Buy or Sell Homes in South East Valley of Arizona

Everyone wants a crystal ball especially in Real Estate- but the closest thing we have is the opinions of the experts and economist.  In the second half of this year, the housing market surged with activity. Today, real estate experts are looking ahead to the winter season and the forecast is anything but chilly. As Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), notes:“It will be one of the best winter sales years ever.”   The typical winter slowdown in the housing market is simply not on the radar for the 4th quarter of 2020 and going into 20121. While today’s historically low mortgage rates are expected to remain low, they won’t be this low for much longer. This could be the last chance for homebuyers to secure such low rates, and they’re ready to take action. In a recent article, Bankrate explained: “If you’re looking to buy a home…expect mortgage rates to remain low into 2021. However, the possibility of rates falling to 2.5 percent or l...

  Last week a client told me about an acquaintance of hers who had received their 3-month forbearance letter stating they now owed their lender $8,000. They got scared and sold their home to Opendoor. They did not know they had extension options or the ability to stay in their house. There is an extreme lack of information being shared on forbearance. On a recent webinar, I heard a representative from Freddie Mac say the servicers and Realtors need to be the ones talking about forbearance, not the lenders or GSEs (Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie). Yikes! Forbearance: Disclaimer: I do not think we are going towards a foreclosure crisis, nor do I believe that the forbearance numbers will be seriously detrimental to our market. The worst thing for the housing market is to have empty houses. We went through that 10 years ago. Forbearance is not new, but how they are structured today is. The CARES Act enabled significant changes to benefit the borrower. Forbearance is designed to keep homeowner...

Navigating uncharted territory without a compass is challenging at best. Nothing about this year’s real estate activity fits into the usual cyclical patterns. Data companies are updating their projections seemingly daily. Projections are based on trends and it takes at least 3 weeks to see an emerging trend. Before the trends, there is consumer sentiment. Home has never been more important. Today we live, work, play, and teach at home. This is why real estate is the shining star in the midst of so much bad news. With a 58% increase in new starts from June to July, multi-family new builds made up the majority of the 22.6% new housing starts in July over June. The new builds are the only thing keeping prices from skyrocketing out of control. (Bisnow) In July, single family starts were up 7.4% year over year. (Elliot Eisenberg) New single-family sales are were up in July 36.3% year over year. (US Census Bureau & HUD) Resale closings in July were up 24.7% from June which were up 20.7% ...

Are you wanting to make an impact on your energy bills?       If eyes are the windows to the soul, then surely windows are the eyes of your house, right? Something like that, anyway. When it comes time to replace those windows, it’s important to make a carefully considered decision before pulling the trigger. Today’s modern windows come in a staggering number of designs, made from a lot of different materials, all with different ratings to help you better understand their performance. Choosing the Best Windows for the Job The good news is that there’s no one window that’s perfect for your home, so you’ll have plenty of options. There will probably be many different types and styles to choose from, with features that will help you improve your energy efficiency and keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Start by choosing the window style and cladding materials you want. Once you’ve settled on that, you’ll find yourself toe to toe with th...

As the monsoon season get started and as spring turns to summer, Most folks think, BBQ's and baseball and all kinds of summer fun! But here in the valley we as homeowners should be thinking of doing a little preventive maintenance in additions to all that fun! Unfortunately, not all of the weather is going to be so wonderful. Depending on where you live in the valley, you may face several severe storms during the summer as well as the usual summer storms and rain. Now is the time to prepare for storm season to make sure that you aren’t taken by surprise when bad weather hits. Trim the Trees Falling limbs and trees are one of the big causes of property damage associated with storms. A lot of this can be prevented with some forethought, however. Trim back or remove heavy or dying limbs that hang over your house, vehicles or power lines. Diseased, damaged or dead trees should also be removed to prevent them from falling as a result of heavy winds. Check your Drainage  Knowing ...

In Arizona and all around the Nation-- heck the world- things are changing.  With Covid-19 looming around the corner on the door handle, on a light switch perhaps even in your car, you just can’t be too careful!   Arizona has been hit, but as bad as some states. In this new normal you will notice many more Virtual tours, open houses done through video, or Facebook, sanitizer wipes in each home asking the potential buyers to make sure they use them. Buying or selling a home can be stressful even under ordinary circumstances now add all of this-- it can be overwhelming!  Unfortunately, the current state of the world is far from ordinary and no one knows how long this will be our new normal. The housing market is feeling the crunch- but in some ways is becoming more efficient. As fewer buyers want to get out and shop for a home, and fewer sellers want to take a risk with selling. Brokers and Agents are finding creative ways to make it all work for their clients....

Take a tour of this Mesa Gem- 4 bed, 3 bath, 3 car garage, RV gate, pool and a workshop. This home is 2448 sq ft with the popular Athena floor plan, it has a comfortable floor plan with formal living/dining and an eat in kitchen, granite countertops & lots of cabinets, and pantry. Gas fireplace in the living room and split master suite. The master bathroom has double sinks, separate tub and shower, large walk in closet with plenty of storage. The laundry has a sink and more c abinets for storage. The other side of the home is appointed well, with a jack and jill bathroom adjacent to 2 bedrooms. You will be pleased with the 3rd full bathroom in the hall and the last bedroom that is being used as an office, now. We are just getting started- heading outside, the patio will always be shady, and the play pool is perfect for the Arizona summers, the shed/ workshop is HOA approved, and is perfect for the hobby of your choice-- In addition, newer paint outside and The RV gate is position...

Popcorn is great for lots of stuff. You can enjoy a big bucket with family and friends while at the movies, string it on a thread to give Christmas that old-fashioned touch and even turn it into questionable “treats” for Halloween. One place that it’s a lot less welcome is on the ceiling. Unfortunately, too many homes still have popcorn ceilings. They often create a lot more questions than they answer. What Is a Popcorn Ceiling? Back in the day, someone had a brilliant idea. What would happen if there was a cheaper alternative to meticulously applied plaster ceiling coating and decoration for homes? This person asked themselves. Well, that would be just lovely! In addition to it looking “different” it also has acoustic properties in a room. And now that person wasn’t wrong in concept. It was a practice that turned out to really be the killer. Popcorn ceilings, the solution to the problem, are still around, largely haunting homes built between the 1930s and 1990s. Th...

I am writing this as a "food for thought article" Please take it as that... The history of interest rates have been up and down-- that is their nature. As the economy changes so does the interest rate. It is not a natural thing for either to be up for too long or down too long... it must change with the times.  I think that has been forgotten. in the past 10 years or so-- as a healthy economy needs to grow so does the views about it.  When the stock exchange continues to see new records broke though month after month-- I question the validity.  The American dream has always been (as long as I can remember) to own your own home- to be the person who reaps the benefits of ownership. To control one's life by knowing what your mortgage will be for a lifetime. God Bless America to allow that right of ownership- to allow each citizen the right to have a piece of the american dream.   Below is a chart showing the past interest rate and some comments about what ...