tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23776531825457315222023-06-20T21:17:43.254-07:00Real Estate Buyers HelpThe Real Estate Buyers help blog was created to help answer questions for all types of real estate buyers. From residential to commercial, and even foreclosures, today's real estate market can be very tricky. We will try to help you make good financial decisions.thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-41930595574188762582008-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:002008-05-02T12:19:13.601-07:00AZ 3rd-highest in foreclosures <div class="storydeck">Phoenix 7th-highest among metro areas, while Tucson is 54th-highest</div> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps">staff and wire reports</span></i></div> <div class="siteinfo">Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.30.2008</div> <div class="bannerinstory"> <div class="advert" align="left">advertisement</div> <script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script><script type="text/javascript"> function pr_swfver(){ var osf,osfd,i,axo=1,v=0,nv=navigator; if(nv.plugins&&nv.mimeTypes.length){osf=nv.plugins["Shockwave Flash"];if(osf&&osf.description){osfd=osf.description;v=parseInt(osfd.substring(osfd.indexOf(".")-2))}} else{try{for(i=5;axo!=null;i++){axo=new ActiveXObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash."+i);v=i}}catch(e){}} return v; 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"The slope is one direction. There is no sign of a bottom."</div> <div>He said 17 of the metro areas that the index tracks reported record annual declines, led again by Miami and Las Vegas.</div> <div>Meanwhile, U.S. home foreclosure filings continued to climb in the first quarter of 2008, jumping 23 percent over the previous quarter and more than doubling from the first quarter of 2007, according to a new report released Tuesday by RealtyTrac, a real estate data firm in Irvine, Calif.</div> <div>Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate among all states, with one filing for every 54 households, or 3.6 times the national average. California logged the most filings, with 169,831.</div> <div>In third-ranked Arizona, one in every 95 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure filings were reported on 27,404 Arizona properties during the quarter, up 45 percent from the previous quarter and up nearly 245 percent from the first quarter of 2007.</div> <div>After the three top states, the states with the highest foreclosure rates were Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and Connecticut.</div> <div>Among 100 U.S. metro areas, Phoenix had the seventh-highest foreclosure rate, with one filing for every 70 households. The 23,135 filings were up 46 percent from fourth-quarter 2007 and a 294 percent increase from the same period a year ago.</div> <div>Tucson ranked 54th, with one filing for every 224 households. The area's 1,864 filings were up 14.5 percent from the prior quarter and 90 percent from first-quarter 2007.</div> <div>Metropolitan areas in California had nine of the nation's top 20 metro foreclosure rates, with Stockton and Riverside-San Bernardino topping the list at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.</div> <div>Nationwide, one in every 194 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, more than double the same period last year.</div> <div>The most recent quarter marked the seventh consecutive quarter of rising foreclosure activity.</div> <div>"What would normally alleviate the foreclosure situation in a normal market is people starting to buy properties again," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.</div> <div>However, people without perfect credit and a significant down payment are having trouble getting loans, and that is slowing the market's recovery, he said.</div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-74055242239698869042008-04-28T13:44:00.000-07:002008-04-28T13:57:00.219-07:00First-Time Home Buyers' Few Options<div style="padding: 12px 0px 0px; font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span id="byl" style="font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">O.K. folks you have to read these articles and digest the information just for the sake of having the information. Then</span></span></span><span id="byl" style="font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">you must understand that lending, just like real estate is not just regional, but it's also local. If you are looking to purchase real estate in the Tucson AZ, there are still some good options for first time buyers. BofA has a great program called the Acorn program. So if you are interested in the Tucson area, please e-mail me so that I can introduce you to a professional that knows the market and understands what financial options are out there that fit your needs and situation. Don't let what the talking heads at the national papers say get you down or mis-inform you. Seek out a local expert, in the market you are looking in, and get the skinny from them. Remember, real estate is sight specific, what's happening in your neighborhood, may not be happening in another, or even across the street for that matter.<br /><br />Peace.</span></span><span id="byl" style="font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br /><br /><br />By <b>JEFF D. OPDYKE</b><br /><span class="aTime">April 26, 2008; Page B1</span></span><br /></div> <p class="times">Homeownership, the bedrock of the American Dream, is a bit of a nightmare these days for many first-time home buyers.</p> <p class="times">Lenders are demanding higher credit scores, mandating private-mortgage insurance on many more loans, and requiring larger down payments. Fewer first-timers qualify for the house they want, or they're paying a larger monthly amount to own it.</p> <div id="inset" style="border: 1px solid rgb(113, 148, 186); margin: 0px 3px 12px 0px; padding: 5px 8px; float: left; width: 254px; display: table;" class="arial black p11"><span class="b13"><a class="p11" href="http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=2293">DISCUSS YOUR FIRST HOME PURCHASE</a></span><br /><div style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 5px; font-size: 5px;"> </div> <table class="imglftins" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="85"> <tbody><tr><td><img src="http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-BI658_RE_GTh_20080425151252.jpg" alt="[home]" border="0" height="93" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="85" /></td></tr><tr><td class="medcrd">Associated Press </td></tr></tbody></table> <div style="padding: 4px 0pt 5px;"> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> Tell us about your experiences buying a first home. What sort of home did you buy? Where was it? How easy or difficult was it for you to procure a mortgage? And how much time and money did you invest in repairs? If you're looking for a first-home, tell us about the hunt. <a class="p11" href="http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=2293">Join the discussion.</a></div> </div> </div> <p class="times">There are still some programs for first-time buyers that offer slightly more lenient underwriting standards that make it easier to get into a home, or discounted interest rates that make homeownership more affordable. But even these are tougher to qualify for.</p> <p class="times"><a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=FRE" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for FRE');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Freddie Mac</a> requires a solid credit score of at least 700 for a low- or no-down-payment mortgage through its Home Possible first-time buyer program. Previously, it imposed no minimum. Freddie saw "an influx of business" amid the subprime bust, says Patricia McClune, a vice president, because it's the only way to obtain 100% financing. Loan volumes are still up, but the tightened standards mean fewer first-timers qualify.</p> <p class="times">Volumes at the Federal Housing Administration are up, too. The agency hasn't changed its underwriting standards, but does impose income-verification and debt thresholds. Moreover, FHA loans require that a mortgage-insurance premium of 1.5% of the loan value be financed into the mortgage; and borrowers must pay an additional 0.5% mortgage-insurance premium every year. Together, that adds $75 a month on a $150,000 loan.</p> <p class="times">"Every borrower faces a steeper hill" now, particularly first-timers, says Pete Ogilvie, president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.</p> <p class="times">Many programs for first-timers carry restrictions, so shop around. Connecticut's Homebuyer Mortgage Program offers a 5.625% interest rate fixed for 30 years, half percentage point below the area average. That can save $60 a month on that $150,000 mortgage. The problem: Reduced funding means the agency is doing only 2,750 mortgages this year, down from roughly 4,000 previously.</p> <p class="times">The catch: The loan is subject to a federal recapture tax. If you sell within nine years, you could be required to give up as much as 50% of the profits, depending on various factors.</p> <p class="times">"That's the problem" you need to be aware of with some first-time buyer programs, says Michael Menatian, president of Sanborn Mortgage, a mortgage bank in West Hartford, Conn. "You get the lower rate, but you're potentially robbed of a big part of the equity to buy your second house. But in this market, it's better than nothing."</p>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-60298023620164422112008-04-23T10:59:00.000-07:002008-04-23T11:01:10.404-07:00How About This for a Shot in The Arm?<h1 class="articleTitle" style="margin: 0px;">Congress Hammers Out<br />Breaks for Homeowners</h1><span id="byl" style="font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">By <b>MARTIN A. VAUGHAN</b><br /><span class="aTime">April 23, 2008</span></span><br /><br /><p class="times">In just a couple of years, Congress has gone from considering ways to collect more taxes from homeowners and individual real-estate investors, to dreaming up new tax breaks for home buyers. With foreclosures hitting about 7,500 a day nationwide in March, and median home prices declining in most U.S. markets, the shift in attitudes is no mystery.</p> <p class="times">Gone are the days of 2005, when an advisory panel appointed by President Bush recommended trimming the home-mortgage interest deduction to pay for lower income-tax rates. Many lawmakers scoffed at the proposal, but the fact that it was even put forward by the distinguished, bipartisan panel was remarkable in itself.</p> <p class="times">As recently as this past October, the House of Representatives passed a provision that would have raised taxes on some owners of vacation homes. It targeted owners who moved into those houses for two years before selling them, in order to benefit from the full $500,000 maximum income exclusion available for the sale of a principal residence.</p> <p class="b13"><b>Tax Credits, Tax Breaks</b></p> <p class="times">That provision is now nowhere on the radar. Moreover, Congress is moving toward enacting new tax credits for home buyers, and tax breaks for millions of homeowners who don't currently benefit from the ability to write off property taxes.</p> <p class="times">"The world has changed dramatically," says Linda Goold, tax counsel for the National Association of Realtors, of the rush by Congress to aid homeowners and the real-estate industry.</p> <p class="times">Who is likely to benefit from tax changes in the pipeline? And for how long? The Senate and the House Ways and Means Committees have each passed packages of tax breaks aimed at easing the housing slump. Both enjoyed broad support from Democrats and Republicans.</p> <p class="times">The first thing to know is that in order to claim any tax benefits in the current proposals, you must live in the house you are claiming them for. None of the provisions likely to become law are written to help the small-time investor in a single-family home.</p> <p class="times">Second, the tax breaks under discussion are temporary, so lawmakers can advertise them as being available "for a limited time only." However, if history is any guide, Congress is loath to let tax cuts for individuals expire once it creates them.</p> <p class="b13"><b>Standard Deduction</b></p> <p class="times">Both the Senate and House bills would increase the standard deduction for one year to allow those who don't itemize their taxes to take a deduction for property taxes. The increase would be capped -- the additional standard deduction is worth up to $1,000 for joint filers under the Senate plan, for example.</p> <p class="times">But nearly all homeowners already itemize so they can write off their mortgage interest, right?</p> <p class="times">Wrong. Roughly 40% of all homeowners -- about 28 million -- don't itemize. The additional standard deduction would particularly benefit people who live in modest homes and have paid off or nearly paid off their mortgages, many of whom are seniors.</p> <p class="times">As such, those people would also likely not have charitable or other deductions totaling more than the standard deduction amounts -- in 2008, $5,350, or $10,700 for married taxpayers filing jointly.</p> <p class="times">Besides the standard-deduction increase, Congress-watchers say some kind of tax credit for home buyers has a good chance of becoming law. The House wants to give first-time home buyers a $7,500 credit. The $7,000 credit offered in the Senate bill, not limited to first-time buyers, would apply only to new, unsold homes or homes in foreclosure.</p> <p class="b13"><b>A 'Buyers' Psychology'</b></p> <p class="times">"The whole goal here is to create a buyers' psychology," says Ms. Goold of the Realtors' group.</p> <p class="times">But some tax experts say it is more like a psyche-out. Take the proposed first-time home buyers credit, for instance. A qualified buyer can receive a maximum $7,500 from the federal government, similar to an interest-free loan, repayable over 15 years. That works out to an average of an additional $42 per month paid back to the government.</p> <p class="times">But what if, in lieu of borrowing from Uncle Sam, the strapped buyer had simply borrowed an extra $7,500 from the bank? Spread out over the life of a 30-year mortgage with a 6.5% interest rate, the borrower would end up paying an extra $48 a month.</p> <p class="times">Of course, the buyer who takes the tax credit saves $9,500 in interest costs over the long run. But the difference on the monthly payment side is small. "It raises the question: Is it really increasing the ability of the buyer to purchase that home?" says Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy for Deloitte Tax LLP.</p> <p class="times">The measures could still get tripped up by concerns about their cost, or by disagreements between the White House and Democrats over Federal Housing Administration provisions that are also expected to become part of the package.</p> <h3 class="b14" align="center">* * *</h3> <p class="times"><b>LAW STUDENTS</b>, be civic minded ... but also be tax wise.</p> <p class="times">Yale Law School last week announced it is expanding its student-loan-forgiveness program to include students in public-service jobs making up to $60,000.</p> <p class="times">Yale is one of more than 100 law schools nationwide that offers to forgive student debt, as an incentive for graduates to work for the government or a nonprofit when they graduate. But law students should be aware of possible tax consequences of such a gift, says Heather Jarvis of Equal Justice Works, an organization to promote public-interest law.</p> <p class="times">"It's an unsettled area of tax law," Ms. Jarvis says. Most schools have structured their programs so that the loan amounts forgiven wouldn't be treated as income, she said. But a 2006 court decision threw some doubt on whether law-school programs qualify for a tax exclusion.</p> <p class="times">Other schools structure their loan-forgiveness programs as a grant. In those cases, lawyers in the programs will owe some tax on the grant amounts.</p> <p class="times">In the meantime, school administrators including Associate Dean Ellen Aprill of Loyola Law School -- who blogged about the issue on the TaxProfBlog Web site -- and University of Virginia Law School Dean John Jeffries -- have asked the IRS to clarify its guidance.</p>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-76633034049161290962008-04-23T10:52:00.000-07:002008-04-23T10:53:22.219-07:00New Rules for Borrowers With Foreclosures<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">As if it weren't hard enough for borrowers to get a loan, check this out.<br /><br />At the end of the month, Fannie Mae will adopt higher minimum down payments and credit scores for borrowers with a past foreclosure. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The government-sponsored enterprise already has boosted the time period for these borrowers to re-establish their credit to five years from four years. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">While exceptions could be made for borrowers in hardship situations, Marianne Sullivan, senior vice president of single-family credit policy and risk management at Fannie Mae, says those who had the ability to pay but walked away from their homes should be treated differently than those who met their payment obligations. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Additionally, Sullivan says Fannie Mae will make it more difficult for borrowers to transform their current residences into rentals and purchase new homes to discourage them from walking away from the existing home after the transaction closes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Fannie Mae is making these changes as Congress considers passing legislation that would allow struggling borrowers to refinance into FHA loans after their lenders write down a portion of their mortgages, and the mortgage industry is pushing for speculators to be barred from the program. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Former Mortgage Bankers Association chair Regina Lowrie asks, "Why should a servicer take a haircut or have a cram-down for any borrower that truly has the ability to pay?"</span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Source: American Banker, Kate Berry (04/22/08)</span></i><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Copyright Info Inc. </span>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-15867073930493226592008-04-23T10:47:00.000-07:002008-04-23T10:49:13.740-07:00Go Green!<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">No I'm not talking about Michigan State, but it seems that there will be a whole bunch of benefits coming down the road for green built or environmentally friendly homes. Check out what the Denver Post had to say about it.<br /><br />U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) has rolled out legislation that could result in lower-interest loans for people who purchase energy-efficient homes or retrofit existing residences with green features. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Under the bill, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would gain as much as a 25-percent credit toward their federal goal of serving low- and moderate-income buyers by repurchasing mortgages on environmentally friendly buildings. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">This would create an incentive for lenders to pursue green lending because they would know they can easily resell the loans, said Perlmutter, adding that they could also pass the savings on to borrowers. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">It's a promising idea, but it's not a sure thing yet. Home builders have expressed concern about the proposal because the additional requirements could increase construction costs; and Fannie Mae is worried about a requirement that would force it to have different percentages of "green mortgages" by various benchmark dates.<br /></span><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><br />Source: Denver Post, Anne C. Mulkern (04/23/08) </span></i>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-25443363624087245822008-04-18T11:47:00.000-07:002008-04-18T12:03:30.795-07:00Hhhmmmm......<div class="date_page">Go figure, commercial lenders, that give loans that make financial sense, are still in good shape. Maybe residential lenders should learn how to price a loan correctly and make sure that the borrower can actually afford the payment. But hey, what the heck do I know.<br /><br />Daily Real Estate News <b>| </b>April 18, 2008</div> <span class="article_title">Commercial Mortgages Still in Good Shape</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Delinquencies in U.S. commercial mortgages have risen slightly this year, according to the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association (CMSA). But for the most part, the market is in good shape.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >The current delinquency rate is about 0.4 percent, up from 0.25 percent during the final quarter of 2007. The trade group says delinquencies could reach 1.5 percent to 2 percent before the end of the year.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >That’s still low compared with residential mortgages, and compared with commercial mortgages historically. The worst delinquency rate was in 1992, when it averaged 7.53 percent. Fitch ratings on Tuesday said that situation is unlikely to be repeated.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >"The commercial real estate markets are not facing the same significant oversupply that plagued the markets in the late eighties and early nineties, plus tax treatment of commercial real estate projects has been relatively steady," Fitch Managing Director Bob Vrchota said in a statement.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >CMSA President Lee Cotton, complained that investors misunderstand the situation and consider securities connected to commercial lending tainted by the same problems facing residential mortgages. </span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >"We are saying, stop. We've got 40 basis points of delinquencies. We've got in-balance markets. We've got sophisticated borrowers. We are not the same business," he said.</span><br /><br /><i><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Source: Reuters News, Lisa Lambert and Avesha Rascoe (04/15/2008)</span></i>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-50613508577928175752008-04-18T11:46:00.000-07:002008-04-18T11:47:24.473-07:00Good Idea or Bad? You Make the Call.<h1>Democrats unveil housing rescue plan</h1><!--Story Category:0x04010200--><div class="storybyline">The Associated Press<br /></div><div class="bannerinstory"><script type="text/javascript"><!-- OAS_AD('300x250_1') --></script><a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.tucsoncitizen.com/stories/local/698614926/300x250_1/OasDefault/Dillards2008_2/tucson_300x250_041308.jpg/34356632653735613438303865626630" target="_top"><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/Dillards2008_2/tucson_300x250_041308.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/.ads/adstream_lx.ads/news.tucsoncitizen.com/stories/local/698614926/300x250_1/OasDefault/Dillards2008_2/tucson_300x250_041308.jpg/34356632653735613438303865626630?_RM_EMPTY_" height="0" width="0" /></div> <div>WASHINGTON - Homeowners buckling under their mortgage payments would be allowed to refinance into more affordable government-backed loans under a proposal introduced by House Democrats on Thursday. </div> <div>The measure calls for the Federal Housing Administration to insure some $300 billion in new mortgages for distressed borrowers, even if they are badly behind on their payments and have poor credit. Lenders first would have to agree to wipe out a portion of the outstanding debt, and borrowers would have to show they could afford to make payments on the new mortgage. </div> <div style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 15px 0pt; padding: 5px; width: 575px; text-align: center; clear: left; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://secure.tucson.com/ezaccess/citizen/" target="_new">Save Money! Subscribe to the Tucson Citizen.</a></div><dl id="comments"><dt> Comments on this Story <div style="float: right; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom; font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a href="javascript:void(x=open('http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/lettertoeditor.php?id=82936','editorletter','toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=478,height=425'));%20x.focus();" style="font-size: 12px;">Write a letter to the Editor</a></div> <a href="http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/comments/index.php?id=82936">2 Total Comments — See All Comments</a> </dt><dd class="blue"> <strong>1.</strong> <em>Comment by Merle B. (#3423) — April 18,2008 @ 10:40AM</em> <p>There have been counless people facing their house being repossed that have contacted their lender and negotiated better rates and even some loan forgiveness. Don't get the government involved....they will screw it up for sure. </p> </dd><dd> <strong>2.</strong> <em>Comment by patrick b. (ptb) — April 18,2008 @ 11:06AM</em> <p>Many lenders offered these bad loans in cases where buyers should have taken <span class="caps">FHA </span>loans in the first place. But this generation of the mortgage business has almost no experience with <span class="caps">FHA </span>or VA loans, which are some of the best examples of our governments successful ability to introduce a public aid program.</p> <p>And Merle B may want to look up the countless news stories about lenders failing to work out effective re-payment plans. In many cases, their hands are tied and/or it's just too onerous to renegotiate individual mortgages.</p> <p>This proposal is finally headed in the right direction, in that it helps the homeowners rather than just the banks and developers.</p> </dd></dl>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-83235624410317807582008-04-17T13:30:00.000-07:002008-04-17T13:33:55.947-07:00Who will be in the Best Possition to be Ahead of the Next Boom?<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Developers with the vision and the holding power will most certainly control the lion's share of the dirt and the land development in the next 2 to 3 years. Look for new development in the NW, SW, and N parts of town in the very near future.</span></span><br /><br />Published on Thursday, April 17, 2008 Inside Tucson Business<br /><br /><br /><br /><p align="justify">No other part of commercial real estate is more directly tied to the homebuilding industry than commercial land. Which means, it may be the bellwether indicator for when the economy turns around. </p><table align="right" width="300"><tbody><tr><td> <div class="multimedia"> <div class="slideshow-block"> </div> <br /> Advertisement<br /><script type="text/javascript"> <!-- aCampaigns = new Array(); aCampaigns[904] = 25; aCampaigns[394] = 75; aAds = new Array(); nAdsysTime = new Date().getTime()/1000; document.usePlayer = 1; if ((nAdsysTime >= 1204783200) && (nAdsysTime <= 1210136399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '117806-1204823815', 'gif'); aAd[3] = 'http://agent.allstate.com/debefleenor/'; aAd[4] = '0'; aAd[6] = '1'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 394; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1208149200) && (nAdsysTime <= 1372654799)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '123868-1208217070', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 394; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1185944400) && (nAdsysTime <= 1500872399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '90611-1185220493', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1200376800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1516082399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '111253-1200430688', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1200376800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1516082399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '111255-1200430845', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1200376800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1516082399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '111256-1200430859', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1200376800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1516082399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '111257-1200430880', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1200376800) && (nAdsysTime <= 1516082399)) { aAd = new Array('+bigad', '111258-1200430894', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 904; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } adsys_displayAd('http://adsys.townnews.com', 'azbiz.com', aAds, aCampaigns); // --> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://adsys.townnews.com/48396389/creative/azbiz.com/+bigad/111256-1200430859.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://adsys.townnews.com/creative/dotconnectmedia.com/townnews_ros_300x250/static.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://adsys.townnews.com/global/capped.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://adsys.townnews.com/80325766/creative/dotconnectmedia.com/townnews_ros_300x250/90462-1184959736.js"></script><script language="JavaScript"> var bnum=new Number(Math.floor(99999999 * Math.random())+1); document.write('<scr'+'ipt language="JavaScript" src="http://servedby.advertising.com/site=726277/size=300250/bnum='+bnum+'/optn=1"></SCR'+'IPT>'); </script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://servedby.advertising.com/site=726277/size=300250/bnum=87177024/optn=1"></script><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" height="250" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://bannerfarm.ace.advertising.com/bannerfarm/95287/CSG_CLS10721a_HEADS08_300x250_124.swf?AceClick=http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000726277/mnum=0000438213/cstr=87177024=_4807b286,4059953156,726277^438213^1^-77,1_/bnum=87177024&siteValue=0000726277"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="wmode" value="opaque"><embed src="http://bannerfarm.ace.advertising.com/bannerfarm/95287/CSG_CLS10721a_HEADS08_300x250_124.swf?AceClick=http://servedby.advertising.com/click/site=0000726277/mnum=0000438213/cstr=87177024=_4807b286,4059953156,726277%5E438213%5E1%5E-77,1_/bnum=87177024&siteValue=0000726277" quality="high" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="250" width="300"></embed></object> </div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p align="justify">It’s a question of timing.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">"Everyone is pretty much watching residential right now before moving," says Will C. White, of Land Advisors Organization. "There is literally billions in land waiting and there are all kinds of investors waiting for the right moment to jump in."<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">The market for commercial land entered 2008 at or near the bottom of the so called correction, says CB Richard Ellis. By year’s end, look for all measures of homebuilding to have normalized.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">Signs of normalization will be that consumers can no longer anticipate value erosion during the construction of a new home, nor will homebuilders continue to offer such incredible incentive packages in order to attract and retain buyers.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">Consumers who have been on the sidelines, waiting for prices to hit bottom, will realize the news media’s often reported real estate "bubble" will not be bursting in Tucson and they should become homebuyers when signs of stabilization begin to capture the headlines.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">White sees the turnaround taking a little longer.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">"I think 2008 is pretty much shot," he said. "We will shake it all out this year, but we will see some increases in 2009 and start ramping back up."<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">He said some homebuilders haven’t bought land for two to three years.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">CB Richard Ellis sees the limited acquisitions happening this year will be done on extremely favorable terms as homebuilders work through their large inventories of unused land and unsold homes that have already been built.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">As for the demand of other types of vacant land, White sees acquisition for retail pretty much on hold as developers are slowing their plans to develop property bought during the residential boom years of 2005 and 2006.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">Ted Herman, a broker with Land Advisors Organization, suggests the planned Passages development near Vail on the southeast side and other projects being done by out-of-town developers might be able to attract retailers and employers not already here.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">Airports might provide the focal point for some targeted industrial and office development, according to both White and Herman.<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">"Anyone who doesn’t believe in the northwest side is just crazy," White said. "That will be the spot of some major development in the next few years."<br /><br /></p><p align="justify">He said "People up there will eventually want to work closer to their homes" and the area around the Marana Regional Airport could be prime for development of office and industrial buildings.<br /><br /></p>Much of the land around Ryan Airfield on the southwest side is zoned for office or industrial use and retail will follow later.<br /><br />"Those projects are really going to change the face of the southwest side," says Herman.thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-76189938907970627412008-04-17T13:12:00.000-07:002008-04-17T13:22:08.548-07:00Are Short Sales a Waste of Time?<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Yes!! But that's just my opinion.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Let me explain. Why would you put 2 to 4 and even sometimes 6 months of your hard earned time into a deal, just to find out that the bank declined your offer? Did you know that you can buy right from the bank after the foreclosure process and close in 30 days at (in most cases) rock bottom pricing?<br /><br />If you are seriously interested in looking at foreclosed, bank owned property, in the Tucson area, please give me a call. There are some incredible, sometimes $200,000 + discounts out there!!! <br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">You can reach our Foreclosure info line @ 877-862-7304 ext. 705</span></span></span></span></span><br /><br />I'd be happy to assist you in finding you a home that suits your needs and meets your expectations.<br /><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 13px 0px 0px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: Times New Roman,Times,Serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17px; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">This Foreclosure Alternative<br />Helps Strapped Homeowners,<br />But It's Not Easy to Pull Off</div> <div style="padding: 12px 0px 0px; font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span id="byl" style="font-family: times new roman,times,serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">By <b>RUTH SIMON</b> and <b>JAMES R. HAGERTY</b><br /><span class="aTime">April 17, 2008; Page D1</span></span><br /></div> <p class="times">As more people fall behind on their mortgages, lenders have been slow to take advantage of a longstanding alternative to foreclosure -- a so-called short sale.</p> <p class="times">At first glance, a short sale might seem like a win-win for everyone involved. In such an arrangement, the borrower sells the home for less than the amount owed, with the lender forgiving the difference. The sale releases borrowers from their obligations. For mortgage holders, it can be less costly than foreclosing -- and could provide protection against future price drops. For buyers, it can be a chance to buy a home at an attractive price.</p> <div id="inset" style="border: 1px solid rgb(113, 148, 186); margin: 0px 3px 12px 0px; padding: 5px 8px; float: left; width: 254px; display: table;" class="arial black p11"><span class="b13">SELLING SHORT</span><br /><div style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 5px; font-size: 5px;"> </div> <div class="p11" style="padding: 1px 0px 3px;"><i>Short sales -- in which a homeowner sells a property for less than its loan value -- are tricky to pull off:</i></div> <div style="padding: 4px 0pt 5px;"> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> It can take weeks or months to get mortgage companies to respond to an offer.</div> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> Mortgage servicers may balk at the purchase price.</div> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> Homeowners may have more than one loan on the property, slowing the process.</div> </div> <span class="b13">ADDITIONAL READING</span><br /><div style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 5px; font-size: 5px;"> </div> <div style="padding: 4px 0pt 5px;"> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> <a class="p11" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120827860461316683.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today">House Talk:</a> A seller going through a short sale wonders why selling a home "as is" seems to involve making repairs.</div> <div class=""><span class="p11">•</span> <a class="p11" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments">Housing Blog:</a> Get news, tips and analysis on <a class="p11" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments">Developments</a>, WSJ.com's housing blog.</div> </div> </div> <p class="times">Short sales -- which were rare when the housing market was booming -- can also be a good way for lenders and investors to minimize losses. They typically result in losses of 19% of the loan amount, compared with an average loss of 40% for homes that are sold after foreclosure, according to a recent analysis by Clayton Holdings Inc., which tracks more than $500 billion in mortgage loans monthly for investors. The costs of foreclosure can include not only legal fees, but also taxes, insurance and the expense of maintaining the home until the property is sold and repairing any property damage.</p> <p class="times">As the housing market continues to weaken, the number of short sales is edging upward. Short sales currently account for about 18% of home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. But it can be extremely difficult to get these deals completed. Unlike a traditional real-estate sale, a short sale requires the approval of not only the buyer and the seller, but also the mortgage-servicing company. In many cases, loans have been packaged into securities -- which means that the mortgage servicer must consider the interests of the investors who own the loans.</p> <p class="times">Deals can fall apart because the mortgage company rejects the price that has been agreed upon by the buyer and seller. Long delays in getting an answer from the mortgage servicer are another obstacle.</p> <p class="times">The process can be so frustrating that some real-estate agents and home buyers have decided that a short sale isn't worth the effort. Shari Adams, a paralegal, bought a foreclosed three-bedroom house in Stuart, Fla., after she tried twice to buy a home being sold in a short sale. One deal fell through when the mortgage servicer turned down her offer after six weeks and didn't make a counteroffer. Another deal collapsed because it wasn't clear that the seller was truly facing a financial hardship.</p> <p class="times">"I basically started to run away from any home listed as a short sale," Ms. Adams says.</p> <p class="b13"><b>Low Success Rate</b></p> <p class="times">The success rate for short-sale offers is low, real-estate agents say. Molly Kay Hamrick, president of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty in Las Vegas, estimates that 20% of short-sale offers in the area lead to completed sales, compared with 85% for more traditional sales. Redfin, an online real-estate brokerage based in Seattle, says it represented buyers on 65 short-sale offers in the first quarter but expects only two or three to result in a completed sale.</p> <p class="times">Because so many deals fall through, Jean Manner Schwimmer of Coldwell Banker Gay Dales in Salinas, Calif., advises buyers making an offer on a short sale to put a clause in their contract that says the deposit can't be cashed until it is clear that the sale has been approved by the mortgage company and the contract has been signed.</p> <p class="times">Many borrowers walk away in frustration because it takes so long to get a response from the mortgage company to their offer. Servicers take an average of 4½ weeks to provide an answer on a potential short sale, according to a recent survey of real-estate agents by Campbell Communications, with some taking two months or more to respond. By contrast, it takes an average of less than two weeks to get a response to an offer for a property that has been foreclosed on, the survey found.</p> <p class="times">"To make the process work, you have to have a buyer who just wants that property and is willing to wait three to four months," says Beth Butler, chief operating officer of EWM Realtors, based in Miami.</p> <p class="times">Alicia and Greg Green accepted a short-sale offer in December for a home in Los Angeles they had purchased as an investment. But the deal didn't close until late March because of delays in getting an answer from the mortgage servicer, Option One Mortgage Corp. At least two offers at higher prices fell through because of delays, says Bill Etchegaray, the couple's real-estate agent.</p> <p class="times">"Luckily, we didn't lose the buyer," says Ms. Green. "I thought we would because the process took so long." The couple sold the home for $299,000, well below the $375,000 mortgage balance. They fell behind on their payments when the construction business Mr. Green owned went under. A spokeswoman for Option One pointed to the complexities of arranging short sales and said the company is pleased that the sale was successful.</p> <p class="times">Coming up with what everyone agrees is a fair price can be tricky in a soft market. "Servicers are finding that people try to low-ball the sales price knowing that the property is distressed," says Vicki Vidal, a senior director with the Mortgage Bankers Association.</p> <p class="b13"><b>Missed Opportunities</b></p> <p class="times">But with home prices falling in many markets, a rejected short-sale offer may wind up as a missed opportunity. Donald Schriver, owner of Assist-2-Sell Good Sense Realty in suburban Phoenix, says a homeowner he was helping late last year was offered $190,000 for his house in a short sale but was unable to win approval from his mortgage company. The borrower later decided to abandon the four-bedroom house, which was built in 2005. The house is now in foreclosure, with an auction scheduled for June. Prices in the area have continued to fall, says Mr. Schriver, who believes that the most the home would now fetch is $180,000.</p> <p class="times">A spokesman for <a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=wfc" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for WFC');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Wells Fargo</a> & Co., which services the loan, said the company "made several unsuccessful attempts to connect with the customer" and didn't turn down an offer for a short sale.</p> <p class="times">Some mortgage-servicing companies are tightening up on short sales because they worry borrowers are rushing into these arrangements when there are better alternatives. In March, <a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=OCN" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for OCN');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Ocwen Financial</a> Corp., based in West Palm Beach, Fla., told its customers it would consider a short sale only after it had talked directly to the borrowers and determined there are no alternatives for keeping them in the home.</p> <p class="times">"We are concerned that some of our customers are not given all the facts," says William Rinehart, the company's chief risk officer. "In some cases, it's represented to them that a short sale is the only solution to the problem they are in."</p> <p class="times">Part of the problem may be that many mortgage servicers were ill-prepared for the spike in bad loans. As delinquencies have climbed, they have had to scramble to add staff. Mortgage companies say they prefer other means to help borrowers, such as a repayment plan or loan modification.</p> <p class="b13"><b>Clearing Hurdles</b></p> <p class="times">Gathering all the information needed to evaluate a short-sale offer can take time, says Patrick Carey, an executive vice president with Wells Fargo. The loan servicer must first determine whether the homeowner really can't continue meeting the loan payments, then get an appraisal or broker's opinion of the home's value.</p> <p class="times">Mortgage servicers also try to ensure that the proposed sale is an "arm's length" transaction between two parties rather than, say, a sale to a relative on sweet terms. They must also determine whether the buyer has sufficient funds or the ability to get a loan. If all those hurdles are cleared, the servicer may still need to get approval from the investor that owns the loan and provide an analysis showing that the investor will be better off with a short sale than with another solution.</p> <p class="times">There are additional complications if the borrower has a mortgage and a home-equity loan. In that case, both parties must approve the deal -- which is a challenge when the sales price may not even be enough to cover the mortgage balance.</p> <p class="times">To minimize delays, Mr. Carey suggests that homeowners contemplating a short sale immediately call the loan servicer to get the approval process started, rather than wait for an offer.</p> <p class="times">There are some signs that the process is getting smoother. In recent weeks, some mortgage companies have begun to approve short sales for borrowers who can show financial distress but haven't yet stopped making monthly payments, says Dan Elsea, president of brokerage services for Real Estate One in the Detroit area. Until recently, servicers wouldn't even consider a short sale unless a borrower was at least 60 days late.</p> <p class="times"><a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=FNM" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for FNM');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Fannie Mae</a> and <a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=FRE" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for FRE');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Freddie Mac</a>, which own or guarantee nearly half of all outstanding U.S. mortgages, both say they are trying to streamline the short-sale process. Fannie Mae says that it plans to introduce a policy in the next few months under which real-estate brokers would be given an advance indication of the approximate minimum price that would be acceptable in a short sale, a move designed to quickly weed out offers that are too low.</p> <p class="times">Freddie Mac says it has already given its top servicers more flexibility to accept short sales for homes backed by loans it guarantees or owns. <a class="times rolloverQuote" href="http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=leh" onmouseover="window.status=(' Quotes & Research for LEH');return true" onmouseout="window.status=('');return true">Lehman Brothers Holdings</a> Inc., another issuer of mortgage-backed securities, also is offering incentives in some cases for servicers to arrange short sales or loan modifications.</p> <p class="times"><b>Write to </b>Ruth Simon at <a class="times" href="mailto:ruth.simon@wsj.com">ruth.simon@wsj.com</a> and James R. Hagerty at <a class="times" href="mailto:bob.hagerty@wsj.com">bob.hagerty@wsj.com</a></p> <!-- article end --><script type="text/javascript"> <!-- document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://online.wsj.com/javascript/MSNController.js?'+Math.random()*1000+'"></'+'script>'); //--> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://online.wsj.com/javascript/MSNController.js?71.36367870976312"></script><script type="text/javascript"> <!-- if((typeof sponsorshipRendered)=='undefined' && !turnOffMSNAds){ document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://s.wsj.net/javascript/MSNMappingInfo.js">'+'</'+'script'+'>'); } //--> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://s.wsj.net/javascript/MSNMappingInfo.js"></script><script type="text/javascript"> <!-- if((typeof sponsorshipRendered)=='undefined' && !turnOffMSNAds){ if((typeof pID)=='undefined'||pID==null){pID=''} if((typeof adKeyword)=='undefined'||adKeyword==null){adKeyword=''} pageID = pID?pID:''; parDomain = window.location.toString(); var adInfoObj = getAdInfo(pageID,parDomain); var msn_adunit_style = adInfoObj.adst?adInfoObj.adst:"text-align:center"; if(msn_adunit_style.indexOf('left') == -1) document.write('<div style="'+msn_adunit_style+'" id="MSNOutterDiv">'); } //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- function GetArg(N){;var i=0,u="".concat(window.location),u=(u.indexOf("?")>-1)?u.split("?")[1]:"",u=(u.indexOf("#")>-1)?u.split("#")[0]:u,u=(u.charAt(u.length-1)=="&")?u.substring(0,u.length-1):u;N+="=";while(i<u.length){;var j="i+(N.length);if(u.substring(i,j)="="N){;return" i="u.indexOf(" i="="0){;break;};};return" turnoffmsnads="false;}" islatest = "New" microsoft_adunitid="GetArg(" microsoft_adunit_width="GetArg(" microsoft_adunit_height="GetArg(" microsoft_adunit_keywordhints="GetArg(" type="text/javascript" src="https://adsyndication.msn.com/delivery/getads.js?'+Math.random()*1000+'"></'+'script>'); }else{ if((typeof pID)=='undefined'||pID==null){pID=''} if((typeof adKeyword)=='undefined'||adKeyword==null){adKeyword=''} pageID = pID?pID:''; parDomain = window.location.toString(); if(parDomain.indexOf('setup')!=-1){ document.write('<tr><td colspan="3">'); } microsoft_adunitid= adInfoObj.adid; microsoft_adunit_width=adInfoObj.adwd; microsoft_adunit_height=adInfoObj.adht; microsoft_adunit_keywordhints=adKeyword?adKeyword:""; if(msn_adunit_style.indexOf('left') != -1) document.write('<div style="'+msn_adunit_style+'" id="MSNInnerDiv">'); document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://adsyndication.msn.com/delivery/getads.js?'+Math.random()*1000+'"></'+'script>'); if(msn_adunit_style.indexOf('left') != -1) document.write('</div>'); if(parDomain.indexOf('setup')!=-1){ document.write('</td></tr>'); } } var sponsorshipRendered=true; } //--> </script><div style="text-align: left; margin-top: 10px;" id="MSNInnerDiv"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://adsyndication.msn.com/delivery/getads.js?749.6874037419037"></script><iframe src="http://ac2.msn.com/?adunitid=1006&v=pubm6&w=400&h=200&lmt=1208463155&tz=420&cc=100&dt=1208463162375&uh=800&uw=1280&uah=772&uaw=1280&cd=32&npl=23&nmime=110&ja=true&app=Netscape&his=1&plf=Win32" allowtransparency="true" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" width="400"><br /></iframe></div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-12825311149726086352008-04-16T10:21:00.000-07:002008-04-16T10:32:41.649-07:00Practitioners Say Business Is Improving!!!!!Does anyone see a trend yet? Here is what I see. There are more foreclosures on the market but Realtors are saying that business is up, Hmmm....... My guess is that there are a lot of good deals out there, and smart buyers a taking advantage of them. If you are in the market to buy a new home, now is the best time to buy in years. <br /><br />Will the market get softer? Will prices continue to go down? I don't know for sure, but economics 101 tells us that as long as the demand meets the supply, prices will stay the same. If demand is higher than the current supply (last months numbers) then prices will climb. How much will depend on how fast the inventory gets sold.<br /><br />So if you are looking for a home. Now might be a good time to buy one. Before the demand gets to high and supply gets too low.<br /><br />If you are interested in buying a Bank owned/Foreclosed home in the Tucson area please go to our website at www.thepepper.com and look for the Real Estate tab on the left. Then click on "forecluser bus tour"<br /><br />Good luck, and happy hunting!!!<br /><br /><span class="article_title"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Real estate practitioners nationwide are seeing signs of recovery in the housing market.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">"If you're not going for pie-in-the-sky type of numbers and price your house accordingly, I think that it’ll go pretty quickly," says Victoria Hanbury Howard, an associate at Coldwell Banker in Washington DC. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">"There's definitely more traffic," says Patricia Giambalvo, an associate with Realty Executives in Huntington, Long Island, N.Y.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">RE/MAX associates in Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas and Orange County, Calif., are reporting that sales volume doubled in March compared to February and there are twice as many homes under contract in April, says Jack Kreider, executive vice president of regional services at RE/MAX International.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">"Yes, this is definitely seasonal activity, but I can assure you that a year ago we weren't doubling what we did the month prior,” he says. The fact that it doubled is significant. It wasn't that big a year ago.”</span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Source: Reuters News, Lynn Adler (04/16/2008)</span></i>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-291222614463393662008-04-16T10:18:00.000-07:002008-04-16T10:20:54.664-07:00Sounds Like NOW Might be a Good Time To Buy a House.<h2 class="storyheadline">What do you think?<br /></h2><h2 class="storyheadline">State ranks fourth in foreclosure rate</h2> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps"></span></i></div> <div>Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.16.2008<script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script><script type="text/javascript"> function pr_swfver(){ var osf,osfd,i,axo=1,v=0,nv=navigator; if(nv.plugins&&nv.mimeTypes.length){osf=nv.plugins["Shockwave Flash"];if(osf&&osf.description){osfd=osf.description;v=parseInt(osfd.substring(osfd.indexOf(".")-2))}} else{try{for(i=5;axo!=null;i++){axo=new ActiveXObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash."+i);v=i}}catch(e){}} return v; } var pr_redir="$CTURL$"; var pr_s="ads.pointroll.com/PortalServe/?pid=598907U37820080405010456&flash="+pr_swfver()+"&redir="+pr_redir+"&r="+Math.random(); document.write("<scr"+"ipt type="'text/javascript'" src="'http://"></scr"+"ipt>"); </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://ads.pointroll.com/PortalServe/?pid=598907U37820080405010456&flash=9&redir=$CTURL$&r=0.9650763843560131"></script><table id="prt5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><div id="primage5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; z-index: 1;" align="left"><img src="" name="prti" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; float: none;" height="1" width="1" /></div><div id="prflsh5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD" onmouseover="if(typeof(prRoll)=='function')prBOver('5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD');" onmouseout="if(typeof(prRoll)=='function')prBOut(event);" style="margin: 0px; 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height: 250px;" quality="high" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="250" width="300"></embed></object></div><div id="prtrans" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; z-index: 2; background-color: transparent;"><img id="pradi5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD" name="pradi5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; float: none;" src="http://speed.pointroll.com/PointRoll/Media/banners/trans.gif?PRAd=1081144&PRplcmt=598907" border="0" height="1" width="1" /></div><table style="width: 300px; height: 250px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td> </td></tr></tbody></table><map name="prmap5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD"><area shape="rect" coords="0,0,300,250" id="p5225F6148BBE4795A913F59DE6D907AD1prareaid" href="http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/234589#" onclick="" classid="\'clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\'" name="\'prpswf\'" codebase="\'http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" width="\'500\'" height="\'250\'"></map><param name="movie" value="\'http://speed.pointroll.com/PointRoll/Media/Panels/BlueCross/556153/Lifewise_Arizona_300x250_Pnl_040708_r01_FH.swf\'"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="opaque"><param name="FlashVars" value="\'PRImpID=" prpanel="556153&PRCID=" prpid="598907&clickTag1=" clicktag2="http://clk.pointroll.com/pc/?p=" 26c="9002%26i=" 26clickurl="http://www.lifewisenumbers.com/%2523FormSignUp&clickTag3=" pc="" p="556153%26c=" 26i="5225F614-8BBE-4795-A913-F59DE6D907AD%26clickurl=" com=""></td></tr></tbody></table><script language="JavaScript" id="prscript1" src="http://spd.pointroll.com/PointRoll/Ads/PRScript.dll?v=108&pos=0&init=0&delay=0&push=0&set=2&bye=1"></script>With 9,199 new foreclosure filings reported in March, Arizona posted the fourth-highest foreclosure rate in the country — a distinction it has carried for three months in a row, the East Valley Tribune reported.</div> <div>Statewide, foreclosure activity dipped 5 percent last month from February but still was up nearly 106 percent from March 2007, according to <strong>RealtyTrac</strong>, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.</div> <div id="commentary"><a href="http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/comments/index.php?id=234589"><img src="http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/comments/comment_big.png" border="0" /> 0 Comments on this story</a></div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-66334558480981764162008-04-15T11:04:00.000-07:002008-04-15T11:05:33.724-07:00Tucson MLS Preliminary Closed Transactions March 2008 (800)<span class="UTWSecondaryTags">Local Post Tags:<a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/index.php?tag=arizona-daily-star-inflation" rel="tag">Arizona Daily Star Inflation</a>, <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/index.php?tag=tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008" rel="tag">Tucson MLS Preliminary Closed Transactions March 2008</a>, <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/index.php?tag=tucson-real-estate-market" rel="tag">Tucson Real Estate Market</a><br /><br /></span><p><strong>(UPDATE) April 1, 2008 10 pm. This is no April fools joke. There are 849 closed transactions for March recorded. </strong></p> <p>I guess the Tucson Real Estate Market is doing even better than I thought. Yesterday, I posted we were at 733 and would make 750 and possible 800 by the time all the transactions for March were entered. Well, by tonight at 9 PM we were already at 800 closed transactions for March 2008. Now I’m wondering if we might be higher than 850 for the month</p> <p><img src="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/images/tmlsctmar2.jpg" title="Tucson MLS Closed Transactions hits 800 for March 2008" alt="Tucson MLS Closed Transactions hits 800 for March 2008" height="79" width="400" /></p> <p>All status changes are to be entered into the system within 2 business days. This means agents/brokerages have until Midnight April 2, 2008 to enter their closed transactions for March without penalty. After than date there is a fine.</p> <p>Now 800 is no where close to the 1341 recorded for March 2007, but remember, you have to do more than fog a spoon to get a loan in 2008.</p> <p>The average sale price is higher which means the average price per square foot is also. But we will wait a few more days before we do any further analysis of the data. However, this is a good sign of activity in the Tucson real estate market despite the media blitz of negativity.</p> <p>On a completely different note</p> <h3>Arizona Daily Star Signalling Extreme Inflation Hits Tucson</h3> <p>Arizona Daily Star increases the price of the daily paper from 50 cents to 75 cents signalling 33% inflation has hit Tucson and the Newspaper economy is experiencing RUN AWAY INFLATION!</p> <span class="UTWPrimaryTags"><br />Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Arizona+Daily+Star+Inflation" rel="tag">Arizona Daily Star Inflation</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Tucson+MLS+Preliminary+Closed+Transactions+March+2008" rel="tag">Tucson MLS Preliminary Closed Transactions March 2008</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Tucson+Real+Estate+Market" rel="tag">Tucson Real Estate Market</a><br /><br /></span><p class="akst_link"><a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/?p=244&akst_action=share-this" onclick="akst_share('244', 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barbaralasky.com%2Ftucson-real-estate-blog%2Ftucson-real-estate-market%2Ftucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800%2F', 'Tucson+MLS+Preliminary+Closed+Transactions+March+2008+%28800%29'); return false;" title="E-mail this, post to del.icio.us, etc." id="akst_link_244" class="akst_share_link" rel="nofollow">Share This</a> </p> <p class="postmetadata alt"> <small> This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 9:43 pm and is filed under <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/category/tucson-real-estate-market/" title="View all posts in Tucson Real Estate Market" rel="category tag">Tucson Real Estate Market</a> . You can follow any responses to this entry through the <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800/feed/">RSS 2.0</a> feed. <img src="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/wp-content/plugins/print/images/print.gif" alt="Print This Post" title="Print This Post" border="0" /> <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800/print/" title="Print This Post" rel="nofollow">Print This Post</a> You can <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800/#respond">leave a response</a>, or <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800/trackback/" rel="trackback">trackback</a> from your own site. </small> </p> <div class="navigation"> <!-- <div class="alignleft"> « <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-march-2008-preliminary-closed-transactions-data-733/">Tucson MLS March 2008 Preliminary Closed Transactions Data 733</a> </div> <div class="alignright"> <a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-news/tucson-mls-statitics-march-2008-garbage-in-garbage-out/">Tucson MLS Statitics March 2008 Garbage In Garbage Out</a> » </div> --> </div> <!-- item --> <div class="comm-ctnr"> <!-- You can start editing here. --> <h3 id="comments">One Response to “Tucson MLS Preliminary Closed Transactions March 2008 (800)”</h3> <ol class="commentlist"><li class="alt" id="comment-2294"> <cite>Concerned</cite> Says: <br /> <small class="commentmetadata"><a href="http://www.barbaralasky.com/tucson-real-estate-blog/tucson-real-estate-market/tucson-mls-preliminary-closed-transactions-march-2008-800/#comment-2294" title="">April 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am</a> </small> <p><i>Arizona Daily Star increases the price of the daily paper from 50 cents to 75 cents signalling 33% inflation has hit Tucson and the Newspaper economy is experiencing RUN AWAY INFLATION!</i></p> <p>Good for them! I’m about “this” close to canceling my subscription for various reasons anyway…</p> </li></ol></div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-26998594973525936862008-04-15T10:53:00.000-07:002008-04-15T10:54:19.865-07:00Foreclosures still on the Rise<div class="post-date"> April 15, 2008, 9:17 am</div> <h2 class="post-title"> March Foreclosures Jump 57%</h2> <div class="post-info"> </div> <div class="post-content"> <p>Foreclosure filings for March rocketed 57% from a year earlier and rose 5% from February, a foreclosure listing service said, a sign that U.S. housing woes have yet to slacken. RealtyTrac said there were 234,685 foreclosure filings in March, or one for every 538 households.</p> <p>Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said many defaulting homeowners “are simply walking away and deeding their properties back to the foreclosing lender.” The process allows the bank to take the property without a foreclosure auction. As a result, bank repossessions have more than doubled, while auction notices are up only 32%.</p> <p>The nation’s highest foreclosure total belonged to the most populous state — California — for the 15th straight month, with 64,711 filings, more than double a year earlier and up 21% from February. It was followed by Florida, Ohio and Georgia. Ohio and Georgia both registered increases, with more than 11,000 foreclosure filings in both states. Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate, also for the 15th straight month, with one foreclosure for every 139 households. It was trailed by California, Florida and Arizona. –<em>Andrew Edwards</em></p> </div> <div class="post-info"> </div> <div class="post-footer"> <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to March Foreclosures Jump 57%" class="permalink"> Permalink </a> | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog/trackback/ <span class="editlink"> </span> <div> Save & Share: <!-- http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog--> <a title="Share this story via Facebook" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#" onclick="window.open('http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u='+encodeURIComponent('http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog')+'&t=' + encodeURIComponent('March Foreclosures Jump 57%'), 'share', 'toolbar=0,status=0,width=770,height=450,resizable=1,scrollbars=1'); return false;" target="_blank"> <!-- <img src="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/wp-images/facebook_share.gif" border="0" alt="facebook" /> --> Share on Facebook </a> | <a title="Bookmark this story in Del.icio.us" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#" onclick="return dbt_bookmark( 'http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog', 'March Foreclosures Jump 57% ');" target="_blank">Del.icio.us</a> <!-- http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog&title=March Foreclosures Jump 57%&bodytext=<p>Foreclosure filings for March rocketed 57% from a year earlier and rose 5% from February, a foreclosure listing service said, a sign that U.S. housing woes have yet to slacken. RealtyTrac said there were 234,685 foreclosure filings in March, or one for every 538 households.<br /> Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said many defaulting homeowners “are simply […]</p> --> | <a title="Submit this story to Digg" href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog&title=March%20Foreclosures%20Jump%2057%&bodytext=%3Cp%3EForeclosure%20filings%20for%20March%20rocketed%2057%%20from%20a%20year%20earlier%20and%20rose%205%%20from%20February,%20a%20foreclosure%20listing%20service%20said,%20a%20sign%20that%20U.S.%20housing%20woes%20have%20yet%20to%20slacken.%20RealtyTrac%20said%20there%20were%20234,685%20foreclosure%20filings%20in%20March,%20or%20one%20for%20every%20538%20households.%3Cbr%20/%3EChief%20Executive%20James%20J.%20Saccacio%20said%20many%20defaulting%20homeowners%20%E2%80%9Care%20simply%20%5B%E2%80%A6%5D%3C/p%3E" target="_blank">Digg this</a> | <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#" onclick="return(ET2('http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog', 'March Foreclosures Jump 57% '));" onmouseover="return(ETMouseOver());" onmouseout="return(ETMouseOut()); class=" submenu=""> <!-- <img style="margin-top:0px;" src="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/wp-images/email_this.gif" height="12" border="0" alt="Email Post" /> --> <span style="margin-bottom: 5px;"> Email This </span> </a> | <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlogprint/" class="submenu">Print</a> </div> <div> Read more: <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/category/california/" title="View all posts in California" rel="category tag">California</a>, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/category/foreclosure/" title="View all posts in foreclosure" rel="category tag">foreclosure</a>, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/category/data/" title="View all posts in Data" rel="category tag">Data</a>, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/category/florida/" title="View all posts in Florida" rel="category tag">Florida</a> </div> <div> </div> </div> <br /><a name="comments"><div class="comments-headline">Comments</div></a> <div class="comments-note">Report offensive comments to <a href="mailto:developmentsblog@wsj.com">developmentsblog@wsj.com</a></div> <div class="comment"> <div class="comment-text"> <p>Deed indeed</p> </div> <div class="comment-info"> <span class="comment-by">Comment by</span> <span class="comment-author">Alternate Reality</span> - <span class="comment-date"> April 15, 2008 at <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#comment-19066"> <span class="comment-time">9:37 am</span> </a> <span class="comment-edit-link"> </span> </span></div> </div> <div class="comment"> <div class="comment-text"> <p>When I review the numbers and the Americans that are potentially being displaced from their homes, I have to ask are these part of the 1-2 million workouts that political pundits point to as success? It appears that banks, brokers, real estate professionals, the media, and the government are all using different statistics in an effort to demonstrate their points and progress. If these numbers continue to get worse for those that may not be the “speculators,” what downstream impacts are yet to be faced by the mortgage industry and this country? If mortgage firms have delegated their workouts to legal teams and third party profit centers, then I fear these numbers will get worse. After all, how many of these foreclosure families ever got a call or sat down with a workout specialists before legal proceedings actually began?</p> </div> <div class="comment-info"> <span class="comment-by">Comment by</span> <span class="comment-author">Mark Dangelo</span> - <span class="comment-date"> April 15, 2008 at <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#comment-19071"> <span class="comment-time">10:25 am</span> </a> <span class="comment-edit-link"> </span> </span></div> </div> <div class="comment"> <div class="comment-text"> <p>Not to sound like a broken records, but why are these workouts are necessary? Mortgage is a contract. Honor it, else surrender the asset. These “workouts” are undermining the soundness of American contract law and environment. The potential negative impact of these “workouts” may be far greater than any of these “donwstream impacts”, which are just pure spin anyways. The burden would then have to be shouldered by future home owners. It’s not about the statistics, but pure business logic - honor the legal contract, or get out. Else, we would have to adjust everyone’s mortgage contracts quarterly, depending on the economic conditions at the time? How do other taxpayers get it on this lucrative action?</p> </div> <div class="comment-info"> <span class="comment-by">Comment by</span> <span class="comment-author">Alternate Reality</span> - <span class="comment-date"> April 15, 2008 at <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#comment-19083"> <span class="comment-time">11:26 am</span> </a> <span class="comment-edit-link"> </span> </span></div> </div> <div class="comment-text"> <p>I still can’t afford a home in S. California!!!!!!!!!! <a href="mailto:F@*k">F@*k</a> speculators.</p> </div> <span class="comment-by">Comment by</span> <span class="comment-author">can't afford a home</span> - <span class="comment-date"> April 15, 2008 at <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#comment-19089"> <span class="comment-time">12:04 pm</span></a><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/04/15/march-foreclosures-jump-57/?mod=WSJBlog?mod=modValue#comment-19089"> </a></span>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-83878440591983525122008-04-14T13:09:00.000-07:002008-04-14T13:10:37.167-07:00Is the Sky Falling? You be the Judge.<div class="storybyline">By Alan Fram</div> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps">Associated Press Writer</span></i></div> <div class="siteinfo">Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.14.2008</div> <div class="bannerinstory"> <div class="advert" align="left">advertisement</div> <script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script><!--[if lt IE 7]> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.tucson.com/js/fixflash.js" defer="defer"></script> <![endif]--> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var plugin = 0; if (navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"] && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"].enabledPlugin) { if (navigator.plugins && navigator.plugins["Shockwave Flash"])plugin = 1; } else if (navigator.userAgent && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE")>=0 && (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 95")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 98")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows NT")>=0)) { document.write('<script language="VBScript">\n'); 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} //--> </script><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=3,0,0,0" id="ad_banner_example" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" height="250" width="300"> <param name="movie" value="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/digital_ace_300x250.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/local/1553611704/300x250_1/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/300x250_digital_html.html/34356632653735613438303362383230?http://tinyurl.com/5tug88"><param name="menu" value="false"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="bgcolor" value="WHITE"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/digital_ace_300x250.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/local/1553611704/300x250_1/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/300x250_digital_html.html/34356632653735613438303362383230?http://tinyurl.com/5tug88" menu="false" quality="high" bgcolor="WHITE" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="FALSE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="250" width="300"></embed> </object> <noembed> &lt;a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/local/1553611704/300x250_1/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/300x250_digital_html.html/34356632653735613438303362383230?http://tinyurl.com/5tug88"&gt;&lt;IMG SRC="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/dig_ace.jpg" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0&gt;&lt;/a&gt; </noembed> <noscript><a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/local/1553611704/300x250_1/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/300x250_digital_html.html/34356632653735613438303362383230?http://tinyurl.com/5tug88"><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/dig_ace.jpg" width="300" height="250" border="0" /></a> </noscript><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/.ads/adstream_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/local/1553611704/300x250_1/OasDefault/TNIRecruitment/300x250_digital_html.html/34356632653735613438303362383230?_RM_EMPTY_" height="0" width="0" /> </div> <div>WASHINGTON — A growing majority say they won't buy a home anytime soon, the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation's housing crisis, a poll showed Monday.</div> <div>In a vivid sketch of how the sputtering real estate market is causing distress throughout the country, the Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll found that more than a quarter of homeowners worry their home will lose value over the next two years. Fully one in seven mortgage holders fear they won't be able to make their monthly payments on time over the next six months.</div> <div>"This is a great time to buy, but not necessarily to sell," said Robert Jackson, who lives in a two-bedroom house in Ferguson, Mo., with his wife and four young children. He said he would love to purchase a larger home, but can't because even if he found a buyer, he would probably lose thousands on his house, which he bought less than two years ago.</div> <div>"We're just going to have to slap a Band-Aid on it and stay here until the market gets a little bit better," Jackson, 30, said in a follow-up interview.</div> <div>Jackson is not alone. Sixty percent said they definitely won't buy a home in the next two years, up from 53 percent who said so in an AP-AOL poll in September 2006. At the same time, just 11 percent are certain or very likely to buy soon, down from 15 percent two years ago.</div> <div>The growing reluctance to dip into the housing market seems to stem partly from worry that housing prices will continue falling — good if you're buying a house but bad if you have to sell one.</div> <div>The number envisioning falling prices in their area has grown to one in four, while four in 10 think prices will rise, a decrease from two years ago. Expectations for rising prices are highest in the South, with Westerners likeliest to predict they will drop.</div> <div>Underscoring the public's unsettled feelings, the number saying local housing prices are about right has fallen to 35 percent. Half say homes are overpriced — especially in the Northeast — while those saying housing is underpriced have doubled to one in 10, particularly Midwesterners.</div> <div>Some pockets buck regional trends. Laurie Jensen, a single mother of three, struggles to make payments on her home in Whitehall, Mont., by working as a seasonal road construction flagger and at times collecting unemployment. She said she'd like to move outside of town, but the area is popular and prices have surged.</div> <div>"Things are pretty crazy," she said. "Places I don't consider that great are really expensive."</div> <div>One in 10 have adjustable rate mortgages, half of the number who said so two years ago. These mortgages generally start at a low interest rate and are later adjusted to market conditions — which has often meant steep, unaffordable boosts that have forced many to refinance or even lose their homes.</div> <div>Daniel Gallego, a warehouse worker in Stockton, Calif., said he may have to sell his home at a big loss. He said rising gasoline and other costs have made his adjustable rate mortgage unaffordable. Because he doesn't expect his home's value to recover soon, he said he may be better off moving now, before his rates rise.</div> <div>"We may have to move in with my wife's parents or my parents," said Gallego, 30, who has two young children. "I could pay off some debt, then we could rent, and maybe buy another house in a few years."</div> <div>The public anxiety is in reaction to an economy that is veering toward recession and losing jobs even as the housing market sputters badly. Foreclosures have soared to record highs, mortgage rates have increased, sales of existing and new homes have fallen and home values have dropped.</div> <div>Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics for Moody's Economy.com, a consulting firm, estimated that 9 million homeowners owe more on their home than it's worth. He said his company believes home sales are at or near bottom and home values will continue to fall until early next year.</div> <div>Even so, he said, many people bought their homes before the run-up in values that started around 2001 and remain in good shape.</div> <div>"So the value of your house goes down temporarily," he said. Unless the homeowner must sell now or can't afford the payments, "that doesn't have that much of an impact."</div> <div>The poll also found:</div> <div>—The biggest worriers are those expecting to buy soon. Of that group 43 percent frets that their home's value will drop in the next two years, compared with 25 percent of those not expecting to buy shortly.</div> <div>—Fifty-nine percent think now is a good time to buy.</div> <div>—Half think this is a very tough time for first-time buyers, an increase from two years ago. Nearly two-thirds think it's harder for first-home buyers than it was five years ago.</div> <div>The AP-AOL Money & Finance poll was conducted from March 24-April 3 by Abt SRBI Inc. It involved telephone interviews with 1,002 adults nationwide, for whom the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.</div> <div>Included were interviews with 769 homeowners, for whom the sampling margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 points. The margin of sampling error for other subgroups was larger.</div> <div id="commentary"><a href="http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/comments/index.php?id=234280"><img src="http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/comments/comment_big.png" border="0" /> 9 Comments on this story</a></div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-11975127279348290622008-04-08T10:58:00.000-07:002008-04-08T10:59:10.702-07:00Good news from NARDaily Real Estate News <b>| </b>April 8, 2008 <span class="article_title">NAR: Existing-Home Sales to Level Off</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Little change is expected in existing-home sales over the next few months, before improving notably during the second half of the year, according to the latest forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS</span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">®</span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the market will come into clearer focus this summer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">“Existing home sales could start to show a sustained increase within a few months, unless there are some additional economic problems or excessive inflationary pressure,” he says. “We’re looking for essentially stable sales in the near term, before higher mortgage loan limits translate into more sales in high-cost markets. The wider access to affordable credit should increase sales activity notably this summer as pent-up demand begins to be met.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, slipped 1.9 percent to 84.6, from an upwardly revised reading of 86.2 in January. The index was 21.4 percent lower than the February 2007 index of 107.6. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">“The slip in pending home sales implies we’re not out of the woods yet, though an era of successive deep sales declines appears to be over,” Yun says.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">By the Region</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Here’s what the index reveals across the nation with existing-home sales:</span><br /> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Northeast:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> rose 3.2 percent in February to 71.8 but remains 25.4 percent below a year ago. </span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Midwest:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> declined 3.7 percent to 82.7 and is 17.4 percent lower than February 2007. </span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">South:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> fell 5.5 percent in February to 85 and is 30.3 percent below a year ago. </span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">West:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> dropped 9.8 percent in February to 84.6 and is 17.1 percent below February 2007.</span></li></ul><br /><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Home Sales Forecast</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Existing-home sales are likely to rise from an annual pace of 4.9 million in the first quarter to 5.9 million in the fourth quarter. With relatively weak activity in the first part of the year, existing-home sales for all of 2008 is forecast at 5.39 million, increasing 6.6 percent to 5.74 million in 2009. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">“Exceptionally weak home sales related to jumbo loans problems will depress home prices in the first half of the year, but steady liquidity improvements in the conforming jumbo-loan market will help prices recover in the second half of the year,” Yun says.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> The aggregate existing-home price will probably ease by 1.4 percent to a median of $215,800 for all of 2008 before rising 3.7 percent to $223,800 next year. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Yun says that there will continue to be wide variations in regional housing market conditions. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">“Some parts of the country that can expect improvement include the Northeastern region and the oil-patch states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas,” he says. With lower interest rates and flat home prices in many areas, NAR’s housing affordability index is forecast to rise 14 percentage points to 127 in 2008.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">New-home sales are projected to fall 25.7 percent to 576,000 in 2008 before rising 4.6 percent to 602,000 next year. Housing starts, including multifamily units, are estimated to drop 26.3 percent to 999,000 this year, and slip another 0.5 percent to 994,000 in 2009. The median new-home price will probably fall 3.6 percent to $238,400 in 2008, and then rise 4 percent next year to $247,800.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Other predictions on factors that can impact the housing market: </span><br /> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Mortgage rates:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, which has fluctuated recently, should average 5.8 percent in the second and third quarters, but trend up to an average of 6.3 percent in 2009.</span></li></ul> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">: expected to be 1.4 percent in 2008 and 2.4 percent next year. </span></li></ul> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Unemployment rate:</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> forecast to average 5.4 percent this year and 5.6 percent in 2009. </span></li></ul> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Inflation</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">: (as measured by the Consumer Price Index) is projected at 3.4 percent in 2008 and 2.2 percent next year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is likely to grow 1.2 percent this year and 3.0 percent in 2009.</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">“The economy will not grow in first half of the year,” Yun says. “However, the combination of recent fiscal stimulus enactment and the lagged impact of monetary policy will help jump start the economy in the second half.” </span><br /><br /><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">—REALTOR® magazine online</span></i> <p> </p><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">For more economic news and research reports, visit NAR's </span></b><a href="http://www.realtor.org/research" target="new"><b><u><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Research division</span></u></b></a><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> at REALTOR.org.</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/topstories/topstories">Browse all of today's news</a><br /></span>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-20833382646036251432008-04-07T12:46:00.000-07:002008-04-07T13:01:50.248-07:00Higher Down Payment requirements. What do you think?<h2 style="font-family: arial;" class="storyheadline"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">So, what do you think? John McCain, friend or Foe to Real Estate buyers? Here is what I do know about buying a house. When I bought my first house, I had to put down 10% plus closing fees. That was the best deal I could find. My mortgage interest rate was 7.9% and I had to get a 5/1 ARM because I couldn't afford the 30 fixed rate. So my wife and I got second jobs, and tightened our belts to make ends meat, and save for our first "real" purchase. That's just the way you did things back then. Owning your own home is the American dream. It's a privilege to own your own home, not a right. I believe you should work hard and save towards having enough down payment, so that you have some "skin" in the game. You should have a sense that you "earned" it. Today's youth thinks they deserve a "break" at every turn. No one, it seems, wants to work towards earning anything.<br /></span></span></h2><h2 class="storyheadline"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></span></span></h2><h2 class="storyheadline"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Did you know that you can now buy a box of Crunch Berries?!?!?! You don't even have to wade through the "Captain Crunch" anymore! Were is the satisfaction in that?!<br /></span></span></span></h2><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family:arial;">So, what do you say about the subject? I'd like to hear from you. There is no wrong answer.<br /><br /></span></span><h2 class="storyheadline">Kenneth Harney: Housing industry is again requiring equity upfront</h2> <div class="storybyline">Advice by Kenneth Harney</div> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps"></span></i></div> <div class="siteinfo">Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.05.2008</div> <div class="bannerinstory"> <div class="advert" align="left">advertisement</div> <script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script><!--[if lt IE 7]> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.tucson.com/js/fixflash.js" defer="defer"></script> <![endif]--> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var plugin = 0; if (navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"] && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"].enabledPlugin) { if (navigator.plugins && navigator.plugins["Shockwave Flash"])plugin = 1; } else if (navigator.userAgent && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE")>=0 && (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 95")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 98")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows NT")>=0)) { document.write('<script language="VBScript">\n'); 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} //--> </script><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=3,0,0,0" id="ad_banner_example" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" height="250" width="300"> <param name="movie" value="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/tbred_mar08_v7_300x250.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/2960535/300x250_1/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/300x250_nissan_2008video.html/34356632653735613437666137386530?www.thoroughbrednissan.com"><param name="menu" value="false"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="bgcolor" value="WHITE"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/tbred_mar08_v7_300x250.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/2960535/300x250_1/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/300x250_nissan_2008video.html/34356632653735613437666137386530?www.thoroughbrednissan.com" menu="false" quality="high" bgcolor="WHITE" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="FALSE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="250" width="300"></embed> </object> <noembed> &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/2960535/300x250_1/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/300x250_nissan_2008video.html/34356632653735613437666137386530?www.thoroughbrednissan.com"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;IMG SRC="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/nissan_bak.jpg" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; </noembed> <noscript><a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/2960535/300x250_1/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/300x250_nissan_2008video.html/34356632653735613437666137386530?www.thoroughbrednissan.com"><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/nissan_bak.jpg" width="300" height="250" border="0" /></a> </noscript><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/.ads/adstream_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/2960535/300x250_1/OasDefault/ThoroughbredNissan2/300x250_nissan_2008video.html/34356632653735613437666137386530?_RM_EMPTY_" height="0" width="0" /> </div> <div>Partisan politics aside, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain proposed something March 25 that no other major presidential candidate has advocated in decades: raising minimum down-payment levels for home mortgages.</div> <div>No more zero-down deals. No more "piggyback" plans that combine 90 percent first loans with 10 percent seconds. No more "down payment-assistance" schemes where sellers indirectly supply all or most of the cash needed for the buyer's down payment.</div> <div>Even the 3 percent minimum required by the Federal Housing Administration would be raised under McCain's plan. That puts him squarely at odds with the Bush administration and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate who are currently negotiating reform legislation that would cut FHA's minimum to zero — favored by the House — or 1.5 percent, favored by the Senate.</div> <div>Proponents of low FHA down payments say they are necessary to allow moderate-income families to purchase first homes, and that if properly underwritten and serviced, they do not lead to extraordinarily high default or foreclosure rates.</div> <div>McCain also said the giants of the mortgage industry — congressionally chartered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — "should never insure loans when the homeowner clearly does not have skin in the game." He did not specify how much skin would be needed.</div> <div>McCain's rationale on tightening up down payments: He thinks a key contributing factor to the current national mortgage crisis was the tiny — or nonexistent — equity contributions required by lenders during the boom years. When the boom fizzled, many borrowers found themselves in negative equity positions, owing more on their mortgages than the market value of their homes.</div> <div>Though neither of his potential Democratic opponents nor the White House has commented on the McCain proposal, efforts to rein in down-payment minimums already are under way by major private mortgage lenders and insurers. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both have raised fees on new loans where borrowers have less than 25 percent equity. They also have increased minimum credit scores for low-equity mortgages.</div> <div>Private mortgage insurers have tightened availability of new loans with less than 5 percent down by sharply raising credit standards for applicants, and refusing to underwrite such loans in markets they designate as "declining."</div> <div>The emerging trend in the private marketplace reverses one of the hallmark practices of the housing boom years. When the National Association of Realtors surveyed thousands of first-time buyers in late 2004 and early 2005, it found that a stunning 43 percent had put no money into their purchases. The same study documented the median down payment by first-time purchasers at just 2 percent.</div> <div>The net result, as the real estate market began turning in mid-2005, was that large numbers of people started their homeownership experiences underwater. Research by a subsidiary of First American Corp. found that by 2006, one out of 10 households that took out loans the prior year were already at a zero or negative equity position.</div> <div>The same study found that one out of three purchasers nationwide had an equity cushion under 20 percent. Forty-four percent had less than 30 percent equity. Areas where owners had the least equity — California, Colorado, Florida and Ohio — subsequently have seen some of the highest foreclosure and delinquency rates.</div> <div>From the fourth quarter of 2006 through the fourth quarter of 2007, homeowners lost $387.5 billion in net equity holdings — mainly because of property devaluations in major markets around the country. The year-end $9.65 trillion in equity was the lowest figure since mid-2004.</div> <div>Most homeowning households still have hefty cushions.</div> <div>At the end of 2007, according to the Fed, American homeowners' equity was 47.9 percent, down a full percentage point from the third quarter, and 6 percent below 2003.</div> <div>But don't look for the return of mass-marketed zero-down mortgages anytime soon. Whatever the politicians do, the private marketplace is heading back to more traditional standards, where equity upfront was the rule.</div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-90370631404037071502008-03-31T12:44:00.000-07:002008-03-31T13:10:39.581-07:00Will we see bidding wars over foreclosed homes soon?<p>It always amazes me that what's old is new again. It's like we are becoming Hippies again. What's amazing about it is that we never seam to learn from the past. Do we not remember what happened in 2005 and 2006? It's not rocket science folks. When you have pent up buyer demand, and a shortage of "attractive" supply, you inevitably get a buying frenzy when you finally get a supply of "desirable" supply. At the moment the supply of Foreclosures in Tucson are keeping pace with, if not, exceeding buyer demand. Soon the cat will be out of the bag, and buyers will be scooping up these homes faster than you can shake a stick at them. We are already seeing homes sold in less than 30 days on the market. In some cases we are seeing homes sold in 3 and 4 days again. What was old is now new again. <br /></p><br />If you are interested in looking at foreclosed/bank owned homes, and would like to get a good shot of buying one of them, may I suggest you "get on the bus". For more information on Tucson's foreclosure tour bus, please visit our web site at www.thepepper.com We would be happy to assist you in finding just the right home at just the right price.<br /><p><br /></p><p>Bargain-hunters are descending upon Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120665043471469547.html?mod=weekend_leisure_homedesign_hs_coll_left&mod=WSJBlog" align="left">foreclosure capital of the country</a>, writes June Fletcher in an article in today’s Journal. In February, the southwest Florida metro area had the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S., according to RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., which tracks notices of mortgage default, house-auction notices and bank repossessions. One in 84 households in the area was in some stage of foreclosure last month.</p> <p>One homeowner’s misfortune is another’s great deal: Cape Coral buyers are snagging homes for as little as half the original asking price, according to the article. Bidding wars are breaking out for some foreclosed homes. Ms. Fletcher writes about Tim Post, a “veteran flipper,” who bought a waterfront penthouse in Cape Coral for $300,000, down from a $499,000 asking price.</p> <p>Other metro areas with high foreclosure rates include Miami, San Diego and Las Vegas. This got us thinking, should we expect more bidding wars and bargain hunters flooding these desirable markets?</p> <div class="post-info"> </div> <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/03/28/a-future-full-of-foreclosure-bidding-wars/?mod=WSJBlog" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to A Future Full of Foreclosure Bidding Wars?" class="permalink"> Permalink </a> | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/03/28/a-future-full-of-foreclosure-bidding-wars/?mod=WSJBlog/trackbathetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-51596858753980755052008-03-31T12:33:00.000-07:002008-04-16T10:15:41.986-07:00Will we see bidding wars over foreclosed homes soon?<p>Here is my take on all of this. You don't have to be an economic genius to understand that when demand is higher than the supply of anything, you will have an increase in price. We already have pent up buyer demand, so as the foreclosure inventory starts to get bought up and the supply starts to dwindle, we will have bidding wars again just like in 2005 and 2006.<br /></p><p>So my recommendation is that you get on the bus and purchase a good home at a great price, before everyone starts to come out of the wood work and you get left standing at the curb again.</p><br />For more information on the Tucson Foreclosure tour bus please visit\\<br /><p>Bargain-hunters are descending upon Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120665043471469547.html?mod=weekend_leisure_homedesign_hs_coll_left&mod=WSJBlog" align="left">foreclosure capital of the country</a>, writes June Fletcher in an article in today’s Journal. In February, the southwest Florida metro area had the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S., according to RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., which tracks notices of mortgage default, house-auction notices and bank repossessions. One in 84 households in the area was in some stage of foreclosure last month.</p> <p>One homeowner’s misfortune is another’s great deal: Cape Coral buyers are snagging homes for as little as half the original asking price, according to the article. Bidding wars are breaking out for some foreclosed homes. Ms. Fletcher writes about Tim Post, a “veteran flipper,” who bought a waterfront penthouse in Cape Coral for $300,000, down from a $499,000 asking price.</p> <p>Other metro areas with high foreclosure rates include Miami, San Diego and Las Vegas. This got us thinking, should we expect more bidding wars and bargain hunters flooding these desirable markets?</p> <div class="post-info"> </div> <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/03/28/a-future-full-of-foreclosure-bidding-wars/?mod=WSJBlog" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to A Future Full of Foreclosure Bidding Wars?" class="permalink"> Permalink </a> | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/03/28/a-future-full-of-foreclosure-bidding-wars/?mod=WSJBlog/trackback/thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-41459159352191712772008-03-31T11:54:00.000-07:002008-03-31T12:21:21.290-07:00Oro Valley gets on the Map!<h2 class="storyheadline"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oro Valley Arizona, has always been a hot spot for homes. Now they are getting recognized as one of the nations leading communities for small business. This is fantastic news for Tucson, as well as local residents of Oro Valley. It seems like business is booming in the Old Pueblo, regardless of what is going on in the rest of the country. My hat's off to Oro Valley's city managers and development services personelle for doing a great job in making Oro Valley attractive to the small business man. This has not always been the case. The last deal I worked on in Oro Valley was a pleasure. The planning department is on top of things, and I was very impressed with their response times and communication. </span></span><br /></h2><h2 class="storyheadline">Oro Valley on list of top 100 places for small business</h2> <div class="storybyline">By Lourdes Medrano</div> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps">Arizona Daily Star</span></i></div> <div class="siteinfo">Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.28.2008</div> <div class="bannerinstory"> <div class="advert" align="left">advertisement</div> <script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script><!--[if lt IE 7]> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.tucson.com/js/fixflash.js" defer="defer"></script> <![endif]--> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var plugin = 0; if (navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"] && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"].enabledPlugin) { if (navigator.plugins && navigator.plugins["Shockwave Flash"])plugin = 1; } else if (navigator.userAgent && navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE")>=0 && (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 95")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows 98")>=0 || navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Windows NT")>=0)) { document.write('<script language="VBScript">\n'); 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} //--> </script><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=3,0,0,0" id="ad_banner_example" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" height="250" width="300"> <param name="movie" value="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/Banner3.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/1097902606/300x250_1/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/300x250_nmc_html.html/34356634326264333437663132653330?www.nwhealthsystem.com"><param name="menu" value="false"> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="bgcolor" value="WHITE"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"> <embed src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/Banner3.swf?clickTAG=http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/1097902606/300x250_1/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/300x250_nmc_html.html/34356634326264333437663132653330?www.nwhealthsystem.com" menu="false" quality="high" bgcolor="WHITE" wmode="opaque" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="FALSE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" height="250" width="300"></embed> </object> <noembed> &lt;a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/1097902606/300x250_1/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/300x250_nmc_html.html/34356634326264333437663132653330?www.nwhealthsystem.com"&gt;&lt;IMG SRC="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/NHS_300x250.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0&gt;&lt;/a&gt; </noembed> <noscript><a href="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/1097902606/300x250_1/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/300x250_nmc_html.html/34356634326264333437663132653330?www.nwhealthsystem.com"><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/NHS_300x250.gif" width="300" height="250" border="0" /></a> </noscript><img src="http://gcirm.tucson.gcion.com/RealMedia/.ads/adstream_lx.ads/news.azstarnet.com/stories/business/1097902606/300x250_1/OasDefault/NorthwestMedical/300x250_nmc_html.html/34356634326264333437663132653330?_RM_EMPTY_" height="0" width="0" /> </div> <div>Fortune Small Business magazine has picked Oro Valley as one of its "100 Best Places to Live and Launch."</div> <div>The town ranks 44th on the magazine's list, which features communities offering a balanced mix of business and lifestyle opportunities.</div> <div>Matt Michels, Oro Valley's acting economic development administrator, said he was pleased but not surprised by the town's selection.</div> <div>"The town offers a lot in terms of quality of life, and it's a great place to start a business and raise a family," he said Thursday.</div> <div>Scottsdale and Prescott also made the list in the magazine's April issue, at No. 25 and No. 92, respectively.</div> <div>The magazine, published by the Fortune/Money Group division of Time Inc., noted that despite growth encouraged in part by a pro-development town, Oro Valley remains tranquil and family-friendly.</div> <div>Fortune Small Business also noted cultural amenities in the surrounding area, and mentioned the town's growing technology industries, including biotech.</div> <div>The magazine singled out pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, although its assertion that the company has completed a planned new center isn't entirely accurate.</div> <div>The company, which has been in Oro Valley for years, is building a new research and office building at Innovation Park, west of North Oracle Road between East Tangerine Road and East Rancho Vistoso Boulevard. But it won't be finished until the summer of 2009.</div> <div>Nonetheless, for the town to be recognized at the national level is significant, said town spokeswoman Mary Davis.</div> <div>"It's tremendous that the reputation of Oro Valley goes beyond the region's border," she said.</div> <div>Bellevue, Wash., ranked first on the magazine's list, followed by Georgetown, Texas; Buford, Ga.; Marina del Rey, Calif.; and Bethesda, Md.</div> <div>To compile its list, the magazine analyzed data on startup businesses, job growth, tax rates, crime rates, housing costs and cultural activities. It also interviewed town officials, local entrepreneurs and economic experts.</div> <div>You can go online to money.cnn.com/magazines/ fsb/bestplaces/2008/top100 for the full list.</div> <div class="tagline"><i>● Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 618-1924 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com.</i></div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-88779865646123840542008-03-26T11:01:00.000-07:002008-03-26T11:10:04.166-07:00Wave of Foreclosures is starting to get buyers excited again!<p><b>Now might be a good time to start looking at Foreclosed homes. Read what the Wall Street Journal has to say about bank owned homes, and home prices. <br /></b></p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you are interested in looking at foreclosed homes in the Tucson area, look no further, GET ON THE BUS! For more info on the Tucson Foreclosure Tour bus, go to ;<br /></span></p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">http://www.thepepper.com/realty_foreclosure_tour.html</span> <br /><p><b><br />By James R. Hagerty</b> <b>and Kris Hudson</b><br />From <a href="http://www.wsj.com/wsjgate?source=homesite&URI=/">The Wall Street Journal Online</a> </p> <p>A glut of foreclosed homes of historic proportions is starting to drive down U.S. home prices faster as lenders put more properties on the market and buyers show signs of interest.</p> <p>The ability of America's lenders to manage this fire sale will be crucial to determining how long the housing market stays in the dumps -- and how quickly blighted neighborhoods can heal. The oversupply is severe: In some major markets, including Las Vegas and San Diego, foreclosure-related sales have accounted for more than 40% of all sales in recent months.</p> <p>On Monday, new data suggested that pressures like these are starting to drive prices low enough to attract some buyers back into the market. Sales of previously occupied homes jumped 2.9% in February from the month before, the National Association of Realtors said, the first increase since July.</p> <p>The median price dropped 8.2% from a year earlier to $195,900, the biggest drop recorded by the Realtors in the current slump.</p> <p>In some beaten-down markets, the price cuts have been stark. The Detroit Board of Realtors recently found that home sales in the city (excluding suburbs) in the first two months of this year jumped 48% from a year earlier, to 1,540. The average home price there sank 54% to about $22,000.</p> <p><b>'Got to Move Things'</b></p> <p>Banks and others holding foreclosed property have concluded "we've got to move things" and are finally willing to slash prices, says Thomas Lawler, a housing economist in Leesburg, Va.</p> <table style="border: 1px solid rgb(51, 102, 51); width: 200px; margin-right: 8px;" align="right" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica,sans serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <!-- brick --><p id="brick0" style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"> <img src="http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/wsj_icons/it_keyboard.gif" align="right" border="0" /> Related Link </p> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/03/25/tips-for-scouting-out-a-foreclosed-home/">Tips for Scouting Out a Foreclosed Home</a></span> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>The supply is piling up fast. Overall, the total number of lender-owned homes doubled last year but sales grew only 4.4%.</p> <p>At the same time, the specialist firms that sell foreclosed homes for lenders say banks are sending them additional properties much faster than they can be sold. "They're coming in [at a rate of] two new properties for every sale," said Claudia Smith, vice president of operations for First American REO Outsourcing, which is handling roughly 8,000 foreclosed homes for lenders.</p> <p>First American CoreLogic, a research firm based in Santa Ana, Calif., that collects data from lenders and county clerks, estimates that foreclosed properties held by lenders accounted for 493,000 of all homes on the market in January, up from 231,000 a year before. Properties like these represent roughly one of nine currently listed for sale nationwide, compared with a one-in-15 ratio a year earlier.</p> <p>"This is both a crisis and an opportunity," says Rafael Cestero, a senior vice president at Enterprise Community Partners, Columbia, Md., a national nonprofit group that invests in housing for low-income people. Clusters of empty, foreclosed homes attract criminals and hurt neighborhoods by undercutting property values for everyone. Brenda Lawrence, mayor of Southfield, Mich., where about 3% of all single-family homes are in foreclosure, calls foreclosed homes "a cancer."</p> <p>But foreclosures also can help bring prices in high-cost areas down to levels that are affordable to teachers, fire fighters and other middle-class buyers who may have been priced out of the market during the housing boom.</p> <p>U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, recently announced plans for legislation to provide $10 billion of federal loans and grants to help local government and nonprofit groups buy and renovate vacant foreclosed homes. The homes would have to be sold or rented to people with low or moderate incomes.</p> <p>The overabundance of foreclosed homes in the market is likely to push down home prices in much of the country for the next several years, says Ivy Zelman, chief executive of Zelman & Associates, a housing-research firm in Cleveland.</p> <p><b>Off the Sidelines</b></p> <p>Until recently, all of this distressed property has been encouraging potential buyers to stay on the sidelines in anticipation of lower prices later. But Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, says the latest data show that sales are perking up in some areas where owners of foreclosed homes have become more aggressive about their pricing.</p> <p> <img src="http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/buyingselling/20080326-hudson.gif" alt="[Map]" align="left" border="0" height="327" hspace="10" vspace="5" width="398" /> Prospects for the housing market also depend heavily on the job market. As measured by the S&P/Case-Shiller national index, home prices jumped 74% in the six years through 2006. During the same period, U.S. median household income rose just 15%. (Neither figure is adjusted for inflation.) That discrepancy made housing unaffordable for many Americans.</p> <p>The home-price index already has come down about 10% from its peak in mid-2006. But prices might need to fall much further, some analysts say. A recent Credit Suisse report projects that average home prices have another 40% to fall in the Miami metropolitan area, 36% in Phoenix, 26% in Los Angeles and 20% in Las Vegas if they are to become more in line with income levels.</p> <p>Lenders face dueling pressures when deciding how quickly to sell foreclosed properties. On the one hand, foreclosed homes tend to depreciate faster than occupied ones because they get less maintenance and quickly look forlorn. And the longer they sit unsold, the longer the lender must keep paying monthly expenses, including insurance and property taxes.</p> <p>On the other hand, lenders must balance the pressure to clear their books with the fact that selling too quickly -- and at deep discounts -- could trigger big write-downs and devastate their quarterly results. "Somebody has to jump on the hand grenade," says Michael Cercone, a real-estate investor in Marblehead, Mass.</p> <p><b>Lessons of S&L Crisis</b></p> <p>William Seidman, a TV commentator and former bank regulator, served as chairman of Resolution Trust Corp., an agency created by Congress to sell the assets of failed savings and loans in the aftermath of that late-1980s financial crisis. "Our view was that we should sell [real estate] as quickly as possible," he says. Mr. Seidman advises today's sellers to take a similar approach.</p> <p> <img src="http://www.realestatejournal.com/images/buyingselling/20080326-hudson2.gif" alt="[Back on the Market]" align="right" border="0" height="342" hspace="10" vspace="5" width="469" /> In some cases, buyers are ready to act. Marc S. English, a beefy, 6-foot-4-inch Texan in ostrich-skin boots, walked into a private auction of 80 foreclosed homes at an Embassy Suites hotel near Dallas on March 9 and predicted that bargains would be scant due to the attendance of more than 1,000 rival bidders.</p> <p>"If you can't make 20%, 25% off these deals, you're wasting your time," said Mr. English, who occasionally buys and sells homes to supplement his regular work with a commercial builder.</p> <p>Yet Mr. English wound up buying two of the four homes he had scouted in advance. For instance, he agreed to pay mortgage investor Fannie Mae $37,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Fort Worth with a value of $69,600 in the county appraiser's records. After the auction, the lenders initially rejected his winning bids as too low. But a week later, they relented.</p> <p>The fastest way to move foreclosed homes might be to sell in bulk to big investors, although that kind of transaction is highly unusual in the real-estate business. Nevertheless, some hedge-fund operators, including New York-based Paulson & Co., are considering whether to seek deals like these. There are big obstacles, however. One problem: Hedge funds aren't equipped to manage small properties scattered over large areas.</p> <p>Another sticking point is price. Mary Coffin, an executive vice president who heads the loan-servicing business of Wells Fargo, says investors have approached her bank to discuss "fire sale" bulk purchases of homes, at as little as 20% to 30% of what the bank thinks the properties are worth.</p> <p>"We're not there," Ms. Coffin says.</p> <p>She thinks Wells can do better than that by selling homes one by one. Still, she says, Wells needs to prepare for the possibility of doing some bulk sales.</p> <p>Nonprofit groups are angling to get in on the action. Enterprise Community Partners plans to provide financing for local organizations to buy foreclosed homes and renovate them for sale or rent. Enterprise's Mr. Cestero says the group expects to raise at least $50 million to $75 million initially from foundations, financial institutions and other sources for such programs in Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Baltimore and Columbus, Ohio.</p> <p>Mr. Cestero says Enterprise Community Partners potentially could pay 50% to 70% of a property's estimated value. It has held talks with big lenders, although no deals have been reached.</p> <p>The San Diego Reinvestment Task Force, a body set up by the city and county, has proposed to create a "land bank" that would buy foreclosed homes, repair them and make them available for sale or rent in order to prevent blight from engulfing hard-hit neighborhoods. Jim Bliesner, director of the task force, plans to seek funding from foundations and government agencies.</p> <p>In the most dire cases, some lenders have teamed up with community-service groups essentially to donate foreclosed homes for use by low-income residents. In December, Fannie Mae began transferring 182 foreclosed homes, most of them in Detroit, to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority. The agencies paid $32,000 for the entire group of 182 homes -- enough to cover title-processing charges on each home. Once the titles are cleared, the agencies will donate the properties, which range in value from $5,000 to $70,000, to Michigan municipalities, charities and housing programs.</p> <p>One big problem for sellers is that mortgage lenders have severely tightened their terms, requiring larger down payments and better credit records. As a result, many people interested in buying foreclosed homes can't get loans.</p> <p>Another hurdle is that the lenders responsible for selling the homes don't own all of them. That's because many mortgages are sold to investors in the form of securities; therefore, the investors in those securities actually own the homes. The trust agreements that create securities like these require lenders to show that they are getting the best price possible for the homes. That makes it tough to cut deals with potential buyers seeking huge discounts.</p> <p>Among the big owners of foreclosed properties are government-sponsored mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the biggest lenders, Countrywide Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo. Fannie Mae owned 33,729 homes at the end of 2007, up 34% from a year earlier.</p> <p>Another big seller is the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, which operates the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA insures banks and investors against losses on mortgages, and ends up owning foreclosed homes. The average time it takes to sell has grown to 196 days from 175 a year earlier, says Laurie Maggiano, a HUD official. </p> <p>About 30% of HUD's homes are in Ohio and Michigan. In those states, HUD late last year began offering a $2,500 rebate to buyers. HUD also has programs that allow buyers to make down payments of as little as $100.</p> <p><b>The $1 Home</b></p> <p>HUD also has programs under which it sells homes at deep discounts, and sometimes for as little as $1, to local nonprofit developers who provide housing for low-income people. Ms. Maggiano says HUD is looking at ways of letting investors bid for large groups of homes.</p> <p>The foreclosure crisis has been a blessing for companies that specialize in selling foreclosed homes, often under contract with lenders. One such firm, FIS Asset Management Solutions of Westminster, Colo., has doubled its staff in the past year to 260 and expects to sell 20,000 foreclosed homes this year, roughly twice last year's figure.</p> <p>From a cubicle at FIS's headquarters, Bernadette Fleming sells, on average, one foreclosed home a day -- houses she never visits in person. She reads reports on their condition and the state of the local market, and confers with local real-estate agents. If a house doesn't sell, she re-evaluates every 30 days to see if price cuts are called for.</p> <p>On March 10, Ms. Fleming weighed a low-ball offer on a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Pomona, Calif. The home had gone on the market four months ago for $329,000. Three price cuts later, it was at $269,900. Now, however, a would-be buyer was offering $210,000 plus help with closing costs.</p> <p>In an email, the lender told Ms. Fleming to reject the offer -- but also decided to cut the asking price a bit more. "It's not in the worst shape," Ms. Fleming said of the property. "The landscaping needs attention. But we'll probably reduce the price again and get a contract on it."</p> <p> </p><p><i><i>-- Gregory Zuckerman contributed to this article.</i></i></p>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-35977517189554362242008-03-24T10:41:00.000-07:002008-03-25T12:53:07.264-07:00Should I wait or should I buy now?<div class="date_page">It seams that some buyers are starting to pull the trigger and are buying real estate again. This report from the National Association of Reltors shows that sales are on the rise. Don't let the bus pass you by. There are some great deals out there right now. If you are looking to buy your first home, or you are an investor, now is a great time to buy a house. Interest rates are still low. So get out there and find yourself a good home, at a great price.<br /><br />If you are interested in Foreclosed/bank owned properties, feel free to contact me via e-mail @ tucsonbuyersrep@gmail.com to take a tour on the Tucson Foreclosure Tour Bus this weekend.<br /><br />Daily Real Estate News <b>| </b>March 24, 2008</div> <span class="article_title">Existing-Home Sales Rise in February</span><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >®</span><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >. </span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate</span><sup><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></sup><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >of 5.03 million units in February from a pace of 4.89 million in January, but remain 23.8 percent below the 6.60 million-unit level in February 2007. The sales pace has been in a fairly narrow range since last September.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gain is encouraging. “We’re not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing,” he said. “Buyers taking advantage of higher loan limits for both FHA and conventional mortgages will unleash some pent-up demand. As inventories are drawn down, prices in many markets should go positive later this year.”</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >The national median existing-home price</span><sup><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></sup><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >for all housing types was $195,900 in February, down 8.2 percent from a year earlier when the median was $213,500. Because the slowdown in sales from a year ago is greater in high-cost areas, there is a downward pull to the national median with relatively fewer sales in higher priced markets.</span><br /><br /><i><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" >Source: NAR</span></i>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-68085434522859585442008-03-19T20:52:00.000-07:002008-03-19T21:00:32.803-07:00Want to know where the next smart real estate buy is?<p align="center"><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;"><strong>Look no further. Take advantage of what the market is giving you. Over 70% of the bank owned properties on the market today, where investor owned properties.<br /></strong></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;"><strong>Bus Tour of Local Repossessed Properties Planned</strong></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;"><strong>GET ON THE BUS BABY!<br /></strong></span></p><strong></strong> <span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-2;"><em>Arizona Daily Star</em></span> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">In light of the growing number of foreclosures in Tucson, one real estate firm is organizing a bus tour of foreclosed properties for prospective buyers.</span></p> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">The Pepper Group Diversified Real Estate Company is planning to launch the tour on March 1 for people who are interested in foreclosed homes and are pre-qualified for financing, said Rob Curcio, an agent who is helping to organize the tour. The company is planning to provide some help with finding possible lenders.</span></p> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">Prospective buyers can call 1-888-782-5211, Ext. 96.</span></p> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">Properties on the tour will include only those that have been repossessed by banks, not properties currently in the foreclosure process, Curcio said.</span></p> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">Tucson has the 46th-highest foreclosure rate among the 100 largest markets in the country, according to a list released today by the RealtyTrac data firm.</span></p> <p><img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">The report on 2007 foreclosure filings found that about 1 percent of households in Tucson went into some state of foreclosure in 2007. That amount was about 75 percent higher than in 2006, according to the RealtyTrac report.</span></p> <img src="http://www.thepepper.com/dot_clear_30w.gif" border="0" height="3" width="30" /><span style="font-family:Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif;font-size:-1;">The top foreclosure rate among the 100 metro areas was in Detroit, where nearly 5 percent of households were in foreclosure in 2007. Phoenix was 22nd-highest, with nearly 2 percent households entering foreclosure last year.<br /> <br /> </span>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-19215631414621996862008-03-14T22:52:00.000-07:002008-03-14T23:03:30.116-07:00Top 5 things all buyers should know about buying real estate.<div class="lsItm" id="lsItm1"><h3>1. Sold Property Information and Statistics</h3>Even if they're current residents and know all about the area, buyers need knowledge of what properties are selling for in the area and of the type in which they're interested. Do research and comparables before property showings if possible. But definitely have a set of comparables in the file that show the buyer was aware of the market selling prices before the offer to purchase.<p> This will inform the buyer(s) of the current market and assure that they make an informed purchase decision.</p></div><div class="lsItm" id="lsItm2"><h3>2. Disclosure, Disclosure, ....Disclosure</h3>Most state regulations are similar on this and quite clear: If you know something about the property under consideration for purchase that would possibly cause the buyer not to make a purchase offer, or that would cause them to adjust the offering price, you MUST disclose it. If you have any doubts, disclose.<p> Actual Example: Agent showed home to buyers who didn't purchase, but saw large cracks in floors. Months later, another couple were shown the home and it was carpeted. Agent disclosed.</p></div><div class="lsItm" id="lsItm3"><h3>3. Negotiation Process Steps</h3>Your buyer clients need to be taken through the purchase negotiation process with each step clearly explained. This is particularly important in the areas of inspections and repairs.<p> Tell them that problems discovered and needing repairs will result in further negotiation. The seller may not make the repairs, so allow latitude in your offer prices for work they might have to have done.</p><p> Also, if they negotiate a really tight price, they likely will push the seller into a no-repairs stance.</p></div><div class="lsItm" id="lsItm4"><h3>4. Your Duties and Loyalties in the Process</h3>Again, most states are similar and require some type of disclosure document early in the offer process that explains your role and duties to the buyer client.<p> You must disclose any relationship that could be construed as a conflict of interest, such as a familial tie to the seller or a business relationship with them.</p><p> You also should carefully explain your duties and status as an Agent, Transaction Broker or other named status and what that means in terms of your services and liability.</p></div><div class="lsItm" id="lsItm5"><h3>5. Don't Lock the Interest Rate to Closing Date</h3>This might not be a problem in some areas, but can be in many. Closings don't always happen on time. Inspections, appraisals, loan documents or repairs can all be delayed and cause a closing date to slide. Don't lose your clients the home because their <span style="text-decoration: underline;">interest rate lock </span>expires and rates have gone up. Though it may add to their loan cost, lock the interest rate at least a few days past the scheduled closing.</div><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />James Kimmons</span>, About.com<br /><br /><!--/gc-->thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-75132930285987788422008-03-14T22:43:00.000-07:002008-03-14T22:45:14.616-07:00Tucson homes hold value better than national average!<h2 class="storyheadline">Most Pima homes dip in value or remain flat</h2> <div class="storybyline"><br /></div> <div class="storybytitle"><i><span class="allcaps">Arizona Daily Star</span></i></div> <div class="siteinfo">Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.14.2008</div> <div><br /><script type="text/javascript">OAS_AD('300x250_1')</script>The typical Pima County homeowner saw his property value stay the same or decline slightly, at least for tax purposes, on notices of value sent out last week.</div> <div>The values are based on market conditions from all of 2006 and the first half of 2007. In much of the county, values were fairly flat; in other areas values went down.</div> <div>Pima County Assessor Bill Staples said there are some small pockets where values increased, but the increases are in isolated neighborhoods or even clusters of 10 to 15 houses, not spread out throughout the county.</div> <div>"The majority of Pima County properties were flat to down slightly," Staples said. "The luxury market seems to be holding up well.</div> <div>"And with residential property, the properties farther away from the central business district saw the bigger decreases," he added. "The older, established neighborhoods are holding value still."</div> <div>The Pima County Assessor's Office has redesigned its Web site to make it easier for property owners to search comparable properties, which often is the first step in deciding whether to file an appeal.</div> <div>The older version of the Web site is still available and will be for about the next year, but the new site provides a more accurate list of comparables in terms of the age of the house, building materials and building conditions, as well as a map showing the location of the comparable properties.</div> <div>The deadline to file an appeal is April 28.</div> <div>These notices of value will be used to determine tax bills for fall 2009. The tax bills homeowners will receive this fall will be based on the notices of value homeowners received last spring and the tax rates that will be set this summer.</div>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377653182545731522.post-77641012536550721172008-03-14T22:39:00.000-07:002008-03-14T22:40:33.398-07:00Make the Location Attractive to Buyers<span class="article_title"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Choosing the right neighborhood is very important in a slower real estate market. It can have a huge effect on whether a home turns out to be a winning investment.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Even in hard-hit cities, some neighborhoods are holding up better than others.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">"It's location, location, location </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">—</span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> more than ever," says Lori Dahl, an associate with Burgdorff Realty ERA in Summit, N.J.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">There’s nothing new in this list of things that buyers should consider, but still these factors bear repeating.</span><br /> <ul><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Schools. </span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Homes in highly regarded school districts generally retain their value better.</span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Supply and demand. </span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Prices are tumbling in areas where there are a lot of recently constructed and unsold homes.</span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Convenience. </span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Land is cheaper in exurbia, but the commute can be brutal and the services thin, so many buyers reject outlying areas.</span> </li><li type="disc"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The street.</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> In every area, some streets </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">—</span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> even some blocks </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">—</span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"> are more desirable than others. Picking the most attractive and least trafficked area is almost always the best idea.</span></li></ul><br /><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Source: The Wall Street Journal, Jeff Opdyke (3/14/08)</span></i>thetucsonrealtorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12233560882829968513noreply@blogger.com0