Support Your Local Restaurants and Order More Takeout!

The Arizona Restaurant Association has announced that it is celebrating Arizona Takeout Week during this very trying time.   Help support Arizona’s local businesses by picking up takeout orders from your favorite restaurants.  View the list of participating restaurants in the attached link, and please don’t forget to support your local businesses and eateries by following them on social media.  They can all use our help. https://arizonarestaurantweek.com/ We at the Connie Colla Group at RETSY are a local Arizona business and we care about our community and are dedicated to bringing you the important news and information as it happens.  Please reach out to us anytime if you have questions about this story or about buying or selling your home here in the Valley. We Open Doors In Arizona Jeff Hernandez, Esq., Realtor  | 602-550-1114 | Jeff@ConnieCollaGroup.com  Connie Colla, Realtor  | 480-599-5058 | Connie@ConnieCollaGroup.com | ConnieCollaGroup.com  The Connie Colla Group | RETSY | Forbes Global Properties

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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey Expands Access to Unemployment Insurance

On March 20, 2020, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced a forthcoming executive order aimed at providing economic relief to workers whose employment is affected by Coronavirus. Unemployment insurance benefits will now be applied retroactively to hardships experienced after March 11, 2020. Applications will be accepted beginning March 23, 2020. The executive order ensures individuals whose employment is affected by the Coronavirus have easier access to unemployment benefits.  Unemployment insurance benefits may be available to individuals who are involuntarily unemployed as a result of COVID-19. The amount of the benefit will vary based upon the amount of money that the individual has previously earned, but will be between $187 and $240 per week. The recent executive order changed the existing eligibility requirements as follows: It waives the one-week waiting period after an employee loses a job before they can apply for unemployment benefits. It waives work-search requirements for those receiving unemployment benefits. It adds to the eligible list people who work at businesses that have been temporarily closed or have reduced hours because of the Coronavirus It adds those who are required to quarantine as a result of contracting the virus It adds those who have to care for a family member with the Coronavirus. The order also waives any increase in employer payments to the unemployment insurance fund for businesses whose employees receive benefits under this provision. Undoubtedly, these changes will make it much easier for workers affected by the Coronavirus epidemic to qualify for benefits immediately and are intended to minimize the impact on the economy when large numbers of workers lose their jobs in the coming months.  For more information regarding the changes to unemployment benefit requirements, go to https://des.az.gov/services/employment/unemployment-individual/eligibility-unemployment-insurance-benefits We at the Connie Colla Group at RETSY are a local Arizona business and we care about our community and are dedicated to bringing you the important news and information as it happens.  Please reach out to us anytime if you have questions about this story or about buying or selling your home here in the Valley.  We Open Doors In Arizona Jeff Hernandez, Esq., Realtor  | 602-550-1114 | Jeff@ConnieCollaGroup.com  Connie Colla, Realtor  | 480-599-5058 | Connie@ConnieCollaGroup.com | ConnieCollaGroup.com  The Connie Colla Group | RETSY | Forbes Global Properties

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When is the Best Time to Sell Your Arizona Home

As a top Scottsdale real estate agent, I’m asked this question all the time. After all, timing is everything, right? When it comes to listing your home in Chicago or Minneapolis the answer is—not in the winter! List your home then and odds are it will take longer to sell. But selling Scottsdale real estate—in a place where the climate is so wonderful—takes market knowledge, research and experience. Here, we don’t shut down for the winter...we do even more outside. BEST SELLING SEASONS? SPRING, FALL. The truth is, if you have a great Scottsdale AZ Realtor, your home will sell any time of year. But, historically, there are better months than others. In Arizona, there are two strong selling seasons. Spring is the first and strongest. This includes March, April, May and June. In 2018, in Scottsdale, we sold 879, 871, 960, 853 single family homes during those months respectively. At that rate, we would sell all the homes for sale at that time in Scottsdale in four months! That’s a healthy market! The second strongest season is fall. That cycle begins mid-September and goes to the end of November. In September, October, November 2018 in Scottsdale, we sold 552, 595, 589 homes respectively. Still strong. STRONG BUYER GROUP? SNOWBIRDS! The absorption rate for real estate in Scottsdale during this time was about 3.5 months. Less time, because there were less homes on the market. That takes me to my two other favorite times to sell your home—Winter and Summer. You would think nothing happens in December and January because people are busy with the holidays, followed by being busy paying for the holidays. After all who wants to make another large purchase? The answer…Snowbirds! Arizona is the perfect escape for people frozen by Old Man Winter. And maybe, if you are from a colder climate, you know it’s hard to leave the desert, especially during winter! While it does slow down in December and January, we actually sell quite a few homes in those busy months. I always tell my clients, “Don’t take your home off the market for the holidays...everyone is driving or on a plane headed here.” In December 2018 we sold 558 homes and we are on target to do about the same this month. IS SUMMER A GOOD TIME TO SELL? So that takes us to summer in Arizona…that has to be the absolute worst time to sell a home, right? Well, think about it…what don’t you want to be doing in 120-degree weather? The answer is...anything, which helps you understand why the summer is a great time to sell your home. People looking for a home in summer, really need a home. They would probably rather be in the pool, or in the air conditioning. But if they are out looking, they are serious buyers. Here is a secret—inventory is often its lowest in winter when people are pouring into town, and summer is when everyone is trying to stay cool. So, if your home is on the market—when others aren’t—it’s more likely to sell. Today, it takes more than putting out a sign, listing in the MLS and then waiting for a fish to jump on the line. It takes a Realtor with a big megaphone, a strategic marketing plan, and strong negotiating skills. It takes a Scottsdale real estate agent with market knowledge, research and experience. I hope this helps you better understand the best times to sell your home. Spring is first, followed by fall, then winter and summer. But with the right Scottsdale AZ Realtor, anytime is a good time to sell your Arizona home.  We at the Connie Colla Group at RETSY are a local Arizona business and we care about our community and are dedicated to bringing you the important news and information as it happens.  Please reach out to us anytime if you have questions about this story or about buying or selling your home here in the Valley.  We Open Doors In Arizona Jeff Hernandez, Esq., Realtor  | 602-550-1114 | Jeff@ConnieCollaGroup.com  Connie Colla, Realtor  | 480-599-5058 | Connie@ConnieCollaGroup.com | ConnieCollaGroup.com  The Connie Colla Group | RETSY | Forbes Global Properties

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