Sonoran City News

Foreclosure Information

Renting Your Property for The Super Football Bowl Game

Phoenix is hosting multiple sports events during the beginning of 2008. The FBR Open. The Fiesta Bowl and the Super Bowl are just some of the events happening in the area during January and February 2008. If you haven't been paying attention, the FBR Open is occurring the same week as the Super Bowl. This will present a challenge for those seeking hotel rooms but presents an opportunity for those with properties available to rent.

If you are one of the many Phoenix and Glendale area homeowners who has been struggling to find a tenant for your vacant property, you might well consider making it available for a short term rental. Many out-of-town visitors will be here for more then just a few days and would prefer to stay in a home rather then a hotel. There are many different ways of promoting your property as a vacation or weekly rental and you might be shocked at the going rates.

If you would like more information, email me.

America's Fastest Growing Suburbs

Forbes.com just released it's list of America's Fastest Growing Suburbs. While Lincoln, CA took the top spot, four of the top-ten places are Arizona cities, specifically cities in the West Valley of Phoenix.

Buckeye, Surprise, and Goodyear took spots two through four, and Avondale placed ninth. Buckeye grew an astounding 191% since 2000, Surprise came in at 165%, Goodyear 142% and Avondale 102.4%.

Buckeye and Surprise should surprise no one by their showing. Both cities have demonstrated aggressive growth this decade and both intend to continue. Buckeye, if all goes as planned, will surpass the population of Phoenix once the developments along Sun Valley Parkway complete. The same can be said for Surprise as that city dominates the growth in the Northwest Valley.

Famous Flopping Flippers

Turn on any semi-successful cable or satellite television provider and you will find a buffet of real estate 'Flip This and That' programs opening a window into what might appear on the surface to be a legitimate 'get rich quick' scheme.

The most famous Flipper of them all probably had no aspirations to find the holy grail in a run-down house.

I'll admit to watching more then my share of "Flip" TV. Typically I end up screaming obscenities within the first 15 minutes of any show due to the numerous ethic's violations and general stupidity exhibited by the experienced "Flippers". In this market, especially in Phoenix, the interest in 'flipping' had decreased proportionate to the declining housing market.

Which makes me wonder just how much longer these shows will stay on TV. "Flipping" is not inherently bad. The problem lies in those who flip and their level of inexperience along with visions of wealth dancing in their heads. This combination tends to lead to cost over-runs, bad product selection, and general repair sloppiness.

A few of the featured TV Flippers have landed in hot water as of late. The Atlanta version of "Flip This House" focused on Sam Leccima has been accused of fraud and faking the actual renovations done on the show.

What Orlando Looks Like from Phoenix

A friend in Orlando called to let me know he finally bought a house. This friend has been living in a rental property for the past two years. He has always owned a home and I was surprised by his decision not to buy sooner.

The home he purchased is one he told me about over a year ago. Did you catch that? He looked at this home over a year ago. He just purchased it for $140,000 less then the original price. Yes, that was one-hundred-forty-thousand dollars. One Year.

When I spoke with him in January I gave him a hard time for not buying yet. He said it still wasn't the right time. He knew what he wanted but he also knew there was still some pain to be felt in the market before he would take the leap. He's not totally sure he has purchased at the lowest point but he knows that interest rates have been creeping back up and with all things considered, now is the right time.

Why am I sharing this? For starters, I have a tremendous amount of respect for my friend. I've known him for many years and have always been impressed (but not surprised) by his successful business and life decisions. He makes well-educated life choices and comes out on top more often then not. He took a leap of faith a few years ago and made a life altering decision which few people would have had the guts to do but one which has established him to be a savvy and successful business man.

When he made the decision to rent, I'll admit I gave him hard time. Not because I questioned his wisdom but because he is a true believer in home ownership. Today I take his decision to take that leap as a sign that maybe, just maybe the industry is not going to be in a free fall for much longer.

So You Want to be a Real Estate Agent?

If someone offered you the chance to travel back in time and hitch a ride on the Titanic, would you do it? You know the ship is going to hit an iceberg, you know it sinks. You even know that in the Hollywood version some dude in the cheesiest line in movie history declares himself to be 'The King of the World". Would you get on the ship? Probably not. Curiosity killed the cat. You know the ships sinks. Not a great idea to get on the boat.

Deadliest Catch is a very popular show on the Discovery Channel. It is one of my favorites. For the few of you who don't know the premise, camera crews follow Alaskan crab fishermen working on a crab boat, one of the deadliest jobs in the world. Knowing this, how many people are going to jump on the crab fishing bandwagon risking life and limb? Not very many.

Today I had a long talk with someone who finished real estate school last week and is all excited about starting their new career. He wanted to know my thoughts.

It is never easy for me to discuss the challenges of being a real estate agent with someone who aspires to be a real estate agent. I know that no matter what I say, anything negative will be perceived as my not wanting any more competition. I always try to lay out the numbers right from the start so as to dispel this perception.

There are approximately 90,000 licensed real estate agents in Arizona. It might be a few thousand more or less as the last time I check that statistic was in February. We will use 90,000 for sake of this example. In June there were 5423 resale residential properties sold in Maricopa County. Let's be generous and guess that there were 5000 more properties sold throughout rest of the state and in new homes.

So there were a little more then 10,000 homes sold in June (just using rough, round numbers) and 90,000 real estate agents. Even if every transaction used an agent on each side, that means 70,000 agents did absolutely nothing in June. NOTHING.

Still want to hitch a ride on the Titanic? Please don't get me wrong, I LOVE this business. I'm not terribly fond of the general perception of real estate agents (from what I can tell it is not favorable). I really despise the rampant fraud, and I hate seeing people lose their homes because of bad decisions by all involved.

All that being said, I love this business and the addition of one or even one thousand new agents will have little, if any, impact on my ability to conduct my business. In fact I truly believe if someone has the drive and the dedication they can be very successful. But it is exceptionally important for anyone considering a career in real estate to fully understand what they are about to get themselves into.

A few things to think about first:

Do you have 6 months worth of savings, 9 would be better. Do the math...homes are averaging 120 days on market and a typical escrow takes 45 days which means even if you get a listing under contract your first day, you are looking at almost 6 months before you get a single penny. During those 6 months you are going to have more expenses then you can imagine.

Business cards and signs, lockboxes and MLS access, domain names and websites. They all cost money. Cell phones, digital cameras, car insurance and GAS. All necessary expenses. I haven't even broached the subject of marketing and broker fees.

Still interested? Great. If I haven't discouraged you yet, you stand to do well. Have questions, feel free to contact me.

More Resources for those Facing Foreclosure

The National Association of REALTORS  has decided to put together a list of resources for those having trouble paying their mortgage. I will keep my better late then never comments to myself. It is nice to see new avenues for consumers.

How to Avoid Foreclosure and Keep Your Home This brochure will help you understand your options and help keep you from losing your home.

Foreclosure Assistance By State

How to Avoid Predatory Lending

These are just a few resources for those facing foreclosure. I've listed many more here. If you are unsure where to turn you can contact me and I will do what I can to assist you.

Bubbles Burst for Big Builders

Chief Accounting Officer Michael T. Rand was terminated by Beazer Homes for violating the company ethics policy. Apparently he was attempting to destroy documents. This comes on the heels of an investigation launched in March into the lending practices of the company. Shares of Beazer fell 9.6% following the announcement.

Beazer is not the only builder feeling the pain. On June 28, KB Home announced a plan to build smaller, more affordable housing after reporting a $148.7 million loss for second quarter 2007. KB Home reported a backlog of 13,672 houses and a cancellation rate of 34 percent. Lennar homes reported a loss of $1.55 per shave versus a $2.00 per share earnings last year.

According to a report filed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), sales of new homes in May 2007 were down 16% from the same period last year. Many in the building industry blame tighter lending standards and the recent sub-prime fallout as the reason for the decline in home purchases.

Buyer's are still standing on the sidelines waiting to see if home prices will continue to decrease. Couple that with 9-10 months resale inventory backlog and the home building industry is looking toward painful months to come.

Phoenix Real Estate Market Prediction

Moody's Economy.com has released their Housing at a Tipping Point report. The report names the real estate markets predicted to bounce back the fastest. Phoenix ranked second, behind Tampa, with the prediction the market would hit rock-bottom in the 4th quarter of 2008. 

I know what you are thinking? Have we not yet hit rock bottom? It gets worse? Unfortunately...it gets worse.

A few years ago I recall having a conversation with a fellow agent about the coming market crash. I was fairly doom and gloom and very concerned with the severity of the crash and when it would happen. He was upbeat and positive assuring me that a crash would never come. That noise you hear is me whispering 'told you so'.

It is here and it is apparently not done yet. How we handle it from here will tell what the future holds.

First, if you currently have your home for sale or are considering selling you need to be realistic. Realism can be painful. The Maricopa County real estate market is currently at 105 days on market for homes sold in June. Three and one-half months on average. Try not to beat-up your real estate agent too much if you currently have a home for sale. With 54,000+ active properties on the market there is a lot of competition.

If you are planning to purchase now is a great time to buy. I know you are thinking that I just wrote the market still has another year before it hits bottom. This is true. But what you really should keep your eye on is interest rates. We have seen a steady increase in interest rates since the beginning of the year and all indicators are leaning toward continued increases. Couple that with tighter lending standards and the sub-prime mortgage fall-out and you are probably better served getting a mortgage sooner rather then later.

Forbes predicts a strong rebound in the Phoenix market due to strong job growth and a booming economy. If their predictions are correct we just have to weather this storm for another year and things will start to brighten up again in the Phoenix real estate market.

Casey Serin - Should I Even Mention This?

For the past few months I've avoided writing about, or even reading about, Casey Serin. Casey, for those of you who have somehow missed out, is the man-child behind iamfacingforeclosure.com. Well he has recently reached a new low/level of bizarre behavior which stuns and saddens me.

Casey has taken off for Australia. Apparently he found a way to leave the country and leave behind a trail of foreclosures and bad debts in his wake. Is this surprising? Not really, except for the fact that the he left the country. Seriously. How does someone so publicly declare that they broke the law and then scoot off for the Australian Outback without getting arrested?

Here's where the story goes from irritating and frustrating to down-right disgusting and appalling...

He left his wife behind. He wrote bad check for her to deal with. He left her with CashCall breathing down her neck. He left he penniless to mop up his problems.