Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

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Canadians have long been a factor in the Arizona economy, with many coming to visit during their long cold winters. We also see some buying homes either as second homes or investment opportunities.

I was talking to a Canadian from Vancouver B.C. the other day. We were talking about homes for sale [...]]]>

Canadians have long been a factor in the Arizona economy, with many coming to visit during their long cold winters. We also see some buying homes either as second homes or investment opportunities.

I was talking to a Canadian from Vancouver B.C. the other day. We were talking about homes for sale in Sun City AZ. His comments “homes are 1/10th the price in Vancouver”.

The Canadian dollar is near parity now, making Arizona real estate very attractive to Canadian buyers again.

Today’s (9/24/2010) Arizona Republic had an article about this phenomenon, you can read it Here.

Canadians have even surpassed California buyers as the largest group of out-of-state buyers in Arizona.

If you are a Canadian hoping to buy a home in the Sun City AZ Neighbohood, please call or email me, I would love to help.

Financing programs are also available.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

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“I am seeing so much garbage on the market,  foreclosures, tax sales, short sales, auctions, that my head is spinning.  With me not being in a hurry because of my age I can’t help but wonder [...]]]> I got an email from a confused, concerned prospective buyer today. I am quoting a little of it here.

“I am seeing so much garbage on the market,  foreclosures, tax sales, short sales, auctions, that my head is spinning.  With me not being in a hurry because of my age I can’t help but wonder what is the best avenue for me right now.  What type of buyer am I ?  I will have cash in my pocket and no financing needed.  Obviously with the deals out there, I want a deal.  So, what is my best avenue?  Is this the right time to buy? ”

Here is my response

First, how is the market? Hard to say, yet seems like a little more buyer activity. Prices are low but seem to be stabilizing.

What to do? As far as the future goes, I can only quote one economist and the most successful investor the U.S. has ever known. The economist, John Kenneth Galbraith said, ” economic forecasting exists to give astrology a good name” In other words, who knows. The investor is Warren Buffet. When asked about timing the market his recommendation was to find an investment with good fundamental value, and hold it. Even though the housing prices have dropped, almost all of the value lost was from the inflated run-up of 2004-2005. In other words “funny money” that is a real thing to the people who bought during that time period, but real values from earlier have not been lost.

Short sales might be an option for you, since you are in no hurry, but you will need to be flexible regarding model of home you want, there may not be the model you want on the market offered short. Likewise foreclosures. Both of these types of sales offer good values, but may require fix-up work. Traditional listings may also offer bargains. I just closed on a home like you want at $98K. The value is at least $110K, but the heirs were ready to close out the estate and the other agent was able to keep negotiations open.

We are also seeing investors in the market again, buying at today’s prices and holding for rental and future appreciation. All are operating on the proven principle that you make money when you buy, but realize it when you sell. Cash puts you in the strongest position possible.

What kind of buyer are you? The lucky kind, you have both cash and a value laden market with the time to exploit it.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

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I decided to do a little research and find out how many homes were on the market that could be bought for a house payment of $600 per month [...]]]> Yesterday I posted that the Greater Phoenix Az area was rated number 1 in the nation for affordable retirement housing. You can read that post here.

I decided to do a little research and find out how many homes were on the market that could be bought for a house payment of $600 per month or less. I used the same criteria U.S. News & World Report did, which is the standard 20% down 80% loan. In other words, a conventional home loan.

There are 840 homes in Sun City AZ that are for sale. Of these there are 538 offered  at $153,000 or less. With a 20% down payment, principal and interest would be $600 or less at today’s quoted rate of 4.125% on conventional loans.

Folks, if this isn’t value for a retirement home, I don’t know what value would be.

If you would like more information on Sun City AZ for your retirement or permanent home, please contact me here.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

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The writer was investigating locations in the United States where you can buy a home for less than $600 a month. The [...]]]> U.S. News & World Report said in an article on September 24, 2010 that the Phoenix area was the number 1 place to buy a retirement home. You can read the article here.

The writer was investigating locations in the United States where you can buy a home for less than $600 a month. The writer also takes into consideration such amenities as golf courses, (over 200 in the metro, 9 in Sun City alone.), sports, hiking, and cultural events. The Valley of the Sun ranks high in all of these.

If you wish to consider retiring, the Phoenix area is great, the Sun City Neighborhood is even better since the communities were designed specifically for active retirement.

For more information about the Phoenix area and the Sun Cities, please call me or email me.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

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Sun City was built with a recreation center, (now 7) a golf [...]]]> Sun City AZ was Del Webb’s first and premier age qualified community.  Mr. Webb envisioned a community dedicated to the wants and needs of persons who were retired, or soon to retire. He knew these buyers were active and wanted to remain so.

Sun City was built with a recreation center, (now 7) a golf course, (now 7 + 3 country clubs) and stores all completed by the first day of sales. With the addition of Boswell Hospital,  Sun City became a virtually self-sufficient community, unique then and still unique and desirable today.

The following are 5 of the many reasons people move to Sun City AZ:

Climate. Without a doubt, this is the foremost reason people move to Sun City. The Arizona economy used to be based upon the “4 C’s:” Climate, Cattle, Copper, and Citrus. Of these, only Climate and Cattle remain important. Unfortunately, Cattle is becoming less so. Our climate provides warm, sunny winters with minimal rain, almost no snow (you can visit it in less than 2 hours if you wish).

Cost. Homes in Sun City today, 9/2009, range from a $40,000 1 bedroom condo to $450,000 semi-custom homes on a golf course or a lake. (Yes Virginia, we have lakes) There is a home in Sun City to suit the needs, wants and budget  of almost everyone.

Convenience. Sun City AZ has the benefit of being part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, with fine dining, museums, hospitals, parks, theatre, symphony and universities, and professional sports teams like the Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Coyotes.

Health. This has historically been a major reason why people move here. The climate has long been known to be beneficial to arthritis sufferers. Sun City is home to Banner/Sun Health and Boswell Hospital, leaders in the treatment and research of age-related problems.

Recreation. This is a subject too big to be covered adequately by any one post. I’ll write more on this soon.  For the time being, did you know there are 120+ clubs sponsored by the Sun City Recreation Association? There is something here for anyone. Yes, we have shuffleboard, but also softball, recreational and competitive swimming, bocce and lawn bowling, fine arts and crafts, in short, if you cannot find a club to share your interests, maybe you have no interests.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Neighborhood REALTOR®

Who are they? Aggregators, companies that specialize in capturing your contact information and selling it to agents [...]]]> When you google something like “homes for sale in…” or “real estate agents in…” you will find the first several pages of hits are probably not agents or brokers actually working in the area you are interested in.

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 [...]]]> People trying to sell a home today ask me, “Why do I have to sell such a low price”?

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®
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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 [...]]]> The Phoenix area real estate is rising from the ashes just like its namesake, the mytical bird.

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.