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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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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25. March 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Sometimes I feel as if my buyers and/or sellers do not “hear” me. Okay, most of the time I feel that way! They hire me to do a job, but - after speaking with their friends, with neighbors, with, who knows? they suddenly are experts at “my” job. 

In today’s market – now, especially – sellers and buyers MUST pay attention to the advice and counsel offered by their Realtors. The Realtor, after all, is the one that has the education, the knowledge of the market, and the wherewith all to give that counsel and advice. “They” are the expert – generally not the home buyer nor the home seller.

I know that all of us encounter this type of issue, and these days, it is especially important for buyers and sellers to counsel with their Realtor. Realtors don’t typically have a crystal ball, and cannot tell you if the market has topped out or bottomed out, but we can see what the market in your area is doing,  and we know that short sales and bank owned pretty much rule the MLS in most parts of our country.

One suggestion to sellers: if your agent suggests a listing price, staging strategies – and you really want to sell your home – then seriously consider his/her suggestion. Otherwise, as the market goes down, your value goes down, and you’ll have a hard time catching up. The appraisals of your home are based on the sales of the REO’s and the short sales - AND you will have missed those potential buyers.

A suggestion to buyers: if you want to purchase a bank owned (REO) or a short-sale – BE PREPARED!!! You will more than likely be waiting for weeks, even months, for the close of escrow. There are myriad things that hang up these types of purchases. Gone, at least for the moment, are the days of: I make an offer, it gets accepted or rejected in four hours, and within a day or two, we now have opened escrow. Then, we actually close escrow and move into our new home within 30 days of the offer.

That said, from what I’m seeing, and remember “I” am the Realtor, our inventory is dropping at a rapid pace. That could be because lenders have been holding back from foreclosures, but when will you find a better interest rate? When will you be able to purchase homes for 70, 80, 100, thousand dollars again? Homes ARE selling, and people ARE buying.

AND investors and cash buyers have jumped into the frey….that should definitely be an indication, perhaps, that now is  a good time to be considering a purchase of your first home!

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19. March 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I like numbers. I keep track of numbers – especially when it comes to our MLS.

As of today, March 19, 2009, between 1:50-2:00 p.m., there were the following Active and Pending Listings in the cities listed below.

In January of this year, our inventory of active listings across the board (including Single Family, townhomes, condos, mobile homes, etc.) was in the high 58,000’s reaching toward 60,000. TODAY, we have 48,837 active listings! That number changes every few minutes as contracts go pending.  As of the time mentioned above, we had 10,869 pending or under contract.

For ease of understanding, per each city, for SINGLE FAMILY only, I have listed below the Active and the Pending as of today in the city and/or the zip code designated:

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4. March 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Whenever we relocate to a new area, one of the first things (after the closet mall and our favorite restaurant) is where the hospitals are located. There are quite a few renown hospitals in the Phoenix Valley, and I’ve provided a list below – along with the link to the hospital’s website:

Banner Health: Banner Health is the largest system in the valley including a heart hospital and a children’s hospital. I’ve included a few of Banner’s specialized hospitals and medical clinics in the Phoenix Valley:

Banner Health Medical Clinics

Banner Alzheimer’s Institute

Banner Children’s Hospital

Banner Baywood Medical Center

Banner Boswell

Banner Del E. Webb

Banner Desert

Banner Estrella

Banner Gateway

Banner Good Samaritan

Banner Heart Hospital

Banner Hospice

Banner Ironwood

Banner Medical Group

Banner Mesa

Banner Occupational Health

Banner Poison Center

Banner Residences & Senior Center

Banner Sun City Medical Group

Banner Surgery Centers

Banner Thunderbird

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2. March 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I suspect most of us have heard about the opportunity to obtain a “free” credit report from the three major reporting agencies each year allowing each of us to challenge any negative reporting, and then access our report for seven days after. You will be given a special report number - be sure and write it down - and you will need that in order to access any updates. I had one item on mine that was clearly bogus, and I challenged it as being untrue. I received an updated report that indicated it was removed.

In addition to checking your payment records, etc., it allows you to check the spelling of your name, any addresses that belong to you, and to correct any incorrect information! I cleaned mine up.

I recommend that anyone thinking of purchasing a home take advantage of this annual opportunity. Just recently, I suggested that my daughter check out her credit. It was great! - She wants to purchase a home - hopefully here, so I wanted to get her on board. NO ONE wants to be turned down for any kind of loan. This is just one way to be prepared.

Be sure and sign in and get your free annual credit report here at: Annual Credit Report. Pay attention to the options of paying for any extras. You do not have to - unless, of course you choose to - pay for your FICO score, etc.

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26. February 2009 by Teri Ellis.

Apparently credit card companies are realizing that they’re the first to go when it comes to paying off bills for income-challenged consumers. Since so many consumers are struggling, there is a new “Help With My Credit” campaign along with a website and toll-free number to deal with the mounting losses from defaults on credit-card payments. Several of the credit-card companies are on board.

They want people to understand “the assistance and options that are available,” said a spokesman for Help With My Credit.  Callers to 866.941-1030 might be able to negotiate lower fees, extended payment plans or make other agreements. The Help With My Credit campaign is available to make more consumers aware of their possible options.

Obviously the credit card companies want to get paid; thus, as a consumer, I see this as a way for consumers to possibly get some help along the way.

It seems like such a good idea, I’m wondering why more mortgage lenders aren’t doing the same?

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18. February 2009 by Teri Ellis.

I am tracking just how many month’s inventory we presently have in our MLS, and thought I would share. Sellers and Buyers need to be aware of two things:

Sellers - you are competing with over 51,000 other listings as of today.

Buyers - you can now purchase a home that is affordable and available.

I pulled up a couple of graphs from our Arizona MLS to give the readers an idea of what our inventory is now, what is active, what is pending, etc., compared to 2007. There are about 13,000 Bank owned, and 11,000 Short Sales. As you will see, there is an 11+ month’s supply of inventory; however, more properties are being sold.

It’s interesting to look at the numbers. It might be a more realistic “look” for the sellers listing their homes in this market. This is definitely the best market I’ve ever seen for buyers. Though short sales and bank owned can be a challenge, there is so much from which to choose that it can be worth it. AND though there are many of these short sales and bank owned, many sellers have priced their homes at competitive pricing.

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14. January 2009 by Teri Ellis.

A few months back, I posted a blog about a house swap that my client and another seller/buyer had consummated here in Mesa, Arizona. It was a wonderful experience. There were no problems, and the other agent and I worked seamlessly with one another. As in many instances, my client was looking for a larger home, and the other a smaller home. They loved each other’s homes, financed through their own lenders, and closed on time.

Last night I heard on the news that many homeowners are swapping homes, that it’s the new rage! Could it be they are swapping homes without the benefit of a Realtor! Wow, does that sound scary to anyone else but me? The news was focusing on a homeowner here in town who was hoping to swap with someone else from out of town since his home was not selling or even getting visitors to his home. I can understand sellers wanting to do SOMETHING to sell his/her home, but I am concerned for many reasons. We’ve had so much treachery and thievery in the housing market that I can only imagine how the crooks will get involved with this idea. ALL the more reason, that if you, as a seller, or a buyer, are even thinking about a SWAP - get your Realtors involved - PLEASE! There are too many opportunities for the sale to fall through, and buyers and sellers are simply not equipped to deal with these unknowns.

This is, of course, is my two cents. Though I wrote this article about the happenings in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona valley, I know this has to be happening across the country. There are absolutely myriad problems that could occur. Please use a Realtor!

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