The Real Story on Selling Your Home Now
REASONS WHY WE HAVE TO GET REAL
ABOUT REAL ESTATE PRICING
Excerpts from REAL Trends Newsletter July 2008
The July 2008 REAL Trends reported that the June 2008 housing market shows
that for the first time in nearly three years housing unit sales are at the
beginning stages of finding a floor and perhaps even heading up. The report
makes it is clear that a major factor in the turnaround in key markets is
the decline in the average sales price of the homes being sold. The average
price declines in the California and Nevada markets were 28-32 percent,
indicating the turnaround is mostly in the entry-level market segment.
What REAL Trends hears from brokerage firms in these markets are that homes
at the entry levels include a significant number of foreclosure sales, short
sales and builders dropping their prices to clear out older lower priced
inventory.
Until the excess inventory throughout the price spectrum gets brought back
into line with demand, prices will remain under substantial pressure. And
this will not happen until sales professionals and brokerage firms regain
discipline in how they price and market listings. There are simply far too
many overpriced listings on the market; listings that the listing
professional and brokerage firm both know are overpriced and unlikely to
sell in any reasonable time frame.
Pricing and transparency
To help real estate professionals improve the housing market and their
business, REAL Trends said: either get your sellers to reduce their prices
in line with the true market or give the listing back. It is not new news
that having a seller sit with their home on the market for 8-12-15 months is
not good for anyone. The seller is frustrated with the listing associate and
the listing associate is frustrated with investing huge amounts of money to
market the listing with little chance of a sale. Both parties are engaging
in destructive behavior which benefits neither.
The fact is prices are now available to everyone 24/7. Unless and until real
estate professionals deal with the new level of transparency and adjust
their behaviors accordingly, this market will take far longer to recover
than we have ever experienced in the past.
Until real estate professionals develop new behaviors about pricing and
marketing homes for sale, the promise of a brighter future will be pushed
off farther into the future than it needs to be.
Carefree/Cave Creek by Preston Westmoreland
Coming home from dinner tonight, I noticed the temperature was 74 degrees, and right away, started looking more closely at the road. After all that's what I call "snake temperature," the general range at which these cold-blooded creatures can comfortably crawl around. Sure enough, a young snake was seen crossing a path near the Carefree Inn, where guests can sometimes walk. I was grateful to see an Inn worker come up with a snake hook, for their catch-and-release- somewhere-else program. Newcomers to the desert ask me if these snake sightings are unnerving. "Not if you're careful and are always looking down, and watching where you put your hands and feet. This summer has seen an unusually high number of people bitten and valley doctors report seeing more people becoming critically ill after rattlesnake bites, compared to just a few several years ago.
As reported by KPHOTV5's website, "These patients commonly have very low blood pressure. Many times they are lethargic or unconscious," said Dr. Steve Curry of Banner Poison Control. Similar trends were seen across Southern Arizona and Southern California. "The reason for this isn't clear to us," says Dr. Curry. "Snake venom just can't change all across the country at once." To put things into perspective, however, desert visitors still need to remember that the honey bee kills more people on Earth than ALL poisonous creatures combined.
.jpg)
What's the significance of this Carefree home and who lived there (scroll down for answer)
List of Homebuilders
thought to be in Trouble. ADRE publishes list of
builders facing financial trouble
Phoenix Business Journal - by JAN BUCHHOLZ
Friday, September 26, 2008
The Arizona Department of Real Estate has published a lengthy list of home
builders and developers that are in financial trouble in Arizona.
The vast majority of listings are in Maricopa County. The companies listed
either are in bankruptcy, have properties in foreclosure or have mechanics
liens filed against them.
Below are companies on the ADRE list that have projects in the greater
Phoenix area:
• 47 Maryland Development LLC, project in Phoenix
• American Partnership LLC/Keystone, project in Surprise
• Cambria Homes, project in Phoenix
• Charlevoix Homes, projects in Phoenix
• Element Homes, projects in Cave Creek and Chandler
• Elite Homes, projects in Gilbert, Maricopa County and Surprise
• Empire Land with KB Homes, project in Phoenix
• Engle Homes, projects in Goodyear and Surprise
• Hacienda Builders, projects in Buckeye and Phoenix
• Jackson Properties, project in Avondale
• Lighthouse Land & Development LLC, project in Gilbert
• Maltabano Homes, project in Peoria
• Ponticello LLC, project in Phoenix
• Quantum at Troon North, project in Scottsdale
• Randall Martin Homes, projects in Chandler, Mesa and Surprise
• Santa Anna Homes, project in Phoenix
• Sun River Mesa Condos, project in Mesa
• Sunwest/Stratland, project in Gilbert
• V&M Homes LLC, project in Phoenix
• Village at Surrey Hills LLC, project in Phoenix
• Weinstein Communities, project in Chandler
• Woodside Homes, projects in Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe
• Zacher Homes, projects in Litchfield Park and Phoenix
For more: www.azre.gov.
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com
by J. Craig Anderson - Sept. 27, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Arizona will receive $121 million in federal funds to ease neighborhood blight in areas affected by home foreclosures, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Friday.
That's more than state officials expected for Arizona's share of the $3.9 billion in so-called neighborhood-stabilization funding authorized in July's federal housing bill.
The Arizona Department of Housing will receive $38 million to buy foreclosed-on homes, rehabilitate them and sell or lease them to residents.
Phoenix received even more money. It will have nearly $40 million to address foreclosure-related blight.
Eight other county and municipal governments will receive funds, too.
The federal money, although not nearly sufficient to buy and clean up all foreclosed-on properties, could improve the situation in some neighborhoods and return many unwanted homes to a safer and more marketable condition.
"Arizona communities need substantial help in fighting the effects of foreclosure, and this funding will do a great deal," Gov. Janet Napolitano said Friday in a statement.
Answer:
If you had your choice of any home site in Carefree, which would you
take? This home on the westside of Black Mountain was built on a
fortress of rocks and features an underground wine cellar. All built for
the first home of Carefree's co-founder, Tom Darlington.
| Maricopa County Active Listings: 52,692 | |
| Maricopa County Actives Last mo. 52,480 | |
| Carefree Active Homes (last mo 106) 116 | |
| Carefree Homes Under Contract 5 | |
| Cave Creek Active Homes 499 | |
| Cave Creek Homes Under Contract 43 | |
| Scottsdale Zip Code 85262 Actives 834 | |
| Scottsdale Zip 85262 Under Contract 41 | |
| Paradise Valley Active Listings 462 | |
| Paradise Valley Under Contract 21 | |
| Paradise Valley Homes over $ 1 mil 462 | |
| Most Expensive P.V. Home listed$18.9mil |
| Homes sold in the last 30 days/1 year ago: Carefree-2/3, Cave Creek 44/33, Scottsdale zip 85262- 25/37, Paradise Valley 15/14 |
| Current
Carefree foreclosure/short sales 8 Cave Creek foreclosures/short sales 74 |
Why isn't your house selling? Pick your poison. . . . Short sales, foreclosures, no credit, glut of new homes.
Carefee/Cave Creek by Preston Westmoreland
As the scorching summer temperatures cool and fall arrives, homeowners are worried that a frozen market that never thawed, could get colder. Listen to this: Over 42% of all sales in Maricopa County are bank-owned and short sale properties. Everything is about price. At the beginning of the summer, there were about 52,800 properties in Maricopa County. Now, in October, it's the same.
A recent study indicated that new home builders put up 75,000 unneeded homes in the valley in the last real estate boom in 2005. It's no surprise then, that in the biggest areas of overbuilding, the southeast and northwest parts of the valley have the most bank-owned properties. With these properties selling so well, buyers have even scrambled to grab deals in multiple offers!
There's a lesson for home sellers in how the banks price these properties. They get an appraisal and then price the home 92%of the appraised value. Break it down: The bank wants 85% for the home and 7% for costs. If you're selling a home right now? This is your competition! The old rule of starting high and working down puts homes on the sidelines now, not in escrow.
Moving to the area? Check out our website for more information at: www.luxurydeserthideaways.com Click on the "Moving Here" button
The Virtual Office Extreme.
Having just returned from vacation, we were called by a Realtor who wanted to send us an offer on one of our Paradise Valley short sales. Being near Mt. Lassen National Park, and having no cell or wireless signals, we set up our office in the car, and drove 40 miles to get on top of the Mt. Lassen Summit Road at 9000 ft.
There, we received the offer for the property on efax, forwarded to the buyer who sent it to the bank for approval. The property is scheduled to close October 16th.
