Tiffany's Arizona Blog

Search for Homes by New Apple Plant in Mesa Arizona

Mon, 04 Nov 2013 03:34:00 GMT

Mesa Arizona welcomes Apple to the Valley! The highly anticipated and advanced sapphire manufactureing facility will be coming to Mesa Arizona and bring with it 2000 jobs and a further boost to the Mesa Eastmark area.

There are over 200 available homes for purchase (new and resale) within 3.5 miles of this new manufacturing plant. Prices range from $144,900 to $599,000 and $73.22/sq.ft to $249.00/sqft.

Search for Homes by New Apple Plant Here

As a 12 year Mesa resident who has sold numerous homes in this area and knows the inventory extremely well I would be happy to assist you in a new or resale home purchase. All my home buyers receive $400 credit at closing that can be used towards the purchase of a home warranty and those that purchase a new home with me receive a 4 year, transferrable home warranty with Old Republic Home Warranty. Call Tiffany today and we will get started!

480-784-7800 - direct

888-668-4629 - toll free

Getting Acquainted with Arizona Wines

Sun, 18 Aug 2013 02:48:00 GMT

In August of 2013 I was able to participate in a wine tour via Sedona Wine Adventures. I have lived in Arizona all my life and just in the last 5 years have started to hear some "buzz" about Arizona Vineyards and wine-making. Im so glad I was able to explore and experience a piece of the artistry and dynamic growing industry that is Arizona Wine. Let me share a bit of my adventure with you; I just might wet your appetite to do some experiencing and exploring of your own!

It only takes 2 hours to drive from Phoenix to Sedona. My husband and I were picked up at our Sedona hotel by our tour guide Robert Fliegel with Sedona Wine Adventures. While traveling to the various tasting rooms, we enjoyed learning some of the history of Arizona wine making, and some of what makes the 80+ wineries in Arizona unique to wineries in other states.

Our first stop was Page Springs Cellars in Page Springs/Cornville Arizona. (Incidentally John McCain's 'famous' Sedona retreat is located in Cornville, AZ). The Page Springs Cellars is nestled along the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon and the grape vines thrive in the volcanic, fertile, creek fed soil. This family-run winery offers several flights comprising of 5 wine tastings each. In addition to comprehensive wine choices, they offer a nicely rounded food menu that pairs well with the wines and can be savored and enjoyed on the outdoor patio while listening to the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon below. They have a comprehensive tasting room, a lovely patio/seating area, a massage tent right off the creek, and areas in and around some of their oldest vines (15 years old) for weddings, live music and their very popular, family friendly, Harvest Festival that happens every October (October 5th 2p-10p for 2013). Page Springs Cellars is home to the highest honor ever awarded any Arizona Wine for it's 2010 Colibri Syrah. I have to tell you that you that while the wines are very good, I found the greatest appeal to be the charm and character of the working vineyard, outdoor patios, paths, creek, etc.

There are a lot of reasons to visit this Vineyard even if you are not an Oenophile (wine connoisseur) and I can tell you that I will be back with my entire family. Here are some of the reviews for Page Springs Cellars on Yelp.

We then headed to the historic town of Jerome, Arizona where there is no lack of historic funky charm, amazing views, art galleries, and apparently some fantastic tasting rooms featuring some superb wines! Caduceus Cellars feature wines from the legendary Maynard Keenan, front man of the alternative punk band, Tool. This tasting room has a super classy, pub-like feel that is warm, rich and welcoming. Our Arizona flight allowed us to sample 4 Arizona wines and it's here that I found my favorite of the 18 wines I sampled that day. I purchased a bottle of 2011 Nagual de la Nagra, which is described as a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese and has notes of cedar, blackberry, black cherry and spice, crushed violets, pencil shavings, cherry coke and summer sweat. It was a complex wine and I loved it! There is a really nice gift shop incorporated into this tasting room that features some great wine and Arizona gift items. I particularly liked the recycled Caduceus Cellars wine bottle trivets and vases.

Our third and final tasting room of the day was the Jerome Winery which by careful planning from our tour guide, we arrived at in time for sunset. Jerome Winery has one of the largest and most diverse Vineyards in Arizona and grows over 50 varieties of grapes. Another great wine flight here that had me tasting my first ever mead which was a sweet Honey Mead that tasted like biting into a sweet crisp apple. By the time we got to the Jerome Winery I had consumed enough wine that I needed to pair the wine with some food and was very pleased with the cheese and cracker plate that accompanied my last flight of the day. We enjoyed our wine, cheese and crackers while lounging in some comfy chairs admiring the panoramic sunset view of the beautiful Verde Valley.

My Arizona wine adventure was a fun-filled, educational experience and I was really impressed with our guide Robert with Sedona Wine Adventures. If you have a chance to book with him, I would highly recommend it as he loves what he does and it shows! Tell him Tiffany sent you and enjoy!

Benefits of Using a Local Lender

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 03:29:00 GMT

Whats the big deal between using a National lender and a local lender? You might think, "they both pull your credit scores, take a loan application, lock in your rates, have you sign a bunch of papers and then you end up with a loan."

I hope to help my buyers fully understand how lending conditions in the Arizoan purchase contract can make or break your deal.

1. Arizona Prequalification Form Completed, signed and dated by the lender.

This form needs to be attached to an offer to purchase, fillled out correctly and provided in a timely manner. Often National lenders do not have this form (I have to send it to them), understand the relevance to the purchase contract or provide it in a timely manner. (Think about it, they can't be experts on the forms for all 50 states and do you want to work with someone who has 'casual access' to, but doesn't specialize in knowing what their responsibilities are in insuring you adhere to the loan provisions of the Arizona purchase contract?)

2. Time is of the Essence

The number one complaint I have with working with non-local lenders is the lack of knowledge and concern with our Arizona contract time tables. These are time tables you as a buyer have legally agreed to adhere to and the seller can legally cancel the contract AND keep your earnest money if you do not abide by them. Here are just a few that involve the lender's timely pro-active coperation.

a) Completed pre-qualification provided at time of offer (no earnest money at this point, but read on)

b) Buyer shall deliver to seller a Loan Status update with a minimum of lines 1-40 completed describing the buyers proposed loan status within 5 days of contract acceptance.

c) lender to provide loan status updates to sellers broker upon request (a lot of national lenders will not do this stating privacy concerns; however, the buyer agrees to allow this to the seller. Its almost always a hassle getting these from out-of-state lenders and again, its another form they are not familiar with)

d) Final Loan approval with no conditions no later than 3 days prior to close of escrow

e) Buyer shall sign all loan documents no later than 3 days prior to close of escrow.

3. Communication is Key

My 11 years of doing real estate full time has left me with this working hand knowledge of out-of-state lenders... 1/2 to 2 day response time for communication is the normal not the exception. Since I often have to 'teach' a non-local lender how fufil their responsibilities with regard to our Arizona purchase contract, it involves a lot of communication. It could be a coincidence than in over 10 years I have NEVER had a lender (USAA, Lending Tree, etc) that have communicated in a manner that facilitates getting things done in a timely manner.... but I don't think so and neither do my collegues. The term, "pulling teeth" comes to mind. In addition, a listing agents often want to call a lender to verify the data the lender has provided on the pre-qualification form. What kind of faith does the listing agent and consequently their seller have in your lender's proficiency if they don't receive a timely responce back? I have the cell phone numbers of the local lenders I work with frequently, it makes a difference that they have me programmed into their phones and pick up when I call.

4. Local Lenders have more to lose and more to gain by serving you well

If I am representing a seller and get two very similiar offers and one has an out of state lender and one has a local lender I will explain the above items 1-3 to my sellers and guess which offer that the seller normally wants to work with? The local lender. That is because local lenders often work on a referral basis like most Realtors. National lenders have hundreads of thousands of advertising dollars feeding them customers off 1-800 numbers. A local lender has satisfied former clients and Realtors® to send them business. Their future liveliehood relies on serving you expertly and in a timely manner.

Im not saying that a national lender cant get a deal done, Im just saying there is more of a risk to you as a buyer to work with someone who isn't an expert on our Arizona forms, is often harder to get a hold of and does not have as much to lose or gain by serving you well.

85295 Homes Sold July 2013 Plus Active Housing Inventory

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:12:00 GMT

85295 is one of the most highly sought after zip codes in Gilbert, Arizona and one of my personal favorites. Not only is my office located in this zip code, but it seems to be the center of all that is new and exiting in Gilbert. This zip code is Close to the Gilbert Heritage District, the 202 freeway runs thru it and there is a lot of great shopping, dining and entertainment located within the 85295 zip code boundaries. If you are looking for the largest Dillards store in the state of Arizona you will find it at the San Tan Village in 85295 along with a lot of other great stores and eating establishments!

Now lets take a quick look at the 85295 Homes Sold in July 2013 plus the current active housing inventory. These are for single-family detached homes only (no duplexes, condos, etc.) as of August 5, 2013

JULY 2013 - 85295 zip code Gilbert, Arizona

Homes Sold: 110

low: $180,000

high: $975,000

Active Inventory: 144

low: $174,900

high: $1,000,000

If you would like to take a look at what $175,000 to 1 million dollars will buy you in 85295 zip code in Gilbert Arizona than you can do so here:

CURRENT 85295 Active Housing Inventory

If you would like to get a closer look at the homes that sold in 85295 for the month of July, 2013 in Gilbert Arizona you can do so here:

85295 Homes Sold - July 2013 Gilbert, Arizona

If there are any other zip codes in Gilbert or anywhere in the East Valley that you would like me to pull for you, please let me know! I would be happy to do so!

What I need from A Buyer in order to show my Arizona Real Estate Listing

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:25:23 GMT

I got an email inquiry today from someone that wanted to view a listing I have in North Mesa. There was no name or phone number on the email only a return email address. The email said, “I would like to view your listing as soon as possible.” I have to admit, I am immediately skeptical when someone prefers to stay anonymous behind an email address and fails to give their name or phone number so that we can dialogue on the phone. However, I also realize that some folks are just wired with that, “less is more” mentality and this could still be a potential lead to getting my clients home sold.

While I need to get the home sold, I also have a fiduciary responsibility to protect my clients best interest. Qualifying buyers ahead of time is just one way in which I do this. I take it very seriously and really don’t want anyone in my client’s home that is not prepared or qualified to purchase the home. If you are working with a REALTOR, then I trust that the other REALTOR has taken the time to qualify you before they spend their time driving you around. If you are not working with another REALTOR, there are a few things I will need to discuss with you and verify before I meet you out at my sellers home.

Below is the email I sent to this inquiry this morning:

I am following up on an inquiry on my listing at 3321 N. Hawes in Mesa AZ. Thanks for you email and interest in the property – its really a special home!

To protect my clients that have entrusted me with marketing and selling their homes, I do need to verify a few things with you before I can show you the home on Hawes:

That you are an able buyer. I need either a pre-qualification letter from a lender or a statement of funds from your financial institution (if you are planning on purchasing with cash.) If you need a lender, I am attaching a list of lenders for your consideration.

That you understand that I am representing the seller. I have attached an Agency Disclosure Statement for you to review. It is important that you understand who I am representing and the duties owed to the different parties involved. I will ask that you review it and sign that you received it before I meet you at the property.

I need to verify that you have have not signed an employment agreement or buyer broker agreement with another REALTOR. If you are working with another agent and/or have signed an employment agreement with another REALTOR I need to know. Please discuss this with me prior to any meeting we might have.

I am including 4 documents for your information/education.

The Agency Disclosure I mentioned above that states you understand as a buyer that I am representing the seller only.
A Pre-Qualification Form That your lender can fill out.
Arizona Buyer Advisory – this just has a lot of really good information and buyer resources for you as a buyer. Utilize this document with any residential Arizona property purchase you might be considering.
A List of Lenders- for your consideration.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or email me. My toll free number as well as other contact numbers are below.

The home on Hawes is truly a beautiful one-of-a-kind home. I look forward to hearing from you soon to set up an appointment for my business partner and I to meet you at the home at your earliest convenience!

Best Regards,

Tiffany

Tiffany Cloud, Realtor® ABR, BSW, CDPE, CSSN, CRS, GRI, e-PRO
HomeSmart
480.784.7600 | Direct
480.247.4933 | e-Fax
888.668.4629 | Toll-Free
Tiffany@CloudHomes.com – email
CloudHomes.com – main website

A Random Act of Being Neighborly - Taking the Lead in Protecting Your Neighborhood's Value

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:29:49 GMT

I read an article today that I found fascinating. It was just a little snippet of an article, only 4 short paragraphs. It was entitled, “Survey: Well-Kept Yards Most Important Factor in Determining Neighborhood Safety.” The survey conducted by relocation.com and reported by RIS Mediaand sponsored by Lowes found that, ”75% of Americans believe the most important factor in determining a neighborhood’s safety is the up-keep of surrounding homes, especially the front lawns.” The Chairman and Founder of Relocation.com was quoted as saying, “It’s interesting to see how home buyers determine neighborhood safety based on the neighborhood’s appearance and not as much based on police statistics or crime reports.” As aRealtor® who happens to have a foreclosure or two in my own neighborhood, I couldn’t help but think how the increase in distressed homes in our neighborhoods is a variable that we can’t control. What used to be an anomaly, has become the norm.

For a couple of years the government has been trying to stop the downward spiral that is our housing market. The government has infused billions of dollars into housing programs, kept interest rates low, shored up the banks making real estate loans and offered cash incentives for home buyers. Yet, we still find that foreclosures top the news on a daily basis and that more and more people are either being forced out of their homes or are voluntarily walking away from homes. The phenomenon is no longer something we hear about on the news, but one we drive through everyday on our way to work as we exit our neighborhoods…. our very own neighborhoods.

So what about our neighborhoods? What about the value of our homes? What about those homes that sit with the lawns overgrown, leaflets stacking up at the front door, empty driveways and that eerie sense of abandonment we drive past everyday? My Grandmother used to say that asking the right questions was often the beginning of the finding the right answer. If my Grandmother was right ,and she almost always was; the internal questions we ask ourselves as we drive past these abandons homes could be the key to the solution.

When is the government going to fix this housing crisis so my housing value stops free-falling?

… or …

Is there anything I can do to stop the value of my homes decline?

When is someone going to start taking care of that home?

… or …

Is there anything I can do to take care of that home?

Could the answer be as simple as a random act of being neighborly? What if you cleaned up that yard? Maybe a neighbor seeing you work on the yard would offer to help, or maybe they might do it in a week or two? What if neighbors took turns occasionally parking their cars on the street out in front of the home lending a ‘presence’ to the home? What if several neighbors got together and made a rotating schedule of when they would do some front yard maintenance? (Although it irritates me to no end to have to make this side note, I must. I am not a lawyer and I can’t give legal advise – but you do need to have a property owner’s permission before trespassing or working on another’s property and you do need to be aware of the fact that there might not be any kind of homeowner’s insurance policy on that home. Don’t give up easily though, contact some local authorities to see if there is a way you can work around such a dilemma. Is there a neighborhood task force that the City helps underwrite and insure to clean up these properties? If not should there be one…hint, hint, hint? Contact the bank that own the property, contact the local health department if there is garbage left, see if a local boy scout troop could do a clean-up….Let’s think outside of the box folks, this is important. There, done – now back to the benevolent spirit of this post)

Starting with abandoned homes is a great first step, but let’s take it a step further, a BIG step further. What about those homes in your neighborhood where there are still people living in them and you see them start to deteriorate? Oouch, that is a lot harder.

We had a home in our neighborhood that has always been maintained start to go into dis-repair. I knew something must be going on because for 6 years the home had always been maintained. My gut reaction was that I needed to check in with these neighbors and see if everything was OK; but then I immediately started talking myself out of it. They might think I am being nosy, what if they think I just want to gossip to the other neighbors? What about their privacy? What business is it of mine? We had only ever chatted about our kids and the weather….I took a risk and called them up and as non-threatening as I could be, asked them if there was anything I could do to help. I let them know that my attention was not to intrude, but that if they had some kind of need that I might be able to help with, I would sure like to know about it so I could help. They were so relieved that I had asked. I was a little shocked at how relieved they were. What followed was an hour-long conversation and several follow-up conversations after that. It turned out that in fact there was something I could do to help, and 4 months later that yard looks better than it has in years. Their mailbox has been replaced, the yard looks fantastic and those neighbors of mine have some hope again and they are taking pride in their home as they once had. It made me feel really good. The government couldn’t help my neighbors out, but I could and in doing so, I helped my whole neighborhood out.

I thought that worked out pretty good, so when the opportunity arose again a month later I again forced myself to take the initiative. In another home just outside of my neighborhood I had seen an elderly gentleman struggle in and out of his car. His whole property was in disrepair and had been for quite some time. While I had often muttered to myself as I drove by that I wished he would clean it up, I had never stopped to ask myself, “Can he clean it up and might he need some help?” So, I forced myself to stop one day when I saw him outside and chatted with him for a while. I had never met or spoken with this man before. We had a lovely conversation and I was able to at one point say to him, “You know I have been driving past here almost everyday and have always meant to stop. You have a really large yard and I hope you don’t mind me asking if you need help with the yard or anything else?” He very kindly told me he was,”good” and didn’t need any help. I left feeling glad to have made the connection with him and to let him know that a neighbor cared about him. Do you know that he was out there working on his yard not two days later with a big smile on his face? Possibly he just needed to know that the neighbors cared and in turn that caused him to want to care about us back by cleaning up his yard a bit. I actually have had several really good interactions with him since then and he has spotted me at the store since then and come over to say Hi and chat. Not only did I make a new friend, but I also think that in the future if he ever does feel he needs some help, he might just be a little more willing to accept it from me or maybe feel comfortable enough to ask.

I want to be a good neighbor, I love my neighborhood. I want my kids and my family and my neighbors to take pride in our lovely neighborhood. What starts out as a random act of being neighborly can morph into so much more. Let’s take pride in our neighborhoods. The responsibility for our neighborhoods start with us not the government or the banks. Let’s start locally by loving on our neighborhoods again …. I dare you….

Tell me after reading this post… are the hands in this picture waiting for something to be given to them or are they outstretched to lend a hand to a neighborhood or neighbor in need? You decide.

What other ways can you think of to impact your neighborhood for the good in this depressed housing market. Please do share.

After You Close That Arizona Home - Updating Your Driver's License

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:24:00 GMT

According to Arizona Revised Statute 28-448 a person is required to notify the Arizona Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) within 10 days (calendar days, not business days) of an address or name change. A violation of this is considered a civil traffic violation. At the very least a civil traffic violation could be a hassle to get removed or could cost you a lovely Saturday in traffic school or up to a $250 fine.

There are several acceptable ways to notify the DMV of your address change. You can do it the traditional ways by driving down to your closest DMV office, calling or mailing in your current information. The easiest way to update your current address with the Arizona DMV is to go to their website ServiceArizona.com

Screen Shot of Landing Page for Service Arizona

In addition to keeping your Driver’s License up to date, you can change your voter registration, renew your vehicle tags, obtain a duplicate Drivers License to be mailed to you, select and order personalized or speciality license plates, check on a license plate credit, obtain a ‘sold notice’ for a recently sold vechile, obtain a vehicle tab replacement and more.

I know there is a lot to think of when your are in the process of moving that is why I send all my clients an email with this link and many other useful information to make getting their new home established as easy as possible.

Reasons a Bank Might Agree to a Short Sale

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:34:00 GMT

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In the last 3 years I have been confronted or involved with short sales for a variety of reasons. While most people understand The definition of a short sale. [A short sale is making an arrangement with the lending institution(s) that has loaned you money on your property to accept a payoff for the property that is less than what is owed on that property.] There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the reasons a bank might allow a homeowner to do such a thing. What reasons make a short sale a viable option to the bank? Can anyone do a short sale? Why do banks allow some people to sell a home for less than what is owed and not others?

Below are some reasons a bank might allow a homeowner to complete a short sale:

1. Increase in Mortgage Payment

Interest Rate Adjustment – is the most common reason for a mortgage payment increase.
Increase in taxes
Increase in Insurance

2. Relocation

Military Service – See the Servicepersons Civil Relief Act (SCRA) for help in some cases, but for others an unexpected mandatory extension of active duty, change in assignment, etc can cause hardship.
Job Relocation – If you have negative equity in your home and are forced to relocate for a job.
Incarceration – It happens.

3. Severe Illness or Death

Death of a Family Member or Spouse – Wage earner or not this can cause duress and turmoil in a family.
Severe Illness of a family member – Medical bills and time taken away from earning wages.

4. Family Status Change

Divorce – Often involves a separation of assets and income.
Separation – Can involve dividing income and taking on a new household
New Family Member– This might be a newborn, an adult child forced to move back home and that you must support financially, adult/senior parents that need financial aid or support.

5. Loss of Employment, Earnings or Benefits

Termination of Employment
Loss of benefits – Social Security, unemployment, child support, insurance payments, insurance coverage, etc…
Business Failure
Reduction of Income – Some employers are forcing employees to take a mandatory cut in wages or are not giving bonuses that were regular/customary. A commission based employee or an independent contractor can also see a reduction in income.

6. Excessive Debt

Credit Cards
Judgments
Tax Liens
Medical Bills

Now most banks are going to want to see if you qualify for a loan modification before they allow you to pursue a short sale. Realize also that you will have to prove or DOCUMENT, with a paper trail, that you have one or more of the hardships mentioned above. Short Sales can have legal and tax consequences that can vary from state to state so it’s always a good idea to consult an attorney and tax professional when deciding if a short sale is right for you.

Thanks for reading.

Phoenix Luxury Housing Market Shifting Gears after Expiration of First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit … What does it MEAN?

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:24:57 GMT

We all speculated that the market would slow for a few months after expiration of the first-time home buyer’s tax credit, and we were right. Most of us in the industry expected to see number of listings available increase, especially in the below $200k price range where a majority of first-time home buyers tend to purchase. In fact our supply of available listings on the market listed at $200k or less has increased from 13,133 listings to now over 17,126 listings since May 1, 2010. That is a 23.3% Increase in the last 3 months of available inventory. Although 23% increase in one quarter is a lot, most of us were expecting to see a substantial increase here in our Phoenix market, so we are not alarmed at this figure.

Now lets look at the homes between $200k and $500k. In that price range we have seen a slight decrease in listing inventory since May 1, 2010 from 7,275 down to 6,824 units or a 6% decrease. Interesting. This is a segment of the market where the first-time home buyers are phasing out price-range wise. Even though the end of the first-time home buyer credit should have impacted a percentage of potential buyers in this price range, it wasn’t enough of an impact to increase inventory.

Examining the $500k to $1million dollar price point, we see a much different picture. One that I have to admit, I am still a little baffled at. The current number of listings for homes between $500k to $1million dollars has DECREASED by a whopping 20% since May 1, 2010 from 2,399 units to 1,999 units. So, are more people just cancelling their listings or not listing at all in this price range or are we actually seeing more closed sales then the quarter and year prior? We are indeed seeing more closed sales. Closed sales are up over 6% from last quarter and almost 15% from this time last year. Our current Supply of homes in the $500-600k price range has decreased from over 400 days to almost half of that at 220 days. The appreciation for the year is currently at about 2%. Again, for the first time in years, we have seen a positive appreciation in this price range.

The housing market for the Homes listed at $1million and up are much the same story. Listing inventory has decreased 19% from 1751 listings to currently 1418 listings.

So the million dollar question

WHAT DOES IT MEAN??

Could our luxury market be normalizing again? Could this part of the market, that was untouched by the governments efforts to ‘stimulate’ the housing market, be in the slow correction that leads to a normalized market? The statistics for the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area would lead us to believe so for now. Let’s see what happens and watch if the trend continues.

All statistics were gathered from Cromford Report and Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) and are believed to be accurate.

Negotiating: It's more than just price

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:00:00 GMT

Maybe I am just getting old, but it seems that the older <wiser hopefully> I get, the more I realize that some things in life that I thought were black and white, or simplistic are actually multi-faceted, complex organisms. That is they change, evolve, they rarely lend themselves to the same criteria or result repeatedly. Kind of a heavy way to start out a blog post, but it seems the perfect backdrop to a discussion on negotiating.

I recently had a listing that was new to the market and a real 'gem' of a property. Pristine condition, superb neighborhood and the seller had equity! We got two significant offers on this home for consideration.

Offer 1: Emailed over with no discussion before-hand. Final net offer (after counters) was $2,500 below asking price (about 1%). 4 week close with a 3 week inspection period. Seller to pay for buyer's VA appraisal up front, HOA disclosure fees up front. Repairs to be completed 3 days prior to close of escrow. The buyer was putting down less than .5% of the purchase price for their earnest deposit.

Offer 2: Emailed over with 3 discussions prior to writing offer. Final net offer (after counters) was $7,500 below asking price (about 3%). 5 week close with a 10 day inspection period. Earnest money of 1% of purchase price to go hard (be non-refundable) and be released to the seller 1 week prior to close of escrow.

At quick glance the first offer would seem better to most. After all, the seller would net $5,000 more right? Now let me tell you about my seller...

My seller is relocating to a retirement community. She is single now for the first-time in 30 years. She has never sold a home by herself, she has never moved a home by herself. She is overwhelmed by the thought of an inspector coming in and finding things wrong with the home that she won't be able to take care of. She wonders if she will be able to get everything done in time by herself while working full-time.

We went with the second offer and here is why: The second offer gave my seller the two things she needed,

A Fair Price for her home and
The highest amount of security.

Offer 1 had my seller taking all the risk hoping the seller would still want the home in 3 weeks when their inspection period was over. My seller was scared of starting to pack up her household and make plans to secure another place to live (deposits, moving vans, etc - more money risked up front) while the buyer could back out. Remember my seller works full-time, so packing up her home is a HUGE undertaking for her. A three week inspection period with a 4 week close left her one week to pack, move, and 4 days to make repair. Not a very nice thing to do to a sweet little old lady.

The buyer's agent on offer 2 did an excellent job of asking questions and finding out what was important to my seller. She asked a lot of questions. Let me repeat that, she asked a lot of questions. The she.... listened when I answered her.

Now my seller not only has the inspection periods over in a reasonable amount of time, but she had a couple thousand dollars sitting in her bank account before she put money down on moving vans, etc... She had some S.E.C.U.R.I.T.Y and a considerate buyer that was serious about making the transaction work.

SUNS Playoff Schedule

Mon, 17 May 2010 16:31:47 GMT

I am not a huge sports fan in general, but I love my Phoenix Suns. I grew up in Phoenix and growing up in the 1980’s we only had one sports team. No Cardinals football, no Diamondbacks baseball, just the glorious Phoenix Suns. Cotton Fitzsimmons, KJ (Kevin Johnson), Mark West, Alvan Adams, Walter Davis, Jeff Hornacek, Tom Chambers, A.C. Green, Danny Ainge, Dan Marjerele and yes, Charles Barclay are near and dear to our hearts. We had a great rivalry with the Lakers in the 1980’ and 1990’s. I think it’s time we gave the Lakers another taste of our delicious Phoenix Suns with a side of getting their respective bottoms kicked!

Here is the Western Conference Playoff Finals schedule for the 2010 series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers. Cheer loud! :

Game 1: Mon, May 17, Suns at Lakers, 6:00 p.m. TNT

Game 2: Wed, May 19, Suns at Lakers 6:00 p.m, TNT

Game 3: Sun, May 23, Lakers at Suns, 5:30 p.m. TNT

Game 4: Tue, May 25, Lakers at Suns 6:00 p.m. TNT

Game 5: Thurs, May 27, Suns at Lakers 6:00 p.m. TNT

Game 6: Sat, May 29, Lakers at Suns, 5:30 p.m. TNT

Game 7: Mon, May 31, Suns at Lakers 6:00 p.m. TNT

Buyer Expectations in the Phoenix Market March 2010

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:21:25 GMT

I thought I would share some great insight from another Real Estate professional that I admire a great deal. To put it simply, Jay Thompson has a gift and the ability to convey what so many of us full-time Realtors® are thinking and experiencing into something coherent and meaningful. Here are his latest thoughts regarding buyer expectations in the Phoenix Market. There has been a great deal of discussion about this very topic of late among my fellow collegues. Enjoy the read and be sure to follow Jay's blog for more great content...

Much has been written across real estate blogs and mainstream media outlets about unrealistic home sellers. It seems much less common though to talk about unrealistic home buyers.

Naturally everyone wants to get the most home they can for the least amount of money. Which is, of course, in opposition to the home seller, who wants the most money for their home. This inherent conflict is one of the things that makes real estate sales… challenging at times.

It has been my experience of late that home sellers in Phoenix are becoming much more realistic. While it used to be quite common to hear sellers say things like, “But my neighbors house sold for x dollars last year!”, sellers seem to be getting more realistic when it comes to their home’s value, as depressing as that may be.

Home buyers on the other hand almost seem to be losing their grip on reality.

Here are some examples of communication we have received lately:

We’d like to offer $30K under list price…
I want a single-family detached house in Scottsdale, on a golf course. I can spend up to $150K…
I need a home less than three years old, NOT in a HOA…
We just foreclosed last month and are looking to buy. I think our credit is horrible, and we don’t have any down payment money…
I need a smoking deal on a bank owned home or short sale. I’m willing to pay 50% of list on multiple properties…
I refuse to pay a dime over list price on a short sale or bank owned home…

I could go on and on.

The answer for all of those comments above is “you can’t do/get/buy that”.

Here’s the deal. Much of this type of thing comes from simply not understanding what is happening in the real estate market. And by “the real estate market” I am not talking about what you hear on CNN or even your local evening news / newspaper. You need to understand what the market is doing in the specific area you are interested in. “The market” is just too broad and real estate is hyper local.

As a home buyer, you can’t be expected to truly understand your local real estate market. Most people buy a home every 7 – 10 years. We are up to our necks in this stuff every single day. That doesn’t make real estate sales people better than you, or smarter. It’s just what we do for a living (and sometimes I ask myself why in the world I’m doing it…). Helping people determine the nuances of their local real estate market is what we get paid for (and why, to be brutally honest, it is very frustrating to have our data, attempts at education, and advice questioned repeatedly – or ignored).

An example:

At this moment in time, the average price of a home in the Phoenix Multiple Listing Service is $175,509. That number is for the entire Phoenix MLS area, which includes all of Maricopa County and a significant swath of Pinal county. That is a HUGE area – almost the size of the state of Massachusetts.

Listen to the mainstream media and you’ll often hear the average priced batted about – it’s rising, it’s falling, it’s hopeless, it’s recovering.

So what does an average home price in the Phoenix area of $175K mean?

Absolutely nothing.

You want a home in Phoenix proper? Average price is $132K

Scottsdale? Average price is $639K

Gilbert? Average price is $221K

El Mirage? Average price is $79K

You see, when you lump every type of home in a 10,000 square mile area into one number, it swiftly begins to become meaningless.

So let’s drill down a little bit. . .

$639K average home price in Scottsdale? What does that mean?

Only slightly more than absolutely nothing.

Right now I could sell you a condo in Scottsdale for $32,000 (but it’s not on a golf course). Or a (really) nice home for $15,000,000. About all the average price tells you is that generally, homes in Scottsdale cost more than say… homes in Gilbert, which are more, generally, than homes in El Mirage.

Here is where being a “realistic buyer” comes in to play

It is a waste of your time and your agent’s time to try to find homes that simply do not exist. That part is relatively easy to educate, and provide hard data to back up that education. Want a golf-course lot single-family home in Scottsdale? A quick trip to the MLS shows you have 323 options, and the five lowest priced ones are: $295K; $350K; $394K; $410K; and $424K. You simply can’t get one for $150K — it does not exist. Don’t waste your, mine and our time looking for one.

You want to “steal” a bank-owned home for 50% of list price? Consider this… In Feb 2010, there were 2,822 lender owned properties sold, at an average of 98.48% of list price. How many do you think were sold at 50% of list price? While I have not looked at all 2,822 sales, I’m quite confident in saying that number is zero. You can’t buy REO properties in Phoenix at 50% off list price. That’s not a realistic expectation.

That’s all hard data – you can’t argue with it (though many do).

Were it gets tough is on some of the more nebulous requests from buyers. You don’t want to offer a dime over list price on a short sale? Well, here is where you may have to rely on your agent’s expertise. I can tell you (and show you) that there are oodles of short sale listings in the Phoenix market priced woefully under market value. We could spend hours pouring over current listings and past sales to demonstrate this. But that’s not an effective use of your time (or mine). And it is still a difficult thing to prove. The problem is, there are listing agents out there with the nasty habit of grossly under pricing a short sale in an effort to generate an offer and/or bidding frenzy. Offer below list price on a home already priced lower than the bank will accept and you are looking at an exercise in futility.

When you are buying a home, you have to be realistic. You aren’t going to get everything a $500K home has to offer for $250K – it just doesn’t work that way. You’re not going to steal a home from a bank, no matter how much the banks annoy you or how much they got in bailout money. You aren’t going to live a Scottsdale lifestyle on an El Mirage budget.

Please please please, for the love of all things good and the little fluffy bunnies, don’t think for a moment that I’m saying all buyers are unrealistic, or that no one listens. Buyers are smart. Smarter than a lot of people, including many listing agents and sellers, give them credit for. Yes, it is frustrating when a buyer won’t listen, or doesn’t believe what we say. Given the general mistrust of real estate agents in the public’s eye, I understand that reluctance to believe. I understand we have to prove we know what we’re talking about. We have to earn your trust. Once that trust is earned however; take advantage of it! Believe what your agent is telling you. I can assure you that they want to sell you a home as badly as you want to buy one.

Think about what your expectations are, and work with your agent to see if they are realistic. It’s OK to ask for as much proof as your agent can provide. Realize though that some things are difficult to prove with hard factual / statistical data. Sometimes empirical data (based on observation and experience) is all you have to work with. Combine the two, work closely with your agent, build that trust and get out there and find that perfect home!

Just be realistic. It will greatly reduce your stress level. And your agents. Remember, real estate agents are people too. (At least most are most of the time…)

Relief for Haiti, another reason I am proud to be a REALTOR

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:15:51 GMT

On January 21, 2009 the National Association of REALTORS® announced they are contributing $550,000 to provide relief to Haiti earthquake victims. $500,000 dollars will be donated to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, an organization that is providing immediate life saving assistance as well as long-term support in Haiti.

A $50,000 contribution has already been made to The Harvest For Haiti, founded by a 2007 winner of REALTOR® Magazine’s Good Neighbor Awards, Patrick Moore. Moore’s humanitarian outreach

program in Haiti supports orphans, delivers clean water and provides medical care to more than 3,500 people a year. Harvest For Haiti has distributed thousands of doses of antibiotics, installed more than 450 water filter systems and drilled two wells. More says, “In one village where we used to see huge amounts of malaria-associated anemia, we no longer see it,” Please watch the video to your left to see some of the outstanding work this REALTOR® and retired firefighter is doing in his ongoing service to the beautiful people of Haiti.

On a personal note….

I spent 2 months in Haiti as a teenager assisting in a medical clinic, and working on a building to house livestock for an ongoing food supply. One of the biggest struggles we had all summer was clean water. The infrastructure there was virtually non-existent; roads, hospitals, communication and yes – even clean water was not a staple of life there before the quake for a majority of the population. I can’t imagine what they are dealing with now adding the devastation of this earthquake.

It’s a long haul….

Do you remember how long (months) it took to clean up the debris from the Tragedy of 9/11? How long we were digging and looking for people? We had expert, heavy equipment, an organized, readily available work force that was fed and hydrated and trained for rescue, expert methods of communication to assist in organizing the efforts. We had roads, fully staffed hospitals. How long did it take us to recover from the devastation in New Orleans…? Did anyone ever how to stop and think, “will we be able to feed the victims?”, “will we have water for those that are searching?” The Haitians have virtually nothing of substance to deal with this historic tragedy. In fact, they have virtually nothing on top of lacking so many of the basic needs of life. Please remember to pray and give and support the people of Haiti and those people able to go and assist. If they don’t have us….what do they have?

Below are some ways to support the efforts of Haiti.

Red Cross Haiti Relief
Food For The Hungry
Matt Cutts has an excellent blog post, Ways To Help Haiti, that includes donation sites, google maps imagery, information articles, etc.
On twitter I follow: @wyclef @firesideint @AnnCurry

Here is an idea…

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:59:35 GMT

There is a lot of talk and debate in the real estate world about the difficulty surrounding the transactions involving banks. Somewhere along the line it has become common place during a transaction to have parties that don’t return phone calls, give abrupt or incomplete answers, string other parties along without giving full-disclosure.

Here is an idea...Let's all just be courteous to one another

It's simple.

It immediately diffuses a situation.

It empowers you.

It often empowers the one you are communicating with to reciprocate likewise.

It allows for solutions instead of adversity.

It allows you and others to sleep better at night.

It's free and the return is great.

think on it…

Rates Unraveled

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:45:25 GMT

Bill Chenier with iMortgage explains the mystery behind rate variations between borrowers . . .

I'm often asked why a rate is higher than the rates published in the news or various advertising. It's a good question and the short answer is that the rates you may read online or in publications are simply teaser rates and not the actual rate available to a particular borrower.

Information in news articles and rates posted on the internet can be very misleading because they rarely disclose the cost associated with the rate.

In 2008 Fannie and Freddie instituted risk based pricing and increased their loan level pricing (explanation below), which can have a big effect on a rate. I can safely assume that a so called "average" rate is actually the best financing available to highest FICO tier borrowers who are paying a 1% origination fee.

Risk Based pricing takes into an account 2 factors:

LTV (loan to value): That is the percentage of down payment the borrower is paying. The rate for someone putting 20% down is much lower than 5% down.

Credit score: The credit score tiers are as follows:

Over 740
720 to 739
700 to 719
680 to 699
660 to 679
640 to 659
620 to 639

Each tier has a hit to the rate and the rate may rise dramatically as the credit score drops.

Example:

Borrower A purchasing with a 740 score and 20% down would get the very best rate.

Borrower B with a 660 score and 10% down would borrow at a rate as much as .5% higher.

Loan Level pricing:

Each one of these 3 factors will have an effect on the rate:

Type of loan: Purchase, refinance or cash out refinance
Occupancy: Primary Residence, Second home or Investment
Loan Amount: Loans under $100,000

The rate on a LSR (Loan Status Report) is not a rate quote but instead it is a protection for the Borrower. As it states on the LSR: Interest Rate not to exceed ____. This gives the borrower protection from a change in rates between the time they make their offer to the time they have the opportunity to lock their loan.

You can reach Bill Chenier at 480.907.6745

Phoenix Metro Area Affordability Index for 2009

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:58:58 GMT

Below you will find a list of the 12 major cities and 17 secondary cities in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area.

The chart below offers a 1 year snapshot (Sept 2008 – Sept 2009) of affordability using price per square foot as indicator. Also included is the price per square foot from the year prior along with a percentage breakdown of change from 2008 to 2009.

Lowest percentage of 1 year decreases are in Sun City West, Sun Lakes and Wickenburg), while the highest percentage of decreases troubled Tonopah, Phoenix and New River. The average rate of decrease was 29.8%.

If you have any questions regarding where to live and purchase in Phoenix Metropolitan area please don’t hesitate to contact Julie@Julie-n-Tiff.com or Tiffany@Julie-n-Tiff.com.

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My Arizona Short Sale has just been approved by the bank - Now What?

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:22:14 GMT

Mr. Seller,

We started this short sale process quite awhile ago, It’s been almost 4 months since our first listing consultation. We have spent a great deal of time and effort focusing on the ‘almighty bank approval’ and now that we have received that approval I thought I should give you an idea of what to expect next.

What Happens Next?

Now that we have received approvals from both lien holders (banks) we will notify the buyers in writing of the banks approval. The Buyers will then start their ‘due diligence’, or inspection period. During this time, the buyers will most likely have an inspector that will perform a 2-3 hour general inspection of the property. The buyers also may elect to have additional specialized inspectors out (i.e. for roof, or pool, A/C, etc…). All of these inspections will usually occur during the 10-day inspection period which starts the first full day after we notify the buyers that we have bank approval from both lien holders.

Why the inspections if they agreed to take the property “AS-IS?”

Even though the buyer has agreed not to ask for the repairs they want to make sure they can live with the property in the condition that it currently is in. If they find the property needs more repairs than they are willing to undertake, then the buyers do have the right to cancel the contract and have their earnest money refunded. (Fortunately, you have maintained your property very well, and in the event that they did back out, we have plenty of other buyers that bid on your property that would be thrilled for another chance – so no worries for you here!). In addition to the inspection, the buyer’s lender will need to have their own appraisal completed to insure the property value warrants the loan they will be giving to the new buyers. This appraisal usually occurs after the inspections have been completed, but occasionally the buyers will elect to have this completed simultaneously.

When Do We Close Escrow?

There are a few things to consider when determining the date of your Close of Escrow (COE). The short sale addendum both parties signed with the contract stipulates that the buyer and seller will close 30 days from bank approval; however, a simple addendum to the contract signed by both parties can modify the close of escrow to better suit everyone’s needs. What CANNOT be easily modified (or modified at all in most cases) is the Banks expiration of their approval. The banks approval will have conditions and one of those is that the home/transaction closes no later than __<insert date>__. This expiration date from the bank will be our number 1 governing factor when it comes to choosing a close of escrow date. Normally the banks will give the buyer and seller about 45 days to get the property closed. As your Realtors, Julie and I will recommend trying to close at least a week before that bank deadline, just so that we have a little ‘wiggle-room’ in meeting the banks expiration date. Occasionally things get help up at the last minute (buyers loan being held up, paperwork needing to be re-signed, etc) and we don’t want the transaction to be in jeopardy because we didn’t have the foresight to allow a couple of days leeway.

Hope this helps and is not too confusing. Remember Julie and I will be here to walk you through the process and keep everybody on task!

Two Breaches Don't Make a Right...

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:46:19 GMT

We do a lot of transactions that involve buying or selling properties that are ‘distressed’ properties. The dictionary defines distress as: a state of extreme necessity or misfortune. A distressed property might be anything from a vacant, bank-owned home, a pre-foreclosure (or short sale) that involves tenants being forced to move, or a traditional sale where the sellers are forced to sell and must walk away from a large down payment that has been lost to them in a declining market. Currently, 60%-70% of all homes closing in the Phoenix Metropolitan area would fit into this category.

Distressed sales are never ideal for the sellers or residing tenants and can introduce a myriad of possible problems at close of escrow for a potential buyer. What happens if the property is damaged or ‘trashed’ before Close Of Escrow (COE)? What if the occupants leaving take appliances, fans, or fixtures that are supposed to convey or stay with the property? What if a vacant property has had vandalism that has altered the condition of the home?

What remedies do you have as a buyer of a home if one of the above problems arises shortly before close of escrow (COE) or recordation?

There is a short answer to this question and a long answer. Most people want to know if they can refuse to close until the property is ‘whole again’ or demand some kind of compensation for the damage before close of escrow. So here is the short answer: Just because the other party has breached the contract, doesn’t give you a legal right to breach it as well. How can you be breaching the contract by refusing to close escrow? You agreed in the contract to close on a specific date. Remember your mother telling you two wrongs don’t make a right? – Yep, it’s still true.

This post was originally 5x the current length it is now, because I started with the long answer. The long answer involves taking a detailed look at the purchase contract we use in Arizona to define what the parties have agreed to in terms of:

the condition of the property
the inspection periods
the seller warranties
the seller’s obligation to inform the buyer of changes in the property
remedies the non-breaching party has against the breaching party

Suffice it to say that there is much that can be discussed and a great deal of detail along with different ways to circumvent through the above mentioned items. It is imperative that your agent has extensive and skilled knowledge at trying to pro-actively address and protect you as much as possible. For instance, Julie and I feel it prudent to conduct 2 walk-thrus of the property before close of escrow. The first walk-thru should be completed about 6 or 7 days before close of escrow and then a second one done a day or so before the close of escrow, after any occupants have vacated the property. Will this earlier walk-thru guarantee discovery of a potential problem? - No, not necessarily (especially if the breach hasn’t occurred yet). Might it help you discover a problem before it’s too late to put into action some of the built-in remedies allowed for a breach of contract – specifically a 3 day cure notice delivered to the seller? – Absolutely!

Ultimately we will tell you this, when the property isn’t handed over in the same condition as it was when the contract was agreed upon, the solution is not as easy as the buyer refusing to close escrow and you could be forced to make some tuff decisions at the last minute. Make sure you are prepared for the possibilities and realize that this is one of the inherit risks of getting a great home at rock bottom prices.

Thanks for reading!

Etiquette and Manners for Purchasing Short Sales

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:25:00 GMT

Since Short Sales etiquette is not included in the Emily Post’s Etiquette Daily, I thought I would share a few things I have learned and observed the last 2 years that short sales has become a regular part of my real estate business.

Short Sale is defined as the bank agreeing to release deed/mortgage note for less than is owed on the property. The seller almost walks away with NO money.
Make an extra effort to view a home advertised as ‘short’ or ‘pre-foreclosure’ when the occupants are not around. They don’t want to talk to you.
If you happen to run into owners or occupants/tenants while viewing a home advertised as a ‘short-sale’ Don’t ask them any questions. If it’s a tenant, they might not even know that the owner is selling short and the owner might not be ready for them to know that yet. If it’s an owner….they are losing their home, this is not the time or place to ask questions. Have your buyer’s agent discuss details with the owner’s listing agent. Don’t put the owner on the spot to discuss details of their uncomfortable position.
Just because someone is selling short, does not mean that they do not deserve the same curtsey when scheduling appointments, keeping appointments, locking up and leaving your business card.
When writing a contract, DO NOT ask for any of the owners personal property including appliances, furniture, lawn equipment, etc. Don’t add insult to injury – they are already losing their home don’t ask for the few personal items of value they DO get to take with them.

Do you have a right to ask questions and find out specifics about the situation of the homeowners' situation? If you are a consumer/buyer – you have the right to ask your agent. If you are an agent you better ask questions! Don’t ask the owner though, ask the co-operating agent. You need to find out some specifics regarding how many liens, amount and status of the liens, who holds them, at what stage the paperwork is in, if a BPO has been done, what documents have been sent to the bank etc…that is your job and you better do it – via the listing agent.

If you have additional items of etiquette for us to consider please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome Electronic Signatures

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:01:48 GMT

Welcome electronic signatures and DocuSign to the list of value-added features to help assist our clients and customers with their real estate transactions.

Electronic signatures have been legal and enforceable since October of 2000 when the Electronic Signatures in Global and International Commerce Act (ESGICA) was enacted. There are several great blogs and websites which go into the details of the technology involved in creating and validating signatures, here are a few if you are really interested in the technical side of electronic signatures: AZ Secretary of State, DircectoryM Articles, How Stuff Works

On a more practical side, Julie and I have been using DocuSign for several months now and have had nothing but positive feedback from our clients and other professionals we interface with.

Here are a few reasons We love working with electronic signatures...

Contracts are legible and easy to read

Let's face it, sometimes our real estate contracts would get faxed up to 8 times before they were considered fully executed. Then they need to be delivered to title, escrow and various brokers. It is very common to have to deliver not only the executed contract but 1 or 2 drafts of the contract before all terms were agreed to, just so that lenders and title could try to decipher what was on page 8 before it was faxed the 5th time.

Banks Like Contracts With Electronic Signatures better than Contracts With Faxed Signatures

If you are trying to purchase or sell a short sale or bank-owned home (foreclosed home) then you want to sign your documents electronically if at all possible. It is imperative to send over a complete and 'clean' package to the bank. We NEED to make things as simple and forthcoming for the overburdened negotiator with 200 other files on his desk.

If you had 200 files on your desk which of contracts would you want to tackle first?

Convenience

If you can access your email and the internet, then you can sign a document electronically. You can access your document online, view it, sign it, download it and save it AT YOUR LEISURE. No Realtors showing up at your house at 9pm to get signatures. No fax machines, or scanners to figure out.

Electronic signatures works great with:

· out of state buyers

· Signatures that need to be signed late at night

· couples getting separated or divorced that would like to sign separately of each other,

· people that work nights and sleep during the day or have non-traditional work schedules

· people going on vacation

· people on business trips

· people that write or respond to multiple offers at one time

· BUSY people

Electronic Signatures Save Time and Eliminate Steps

DocuSign facilitates almost instant communication. If you complete your signature while at work, you don't have to fax the document to your spouse at home to sign, docusign immediately delivers it to them as soon as you finish. Once your spouse has signed the document Julie and I are alerted within a minute or two that your document envelope is complete. Within minutes we can have the document forwarded to the co-operating agent, lawyer, title company, brokers and the bank. Time is always of the essence when putting together deals and getting the deals closed.

Electronic Signatures Are EASY

If you can do this, you can sign a document electronically:

Electronic Signatures Cost You Nothing

We believe in this concept and the value it adds to our service. As our clients, you pay nothing to sign the documents we send you with DocuSign. Our subscription covers you and allows you to sign for free.

Thanks for reading.

Tipping Point - Phoenix Housing Market 2009

Fri, 01 May 2009 11:04:02 GMT

The million dollar question for the last several years in the Phoenix Metropolitan area is "when will the housing market hit bottom?" This leads us to ask, "how does one define the 'bottom of the market'? " I am no statistician by any means, but you can only define "bottom" by looking backwards. One can't state that we are at the bottom now without knowing what will happen next month, the month after, etc. Usually when we talk about trends and defining trends in real estate, we want to see at least a four month consistency, or 'last quarter' type of stability. If March or April of 2009 is the bottom of the market price-wise, we won't know until mid to late summer. We can only look back to determine with any certainty what the data tells us in relation to the broader picture.

Having said that we are definitely at a tipping point in the greater-Phoenix housing market. Let's look at both ends of the supply and demand scale that impact our sales price.

Supply is the inventory of homes we have available for purchase. At our peak in October 2007 we had 58,334 homes available. To contrast this figure with the other market extreme of 2005/6 our inventory of homes was at a whopping 8,342 in April of 2005. (Normal inventory is about 32,000 active listings) Now let's look at the decrease in inventory over the last several months.

: Phoenix Housing Market Decline First Quarter 2009

Now lets take a look at the demand side of the Phoenix housing market. Pending sales are our most current indicator of the demand for homes. While closed sales are arguably a more accurate indicator, because not every pending sale ends in a closed sale; closed sales again are looking backwards. Pending sales are a more immediate picture of current demand. So what do the pending sales in the Greater Phoenix housing market tell us?

: Highest amount of Pending Home Sales than any other time in history in Phoenix Metro area

As the above chart indicates, our pending sales are through the roof. This chart is 2 weeks old, our pending sales are even higher now at over 14,000 units. We are currently several thousands units above what our previous high was which happended to be in the 2005 market. I don't know that we could have any clearer indicator of demand except what agents and buyers are experiencing out in the trenches right now.

Here is what I have heard from other agents in the last week. "I Can't believe there were 18 offers on that house", "2 of the 5 properties I was going to show my buyer went under contract last night" "The listing agent told me not to bother to write on homes if I was going to 'low-ball' - thing is, we only came in $5,000 under asking price - the listing agent told us we were the lowest price offer he had of 6."

Thanks for reading.

Conveying Title with 'Special Warranty Deed' on Foreclosed Home

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:14:11 GMT

When conveying title on a resale home in Arizona the seller will usually convey title with a ‘general warranty deed‘; an exception to this is when that resale home happens to be a foreclosed home. When purchasing a foreclosed home in Arizona, the seller (bank) will offer you a ‘Special Warranty Deed’ instead of a ‘General Warranty Deed’. So what is the difference and how does it effect the purchaser/buyer? Tiffany Malcom, branch manager at Grand Canyon Title in Gilbert, AZ explains what you need to know about a General vs Special Warranty Deed.

A general warranty deed is a promise to the buyer that the seller will warranty any prior problems with title, not just during the seller’s ownership, but back along the chain of ownership.

A special warranty deed, on the other hand, limits the seller’s promise (or warranty) to title problems that come up while the seller owned the property, but gives no warranty for problems prior to that point. They only owned the property long enough to build the homes so they aren’t willing to warrant buyers against something that happened to cloud title before they may have owned the land. Foreclosure property is another example where you often see special warranty deeds. The bank, like the builder, has no close relationship to the property and won’t bend over backwards to promise anything about the condition of title before they acquired the property through foreclosure.

These days, title insurance is the buyer’s best friend. Title insurance insures the buyer against past ownership problems, old liens, boundary issues, and so on. There may be exceptions in the title insurance policy, and owners should know what their exceptions are. For example, without a survey, a title company won’t insure against problems that a survey would have made known — encroachments, for example. That’s an exception and they won’t pay for problems that would have shown up with a survey. But unless there’s a specific exception, any other past title problems are covered.

For any other questions you might have on Title Insurance or Escrow procedures feel free to contact Tiffany Malcom @(480) 831-6066.

What kind of value does 'Expertise' add? Can you measure it?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:10:48 GMT

I have a confession to make. It is sometimes a struggle for me to put into words the value that being a local full-time REALTOR can add to a transaction.

I can describe the process I go through with a seller for marketing their home, the method in which I communicate with them and others, and my business practices. I can analyze statistics, market share, days on market, average sales price list to sales price from public data to make sure we are competitive. I quite enjoy educating my clients in the mechanisms, steps we go through once an offer has been made on a home, accepted and escrow is opened . The items above are easy to put in an outline and describe to my clients in a clearly quantitative way. You can measure these things and ‘see’ them quite clearly.

If the public has so much information available to them and discount brokers and limited service real estate companies will put your home on the MLS for you….why do you need a avail yourself of a local full-time real estate agent professional to sell your home or represent you as a buyer’s agent?

The answer is: “Expertise”, and expertise is not as easily defined, measured or visible to the non-practiced or unknowing eye.

Expertise in Timing

One of the families in my neighborhood had their home for sale with another agent for about 9 months. (I only sell about 1/4 of the homes in my neighborhood as I have made an active decision not to market to my neighbors in any way. I want to be a neighbor and friend; not the pushy salesman that happens to live in the neighborhood that my neighbors run from every time they see). This particular seller had decided to take their home off the market for awhile and do some re-modeling of the Kitchen and Master Bath (which they asked me to come over and consult with them and I happily did). While the home was off the market with their real estate agent,who happened to live in a different town, they had put a “For Sale By Owner” sign up on their home. In the middle of November 2008 I ran into the wife and asked her how the work was coming on the kitchen. While we were chatting she told me they were planning on taking their For Sale By Owner Sign down since the holidays were coming and ‘people don’t really buy’ and the market is ‘so slow’ during November and December. I immediately started shaking my head “No" as I explained to her that while that may be true for the market in general, in the Mesa Groves area that we lived in, we actually get a burst of activity during the holidays and sell quite a lot of homes. The timing for our area of Mesa was different then the market in general. That neighbor showed the home in December of 2008 to someone that purchased it.

Expertise in Local Research

Do you know what Zillow is reporting as their own reliability for valuing homes in Arizona, right now? Zillow reports only 23% accuracy within a 5% sales price for the Phoenix Metro Area (see chart below). That means that the other 67% of homes they have estimates sell for a sales price AT LEAST 5% different then what they estimate the home is worth. Only 65% sell within 20% of their estimate! A starting point? - possibly, but by no means an expert authority on what a home is worth.

Do you know what the average ‘list to sales price’ is for the home you are making an offer on is? What is the average Days on Market (DOM) for your neighborhood in the last 6 months? How does your subdivision compare with the area or city average? How many of the closed sales in your neighborhood, area of town, or city were foreclosed homes versus non bank-owned homes (or traditional sales)? Does any of that matter? Possibly, possibly not. However, to find what is pertinent, I often have done much more research then is visible to my clients. Any of the clients I have worked with will tell you that my primary weapon in negotiating besides a level head is knowing more than the other party. I will attempt to analyze your position from every possible angle in order to be prepared ahead of time with market knowledge.

Where do I get my information from? I use information from the MLS, the county assessor's office, research outlets that I subscribe to, other agents, as well as my own knowledge of the market from experience. I believe in the value in having your homework done when it comes to trends and facts. My clients benefit from this involved local research and can’t learn this expertise themselves on the internet.

Expertise on the Contract

2006 –2008 I spent 80 hours in ‘official’ continuing education classes. I spent many more hours in ‘non-credit’ continuing education. A majority of that education is contract specific information. Add to this that I have been using the contract full-time, that I consult with other agents using the contract and you might guess I am pretty-well versed on what the standard AAR contract is about. If you are represented by yourself or an Uncle that works full-time at another job and ‘dallies’ with real estate part-time on the weekends are you going to have any expertise available to you when it comes to the nuts and bolts of the contract? Will you fully understand what you are signing? Will you recognize if the other party is trying to pull a fast one on you? There is a lot of money involved here, are you willing to ‘hope’ you have it right?

Expertise in Negotiating with Relevant Parties

Some of my clients are amazingly skilled at negotiating. While I absolutely love negotiating and get a ‘rush’ from the banter and back and forth of it all, I in no way have a “corner on the market”, so to say. While my clients are not experts on the contract we use and limited by that knowledge, some do quite well with the larger ideas and ‘net proceeds’ aspects of a contract. However, there is a lot more to negotiating then just finalizing the contract. On a listing, I start negotiating with the buyer’s agent from the very first phone call. I know what makes my house unique from others in the neighborhood because I have done my research. Every conversation I have with an agent, I am always pushing my client’s agenda and making my client’s case. This is important because those agents make recommendations to their client in writing up the offer to purchase. Often times, I have negotiated more money for you before the deal has even come across my fax machine. Valuable? Absolutely! Can I measure this and communicate this to you in a quantitative way….not so much – but the value is there nonetheless.

What about negotiating to keep the deal alive? I know the specific questions and dialogue to have with the other agent, the lender, and escrow agents during a transaction to identify possible problems and negotiate through them before they become deal killers. Having a business practice of consistently checking in with all parties involved during the transaction allows me to monitor and negotiate as needed.

What about negotiating the repairs during the inspection period? Negotiating with banks on foreclosed homes and short sales (could be another several blog post all to themselves)? There is a lot of value on expert negotiating in a transaction that I bring my clients.

Expertise in remaining a Detached Consultant

A home purchase or sale of a home can be, and often times does provide emotional turmoil at some point during the transaction. Very rarely are there zero ‘snags’ or obstacles that need to be navigated through. Often times, these can be trying for the buyer or seller who have an emotional stake in the outcome. Most often I have dealt with the particular obstacle, or a variation thereof, and can keep a level perspective. I want to provide the facts and alternatives to you in an unbiased way to assist you in accomplishing your goal.

Expertise in having access to Other Experts

The most common question I get as an agent is, “How is the market?”. The second most common question I get is, “Do you know someone that I can call about …..(fill in the blank)?” Clients and former clients know that I have had experience with all sorts of tradesman from housecleaning, handyman, roof repair, home inspectors as well as trade specific experts like lenders, escrow companies, real estate attorneys, property managers, etc….

Not only do I know of all sorts of people I can pass along for your own independent evaluation, but what about people I consult with during the transaction on your behalf that you might not even be aware of? For example, my managing broker, Trudy Moore, is only a phone call away. She is the managing broker for the largest real estate broker in the Southwest United States and is privy to all sorts of information that a smaller or independent broker might not have access to. In addition, my broker has real estate attorneys on retainer and access to the AZ Department of Real Estate legal hotline.

I also have access to the research department at my local preferred title company that can often pull tax information, deed information, lien information, parcel history etc that is not easy stuff to get a hold of. Often times I will have them pull information for me in my research and you might not ever know about it.

One of my clients works for Southwest Gas and has helped me get meters turned on at the last minute for inspections that otherwise would have caused days of delay. I have several clients that are custom home builders that I have some times called to consult with on a specific issue. I don’t overuse my connections with people, but I tend to become friends with my clients and we often have a reciprocal on-going relationship that last years after the transaction has ended. Sometimes I am able add value to my service because of these relationships.

While I hope to knock your socks off with my marketing plan, tools and cutting-edge use of technology, and those things are easily measurable; it is much harder to define the ‘expertise value’ that I bring to a transaction. This blog post is already well past the “ideal length” and I must let you get on with your day; but I hope I gave you some things to consider. Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, comments or concerns; and as always, thanks for reading.

This information is copyrighted by Tiffany Cloud 2009

Why 7.1% Unemployment Rate in Arizona is 'Good'

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:07:03 GMT

Of the states hardest hit by the housing bubble, Arizona’s unemployment rate is by far the lowest. Historically Arizona has always benefited from a lower than average unemployment rate compared to the rest of the country. When looking at the last 10 years statistics we had several years of 3-4% unemployment and average about 5%. Yes, we are currently at a a decade high of 7.1% but that is still below the National average of 7.6% (Jan 2009), even though Arizona had the largest drop in home values in the nation for 2008 at 34%. Think about it, with THE LARGEST DECLINE of home values in the nation wouldn’t one expect our unemployment rate to be much higher?

Let’s compare Jan 2009 Unemployment Rates in AZ to a few of the other states hit hard by the housing bubble:

	Current Unemployment Rate For January 2009	Difference from National Average of 7.6%	Highest Monthly Unemployment Rate from 1985-2008
Arizona	7.1%	- .06%	7.7%
California	10.1	+ 2.5%	9.9%
Florida	8.6%	+ 1.0%	8.9%
Nevada	9.4%	+ 1.8%	8.4%

- data Bureau of Labor Statistics

Do I suspect that the Arizona unemployment rate might go higher? Sure, most likely; but let's keep the rate in perspective with the rest of the nation, the other 'bubble states' and the fact that we are #1 for housing decline in the nation. Unemployment is bad. 7.1% in this economy??....I can live with that.

Bubble States (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)

Mesa Historic Citrus Corridor Explained

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:17:42 GMT

You might hear it referred to as “Mesa Groves”, “Citrus Sub-Area”. "Citrus Corridor" or just “The Groves”, they all refer to a protected sub-area in North-East Mesa, Arizona where estate size housing lots abound in and around 80-year old Citrus Groves.

There are many unique things that set this area apart from any other area in Mesa or the Valley. According to the City of Mesa’s Citrus Sub-Area Plan, the purpose of the sub-area is, “to provide estate-type residential uses and characteristics associated with large lot residential development.” Approximately 89% percent of the roughly 3 square miles is zoned R-35, low-density single-family housing, with schools and parks making up another 5%. In addition to miles of large estate size lots, a double row of citrus trees line most of the arterial streets and are incorporated into many of the sub-divisions and private lots. Consequently, The Citrus Groves Corridor has it's own microclimate which can be 10-15 degrees cooler at night than the adjacent desert areas.

In order to protect and maintain the history of what remains of the once 1,000 + acre groves, developers are strongly encouraged to follow guidelines set forth in the Mesa Citrus Sub Area Plan.

Below are a sample of a few of the Guidelines of this Area Plan that promote a rural experience:

All Garages Should be side or real entry
All walls should be of solid masonry construction using natural stone, stone veneer, brick or decorative block in keeping with the rural theme.
Minimum lot size should be no less than 30,000 square feet.
Citrus Trees should be maintained with flood irrigation when possible.
In the Citrus Sub-Area, all new residential development should promote and encourage custom home development on R1-35 zoned lots.

You are going to see a lot of mature citrus, grass and beautiful custom homes in this area. While there is still evidence of a dessert, it is greatly muted by an abundance of green. From November to March is not uncommon to see an occasional John Deere tractor loaded with a trailer full of citrus driving down the street. People drive from all over the Valley to the few local citrus stands and stores that still remain in the area. In fact, Winter Visitors love to ship the fresh citrus to family and friends back east and beyond during the winter months. Several city parks, award-winning schools, a few churches and a couple of antique stores are also a part of this unique citrus sub-area. It is not a surprise, that The Phoenix Business Journal 2008 Book of List, states that Mesa’s wealthiest zip code, 85215, is a part of this unique area. The Groves are bordered by Loop 202 freeway on the North with easy access to Scottsdale and Tempe and less than 15 miles from Sky Harbor International Airport and Arizona State University.

As of March 4, 2009, ¾ acre lot homes in The Mesa Groves are listed from $339,900 to $3,150,000. The average list price per square foot is $263 and the average listing has 5688 sq/ft. If you would like more information on homes in this unique area, please give me a call 888.668.4629 or email me Tiffany@CloudHomes.com

A note to REALTORS, let's be honest.

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:19:39 GMT

Wow....That's a S-T-R-E-T-C-H (edit/delete)

I received an email today for a local agent in town today that I found very interesting.

This agent looked to have sent out an email ‘blast’ most likely purchasing a list of email addresses from one of the many companies selling such things. The email was titled “Touching Base”. The title and subject clearly inferd that I had a relationship with this agent, which I obviously do not, but it’s a hook to get you to open the email – breed familiarity. Salesmanship 101. I have no problem with that, although I don’t use those particular tactics myself, to each his own.

My problem came with the body of the email, it read as follows:

“I wanted to touch base to see if there is anything I can do for you. As your local real estate expert and economist, I am here as your resource for information and updates.”

“Economist”…..now THAT is interesting. I wonder what our Real Estate commissioner would think about that statement? In Arizona we are strongly encouraged not to advertise or work outside of our area of expertise. Clearly passing a real estate license exam does not constitute the expertise of an “economist”. Outside of our own local licensing laws in Arizona, this agent is a REALTOR and subject to NAR’s professional standards which holds a REALTOR to be honest and not mislead the public.

I just thought this was a stretch, and a poor one at that.

UPDATE: I checked this agents website just to make sure they did not hold a degree in economics and then I sent the agent involved an email as a professional courtesy to let her know that she might be advertising herself outside of her scope of expertise and to be cautious.

The response I got from the agent in it’s entirety was this: "The e-mail sent was from the Keller Williams 33-touch campaign, not something we ourselves wrote"

...And obviously not something they thought to proofread before sending out or feel a need to correct? Hmmmm.....

I know what a lot of you are thinking. “They are just trying to let there client’s know that they are on top of this crazy economic upheaval, stimulus incentives, etc… They are trying to be relevant to their sphere.” There is relevant and then there is overstating the facts, and let’s just say it, lying.

We have clients that are desperate for help right now, not just needy or curious, but actually desperate. Is it fair to communicate to those folks seeking professional advice that you have a higher degree of expertise than you have? Couldn’t an agent be taking advantage of an extremely volatile client? Maybe, maybe not….but why take the risk? Let’s hold ourselves to a higher standard of care to the public.

Thanks for reading.

2009 Home Stimulus Needs Response

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:25:39 GMT

Providing Incentives for the bank to modify loans with troubled borrowers is all good and well if the banks can respond.

The reality is that banks have been living with the necessity to deal more efficiently and effectively with the short sales and foreclosures for years and have not responded.

The phone is ringing and ringing and ringing......will the banks pick up?

2009 Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan for Arizona

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:55:02 GMT

2009 Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan for Arizona

President Obama outlined the housing portion of the stimulus plan in Mesa Arizona today. Mesa, Arizona with a Jan 08 - Jan 09 depreciation rate of 44%. Yes, that is 44% in the most recent 12 month period. You can imagine that as a full-time REALTOR living and working in Mesa Arizona I was very eager to hear what plans this housing portion of the stimulus plan might offer to help curb the downward spiral we are in. While specific details on the plan will not be available until March 4^th some major things were addressed today.

This is what I heard…

US Treasury is hoping to help as many as 3 to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure by providing mortgage lenders with financial incentives to modify existing first mortgages. New modified payments will not be allowed to exceed 31% of the borrower’s monthly gross income. (great news!)

Lender’s are NOT required to modify a loan

Let’s hope that financial incentive from the government to be announced March 4th is a good one because the last time the mortgage companies were offered the opportunity to modify loans on a volunteer basis the whole thing fell flat.

Through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac homeowners will be allowed to refinance their existing loans up to 105%. This will help those homeowners that would like to refinance to lower payments and take advantage of lower interest rates (especially those caught in unreasonable Adjustable Rate Mortgages) but have been unable to do so because they do not have 20% equity in their homes. Quite a lot of Arizona families might need to be giving this some serious consideration. Only first loans are eligible and the home must be an owner/occupied home to qualify – no investment properties.

First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit of $8,000 available for purchase made from January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009.

This credit was changed quite a bit during those final days of negotiating in DC. The final credit resulted in a credit that need not be paid back if you reside in the home for at least 3 years.

FHA limits will return to the temporarily elevated ones of 2008

This means our current FHA loan limit of $271K will be elevated back to $346k. The FHA product is useful in getting the housing market moving again, because the FHA product offers buyers more flexibility.

[Here is the problem I always come back to when dealing with banks and distressed homeowners… Banks are effectively lame, dumb and blind when it comes to responding to the current workload they have. It takes them literally MONTHS (yes that is plural) to even assign someone to look at a homeowner’s case, let alone start processing it through layers and layers of reviews and approvals. How does this plan address or tackle that harsh reality?]

Is it a Credit or a Loan? 2009 Stimulus for Home Buyers

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:25:56 GMT

Stimulus help for homebuyers - Is it a credit? Is it a loan?

We are still waiting on final details of what Congress will turn out on the “$15K homebuyer tax credit”. Here is what we think we know right now:

· The $15,000 tax credit is more of an interest free loan from the government. You purchase a home and then are able to apply for this ‘credit’ when filing your tax return. You get $15k from government and repay the money to the government, interest free, in 15 equal installments via your annual taxes.

· The tax credit is non-refundable, which means that buyers can only claim the credit if they owe income taxes. (The Home Buyer’s credit of 2008 which was $7500 could be credited whether you owed/paid taxes or not)

· Buyers can claim the credit on two years of tax returns.

· No income limits

· Applies to people purchasing primary residences only

· If you sell the property before the 15 years has occurred, the entire balance is due from the proceeds of the sale. Not enough money from the proceeds? Government is out some money, you are off the hook.

· You DO NOT have to be a first-time home buyer to receive this credit.

· Credit is up to 10% of sales price up to $150,000 sales price. In our Greater Phoenix Housing Market, most buyers will be able to take the maximum amount of $15,000.

I don’t like the fact that Congress is calling this a “credit”. I think to more accurately describe this to the public it should be correctly identified as, “$15k interest free loan for home buyers”. Leave it to the government to say they are giving you a credit, but want it back. I am glad when my bank credits me something, I don't have to worry about them taking it back; or that my school teachers didn't take back their extra-credit that they gave me in school. If you have to pay it back, it's called a " L.O.A.N "

Now for the disclaimers: Please consult your qualified financial planner or CPA for more information and details on this program. This is information I have gathered from several different sources and is changing daily.

3.99% Financing on your next new home in the Phoenix Area!

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:18:06 GMT

How does 3.99% Fixed Interest Rate Sound for that New Home?

Many builders are offerering Interest rates below an already unbelievable 5% to entice buyers to purchase one of their homes.

Toll Brothers, a Valley leader in luxury homes, is offering an unbelievable 3.99% 30 year fixed rate loan with no origination fees on their inventory homes and will lock that rate for up to 60 days with no cost to the buyer. Toll Brothers features communities in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Cave Creek, Litchfield and Chandler.

Blandford Homes which boast Planned Community of the Year for 8 of the last 10 years for it’s Spectacular Las Sendas Communityin North East Mesa is offering tantalizing interest rates for it’s Mountain Bridge Community, another Resort Master Planned Community only a few miles from Las Sendas. Blandford is offering what we refer to as an ‘interest rate buy-down’ for the first couple of years of your mortgage. First year is 2.5% interest, Second year is 3.5% interest and your third and final interest rate for the remainder of your 30 year term is a fixed 4.5%! (Just a side note here, I will be doing another blog with pictures soon on Mountain Bridgeas it is my favorite new home community in the East Valley right now.)

Lennar and Centex are offering attractive interest rate ‘buy-downs’ right now and many other builders are bound to follow.

If you have any other questions regarding New Homesin the East Valley, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or shoot me a quick email.

Thanks for reading – Have a great day!

Mesa Public Schools Make the Grade in 2008!

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:05:55 GMT

Some good news for students and their families in Mesa School District:

America's Promise Alliance ranks Mesa Public School District Number 1 in graduation rates among the nation's 50 largest cities for 2008.
U.S. News and World Report lists Dobson, Mesa, Mountain View, Red Mountain and Skyline in it's "Best High Schools 2008 Search".
The class of 2009 is represented by 25 National Merit Semifinalist in Mesa Public Schools.
High school graduates in the class of 2008 were offered $45 million in scholarships.
The International Baccalaureate Programme, World Studies Academy, Health Schience High School and award-winning Biotechnology Academy provide a variety of choices for students.

For more information about this dynamic city visit the Mesa Chamber of Commerce.

50,000 and still counting down...

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:34:55 GMT

June 2008 brings us down to just over 50,000 active single-family listings in the Phoenix/Metro market. We are down about 7,000 since our peak. Good news right? Yes, our inventory is going down, but it still needs to decrease by at least 15,000 listings before we start to see our prices stabilize.

If you are wanting to sell, this is bad news.

If you are wanting to purchase - Hooray!, you still have time!

Bidding Wars in Phoenix Real Estate Market - Version 2008

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:36:58 GMT

If someone would have told me that I would be taking part in bidding wars in the Phoenix market 12 months ago I would have told them they were crazy. We have had the largest inventory surplus in the Phoenix and East Valley market since ....well, EVER.

Nonetheless, the foreclosure market in Phoenix Metropolitan area is RED hot. A normally balanced market is a 5-5.5 month supply of inventory; that is a market where the buyer and seller are on pretty equal terms as far as negotiating agreeable terms. We currently have a 3.5 month supply of single-family detached (not codos) bank-owned homes.

I have fantastic buyers. My buyers have sterling credit and FICO scores, lots of money in the bank and are trying to buy in Gilbert or S.E. Mesa. We have run into multiple, OVER-ASKING price offers on the last 4 homes they were interested in. Our last offer was written on a Gilbert bank-owned property for 10K over and was squeaky clean; My buyers didn't even ask for a home warranty from the seller/bank. There were 5 offers for that home the first 5 days it was on the market. I have been trying to get a hold of the agent to find out how far we were off from the offer that 'won out'; I need to know just how competitive this foreclosure market has become. I know it sounds like a post I might have written in 2005 - but folks this is June of 2008.

We do not have a shortage of foreclosed homes on our market, to the contrary we have more bank-owned homes than ever being added to the market daily. The difference is, the buyers that have been waiting for the bottom for the last 18 months are finally convinced we have hit it and are wanting to buy now while the deals are a 'plenty.

So here we go again....

New Homes - Do your own Landscaping

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:15:23 GMT

Some New Home Builder's in the Valley like to offer front yard landscaping as part of their incentive package when purchasing a home from them. KB Homes, Trend, Richmond America and several others don't charge extra for this, but include it in the price of the home in several of their subdivisions across the valley. Great Right? There is so much to do when moving into a home, so many things to purchase (window coverings, appliances, shelving/storage for the garage, back yard landscaping, etc...) One less thing to do...one less thing to pay for...one less hassle...except that everyone’s house looks the same. Is that such a bad thing? YES< YES< YES!

When a builder puts in everyone's landscaping they normally will have a few different variations of landscape plans to choose from, picking out your landscaping is much like picking out the elevation on your home... do you want A, B or C? Now they normally will allow you to 'upgrade' or customize your landscaping a bit for a fee...and lets face it, by the time you get to landscaping haven't you already spent more upgrading the home than you wanted to? Landscaping you can always change later, but that bay window has to be upgraded now. Some builders will even let you specify for no additional charge which trees and bushes you would like out of their approved list...ooh boy! Now your neighborhood is going to be limited to the same plants, same color granite (landscape rock), same general layouts repeated over and over and over.... There is no creativity, no different color granite, no elevation changes - everything is flat, and looks the same - YUK! It won't be as noticeable when the neighborhood is new, but as it matures, it will make a difference in how your neighborhood feels to potential buyers. Even though you are going to be living in the home for several years, there is a 98% chance that you will be selling this home someday and you need to consider resale and marketability of the home and neighborhood you have purchased in.

Let's take this a step further.... it's human nature that when we create something ourselves there is a sense of pride in that creation. (Have you met many new parents that aren't proud of their new bundle of joy?) We will protect and nurture something that we created more so than something that we have no ownership in. When folks design their own visions of what a front yard landscape should look like they are more likely to want to maintain that vision for years to come.

I am telling you from experience that when I am driving through multiple sub-divisions with buyer's they notice how the neighborhood 'feels' before they ever consider the floorplan. I can't tell you how many times I have heard a buyer say, " I don't know what it is, but I just don't like the way this neighborhood feels."

My husband and I purchased our first home in Gilbert. It was all of 1298 square feet and definitely considered an entry-level home. Our builder, Dave Brown, wanted to offer help with the landscaping but instead of putting it in for us, they offered a $1500 rebate once we completed our landscaping. It was great! We had a unique varied neighborhood, and got assistance with the cost of our landscaping. We had to meet standards and have the landscaping inspected before we received the re-imbursement from the builder which insured a minimal quality throughout the neighborhood was met. That sub-division, which is now nearly 15 years old, is still a neighborhood that I would be proud to buy, sell or live in. The neighborhood still ‘feels good'.

Make sure your builder is creating a neighborhood that will 'feel' good for years to come by letting you do some creating yourself. Consider it...Thanks for reading.

Checking up on your Licensed Contractor...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:19:09 GMT

Quite Frequently I get asked for referrals for various contractors and specialty services. The question is usually framed like this, "Do you have a guy for ....?"

As a precaution, our instructors and brokers who specialize in risk-management, always advise us to recommend at least 3 individuals so that I am not 'steering' or advocating one over the other,(but that is why you called/emailed my right?...to see whom I have first hand knowledge that does a decent, or preferably outstanding job?) Ideally we want you to perform your own due diligence and check out several before making any decisions. I will try to give you 3 names/companies to contact - but sometimes I just don't have 3...in that case you will just get what I have. Even though I might not always have at least 3 contacts to give you, there is one thing I WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU and that will be the website to check with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors on any individual and/or company claiming to be licensed within the state of Arizona.

It takes less than 2 minutes to check their status and here is some of what you will be able to find out about the entity that is claiming to be licensed:

License Number and status of license (current, in-active, etc...)

License Number and status of license (current, in-active, etc...)
Contact Information including phone number
License Class (please don't hire an electrician to do a roofing job - that is out of the field of expertise and they are not permitted to work outside the scope of their license)
Issue Date, Renewal Date and Qualifying Date of the licensed entity
COMPLAINT Information
- How many complaints are currently open, closed, have been resolved/settled/withdrawn and
- how many complaints were closed because the contractor has been in bankruptcy
- Read summaries of complaints against a contractor...and you are within your rights to go downtown and read the full complaint and view supporting documentation.

Don't you need to ask some questions if a potential problem has gotten to a point where someone had to file a formal complaint? I am not saying that there are not instances where some people are just not going to be happy and are going to complain no matter what....but use your judgment and at least be sure there isn't a problem you should know about BEFORE you hire someone.

I don't just 'preach' this ... I believe and practice it. A couple of years ago we were looking to hire a contractor to do some major remodeling work on our home. I had gotten the name of a contractor from a friend. It turned out that this popular custom home builder had several open and closed complaints. I went downtown to read them all and they were fairly serious complaints that all had the same theme - this guy didn't pay his sub-contractors and his clients were harassed by the subs for a year or more after the job was completed. Yeah - he did great work, but because he didn't pay his bills, his client's had liens put on their houses and quite a bit of turmoil getting things resolved after the work was done. Boy was I glad I had done my homework up front.

You get MORE THAN JUST ME on a New Home

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:06:03 GMT

I received a 'panic-call' from a frenzied mother the other day. Her adult child had wandered into a new home community and signed a contract to purchase a home. A phone conversation was completed with the builder's lender at which a conditional loan approval was given to the potential buyer based on income from a job she was most likely going to get when she finished her schooling in the next 6 weeks.

The adult daughter/buyer has since learned she is expecting. She will have childcare expenses she was not expecting and does not believe she can afford the house payment. She wants out of the home. Mom wants me to give her advise on how to get her daughter out of this contract.

What most people don't understand is that when REALTORS write a purchase offer on a resale home, we are using a approved, standardized contract that has been been through a 2 year arduous review process that includes input from some of the best and brightest minds represented in all aspecs of a real estate transaction (escrow, mortgage, real estate attorneys, REALTORS, consumers, policy makers, etc...) Our resale contract protects the buyer AND seller in a purchase. In my opinion if it is weighted to favor one party more than the other, I believe it favors the buyer. I do not believe this to be the case when purchasing a new home. Every builder uses their own contract. Guess who that contract is going to favor? For example, some of the provisions I have found in new home contracts in the last 7 years in the state of Arizona go something like this...."If buyer is late closing, buyer will pay builder $100/day for every day they are late" (However, this same contract allows for no remedy to the buyer if the builder is late in closing which happens quite often.) "The builder may change any provision in this contract at their sole discretion. The buyer agrees to provide sole discretion to builder and will not contest any items changed by builder" (don't think that would hold up in court - but who wants to find out???) "Builder negates any warranties implied or stated by builder or manufacturer of any products used in the building of home or installed within the property unless specifically mandated by law." I could go on and on...let it suffice to say that every single new-home contract I see heavily favors the builder.

Back to our scenario.... I am not a lawyer and wasn't consulted before this buyer decided to go looking at homes. My advise to this Panicked mother was to contact a real estate attorney. However, had this been my client - I would have had one of the best Real Estate attorneys in the state of Arizona to consult with as my broker has this lawyer on retainer. As my client, this first time buyer would have had an expert on her side to help her navigate and understand this contract. She most likely would have much less stress than she is in now enduring and will continue to endure.

There is more to my value then just driving people to new home developments. You get me, you get my broker, my vast network of professionals (inspectors, lenders, other REALTORS, etc... that I can consult with on your behalf, and you get my brokers legal attorneys. It's a pretty good deal considering that I don't charge a retainer fee and the seller pays my comission. (translation - it cost you nothing)

Consider it. Thanks for reading.

Procurring Cause in Arizona

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:58:48 GMT

I got a call from a potential buyer on a listing I have in Gilbert. This buyer had seen one of my advertisements and wanted to view the home. As I always do, I asked if they were working with a REALTOR. There was a pause and then the buyer, a gentleman, said, "Yes". I then politely asked this buyer if there was a reason he was calling me to show him the home instead of his agent. His response was, " well, my Dad will be representing us, but has his license in-active right now. He will have someone to hang it active with in a couple of days."

So, I am in the business to sell homes - and I will be showing this gentleman my listing tomorrow. I wanted to explain what could and often does happen in similar situations in Arizona and across the nation. This topic has spawned volumes of discourse, lengthy discussions and pages upon pages of procedural standards and precedents. I will try to explain in simple, admittedly not complete, terms why agents have a problem showing properties to other agent's clients. You are already familiar with procuring cause if you have ever looked at a new home community and seen on the door, "If you are working with an agent, they must accompany you on your first visit."

If an agent spends the time and money to market a property, shows and educates a buyer about a property and then the buyer decides to buy the property. The agent that helped to get the buyer to the point where they were ready to say, "I want to purchase this home", is the one that should earn the commission for selling the property to the buyer. In the real estate industry we call this "Procuring Cause". Simply writing up an offer to purchase a home on the buyer's behalf, even though you might be negotiating the deal does not entitle you to a commission. This type of agent essentially is having other agent's do the footwork and incure the cost for him/her and then they want to get paid for the work.

Let's think about this, is it fair for someone to do all the leg work, spend the time and money to get the buyer there, spend time with the buyer at the property providing them with pictures, information, etc. and then have someone else step in and get paid for the first agent's work? If an agent is representing a buyer, shouldn't they be showing them homes? How are they going to speak to, and consult a buyer in contrasting homes, neighborhoods, etc...if they haven't viewed these homes?

National Association of REALTORS has a Code of Ethics and procedural standards in place to try to protect the public, our clients and to try to ensure agents treat each other in a professional manner. The Golden Rule is specifically spelled out at the beginning of the document. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

If you want a specific agent to represent you in the sale of the home - let them represent you from start to finish. If you shop for homes without your agent there is a very good chance your agent won't get paid and you won't get the benefits of true buyer representation.

Thanks for reading.

Back To The Blog...Blogging takes Time

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:47:13 GMT

I have been away for a few weeks.

Life happens and much has been going on. I have been doing my annual 'scram' to get all my 2007 year-end receipts and records ready for my accountant. In addition my husband and I are once again seriously considering selling our own home of which I now have a very lengthily list of items that I would like to get completed. (More on that later). Business is picking up as it always does in the spring. In addition, I am staying in close contact with folks that have been waiting to sell/buy and for some of them we are getting close and starting the process.

My hectic schedule is not anything unique to what anyone else in life has....we all have busy periods in life. What I am faced with though, is the reality that blogging takes a lot of time. To post a blog entry a day takes me at least one hour. In addition, to keep up with other people's blogs that I follow, another hour. There are times I just don't have 2 hours per day to give to it.

The market is changing so quickly right now to, and their are so many things I would like to share with everyone, sometimes I lay in bed at night right before nodding off and think, "I wish I would have had time to write about ______ today". Sometimes it just doesn't happen though.

So blogging is a commitment, one I am trying to get in the habit of doing because I believe it provides value to my client's and the industry as a whole. Please be patient with me as I learn and grow.

Thanks for reading.

Arizona Still Most Desirable in Nation...

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:24:30 GMT

US Census data released today shows Maricopa County was the fastest growing county in the United States from July, 2006 – July, 2007. Maricopa County consists of Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, Glendale, Gilbert, Peoria, or what others commonly refer to as the Metro-Phoenix area; if you live here, we just call it the “Valley” which is short for the “Valley of the Sun”.…

The second fastest growing County is outside of New Orleans where people are continuing to move back after cleanup from Hurricane Katrina continues. The third fastest growing county is….you guessed it – Pinal County, Arizona. Pinal County is where a lot of folks flocking to the Phoenix metro-area have settled down because the housing is more affordable if you don’t mind the extra 20 mile commute to the Phoenix-Metro area. Pinal County cities of Casa Grand, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, Gold Canyon and Maricopa (yes, the town of Maricopa is in Pinal county, not Maricopa county) are popular suburb alternatives to housing in the Phoenix-Metro area.

From 7/2006 – 7/2007 Maricopa and Pinal Counties combined attracted over 130,000 new residents.

I am admittedly biased as a fourth-generation Arizona native, whom I might add, is also married to an Arizona native. Here are some of my thoughts on why people love to live in Arizona in 2008.

Low Unemployment Rate (4.3% in 1/08 compared w/national rate of 4.8%)
Golf
ASU, U of A, NAU, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Thunderbird International Graduate School(rated number 1 MBA International program for 11 consecutive years by US World and News Report)
Sedona
Great Dog Parks
Affordable Housing
Super Bowl 2008, Phoenix Open, Barrett-Jackson Car Show/Auction
Premier Resort Destination
More than 330 days of sunshine a year!
Grand Canyon
Live in the Valley in the winter, visit or have 2^nd home in pine/snow country only 2-3 hour away!
Did I mention the sunshine?
Intel, General Dynamics, Boeing, GoDaddy.com
Hiking, fishing, cycling
Beautiful Sonoran Deserts
6 hour drive to Disneyland or Las Vegas – take your pick! Mexico resort towns even closer!
Canadians like Arizona
No Natural Disasters
Art, Culture, Friendly Folks, Sunshine, Great Schools and Employers, and Still Affordable!!

Heads-up if you have a home equity line of credit…

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:35:04 GMT

Yesterday while at a REALTOR tour a lender stood up and told us one of his client’s banks had closed his home line of credit (also known as a HELOC in the lending world) without warning. Apparently, 18 months ago when the gentlemen had taken out the line of credit the bank had estimated his house was worth 10% more than he owed on it, (90/10 ratio). With the market depreciation that we have seen, a line of credit based on an appraisal done 12 months to 3 years ago would be obsolete. It is very likely that if the gentlemen above could already owe more than his house is worth without even having any additional liabilities via his line of credit.

Banks are losing a lot of money right now, and it is possible that they will start looking at this ‘line of credit’ aspect of their financial portfolio more closely in an attempt to prevent a further loss of money down the line.

My intention is not to cause a panic, however I have access to this information and I just thought some of you might want to be made aware of it. If you are relying on that line of credit for something like a down payment on your next home, an upcoming wedding or trip, you might want to take a closer look and even talk to your financial institution.

Is it a deal or is it a home?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 05:00:51 GMT

I had some client's that looked at a home a few months back that they really liked. In fact, I could tell as soon as they walked in that there was that excitement that comes from the realization that 'this could be the one'. Unfortunately for them, it happened to be the first home I had selected for them to view... Being new to the process and being determined to get the best deal, they held off. I told them at the time that the home was priced very well, at nearly the bottom of the market for that area and had only been on the market 11 days and had already been in escrow and fallen out - to me that indicated that it was priced in a way to create demand.

Nothing we saw after that exited them like that first home, so two weeks when we went out looking at homes again we took a second look at that home and they liked it even more. They decided to wait on the home again for a second time and a few days later I had to call them and let them know the home was under contract. They were genuinely shocked and disappointed.

While it is possible that the home could have stayed on the market even longer and eventually dropped in price or the seller's become more eager to bargain, what is wrong with making an offer on a well-priced home that you LOVE? Let's remember that we have to live in these homes, raise our families in these homes, and come homes to these places after a long day of work. It's great to get a deal, and I would argue that there are more great deals out there than there are great homes and if you find one that is both - then don't hesitate...make it yours!

New FHA Loan Limits open doors for Arizona buyers!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:08:42 GMT

New FHA Loan Limits for Maricopa and Pinal County were posted last week for a single family residence at $346,250! This is up from $252,500! The wonderful think about FHA is that only a 3% down payment is required .... and even better, FHA will allow that 3% to be 'gifted' from a family member.

A loan of up to $346,250 with a down payment of 3% will allow for a purchase/contract price of $357,000.

(Sidebar: Here is one reason why I am exited about Arizona Real Estate right now.... Is it possible to offer $357,00 for a home that is listed for more than that? - Absolutely. In this market, could one purchase a home for $357,000 that originally sold for $500K or even $525K two years ago?....You BETCHA!! And, the best part of all...Will that house be worth $500K again in let's say 3, 4, or even 5 years from now? Almost Definitely!)

We have seen FHA loans on the rise in Maricopa in the last 6 months, and I speculate that this new limit will exponentially increase interest and use in this great federally backed loan program.

As always, I recommend talking with a lender should you have any questions with regard to whether an FHA loan is right for you. FHA has really come a long way and there is likely more changes in the near future as the government continues to assist the housing market. Please don't wait to check into it, as these FHA loan limits are only temporary and are only approved to stay in effect through the end of 2008!

What Investors Know: Don't Wait for The Bottom of the Market...

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:04:12 GMT

There has been a lot of buyer anxiety rampant in Arizona the last year and a half and with good cause. Prices have declined and there wasn't any indication that the bottome was anywhere near. I believe we have indications of a bottom and I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter.

I personally feel by looking at stats, talking to professionals in Title, Lending and other REALTORS, and being involved in the Arizona Real Estate market full-time ...this is the time to buy - period! While many potential buyers are waiting for the absolute bottom they fail to realize is that we won't know where the bottom is until 3-6 months after the fact. So here is my question to those of you who are hesitant:

· Is it better to buy on this side of the bottom of the curve or the other side of the bottome of the curve? Investors know that it's better to buy before the media starts declaring the market is headed up. Sellers are more motivated to sell when they feel the bottom has not been hit yet. Once it is obvious that things are headed back up, it will be harder to negotiate those 'screaming deals' with those same sellers. In addition, some experts have speculated that there has been so much "pent-up buyer anxiety" from buyer's waiting, that once they do feel the bottom has been reached there will be a frenzy of purchasing that will fuel the upswing of the curve much more quickly than most people anticipate. This would be especially true in Arizona where we still have a net of 97,000 people moving into the Valley on an annual basis.

· Consider This: Our inventory has decreased for 3 consecutive months now. We usually see inventory rise in Feb/March as people get their homes on the market in anticipation for our spring/summer buying season. That has not happened so far.

· Consider This: There are fewer new home builder permits being issued and absorption is starting to happen in the New Homes sales market (which has had a huge impact on our inventory for resale homes)

· Consider This: Valley wide absorption rates of single-family detached homes in Maricopa county have gone from over 20 weeks just several weeks ago down to 15.74 weeks.

· Consider This: We have 100% financing back, we have the Nehemiah gifting program back for down payments, FHA loan limits rose this week to $346,250. All of the sudden, we have financing available to us for buyers that we haven't had in almost a year.

· Consider This: The most recent data from the AZ Multiple listing service shows that of homes closed, 20% of them are cash sales! Cash sales are second only to conventional financing right now. We are used to seeing about an 8-10% of closed homes paid for with cash. INVESTORS ARE BUYING HOMES FOR CASH because they know this is the time to buy!

Don't re-invent the wheel. Investors have cash to buy because they know how to make money. If they are buying now you should be too. Whether you are buying a primary residence in Gilbert, a secondary residence in Scottsdale or an investment in Chandler....NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!!!

Advertised Short Sale Can Be Misleading

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:08:08 GMT

Advertised Short Sale Can Be Misleading

It is easy to get exited when one is looking for homes and sees a 3400 sq/ft home in Gilbert built in 2004 listed at $299,000 with a huge yard and pool. You read the description and think it sounds perfect…it’s advertised as a short sale, but surely you can put up with a little extra work and inconvenience if it will net you a smoking deal right? My Grandmother, and probably yours too, used to say, “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is”….and once again my Grandmother is right.

Some agents are advertising short sales well below what is reasonable and what a bank will accept trying to create a bidding atmosphere. They have no intention of getting an approval at the advertised price. Most often these properties either sell for well over the advertised price or they end up at auction or as an approved bank-owned foreclosure.

One year I got a two-paged typed Christmas list from my then nine year old. Getting that good of a deal is pretty much the same idea…wishful thinking!

The difference between an “Approved Short Sale” and a Short Sale

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:51:24 GMT

There are a lot of homes on the market right now, especially under the $300,000 range, advertising that they are a ‘short sale’. In fact, for some of the searches I have done for client’s literally ¾ of the homes pull up as a ‘short sale’. Just because someone advertises a short sale, does not automatically mean that the bank will sell it short. These folks, I guess at least 80% of them DO NOT HAVE APPROVAL FROM THE BANK TO SELL SHORT. Their agents have mistakenly guided them to believe that once they get an offer - that is the time to approach the bank with the belief that with something in hand the bank will somehow take their request more seriously. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Being approved for a short sale can be much harder than being approved for your original home loan. Essentially you have to qualify all over again and prove that you don’t have the ability to make your payments. Yep, we are talking tax returns, paystubs, bank statements, letters detailing your situation, etc….Initially when you bought your home this was a minimum 3 week process…now the banks are overloaded, understaffed and quite frankly, don’t have the same incentive to get you moved through the system as they did when you were qualifying for your original home loan that was going to net them cash. In addition to proving, or essentially qualifying with the bank to sell it short their must be a meeting of the minds on acceptable terms. Negotiating the terms of an acceptable sale can take days or weeks….it all depends on the parties involved. Now as always there are exceptions, but as a rule, it is not as easy as submitting an offer from a potential buyer and hearing back from the bank in 48 hours.

I always ask agents, “Has this short-sale been approved by the lender?” If it has, then they should be able to provide you with the details of the approval. I don’t show homes that are not “approved short sales”. My buyer’s time is valuable to them and once they are educated correctly, they understand that it just doesn’t make sense. Even if you do decide on an “approved short sale” you still have to work with a bank. It’s still ‘a roll of the dice’ as to the ability of the bank to correspond to your buyer in a timely fashion. A few banks have stepped up to the plate and have seen the value in working these sales efficiently but the majority have not and it can be extremely frustrating for all parties involved. Here is what I tell my buyers, “I bet I can find you just as good of a deal being sold by someone that is competing against short sales and there will be disclosures, guarantees, repairs made, responses in a timely matter and we can count on the deal closing when it’s supposed to.” Now, doesn’t that sound better?

New Zip Codes in Gilbert

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 06:54:15 GMT

Arizona continues to attract new residents and adding a net of 115,000 people/year to our population has resulted in the US postal service adding 12 new zip codes to the state of Arizona. Over 76,000 people were notified of a zip code change the summer of 2007 in Arizona. The area with the most significant percent of people affected were those in the South Gilbert/Higley area of the East Valley. 2 new zip codes, 85295 and 95298 were added and a formerly Higley zip code 85236 was eliminated. Major re-alignment with the surrounding zip codes 85297, 86296 and 85234 also occurred.

The Postal Service has instituted a 12 month grace period. So if you haven't already notified family, friends and all those you do business with - now would be a good time to do so! Once the grace period is over, there are no guarantees to the normal speedy delivery of your mail that we all enjoy and some times take for granted.

Although this happened months ago, I recently found a Google map that I thought I would post since I still get lots of questions about it.

Here is an live, interactive link for the map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114801386211278585914.000001137ab2fe3f4b0c8&om=1&ll=33.288064,-111.759109&spn=0.266327,0.355682&z=11

Arizona Real Estate Transfer Tax?

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:16:19 GMT

For all of you Arizona natives you might be thinking, "What is a Real Estate Transfer Tax?" If you are from the East Coast or one of the other states that currently have a real estate transfer tax, you more than likely have had the opportunity to experience this tax first hand. A Real Estate Transfer Tax is a tax on transferring real property (your home) to another entity (i.e. a buyer).

So who cares? We are one of the 14 states that don't have this tax.................yet. Every time the state of Arizona gets in the red they set up a 'blue ribbon committee' to study additional revenue source. As I write this, the State of Arizona has an estimated 1.7 billion dollar deficit. They are currently 'studying' enacting a transfer tax here in Arizona.

Here is the first problem I have with a transfer tax....you don't make anything more affordable by taxing it. Since our real estate median home price has increased over 100k in the last 5 years it has been increasingly difficult for Arizona teachers, other civil servants and just working class folks to purchase a home. Consider this, in order to keep pace with this type of housing inflation the average teacher's salaries would need to be about 35k more than it was just 5 years ago....I can assure you that has NOT happened.

Secondly, aren't we already taxed on our property value? In fact, we are even taxed on the inflation of such value although we might not even benefit or actually realize that appreciated value. Since the value of my home has decreased in the last year, the taxes I paid last year were on appreciation that I never realized. That is a pretty good deal for the State of Arizona. Why should the state double tax my home?

The last huge problem with a real estate transfer tax is that it will continue to get bigger, and no matter what the Arizona legislature initially thinks, it will in no way be 'temporary'. The state might like to start us out on a 'teaser tax rate' with exemptions for the first 100k and very low percentages to start, but how long with those teaser rates last? Hopefully we have learned our lesson with the mortgage debacle...those teaser rates eventually go up and we and our children will all pay the price!

Here is some additional information regarding a proposed Arizona Transfer Tax:

http://www.aaronline.com/documents/trans_tax.pdf

Tiff's First Entry - Welcome 2008!

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:06:44 GMT

Well here I am starting my first blog.

The most attractive thing about blogging to me is that you are supposed to write in your own voice. No lengthy editing, working and then re-working to sound polished or generic... I just get to be myself. (Don't worry, I will still use spell-check...I wouldn't omit that necessity!)

I have always approached my buisness and client's with honesty. Frankly, I dislike the 'hard-sales', 'too smooth', 'know-it-all', pushy sales people;. I refuse to be one of those types of business professionals. I have talked plenty of folks out of buying or selling because I honestly didn't think it was in their best interest given their individual circumstances - even though it meant no commission for me. THAT is how I choose to run my business and that is why a blog sounds like such a good fit for me. I just get to dialogue with you as I would if we were in the car together looking at properties in the East Valley or at your dining room table discussing the best marketing strategies for getting the most exposure for your Arizona Home.

One of the benefits I feel I can give Arizona families interested in buying or selling real estate in Arizona is the sharing of the extensive market research and real estate trends I am constantly exposed to and researching for my clients. I am already staying on top of current trends by immersing myself in numerous print publications such as, ARIZONA REALTOR, THE RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST, REALTOR MAGAZINE, SOUTHEAST PHOENIX BROKER AGENT MAGAZINE, PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL, WESTERN INTERIORS, ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST, and many other fine publications. I also have extensive online resources that provide me with up-to-the date relevant information that speak to trends, statistics and relevant mortgage and housing information. Why not put some of this information on my blog so we can all benefit?

O.K., this first entry is already longer than I wanted it to be. This next week my blog will cover an Arizona Real Estate transfer tax, some of my thoughts on why buyer's have such a hard time picking a home when they have more homes then ever to choose from.

As always, if you have any comments, concerns, questions or recommendations concerning this blog or anything else on your mind, please feel free to comment on this blog, email or call me!

Tiffany's Arizona Blog

Search for Homes by New Apple Plant in Mesa Arizona

Getting Acquainted with Arizona Wines

Benefits of Using a Local Lender

85295 Homes Sold July 2013 Plus Active Housing Inventory

What I need from A Buyer in order to show my Arizona Real Estate Listing

Below is the email I sent to this inquiry this morning:

A Random Act of Being Neighborly - Taking the Lead in Protecting Your Neighborhood's Value

After You Close That Arizona Home - Updating Your Driver's License

Reasons a Bank Might Agree to a Short Sale

Phoenix Luxury Housing Market Shifting Gears after Expiration of First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit … What does it MEAN?

Negotiating: It's more than just price

SUNS Playoff Schedule

Buyer Expectations in the Phoenix Market March 2010

Here is where being a “realistic buyer” comes in to play

Relief for Haiti, another reason I am proud to be a REALTOR

On a personal note….

It’s a long haul….

Below are some ways to support the efforts of Haiti.

Here is an idea…

Here is an idea...Let's all just be courteous to one another

think on it…

Rates Unraveled

Phoenix Metro Area Affordability Index for 2009

My Arizona Short Sale has just been approved by the bank - Now What?

Two Breaches Don't Make a Right...

Etiquette and Manners for Purchasing Short Sales

Welcome Electronic Signatures

Convenience

Tipping Point - Phoenix Housing Market 2009

Conveying Title with 'Special Warranty Deed' on Foreclosed Home

What kind of value does 'Expertise' add? Can you measure it?

Expertise in Timing

Expertise in Local Research

Expertise on the Contract

Expertise in Negotiating with Relevant Parties

Expertise in remaining a Detached Consultant

Expertise in having access to Other Experts

Why 7.1% Unemployment Rate in Arizona is 'Good'

Current Unemployment Rate For January 2009

Difference from National Average of 7.6%

Highest Monthly Unemployment Rate from 1985-2008

Arizona

California

Florida

Nevada

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Mesa Historic Citrus Corridor Explained

A note to REALTORS, let's be honest.

Wow....That's a S-T-R-E-T-C-H (edit/delete)

2009 Home Stimulus Needs Response

2009 Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan for Arizona

Is it a Credit or a Loan? 2009 Stimulus for Home Buyers

3.99% Financing on your next new home in the Phoenix Area!

Mesa Public Schools Make the Grade in 2008!

50,000 and still counting down...

Bidding Wars in Phoenix Real Estate Market - Version 2008

New Homes - Do your own Landscaping

Checking up on your Licensed Contractor...

You get MORE THAN JUST ME on a New Home

Procurring Cause in Arizona

Back To The Blog...Blogging takes Time

Arizona Still Most Desirable in Nation...

Heads-up if you have a home equity line of credit…

Is it a deal or is it a home?

New FHA Loan Limits open doors for Arizona buyers!

What Investors Know: Don't Wait for The Bottom of the Market...

Advertised Short Sale Can Be Misleading

The difference between an “Approved Short Sale” and a Short Sale

New Zip Codes in Gilbert

Arizona Real Estate Transfer Tax?

Tiff's First Entry - Welcome 2008!