Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale » Buying

Foreclosure waiting period updates

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:29:16 +0000

Fannie Mae now requires 7 years after foreclosure to obtain a new conventional loan. This new policy is to discourage Strategic Foreclosures. A shorter wait of 5 years may be possible if certain additional requirements are met. With documented “extenuating circumstances” a 3 year wait “may” be possible. FHA still allows buyers to purchase 3 years after foreclosure if the buyer meets all other FHA guidelines. At this time, there is no separate FHA policy on Strategic Foreclosures.

Foreclosure waiting period updates is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Ways to ruin your own purchase

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:26:27 +0000

Due to tightening lending compliance and guidelines, buyers have more risk of blowing their own transaction by changing their situation during the process. Although it is the lenders responsibility to coach the buyers on what and what not to do, some buyers need to hear the information more than once. It is to the benefit to also coach the buyers at the onset of the transaction.

No New Debt

Buyers are required to explain all credit inquiries in the 90 days prior to loan application and whether or not a new debt was established. In addition, any new inquiries that show up during the process and before closing will need to be explained. Buyers should be coached to not apply for ANY new credit prior to, or during, the loan process. If a buyer needs to establish a new debt during the process, they should contact their mortgage consultant to review whether or not it will impact their transaction. Not disclosing current or new debt could result in a loan denial.

No (Or Limited) Use Of Current Credit

THIS IS NEW! Fannie Mae has recently issued a new policy on conventional loans that lenders must now pull a new credit report after loan documents have been issued and before funding can occur. Any change to the credit balances or credit score “could” affect the loan approval and require re-underwriting.
This may be impossible for some who have automatic payments set up on credit cards or use them for business. Buyers should have a full discussion with their mortgage consultant early on about what credit usage they cannot avoid. At this time, FHA loans are not affected by this policy, but could be in the future.
Buyers should be coached to not use their current credit accounts during the loan process.

No Job Changes

Due to the current job economy, all investors require a “pre-funding employment verification call” to be done after loan documents are sent to title and before funding and closing a loan. This is simply to verify the buyer is still employed at the time of closing. In addition, stricter verifications are done during processing regarding a buyer’s likelihood of continued employment, continued hours, expected overtime and continuation of bonus/commission income. Buyers should be coached to avoid any changes in their employment or structure of pay during the process. If a change occurs, they should contact their mortgage consultant immediately.

No Unsourced Deposits

Lenders are becoming increasingly strict on verifying that all funds used in the transaction are “sourced and seasoned” for proof that the buyer is using their own funds (or gift funds in some cases) for their purchase. The buyer must document all deposits or transfers in their accounts that are not auto deposit payroll. Buyers should be coached to avoid transferring funds between accounts and to not deposit any undocumented funds or cash into their accounts.

Ways to ruin your own purchase is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Is April the Perfect Real Estate Storm?

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:05:39 +0000

For those who have been looking for the right time to purchase a home, April may present the perfect real estate storm. In fact, waiting beyond the month of April may prove to be a costly mistake for those who are interested in buying a home in the near future.

Perhaps the biggest incentive for purchasing a home during the month of April is the fact that the Home Buyer Credit is set to expire soon. While the credit has been extended to the month of June, anyone who wishes to take advantage of the credit must have the purchase contracted by the end of April. Since most buyers take a few weeks to find the best home to suit their needs, it is a good idea to get the search started well before April 30.

Of course, many savvy homebuyers have been waiting for the housing market to bottom out. Unfortunately, there is no way of determining for certain whether or not a particular market has bottomed out. Yet, according to many experts, most of the local markets have bottomed out already. In fact, some are starting to show signs of recovery. Therefore, those who are waiting for housing prices to reach rock bottom will likely find the best deals during the month of April.

The final ingredient in this perfect storm is the low mortgage loan interest rates we are currently enjoying. Over the last several weeks, the interest rates on long-term mortgage loans have been less than 5%. In fact, interest rates have been hovering around the 5% rate for several months. Unfortunately for buyers, the Fed has recently stopped the mortgage backed securities that helped keep the rates so low. As a result, many experts predict that mortgage loan interest rates will likely increase to around 6% by the end of the year.

While no one should go out and purchase a home in April simply because of the Home Buyer Credit, the great prices and the low long-term mortgage loan interest rates, those who are considering buying a home in the near future and who have the financial means to make a purchase should certainly take a serious look at buying now. Waiting just a few months longer could literally result in paying tens of thousands more dollars for the very same home that could have been purchased for less in April – the month of the perfect real estate storm.

Eric Bramlett is the broker & co-owner of One Source Realty, a boutique Austin real estate company that services downtown Austin condo buyers, and that specializes in Steiner Ranch residents. Eric enjoys working with select clients, helping his agents succeed, and hanging out on the lake with his wife & dogs.

Is April the Perfect Real Estate Storm? is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

The recession is over

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:57:46 +0000

Is that a bold statement? Yeah, probably. But I used very careful metrics to determine this. I am going to reveal it here because I trust that my readers can keep it secret. Ready?
Last night, my wife and I went to PF Chang’s for dinner. We were going to go Friday night, but it was over an hour wait, and I had an important poker game to host. So we decided to wait. When we showed up at the restaurant at around 7:30 last night, there was a 30 minute wait. Wall to wall, the place was packed. Stressed out servers were running back and forth to stay on top of things. Can you imagine? This is the huge PF Chang’s by Chandler mall. So this was the moment I knew. The recession is over! Gone are the days of you and one other family at a restaurant looking at each other awkwardly over your menus. We Americans can only control our spending for so long, and now it looks like the money is flowing again.
You can’t trust silly measurements like GDP growth/decline quarter of quarter. That takes too long. You read it here, folks!

Foreclosure prices close to bottom

ASU professor Karl Guntermann publishes a monthly Repeat Sales Index. In that, he shows that the median price of a foreclosure has declined 2% in December year-over-year. That compares 15% in October and 8% in November. It is for this reason that he has decided that prices have bottomed out. This data is very different than what we have seen with our own eyes. Generally speaking, it is much harder to buy properties below $150k today than it was a year ago. There is a lot of upward pressure at this price point and below because investors are cashflowing at these prices. One of my clients bought a house for $30,000. Today, there’s no way she gets it for less than $60,000. To read more about it, please visit http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2010/01/28/20100128biz-guntermann0128.html.

The recession is over is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Real Estate Market Analysis for October 2009

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:32:17 +0000

In the last two months, the market has remained steady. We have had actives rise slowly from 26,000 to 28,000 homes in Phoenix metro. Similarly, pendings are hovering around 10,600 to 10,800. We also had 7137 homes sold in October compared to 7040 homes sold in August and 6861 in September. Overall, in Phoenix, we have gone from 5.24 months of inventory to 5.42 months of inventory.

October 2009 Real Estate Supply

There were two very strong source of buyers. First time home buyers trying to get the tax credit were still very active. Investors trying to take advantage of the market have also bought up many homes. We see that in October 32.66% of the homes were bought in cash. The rumors is that on top of the Canadian money coming in, there’s a lot of Chinese and Japanese money pumping into our market. No doubt with the winter season upon us, there will be even more Canadian buyers.

October 2009 Numbers

Most of the cities have remained pretty consistent during this time period. Only Tempe and Scottsdale have seen noticeable changes. Tempe has gone from 6.1 to 7.2 months of inventory while Scottsdale has gone from 10.3 months to 9.4. We have noticed that there was a small drop in activity in the first week of November with the tax credit expected to expire at the end of the month. Now that the credit has been extended again, activity has also picked up again. Other great news for the real estate market is that the tax credit now is offered to homeowners that have been in their homes for more than 5 years. It will be interesting to see who qualifies for this program.

	Active	Pending	Sold	Inventory
Tempe	797	179	136	7.18
Chandler	1292	570	395	4.71
Gilbert	1315	642	407	4.81
Scottsdale	4475	792	561	9.39
Mesa	2690	1050	744	5.03
Ahwatukee	536	148	115	5.95
Paradise Valley	497	29	26	20.23
Phoenix	7185	3105	2159	4.77
Maricopa County	28057	10656	7137	5.42

Real Estate Market Analysis for October 2009

Real Estate Market Analysis for October 2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

You can still buy a house with Zero down!

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:59:57 +0000

This week, we have a guest blogger. Tony is a Hawaiian Real Estate Agent, and he shares some wonderful information:

You’ve heard of the USDA and seen their stickers on the steaks you buy at the grocery store. But did you know they also insure home loans? Strange as it sounds, the USDA’s rural development program has a loan program that allows you to buy real estate with no money down in any area that they deem “rural.”

Good news for readers of this blog – many areas of Arizona are eligible for the USDA 100% home loan! While most banks and lenders have long since stopped offering zero down home loans, there are still many brokers and lenders in every state who offer 100% financing through this great program.

The USDA home loan has some great features:

100% loan amount with no loan amount limit
6% seller concessions allowed
No monthly mortgage insurance
You don’t have to be a first time buyer

There is an income limit for borrowers, but that limit is pretty high in some areas. For instance, in Hawaii the limit is $109,000 a year, so most people still qualify. If you want to check your eligibility and look for a neighborhood near you in your state, check out the USDA’s website.

Oddly that “rural” designation happens to apply to a lot of areas that nobody else would consider rural. Even some larger suburbs are on the list, so wherever you’re reading this, there may be a community nearby that is eligible.

Tony Kawaguchi is a Realtor with Realty Executives Oahu and sells Hawaii real estate

100% Loan Program

You can still buy a house with Zero down! is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Market Analysis for August 2009

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:44:24 +0000

It looks like the market is finally showing signs of slowing down. The sky isn’t falling, we’re just going from three consecutive months of 8000+ homes sold to 7040 for the month of August. Based off the numbers, it looks like many of the cash buyers are stepping back either because the bottom of the market has seen a sharp increase in prices or maybe they’re going back to the stock market. Either way, it’s certainly good news for many of the first time home buyers.

August Inventory of Homes Available in Phoenix

Another interesting trend is that the overall number of homes available for sale have continued to go down, despite the number of homes sales has slowed just a bit. With the number of sales going down, though, monthly inventory naturally goes up. Overall in Phoenix metro, we have gone from 4.59 months of inventory for July to 5.24 months in August. Across the board, most of the cities have increased by about a month. The exceptions would be Gilbert and Chandler, which have maintained the same level.

Status of Homes sold in August in Phoenix metro

Overall, we are seeing roughly 35% of homes bought in cash, 51% of are foreclosures, 18% are short sales, and 31% are traditional resales.

The next few months will be very interesting. Just like when down payment assistance ended before, there will be a crazy rush here. The deadline for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is Dec 1. That means that anybody participating in the program needs to be in contract by October 16th at the latest if they’re going FHA. So imagine all the people bidding for homes in the first couple weeks of October. They will be competing very strongly against one another. I strongly suggest that if you are interested in this program, that you find something in the next couple of weeks. Or else, you may find yourself outbidded during the most critical stretch.

	Active	Pending	Sold	Inventory
Tempe	722	217	155	6.06
Chandler	1150	613	394	4.47
Gilbert	1212	681	449	4.22
Scottsdale	4182	762	488	10.13
Mesa	2450	1039	665	5.25
Ahwatukee	487	171	104	6.33
Paradise Valley	500	32	27	19.70
Phoenix	6962	3154	2070	4.89
Maricopa County	26037	10853	7040	5.24

Market Analysis for August 2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Market Analysis for July 2009

Tempe Real Estate Agent — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:51:22 +0000

The sizzling summer continues to sell homes. The trend of homes flying off the shelves remains the same as we have had three straight months of 8000+ homes sold. Phoenix continues to pace the race with its inventory going down to 3.9 months. Gilbert is a close second at 4.2 months.

July 2009 Inventory of Homes Available

11531 pending homes sales in May led to 8291 homes sold in June. And likewise, 11638 pending homes sales in June led to 8009 homes sold in July. That is a 72% and 69% closing ratio respectively. Those numbers in themselves aren’t all that high, but that indicates that we are no longer having the problems of financing fallouts like we did last year. We also saw 2859 homes bought in cash for the month of July, which means that we are still seeing 36% of the homes being bought in cash.

Status of Homes for the month of July

	Active	Pending	Sold	Inventory
Tempe	769	195	171	5.64
Chandler	1233	561	411	4.36
Gilbert	1238	667	454	4.20
Scottsdale	4280	679	566	8.76
Mesa	2462	975	784	4.38
Ahwatukee	505	158	122	5.43
Paradise Valley	499	35	26	20.54
Phoenix	7081	2985	2583	3.90
Maricopa County	26443	10349	8009	4.59

Market Analysis for July 2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Market Analysis for June 2009

Tempe Realtor — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:48:49 +0000

Another month has gone by, and there has been little indication that things will slow down. We see many properties hit the market, and in just a few days, they are gone. Overall, our inventory has gone from 33,621 homes on the market to 27,002 homes. That’s a 20% drop in inventory. We have gone from 5.52 months of supply to 4.66 months of supply in a very short time. Additionally, 36.4% of homes are being bought in cash. Overall, 8291 homes sold in Phoenix metro in June. That is up from 8176 in May.

Real Estate Market Analysis June 2009

Tempe Real Estate

Tempe specifically has gone from 7.55 months of inventory down to 6.32 months. What was once 846 houses on the market has become 753 houses. This is definitely consistent with what my clients have seen. We have seen many homes that have offers before we even show it. It certainly feels like 2005 all over again. It’s gotten to the point that clients that really want to live in Tempe are buying regular resales. Fortunately, traditional sales are now priced almost like foreclosures.

Real Estate Supply for June 2009

Phoenix Metro

Across the board, all the cities have seen a significant drop in supply while keeping demand constant. Chandler and Gilbert have surpassed Phoenix in supply with 4.18 months and 4.21 months compared to 4.24 months. Scottsdale and Paradise Valley continue to have longer supplies. This makes sense as these are our two priciest cities. Nonetheless, they’ve both had 3 months of supply decreased.

	Active	Pending	Sold	Inventory
Tempe	753	221	154	6.32
Chandler	1255	614	447	4.18
Gilbert	1216	731	462	4.21
Scottsdale	4438	784	615	8.49
Mesa	2509	1117	821	4.42
Ahwatukee	494	175	150	4.46
Paradise Valley	524	32	26	21.38
Phoenix	7112	3514	2506	4.24
Maricopa County	27002	11638	8291	4.66

Market Analysis for June 2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Market Analysis for May 2009

Tempe Realtor — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:30:47 +0000

I’m going to say this once, so you’d better listen carefully. There are 33,621 homes available for sale in Phoenix metro today. 33,621!!! Ok, I lied, I didn’t say it once, but what do you expect? This is the lowest we’ve had since…well…our last real estate boom! To appreciate the craziness of this, imagine that we are getting flooded with thousands and thousands of foreclosures every month. On top of that, we had months and months of speculation that the market is plummeting. Even today, many people still ask whether we are at the bottom. Well, if we’re not at the bottom, we’re pretty darn near it! Just this time last year, there were 47,033 homes available for sale.

Real Estate Volume for May 2009

Overall, we have five and a half months of inventory in Phoenix metro. With another couple of months like this, we’ll be down to four months of inventory and the craziness we see today will feel like sanity. If you’re actively looking for a home, then you’re certainly well aware that the best homes don’t last a week. So if you find the home that’s right for you, write a good offer. Otherwise, you will be looking for a long time.

In Tempe, we are at 7.55 months of inventory compared to 8.68 months last month. This is especially startling considering last month, we had 456 homes available for sale and today, we have 846. The big difference maker here is that the 160 homes we had pending last month actually led to 140 closings. 140/160 is an excellent ratio because of qualifying issues, inspection issues, and other random life events that occur. Even better news, we have 211 in pending today.

Real Estate Inventory

The city of Phoenix specifically is doing well at 4.67 months of inventory. A large factor here is that homes less than $100,000 are moving like hotcakes. Because Phoenix is so diverse and large, it has many pockets where good solid homes can be bought for five figures. On the other end of the spectrum is Paradise Valley. They currently have more than 2 years of inventory. Of course, pricing is an issue for two reasons. First, is the fact that jumbo loans are at a much higher interest rate. Jumbo is anything larger than $417,000. The second is the obvious price tag.

	Active	Pending	Sold	Inventory
Tempe	846	211	140	7.55
Chandler	1617	622	403	5.56
Gilbert	1707	683	456	5.24
Scottsdale	5184	788	513	11.64
Mesa	3146	1114	735	5.80
Ahwatukee	611	198	129	6.27
Paradise Valley	580	26	24	25.25
Phoenix	8789	3456	2623	4.67
Maricopa County	33621	11531	8176	5.52

Market Analysis for May 2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale