The future is here…  You can view property listings on your Smart Phone now. QR Codes are now available too help sell your listings.  A QR codes  look like a bar code.  These codes are on real estate signs and other real estate advertising sites now. The QR code will allow your Smart phone or other device with mobile scanning ability to gather the listing details as well as photo’s of the property.  With this technology, no more paper flyer’s to mess with.

www.homesweetaz.com QR code

A QR Code is a matrix bar code (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smart phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

Another term to describe a QR Code (short for Quick Response Code) is just like a bar code but is used by an owner of a smart phone. People with iPhones, Androids, Blackberry’s and others can quickly scan the QR Code by using their built in camera and a program on the phone called a QR Reader, which is FREE.  When the code  is scanned, the user is taken to a Mobile Single Listing website with photos and features about that property and information to contact the Agent marketing the property.  All of the necessary detail and pictures are their to view.

Real Estate professionals currently have access to these codes.  In the very near future, you will start to see more of these codes in various locations to advertise both their home listings and there websites.  It’s simple to do:

To view a mobile Listing or Agent Site requires downloading a FREE QR code reader App for your Smart phone. The Free QR reader APP we tested is ScanLife. ScanLife works well on all popular Smart Phones (or you can Google “Free QR scanners for your Phone model”.  Other sites are out there, Click here to see free downloads.

Once you load the application, all you do is click on the camera icon and focus and click… Once that’s done, just wait and you will see the listing details along with all of the photos that have been saved on the listing site.

We have started this with our current listings and the seller’s are excited for this new feature to help sell their homes.  The time is now for home buyers to learn this new technology to help in the home buying process.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call.  It’s simple and it does work.  We wish you the best of luck in your home buying experience.  The future is here… I think that you will like it.

Albeit desirable, selling a home in Mesa AZ fast like you could in 2005 is unrealistic in 2010. Right now, homes are on the market for better than 6 months in many cases with the average time on the market closer to 10 months. With this said, is there anything that can be done to speed up the sales cycle?

One thing that can make a difference for you is to make your home as presentable as possible to potential home buyers. Many homes on the market right now are foreclosures and short sales where either the home is vacant or the owner has given up caring what their home looks like because they know that they are going to lose it soon. Therefore, having a home that is well kept may make a huge difference in how long your home is up for sale before you get an offer. You may have to hire a Phoenix weed control company to help keep your home’s exterior looking good, or get help from other landscaping professionals to help keep up your curb appeal while your home is up for sale.

One of the first steps you may need to take in getting your home ready to stage is to find some self storage facilities to close to your home and put your extra stuff there. A cluttered home is very hard for a potential home buyer to imagine what it would look like with their stuff in your home. You want to make sure you don’t have any extra personal items around to cloud their imagination; they don’t need or want to see all of your memories. The garage is not a good place to put your stuff either as the home buyer will want to go into the garage and inspect it. They won’t like it if they can’t have a good look around.

Once your stuff is gone, you may want to consider hiring a home stager. We know a few home stagers who know the Mesa marketplace real well. A home stager can walk through your home and quickly give you ideas about how to make your home stand out. They may also be able to bring in some props and furniture if need be to enhance how your place looks if it needs some help. We can also help identify what you can do to help you home stand out more.

Other items to consider doing if you are looking to get your home sold more quickly are:

• Get a seller’s home inspection
• Make the kitchen and bath upgrades
• Go Green in and around your home
• Reduce your utilities
• Get an appraisal

If you have any questions about any of these home selling tips please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’d be more than happy to talk to you about how you can prep your home in Mesa to sell faster.

Update:  Bank of America has postponed foreclosures in all 52 states until it can review their policy on foreclosures.  Other banks are considering this same move to review policy.  This is a move that could impact real estate sales throughout the country.

Arizona is Not Postponing Foreclosures.  Four lenders — Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, GMAC Mortgage,  and Wells Fargo — are under the spotlight for supposed document flaws in processing bank foreclosures. Reports have said that the flawed foreclosure cases are in 23 states where courts oversee foreclosure.  In many states, no courts are involved and the lenders are able to repossess a home with a mortgage that’s in default without going to court.

At Bank of America, An Official Acknowledged She Signed Up to 8,000 Foreclosure Docs a Month and Typically Didn’t Read Them.  Many other Horrifying stories at other banks has caused this new mess at major banks.

There are three different scenarios that could make the housing market tank if not resolved soon.  In the best case scenario, the issues are simply technical, the situation is resolved and the foreclosure process continues. Many believe housing won’t recover until the glut of foreclosed homes clears the market.
In the medium-case scenario, litigation ensues and the matter takes years to sort out. That will inflict more pain onto the already troubled housing market.
In the worst case, the issues become a “systemic problem” that grinds the mortgage market to a halt and title insurers refuse to insure mortgages involving existing homes. In other words, housing Armageddon.  “It would be devastating for the resale market if this robo-signer issue spiraled out of control,

These are states that allow only judicial foreclosures at this time, other states may be added or deleted as the banks figure out where they stand on these foreclosures.

Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin

Selling your home in Mesa Arizona or any other Phoenix suburb or bedroom community and making a trade-in on your old car at the car dealership are really two different things. A lot of steps must be gone through in order to sell your home. Below you will find some tips to sell your AZ home faster.

Hire An Arizona Licensed Real Estate Agent

Maybe the most advantageous choice to sell your house is to use the services of an Arizona licensed real estate agent. A good real estate agent will often mean the difference when it comes to selling your house for the price you want versus making too many allowances out of desperation. Contact Mesa AZ Realtors Rob Lanterman or Roxanne Pierson to learn additional indispensable house selling tips.

Dump The Clutter and Junk

It is wise to make your home look bigger, more roomy and cleaner when you are getting it ready for sale, so get rid of the clutter in it. Useless items should be discarded or recycled. Some some thrift stores will pay for your unwanted items to help get rid of some of your stuff. You may consider a garage sale too. Each of these ways can be a great way to earn extra cash. You should also seriously think about the “maybes,” such as how long it’s been since you’ve used the item – we all seem to have some of these items.

Price Your Home Right

An overpriced house will not sell fast, or even at all in the local market. You should set the price of your home properly from the start, and your realtor can help you with this.

Require a Marketing Plan

A specialized selling plan fitting you and your house should be one of the first things that your real estate agent puts into place. There is no standard plan as every house, situation, economic market is different. To be sure in today’s fast paces world of Iphones and Notebook PCs however, an agent should have at minimum a basic website or other Internet presence, which is crucial in this day and age.

Get Pre-Approved yourself

If you are looking to move and purchase a new home, the last thing you want is to sell your home without knowing if you can buy a new one. Forgetting this step is an error that a lot of people make. The mortgage market has changed significantly since 2008 and mortgage loan products are harder to qualify for. Do not think that you will be able to get a mortgage in today’s market just because you already have one. Be sure that you can get another mortgage by talking with a loan officer before selling your present house.

Change the Deal Before Lowering Your Price

Consider changing the deal instead of lowering the price if your home isn’t selling within a decent period of time. One way to do this is to offer a 2 percent “seller contribution” to help with closing costs instead of, for example, lowering your asking price. This enticing option is is good for potential buyers who lack the cash they need and you may find better tax advantages by providing closing cost assistance versus a price reduction.

Fix it

Home inspections are something a buyer will ask for. You’ll save time by getting a preliminary home inspection yourself and making repairs before putting the house up for sale. It may be less expensive to fix a repair requested by a potential buyer than to find a new buyer.

Ask for feedback

Asking potential buyers (or other real estate agents) for comments after a showing or open house can be helpful. You can make the next showing or open house better by taking negative comments as constructive criticism. Have your agent seek exit comments from potential buyers to get feedback about your house.

Ignore inconvenience

If a potential purchaser calls to see the house at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, so be it. It is important to be adaptable. It is more advantageous to show flexibility and have the property seen than to turn away possible buyers.

Again, selling your home takes an experienced agent. This is especially true if you are trying to save your home from a foreclosure process by selling your home in a short sale. If you are interested in exploring selling your Mesa Arizona home in a short sale please contact us: Your Mesa Arizona Short Sale Real Estate Agents.