*Click on the photo above to read the full article*

Kudos to our very own Chris Martin of Integrity All Star Realty!  He just helped the buyer of the home featured on the front page of the news yesterday close escrow on this great home.  He also is helping them sell their old home in Scottsdale. 

Today’s market has been rapidly changing the last 6 months- we are very excited here to see the turn around here in Phoenix.  Many families are rushing in to buy homes today trying to take advantage of the low prices and rates… rates have remained great but due to high demand and low supply, prices have been on the rise… Great news for Sellers finally- But buyers do need some patience and help from experienced and professional Realtors, like Chris Martin and our other agents here at Integrity All Star Realty.

Please call 480-243-4242 for help with your Real Estate needs today or Click here to get started.

Recently, Bank of America has been making big news- see the article just posted today Link to Article regarding incentive money.

On May 15, click the following link to read an email we received from Bank of America regarding the incentive money.

So long story short, if you are one of many who are still in a home that is worth less than you owe and you make your payments to Bank of America, now very well may be the time to apply for a Short Sale with them.

Here’s the paperwork we need in order to help you get started with selling your home BANK OF AMERICA PAPERWORK.

Please call 480-696-5800 or click here if you would prefer to speak with someone first to answer whatever questions you may have about the “Process”. We are here to help you or someone you know get through it as easily and quickly as possible.  We’ve helped countless numbers of families with Bank of America and don’t plan to stop anytime soon!

Here’s the link to the IRS website is case you aren’t exactly sure what it is.

Are you in a home now that is upside down in value?  Have you been “on the fence” about short selling or foreclosing and don’t know which would be best &/or when?

In 2007, it was one of the last things Bush signed and it blew open the doors for Short Sales because before then people had to pay taxes on the “Phantom Income” they received from their creditors (IRS Form 1099 C). 

Until the end of this year, it’s still in effect. 

We do expect it will be extended again, but probably not until the last hour like in 2010 when President Obama had extended it for another 2 years.

We do expect it will cause delays in the last half of this year for short sales in general because of the “rush” of people who will want to short sell their home they are upside down in before it’s they think it’s too late.

We do think it’s a good idea to talk to someone now just in case it doesn’t get extended. But again, we do feel strongly that it should.

Please call at 480-696-5800 OR Click here and get started online if you think you are ready to explore your short sale options.

East Valley MLS Inventory History, 2001-2012

If you’ve been looking for homes in the Maricopa County East Valley recently, you’ve experienced it.  Multiple bidding wars are not fun when you are the Buyer but great for the Sellers out there- which mainly consist of the banks (either via REO or Short Sale). 

What’s different from last time this happened (2005) is we do not have available the “liar loans” any longer that were blamed for the false increase in values and our appraisers and underwriters are very conservative today, so I do not believe we will see pricing sky rocketing anytime soon; but the prices for Real Estate definitely are not going down any longer either.

Between the Local Builders not building homes during 07-11 the way they had in years past and the pricing hitting bottom (with investors buying up everything), not to mention interest rates being so low (4% on average); we’ve hit a perfect storm in our local Real Estate market- which will pass! But for the time being, Buyers Beware- it’s going to take some patience to get the right home at the right price right now.

Please feel free to contact us if you are wondering what your home is worth today or if you are in the market to find a new home and need the right firm with experience to help navigate you through this current madness!  480-243-4242

Rebecca Hidalgo shares our latest tool with you to shop all New Home Builders at the same time online, view floorplans and incentives- SHOP HERE NOW if you are interested in checking out homes with Builder Warranties, NO BIDDING WARS, no waiting on Banks to find out if your offer was accepted, and what’s best is everything is brand new and most of the time can be customized to your taste.  Our inventory in the Phoenix Metro Area is at a record low (just checked today, now only 15734 homes Active on the market, this time last year, 44000 were available to pick from?!?) and with record low rates, now is the time to buy!

Rebecca just helped Jimmy and Helen of Gilbert get the keys to their brand new house  at Ashton Woods in Gilbert.  After helping them with 2 Short Sales in the past, this was such a happy day for them to get the keys to their brand new home.  Tomorrow, Rebecca gets the pleasure of helping another family get the keys to their brand new Pulte home in Mesa.  For the buyer out there that has been beaten up in bidding wars and lost, the local builders are a wonderful alternative.

The Brand New Homes not only have Builder Warranties in place but are also built today with much more energy efficiency than we’ve seen in years past as well.  Shea homes and many others are building their homes GREEN and offering Solar Panels, we’ve seen advertising recently on homes that are so energy efficient they are promoting next to nothing utility bills?!

This is definitely a great alternative to shopping for a home.  Foreclosures and Short Sales may seem like a bargain, but after repairs and updating is done to those homes and taking into consideration the cost of utilities for a used home over a new home, they may not be the best bargain in town ANYMORE. 

Please feel free to ask for help from Rebecca and her team to figure out which is the best option for you. 480-243-4242

Photo: Panoramic Images | Getty Images- CLICK PHOTO FOR LINK TO COMPLETE STORY

The other area on this list that’s not in Florida is the Phoenix-Mesa area in Arizona. It used to reside at the number four spot, but jumped ahead two notches between the third and fourth quarters of 2011. This area experienced more than its fair share of foreclosures, and one in every 317 homes still goes into foreclosure. However, the foreclosed homes on the market are being sold at bargain prices, which has caused a 27.47 percent decrease in the median age of inventory.

The city’s unemployment rate in November was 7.7 percent, better than the national average, which can only help boost the local economy. Real estate broker Christy Walker has an optimistic forecast. "The Phoenix market has experienced a positive change in the past year and is poised to continue rebounding throughout 2012," she says. "Employment is up, foreclosures have dropped significantly, investor sales are substantial and our inventory is hovering around a three-month supply with increasing demand."

If you ask any Buyer shopping for homes today, they will tell you it’s a dog eat dog world beating the pavements trying to find a “good” home at a “good” deal.  We are seeing multiple offer bidding wars; offers being placed on homes “site unseen” to try to beat the masses. 

There is a Supply shortage out there with only 16,592 homes showing active in our local ARMLS as of this morning, when a year ago the number was more than double that!?!  We love our Investors who are coming from Canada, Hawaii, Australia and other parts of the world buying up everything they can at our rock bottom price HOWEVER it’s been very challenging for the local families trying to break back into the market again after a Short Sale or Foreclosure as a result since most investors are offering cash and quick closes.

OUR ADVICE?: Work with a knowledgeable Real Estate Company with experience and HAVE PATIENCE!  Start searching for homes HERE and please let us know if you or someone you know needs help navigating through our ever changing Real Estate Market!

Nothing gives us more satisfaction than being able to help a family out from under a home they are upside down on and can not afford any longer, into their next home.  With today’s crazy low interest rates and sales prices, now really is the time to buy.  It’s usually much more affordable than renting and the key is the right counseling up front so that sooner than later, you too can be back in the buyer market again after either a Short Sale or Foreclosure.

Some can buy a “Home Again” right away, some take 2-3 years for their credit to re-coup enough in order to do so.  We partner with Ryan Nelson of Academy Mortgage right up front at time of Short Sale application so we can game plan the right solution for you and your family right from the beginning of the Short Sale process.  This helps to ensure we get you into your own “home again” as soon as possible.

Please call our office at 480-243-4242 to get started or Click HERE

On occasion, when someone is shopping around online for their next Realtor, I need to be able to share these recommendations and it would be so appreciated if you are willing to take a couple of minutes to express your experience with my services if I did a good job for you. Those that do will get a FREE pair of movie tickets to Harkins Theatres and if there isn’t one near you, I can certainly find a Theatre that is! Please click the box below to give me a recommendation! You will need my Name: Rebecca Hidalgo and my email address: rebeccahidalgo@cox.net. I really appreciate it!

Thank you!

Seems the whole world at the end of any given year going into the next makes New Years’ Resolutions and Goals of things they’d like to do in the following year. 

For me, to be a better Mom and Wife and take better care of my health… pretty boring stuff- somewhat the norm- I do also want to buy a home again myself as my own waiting period of 3 years after a Short Sale or Foreclosure is coming around already and I figured I probably wasn’t the only one.  Since 2007, with the help from my team, we’ve helped over 300 families either Short Sale their home OR buy a home and we’d love to do the very same for you or someone you know that may need our help. If you are one of our past clients, the timing may be right for you this year to buy again too?

IF SHORT SALE is something you’ve been putting off- PLEASE DO NOT put off any longer- as it stands now, The MORTGAGE FOREGIVENESS ACT OF 2007 signed by Bush is set to expire at the end of this year.  Short sales can take 3-6 months on average.  If this does not get extended soon, I predict that we are going to have a rush of Short Sales towards the second half of this year which may cause additional “traffic jams” with the lenders. Some folks trying to do a Short Sale in 2012 may miss the boat entirely for the forgiveness of the “Phantom Income” that the banks issue via 1099s at the end of each year from their losses on distressed loans. DON’T let this happen to you or someone you know! Click Here to get started with the Short Sale Process

On the flip side, it’s never been a better time to buy- RATES are @ 4% and sales prices lower than I’ve seen in most of my nearly 20 year career in Real Estate.  Click Here to see the in depth Power Point Presentation from Mike Orr of the Cromford Report with very interesting statistics on our current market and what it’s done the last couple of years.

Either way- we are here to serve! Please feel free to call us anytime at 480-243-4242 for help achieving your Real Estate Goals!