Be Careful buying Gift Cards

Buyer Beware.  If you plan on buying gift cards for the holidays, be careful.  Some stores are going out of business and won’t be honoring those cards. Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about.

1. Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
2. Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
3. Lane Bryant
4. Fashion Bug
5. Catherine’s to close 150 stores nationwide
6. Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
7. Cache will close all stores
8. Talbots closing down specialty stores
9. J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
10. Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
11. GAP closing 85 stores
12. Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
13. Wickes Furniture closing down 
14. Levitz closing down remaining stores
15. Bombay closing remaining stores
16. Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
17. Whitehall closing all stores
18. Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
19. Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
20. Home Depot closing 15 stores, 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
21. Macys to close 9 stores after January
22. Linens and Things closing all stores
23. Movie Galley Closing all stores
24. Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
25. Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
26. JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
27. Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
28. Wilson Leather closing down all stores
29. Sharper Image closing down all stores
30. K B Toys closing 356 stores
31. Loews to close down some stores
32. Dillard’s to close some stores
33. Mervyns

No more foreclosures until 2009

Fannie and Freddie announced last week they will suspend Foreclosure sells until Jan 09 starting the day before Thanksgiving. No Foreclosures for the Holidays, business will resume 09.

This step coupled with the slowing of Housing Starts could lead to a tighter housing supply, thus stabilize declining market values, in areas that have noticed an increase in sells (West Coast).  

Could this pro long the pain and drag out the historical foreclosure market we are enduring? 
Might it be a strategic move to stabilize the market?  

Check back with me in April 2009. In the meantime we will see REO Listings slow.

Press Release

YourMortgagePlanner 2.0 www.yourmortgageplannersblog.com

Happy Shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

Here are some helpful websites to plan your holiday shopping deal hunting…Have a memorable Thanksgiving!  Enjoy, Becky

Black Friday: http://bfads.net/  and  http://www.blackfriday.info/

Cyber Monday: http://www.cybermonday.com/

My favorites:

www.woot.com – 1 great deal per day

www.newegg.com – for all things electronic (I like to put price alerts on items)

www.amazon.com – great gift buying guides/ideas

Gifts that Give Back:  This is a great article by CCN & Oprah with links to all the charitable sites that have great gift giving ideas that help a good cause!

What can I get for 75, 150, 250, 350, 450 and 525 thousand dollars?

Here is a recap of homes I have been showing clients recently.

$75,000 – PICTURE BELOW. This is a 3 bed 2 bath home built in 2004.  It has 1,300 square feet. It is located in Florence, AZ which is South of Queen Creek.  It is a bank-owned foreclosure in good condition with a view fence that backs to a golf course.

$170,000 – PICTURE BELOW. This is a 3 bed 2 bath home built in 2007 that has never been lived in.  The builder went bankrupt and is selling the property AS-IS.  This home has 1,854 square feet and is a 2 bedroom with a 1 bedroom casita (seperate entrance).  It is located in Gilbert, Arizona in Higley Park at Ray & Higley.

$249,000 – This is a 2,194 square feet 4 bed 2.5 bath home built in 2004.  This home is located in the popular Spectrum neighborhood at Pecos & Lindsay in Gilbert, AZ. Picture below.

$450,000 – This is a 5 bed 3 bath home that was newly completed in Oct. 2008.  It is located in Chandler, AZ near Germann & Gilbert Rd.  This home has close to 4,000 square feet with a loft. It has beautiful upgraded cabinetry, flooring, paint, granite countertops, etc and is in a popular subdivision. Picture below.

$525,000 – This is a 3 bed 2.5 bath home built in 1984 (with lots of remodeling).  It is located in Fountain Hills, AZ (East of Scottsdale, North of Mesa).  Very private lot with panoramic mountain views. Picture below.

Let me know if you’d like more information on any of these homes, price points or areas. – Becky Wyatt

Liberty Market in Gilbert, AZ

Liberty Market, located at 230 N. Gilbert Rd in historic downtown Gilbert, is the new restaurant by Joe Johnson (Joe’s Farm & Grill, Joe’s BBQ).  I’ve eaten here 3 times since it opened in Nov. 2008.  I’m writing this post in November 2008 – so yes, I’ve been here 3 times in it’s opening month!  Liberty Market has a hip, Italian vibe to it.  I personally love paninis so each time I go I’m trying a different “pressed sandwhich”.  My favorite so far has been the Arizona Sky for $7.50.  You can find their website and menu here. Also, when you go – check out ALL the bathrooms.  Seriously, open every door…the bathrooms alone deserve a blog post! – Becky

 

Italia Panini and the Sloppy Joe (extra sloppy).

Outside patio at Liberty Market

Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert

New Mortgage Help from Gov’t

Nov. 11, 2008 09:48 AM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON – In the most sweeping effort so far to help troubled homeowners, the federal government and the mortgage industry on Tuesday will announce a plan to streamline the assistance process for hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which seized control of the two mortgage finance companies in September, scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. EST. Scheduled to attend were officials from the Treasury Department, Wells Fargo & Co., the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage companies organized by the Bush administration last year.

An industry official who worked on the plan said the new approach will allow lenders to modify more delinquent loans by establishing broad criteria to speed up the process. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because details had not been announced.

The new initiative will likely have tremendous importance because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about half of U.S. home loans.

To qualify, borrowers would have to be at least three months behind on their home loans, and would need to have home loans worth at least 90 percent their house’s value. The interest rate or principal amount of the loan would be reduced so that borrowers would not pay more than 38 percent of their income on housing expenses, the industry official said.

The announcement comes as major banks are stepping up their efforts to curtail losses from souring mortgages. More than 4 million American homeowners with a mortgage were at least one payment behind on their loans at the end of June, and 500,000 had started the foreclosure process, according to the most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Three Big Mortgage Loan Changes effective Jan. 1, 2009

Potential Home Buyers:

BE AWARE that several loan programs will change on January 1, 2009.  The FHA minimum down payment goes up from 3% to 3.5%.  The FHA maximum loan amount goes from $346,250 down to around $318,550 (in Arizona).  Once a buyer has a purchase contract, a mortgage lender can establish an FHA case number which is the date used for cutoffs.  So if the max loan amount and downpayment amounts matter to you – get those contracts written in 2008!

Also, the USDA “Rural” Housing Program will eliminate some of the areas that are currently still eligible for 100% financing.  Right now Buckeye, Maricopa (the city), and parts of Anthem and Queen Creek are all still eligible for 100% financing on this program.

Most of my clients are doing FHA loans with 3% downpayments (which is $7,500 on a $250,000 house).  The closing costs associated with buying a home (another 2-3% of the price) can be paid for by the seller!  Let a Realtor help you negotiate for this!  It costs you as a buyer NOTHING to have me as your Realtor, full-time, looking out for your interests. Call me at 480-383-9209 or email me at Becky@BeckyWyattOnline.com – Becky

Now THAT’S a Wishlist

File this under nifty new website thing I had to share….

I’ve always had a WISHLIST on Amazon.com.  Now Amazon has added a little feature that changes my wishlist from “okay” to THE ONLY WISHLIST YOU WILL EVER NEED.

You can now add items from ANY website to your Amazon wishlist.  Amazon has created a button that you “drag and drop” on your Internet browser (no install)…you click this new button and WAA-LAA you have added that item to an easy to use list Santa and Mom appreciate.  

CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF! - http://www.amazon.com/gp/wishlist/get-button/ref=cm_wl_uwl

Amazon also has another great feature – gift giving organizers so you can shop online and tuck any ideas for mom, dad, sister, husband in their very own list.  I know my strategy for saving money this holiday is going to include shopping online.  That way I get in & out quickly for the things on the list, don’t pick up any impulse buys, and never have to battle crowds and consumerism.  How peaceful.  And more time for eating pie.

What are your ideas for saving money this holiday? Will you be using an online shopping cart?

-Becky

The Truth about Short Sales

by Catherine Reagor - Oct. 18, 2008, The Arizona Republic

More than 7,000 homeowners facing foreclosure in the Valley are trying to sell their homes through a process known as a short sale, according to Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service data.

But less than 5 percent manage to sell before lenders seize their houses.

The failure by banks and homeowners to agree to a short sale – to sell a home for less than the amount still owed on the mortgage – is adding to the Valley’s growing foreclosure problem.

And the government’s recent financial-bailout package to help alleviate the nation’s housing crisis will do little to address the problem of short sales.

When homeowners whose property values have collapsed fall into arrears on a mortgage, short sales allow them to negotiate a deal with their lender to sell their home for less than they owe and avoid foreclosure.

An increase in the number of short sales could slow the Valley’s record foreclosure rate, which has yet to peak.

However, a number of factors are preventing short sales:
• Lenders, overwhelmed by a record number of mortgages in default and their own losses in the financial-market meltdown, are not negotiating with many borrowers seeking a short sale.
• Many homeowners facing foreclosure wait too long before contacting their lenders.

“I don’t see many people having success with short sales, either sellers or buyers,” said Mike Orr, a Valley real-estate agent. “For buyers, the process of getting lender approval is lengthy and tiresome. Sellers often run out of time if they are already behind in their mortgage payments.”

Because there are so many foreclosed-on homes that lenders are trying to resell at bargain prices, he said, there is little incentive for a buyer to go through the “laborious” process of a short sale.

Lenders have foreclosed on almost 30,000 Valley homes this year. Most are sold for tens of thousands of dollars below what was owed on them. And many resell for thousands of dollars less than what was offered through short sales.

Better than foreclosure

The purpose of a short sale is to allow a homeowner to sell a house at its current market value and get off the hook for however much of their mortgage isn’t paid off by the sale.

Homeowners don’t get any cash from a short sale but avoid a foreclosure black mark on their credit. A short sale impacts credit, too, but not as badly.

A short sale is better for a neighborhood because it means a home is being purchased by someone and not foreclosed on by the lender, left vacant for months and then resold for even less.

Also, short sales usually cost lenders less than a foreclosure. Research from the national financial-consulting firm Clayton Holdings Inc. indicates lenders lose only 19 percent of a home’s loan amount on a short sale, compared with 40 percent on a foreclosure.

“Short sales are the best solution out there for the borrower, the bank and the buyer,” said Randy Kutz of HomeSmart’s Phoenix Heritage Real Estate Group. However, he said short sales are “the brain surgery of real estate” and take time and expertise to execute.

Gilbert Family Halloween Carnival

Date and Time : Saturday, October 25th, 2008 from 5-9pm
Location: Freestone Park Softball Complex, 1045 E. Juniper Rd. 
Price: $3 for ages 4 through adults, free for ages 3 and under
Activity Ticket Packages: $5 for 5 tickets; $10 for 15 tickets; $15 for 25 tickets; $25 for 50 tickets.

Children of all ages will enjoy this night of safe and friendly Halloween fun as they visit Frankenstein’s Fishing Hole, play Ghost Bingo, decorate pumpkins and take part in a costume parade.  The event will also have a variety of games, inflatable bounces and slides, a food and beverage court, vendor booths and entertainment stages.  Special guest entertainers Jonnie and Brookie will be performing on the main stage at 7pm. 

Advance admission and activity tickets may be purchased beginning Monday, October 13 through Friday, October 24at Freestone Recreation Center, McQueen Park Activity Center, Gilbert Community Center and the Community Services Department main office.