The Scottsdale Real Estate Files

Peanut butter and jelly. Cookies and cream. Cheech and Chong.

Such combinations prove the adage that the whole may indeed be greater than the sum of its parts on occasion.

In the Scottsdale Real Estate world, that truth is readily apparent in some of the older master planned communities. Take McCormick Ranch, for instance. When considered in conjunction with the lakes, greenbelts, parks, shopping, award-winning schools and central location, some of the older properties that fall within its boundaries are far more desirable than they would be elsewhere in the Valley.

Because, let's face it, 1970s architecture is sometimes better left in the 1970s.

So if the dated homes that fall within desirable communities are given a boost for their address, what do you get when you add the variable of rennovation to the equation? And an exceptional lot? And a unique floor plan that you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the community?

You get our one-of-a-kind new McCormick Ranch listing, that's what.

You've been told that you'll have to make compromises to get the home you want in the neighborhood you want for the price you want. Well, you know what? 

Compromise is overrated.

Boasting over 2800 square feet of remodeled decadence, this four bedroom gem greets you at the front door with soaring valuted ceilings and a two-way fireplace. The wide open kitchen looks out to the living, dining and family rooms. No dated laminate counter tops or 1970s avocado appliances here, but slab granite and stainless steel.

The master suite is a monster by McCormick Ranch standards, and features a fully remodeled bath with travertine stone, granite top vanities and vessel sinks for a sumptuous retreat.

Hardly a one trick pony that hides its newer interior inside a dated shell, the home's exterior features smooth stucco and a newer roof (2006) in addition to newer A/C.

This home in this location would be special enough, but it has the good sense to reside on a 1/3 acre (nearly 15,000 square feet) North / South cul-de-sac lot. Like a big back yard for entertaining or just to get away from the world? You'll have all the room you need between the large covered patio, pool & spa area and two separate lawn areas that are each as large as the typical back yard by themselves.

Oh, and one last thing. This anomaly has a 3 car garage.

Yes, you heard me correctly: a 3 car garage in McCormick Ranch. 

While many properties in this sought after community will have an achilles heel, as is to be expected of 30 year old homes, you'll be hard pressed to find one here.

But don't take my word for it. I'm a salesman. Give me a call or drop me an email to learn more about this special McCormick Ranch home, or to schedule a viewng today. Coffee's on me if you think I've puffed the goods.

8401 N 86th Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85258

MLS# 4552458

Property Features

• 4 Bedrooms
• 2867 Sq Ft (Approximate)
• 3 Car Garage
• Living Room / Family Room / Dining Room
• Pool & Spa
• Cul-De-Sac Lot
• 1/3 Acre
• Vaulted Ceilings
• Newer Roof & A/C
• Granite and Travertine and Porcelain ... Oh my!
• Chaparral High School District 
• Lake Communitiy
• Golf Community
• Multi-Use Paths
• Greenbelt

In the market for a McCormick Ranch home? Intrigued by the bargains everyone keeps telling you about in the foreclosure / bank owned property arena?

Follow me to the Scottsdale Property Shop for the daily McCormick Ranch Foreclosure Home Hotsheet!

Contrary to other segments of the current Scottsdale Real Estate market, the low-priced foreclosure arena is teeming with demand, and the best values come and go in the blink of an eye. Stay on top of new McCormick Ranch foreclosure listings as soon as they hit the market so you don't miss another one!

Follow the link below and bookmark the page to come back as frequently as you like to see the most recent arrivals. No site registration is required, so you can peruse each new batch in peace. Should you locate a property that you wish to pursue, or learn more information about, you are in luck. Ray & Paul Slaybaugh, the agents behind both McCormick Ranch Home and The Scottsdale Property Shop, have nearly 50 combined years of experience specializing in the McCormick Ranch Real Estate market.

Whether it's a foreclosure property or a typical mom & pop resale home you are after, no one know McCormick Ranch Real Estate like Ray & Paul. No one.

Browse the McCormick Ranch Foreclosure Home Hotsheet Now!

Unless you are the Scottsdale home buyer who is like the one dentist out of ten who does not prefer an Oral B toothbrush, odds are you have at least a passing interest in the Scottsdale foreclosure home market.

While your best bet to stay on top of inventory is to work with a top notch Scottsdale Real Estate agent <cough, cough>, I know that you like to moonlight as an Internet home shopper at all hours of the night. Who doesn't like logging on and cruising the big search sites instead of waiting around impatiently for news from said agent about the latest listings?

Recognizing that even those wise souls who have enlisted the services of a Realtor <cough, cough> to serve as a home buying sherpa enjoy running parallel investigations, I have created the Scottsdale Foreclosure Hotsheet.

Updated daily, you can check back as often as you like (no sign up required) to see the latest Scottsdale foreclosure home listings to hit the market. 

Want to take charge of your home search? Follow me back to the Scottsdale Property Shop via the link below to find out about the latest bargains before someone else snatches them up!

Scottsdale Foreclosure Hotsheet

Is that home really for sale?

It sure looks like it is. There’s a  sign in the yard, property information on the internet, an asking price and everything. The comings and goings of Real Estatey type people with wide eyed gawkers in tow confirms that the quaint Spanish hacienda is looking for a new owner.

Or is it?

There is a disturbing new trend in the Scottsdale Real Estate scene: the fictitious short sale listing.

By now, anyone who is not somewhat up to speed on the short sale market should be stoned to death with the rock under which he has been sleeping. Get used to them, people, as they are not going anywhere anytime soon. Though we all know the uncertainties and complexities involved in such a transaction mean that the listed price is not necessarily the real price, we generally take for granted that a seller is actually interested in selling.

Given the rise in anecdotal reports of would be sellers who haven’t made payments in two years while attempting to consummate short sales, you can imagine what the more entrepreneurial freeloaders in our midst have concluded: going through the motions of a short sale for the sake of appearances can keep the bank off one’s back while he lives rent free for as long as the ruse will allow.

Financial institutions are not so naive to believe such subterfuge never happens, so it typically takes a viable offer on a property to postpone a trustee’s sale (Arizona’s version of a foreclosure). That’s where you, the buyer, come in. For the “seller” interested in staying in the payment-free property for as long as possible, the facade entails the procurement of an offer for submission to the bank. Whether the seller intends to actually complete the sale or not.

In essence, the prospective buyer could get strung along for months by a seller who is just buying time.  Or stealing time, I should say.

Perhaps his credit is already damaged beyond repair. Perhaps he doesn’t want to bring any of the money to the table that the bank demands. Perhaps he does not qualify for the short sale at all (yes, a seller does have to meet certain qualifications to gain bank approval). Perhaps the seller is simply bitter beyond reason and unwilling to let some buyer have his home for pennies on the dollar. Whatever the reason, there are properties on the market that aren’t really available.

How do you identify those shiftless wasters of time before embroiling yourself in a slow, emotional death? There are a few tactics that a competent buyer’s agent will employ when separating fact from fiction on a short sale offering, but none is foolproof. Short of peering into homeowner’s soul, all one can do is take basic precautions to assess the viability of a sale. Unfortunately, the determination of what the owner can do is not necessarily indicative of what he will do.

The guy could be dealing with you in good faith, or he could simply be using your offer to delay his inevitable foreclosure.

My advice? If you are going to go the short sale route, start with properties that have been through the process to the point that they have a bank approved price attached. One way of the other, the process will resolve itself with considerably more haste once the bank has assigned an acceptable price to the property. If the seller is still playing games at this point, he is running out of room to maneuver. Moreover, to reach this point, most are actually committed to the process.

If you fall in love with a home that has not yet been approved for a short sale by the bank, make sure the appropriate questions are asked and answered and that the listing agent has a competent record of successful short sale transactions. The good ones are adept at separating the viable candidates from the disingenuous types as they have a vested interest in getting the transaction to the closing table as well.

At the end of the day, though, you just never know what is in store from one short sale to the next. With all of the variables to contend with in the best of circumstances, adding the integrity and intention of the seller to the list of concerns is almost comical in a tragically masochistic sense. All the more reason I recommend avoiding the short sale quagmire unless all other avenues have been exhausted.

It’s a beautiful home alright, but is it really for sale?

“Sign here, please. And here. Initial here, please. Date. Super, I’ll email this to the listing agent, and we should get an answer within three to five business days.”

There is no arguing that the inexorable march of technology has merged with the increasingly corporate backdrop of the Real Estate world to metastasize into an impersonal cancer of convenience. With REO agents, short sale agents and, well, virtually any agent trudging through this muck who seeks to offset the commission implosion of falling prices with an increased quantity of transactions, it only follows that we limit personal interaction in the name of production. Listing agents instruct buyer agents to text for lockbox codes and review the document tab for offer instructions. You may email for confirmation of receipt, but please no calls.  Shoot, you have a better chance of finding the Lost Dutchman’s Mine with a broken lamp and defective map than reaching a bank agent with 100 open files by phone. It’s all just a precursor to the ultimate end game of conducting a transaction entirely by telepathy.

In stark contrast to the Borg-like approach that the banks and their chosen representatives have brought to the industry, however, is the resale end of the spectrum. While the low priced, low conditioned bank homes are being churned out like not-so-Happy Meals, there remains a dearth of quality, owner-occupied, resale properties available. At least of the competitively priced variety, that is.

I am working with several buyers at present who are not interested in the distressed end of the market, and find themselves frustrated with the lack of reasonably priced resale homes. I have to admit, I am right there with them. Even after factoring in a price allowance for superior physical condition and the likely equity constraints of the sellers, it is downright shocking what someone can’t find for, say, 500k in the Central Phoenix corridor.

What’s a buyer’s agent to do?

Flogging the MLS 58 times a day for new inventory will only lead to frustration. And chafing. One has to buck inertia and go make things happen. And how, pray tell, does an intrepid REALTOR go about pulling a rabbit out of a rabbitless hat in this world of impersonal drones?

By picking up the phone and calling the heavy hitters in the area to see if they have anything coming up that might fit the bill. By, gulp, knocking on doors and sending out mailers to the desired neighborhood(s). By going and finding the damn house and coercing a sale, rather than idly waiting for it to show up during the course of one of those feckless 58 searches.

The MLS has become its own brand of social media. Resign yourself to its database as the only source of business procurement, and the constant surfing is more akin to updating your Twitter status than actual work. We complain about looky loo buyers when we are often online versions of the same animal.

If the property you seek is not in the database of currently available homes, go find it in the real world.  It’s what we used to do.  Or, should I say, it’s one of those salesy relics of the so-called “dinosaurs” of the industry that we high-paced, high-tech, trailblazing ingrates have eschewed in the name of progress.

We are Real Estate professionals, not market watchers, contract submission specialists or inventory managers. We are paid to sell houses. Those of us who have opted not to represent bank listings as REO agents or rushed to short sale “specialization” would do well to understand that we cannot afford to operate under the drive-through mentality that has infiltrated our industry. We must put down the modern tools from time to time and make things happen the old fashioned way.

The art of the deal is not dead. In fact, I’d argue that the lack of equitable resale homes on the market makes the interpersonal role of a buyer’s agent more important than ever. If you want dirt cheap, you can take a number and wait for the banker to see you. If you want a move-in ready home, however, you might have to turn over a few rocks just off the beaten path.

I, for one, have pledged to stop lamenting the lack of quality listings in this alleged buyer’s market, and go force some honest to goodness face time with the carbon-based lifeforms that can produce them.

Right after I run another search.