Phoenix AZ Real Estate

The Federal Reserve has decided to leave a key interest rate unchanged, bringing an end to a string of consecutive rate cuts aimed at keeping the country out of a deep recession. This is a big turning point. Will the fed raise rates to help ease inflation. Inflation being outrageous Gas prices, and with June`s floods in the Midwest, food prices that will continue to soar.

In my Opinion the fed is unable to ignore the inflation, no longer signs of inflation, but INFLATION. I am telling you this now, we will see a rate hike by the end of the year, Yes in an election year. They will be calling Ben the Fed chairman that stole Christmas.

 Now I have spent 20 years watching the Fed. Seeing them now needing to lower rates to spark Save the housing industry, they can`t. It is the cost of diesel that has their focus now.  Inflation is almost as bad of a word as recession, in the feds eyes. For them not to lower rates they risk a greater chance of a stronger recession. Yes we are in a recession.

 Hmm what to do?  it seems we need Food, and energy, be it electricity or gas, and of course Shelter. Where`s Alan Greenspan when you need him.

 So rates are going higher,  talk with your loan officer, and lock in today's rates. Any 30 year under 6% is going to be golden in four months. If you are selling a house take into consideration that sooner than later it will cost the buyer more to buy.

Yes, I wish I was wrong.

Some good news on the sale of homes for the Phoenix real estate market

ASU Realty studies is reporting an increase in resale homes.

This has been the best month for resales since June of 07. Damn, the trend is your friend, however we have more foreclosures in the month of May. Does that really mean resales are up when the soup de jour, is ah la Lender owned?

There are question per the accuracy of ASU reporting of what a transaction is and is not says all Phoenix Rea estate Jonathan Dalton.

The Good news is, that the inventory is moving. Homes are selling. In my opinion I think the number of Bank Owned properties is greater than the 25% being reported. 35%?

Thanks, ASU for the following tables.

Pictures tell a thousand words. In real estate they tell ten thousand words. If you are relocating they tell a million words. Currently I have three active buyers that are out of state, with an additional five buyer in state. Of course every Realtor can do a Multiple list search for a property that meets their clients needs. All of my clients receive an email list of all the current listing which meet their requirements. The list is updated whenever there is a price change, or a new home for sale. What happens after the prospective buyer places that property in their favorites. They are out of town, and are not planning on coming back for a few weeks. Well for my out of town clients I preview all of the property's they are interested in. I send an email with my comments, and a link to the photographs which I upload to Picasa. I have this awesome camera, which holds up to an hour of movies, over one thousand photos, and a rechargeable three hour battery.

Out of town clients have very limited time so I will preview the home and send email the photos. This is a big service to them, It is even a bigger service to me. I don`t want to take a buyer into a home which they are not interested in. Yes it takes time and gas, however the positive feedback I get from My clients is worth the effort.

"Thanks for all of the Photos, it makes it easier for us to make a decision"

"Thank you Patrick, this will save us so much time"

"We really appreciate your hard work"

After each email I would get a real nice thank you. A different Thank you. Not a Hey...Thanks, but a Thank you so much.

So I began previewing homes for my local clients. It save so much time. It doesn`t bother me as much when I pull up in front of a home, which is under power wires, backs to a busy street, and is in a flight path. As long as my clients aren`t standing there with me.

Ok I am off to preview a few homes, and then end up a Russell Shaw`s Realtor success seminar in Scottsdale. I made this video for Trulia voices, it explains how I help relocation's

Most of our first time buyers or as a matter of fact. Anyone looking to buy a home in this market is looking for a Bank Owned foreclosure. Why not they seem to be the best deal. Actually only a few of these homes are a good deal. You can go down to Queen Creek and buy a home which is only two years old, and is priced 10% less than it was as brand new construction. That sounds like a good deal, however Queen Creek is pretty far out. If your daily commute consists of two hours round trip, at these gas prices, is it really worth it. What about the roads, schools and future development for the area?

How about that Lender Owned home in Tempe, Chandler, Scottsdale, or Gilbert. What is a good deal? A Good deal is when you walk through a home and think, "WOW! this is a great deal" " I need to buy this home before someone else does?" or " I wonder what`s wrong with it"

I had the " I wonder what`s wrong with it" Newer construction, 1.25 acre, mountain views, 2700 square feet. REO, Bank Owned. Great price. So my clients and I moved forward, and after almost two weeks of negotiations we had a deal. We tried to get a better deal.  Now begins the inspections. This bank only allowed us a 7 day inspection, after 7 days, buy it or loose your earnest money. This home had a septic tank. The prudent thing to do is always have the septic tank inspected. In this case the town required that the tank be certified, by C O E. Which means Cleaned and inspected, by Close of escrow, well beyond our 7 day addendum. OK first things first. What type of tank do we have? That`s easy, let`s pull the permit. What permit? There was no permit. Looks like the previous owner was the General contractor, and to save some money had a friend put in the septic tank with out a permit. Who needs a permit this container is only holding biological hazards waste. Environmental health hazard. First sign to run. OK what is the worst case scenario, 10K for a new septic tank. Well this home is still a great deal, and my clients can afford the new Septic tank. We still have three days to think it over. When buying an Lender Owned home, the buyer doesn`t know the history of the home. You can`t call the insurer, because you don`t know who that is. What`s the next best source of the property`s history....The Neighbors.

So I went next door to the neighbor. Hi. I`m the Realtor representing the buyers of the home next door. With out batting an eyelash this women tells me that I can`t buy that house, " Don`t you know? It doesn`t have a Certificate of Occupancy!" Thank you Mrs. Neighbor. Do you know what you have when you don`t have a Certificate of occupancy. You have a home that can`t be Mortgage, insured, or sold. Unless you are a bank and are selling the home AS-IS.

What have I learned about buying Bank Owned Homes? Expect the Unexpected. There is a lot of reward for a great deal, however their is a lot of risk. Buyer Beware.

So which are the best REO, lender Owned homes. The ones that pass inspection. That meets your budget, and is the home you have been waiting for. My last Client looked at about 40 homes. To small, west exposure, needs repair, and over priced. It was a good thing that she had looked at a bunch of homes, she new the market. When we came across the 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000 square foot, corner lot that backs to a park In great condition, on an over sized lot with a newer pool. She had no problem offering $100. over asking price. Even though we were not the highest offer, we did offer the highest earnest money. 10K. After our 10 day addendum was up, we were committed to buying or loose 10K. Banks like that. We closed in 17 Calendar days. A personal best. I can still sell that house today for a profit.