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