After you buy that Scottsdale home, you’ll want to know what to do, so here is a great video about what to do in Scottsdale that was made by the Intercontinental Hotel in Paradise Valley.
Check it out!
{ 0 comments }
The real estate bust appears to the main driver behind Arizona bankruptcies.
The recent easing could prove to be a summer lull. Diane L. Drain, a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney, said she expects the tally to rise in coming months, citing a spike in local foreclosures over the past few weeks. Foreclosures often are a precursor to more bankruptcies, she said.
Although unemployment is a catalyst that persuades some debtors to file for bankruptcy protection, Drain pointed to lower housing values as the main factor.
“Real estate is the biggest reason people are calling and asking for help,” she said.
Some calls are from homeowners who have been using credit cards to help pay their mortgages and finally have decided they no longer can afford the home, Drain said.
“They’re often at a point where all the other debt has piled up because they have struggled to service the real-estate debt, so they decide to let the house go,” she said.
Joe Volin, a bankruptcy attorney in Tempe, also cites housing problems as a primary motivator.
“If a person’s only problem is a first mortgage on a house, he or she rarely will need to file for bankruptcy in Arizona,” he said, citing consumer protection given by the state’s anti-deficiency statutes.
But in many serious cases, debtors have taken out other loans on the property, maxed out their credit cards and amassed additional IOUs, he said.
Chapter 7 filings, which provide a fresh financial start after a debtor’s non-exempt assets are used to pay creditors, accounted for four in five Valley bankruptcies last month.
Conclusion: Don’t use your credit cards to pay your mortgage.
(Via KeytLaw.com.)
{ 0 comments }
Parenting magazine ranked Scottsdale #8 on family environment.
From The Arizona Republic.
{ 0 comments }
Here’s a great little video from Kristin LaVanway of the East Valley Team at Thompson’s Realty.
Outstanding HOA fees are a constant pain in the neck and they can kill deals. I had a buyer in the Spring who backed out of a transaction because the seller wouldn’t agree to language committing the seller to pay all outstanding HOA fees, liens and legal fees. (Earlier, I wondered why the seller wanted a weird change to the HOA Addendum!) I’m sure glad we found the outstanding fees (over $2,000) during the inspection period.
{ 0 comments }
The quote below is from Christopher Charles at the Combs Law Group. I can’t find this information on their website, I got it via email.
By the way, check out the makeover to the Combs Law Group blog. Their website used to be terrible but now it’s quite good… except that I can’t find this information on their website.
Following the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, the Arizona Legislature recently enacted a new law that compels landlords to provide written notice to tenants if a rental property is already in foreclosure. The new law, A.R.S. §33-1331, provides that if a property is in the foreclosure process, before renting the property, the owner must include specific language in any lease agreement warning the tenant that the property may result in foreclosure.
The new law gives tenants the following remedies against landlords who fail to give the notice:
Deliver written notice to the landlord informing him or her of the violation and that the lease will terminate in ten days if the violation is not remedied within ten days; Obtain injunctive relief; and Obtain a refund of the security deposit.
The new law is intended to work in conjunction with the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009. The Act essentially provides that, if a tenant has a bona fide lease in place at the time that there is a recorded notice by the lender of a foreclosure, the new owner must honor the tenant’s lease.
{ 1 comment }
Great graph of foreclosures from John Hall & Associates website.
Comments from Jim Sexton of John Hall & Associates on the Phoenix foreclosure market are here.
The chart shows that New Notices of Trustee Sales are down 21% for the first 5 months of 2010 compared to 2009; Completed foreclosures are up 16% ; Pending Foreclosures are down 13% since the first of the year; and the biggest change is 70% more Cancelled in 2010 than the first 5 months last year. The current number of Bank Owned properties in Maricopa County is 16,301, which is made up of 5200 Active listings; 3850 are Pending; and the balance of 7250 are waiting to be marketed.
{ 1 comment }
Bank of America official says mortgage walkaways highest ever.
BofA’s credit loss mitigation executive, Jack Schakett, said the amount of strategic defaulters (those who can pay their loans but opt not to) are “more than we have ever experienced before.” He went on to say, “there is a huge incentive for customers to walk away because getting free rent and waiting out foreclosure can be very appealing to customers.” [emphasis mine]
{ 0 comments }
This is the best report I’ve seen on the situation and outlook for short sales in the metro Phoenix area.
The report was written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report. Mike is one of only a handful of people who I think understand the metro Phoenix real estate market as well as I do.
“In the above chart we see that while the total number of active listings has fallen by 23% since January 2009, the number of short sales offered for sale has grown by 50%.”
Mike’s Conclusion
“The end of the REO market is certainly not here yet but in the last few months we have seen a significant drop in the flow of new Notices of Trustee Sales. An increase in cancelled Trustee Sales also suggests that the supply of bank-owned properties is starting to dry up and will fall back to more normal levels over the next two to three years. However the situation that creates short sales (negative equity) is here for the foreseeable future… I suspect that bargain hunters in the market, who make up the vast majority of buyers, are increasingly going to be looking at short sales to satisfy their needs. The analysis by price range and of the ZIP codes with the highest penetration by short sales both suggest that short sale pricing is getting increasingly competitive with REOs.”
{ 3 comments }
The median home price in Scottsdale in April was $360,000 in April, down 10 percent from a year ago and a dip of 3.2 percent from January, according to an Arizona State University Realty Studies monthly report released last week.
The ASU report shows foreclosure activity is hitting higher-priced homes as well. In April, 17 homes valued at more than $1 million were foreclosed on, including three over $2 million.
Foreclosures accounted for 34 percent of the home sales Valley-wide last month, compared with 18 percent in Scottsdale.
“The surge could be related to the end of the foreclosure moratoriums put in place in late 2009 and the still-weak economy,” said Jay Butler, ASU associate professor of real estate.
Arizona had the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate in April behind Nevada, according to a RealtyTrac report. One of every 169 homes in the state received a foreclosure filing last month, double the national average.
Recently foreclosed homes that were resold accounted for about one in four of the traditional home sales in the Valley last month, ASU Realty Studies reported.
In north Scottsdale, the median price was $448,000 for traditional sales and $351,000 for foreclosed homes.
South Scottsdale’s median price was $195,000 for traditional sales and $179,260 for foreclosed homes.
Paradise Valley’s median price was $1 million. It was as high as $2.06 million in May 2006.
The Valley’s overall median price was $144,000.
{ 1 comment }
From AZCentral’s Real Estate and Growth blog.
Arizona Law #1 – Foreclosure consultants can’t charge up-front fees.
SB 1130 regulates the growing number of foreclosure consultants working with homeowners. This legislation makes it illegal for foreclosure consultants to collect upfront fees from homeowners. Consultants must also disclose all fees through a signed contract, which a homeowner can cancel up to three days after signing. The bill gives homeowners the right to recover damages from foreclosure consultants, and state and county prosecutors the ability to file criminal charges against any consultant or firm that breaks the new law.
Arizona Law #2 – Tracking down purchasers of foreclosures.
HB 2479 requires more identification from buyers of foreclosure properties. The law requires foreclosure documentation contain a name and contact information of the person responsible for the property. This information will assist cities in contacting someone to take care of vandalism and maintenance issues on foreclosure homes.
{ 0 comments }
Watch the whole thing!
I’ve come to think that having the bank take ownership of the home as specified in the loan agreement is a legitimate way to fulfill the loan agreement. After that, it’s even-steven between you and the bank.
If you’re thinking about walking away, however, be aware the banks can go after some people when they walk away. You don’t want to walk away and then have the bank sue you for the difference and win!
I can send you some names of real estate attorneys to talk to before you consider walking away.
{ 1 comment }
AZCentral.com had a piece on the growing luxury short sale market in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree and Phoenix.
{ 0 comments }
Just because you walked away from your home or you went through bankruptcy, you are still responsible for subsequent homeowners association (HOA) fees.
Defendants are often surprised to find out that as long as their name is on the property deed they’re responsible for mounting HOA fees… and late fees and court costs and attorney costs.
Justice of the Peace Keith Frankel in Chandler’s San Marcos Justice Court said, “I rarely saw these kinds of cases two years ago; now I’m seeing two or three a day.”
Justice of the Peace Steven Sarkis in Phoenix’s Arcadia Biltmore Justice Court said, “It’s unfortunate because many individuals stop paying these HOA fees once they stop paying their mortgage, and before they know it, $1,000 in delinquent HOA dues has turned into $3,000 due to the court costs and attorney’s fees, . . . putting them even further into debt.”.
Justice of the Peace Michael Reagan in Scottsdale’s McDowell Mountain Justice Court said, “I hear the horror stories all day long from people; they can’t afford this or that. . . They moved out of the property, turned it back to the bank, left the keys on the kitchen counter.”
(This is another reason why banks are slow to foreclose. Once they do, they become responsible for paying the HOA fees.)
{ 1 comment }
On another website of mine, a commenter said, “While the foreclosure rate has flattened, the total dollar value of foreclosed properties continues to rise.”
Let’s look at that.
{ 0 comments }
The black ball period after having a short sale or deed in lieu will fall to 2 years for Fannie Mae loans. You would, however, have to have 20% down.
From AgentGenius.com;
In an effort to help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure, effective July 2010, troubled homeowners that opt to voluntarily release their homes through a “deed in lieu of foreclosure” or by completing a short sale will now be eligible to apply for another Fannie Mae backed loan in two years.
In 2008, the waiting period was reduced from five years to four and now is at two. After that two year period, to qualify, a minimum 20% down payment will be required unless there are “extenuating circumstances” such as job loss, according to The Wall Street Journal. [emphasis mine]
{ 0 comments }
Real estate economist John Burns exposes the naivete of the government’s HAMP loan modification program. He is basically saying that the few people who actually get HAMP loan modifications will have lower payments but they will still have way too much debt and will eventually default.
There will be fewer homeowners thrown out on the street this month than would have occurred otherwise, but they will be tossed out later. The modification programs have helped stabilize home prices around the country, mostly because they have created so much confusion that people can live in their home for free for one year or more, and are buying time for thousands of banks to continue improving their balance sheets with earnings from good loans, while deferring the write-off of bad loans.
But the news isn’t all bad.
Despite the negative tone of this email, there are and will continue to be plenty of opportunities to make money, particularly taking advantage of the distressed selling that will go on for years, but having a long term investment horizon. Also, the national housing market is becoming more local than ever, which means those with local market knowledge… will make the most money. [emphasis mine]
{ 0 comments }
Oh brother!
On average, severely delinquent borrowers have gone more than 9 months without making a mortgage payment—and yet foreclosure has not yet started for them. For those borrowers who are in the foreclosure process, it’s been an average of 13.6 months—more than one full year—since they last made any payment on their mortgage.
Found on Calculated Risk.
{ 0 comments }
I haven’t heard much about this program to promote short sales but it could end up increasing the supply of homes for sale if it indeed makes the short sale process more efficient.
I bet the program will have a greater impact on the market than the failed loan modification programs (which isn’t saying much).
Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and what they are owed.
Under the new program, the servicing bank, as with all modifications, will get $1,000. Another $1,000 can go toward a second loan, if there is one. And for the first time the government would give money to the distressed homeowners themselves. They will get $1,500 in “relocation assistance.”
Major lenders seem to be taking a cautious approach to the new initiative. In many cases, big banks do not actually own the mortgages; they simply administer them and collect payments. J. K. Huey, a Wells Fargo vice president, said a short sale, like a loan modification, would have to meet the requirements of the investor who owns the loan.
“This is not an opportunity for the customer to just walk away,” Ms. Huey said. “If someone doesn’t come to us saying, ‘I’ve done everything I can, I used all my savings, I borrowed money and, by the way, I’m losing my job and moving to another city, and have all the documentation,’ we’re not going to do a short sale.”
{ 0 comments }
According to Catherine Reagor at AZCentral.com, the number of foreclosures completed in metro Phoenix fell in February but the number of newly initiated foreclosures in metro Phoenix increased.
In January, pre-foreclosures, known as notice of trustee sales, fell to their lowest level since late 2008. The significant drop had some housing market watchers hopeful more lenders were working with borrowers on loan modifications early on and more borrowers could afford their monthly mortgage payments.
But in February, there were 7,604 pre-foreclosure notices filed by lenders in metropolitan Phoenix, up from the 6,762 in January, reports the Information Market.
{ 0 comments }
The web site Scottsdale Foreclosures has one really cool feature I wish I had on my Scottsdale homes search page. On ScottsdaleForeclosures.com you can draw your own area to search, that is, you can make a square, polygon or circle on their search map and find foreclosures in that area. A super cool feature to have!
However, some features my All Scottsdale Foreclosures Search and All Scottsdale Short Sale Search have that his doesn’t include;
- Search by home type (single family detached, condo, townhouse or all)
- Search by price range
- Search by home square footage
- Search by number of bedrooms and baths
- Search by year built
- Search by number of garages
- Search by with or without pool
- Search by school catchment area
- Search by days listed
- Search by lot size
- Search by price drops
And, of course, I think my custom tutorials on how to use the foreclosure search and the short sale search are useful to you. At least I hope they are!
If I could add any feature to my home search pages, what should it be?
{ 0 comments }
