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Jim Little, your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR© I try a “Little” harder

Jim Little, your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR© I try a "Little" harder

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There is some consideration to extending it, but the government may well run out of money. It is only logical that you can’t spend money like we have been without income to offset the expenditures, so I wouldn’t count on it.

If you are a First Time Buyer, act soon!

Call or write for details and help.

Jim Little, your Sun City Realtor

Who are they? Aggregators, companies that specialize in capturing your contact information and selling it to agents for a large fee. My learned associate, Teresa Boardman just wrote an article about these companies and her experiences acting as if she were a buyer. It makes fine reading, see it here. She also gives some good tips about how to find an agent without resorting to these companies. Most important is to find out does the agent actually have any experience doing business in the area you are looking to live in, or you have a home for sale in.

Here in the sun city neighborhood, I see for sale signs from companies 50 miles away. That is a LOOOONG WAAY AWAY in a metropolitan area. Do you believe the agent is working the home effectively? Do you think the agent is there after every monsoon storm? Not only do I doubt it, I know most of them do not check vacants in the absence of the owner.

If you are a buyer, will the agent who is not intimately familiar with the neighborhood able to tell you about the jet noise, the railroad noise, the busy streets and traffic patterns? Are these important? You bet.

ALWAYS do your homework and select a local agent with whom you are comfortable. Be sure the agent has the local knowledge you need, and will tell you the bad as well as the good about any property you look at.

Jim Little, Your Sun City REALTOR® [contact-form]

The answer is at once simple and complex. The Phoenix AZ market is currently driven by the lenders selling foreclosed properties. In addition, there are many people who face foreclosure. Currently there are over 40,000 notices of default pending. These  factors depress listing prices.

Buying activity is centered on these foreclosed homes, with the dominant players being investors chasing these homes with CASH. It is very difficult for the traditional buyers to successfully compete in this market.

Sun City is slightly different, in that there are few foreclosed homes and buyer activity has been stable, if lower than normal, for the last few months. The problem here is that the prospective buyers who would like to sell the old family home and move into an adult community cannot sell because they are competing with the REO (foreclosed) sellers.

My analysis of the current conditions lead me to believe that sales prices will stabilize, indeed may have already stabilized, but cannot go up any significant amount for at least 2 more years.

It remains difficult to sell a traditional listing, but not impossible.

Buyers, it is no longer a buyers market, but the conditions remain good for the purchase of a new home, especially for first time buyers. A caution, interest rates are now creeping up, and traditional inventory is gradually being absorbed. The first time buyer credit is scheduled to expire in December, don’t wait too long.

Jim Little, Your Sun City REALTOR®
To search the MLS with NO Registration, click HERE

The lowest priced homes, under $100,000 are selling withind a few days, often with multiple offers.

Bank owned homes, (REO) ar also selling very well. REO new listings have been averaging 4,000 per month. Pending sales in this category are currently 6000. Obviously, even the older, stale inventory is now being absorbed. As a side note, this means if there really is a “shadow inventory” of foreclosures that haven’t been listed yet, the market seems to be standing ready to buy them.

On a more local level, homes for sale in the Sun City neighborhood have decreased in the last couple of months, and sales + pending sales have increased, a sure sign of a recovery in its early stages.

New appraisals are coming in at or above contract prices, and the Market Condition Report appraisers are now required to file no longer defines properties as being in a declining market.

Interest rates, while still at an artificial low, are starting to creep up. If you are thinking about buying a home, do it soon. Historically, when interest rates reach a low, they will rebound to prior levels quickly. This rebound can be very dramatic. Interest affects buyer costs much more than the sales price over the term of a loan. It also limits the home you can buy on any given income. Act soon to take advantage of these very attractive rates.

The government First Time Buyer Tax Credit is working, bringing renters into the market. HUD is now allowing lenders to provide bridge loans so the tax credit can be used toward closing costs. This reduces the out-of-pocket expenses for a home buyer. It is important to note that this is for closing costs, not for down payment purposes as some reported in error.

Another promising piece of news, Friday 6/19/2009, large banks began paying back the TARP loans. It is nice to see this program seems to have worked, but 75% of the money loaned has yet to be repaid.

And last, it is a small step, but GM announced Friday the company would be recalling 900 laid-off workers. Just a drop in the bucket, but the right direction anyway.

Jim Little, Your Sun City REALTOR®

A very knowledgeable loan originator, Jeff Belonger in Cherry Hill NJ just posted a very good explaination of the rules as they are today. Rather than re-invent the wheel, see Jeff’’s post here.

Why does an agent in Sun City worry about first time buyers?  Because I also serve the family communities of Glendale, Peoria and Suprise AZ. All of these communities have excellent opportunities for the first  time buyer to own their own family home.

Jim Little, your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

Jim Little, your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

•1  Help with the qualification process

•2    Recommend 3 local lenders

•3    Identify suitable properties

•4    Set appointments and show qualifying properties

•5    Prepare buyers estimated closing costs on selected property

•6    If a new home is selected, help review the Public Report and developers contracts

•7    If a resale home is selected, prepare purchase contract per buyers instructions

•8    Present offer, explain and negotiate counter offers, addendums etc.

•9  Disclose and advise on neighborhood environmental issues, i.e. busy streets, airports, fumes, dumps, flood plain, etc.

•10  Get disclosures and CC&R’s from sellers and others.          

•11  Help arrange recommended inspections and walkthrough

•12  Assist throughout escrow

•13  Negotiate desired seller repairs

•14  Assist in finding local vendors   

•15  Follow through on loan process and status

•16  Counsel and advise on all relevant matters

•17  Close escrow, assist at closing if necessary

•18  Provide keys, garage door openers, etc.

•19  Communicate throughout the process

Jim Little, Your Sun City AZ REALTOR®
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776