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Tempe has 13th highest foreclosure sales among major Metro Phoenix cities - November 2009

Tempe has 13th highest foreclosure sales among major Metro Phoenix cities for the month of November 2009. This chart is very updated and only reflects the sales from November 1st-13th, 2009.

In other words, this chart shows the number of bank owned properties sold in each city expressed as a percentage of TOTAL sales.

Leading the way in November is El Mirage with 51% of all sales being bank foreclosures. Just ahead of Tempe is the city of Surprise with 35% of sales being foreclosures.

Tempe and Queen Creek are tied for 13th position with 33% of all November sales being bank foreclosures. The lowest cities in Sun City West at 10% followed by Paradise Valley at 16%.

Metro Phoenix Foreclosure Report

Phoenix area real estate listings at lowest levels in 18 months

Phoenix area real estate listings started March 2009 at 49,433.  That is the lowest number in 18 months, and a drop of 2,132 from last month.

74.6% of residential sales are "foreclosure-type" in the greater Phoenix area; January 2009

In the single largest increase in the history of foreclosure-type sales in the Phoenix area, January 2009's foreclosure-type sales increased 13.7% from December 2008.  The second largest increase of 7.9% was recorded just last month. The third largest increase was 6.8% from December 2007 to January 2008.

This phenomenon is going to cause "normal sellers" to do one of two things:

1. take their homes off the market because, face it, they can't compete with foreclosure prices
2. reduce their prices to a level where buyers are willing to pay a little more for a cleaner house

Read this chart in the following manner: In January 2009 there were 4,746 residential sales.  3,540 of those sales were "foreclosure-type" sales, or 74.6% of all sales.

 

Fannie Mae policy change helps investors buy condos

Fannie Mae changed its policy for investors appling for condo financing. Investors will no longer have to deal with its former rule whereby vacant, bank foreclosed and REO units were counted as non-owner occupied.

That's an important distinction for investors who can't qualify for properties with less than 51% owner occupied residences. The idea is that there's a greater risk of default in projects that have high numbers of investor units, with absentee owners renting out their units.

Under the revised policy -- which was requested by the National Association of Realtors in November -- Fannie says it will now count bank-owned REO units that are listed for sale, but are not rented, as if they are owner-occupied when computing the 51 percent ratio.

Countrywide is not so bad

by Shawn Roberts   shawn@reliablepropertysoltions.com

I know that Countrywide has a pretty bad rap in today’s market, but I disagree!  Due to what Reliable Property Solutions has experienced over the last year I don’t cringe anymore when we work a short sale with Countrywide.  I can almost 100% promise (OK, maybe 95%) that if everyone involved (Listing Agent, Buyer’s Agent, Seller and Buyer) with the transaction stay the course with Countrywide their short sale will work out.

This entails everyone understanding from the beginning that it will take 90+ days for an approval.  This may also entail calling 2-3 times a day (our job) to get what you want until it is done!  Extreme diligence and patience always pays off with Countrywide.  For example, we have had a handful of short sales where the Buyer’s lender presented appraisal issues after Countrywide approved the short sale.  We went back to Countrywide with the appraisal, price change addendum and a letter from the listing agent.  Every single one of these short sales got reapproved at the reduced price. It may have taken an additional 7-30 days to get the new approval, but we got it!

Here is a breakdown of the Countrywide timeline:

Order/Review Appraisal                        30 days
(once value deemed sufficient the file will be assigned)

Stage 1
(setup file)                                15-20 days

Stage 2                               
(negotiation stage)                    15-20 days

Stage 3                               
(final approval and closing)        15-20 days

This rough timeline reflects business days and is subject to change.  I recently received a Countrywide approval in less than 6 weeks.  I thought it was a mistake!

Trust me, extreme diligence and patience from all involved will get everyone what they want.  Don’t give up and keep pushing!

Buy and Bail Protection

by Craig

One of the best ways to buy a foreclosure in this market is of course with no money down. think about it,  you put no money down and buy a home for let's say 100,000 that was selling for 200,000 a year and a half ago  - that's not just a good deal it's an amazing deal. USDA has 100% financing or "rural" areas. Yes that means you people who want to live in the city can not get this!  But they are even coming around to the buy and bail protection that Fannie and Freddie and FHA have already put into place.

So everybody seems to be falling into line on this policy - here is the exact wording from USDA...  

An increasing number of homeowners are attempting to purchase new homes but cannot sell their existing principal dwellings because of prevailing market conditions. Some homeowners are attempting to retain and rent out their existing principal residence, while at the same time trying to purchase a new principal residence. The homeowners attempting to rent out their existing properties are producing newly signed leases as evidence of income to offset the costs of maintaining the old residence and continue making payments on it. Increasingly, income from the new leases never materializes and the old principal residence goes into foreclosure.

Newly signed leases:

A newly signed lease has no historical basis to conclude that the income is likely to continue. Applicants who wish to purchase a new principal residence and retain or rent a residence must qualify with all mortgage liability payments. Income from newly signed leases cannot be used in debt ratio calculations. The exclusion of rental income will ensure the applicant has sufficient monthly income to meet all mortgage and liability payments. This applies to manual and automated underwritten loan files.

So basically if you want to buy a screaming deal out there right now but have not sold your home first - NO PROBLEM -  just make sure that your payment on your current home that is for sale and the new home mortgage payments added together are still something you can qualify for with your current income. IF not, sell your home first then find the screaming deal... if the deal is gone just stop close your eyes and listen  - I promise you that you will hear another deal screaming very close by.

Mesa joins ranks of cities under $100 per-square foot

It took 2 years for the city of Mesa, Arizona to fall below the sales price of $100 per-square foot.  Phoenix went under $100 per-square foot in November of 2008. Glendale hit that mark in September 2008.  These three cities are mentioned because they comprise three of the four largest cities in the state of Arizona. In case you don't know your Arizona statistics: Phoenix is the largest city, Tucson is the second-largest, Mesa is the third largest, and Glendale is the fourth largest city.

Read the chart this way: 3,519 homes were available for sale in Mesa on December 1, 2008.  415 sold ( 11.8% of the total) creating 8.5 months of inventory.  The average "sold" home was 1,801 square feet and sold for $172,749.  105 days was the market time.  The average price per-square foot was $96.

source: Arizona regional MLS; January 5, 2008

Then: bad mortgages now: unemployment?

Many industry sources will say that the majority of foreclosures due to bad loans have already transpired.  Granted, there are still five year ARM's  that will be coming due in 2009 and in 2010 ( including one for yours truly). However, for the sake of argument, let's say that the majority of bad loans and three year ARM's have already been foreclosed upon.

Enter unemployment. Many of us know people who have either lost their homes -- or are in the process of losing them -- due to unemployment.  Many people in the real estate industry were looking forward to a real estate recovery in 2009. The chances of such a recovery seem to be getting dimmer. After all, it makes no difference how low your interest rate or monthly payment is if you're not making any money.

Any thoughts?

More than a clogged sink -- always inspect it first

by Kent Lamb
This may look like clogged drains but wait there is more.  Things have not only been stoled from this forclosed home but the crooks also clogged the drainage system for this house.  In this particular case, the vandals poured concrete mix into the drain line piping and have caused thousands of dollars in damage.  This is not the first instance of this type of vandalism.  Many times the drain lines are clogged with rags or other materials.  Ensure that your home inspector is taking the extra steps to determine if the clog is limited to a single drain or a more significant issue with the drainage system of the home.  In the foreclosed homes that I inspect, we allow the water to run for an extended period of time to ensure proper drainage and flow through all drain lines.

Cheap bank owned pool properties in west Phoenix and beyond

Prices are getting really low in the greater Phoenix area.  Click on this link to look at pool properties in the $70,000-$150,000 range:

 

view inexpensive pool properties

Some of these properties are priced for the 1980's era. That's not to say they will all sell that cheaply.  Many times lower-priced properties attract bidding wars. Check it out and see what you think.