Zack S Bennett / Realtor

Kindergarten and College Graduation

Man has time flown bye.

Talon is the best thing that ever happened to me.

She wasn’t planned but couldn’t imagine life without her!!

Bought a home in Greater Phoenix around 2021?

Your equity may have changed a lot more than you realize. 📈

The Phoenix metro median home price moved from roughly $400K to about $465K over the last five years — around a 16% increase.

But the real story is in the individual cities.

Scottsdale is up big. Glendale, Peoria, and Phoenix have all seen solid gains too. Even some of the slower-moving areas are still well above where they were a few years ago.

Here’s the part most homeowners miss:

Your home’s value did not move exactly like the “average.”

Your neighborhood, upgrades, lot, floor plan, condition, school district, and current competition all matter. And today’s market looks very different than it did in 2021 — higher rates, more inventory, longer days on market, and buyers being a lot more selective.

So yes, you may have more equity than you think.

But what your home is actually worth today takes a real look at your specific property — not just Zillow, not just a headline, and not some generic online estimate.

If you’re curious where you stand, I can pull a current value report for your home and show you what the numbers look like in today’s market.

Kind of crazy to say this, but over the weekend I hit 5 years of sobriety.

It originally started as a one-year challenge just to see if I could do it. Somehow that turned into five years.

Yeah, every now and then I still miss a cold beer. But what I’ve gained from giving it up has been far better than anything I left behind.

Definitely one of the best choices I’ve made.

Most renters have been told the same thing for years:
“You need a better score.”
“You need more history.”
“You’re not ready yet.”

Meanwhile, they’ve been paying rent on time every single month.

Now there’s a shift. Fannie Mae allows positive rent payment history to be considered in underwriting for some borrowers, and Desktop Underwriter no longer requires a minimum third-party credit score as of Nov. 15, 2025. That does not mean credit no longer matters or that everyone automatically qualifies, but it does mean some buyers may have more opportunity than before. 

So if you’ve been renting and assuming homeownership is out of reach, that may be worth revisiting.

A lot of people are ruling themselves out before they ever have the right conversation.

Send me “RENT” and I’ll help you figure out whether buying is actually possible right now.

Here’s the truth most sellers do not want to hear:

You cannot bully the market into paying more.

You can have great photos, video, ads, open houses, and exposure everywhere. But if the price is off, buyers will either skip it or use your listing as a comparison to buy something else.

And the longer it sits, the worse it gets.

That is why pricing right from the start matters so much. The goal is not to “test the market.” The goal is to create action.

If your home is not getting the response it should, the market is already giving you the answer.

A lot of sellers say the same thing…

“Let’s try $550k and see what happens.”

And a lot of agents say yes — because they’re afraid to lose the listing.

But here’s the truth:

Overpricing doesn’t protect the seller.
It hurts them.

Buyers don’t negotiate with overpriced homes…
they ignore them.

Showings slow down.
Offers disappear.

The sellers who get the most money price strategically from the start and negotiate from strength.

Real estate isn’t about hope.

It’s about positioning.

If you’re curious what your home would realistically sell for in today’s market, reach out.

— Zack Bennett
Real Broker
480-343-7653

Came out of retirement and gave my parents house a Makeover! Not to Shabby. Got some cool ideas for the front yard

I didn’t write this. But it is so true, for Those of us who have their kids in competitive sports.

One of my friends asked “Why do you pay so much money for your kids to do all their sports”? Well I have a confession to make; I don’t pay for my kids to to do sports. Personally, I couldn’t care less about what sport they do.

So, if I am not paying for sports what am I paying for?

- I pay for those moments when my kids become so tired they want to quit but don’t.

- I pay for those days when my kids come home from school and are “too tired” to go to their training but they go anyway.

- I pay for my kids to learn to be disciplined, focused and dedicated.

- I pay for my kids to learn to take care of their body and equipment.

- I pay for my kids to learn to work with others and to be good team mates, gracious in defeat and humble in success.

- I pay for my kids to learn to deal with disappointment, when they don’t get that placing or title they’d hoped for, but still they go back week after week giving it their best shot.

- I pay for my kids to learn to make and accomplish goals.

- I pay for my kids to respect, not only themselves, but other athletes, officials and coaches.

- I pay for my kids to learn that it takes hours and hours, years and years of hard work and practice to create a champion and that success does not happen overnight.

- I pay for my kids to be proud of small achievements, and to work towards long term goals.

- I pay for the opportunity my kids have and will have to make life-long friendships, create lifelong memories, to be as proud of their achievements as I am.

- I pay so that my kids can be out on the field or in the gym instead of in front of a screen...
..I could go on but, to be short, I don’t pay for sports; I pay for the opportunities that sports provides my kids with to develop attributes that will serve them well throughout their lives and give them the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it is a great investment!