Everywhere I go someone is talking about the economy or cutting back on things like luxury items, trips, some even had to hold back a semester from school just to work for a bit.  Every day more and more clients are struggling or just wondering how empty the purse will be in the future.   Heck, today I heard even GOOGLE has their hand out to the federal government!   What is that about???   As we all go forward with the uncertain future, remember we are all in this together!  Continue to volunteer and encourage all those around you!    My friend Justin McHood (check out my previous post “The Real@jmchood”) decided to help those around him by writing this great post on Loan Modifications.   “Loan Modification:  What you can expect if you are not currently late.”  Thank you Justin for filling us in with your experience.   To see that the “Real @Jmchood” looks like, please visit the previous post – we all know and love him in this persona!  Have mortgage questions – give him a call.

If you have questions on the loan modifications, whether you are behind on your payments or not, Justin or I would be happy to speak with you .  Please contact me to get a property evaluation and some professional advice about what is the best avenue for you to pursue with your property.  With the dropping valley real estate values, you home may not be worth as much as you owe on it.  If short sale is needed, they take some time to complete and a professional REALTOR helps  simplify the process.  

Contact me with any of your questions.

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Real Estate guest speaker, Barbara Corcoran,  spoke on NBC Today show on the topic of real estate.  Unbelievable that she is still quoting the same tips on Home Buying and Selling.  GUESS WHAT EVERY BODY – Phoenix has hit the bottom and is on it’s way back up!  TELL THAT to Queen Creek, Anthem, Maricopa and others in the outlying areas!  While some of these “truths” still ring true, I think Barbara needs to get some new material!  It is 2009 Barbara – get with the program. Listen past her interview and the other reports have a completely different tone!  I just let the feed roll and wrote this blog – Barbara got the big show appearance but everyone else that is interviewed has the heartbeat of the true market.   To catch all the real estate interviews click here:  NBC Interviews – I selected the the old 1960 NBC Peacock, since that is how relevant I think Barbara’s interviews are!  Very interesting that NBC chose to highlight,  in its’ very popular morning news show, the only interview done at News 12 with old information.  Barbara – how about talking about the short sale market that then becomes the REO market and about how someone is going to keep their home when they have NO INCOME ???  This is the reality – yes the home building starts are down but we are still going to have a wave of properties come on the market all over the valley as everyone’s purse strings get pulled tighter and tighter!

10 real estate myths for buyers and sellers                                                   as identified by Barbara Corcoran

The truth about the housing market
In today’s uncertain market, fear runs rampant on both the buying and selling sides of the fence. Many myths need debunking. Here are five untruths held by buyers, and five held by sellers.

Buyer myth No. 1: The longer the house is on the market, the more you can negotiate.
When buyers ask, “How long has this property been on the market?”, they think “six months” means they can negotiate the price down. It more often means the seller is stubbornly holding on to their price.

Buyer myth No. 2: The sellers today are desperate.
Most aren’t. Always ask why the sellers are selling. It’s the key to finding how motivated and anxious they are. “I’m being transferred to Dallas” is a very different answer than “We’d like to find something bigger.” The first homeowner is hot to trot.

Buyer myth No. 3: You can’t buy a home today with less than 20 percent down.
FHA loans require only 3.5 percent down, and you can even ask the seller to pay the closing costs.

Buyer myth No. 4: You need good credit to get a good loan.
Once again, the FHA to the rescue! They’re happy to lend money to buyers with bad credit.

Buyer myth No. 5: You shouldn’t buy before prices have bottomed.
You can’t sharp shoot the real estate market. Once you identify the “bottom,” prices have already moved up.

Seller myth No. 1: Now’s the absolute worst time to sell.
Not necessarily. It depends upon where you live. Many of the worst hit markets, like Las Vegas, Phoenix or San Diego, are already beginning to turn around. And if you’re a homeowner who wants to trade up, the loss you’ll take on your current home will be more than offset by the bargain you’ll get on the next one.

Seller myth No. 2: Never respond to a low-ball bid.
All buyers today feel obligated to put in low-ball offers to see if the seller bites. If you respond with a reasonable counter offer, most buyers can be convinced to come up in price and make the deal.

Seller myth No. 3: The first offer is never the best offer.
Most sellers believe that it’s smart to hold out for something better. But four times out of five, the first offer is the best you’ll ever see.

Seller myth No. 4: ‘I can always reduce my price later.’
Sellers often price their home high for a few weeks just to test the market. But buyers shop by price bracket and if your house is in the wrong one, you’ll just help sell everyone else’s home while yours sits there overpriced. And reducing your price later in small increments puts you in the position of chasing the tide as it goes out.

Seller myth No. 5: Before you refinance, shop around.
You can if you want, but you’ll usually get the best deal from your current lender. And you’ll be able to negotiate your closing costs.

Sunday afternoon, great friends, great trail and incredible weather! What you don’t see is that we had to cross the river twice (4 times for Joyce & Gay to pick up our irrigation boots). Upon reaching the summit and taking some incredible pictures, we decided to check out the trail just a bit further down the way and ran out of marked trail – seeing where we needed to be we went for it – down the crevasse. Lisa at times was not so happy with trail leader Gay, but in the end what an accomplishment for these over age 40 and some nearing 50 (sooner than they would like to). We made it back one hour sooner than retracing our steps on the trail and saw more virgin country – SPECTACULAR! Driving home with Gay’s pants hanging out the window to dry – we could not wait to enjoy a Margarita or beer and the delicious chips-n-salsa. The hot tub was never more appreciated! Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Gay Potter on Twitter wants you to meet Justin McHood aka @jmchood on Twitter.  Justin tries to pass himself off as this blue shirt wearing nice mortgage guy!   Those of us who know and love him see the “Real” @jmchood.   See the resemblance?  Buddy of the Incredibles – has been exposed!  When Justin is not wreaking havoc on his friends, his day job is at        Arizona Mortgage Team    

           Got mortgage, Get Justin!

 

 

Arizona Cowgirls January 2009 ride. 65 degree weather and clear day – no smog! Yeah!
Contact Gay Potter

Make sure to get started with your business plan that you mapped out for yourself for 2009.  We can never be sure where the path ahead is going but having some good navigational tools will help!  Stay focused and enjoy the view along your way!

Lake Moraine  for more beautiful photos of Lake Moraine click here.

Every year I reflect on my business plan  from the year before.  I ask myself specific questions about my business, my goals, were they met, were they realistic?  I ask my self  similar questions about my personal life too, is my life working for me and those around me?  I have compiled a list of questions, that I contemplate,  maybe they will help you in the development of your business or personal plan for the year 2009!

The big picture questions I ask: 

1. Where am I now?
2. Where do I want to be?
3. How do I get there?
4. When will I get there?
5. How do I stay on track?

Now, for specific Real Estate questions:

• What are my 2008 numbers for:
  • Listings taken?
  • Listings closed?
  • Listings expired?
  • Escrow sides opened?
  • Escrow sides closed?
  • Commission income?
• How much money do I want to make in 2009? 
• To do that, how many sides must I close?
• How many closed sides will be listings?
• How many closed sides will be buyers?
• What percent of my listings will result in a closed sale?
• What percent of my buyer clients will close?
• How many hours per week will I work?
• How does that translate to $$ per hour?
• Where did my clients come from in 2008?
• Which activities do I still do that no longer work?
• Do I need to change my target market and how do I accomplish this task?
• What do other agents in my market, would it work for me?
• What is my marketing budget?
• What is my general business budget?
• What am I really good at?
• What am I  weak at?
• How can I make my strengths work better for my business?
• How will I manage around my weak areas?
• Do I have a work schedule that I adhere to?
• What is my education / self improvement plan?
• What are the key threats to my business?
• What do I different than the competition?
• Do I have a plan to live a full and productive personal life?
• Do I have an effective system for:
  • Contact management?
  • Listing process?
  • Escrow process?
  • Time management and blocking?
  • Tracking my  marketing?
  • Tracking my income?
• Do I  know what a  good system is and am I using it effectively?

This year I have added SEO (search engine optimization) to my planning to have a better placement in Internet marketing.  As usual, as it is with all the techy stuff in my life,  I push forward with it when I have no other choice.  The time is here!  I will become an aggressive Internet marketer.  I encourage everyone to reflect, review and get going in 2009!

My friend Justin McHood and his unsuspecting wife Tammy, I use the friend term loosely!  I want to beat him for tagging me today with a challenge to list out 7 things about me.   Justin was tagged by Steve Belt, I noticed this in Steve’s blog and was grateful I was not named by Steve, but Justin got me so here goes……..

1. I am a Arizona Native, grew up in Lehi, (and no I am not LDS)  the Mormon settlement in Mesa, Arizona.   Lehi was a wonderful place to grow up, tree canopied streets with open irrigation ditches.   We rode our horses bare back all day, racing them through the orchards playing tag and returning home at dusk.  Our parents did not know where we were or what we were doing most of the time.  I am sure they really did not want us swimming in the irrigation ditches or swimming our horses in the lake that had formed down at the river bottom.  I remember dirt clod fights (splitting my head open once), tree forts, playing baseball and tackle football with the neighborhood boys.   I was not much into playing with dolls.  Life was simple and safe back then.  

2. I went to Lehi Elementary (kissed my first boy, Mike- this was after I threw him down to kiss him), Carson Junior High (had a crush on Mark), Westwood High School )had a crush on Daylon), Mesa Community College (met David) and finally graduated from Arizona State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.

3. My husband David is a Fire Fighter.  We have been together since 1979 and married in 1984.  He spotted me in 1978 at a Girl Scout Spaghetti Dinner. (I was a Brownie, Junior, Cadet and a Senior – 11 years in Girl Scouts)  My best friends mother told him to stay away from me because I was a “good girl”.  We met again on a softball field at MCC, he tackled me on the way in from the outfield,  during this wrestling match I accidentally kicked him in the mouth and chipped his tooth – it was love!

4.  I played competitive AAA Women’s and CO-Rec softball, traveling all over the Southwest from 1978 to 1995.   The majority of the time I played the hot corner, 3rd base.  I preferred not to play 3rd in CO-Rec (I liked my teeth) so I played a little 2nd base but mostly 1st base.  This skill of catching for big guys has come in handy in the back yard catching the Lacrosse ball for my almost 17 year old son.  My softball injuries required some interesting life adaptations, one being walking down the aisle to get married in a pair of peds because I had a sprained / hyper extended my arch sliding and catching my metal cleats on home plate.  My two cartilage surgeries and ACL replacement are all attributed to my softball days.  Since these surgeries I felt I needed to find a less pounding sport for my knee, it took me a while but I found it, GOLF!  My husband will tell you that I do not require any other channel on the television but the golf channel.   This is my fourth year playing.  The first year I taught myself, the second I decided to take some lessons and since then I volunteer as a mentor for other beginning women golfers to introduce them to golf and help improve their skills.  My goal last year was to break 100.  I met that goal and consistently shoot in the mid 90’s.  This years goal is to break 90 and beyond!   JUST GOLF!

5. I have two beautiful children.  My daughter who I carried for ten months and who it took me a week to get her delivered.  She is 19, a wonderful ,graceful ballerina who any mother would be proud of.  My son is 16 and might make 17 in a few months.  I nearly died giving birth to him.  I will never forget talking to my best friend at the side of my hospital bed as the doctor was trying to give my an epidural.   All the sudden,  I could not breath or talk, just cry.  My husband pushed the nurse out of the way, ripped open my hospital gown and started slapping the heart monitor pads all over me.   I could hear the doctor and my husband working together and the doctor saying, she will be okay in a few minutes.  Dave kept asking my questions that I could not answer.   It was a bit and finally I was able to look at both of them and say…..scared you guys didn’t I?     

6. My love of horses is a sickness that I have and share with some wonderful ladies.  I ride all over the state with the Arizona Cowgirls.  I have five horses.  My best trail horse is an Arab / Quarter cross.  He is graceful, powerful and beautiful!  He can also be a handful, this I attribute to the Arab.   I dislike Arabs for the most part, but it is the Arab part that takes me to some places that very few get to go.  I have another horse that is like my dog.  His name is Rio.   When riding in washes with a few friends or by myself I turn him loose to run free.   He never strays far.  If we change direction, all I have to do is call his name and say come on buddy and here he comes, running to catch up.  I raised him from birth and my husband will tell you that Rio would climb into my lap if I let him.   You will find me in my element, with my horses in the Arizona outback – the more remote –  the better it is!

7. Let’s see, number 7 – things I like and dislike maybe.  I hate PINK   – you will never see me wearing pink.  I won’t hit a pink golf ball or hit a ball off a pink tee.  I love red, turquoise and blue.  I love the water.  My husband and I sail our 18′ Hobie Cat in Mexico, California and some Arizona lakes in regattas.   We love to spend as much time as we can on our deck boat with our children and two chocolate labs.  My favorite lake is Saguaro Lake.  I hate how busy it gets but its beauty at sunset is wonderful and relaxing!  I love camping, traveling, reading a good book, jazz, light rock, some country, classical (no violins please).  I am a fanatic about enjoying a good glass of wine at sunset!

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be and you know more about me than you probably cared to.   Since I am new to blogging the hardest part is tagging someone who has not been tagged yet.

Justin said I’m supposed to post the rules, so here they are:

1. Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged.

And I just can’t wait for these 7 individuals to tell all about themselves.

1. Debbie Wheeler
2. Debbie (Spellwight)
3. Jay Thompson  sorry Jay – you have to do it too
4. Chris Fairchild
5. Dru Broomfield
6. V Carson
7. MaggeeGee

Gay Potter and some great friends set out on Saturday, Dec. 27th for the Light Rail Grand opening.  The adventure began at Sycamore and Main rail stop.  Jumping on the city transit express bus, a first for most of the group, catching a ride to the end of the rail line at  Montebello and 19th Avenue. The spacious bus had plenty of seats and very comfortable.  At Montebello and 19th the group jumped on the Light Rail after a short wait.  Standing room only on the rail to the 3rd Street and Jefferson stop to partake of the festivities in down town Phoenix.  The rail stopped at each station to attempt to pick up more passengers. The crowded rail cars were full, the doors would close without adding a passenger.  Interesting to see how close the stops were to great places to visit such as the Heard Museum or Brophy College Prepatory.  A good web site that identifies businesses within a block of each station is Phoenix.net or by business category.   Light Rail Day was a great time with special friends, below click on picture of Gay and Cammy Clevenger on the escalator (to see slide show) in the Phoenix Civic Center. 

The highlight at on Central was touring the Civic Center complete with its new face lift,  Beautiful! 

Dining at the historic Matador Mexican Food restaurant was a real treat.  The green mix burro was delicious!  The return trip from down town was not as uneventful.  The wait for the rail was one and a half hours long.   Reasons given for the delay were numerous, ranging from electrical issues, operator error, two cars removed from service for clean up after a couple patrons threw up and one person requiring emergency services.  Finally a rail car arrived and off we went, packed in like sardines.   At one point, my feet were surrounded by nine little kids sitting on the floor of the rail car.  Carefully I balanced my way through the rail motion of stops and starts without the aid of bar to hang on to.   It was a bit like surfing!  Luckily – no injuries occurred – even when some over zealous passengers shoved their way into an already pack rail car.   All in all, it was a successful long and tiring day.