Comments for Tucson Real Estate

Comment on Tucson Electronics Recycling by Nate at Retroworks

Nate at Retroworks — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:50:06 +0000

Hi there Dave,

My name’s Nate with American Retroworks. I came across this page in a google search for recycling TV’s in Tucson.

As it turns out, the AZ Star did an article about American Retroworks here in Tucson regarding our new pickup service which started (officially) in December of 2011.

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/new-services-make-it-easy-to-e-recycle/article_32448601-2b8d-5fbd-8a7b-d593e44b178b.html

Thanks!

Comment on Tucson Citrus Trees or Lemons Are Us by Dave

Dave — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:34:28 +0000

Laura,

The best way to do this is contact a local nursery and have them deliver and plant the tree for you.

Dave

Comment on Tucson Citrus Trees or Lemons Are Us by Laura Klein

Laura Klein — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:53:30 +0000

Please tell me if you know a way I can have a grapefruit tree delivered to a friend who just moved to Tucson?? (Of course, it is asap for her birthday).

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!!

Comment on Tucson Post Tension Slab by Dave

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:55:58 +0000

Tim,

Yes, you probably need a structural engineer to look at it. If the home is still under builder warranty you should get in touch with the builder and have them look at it.

Dave

Comment on Tucson Post Tension Slab by Tim

Tim — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:45:47 +0000

Dave,
We purchased a home about 4 years ago with a post-tension slab. This summer during extreme drought conditions in Texas one of the cables snapped. We have noticed cracks in our drywall and crown molding along the top of our cabinets pulling away from the ceiling and wall. These conditions just so happen to be in the proximity of the cable that snapped. Do we need to have someone come look at the snapped cable? Can this be easily repaired? Please advise.

Comment on Tucson Bank Owned Real Estate – Hey Banks Are You Listening? by iflyjetzzz

iflyjetzzz — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:28:33 +0000

Dave, this is a complex issue.
Banks keep foreclosed real estate on their books ‘marked’ at the bid price they paid at the foreclosure auction. That number is almost always much higher than the home’s actual value. Many refer to this as ‘mark to fantasy’; however, the bank can claim that the property is ‘marked to market’.
When banks sell these underwater homes for true market value, they have to take a paper loss on the transaction. This causes their capital ratios to decline. Since every bank needs to remain ‘well capitalized’, they can’t take too many hits to their balance sheet in any given quarter. … they need profits in other areas of the business in order to offset those real estate losses. So banks will continue to slowly release REOs onto the market as long as their balance sheet can take the hit.
There’s also the hopium that housing prices will start to rise. If we see a sustained rise in home values, you can bet that banks will dump their shadow REO inventories much quicker.

My personal take on the robosigning scandal and why it’s been drug out so long is because the banks have wanted to slow down the foreclosure process because their balance sheets couldn’t afford to make much more of a hit.

All of this is resulting in a lot of empty houses and tighter home inventories. Keep in mind that even with declining home sale numbers, >50% of all home sales in Tucson are REOs and short sales. I’m looking at Dec 2011′s sales numbers and the REO/short sales were a bit more than 55% of all sales. I can’t remember when Tucson reached the >50% inflection point but it seems like it’s been more than 18 months since that statistic was below 50%. When one removes ‘flippers’ from the sales numbers, the percentage of REO/short sales is even higher – a friend in Pheonix pulled those numbers out for his market and came up with ~80% of sales being controlled by the banks.
What you effectively have is the banks controlling both supply and prices of houses in the Tucson market. This will put a ceiling on home values until that percentage declines considerably. If you pull up historic numbers, you’ll likely be hard pressed to find any time in the last four decades where REO/short sales are >10% of overall sales.
It seems like the banks are trying to keep prices at a point where they can get cash investors interested in buying rental properties. They can’t put too much inventory on the market because that will cause a big drop in rent prices. It’s a fine balancing act.
The above isn’t a complete picture of banks’ reasoning for holding back inventory but I hope it helps when you see a bunch of empty REOs in a neighborhood that aren’t on the market. It’s just looking at the problem from a different angle.
In closing, I love your website. All the best to you and your family.

Comment on Tucson Water Recirculating System by Dave

Dave — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:40:03 +0000

Victor,

It would appear he is/was the post was written in 2007. No way of knowing if he is still with the company. Since the company is a distributor and not the manufacturer I thought there was value in the information and we could all do review searches for ourselves.

Dave

Comment on Tucson Water Recirculating System by Victor

Victor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:22:15 +0000

Tony, are you associated the Hot Water Lobster company? I clicked on your name to check your profile and it redirects me to the Hot Water Lobster website. Suspicious review. Clarification would be helpful. Thanks.

Comment on Tucson Jan 2012 – NOT a Buyer’s Market by Brigitte Echave

Brigitte Echave — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:52:26 +0000

Great article Dave. We need to get the word out on what a good time it is to buy here in Tucson. Low interest rates, great pricing and Tucson is the best place to live. Thanks for sharing. Brigitte

Comment on List Price NOT Wish Price Your Home by Kelly Ramirez

Kelly Ramirez — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:40:30 +0000

Very true! To get your home sold, you must be realistic and price it according to the market, not what you wish you could get for it.