Merry Christmas from the Bastians

Without a doubt, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I'm not a big shopper, I don't really buy a ton of gifts for a lot of different people.

I simply enjoy spending time with my family and friends and do my best to take some time to relax, have some fun and reflect on what Christmas is to me.

I am not offended if people don't celebrate Christmas and I am glad others have their own reasons to celebrate. In my house, we have a Christmas tree and we have Christmas parties. If you prefer a "holiday" party just because you don't want to "offend" someone, I'm thankful you have that right.

So, from my family to yours, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Hangin' with some blogging real estate geeks at Chicago Title

I had a great time meeting with some real estate and title friends this morning talking about some cool new blogging applications.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Non disclosure - in real estate? "Really?"

A while back, I said I was going to begin a series of posts with the "really?" theme associated with some of the odd things I see happen in my business. So, once again, it is time to vent just a tad...

If you know me, you know that I have a pet peeve about some of the things that happen in the real estate industry. Many of these things have to do with the "different rules for different people" mentality.

For instance, I often wonder why/how the major home builders get away with saying you "must use our lender" and you "must use our title company" for services. I know most of the reasons - that will probably be a whole new post on a whole new day. The main excuse reason was/is that they have bulk rates with "preferred vendors", etc.

Getting back to today's rant, I'll focus on the "Sellers' Property Disclosure Statement" or "SPDS" (spuds is a common term we use).

Many of the banks and short sales have the language of "no SPDS" in their property profile sheets. Basically, they must feel like they are limiting their liability by trying to get a buyer to waive receipt of something so common to our residential resale real estate purchase contract it is pre-printed into the document.

Well, since the banks are doing it, why shouldn't others, right? Today, I saw this language written in the agent remarks section of an mls print out. Not that it is the first time I have ever seen it, this just happens to be the first time I have vented about it, to you.

"Property Sold As/Is. No Disclosures or Warranty Provided. Owner is a licensed real estate broker in AZ and the listing agent."

No disclosure? Really? Why not? In Arizona, and I assume other states as well, every buyer is entitled to a SPDS. The fact is, even if someone has never lived in a property, there are many questions on the Seller Property Disclosure Statement that an owner would know.

Some basic questions from an Arizona Seller's Property Disclosure Statement are:

1. From line 3:  Property address.
2. From line 6: Legal owner(s) of property:
3. From line 21: Are you aware if there are any association(s) governing the property?

Many of the questions are pretty basic and any owner "could" answer a number of the questions. Granted, banks or an owner that has never lived in a home might not be able to completely fill out a "SPDS" as much as we would like.

It is recommended that if a buyer is refused a SPDS by an owner of a property they would like to purchase, a blank copy of that document be given to the buyer for review. The blank document might be beneficial in helping to bring attention to possible items of concern or importance. Another form that is helpful in determining things to consider is called a "Buyer's Advisory" form which can be a very good resource of information.

If you have any questions about any of the forms mentioned, please feel free to call me to discus, I'm always glad to talk shop...

Nick's Annual Turkey Drive is here again!

Once again, it's time for our (7th) annual turkey drive! On Sunday Nov. 22nd, I will be delivering turkeys to Phoenix Rescue Mission as they prepare to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving Day.

I believe that many people have a desire to help others this time of year but find it difficult to do so because our lives are so busy. This year, the shelters need a LOT of help. If you would like to help by making a financial donation, we will do all of the work for you! I'll be purchasing frozen turkeys Sunday morning to deliver to the Phoenix Rescue Mission. (I can provide receipts from the mission if needed.) Please feel free to contact me with any questions or donations.

If you are able to donate one dollar or a hundred ( or more), I am able to purchase frozen turkeys all at once for delivery to the mission on Sunday morning. Over the years, we have found this the easiest way to help the most people. I can give you my address or I can pick up donations up until Saturday the 21st. You can always email me at nick (at) nickbastian (dot) com or call me for more info! I am out and about a LOT, so it makes picking up your donation pretty easy! :-)


Last year, with the help of my friend Rob, we were able to deliver over 875 pounds of turkey for needy families! Big thanks to Rob Sell at Sell Home Inspections for all he does. Thankfully, Rob has really stepped in to be a huge help to me in hauling all of these birds. We both have a BLAST delivering them and want to thank everyone for your donations to such a great cause.

Please help. Every single penny is GREATLY appreciated. We want to make it easy for everyone to help others this Thanksgiving. I would also like to wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season!

What Happens in Escrow?

The main purpose of this blog is to provide information to you. In doing that, I have decided to ask people from within my industry to write an occasional "guest post" on topics that will be of interest to anyone wanting to know more about the real estate business or the real estate market in Arizona. 
Below, you will find some information about the escrow process as written by my good friend, Bill Risser from Chicago Title and Trust. I'd like to thank Bill for sharing the information with us!


___________________________________________


Nearly everyone has heard of ChicagoTitle Insurance Company.  But just what does the title and escrow company do in the purchase of your new home? My intent with this post is to explain the escrow side of the transaction.  We'll discuss title insurance in depth in a
future post.

An escrow is an arrangement in which a disinterested third party, called an escrow holder, holds legal documents and funds on behalf of a buyer and seller, and distributes them according to the buyer's and seller's instructions. 

People buying and selling real estate often open an escrow for their protection and convenience. The buyer can instruct the escrow holder to disburse the purchase price only upon the satisfaction of certain prerequisites and conditions. The seller can instruct the escrow holder to retain possession of the deed to the buyer until the seller's requirements, including receipt of the purchase price, are met. Both rely on the escrow holder to carry out
faithfully their mutually consistent instructions relating to the transaction and to advise them if any of their instructions are not mutually consistent or cannot be carried out.

An escrow is convenient for the buyer and seller because both can move forward separately but simultaneously in providing inspections, reports, loan commitments and funds, deeds and many other items, using the escrow holder as the central depositing point. If the instructions from all parties to an escrow are clearly drafted, fully detailed and mutually consistent, the escrow holder can take many actions on their behalf without further consultation. This saves time and facilitates the closing of the transaction.

The escrow process was developed to help facilitate the sale or purchase of your home. The escrow holder accomplishes this by:

• Acting as the impartial "stake-holder," or
  depository of documents and funds
• Processing and coordinating the flow of
  documents and funds
• Keeping all parties informed of progress on the
  escrow
• Responding to the lender's requirements
• Securing a title insurance policy
• Obtaining approvals of reports and documents
  from the parties as required
• Prorating and adjusting insurance, taxes,
  rents, etc.
• Recording the deed and loan documents
• Maintaining security and accountability of
  monies owed and owing.

When my son was much younger, he asked me what "escrow" was. My explanation to a 6 year old was this: One person has keys to the house being sold.  Another person has a bag
full of money to buy the house.  Each takes a hold of  the keys and the money together, but neither will let go. Each is afraid the other will run off with both the keys and the money if they let go first.  That's where escrow comes in.  The keys and the money are given to escrow, and when all the terms of the contract are satisfied, escrow hands over keys to the buyer and the money to the seller!  He immediately understood, and then proceeded to tell me that it sounded boring. 

Gotta love kids!

Realty Executives Short Sale Division

Short sales and foreclosures are a very large part of our market in Arizona. The short sale process can bring many more questions than answers for people facing a job loss, relocation or a need to sell a home in a market where property "values" have declined.
The realities of facing short sale questions about tax consequences, debt relief, anti-deficiency judgements, and many other terms that many people are not familiar with can create even more uncertainty. Having people "embarrassed" of their situation, not knowing where to turn or not having a trustworthy advisor has sometimes been a reason for people to put off getting help.
Unfortunately, some of the problems with short sales are also compounded by the fact that many people in the real estate industry have had challenges in trying to learn about a process that is fairly new or unfamiliar and in dealing with different banks or bank employees that can often be clueless.
I am very glad to see that Realty Executives of Arizona has created a place where people all over the state can call a number to be put in touch with an agent willing to help them sell their home in these challenging times.
Many agents have put off short sales and take them only when they "have to" do them. As consumers seek information on how to best deal with a short sale, the Realty Executives short sale division promises to be a place where good, solid real estate information will be found.
Should you or anyone you know need to find a real estate agent willing to help with your short sale in Arizona, please feel free to call my "short sale hotline" at 480-463-4514.

Tenants rights and LemonLandlord.com

Foreclosures are a huge part of the real estate market in Arizona. For some, foreclosures are an opportunity, for others, they are a nightmare.

Over the past several months, I have had many conversations with people about what happens to a tenant when an owner loses the home. We have all heard the horror stories of people coming home to an eviction notice and the terrible situation it can put them through.

The National Association of Realtors "supports programs to reduce the impact of foreclosure on communities." In fact, they have talked about tenants rights quite a bit this year. From a NAR article we learn:

Under the new law, which went into effect on May 20th, tenants will have to receive 90-days notice prior to being evicted, when their rental home is foreclosed upon. In addition, tenants must be allowed to stay in the property through the end of their lease, with two exceptions:

* The new owner wants to occupy the property as a personal residence, and
* There is no lease (month to month), or there is a lease but state law allows the lease to be terminated at any time upon notice.

Unfortunately, not all people are aware of their rights. The fact is, most people would prefer to be notified prior to a notice being served. After my friend Jeff called recently to ask me to look into a potential foreclosure situation for a friend of his, I decided to meet with the guys at LemonLandlord.com to learn more about their service. Take a look at this video.
If you have any questions... " Just Call Nick!"

Pending Home Sales Rising

In addition to watching our mls system and looking at a lot of homes around town, I get a LOT of email and blog updates to help keep an eye on the real estate market. While I firmly believe there is no way for anyone to give a "one size fits all" answer to the market, it is interesting to watch trends. In my opinion, you need to look closely at a specific neighborhood before making a sound decision on buying or selling. I am enclosing material from an email that was sent to me this morning.

Pending Home Sales on a Record Roll

WASHINGTON (September 1, 2009) Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it was 100.7.

NAR's Housing Affordability Index stood at 158.5 in July, below the peak set in April but is still 36.0 percentage points higher than a year ago. The HAI is a broad measure of housing affordability using consistent values and assumptions over time, which examines the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income.

Not all areas and price ranges are seeing the same fluctuations in pricing, availability and sales. If there is an area you are interested in or if you have seen a "for sale" sign that you want to know more about, "Just Call Nick!" I'll be glad to help...

Let's have some fun and watch some baseball!

If you know me and read this blog, you know that I love hanging out with family and friends. If you are family or consider me your friend, I would like to invite you to a fun Friday night at Chase field!

I am teaming up with friends in the "Night Rail" spirit for a great time on Friday, September 18th. We have prime seats in the very cool Diamond Level at a discounted rate of just $20.00 to watch the Dbacks vs the Rockies at 6:40 pm. It’s the perfect venue for all of us to get together and have some fun. We all have busy lives but I hope you will be able to set aside some time on a Friday night to enjoy some baseball and hang out with some friends or meet new ones.

Here’s the scoop…

Game: D-backs vs Rockies, Friday September 18th @ 6:40pm

Simple process to purchase tickets:

1. Click on the following link: www.dbacks.com/groups

2. Log in with the following information:

sign-in ID – rail

password – life

Special discount ticket option includes:

$20 (reg. $30) in the Miller Lite Diamond Club

The Miller Lite Diamond Club is an upscale club located in right field on the main concourse level at Chase Field. It is a PERFECT place for a bunch of people to hang out. No assigned seats, special lounge seating throughout the entire location, full service bar (cash bar), pool tables, and HD TV’s make for a great night where will have some of the best seats in the house. Plenty of standing / mingling is possible in the Diamond Club with it’s cool lounge style seating.
Click to see pics of the Diamond Club <---


Yes... Everyone is invited. This section is perfect for having fun with friends. Feel free to use this as an excuse to invite family or friends to watch a game and have some FUN with hot-dogs, baseball and probably even apple pie.

Remember: To purchase tickets for the game, just visit www.dbacks.com/groups and use the sign-in ID of rail and the password of life. You will get the discounted price of $20.00.

Lori and I really hope to see ya there! If you have any questions... "Just Call Nick!"

Change is good - questions remain

Changing markets bring about a lot of issues that often become misunderstood or over looked. In the past 17 years of selling homes, I don't recall a time where people had so many questions and misconceptions on home prices, terminology and the market. If you are reading this as a "club member," you probably know me pretty well and know that I enjoy working with people that know me and trust what I say. There is a difference between people that call on a sign or an advertisement and people that call who have been recommended by a friend or someone that I have worked with in the past. Often, those responding to an ad are skeptical when they first call. Usually this is due to misperceptions of our industry or they have been reading the papers, which often (in my opinion) report real estate related information about 6 months too late. A recent article in the paper said that cash buyers are playing a large part in the market right now. Really? Six months ago, when you told someone that there are bidding wars on properties and that investors are snatching homes up, paying cash, and making it hard for "normal" buyers to compete, it was often met with a "deer in the headlights" type of look. Now, people are becoming more aware of the difficulties in certain markets.

Short sales and bank owned homes come with a LOT of questions right now, as well. A short sale can be a complete nightmare or it can sometimes go fairly smooth. However, the idea of looking at a bank owned home and offering "50%" under list price typically won't work. Banks normally price the homes (currently) aggressively and are not necessarily going to "dump them" as callers often hope. That doesn't mean you can't bargain or get a good price, it just means you need to understand how the process normally works.

Short sales are similar. Wow, can they be a LONG process. I have seen short sales take many (many) months and have seen others take less than 45 days. Yep, we recently closed a short sale in less than 45 days. This was possible because the "first" buyer decided to give up after waiting 4 months for the bank to make a dang decision. Once they got tired of waiting, they canceled. Lucky for my client, the bank had just issued an approval and we were able to get an acceptance in a couple of days and close in a "normal" amount of time. Other times, we wait months just for a response. Crazy.

Bottom line is this... If you have questions about buying or selling real estate. "Just Call Nick!"

Take a Hike!

Around here, we are always up for fun things to do! Recently, Lori and I took the boys on a "train ride" to Tempe to go hike Hayden Butte. ( "A Mountain) We all had a great time so we decided to do it again. This time, we thought we would invite some friends!

Please join us Saturday, March 21st as we get together with our friends from Take A Hike Arizona to meet at “A” Mountain in Tempe, for a fun morning hike, stroll or walk up Hayden Butte. The easiest way to get there is via light rail. Exit at the 3rd and Mill station and meet us at the coffee shop on the south west corner. (Mills End Cafe at 310 S Mill Ave) We will leave Mills End at 8:15 for our fun morning “hike.” Hey, what else are you gonna do on a nice Saturday morning that would be more cool than hanging out with some friends and getting some fresh air?
Like they say at Take A Hike Arizona, “The Butte may not qualify as an all out hike, but it does provide a nice quick jaunt uphill (just over 1/2 mile) and provides nice views of downtown Tempe, Tempe Town Lake and the surrounding area.”

Much of the trail is paved and the entire walk probably doesn't take an hour. It is a perfect Saturday morning trip! Click to see some pics from our recent trip...

The Butte is also a designated historical landmark. Just off the trailhead on the Leonard Monti Trail, you can find a number of petroglyphs carved into the rock by the Hohokam people. I recently spoke with Michael Monti (Leonard’s son) and I believe he will be joining us in the morning. It will be fun to learn some of the history of the Butte from him.

The founders of Take a Hike Arizona Tracey Epel and June Kleier will be on hand to join us as well. They have a very fun attitude about outdoor activities and I have enjoyed getting to know them recently.

The plan is to meet on Saturday morning, March 21st at 8:00am at Mills End Cafe which is located directly south of the light rail stop at 3rd Street and Mill Avenue. Mills End will be easy to find, just look for the Rail Life banner in the window Saturday morning. We plan to leave (ie: cross the street,) by 8:15am.

If you have never been on the light rail yet, you might want to see this information about the Park and Ride locations and check out how to purchase a light rail pass for your trip! Any questions? Just Call Nick!

Distressed Properties - The good bad and ugly

The Arizona real estate market, like many others, continues to change at a rapid pace. While the trend is currently looked at by many as "distressing," there are those who look at this market as an opportunity to purchase real estate in an environment of low interest rates and at price levels not seen for quite some time.

One of my long time "partners" in the real estate business is Fidelity National Title. For those of you that have worked with me for a long time, you might be familiar with them. Recently, I got some very interesting statistics from my friend, Jennifer Weller, an account rep for Fidelity. We discussed some of the current issues banks are dealing with when handling distressed properties.


1. 40% of the subprime loans written in '06 & '07 had no income verification.

2. Chase has a new program that if you lose your job-they will reduce your payment to $500 for months to help homeowners not lose their home.

3. It costs lenders on avg 75-125k per bank owned property.

4. fannie mae loan-primary residence...foreclosure=ineligible for 5 yrs for a FMae mortgage, short sale=2 yrs

5. investor ineligible for a Fannie Mae loan for 7 yrs in Foreclosure, short sale=2 yrs

6. foreclosure lowers credit 250-300 pts for avg of 3 yrs...and stays on credit for 10+ yrs
These 6 items are from Jen's "Twitter" feed while attending a seminar. I hope to go over the details with her in the near future and will gladly update you with any questions you might have. We will be reviewing the notes and updating / adding to the information in the near future.
As in every market, it is best to understand and make good educated decisions before buying or selling. There is always a seller that wants to sell and a buyer that wants to buy.
Let's discuss your situation before you decide to make a move. As always, I'll give you my honest opinion of your current situation. If it makes sense for you to make a move, I am happy to assist. If it doesn't, I will be glad to tell you so.

If you just want to "get a feel" for prices of homes in an area, (including foreclosure lists) you may visit my FREE map-based home search page to begin the process. As always, remember to "Just Call Nick" with any questions or comments!

New Year, New Opportunities

I have not written here much lately, mainly because there have been so many other things going on! I "need" to try and do a better job of writing more often as I really do enjoy it.
I wanted to quickly say that the new year has begun with a lot of really exciting things. The phones are busy, interest rates are great and pricing looks to be creating some real opportunities in some areas. While I feel many areas are still facing severe challenges, I do believe others are stabilizing and looking like a real bargain.
I hope you had a great holiday season! If you have any questions concerning sales, values, using our free mls search or would like my opinion of the market in your area... "Just Call Nick!" - I'd be glad to help. :-)