Unfortunately, a recent client of mine had the misfortune of dealing with this awful BoA/Fannie combo.

From the BoA CEO’s office this morning.  They had to research this file since it was being mishandled by BoA so badly. This is what the person who was helping me has explained:

1)      The closing officer, and the negotiator, did not do their diligence, and their jobs by not helping to correct the approval.  I spoke to the closing officer yesterday who informed me that she sent the correct approval letter a couple of weeks ago. I asked her to show me where she sent it, and I then proved to her that she forgot to send it. She told me that she thought my next plethora of emails were just duplicates…. Her managers are holding her accountable for this, I assure you.

2)      The negotiator did not put in the foreclosure request in time even though I was personally told that it was in, and that everything was being taken care of. He too is being held accountable for his lack of actions. The CEO’s office person has assured me of this.

Fannie Mae is taking just about everything to sale when it comes to short sales. The government is telling us that they are helping homeowners, but having their companies send everything to sale.

This is pretty awful news.  Fortunately, we can still help you if you have a Fannie mortgage, but we need to start quickly, because Fannie will not postpone the sale date.

Fannie Mae to Homeowner: Drop Dead is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

It’s unfortunate that my name was not before the fold, so to speak.  Here’s the part I was honored to contribute:

Steve Trang, a Realtor with Occasio Realty in Tempe, said having someone waiting in the wings for a short-sale deal is not always bad, because it can expedite the process and keep the home from going into foreclosure. He said lenders always can turn down suspicious offers.

Anyway, it’s always great to see all your hard work pay off.  If you have any short sale questions, I would be happy to answer them for you.

Phoenix Business Journal thinks I’m an Authority is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

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.

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

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.

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

Short Sale Success

Successful Short Sale is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

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

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

You shall not pass! (aka short sale approved!) is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale

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.

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

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

Currently, the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors has decided that none of its members will be allowed to have their clients homes available for Google to find.  That means that it violates the boards’ terms if buyers can find YOUR house on Google.  It was a local issue at first, but when the National Association of Realtors came into the picture, they sided with MIBOR!  That means that if we don’t right the ship right now, this policy can come to a board near you (read AAR)!

To read more about this subject, read http://agentgenius.com/?p=12261

If you like the idea of having Google find your house when you want it sold, write to CNiersbach@realtors.org

2920292 Carmel is a post from: Tempe Real Estate and Homes for Sale