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!"