Archive for the 'Real Estate News' Category
Buyers camping out to buy homes in Phoenix?
May 13th, 2008 categories: Mesa Neighborhoods, Real Estate News
What year is this? 2005- no 2008-and buyers are camping out to buy homes? Check out the story
Blandford’s new community Mountain Bridge will start selling homes on Saturday.
“The developer plans to release at least 75 home sites Saturday morning and possibly more “if there’s enough latent demand,” said Joannie Flatt, a spokeswoman for the development.”
Apparently, the developer, Jeff Blandford plans to price the homes for the initial release at prices seen in 2002.
The models have been under construction the last few months with the sales office open for prospective buyers to see the homes under construction and view the plans for the community.
Mountain Bridge is south of McKellips Road, between Hawes and Ellsworth roads. There are some spectacular views of the city and mountains and just minutes from the last, yet completed, leg of the 202 freeway.
UpDate: Fox 10 news covered this story tonight (Wed May 14). People are camped out in RV’s and tents, hoping to get their choice lot. They even have a “mess” tents setup for campers to eat at. Many are repeat Blandford home owners and were very impressed with Blandford’s quality and customer service-my kind of builder. Should be interesting on Saturday.
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Now this is comfort
May 11th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News, Where is Waylon
He is snoring and I guess very comfortable- Waylon the Bloodhound
| Discussion: 2 Comments »
Queen Creek Real Estate-Market Statistics April 2008
May 10th, 2008 categories: Queen Creek Market Statistics, Real Estate News
Queen Creek Real Estate April 2008
New Listings : 606
Pending Sales: 432
Sold Listings: 293
The total number of listings Queen Creek is currently 1918 , giving Queen Creek about a 6.5 month inventory of single family homes or absorption rate.
If you look at the number of new listings that hit the market in Jan 2008, there was a signifacant increase. This is a sign of the state of the market in Queen Creek- for the month of April the number of new listings in Queen Creek, 99% are short sales or REO properties.
The inventory is dropping, and it will be interesting to see how many of the short sales make it to sold, with the long response time from the banks on short sale offers.
Queen Creek Real Estate
Average Sales Price
Queen Creek Real Estate- New Listings vs Sold Listings
Queen Creek Real Estate List Price vs Sales Price
Queen Creek Real Estate-Listing Status
Search all homes for sale in Queen Creek
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Chandler Real Estate-April 2008 Market Statistics
May 5th, 2008 categories: Chandler Real Estate Market Conditions, Real Estate News
New Listings : 573
Pending Sales: 334
Sold Listings: 248
The total number of listings (single family homes) in Chandler is currently 2037 , giving Chandler about a 8 month inventory of homes or absorption rate. Including in the current inventory of homes for sale in Gilbert 168 are bank owned (REO) and 235 are short sales.
In April 2008, 56 of the homes sold in Chandler were REO and 28 were short sales, so the percentage of distressed home sales was approx 34%.
April showed an increase in sales price, but there were several 1 mil + homes that sold, that may be a false positive to this months increase in ave sales price. The average sales price dropped 10% from since Sept 2007.
New listings in Chandler outpaced sales, which will indicate an increased inventory- This is a new metric I will be tracking-Chandler Real Estate inventory (current active listings)
Chandler Real Estate List Price vs Sale Price
Chandler Real Estate- New Listings vs Sold Listings
Chandler Real Estate-Listing Status
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How to make money in a declining real estate market-Phoenix Real Estate
April 25th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
| Tax Liens.
With an increasing number or Phoenix foreclosures and short sales have you ever considered buying a tax lien? The source of this information is from http://treasurer.maricopa.gov/research/tutorial/tutorial.htm Tax Lien Sale Guide - Introduction |
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“The Tax Lien Sale provides for the payment of delinquent property taxes by an investor. The tax on the property is auctioned in open competitive bidding based on the least percent of interest to be received by the investor. Property taxes that are delinquent at the end of December are added to any previously uncollected taxes on a parcel for the Tax Lien Sale. The sale takes place in February of each year. Please read the disclaimer before deciding to bid, and see our lien FAQ page and lien history page. |
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Parcels whose taxes are subject to sale will be advertised, in January, in a Maricopa County newspaper of general circulation. They are listed by sequence number. Parcels fall into 1 of 2 groups. Each group is sorted by parcel number. The advertisement appears about three weeks before the auction and is also posted on the internet. Copies of the newspaper are usually available for purchase at Treasurer’s Office. In addition a CD of those parcels can also be purchased. The investor is responsible for all research on the parcels available for auction. County maps for research may be obtained by visiting the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.”
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Short Sales vs REO Properties
April 17th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
There was an interesting article today “Why Lenders are Leery of Short Sales”
According to research from Clayton Holdings Inc. indicates that lenders lose only 19 percent of the loan amount on average with a short sale, compared to 40 percent on a traditional foreclosure sale. However, short sales require approvals from primary lenders, servicers, investors, and home-equity lenders–a process that can take several months to complete.
So I decided to look at Gilbert Real Estate listings and look at the difference in list price vs sold price of homes that closed as short sales and those that have closed as REO as well as how they compare to homes for sale from “non-distressed” sellers.
This chart depicts that data (NOTE: the data is only as good as the agent that enters it into the MLS )
I looked at homes listed in Gilbert, 1800-1900 sqft, with home sales from Jan 2008 to the present. “Normal” listings are homes for sale in Gilbert from “non” distressed sellers.
From the sold data: Ave Sale Price: Normal = $256,355, Short Sales = $226,184 and REO = $204,941
Normal/REO % difference = 21%
Normal/ShortSale % difference = 10%
The percentage’s may not be the same as national data- but real estate is local and this is a small sample of data.
As a buyer looking for a “great deal” in a REO or short sale- there are some things to keep in mind. Most, if not all, REO properties are sold “AS-IS” no repairs will be made, there will be no disclosures and in some cases the homes are not in great condition. The same can be said about short sales.
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Value of a commodity (your home) is set by Buyers
April 16th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
Are you trying to sell your home in Phoenix? Here is a great post from Joe Manausa located in Tallahassee Fl. about pricing your home to sell. Although Tallahassee is located across the country, the prinicples of selling a home, regardless of location, are the same.
A couple of points to remember
- What a seller needs is not a material factor in the price for which their home will sell
- If you absolutely do not have to sell your home, postpone putting it on the market (or removing it from the market) -this help will drive inventory down, which eventually will help prices rebound in the Phoenix real estate market and homes will again start to slowly appreciate in value. (Supply and Demand)
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Consequences for ‘Walk-Away’ Borrowers-Real Estate News
April 15th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
Source: Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R. Harney (04/12/2008)
The government and the lending industry are taking aim at “walk-away” home owners who stop making payments and months later send the house keys back to their lender.
Such borrowers will not be able to get another mortgage through Fannie Mae for five years, unless there are “documented extenuating circumstances.” In that case, the prohibition is three years. Even after the prescribed time has elapsed, a borrower with a foreclosure in his file will have to make at least a 10 percent down payment and have a FICO credit score of at least 680 to qualify for a Fannie Mae loan.
Freddie Mac, which counts foreclosures as major credit black mark for seven years, is now aggressively pursuing walk-away borrowers where permitted under state law, a senior official said.
Federal legislation enacted last year allows home owners who negotiate loan modifications with lenders and have portions of their principal debt eliminated to escape income tax liability for the amount forgiven.
Walk-away borrowers, by contrast, have nothing forgiven, and the Internal Revenue Service may demand taxes on the balance they never paid, the IRS says.
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Phoenix Home Buyers have Choices!!
April 13th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
To expand upon a great post from Jay and Francy at Thompson’s Realty- Home Buyers have choices when buying a home in Phoenix.
First and foremost- the inventory is high- you have a lot of homes to chose from. More importantly- interview lenders and interview agents.
When buying a home in Phoenix or anywhere, YOU, the buyer, needs to have the best possible representation possible.
With a high inventory of short sales and bank owned homes (REO) there are several obstacles to overcome such as long response times from the bank, homes being sold “As-is”, homes being stripped of appliances, lighting, heating and cooling units. All of these factors can affect you loan approval, title insurance and extra costs, with delinquent HOA fees and possibly delinquent tax payments.
So do your homework such that you will score an A+ with your new home purchase.
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Real Estate Secrets?????????
April 8th, 2008 categories: Real Estate News
Last nights broadcast on Channel 12 they had a story “What you agent might not be tilling you when you buy a home” referring to commission bonuses being offered upon COE. They sited a case of a North Scottsdale Home that had been reduced $120k with a $50,000 bonus to the buyer’s agent with a full price offer. So of course this in effect is another slam at REALTOR’s integrity and that we are desperate to make a dime. It would have been nice if they got the “other” side of the story. They did interview Bob Bemis from ARMLS????
As a listing agent, I advise people to price the home right and have it show like a model and it will sell. Increasing the buyer broker commission or offering a “bonus” , in my opinion, does not work.
As a buyers agent in the Phoenix area, when I am preparing to show property- I first interview my clients and try to match their needs and wants in their new home, or they hop on the Internet and send me listings of what they would like to look at. I look at the Realtor Remarks for showing instructions, pet alerts etc. If there is a bonus to the agent- great- but I will never push a client to buy a property because of an increased paycheck for me. I like to sleep at night.
If the home is overpriced to start, it will not appraise and the lender will not loan the money- so any bonus that is offered, might be better spent on reducing the price of the home and getting it sold for fair market value.
I think home buyers are a lot more savy with all of the information available on the Internet. If there is a bonus- I do disclose to the buyer (I have yet to recieve any such “bonus”)
In a buyer’s market- there are great deals out their, so if selling your home- just price it right and competively and it will sell.
| Discussion: 5 Comments »
