Advantage Home Team Blog

The short sale process continues to evolve. As real estate professionals, we have gone from knowing very little and fumbling our way before there were forms or anyone really knew what a short sale was, to a specialization within the industry with new systems, forms, and skills to get the job done.

Short sales are now a part of the industry and will most likely be the way some homes are sold for the next few years. My first successful short sale was completed in January 2007. At that time there were very few agents even talking about short sales. Now, there is a clearly defined process and most banking institutions are ready, willing, and able to participate in this form of sale. The past six months we are seeing increasing success in short sales. I closed two short sales just last week.

For buyers this is a way to acquire a home at foreclosure pricing, however, the home is generally in much better condition than a foreclosure because the homeowner is still living and maintaining the property. The most difficult part of the process when purchasing a short sale is the unknown close of escrow date and ulitmately unknown moving date. In my opinion, they are worth the wait!

Please call or email me, Colleen Bechtel, at 520-836-9301 with your short sale questions. If I am not available ask to speak to a member of my team!

Our numbers continue to drop in Casa Grande. Average sales price for the month of February for single family homes here was $114, 454, down from $129,000 in January. Also dropping is the number of homes available which could translate to a recovery of some sort in the near future, however an expectation the pricing will increase or even recover quickly is unrealistic. Tomorrow the Obama administration is schedule to unveil the details surrounding the Homeownership Affordability and Stability Plan. Watch for details to come…

The main focus of the Homeownership Stability plan is an industry standard and incentive for loan modifications. The goal is to keep homeowners in their homes and get them through these tough economic times. Just this week, one major bank reported diverting an entire division from resale (loan origination for purchases) to their loan modification department. This is a very revealing step in the movement to stem the tide of foreclosures. Watch for more updates next week!

As further evidence of the efforts to stem the wave of foreclosures, this week I received bank approval on two short sales. The process is still taking took about 30 days for both, two separate banks, however, this is a vast improvement from the 45-60 day minimum of six months ago. Countrywide is still overwhelmed by requested and taking longer to respond, but most of the other banks we are negotiating with are improving the turn around times. For buyers, this means you will most likely have a home in better condition if you are willing to wait for approximately 60 day escrow versus the traditional 30 day escrow. For sellers this is encouraging that there is hope for credit recovery.

 If you are considering a short sale, then give me a call…they are not for everyone!

The outline of the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan was released and the emphasis is on creating an industry standard for loan modifications that will be partially government backed. Homeowners do not need to be behind on payments and there are incentives to lenders to work with homeowners to keep them in their homes. Hopefully the plan will be as common sense as it looks like it is designed to be. The details are scheduled to be released on March 4th. Good news, and hopefully our banking institutions will have the infrastructure to handle the volume of calls…

Inventory of single family homes dropped this week to it’s lowest point since June 2006. If you are waiting for prices to drop lower than this you may want to rethink your strategy. The workout plan and moritorium on foreclosures will slow the supply, builders are not issuing new permits, and therefore supply is shrinking. Prices appear to be leveling off…time will tell. 

Our office adopted a family for the holidays as another way to say thank you and give back to our community. Their need is even greater today then it was last week. We located this family with 7 children because one little boy was terminally ill, and we just found out that he passed away last night.

As the mourning process begins and the family recovers from this loss, we are in hopes that we can make a difference for them this holiday season. We have a tree in our office where anyone is welcome to come in and take a card for a specific gift for one of the children or for a monetary gift. Please call if you would like us to email you a gift request: 520-836-9301.

 Thank in in advance for your prayers and your generosity.

Some quick observations from this week in real esate in Casa Grande:

1. Brown Family Homes closed locations through out Arizona including the location on Kortsen at Los Portales. I received several phone calls from concerned home owners and encouraged them to contact the Homeowner’s Association for questions about what will happen to the common areas. As for the partially completed homes and the vacant lots, most likely the bank will sell the lots to a land banker and finish the homes under construction. There are only a handful of new home builders left in Casa Grande which translates to slowed growth and an opportunity for our market to recover and correct itself from the overbuilding.

2. The Fed lowered the prime rate to 1% at the end of the week, but as of Friday the rate cut did not trickle through to the mortgage rates. Buyers who are waiting for prices to drop may not realized a savings if interest rates continue to rise which is a strong possibility over the next few months as banks have less money to lend and are trying to recoup the losses that are mounting.

3. Bank of America announced it is going to freeze the foreclosure process on 2,000 valley homes that were originated by Countrywide (now owned by B of A). Those homeowners should receive a call the first part of December to discuss the work out options/arrrangements. Is this the beginning of the slowing of the foreclosures that the our government is working toward with the ”bail out” package?

4. October month end sales report for single family homes shows the average sales price dropped again in Casa Grande to $135,723. This is a $40,000 drop in the last 6 months!

It seems there are changes taking place almost every day in terms of the real estate market and lending practices. I will be updating this blog more regularly now and look forward to your questions and comments. Feel free to call or email me at our office: colleen@advhometeam.com or 520-836-9301.

 Colleen

A few friends and family members have asked me about Proposition 100. The intent of the measure is to protect the equity in real estate by eliminating the possibility of a Real Estate Transfer Tax. This type of tax has been proposed in the past and introduced for legistative action. This measure will prohibit the state, any county, city, or town from imposing any new tax, fee, or other assessment on the sale, purchase, or tranfer of real estate.

This is one of the easier decisions on the ballot. Please vote “yes” on Prop 100, but most importantly, please vote!  

Please do not mail any earnest money, security deposits, or other type fees to individuals posting homes for rent or for sale on Craig’s List!  

 One of our office listings recently surfaced on Craig’s List for rent. The posting shows the correct exterior photo of the home, but the interior photos are not the home. The description and interior photos are incorrect. The person who posted the home for rent instructed the prospective tenant not to contact the phone number on the sign out front, that he is the owner and is renting. He then requested $215 deposit be mailed to him and he would in turn mail the keys. If the prospective tenant decided not to rent then he would refund her money.

Our office has reported this scam to the Arizona Department of Real Estate and to Craig’s List. This is a new scam and difficult to control/monitor. Please help us by reporting and suspicious postings.