future held Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Last night we had a dust storm as big as I’ve seen in a long, long time.  I remember being a kid, and my dad would take me up to the roof of the house, where we would watch a brown wall move across the sky.  When the wind started to pick up, we’d head back inside & watch the storm through the windows.  Last night’s storm was just like that - amazing.

When my older son & I left the house at 5:45, we had blue skies above us but could see dark skies to the west.  This picture was taken at 5:59 (yes, that’s BEFORE sunset!) from the In n Out drive-through with my blackberry (and not touched up at all).

You can read the rules for a Moving Stills post and learn how the series came to be by reading my initial post in the series - Moving Stills 1.

Your remembering when Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

I currently have a listing where the owners have moved out of the home, leaving it vacant.  It’s a great home in a great neighborhood, and it’s reasonably priced, so we’re confident it’ll sell (at some point.)  But in the meantime we’re exploring other options, and I came across the website for HomeTenders of America (www.hometendersofamerica.com)

Has anyone out there worked with this company before?  Were your results positive?  I’ve never heard of them, and I’d like to hear a first-hand testimonial if possible.

Their business model makes perfect sense, and sounds like a win-win-win.  This is generally the basis for a sound company.  Here’s the short version of how it works:

HomeTenders finds and interviews people who are willing to live in vacant homes while they sit on the market.  These tenants agree to professionally decorate the home, and to keep it in pristine, show-ready condition.  In exchange, these tenants get to live in upscale homes in upscale neighborhoods at significantly reduced rental rates.

Here’s how I see everybody winning:

Homeowner

No longer has a vacant home.  This reduces the risk of vandalism & other problems.

Can keep insurance on the home.  (many insurance policies won’t cover homes which have been vacant for too long.

Reduced carrying cost.  HomeTenders does NOT charge the homeowner, and the tenant pays all utilities.

Increased chance of selling.  Well decorated homes are more likely to sell, and for a higher price.

Tenant

Gets to live in upscale homes in upscale neighborhoods at reduced rates.

For the right personality type, this could be a fun way to live.

HomeTenders

Earns rent from properties they don’t own.  (can’t get a much better profit margin than that!)

So what’s the downside?  I’d love to hear from you.

Your exploring options Realtor,

Chris Butterworth