Good Home Security Idea. This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night.
Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents, your Dr's office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you run across. Put your car keys beside your bed at night.
If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

 Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage.

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won't stick around. After a few seconds, all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there. This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.

Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can't reach a phone. My Mom has suggested to my Dad that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn't hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she'll know there's a problem.
This may save a life!

Is the Phoenix Area a good Investment?

Question:  I live in Indiana, but thinking about buying in the Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe areas of Phoenix, Arizona. Tell me which one will appreciate the most in the next 3 years.

Answer:  Don’t know. Wouldn’t guess. Although I happen to know those areas pretty well and see a bright real estate future in any one of those towns, there is still that risk with real estate. Prices can rise and fall. There are no guarantees—and no one knows what the future will bring.

Offensive Offer to the Seller?

Question:  A property was on the market for $260,000. The price is far higher than sales made in the past 3-4 months. We offered $205,000. This offer was rejected outright and not countered. The next day, the price dropped to $249,900.

So my question is, was our offer just offensive to the seller?

Answer:  Sellers have the right to test the market. That homes have not sold for a given price previously does not mean the owner or the owners broker were somehow wrong. Prices rise in some communities, which means someone must be the first to breach a given price level.

The marketplace will ultimately decide the value of the property. That said, buyers have a right to bid for properties according to the value they see. You, as a purchaser, may have felt that the property was worth less based on past sales, available properties, condition, location, design, etc.

How do you know what the seller will accept unless you make another written offer? A real estate transaction is a business deal – you made an offer, it was rejected and both parties can decide what they wish to do next, if anything.

Buyer Market or Sellers Market?

Question: I was talking to my neighbor and he said he isn’t selling yet because it’s a Buyers’ Market. What exactly determines a Buyers or Sellers’ Market?

Answer:  During a Sellers market, homes sell quickly and sellers have a lot of pricing power. As a result, prices rise more rapidly than at other times. During buyers markets, homes may sit on the market for a while before selling, so sellers become more flexible and may even drop their prices. The market is determined by supply and demand.

In real estate, the relationship between supply and demand is calculated as “available inventory”. At the current sales price, how long would it take to sell the total number of houses available on the market? That is how the real estate industry measures inventory.

Longer inventory times are associated with buyers markets.  Shorter inventory periods are associated with sellers markets. At this time, many local markets are still in a buyers market, but not all. For example, a town that has high inventories and lower demand may still have homes that defy the usual formula for a buyers market. These homes that are priced right and are beautiful will usually sell rather quickly compared to homes that are overpriced or lack that wow factor.

Real estate is part of a business cycle and we all know that investment returns are cyclical. Real estate is just like any other investment, it has its ups and downs.

Here is some good advice: Give your home that wow factor so you can smile and enjoy it while living in it, and then, when you are ready to sell, that same wow factor will attract more buyers at a price that will make you smile even more!