By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team After a seller has staged their home and listed it on the market, it’s likely their real estate agent will recommend holding an open house. Home buyers flock to these events for a chance to get a peek inside the closets and stroll through the rooms. But not everyone who attends open houses is looking to buy. Here are four opportunities open houses present if you’re willing to devote your weekend afternoons to them.

Learn from listing agents

Would-be sellers and nearby homeowners represent a large portion of open house traffic. You can use the open house not only to see what’s for sale and the price of comparable homes, but also to learn about the market. Pick the brain of the listing agent to get his or her take on what’s happening in your area. Real estate agents tend to be aware of market changes well before the mainstream press.

Check out home design trends

Sellers generally put their best foot forward. Some go as far as making cosmetic updates or design/staging changes before putting their homes on the market. They likely rely on their real estate agent to suggest the latest and greatest looks in the market. So if you’re planning to list a home that needs updating, or you aren’t sure where to begin when it comes to choosing paint colors, countertops or bath fixtures, going to open houses will allow you to see styles and designs. Even if you’re not looking to sell, you may get some design inspiration to make your home feel like new.

Get referrals for contractors or designers

Want to be connected to a good local designer or contractor? Ask the real estate agent selling the home you liked if they can get you the contact information. Although getting referrals from friends is also a good idea, seeing the finished product in an open house can inspire you to replicate what that owner did, and how they did it.

Fuel your daydreams

For dedicated real estate buffs, browsing the ‘for sale’ sites and flipping through listing photos isn’t enough. If you’re truly obsessed, you hit the open houses in your area to tour the home for yourself. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team

Building your dream home from scratch is a daunting task, especially if you’ve never worked with an architect, builder, and design team before. To make the project a little easier to wrap your head around, here’s some advice from construction professionals.

Do your research

The building process isn’t short, so make sure you are happy with your team — you’re stuck with them for a long time. This requires doing a little homework. To start the building process right, you’ll want to do the following:

• Conduct extensive online research to make sure you’re using a reputable builder
• Get referrals from friends and family
• Look at examples of the builder’s current work

Nikki James, studio manager at Ashton Woods, a builder and design studio constructing homes in the South and Southwest, recommends visiting a builder’s model homes and those under construction. It’s fine to even be a little sneaky, says Jesse Fowler, president of Southern California-based Tellus Design + Build. Pop in at a construction site unannounced to see what the job site looks like. Workers not wearing hard hats or lots of garbage on the ground are red flags.

Ask questions (and more questions)

You need to understand the parameters of what the builder is doing for you, advises Roger Kane of Kane Built Homes in Massachusetts. And you get that information by asking questions. Make sure the builder can execute what you want, because not all builders can accommodate custom designs. One of the first things you should do before meeting with your team for the first time is to identify what you don’t know, and then eliminate that doubt. If this is your first time building, there are probably going to be a lot of things you don’t know, and that’s fine, Fowler says. There are no dumb questions. Here are a few starter questions:

• What exactly are you paying for?
• Do you need full architecture/design/build services, or do you just want a blueprint?
• How much time should you allow?

Know what you want

“Design inspiration can come from anywhere,” says James. She asks her clients to bring in plenty of pictures, scraps of fabric, or anything that speaks to their aesthetic. The first thing to do, Fowler says, is to figure out the look and feel that a customer likes, and weed out what they don’t like. It’s also important to know your limitations, though. James warns that you must make the structural selections for your floor plan before picking design elements so you know what you can and can’t have. For example, if you want a freestanding tub, you will first need to know if you have the right plumbing for it. An architect wants to know how you’re going to use your home, advises Kim Nigro, the architect at Chicago-based Studio Nigro Architecture. Tell your architect what you don’t like about your current home, and what your day-to-day needs are. This can be as simple as letting them know you shop at Costco a lot, so you want a big pantry, James says.

The details matter

You probably never thought about what kind of grout you want between your tiles. But these are the kinds of decisions you will be making. Ashton Woods gives its customers a checklist for details like this, and there are a lot of specific items on it, from what kind of edge you want on your counters to how many outlets and phone jacks you’ll need. This sounds overwhelming, but Kane’s advice is to just take it room by room. Start out with the basics. Determine how many bedrooms and bathrooms you need, then go inside each room and think about what should be in it. “Make a list,” he says. “’We want hardwood flooring; we need his-and-her closets.’ Make your own little notebook and just address every room. That’s a great way to start.“

Know your budget

The harsh reality is that you can’t buy something you can’t afford. So, do your math, and be upfront about your budget. “Not communicating a clear budget to a designer is a mistake,” Fowler advises. “Designers need something tangible. If you let them go wild, 99 times out of 100 they are going to do something you can’t afford.” There are good reasons not to pinch too many pennies, though. As the saying goes, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” You probably shouldn’t go with the cheapest guy out there, Fowler suggests. A lot of builders, he says, cut corners by doing things illegally. Don’t get roped into a mess like that. Saving a few bucks now might end up costing you more later. James recommends doing things exactly the way you want them from the beginning, because remodeling later will cost you more money and more stress. “We see a lot of buyers getting nervous about spending too much. As people get closer [to finishing], they wish they had spent that extra money,” she reports. Spending more for quality products is another big consideration. Kane uses sustainable products for the exterior of his houses that last “pretty much a family’s life in a home — 30 to 40 years.” That’s good for the environment and your wallet, because regular maintenance like repainting the outside of a house can cost $15,000.

Be decisive

The biggest mistake Kane, a veteran homebuilder, has seen homeowners make is being wishy-washy with their decisions. Once a home is under construction, it’s important to have made all your major design selections. “Paint color’s not a big deal,” Kane says. “But you should have things like all your tile and granite picked out.” Why? Because at this point in the process, your selections could be backordered, and waiting on them is costly to the builder and to you. If you do tend to change your mind a lot, make sure you pick a builder with a good warranty program.

Communication is key

One core piece of advice from construction professionals: Keep the lines of communication open. The biggest mistake you can make, says Fowler, is leaving gray areas in your building and design plan. “I’ve heard horror stories, and most are because one party’s expectations were different from the other’s,” Nigro states. “The more developed drawings can be, the fewer assumptions the contractor will have to make.” And it’s not only important for you to communicate to your design team. The members of your team need to be on the same page with each other as well. “They need to really create a collaborative team,” Nigro says. “There are a lot of decisions to be made.” Fowler recommends getting the whole team together to meet each other and start working collaboratively from the start. Most times, he says, architects, designers, and builders who work in a community have met and done projects with each other before.

Consider the trends

More homes across the country are being built “healthy” or “green.” These are homes built with non-toxic, natural products and materials. Nigro says she used to recommend healthy building to her clients, and now people are coming to her asking for it. Another trend sweeping the nation is “mother-in-law suites” or homes that accommodate multi-generational families. Over the past five years, a lot of Nigro’s clients have started looking down the road to when older relatives might move in with them, or maybe their adult children will move back home after college. This could mean a separate apartment over a garage, or maybe a guest bedroom on the main floor. Why are trends an important factor to consider? It could help you sell your home in the future.

Have fun

“It’s important for us to personalize your home and make it yours and something that you’re proud of,” James remarks. If this means having a full basketball court right on the main floor next to the dining room, like one of Nigro’s customers wanted, then that’s what you should have! Custom features can range from practical to fantastical: Fowler has had clients ask for water pipes over their nightstand so they wouldn’t have to get up for water in the middle of the night; “living walls” (walls with plants or grass growing right on them); hidden cameras; and even an unexplained hole in the closet floor. Hey, it’s your dream house, after all. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team Are wine bottles starting to accumulate on your countertops, refrigerator shelves, and in your pantry? That’s a tell-tale sign that it’s time to think about creating a long-term wine storage solution. Whether you’re a budding connoisseur or a seasoned wine veteran (aka oenophile), the options for storage are almost as varied as wine itself. Wine ages best when stored in conditions that mimic traditional wine caves (think: ancient French and Italian cellars located beside scenic vineyards), so cool, humid, and dark spaces are recommended. Building a temperature- and humidity-controlled wine storage space is not feasible for everyone, but creating an aesthetically pleasing one is within any collector’s means.

Wine collectors on a budget

Many wine connoisseurs tuck away their bottles in dark basements, but a growing trend is to flaunt wine collections inside main living spaces such as dining rooms, says Erik Kuehne, a regional manager at Wine Cellar Innovations, which specializes in storage. For a beginning collector, this could mean using a few simple storage cubes with an X-rack in the middle to stash bottles horizontally. Beginning at around $50 each, the cubes can be stacked in any configuration, with the possibility to purchase more as a collection grows. An abundance of furnishings, from sideboards to cabinets, are made specifically for wine storage. Preconfigured wine shelves that fit in a corner or on a wall are another relatively inexpensive option for people who want to show off their wine but don’t have room for more furniture.

Mid-range storage solutions

Oenophiles who are ready to take their wine storage to the next level should consider keeping their collection refrigerated. This will increase the price of the storage solution, but really helps to keep wine in top condition, according to Kuehne. When kept at approximately 55 degrees Fahrenheit, wine will age more slowly, peak longer, and decline at a slower rate. Storing it in a humid environment — 70 percent is ideal — will prevent ullage (loss of liquid through the cork). Refrigerated cabinets that achieve these conditions can be freestanding, or seamlessly integrated into a kitchen. Wine refrigerators come in a wide array of sizes — holding 12 to 100 bottles or more — and range in price from $100 to over $2,000 for customized coolers. Another option is to create a miniature wine room in a dining room or other living space to showcase your collection. Build out a small room (or transform a closet), set up a wine cooler unit, install racks, and enclose it behind a glass door.

True oenophile wine cellars

The sky is the limit for those wanting to install a truly state-of-the-art wine room. Pricesbegin in the tens of thousands of dollars. Art nooks, humidors, expensive wood, lacquered racks and displays for a collector’s best bottles bring up a wine room’s panache — and price tag — several notches. So does expanding a wine cellar for an ever-growing collection. “We’ve done 3,000-bottle cellars and gone back in three years and knocked out walls and put in 5,000 more bottles,” Kuehne remarks. If your budget allows, build a wine room for the collection you will have, and not just for the one you currently have. One British company, Spiral Cellars, specializes in narrow, room-height cylinders that are inserted underground and lined with wine racking and a spiral staircase. The units hold more than 1,000 bottles, and open up into a kitchen or other space via a trap or retractable door in the floor. This is a great option if you have the cash (on the order of tens of thousands of dollars) but not the square footage for storing a large wine collection. Although most of his custom jobs start at the $50,000 mark, Kuehne has one important piece of advice for wine connoisseurs at any price range: Do it right the first time. “A big part of my week is troubleshooting,” he said. For example, if certain molds or substances that affect the air quality are introduced, it can impact the integrity of the wine. Naturally aromatic cedar, oil-based stains, and glue-filled plywood can all affect a wine’s flavor. Proper wine storage helps collectors not only protect their investments, but also ensure a top-quality wine when it comes time to pop the cork. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team During the home-buying process you’ll see tons of homes, mostly listed by real estate agents. But from time to time you might encounter a home listed for sale by owner (FSBO). You may even have a friend or relative who wants to sell you their home directly. While it may seem that buying a FSBO home without involving real estate agents would simplify the process, this isn’t necessarily true. Here are some points to keep in mind when you’re looking at a home for sale by owner.

Most sellers will work with your agent

Smart home sellers know that most buyers work closely with a buyer’s agent for weeks (if not months or years), and they will plan to compensate the buyer’s agent just like any other seller would. Buyer’s agents act as advisers through the ups and downs of the home search. If a FSBO opportunity crosses your path, ask your agent to make the first contact. Most likely they can still work for you and get paid for their efforts.

You shouldn’t think of the home differently

If you find a great home in a prime location that meets all of your criteria, don’t think of it as any different if it’s listed FSBO rather than listed by an agent. The main thing to keep in mind is that you will meet and see the owner face to face. A home sale is more emotional and personal than, say, the sale of a used car or a piece of furniture. As such, seeing the owner might make you uncomfortable. Try to get past it and keep your eye on the prize: your dream home. Leverage your agent, and be ready to ask for time alone in the home if you need it.

Laws still apply

If the law stipulates that the seller has a duty to disclose problems, inspect the home, or perform any repairs, the FSBO must cooperate. The problem some sellers have with going solo is that they aren’t familiar with real estate processes or procedures. Or they want to do it their own way. Trust your gut and your agent’s judgment if you think the seller is neglecting a duty or not allowing you to do your due diligence. Even if the home is great, it might not be the right opportunity for you. If it doesn’t feel right, move on.

Pricing may be off

Homeowners who list their home themselves tend to share one thing in common: They reject local agents’ opinions about their home’s value. Sellers (FSBO or not) who are unable to emotionally detach from a home or who don’t have a solid plan post-closing sometimes self-sabotage their sale by overpricing. These sellers typically meet with local agents before they list. But they don’t like the agent’s pricing strategy and want to give it a stab on their own. Sometimes, when they fail to sell solo, they enlist the help of an agent, and get the home on the market at the right price. Why? Because when it comes time to get serious, sellers often want representation. But if you love a home, and the price is off, move on to the next, whether listed by owner or agent. A home for sale without an agent isn’t off limits. Ask your agent about the listing, and be open to seeing it and treating it just like any other opportunity you or your agent finds. A good real estate pro should tell you up front that they could represent you in any sale. Go in with your eyes wide open and know that, just like any negotiation, it may or may not work out. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team In real estate showings, the Sunday open house is the gold standard. As the name implies, a property is open to just about anyone who learns of the showing in an online or print ad, drives by and sees the agent’s A-frame sign, or receives a notification postcard in the mail. But not everyone who goes to an open house is a potential buyer. Here are five types of people likely to pass through a property during an open house.

1. The real buyer

These people are somewhere in the home-buying process. They’re either testing out the market or they’re serious and fully qualified, ready to take action. For the seller, these are the ones you want coming through the door. Buyers may use the open house as their second or third visit, after having seen the home with their agent during the week. The open house provides them the opportunity to get more comfortable in the home.

2. The nearby neighbor

This guy or gal has been waiting for years for an excuse to get inside your home, for various reasons. Their home may be similar to yours — maybe even designed by the same architect — and they want to compare their property to yours. There might be other reasons to see it, too. Once, at an open house of a view property in San Francisco, a neighbor came into the house and made a beeline for the back deck. Meanwhile, in the neighboring home across the backyard, the neighbor’s son sat in the window. What followed was a cell phone conversation in which the father instructed his son to move to the right, to the left, go upstairs, and so on. The father’s goal was to determine from exactly which points in this home he and his family were visible to their neighbors. You’ll no doubt encounter nosy neighbors, too. They live nearby and just want to satisfy their curiosity about your home — or even about you.

3. Agents scoping out the place for clients

Agents constantly check out properties for their buyer clients. The vast majority of the time, they’re professional and courteous. There are exceptions, of course. Not long ago, in the living room of a packed Sunday open house, an agent sat on the couch and spoke to her client on the phone. The agent summarized the property loudly and in none-too-complimentary terms. “The finishes are cheap, the floor plan is off, and the bathrooms need updating,” she said. “Don’t waste your time coming over here.” The listing agent politely asked the other agent to continue her conversation outside.

4. The agent who lost the listing

In many cases, a seller interviewed multiple agents before selecting their listing agent. Sometimes agents spend a lot of time, and even some money, working with a potential seller to secure a listing. Obviously, not every agent interviewed will get the listing. When the property lands on the open house circuit, an agent who lost the listing may visit. They want to know if the seller took any of their suggestions. Did they paint the orange room a more neutral color, or renovate the kitchen or bathrooms as suggested? It ‘s their chance to run through the property anonymously, as most agents usually won’t know with whom they competed for the listing.

5. A previous owner, or one of their relatives

Over years of open houses, a busy listing agent will surely run into an old seller, or their children or grandkids who grew up in the home. These people come to the open house to see how it looks and to reminisce. Lots of memories happen in a home, and the opportunity to go back in time can be a real treat. A good listing agent will welcome any and all visitors to an open house. They solicit feedback from buyers and make notes of their comments, reactions and questions. If you’re attending an open house with no intentions of buying, keep it to yourself. Be as subtle and unobtrusive as possible, and don’t waste the listing agent’s time — unless you have some helpful feedback for the agent or seller. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team