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• Wow! Sure sounds a little depressing when reading the latest articles written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report.  Click on photo above for the PDF of the entire article if you are interested in reading all of the details.  It’s basically a result of the Tax Credit giving us an artificial demand for housing- when that went away, so did demand and now prices have dropped. 
• We’ve seen an increase of homeowners as a result call to get started with the short sale process.  They’ve tried hanging on as long as they can but this second wave of decline has hit them to a place where the recovery seems doubtful if they remain in their current home/situation.
• LUCKILY INTEREST RATES ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW and coupled with SUPER LOW PRICES COMPARABLE WITH THE MID 90’S IN MANY AREAS- The monthly payment and overall savings to just 6 months ago far exceeds what someone had received with the tax credit.
• We have a great home in Maricopa for example- $70,000- built in 04, 2300sqft, with a principal and interest payment based on an FHA loan of only $350 a month???  That’s just with $2500 down!!
• We saw some homes sell in March and April for much much higher because people were driving prices up just to get the tax credit and with a higher interest rate at that time too.  Same home would easily cost $8k more just a few months ago right off the top not to mention what the difference monthly would add up too in just a few years of ownership.
• SO MORAL TO THIS STORY- IF YOU “MISSED OUT” ON THE TAX CREDIT- BE GLAD AND BUY A HOME TODAY!  IT’S ACTUALLY A MUCH BETTER TIME TO BUY THAN IT WAS JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO!

Our Website allows you to search the MLS on your own just like we do- Click here to search homes in your area now! or call us at 480-243-4242 and we’ll be happy to send you a list of Foreclosed Homes or any type of home that you may be looking for.

Rebecca Hidalgo sits with Corey Peterson of Kahuna Investments and discusses the most FAQ’s she sees when clients contact her for advice/consultation on doing a Short Sale.  (Corey is an investor and helps many people by buying their homes with cash for a quick close)

1. Do I have to be late on my mortgage payment(s)?

2. When can I buy again?

3/4. (tied) What are my tax obligations and can the bank come after me for the loss (deficiency)?

Watch the video and if you’d like to discuss your own situation with Rebecca, please fill out our quick online questionnaire about you and your home or call Rebecca @ 480-243-4242.

Here’s a link to the June Market report I wrote based on last month’s reports coming from Mike Orr of the Cromford Report.  If you want to get a better idea of what is going on in our market place today; I recommend reading both.  I’ve been full time in Real Estate since 1993 and I can definitely say we are on the road to recovery but we still have a long way before we get there.

Why hire us? If you need help in either selling or buying a home or know someone that does, please click here to get started or call us at 480-243-4242. 

Looks like I am going to have to eat my words from the blog I wrote back in April; & I am very happy to do so! http://integrityallstars.com/hafa-hafa-hafa-what-the-heck-is-hafa/

Reason being, the Government just recently announced that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be participating in this program which was the main reason I and so many other professionals in my industry felt it was off target when it started back in April- looks like the government was listening however it may be too soon to see since it doesn’t start officially until August 1.  See https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/servicing/hafa/index.jsp for more information straight from their website.

Give me a call at 480-243-4242 if you want to find out if you will qualify for this Government program.

(Please click on photo above for a downloadable PDF of the article written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report; bullet points listed below)

Last month; in Metro Phoenix’s Real Estate Market we saw the supply of REOs increased substantially, short sales were stable and normal listings declined in number:

• REO listings grew 11% from 5,087 to 5,626 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Short Sales / Pre-foreclosure listings grew 1% from 16183 to 16,347 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Normal listings fell 5% from 18,123 to 17,226 (Greater Phoenix, all types)

• Because sales pricing is higher than last year, we saw a more significant 8.6% jump in dollar volume which is good news for the optimists.
• It seems likely that almost anyone who wants a "starter home" in 2010 and could get approved for a home loan has already purchased one before the Tax Credit expired at the end of April.
• Overall we can say with confidence that the luxury market is now showing strong signs of improvement while the low end end of the market is weakening significantly. The weakness in lender-owned homes is particularly noticeable, with REO sales volume down 36% year on year. 
• These annual charts are very slow to react to changes but confirm the bottom of the market is now over a year behind us.  The most important measures of real home pricing – the average price, median price and average $ per sq. ft. of homes that actually sell have been moving in a general upward direction for Greater Phoenix since April/May 2009.
• New notices of trustee sale dropped another 8% from April, to the lowest monthly number (6,471) since July 2008. Trustee sales also dropped 8% to 4,090, the lowest total since November 2009. 
• Nevertheless market distress remains very high and will dominate the market for at least the next two years. Short sales are becoming more significant as each month goes by, while lender-owned properties become gradually less so.
• The market is still fragile and although it has stabilized over the last year, we must caution that in the last several days the Cromford Market Index has been falling fast due to weakening demand matched with a fairly strong and stable supply.
• The biggest question we have right now:  Are the changes we have seen in the last month merely due to the end of the tax credit or are the result of more significant changes in the demand for housing??

Stay tuned for next months update and we hope to be able to answer that question for you.  In the meantime; if you’d like to discuss your particular situation with one of our very talented and experienced Realtors, please call us at 480-243-4242.

If you are upside down on your home and not sure what to do because you would really rather stay in your home and not do a short sale or let you home go into foreclosure- please watch the attached video!

Our advice to our clients is to apply directly with their lender(s) for a loan modification and not turn to a company to do it for you; remember if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Several of our clients have come to us days before their home’s Trustee Sale (after spending thousands of dollars that they didn’t have to apply for a loan modification) hoping for a miracle to avoid foreclosure- we’ve had a few miracles; but we’d much rather see you keep your money in your pocket.

Don’t hesitate to call us for more advice if you don’t know how to get out from under your house payment; especially if you already have a Trustee Sale (aka Foreclosure) date set. 480-243-4242

• Are you at risk of losing your job or have you already lost it?
• Do you know where the money to pay your next mortgage payment is coming from?
• Are you afraid of getting your family locked out of your own home by your bank? 
• Do you know that 58% of the loan modifications that even do get approved, end up in foreclosure/default again within 4 months?
• Did you know that in Chandler alone, 3 out of 5 homes on the market are considered “distressed” sales. (Either Short Sales or Bank Owned)

If you answered yes to any of these questions; please reach out to us for help now before it’s too late, click here to get started. 

We will gladly give you a compassionate & intelligent conversation when the time is right for you and your family!

IN THE MEANTIME; THERE ARE LEGAL RIGHTS THAT GIVE SOMEONE TIME STILL IN THE HOME AFTER A TRUSTEE SALE: Please read the following article AZ Republic: Eviction Adds to Pain of Home’s Foreclosure.  In this, Michelle Lind, general counsel for the Arizona Association of Realtors, explained how the state’s eviction laws work. "The buyer of a foreclosure home has to give the home’s former owner notice to move out," she said. "If after five days the former owner doesn’t move out, the new owner can file with the courts for a forcible eviction."

You do have rights and don’t have to be alone, call us at 480-243-4242 and we will do our best to help!

What is the default process?  I’m going to try to explain what the information on this chart means but… it is when someone starts getting behind on their mortgage payments and they are usually at least 3 months behind before the following occurs:

Basically, there are only 4 results that can happen when a person isn’t able to stay current on their mortgage payments:

• NOTS= NOTICE OF TRUSTEE SALE is sent to the homeowner.  This notice gives them 90 days to do something otherwise the bank will try to sell them home at a Trustee Sale. (Please see resource tab of website for more information and a slide show re: what happens at Trustee Sales) Most lenders will either issue a postponement or a cancelation of the Trustee Sale (aka Foreclosure Proceeding) as long as someone contacts them and tries to work out an alternative solution.  Unfortunately the majority of homeowners facing this do nothing and put their heads in the proverbial sand and ultimately do lose their homes, which only adds to this crisis.
• REINSTATEMENT OF LOAN= This means that the Lender will allow the borrower to add the missed payments to the end of the loan and allow them to become current under the original loan terms.  In this situation one normally needs to show that it was a one time problem that caused them being late.  It’s also commonly called a Forbearance.  For most this isn’t an option. 
• LOAN ADJUSTMENT= By proving a hardship, one can request what is called a loan modification in hopes of getting the payments reduced to where they are affordable.  Financial information must be sent to the Lender with an application to be considered.  The government has stepped in and have some programs (HAMP and HAFA) intended to help those in need but in my opinion, they aren’t enough.  This process can be tedious and time consuming and many give up.  In some opinions, these are just temporary Band-Aids because to get principal reductions to what the current value is has not happened with anyone I have met or heard of .  The recent stats are that 58% that do get approved for these loan modifications end up in default again as well.  I had one client recently that fought with her Lender for a year and they extended her loan to 40 yrs and reduced her interest rate but changed the loan from an interest only and in the end it only reduced her payment $100, which wasn’t the help she had asked for.  Typically the Trustee sale is either cancelled or put on hold by the Lender during this process.
• SHORT SALE= Default process is over because the borrower sells the home short with the Lender(s) approval.

 SHORT SALE VS FORECLOSURE GUIDELINES (Published by CDPE February 2010)

There is another option called “Deed in Lieu” which is basically the homeowner giving the house back and is considered a Foreclosure without having to go thru the legal proceeding of a Trustee Sale.  If the home doesn’t sell to a private 3rd party (many investors pick up great bargains) at a Trustee Sale (aka Auction), then title goes back to the bank and they have to remarket the home.  That’s where the term REO (Real Estate Owned) comes from, sometimes called a Lender or Bank Owned Home.  Those homes get marketed normally on the MLS, here’s a link to the Bank Owned Homes in our area.

If you have any further questions about this process, feel free to call us at 480-243-4242 or go to our Get Started Tab and enter in your information so we can see if we can help you or someone you know who is in DEFAULT on their Mortgage payment(s). We do everything we can here to help those that need it!

1. A highlight on the Chandler Market is that 46% of our active listings were Short Sales, which is a huge increase from same time last year.
2. Active price per sqft is highest for normal “equity” sales but the gap on closed sales between REO bank owned foreclosed homes and short sales is not nearly as great.  I believe due to a lot of sellers listing for too much and then accepting less at the closing table, partially due to appraisal issues and other competition.
3. We are still seeing record highs of distress, at 57.7% in Chandler, although it has come down about 5% since March which is a great sign for our area.
4. A lot less REO’s are active on the market since the banks are pushing sellers now to do Short Sales (in general but Lender specific still) rather than foreclosing at a Trustee sale and having to sell themselves which loses them an average of $38k per house.

If you are interested in a personal analysis of your situation, please contact us here or call 480-243-4242 for one of our Agents to answer your questions regarding homes for sale in your area.

You can also sign up free on our website for a Listingbook account which allows you to search live MLS data (updates every half hour) to research homes yourself for sale or that have sold in your area.  You just need to enter your name and email- it’s free and simple to use!