Clear clutter away from rooms, clutter make the rooms look smaller and of course the buyer will think that the rooms are small too. The kitchen counters should be clutter free also.  furniture that is not used put in storage.   Move your furniture around in your home, sometimes the dining room become the office.   Potential buyers need to see each room has a purpose.

Rent furniture or accessories to fill in empty spaces.  Most furniture will show wear  and tear you may want to rent some newer looking furniture, you can also rent accent pieces like vase, dishes and more.

About the program:

America’s Home Buyer Solution Gift Program is designed to provide eligible homebuyers a gift of up to 2.5% of the sales price to be applied towards the FHA down payment and/or allowable closing costs for the purchase of a home.

Targeted towards quality affordable housing, approved homebuyers can purchase a home for as little as 1% down payment. The program also allows for the remaining 1% down payment to be gifted from any FHA allowable source.

The program is offered exclusevely through The Lending Company, a Direct Endorsed US Housing and urban Development lender. There is no requirement for the gift to ever be repaid. It is offered in concert with an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

This is not a seller-paid down-payment assistance program and the seller is not required to participate.

Program Benefits:

• The program provides up to a 2.5% gift to FHA qualified home buyers
• Remaining down payment is as low as 1% (as above, if market conditions allow, down payment from borrower may be as low as 1/2%)
• Seller can and is encouraged to contrbute towards the closing costs to further assist the homebuyer
• Income requirements match USDA Income Guides
• Competitive interest rates
• Flexible FHA approval guidelines
• Not limited to first-time homebuyers
• Standard FHA appraisal
• Owner Occupied purchase only
• 1 units allowed
• FHA approved condominiums allowed
• Loan limits match FHA guidelines for each county
• Minimum credit score of 640
• Successful credit restoration allowed
• Automated AUS/DU approve/eligible determination required
• FHA qualified Non-occupant co-borrower/co-signer allowed
• No prepayment penalties
• Must complete approved Home Buyer Counseling Course
• Must meet income guidelines for approval
  Call Jeff Thomas (602-610-4030 jthomas@thelendingco.com) with the Lending Company to see if you qualify for this great program, and then callTheBrooksteamaz.com to find your “Dream Home”.
  Stephen W. Brooks
  623-202-3833
  www.thebrooksteamaz.com
  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Brooks-Team-AZ-Realtors/178283375540777

On average, 21.2% of single family homes have received at least one Notice of Trustee Sale (the bank is letting you know that you have an auction date) since the beginning of 2006.  !!!!!

On average, 12.6% of the single family homes in Maricopa County have been foreclosed (ie the bank took them back) with a recorded Trustee Deed since the beginning of 2006.  That’s just over one in eight homes.  !!!!!  NOTE:  there are some 1,300 or so unrecorded Trustee Deeds as of December 22.

So where in the Valley has this foreclosure percentage been highest?  Here are the top 10 zip codes with the highest foreclosure rates:

1-85043 Phoenix

2-85353 Tolleson

3-85037 Phoenix

4-85335 El Mirage

5-85354 Tonopah

6-85326 Buckeye

7-85323 Avondale

8-85033 Phoenix

9-85379 Surprise

10-85031 Phoenix

All of these are in the West Valley; in fact, it isn’t until #24 that you find a property not in the West Valley (it’s in S. Phx).    There’s also evidence that foreclosure prevention attempts are not successful in these areas (or maybe not attempted?).

We see that the two types of areas least affected by foreclosures are those containing higher end homes and the 55+ communities. In many of the luxury home areas there is evidence reflecting a higher success rate in avoiding foreclosure, most frequently through a short sale (or maybe more aggressively or consistently pursued?).

It almost goes without saying that foreclosures have a direct effect on home pricing. Hence the ZIP Codes with the most foreclosures are usually those where home prices have fallen the most, while those with lesser foreclosures have fallen the least. However, the relationship is not exact.

Sun City West 85375 has the greatest preservation of $/SF across the whole valley. But then it also has had the lowest percentage of foreclosures. Again looking for anomalies we see that Chandler 85286 and 85249, Gilbert 85233 and Mesa 85205 have preserved their pricing better than would be expected based on their foreclosure rates.

We can also see that many parts of the Southeast Valley, particularly Tempe, Ahwatukee and South Chandler have preserved their pricing much better than Maricopa County as a whole. This is also true of most of the Northeast Valley.

It is true that foreclosures cause home prices to fall, but it is a vicious cycle since it is also true that falling home prices cause foreclosures – they cause more homes to go underwater and their owners to feel less motivated to maintain their loan payments.

What does this mean to you? It depends from what angle you’re looking.  If you’re looking to short sell, we should look at the trends in your neighborhood and act accordingly.  If you’re looking to buy, ‘a deal’ isn’t necessarily found in a neighborhood with high foreclosures.  A deal is a good price on a home you love in a neighborhood you’re excited about.

Please contact me to discuss your specific situation and needs.

“December has been an interesting month. Sales volume has been extremely strong, especially for REOs, while supply has been falling. Sales for normal listings and short sales are also much higher than during November. These are good signals even though the media has been mainly focused on the negative news of price declines. We must remember that price declines do not forecast a bad market ahead, they are an indicator of a bad market in the recent past ”

In my opinion, the price declines aren’t necessarily bad news today; we need prices to be reasonable, maybe even ‘cheap’ to get some of the excess inventory off the market AND if you’re a buyer today, these prices make it an ideal time to purchase.

“Average $/SF sales prices for REOs and short sales have been weak for the past several months and look likely to fall a little further. However the average $/SF price for normal sales has jumped from around $106 to $112 over the last month.”

ie if you’re looking to buy, REOs & Short Sales are the way to go.  If you want to contemplate buying a property through short sale, call me first! There are pitfalls to manage, not to mention potentially inexperienced agents listing these properties and dealing with the banks.  After working through almost 100 short sales with every lender out there, my team and I know what to look for and how to work with short sale listing agents.

“…demand and supply are not in balance when segmented by price or by geography. Supply is still too high below $100,000 and prices are falling in this sector which is dominated by REOs and trustee sales. Demand for those REOs is now increasing because of the lower pricing and this demand will eventually stall the fall in prices.”

What does this mean, investors?  Get off the couch and act now!  Demand is increasing in the lower end buy-and-hold price range and this demand will drive prices up.

“At higher price ranges supply is not increasing and REOs are relatively scarce. Prices are currently fairly stable above $400,000…”

If you’re looking for a home $400k or above, the market is somewhat stabilized where it is so find what you want, where you want at a price that makes sense for your life.

“December has been an interesting month. Sales volume has been extremely strong, especially for REOs, while supply has been falling. Sales for normal listings and short sales are also much higher than during November. These are good signals even though the media has been mainly focused on the negative news of price declines. We must remember that price declines do not forecast a bad market ahead, they are an indicator of a bad market in the recent past ”

In my opinion, the price declines aren’t necessarily bad news today; we need prices to be reasonable, maybe even ‘cheap’ to get some of the excess inventory off the market AND if you’re a buyer today, these prices make it an ideal time to purchase.

“Average $/SF sales prices for REOs and short sales have been weak for the past several months and look likely to fall a little further. However the average $/SF price for normal sales has jumped from around $106 to $112 over the last month.”

ie if you’re looking to buy, REOs & Short Sales are the way to go.  If you want to contemplate buying a property through short sale, call me first! There are pitfalls to manage, not to mention potentially inexperienced agents listing these properties and dealing with the banks.  After working through almost 100 short sales with every lender out there, my team and I know what to look for and how to work with short sale listing agents.

“…demand and supply are not in balance when segmented by price or by geography. Supply is still too high below $100,000 and prices are falling in this sector which is dominated by REOs and trustee sales. Demand for those REOs is now increasing because of the lower pricing and this demand will eventually stall the fall in prices.”

What does this mean, investors?  Get off the couch and act now!  Demand is increasing in the lower end buy-and-hold price range and this demand will drive prices up.

“At higher price ranges supply is not increasing and REOs are relatively scarce. Prices are currently fairly stable above $400,000…”

If you’re looking for a home $400k or above, the market is somewhat stabilized where it is so find what you want, where you want at a price that makes sense for your life.

“Casting about in MLS data for signs of a market bottom and subsequent recovery has proved elusive over 2009 and 2010,” the report concludes. “The one-step-forward-two-steps-back phenomenon has become all too familiar in our fragile recovery.”

• The PPI predicts that the median sales price of a home in November will be about $120,000, relatively unchanged from October. The median is expected to drop in December to $117,000, rise in January back to $120,000 and then drop once again in February fairly dramatically to $105,000.  The median is the number in the middle, so there are as many houses priced below the median as above the median.
• Average sales prices are projected to rise slightly in December but to fall in both January and February. The estimate is for the average price to be about $161,200 in November and drop to $145,800 in February.
• New inventory declined in October, but total inventory increased.
• October listings represent nearly seven months of supply making this a buyer’s market. A seller’s market is a four to five month supply.
• Pending foreclosures have been trending downward slightly for the past 12 months.
• Distressed sales, short sales and lender owned sales peaked in September representing 74 percent of total transactions. In October distressed sales represented 65 percent of the total.

For guidance on your specific needs, please contact me at 602-741-1325.  Happy holidays!

The explanation for this reduction in credit score is that the request for the loan modification paperwork is the first indicator that they’re at risk which means a credit score ding.    Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group in Washington which represents the credit bureaus, says that people would not be asking for help unless they were having sever money troubles.  “The consumer is going into the program because they’re in a financial bind; other lenders would need to be aware of that”. (Norm Magnuson, spokesman; Yahoo Finance 2010).

So, as you’re making decisions about what to do with a mortgage that you’re not happy with, make sure you speak to someone who has experience with not only loan modifications but also short sales to get all questions about credit scores and your options answered.  Go to www.BethAHickey.com for more information on distressed property transactions.