Liz's Real Estate Blog

2008-04-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

Spring Time In Scottsdale-My Favorite time of year! Below I have listed many fun things to do .The season's warm temperatures have set the stage for vibrant wildflowers, colorful butterflies and jacket-free outdoor activities. Take a Hummer tour to experience the desert in bloom or chase away the winter blues at one of our world-class resort spas. However you choose to welcome the new season, you're sure to enjoy spring in Scottsdale!
ExperienceScottsdale.com for itineraries and additional events you won't want to miss.
We hope to see you soon!

Fountain Hills Tourism Bureau
Nestled in the Sonoran Desert's majestic McDowell Mountains you'll find CopperWynd Resort and Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino. Visit Fountain Hills today.

Scottsdale Fashion Square
Scottsdale Fashion Square is the Southwest's distinctive address for premier shopping, dining and entertainment.

Chaparral Suites Resort Scottsdale
Full service all-suite resort in the heart of Scottsdale offering complimentary amenities and outstanding service!

CopperWynd Resort and Club
AAA Four Diamond boutique resort with unparalleled 360 degree views. Customized spa and romance packages.

The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa is a AAA Four Diamond, family-friendly resort with accommodations that will both sooth and stimulate.

Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas
Discover a magical retreat right in the heart of Scottsdale, Arizona. The new villa accommodations redefine the resort experience.

2008 Scottsdale Dining and Nightlife Discovery Guide
This two-in-one book explores Scottsdale's many after-dark offerings, from award-winning restaurants, happy hour hubs and wine bars to dance clubs and lounges featuring live entertainment.

Scottsdale Culinary Festival - April 8 - April 13, Locations throughout Scottsdale
Arizona Paint Horse Association Horse Show - April 11 - 13, WestWorld
Heard Museum Shop Annual Katsina Doll Marketplace - April 12, The Heard Museum Shop
Friday Evening Concert Series - Thru April 25, The Borgata of Scottsdale
McDowell Mountain Music Festival - April 25 - 26, WestWorld Polo Grounds
Mother's Day Concert with Esteban - May 11, Desert Botanical Garden
Summer Spectacular ArtWalk - July 10, Downtown Scottsdale, Main Street and Marshall Way

Liz's Real Estate Blog

2008-02-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

2007 foreclosures up 150 percent in Arizona
The Business Journal of Phoenix - by Adam Kress Phoenix Business Journal
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 9:04 AM MST
The number of home foreclosures soared in 2007, both in Arizona and around the country.
Arizona ranked eighth in the U.S. in number of foreclosures, with nearly 70,000 filings. That accounts for more than 1.5 percent of all homes in the state, and is a 150 percent increase from last year.
The latest research from RealtyTrac Inc. finds that the number of foreclosures spiked across the country in 2007, with 405,000 households losing their homes.
Total foreclosure filings -- including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- grew 75 percent from 2006 to 2007. December filings alone were up 97 percent. More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some stage of foreclosure during 2007, up from 0.58 percent the year before.
In California, nearly 66,000 people lost their homes last year. In Michigan, 47,000 families went through foreclosure.
Also hard hit was Nevada, where 10,000 people had their homes repossessed. Nevada had nearly 3.4 filings for every 100 households -- a foreclosure rate of more than three times the national average, and the highest of any state.
Although many states had huge foreclosure numbers in 2007, others avoided problems. Maine had 286 properties with foreclosure filings on their records, Vermont 29 and South Dakota just 24.

So, what does this mean to you if you are not facing foreclosure right now?
Perhaps listing and selling you home before it comes to this end would be a wise thing to do.
So, now you are thinking but I owe more than it's worth. A short sale might be the answer.
A short sale is when the borrower negotiates with the bank to settle the mortgage for less than what is owed avoiding foreclosure. This results in less of a ding on the credit report of the borrower 100-150 vs. 250-280 for a foreclosure. Another benefit of a short sale is the recent passage of Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. The amount forgiven in a short-sell was considered taxable income for the seller previously. It is also more appealing to the lender because the property may sell for more than what it would as a foreclosure. Want more information? Contact Me! I'll be happy to assist you any way possible.

2007-09-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Thought this is worth posting for some recent explaination of the current mortgage situation.
Local Real Estate

Tighter mortgage market will help continue Valley slowdown
Home buyers need better credit, more cash

Catherine Reagor
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 17, 2007 12:00 AM
Obtaining a home loan is going to get even more difficult.Lending guidelines are tightening almost daily for borrowers as the subprime-loan crisis spreads. Those higher-risk loans have just about disappeared as their default rates soar. Now, financing is getting tougher for all homebuyers.
On Thursday, megalender Countrywide Financial Corp. had to take out an emergency loan to keep operating, and Tucson-based First Magnus Financial Corp. stopped taking loan applications. Magnus is one of the nation's top private lender.Earlier this year, New Century Financial Corp. and American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. filed for bankruptcy. So far, at least 70 mortgage firms have closed or put themselves up for sale since last year. Because of the meltdown in the mortgage market, lenders have begun requiring higher credit scores and bigger down payments from all borrowers. They also are charging higher interest rates to people who want to buy a home for $417,000 or more because fewer lenders want to fund them. The tighter mortgage market will work to slow metro Phoenix's housing market. Real-estate analysts say the new lending restrictions could knock 10 to 15 percent of home buyers out the market because they can't get funding. That could significantly affect the local market, where a record number of homes are for sale and where sales are already down about 25 percent from 2006's pace."The mortgage market has changed drastically in just the past few weeks," said Tom Miner of the Scottsdale-based mortgage firm Miner Kennedy Chmura Associates. "We are getting calls from buyers who can't close anymore because lenders want more documentation or money down." Cheryl Serbic wanted to buy a condominium in central Scottsdale. Earlier this summer, the restaurant manager qualified for an adjustable-rate mortgage that required little down. But a week before she was to close, her lender said she needed a bigger down payment. Serbic called other lenders and got the same bad news."I didn't think I needed a down payment. My friend bought last year without one," she said. "But if the housing market is going to keep going down. I'll save and maybe I'll find a better deal then."Not all the 100 percent financing and no-documentation loans have gone away. But now, lenders are requiring borrowers' FICO scores to be 20 to 40 points higher than last year. A 10 percent down payment, once considered standard, is now required on many more loans. "There was a lot of dumb lending done in the past few years," said Jay Luber of First Horizon Home Loans. "Loan guidelines now are tougher but much closer to normal."
How we got here
In 2003, lenders started offering a slew of new easier-to-get mortgages that enabled the nation's housing boom. Borrowers with bad credit and lower incomes could buy homes by getting subprime loans with higher interest rates. Other borrowers could get in with nothing down and without paying private mortgage insurance by using 80/20 or piggyback loans. The 20 percent was typically a home-equity loan that covered the down payment. Lenders also cut back on the income documentation they required on loans. These "no doc" loans opened the door for people to qualify.The housing market was booming. People thought they could refinance into better loans as home prices climbed. Lenders were making money.Then last year, home prices and sales started to slip. The subprime market started to implode as foreclosures on those loans jumped. Now, the foreclosure epidemic has spread to the Alt-A mortgage market, the segment between subprime and prime loans that includes many 80/20s and no-documentation loans.

Changing guidelines
Lending guidelines are changing quickly.Not only borrowers but sellers looking to move up should make sure they qualify first. The "jumbo" loan market for mortgages of $417,000 has tightened up because mortgage institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don't guarantee loans above that amount. The investors who would have backed the bigger loans have pulled back, which is part of the mortgage market's liquidity problem.Tighter lending practices are also affecting homeowners looking to refinance. In a slowing housing market, some homeowners who got subprime or adjustable-rate and interest-only loans a few years ago are finding they can't refinance because they don't have a high enough credit score or their house is worth less than they owe. "Now, their rates are adjusting up, and they can't refinance because don't qualify under the new guidelines," said Andy Griffin of Scottsdale-based Core Mortgage Group. "It's a really tough time for a lot of homeowners now, but if people can hold on and make their payments, it will be much better for them than a foreclosure."In its newest report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage markets are "facing a liquidity crisis of a force and magnitude not seen in decades."It went on to say the ripple effect will be felt throughout the housing market. Those effects are already being felt here in the Valley. "Things are bad and are going to get worse," said Brett Barry, a north Valley real-estate agent.

It's Deal Time with 55,000 Homes Listed

Aug. 19, 2007 12:00 AM

Home sales and building are down in metropolitan Phoenix, but there are other indicators to track where the housing market is headed.Here is a look at some:
• Home listings in the Valley climbed to almost 55,000 in the past few weeks. That's a new high. The number of houses that are marketed for a short sale to avoid foreclosure or are bank-owned is also up. That's good news for buyers looking for deals.
• About 85 percent of the Valley homes foreclosed on in July went back to the lender, according to the Information Market. That means fewer investors bidding on foreclosure properties on the courthouse steps. In many cases, more is owed on the home than what it's worth now.
• Nationally, there are 500,000 to 700,000 new homes built but not sold, according to real-estate consulting firm Robert Charles Lesser & Co. Metro Phoenix's share ranges from 10,000 to 20,000, depending on who's counting.
• Housing analyst RL Brown has revised his 2007 Valley home-building forecast downward to 34,000. He's calling for the same number of new homes in 2008, with the market starting to grow again in 2009.
• The median price of an existing metro-Phoenix home was $265,000 in July, according to the Realty Studies center in Arizona State University's Morrison School of Management. The figure has been hovering between $263,000 and $265,500 for the past two years. Helping the figure from falling is a bigger percentage of Valley homes selling for $300,000 or more.
• The median square-footage for a resale home selling in July was 1,750 square feet, according to Realty Studies at ASU. Last year, the median square footage of resales was 1,650 square feet.It's another sign that bigger and pricier homes are selling.
• Metro Phoenix drew 61,600 new jobs during the fiscal year ending June 2007, for a growth rate of 3.3 percent. However, it's a decline from the 100,000 new jobs created in both 2005 and 2006. Approximately one-half of this decline is related to the slowdown in the construction industry, said Ben Sage, director of real-estate consulting firm Metrostudy's Arizona division.
• New-home prices in metro Phoenix fell an average of 6 percent this year, according to Phoenix-based Belfiore Real Estate Consulting. The firm says new-home prices have dropped 21 percent in the past 18 months. Recently, West Valley cities saw the biggest decline in new-home prices. Avondale's cost for a new house fell 11.9 percent, and in north Buckeye, prices are down 9 percent.
• The median sales price of a home sold in the Las Vegas area decreased to $295,000 in July, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. That's down 5 percent from a year ago. It's also the first time Sin City's median-home price has dipped below $300,000 since April 2005. A record 20,273 homes are for sale in Las Vegas.The housing market is slowing nationally.
In some cases, metro Phoenix is faring better. Real-estate analysts were calling for the market to start to rebound or at least hit bottom this year. Now, many are looking to mid-2008.

Phoenix Returning to Normal Market

2006-10-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

Prices, sales tumble, but that's 'getting back to normal', from the USA TODAY, reports that asking prices in the Phoenix area have dropped about 25% this year, says David Khalaj, an agent at Realty Executives. Existing single-family home sales tumbled 34% in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year, and condo sales were off 24%. New home permits for single family homes were down 23% through August. The declines appear so dramatic because Phoenix's housing market last year was so hyperinflated. "Last year was just one of those atrocities that happens rarely", in terms of bidding wars and soaring prices, said Camille Sullivan, also an agent at Realty Executives. "I've never seen it before, and I've been doing this for 25 years. It was a very difficult time." Sullivan said the market is "stabilizing and getting back to normal". There area now about 47,000 homes for sale. That's about a six to eight-month supply, about the national average.

Valley Sales Up in July But Used Home Prices Fall From June

2006-08-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Used-home prices dropped in July, but sales up from June, from the Arizona Republic, reports that the median resale price of a Valley home fell to $264,900 last month, after climbing to a record $267,000. The number of July resales rose to 5,545, up from the 5,460 in June. However, July's totals were the weakest since July 1999, when 5,240 resales were recorded. In July 2005, 10,200 resales were recorded. For the first seven months of this year, there were 41,835 resales, compared with 68,235 during the same time frame last year. The numbers were released by the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU.

40 Year Mortage Risky Choice?

2006-08-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

40-Year Mortgage- Risky Choice ?
Greg McBride, CFA Bankrate.com
The primary advantage of a 40-yr. fixed rate mortgage is making
monthly payments more affordable without taking on the risk of an
adjustable rate. It also appeals to buyers with small down
payments. Reducing the monthly payments on large loan amounts
is accomplished by stretching the repayment term by an extra 10
years.
But the difference in payments may not be as significant as you
might think. Consider that a $200k mortgage financed for 30 years
at a fixed rate of 5.75% carries a monthly payment of $1,167.15.
All else being equal, stretching the loan term an additional 10 years
reduces the payment by just over $100 to $1,065.78.
However, some of this effect of lower monthly payments is negated
by a higher rate that is charged on the 40 yr. loan. Rates are often
one quarter to one half of a percentage point higher than a 30 yr.
fixed rate. Another disadvantage is that the homeowner builds
equity at a snail’s pace. For first time buyers looking to eventually
move up to another, larger home, this slow equity accumulation is a
liability.
Consider a $200k, 40-yr. fixed rate mortgage vs. a 5/1 ARM for a
buyer with an intended five-yr horizon in the home. While the 5/1
ARM reduces the monthly payment by $57 compared to the 40 yr.
fixed, the ARM borrower accumulates an additional $10k in equity
during that five year period.
Mortgage Payment Loan Balance After 5 yrs.
5/1 ARM @ 4.75% $1043.29 $182,996.47
40 yr. fixed @ 6% $1100.43 $192,993.19

Welcome

2006-07-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Liz Dobbins real estate blog.