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

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.

Pending Home Sales up 7.4% in Aug.

 

WASHINGTON – Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.

Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed. Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.

The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.

Sales are picking up in places that have seen the most severe declines in housing prices – including California, Florida Nevada and Arizona, plus Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. area, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group’s chief economist. Still, Yun does not expect home prices to rebound until next year and only expects a modest gain of 2 to 3 percent in 2009.

Foreclosure Alley Video

This is what foreclosure looks like. I often show my buying clients bank-owned properties with many personal belongings left behind from the evicted owners like you’ll see in the video.  If you or someone you know if facing real estate challenges such as foreclosure, don’t hesitate to call or email me and we can talk about your options, or visit the Foreclosure Prevention website under helpful links on this blog. – Becky Wyatt

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Foreclosure Alley Video“, posted with vodpod

8 Ways to Make Your Home Sell Faster

Simple fixes and staging practices can focus buyers’ attention in the right places and keep them from getting sidetracked by personal items in the home. Here are some staging suggestions from Deborah Ehrlich-Layne of Staging Plus in Tampa, Fla., Handyman Matters, and HGTV’s The Stagers.

• Eliminate countertop clutter. A countertop covered with small appliances and utensils looks crowded, not spacious.
• Pack up the too-personal. Don’t leave toiletries on the counter. Stash family photos.
• Be prepared for snoops. Prospective buyers pull open drawers, look in closets and peek behind the shower curtain.
• Make sure things work. Dripping faucets, burned-out light bulbs, and squeaking hinges detract from the home’s appeal.
• Think “white-glove clean.” Mop, dust, vacuum, clean baseboards, wash windows. Make sure the house looks fresh and smells neutral.
• Make sure the front door is clean and the hardware polished. Power-wash walkways.
• Store furniture that makes rooms feel crowded.
• Show every room for the kind of room it is. Maybe you’ve turned your formal dining room into a home office. Get rid of the desk and computer, and bring back the dining table and chairs.

Source: The Dallas Morning News (09/05/08)

How’s the Market?

Thanks to Grady Young of Security Title Agency for providing this data.  His team at Security Title Agency are the best in the business in my opinion.  www.SecurityTitle.com – they make your home sale/purchase legal:)

For Sale in Gilbert

New Housing Bill Signed into Law

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act
Last week, President Bush signed the “Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008” into law. This $300 Billion rescue plan is aimed at helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure, as well as boost confidence in the housing market. Although the bill is several hundred pages long and contains a number of far-reaching provisions, here are a few of the major provisions in the legislation that impact homeowners and homebuyers:

1. Tax credits. First-time homebuyers who purchase their primary residence on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009 are eligible for up to $7,500 in tax credit, provided they haven’t owned a home in the last three years and fit certain income parameters. The credit is generous, but it is actually an interest free loan, paid back over 15 years at $500 per year when taxes are filed.
Special note: Some types of seller-paid down payment assistance programs are being eliminated as of October 1st as well – so purchasing a home before then may gain you a double benefit of tax credits AND seller-paid down payment assistance while it is still available.
2. Larger loans at lower rates. There have recently been provisions in place that have allowed loans larger than $417,000 to qualify for better financing rates than normally would be available for “jumbo” loan amounts of that size, thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

No More Downpayment Help from Sellers

The new housing rescue  bill President Bush is expected to sign this week will really change things for buyers needing help with their down-payment.  Currently, there are FHA loan programs out there that allow the seller to contribute to the buyers down-payment (providing instant equity for buyers, and less out of pocket costs for buyers).  That ends October 1st, 2008.  All loans approved after that date CANNOT have the seller pay for the down-payment that is required for an FHA loan (currently 3% of a sales price).  This bill will also adjust the minimum FHA down-payment requirement from 3% to 3.5% which means you’ll need to have more money saved up if you are interested in buying a home.  There are many other details to this bill but these two features will effect many potential homebuyers.  Personally, three of my recent clients have used programs such as Ameridream, Genesis, Nehemiah that allow for the seller to pay the buyers down-payment. If you are considering buying property, and were interested in some type of zero down loan program where the seller would help with your down-payment then you must hurry and get pre-qualified for a mortgage loan NOW and start shopping for property.  Please feel welcome to post comments or questions. – Becky Wyatt

Just Sold in 16 days!

JUST SOLD IN SCOTTSDALE 6/27/2008.

After only 16 days on the market, I brought my selling clients TWO offers, and got their house sold for 96% of their asking price! I want to earn your business too! Ask me what I do differently than most real estate agents! Becky@BeckyWyattOnline.com 480-383-9209.