3. October 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Lately, I’ve been inundated with requests to purchase bank owned properties - particularly in the neighborhood price range of $50,000. Since short sales take months and months to even find out if the buyer can purchase the home, I’ll deal more particularly with REO’s or bank owned or foreclosed homes.

When a home is foreclosed upon, all other liens are wiped out. In a short sale, more often than not, the seller has a second as well; therefore, the problems arise because the holder of the second is typically difficult to work with. Since it’s very costly for the bank to foreclose on a home, they often try and work with the second and therefore, take months to work out an acceptable deal for both banks.

     I recently found a home for a buyer - bank owned - the buyer had an accepted offer of $86,000, ordered a home inspection performed at a cost of over $300 out of pocket to him, had the utilities turned on for additional out of pocket, and hired a plumber to fix a water pipe in order to have the home inspection. Everything went according to plan - and then - shortly before closing, the selling agent notified us that title was unable to insure the home. There were liens on the home.

     Long story short, after speaking with the title officer, one particular investor (bank) had purchased properties from another investor/bank. (Think of Country Wide and Bank of America as an example) 300 homes fell out BECAUSE the properties had not been foreclosed upon, thereby preventing the title company to insure. Liens were on all of the properties. As I mentioned, it is expensive to go through a foreclosure process for the banks. It appears that this was yet another example of fraud! My buyer is out the money he spent to get into the home, as well as 299 other buyers just with that title company.

     Though many of the bank owned are successful, this is just one example of the unknown backlash of purchasing a bank owned. No disclosures by the owner, buyer is purchasing as is, and subject to the bank’s rules.

     My recommendation? Make sure you listen to the advice of your Realtor. Chances are, they are more in tune with the market than you are. Try and remember also? The cheaper home is not necessarily a good buy after all…..

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3. October 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Phoenix, Arizona is hosting the Save the Dream Tour (Neighborhood Assistance Corporation). Lenders are modifying the loans to meet the needs of thousands of home owners suffering a loss of their homes. Held at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Check out details below:

 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/10/prweb2982084.htm

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17. August 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I posted a blog a year ago on my Teri Ellis Active Rain Blog about fissures appearing throughout Phoenix and surrounding areas, including Queen Creek, Arizona!!! It has now reared its ugly head once more. Check out my blog from last year in order to grab the links to the information you might need.

I received a call today from a woman living in Pecan Creek - North. She found my name online, and thought maybe I could “direct” her to a place she could lodge a concern or complaint about the “sink holes” appearing in her yard and that of her neighbors’ homes.

The builder, Fulton, had not remedied her problem, and customer service seemed unwilling to make certain her home was on stable ground. She told me that there were now issues with her water pipe. Her neighbor was experiencing similar problems and, in fact, cracks seemed to be causing stress on her patio.

My immediate thought was: “I was showing homes in that neighborhood last Saturday!!!”  These are definitely warnings that need to be out there for potential home buyers/sellers.

My suggestions included: writing to Fulton Homes, reviewing the information HERE!!!! - and checking out the Arizona Department of Real Estate  as well as sharing information on Twitter and Facebook to get the word out. I also told her I would post it on my blogs so people could be on the lookout.

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17. August 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Our MLS Stats for ENTIRE MLS (including Greater Phoenix Area of Maricopa and Pinal County for the past Two YEARS!!! I think it helps each of us get a better picture of the market. I’ve shared two graphs: One with the inventory decline during the past 24 months, and the other showing the “absorption” rate, or month’s supply of homes. The closer the number gets to six months, the closer we are to an “even” market. More months mean: a buyer’s market, and less mean: a seller’s market. I’m seeing an even market in most areas; however, there are still areas that lean one way or the other.

As you can clearly see, the median price is leveling out, AND the inventory is coming down at a quickening pace.

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4. August 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Recently I received a telephone call from a Realtor from another state. He introduced himself, told me he had found me through Active Rain, and knew so and so, and so and so.

After we finished with our introductions, he told me he had a client that had a home in Mesa, Arizona, and they wanted to find someone to list it for them. As I began to question him on the circumstances of the sale, he said that they just “needed” it listed. I prodded him further asking if they had taken out a second and if they were upside down. He said, yes, and basically needed it listed in order to complete their purchase of a home through him.

He further went on to tell me that they didn’t really care whether they sold it or not, and he didn’t need a referral fee. Sound fishy? Yep, to me it did – and was.

I told him this: “they are buying another home and bailing on this one,” and he pretty much indicated that this was the case though “he didn’t know for sure.” I told him that was mortgage fraud knowing when you purchase one home that you are walking from the other one!! You see, I have very strong feelings about this type of transaction. NO WONDER we are in such dire straits in America!! People don’t think twice about their obligations to keep their promises – AND – this agent had never heard of the Buy and Bail scheme. Yeah, right!!

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3. August 2009 by Teri Ellis.

According to our MLS stats, the 85209 zip code in Mesa, Arizona shows that we are now in a buyer/seller market. Six months is typically the “middle” mark. We’ll have to see what July holds, but notice in August 2007, we had 11.4 months’ supply of homes on the market. As of June, 2009, 6.5 months’ supply of homes.

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5. June 2009 by Teri Ellis.

This home is a beauty. Agent owned and maintained. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for questions, or log on to HomesAzRealEstate.com

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10. April 2009 by Teri Ellis.

It appears as though our Phoenix, Arizona market is adjusting. I’ve been keeping track since January 1, 2009 (and before), and posting updates regularly.  If you will recall, in January, we were up to almost 60,000 active listings. Things are changing.  Inventory stats of all listings in our MLS are as follows:

March 19

Active: 48,837

Pending: 10,869

April 3

Active:  45,694

Pending: 11,896

April 10

Active:  44,348

Pending:  12,963

April 17

Active:  42,907

Pending:  13,403

April 29

Active:  40,437

Pending:  14,226

Listed below are the comparisons for the cities and for the zip codes indicated. Note that I am only including Single Family Residences and not townhomes, apartment homes, etc.

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to visit one of my websites: HomesAzRE.com, ServingMesaArizona, MoveToMesaAz.com or MoveToSunnyAz.com. Or stop by my blogs at: MesaAzRealEstateVoice; or Phoenix Valley Real Estate Blog

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4. April 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I think it’s important to watch our market and to pay attention to how many active listings and how many homes are under contract or pending.  As of today, April 3, 2009, there were 45,694 Active and 11,896 Pending Listings in our MLS.

On March 19 - 15 days ago -  our inventory of active listings across the board (including Single Family, townhomes, condos, mobile homes, etc.) was 48,837 active listings! AND we had 10,869 pending or under contract.

I have listed below the numbers representing ONLY the Single Family Residents -  Active and the Pending as of today in the city and/or the zip code designated:

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2. April 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I’ve posted the numbers recently at above 48,000 active listings and 10,000 pending (under contract). Today, there are 11,456 under contract and 46,049, a drop of over 2,000 active listings in two weeks.

Please keep checking back for the numbers. The lower the active listings’ number goes, the fewer months of inventory. If you’re thinking about purchasing a home …. these numbers are important to you.

Have a good week.

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