Your Future. Your Life.Your Home.My job is to get you there.
Polly Blackwell
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty
Associate Broker · Licensed since 2003 · 2026 President, Scottsdale REALTORS®
CRS · ABR · RENE · SRES · CDPE · MRP · PSA · e-PRO · AHWD · GRI · SFR · CPRES · PPS · RCS-DFor sellers
Selling your home
Strategy Before Reaction™
I help you understand your options before you have to make the decision
Real estate has a lot of moving parts. We start with a strategy, talk through what matters most, and prepare for what we may run into. Four steps, on every sale.
Prepare
We start with why you are selling and what this sale needs to do for you. Then we look at pricing, competition, buyer demand, preparation and timing, so you begin with a clear plan.
Inform
As the market responds, we talk about what is happening and how it affects our strategy. When offers arrive, we look past the price to financing, contingencies, timing and risk.
Coordinate
Getting to closing takes more than tracking dates. When repairs or the appraisal raise a question, we talk through what it means and your options, and I negotiate the path you choose.
Adjust
Real estate does not always follow the plan. When something changes, we go back to your goals, look at the new information and adjust the strategy.
This describes my general process, not legal, tax or lending advice.
How your home comes to market
You choose how buyers first see your home
On a traditional listing, your home goes on the multiple listing service (MLS) early, and the days-on-market count starts right away. That count can work for you or against you, so it pays to choose how your home starts. Through Coldwell Banker Realty, you can start your sale three ways:
- Private Exclusive
- Test your price quietly with buyers and agents in the Coldwell Banker network, with no public price history while we learn.
- Coming Soon
- Build interest before the public launch, while the price, timing and presentation can still change.
- Public Exposure
- The MLS, the major home search websites and Coldwell Banker marketing, for the most buyers and the most competition.
How buyers actually find you
Relevancy, recency, proximity
Three things help shape how marketing reaches someone who is ready to move. Every page on this site is built to hit all three at once, which is why there is a page for each neighborhood and each situation instead of one page trying to cover everything.
- Relevancy
- Written for one situation at a time. A first-time buyer and someone settling a parent's estate are not the same person and should not read the same page.
- Recency
- Kept current. Market conditions from eighteen months ago are not information, they are decoration.
- Proximity
- Specific to the street, not the county. 85024, 85028, 85032, 85254 and the neighborhoods inside them.
For buyers
Buying a home
Strategy Before Reaction™
Buying a home starts before the house hunt
My job is not to talk you into a house. It is to help you understand what you are buying, so you can make the decision that is right for you.
Prepare
What you are trying to accomplish, what matters most, what you can comfortably afford with your lender, and what would make you walk away, even from a home you love.
Inform
Each home, the market around it, and what the numbers mean, with the offer strategy explained before you need it.
Coordinate
Offer, inspections, appraisal and financing, kept on schedule with everyone involved.
Adjust
When an inspection or an appraisal changes things, we talk through your options and you decide what makes sense.
This describes my general process, not legal, tax or lending advice.
The situation you are actually in
Different circumstances, different plans
The fundamentals do not change. The sequence, the timing and how much coordination it takes change completely. Start where you actually are.
01 / Sellers
Selling Your Home with a Plan
A selling strategy built around what the sale needs to accomplish for you, before your home goes on the market.
02 / Sellers
Selling Your First Home
Your first sale, with the preparation, decisions and next steps talked through before you need them.
03 / Sellers
Downsizing and Your Next Chapter
Moving to less house after years in the same one, planned around your timing and your next home.
01 / Special circumstances
Are You Behind on Your Payments?
Calm, confidential information about your options if you have fallen behind on your mortgage, anywhere in the Valley.
02 / Special circumstances
Selling a Home During Divorce
Selling a home when two people have to agree, with clear communication to both of you.
03 / Special circumstances
Probate and Trust Sales
Selling a home as part of an estate or trust, with the real estate side coordinated alongside your attorney.
25 areas. 12 situations. One strategy, built before you need it.
Where I work
Neighborhoods I serve
A Scottsdale real estate agent who starts with your goals
I'm Polly Blackwell, a Scottsdale real estate agent and Associate Broker with Coldwell Banker Realty. I grew up in the Valley and have been helping buyers and sellers since 2003. Today I work in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Phoenix and everything in between.
A real estate decision is rarely just about the house. It is about where you are going next, what is happening in your life, what matters to you and what makes sense financially. My job is to understand where you are trying to go and help you build the right strategy to get there.
My work is built around one idea: Strategy Before Reaction™. I help you understand your options before you have to make the decision, so you are choosing from a plan instead of scrambling to react. You can read the whole method, step by step, in how I sell a home and how I help buyers.
Request my free home equity report
Where I work in Greater Phoenix
I serve buyers and sellers throughout Maricopa County, with the deepest focus on four North Phoenix and Scottsdale ZIP codes: 85028, 85032, 85024 and 85254.
In Phoenix, that includes the Sheaborhood along Shea Boulevard, Paradise Valley Village, Desert Ridge, Eagle Summit and Arroyo Rojo. Across the Valley, I work with clients in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Peoria, Surprise, El Mirage, Goodyear, Buckeye, Cave Creek including Tatum Ranch, Carefree and Wickenburg.
Each area has its own page, because a buyer weighing Paradise Valley Village against Desert Ridge is asking different questions than someone comparing Buckeye with Goodyear.
How I help you sell
Selling a home is not about putting it in the multiple listing service (MLS) and waiting for an offer. I start by understanding why you are selling and what the sale needs to accomplish. From there, I evaluate pricing, competition, buyer demand, preparation, marketing and timing to decide how your home should be positioned against the others a buyer will see that same week.
When offers arrive, I look beyond the price to financing, contingencies, concessions, timing, risk and the buyer's ability to close. Two offers that look close on paper can be very different once those are lined up side by side. The strategy continues through inspections, appraisal, financing, negotiations and closing, and when something changes, we go back to your goals and adjust.
If you are wondering where you stand right now, start by asking what your home is worth. If your situation is more complicated, such as an inherited home, a divorce or a missed mortgage payment, I have pages for probate and trust sales, selling during a divorce and homeowners who are behind on payments.
Experience, education and leadership
I would rather show you how I work than list trophies, but you should know who you are hiring. I have been licensed since 2003. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and fourteen professional real estate designations and certifications, including Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR), Real Estate Negotiation Expert (RENE), Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) and Pricing Strategy Advisor (PSA).
In 2026, I serve as President of Scottsdale REALTORS® and as a Local National Director representing the Scottsdale Area Association on the Arizona REALTORS® Board of Directors. That work keeps me close to how the rules, contracts and market in this Valley are changing, which is information I bring back to every client.
What those credentials mean for you is simple: more preparation before the decisions, clearer explanations while they are happening, and a steadier plan when something does not go as expected.
Start with a conversation
Whether you are buying, selling or still deciding, the first step is the same: a conversation about where you are headed and what you need. There is no pressure and no obligation.
Tell me what you are thinking about, or call me at (925) 360-1767. I will listen first, then walk you through your options so you can decide what comes next. Your future. Your life. Your home. My job is to get you there.
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas does Polly Blackwell serve?
Scottsdale and the Greater Phoenix Metro across Maricopa County, with the deepest focus on the 85028, 85032, 85024 and 85254 ZIP codes in North Phoenix and Scottsdale.
What is Strategy Before Reaction?
It is how I work with every client: Prepare, Inform, Coordinate, Adjust. We build the plan first so you understand your options before you have to make a decision, instead of reacting under pressure.
Do you work with both buyers and sellers?
Yes. I represent buyers and sellers, including first-time buyers, move-up families, downsizers, new construction buyers and homeowners in more complicated situations such as probate, divorce or missed mortgage payments.
Thinking about a move?
Let's figure out your next step together. No pressure.