An explanation of the process to expect when you stop paying your mortgage, including information about Trustee Sales in Arizona.
New Coffee Shop Set To Open In Scottsdale
October 29, 2009 By 1 Comment
“Making great, natural smoothies.” That’s the latest, and only tweet from @buzzberry way back in March of 2009.
The intersection of Granite Reef and McDonald hasn’t seen much change lately. A vacant lot, an over-priced gas station, convenience store, and abandoned service station have been the norm for years. With the recent remodel of Basha’s, and the construction of the standalone Walgreens, it only makes sense that we see yet another coffee shop emerge.
I noticed a few months ago that the old service station on the southeast corner was beginning to change. Over the summer, an entire armada of police and service personnel dedicated an entire day to installing utilities to the newly remodeled building, the windows became decorated, and new signage has been installed. What are we getting in our little neighborhood of Hallcraft homes? A coffee shop slash smoothie bar. Huh?
I peered in the window last night and found that they are still well under way constructing the interior design of the store, which I am anxious to see. What kind of coffee bar are we to expect here? I wish I knew more. Their website offers very limited information. I guess I’ll just have to see when it opens.
Oh, and by the way, that’s not the only coffee shop in Scottsdale that’s preparing to open. There are others 
.
34th Annual Mighty Mud Mania
July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Every year, for the past 33 years, an event has taken place at Chaparral Park designed to get you and your kids out of the house and into the MUD! This year is no exception. The 34th Annual Mighty Mud Mania is scheduled for this coming Friday, July 17th from 8:30 AM until 2:00 PM. Chaparral Park is located at 5401 N. Hayden Road in Scottsdale, Arizona, just north of Chaparral road, and south of the new water treatment plant and bark park at McDonald and Hayden roads.
Scottsdale.gov Website information:
“Mighty Mud Mania” began in 1976 as the “Shout It Out Decathlon,” a promotional gimmick for Johnson’s Wax “Shout” Spray pre-wash. The activity was held in Chaparral Park in Scottsdale and the Johnson’s Wax Company provided 300 white t-shirts for the participants. Johnson’s dropped the program because our Arizona mud was too tough for the pre-wash. However, the City of Scottsdale felt the activity was so successful, that our Parks and Recreation Division incorporated the event into the summer recreation program. Re-named “Mighty Mud Mania,” the activity has been held since then as the culminating activity of all the Scottsdale Parks and Recreation summer programs.
Activities are limited to ages 1 through 17, with parents, of course, and include some of the following:
- Mudville town for tiny tots & mini mud course
- Original Mud obstacle course
- MUDPITS to play in!
- Water slides.
There will be food sold during the event, and the Chaparral Aquatic Center will be open from 11AM – 3PM for those who have CLEAN swimsuits. The event is free, but you are asked to bring non-perishable food items for donation to Vista del Camino food bank.
Children must wear closed toed, lace-up, or velcro shoes. Absolutely no sandals will be permitted. Wear old clothing & lace up those shoes nice and tight to play in the mud. A permission slip signed by parent/guardian is required to participate.
Please refer to the Official Scottsdale website for more information, permission slips, volunteer information, and driving directions.
Scottsdale Real Estate Market Statistics
July 3, 2009 By 2 Comments
Some people would ask, “if the number of homes being sold is increasing, and the number of homes on the market is decreasing, isn’t the reduced supply causing the price point to increase?”
It is, in some areas. The law of supply and demand is hard at work here in the Scottsdale market, just as it is in the rest of the Greater Phoenix Metro area. The reason the prices continue to fall is because of the quality of the homes that are on the market, not the quantity. Bank owned properties are being liquidated, and the investors are snatching them up because they know that real estate is on sale. Bank owned, or REO properties tend to sit and for a better lack of terms, rot, and when a cash investor comes to the table, the banks are very eager to take a decent offer, even if it means taking an additional discount to have cash in hand.
REAL ESTATE IS ON SALE! The doom and gloom has instilled fear into the hearts of many, and as a result, the market values have fallen below a normal value, which means they WILL bounce back, but not to the levels that you may think. The market will equalize, as long as our government stops screwing around with it.
Below are some snapshots of the current market conditions as of Thursday, July 2nd, 2009:
To view statistics on Queen Creek, visit Jamie Geiger’s most recent statistics update.
Good News for Phoenix Real Estate
June 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
It’s not a big surprise considering the number of homes that have been selling recently that the inventory has depleted considerably and the availability of affordable housing is drying up after this massive real estate hemorrhage.
I cannot tell the future, but I can see when there’s a break in a pattern, as you will also see indicated in the graph below. Whenever a market corrects, it usually over corrects to a comparable intensity of the original inflation. Prices were so overinflated, and people have SO overreacted, that the low prices in the valley are deflated and can be considered as artificially low as they were high.
Average Monthly Sales
If I base my opinion simply on the pattern in this graph which outlines average monthly sales in the Greater Metropolitan Phoenix Market, then we are on track to recover, and we will bounce back. Since Arizona is a national leader in real estate trends, we should see a healthy recovery. Again, I cannot predict the future.
It was towards the end of 2003, beginning of 2004 that things started to exponentially bloat, soaring to ridiculous heights, and absolutely crashing as quickly as a 747 filled with solid lead.
In August of 2005, my neighbor bought the same unit I purchased in 2003 for $200,000.00 more than I paid for mine. They are still there. Oops.
The market’s plateau began in approximately June of 2006, rose a bit more, and then decidedly burned in flames at about January of 2008, through March of 2009. The number of homes sold began to increase in May of 2008, but the price continued to drop.
What would have happened if we had continued to grow at a normal, typical rate of 4% per year? Perhaps the following, showing a line drawn at about a 4% increase over the same period of time. This shows that a starting value of $175,000.00 would over the time represented in this graph, grow to approximately $244,000.00.
Average Sales with Assumed 4% Annual Increase
One could argue at this point one of two possibilities. Either a) the market will quickly correct, over correct, and bounce back and forth over the next 8 years or so to find equilibrium along that blue line, or b) the blue line must be adjusted down, erasing all of the growth in this millennium.
If that’s the case, then the home you’re living in, which is now worth what it was pre-Y2K, will not be worth what it should be worth for as long, if not longer than it takes to re-write the entire first decade of this century. To reach home prices that we should be at, we’re looking at roughly 10 years of steady growth at a “normal” rate.
The problem is that nobody knows what normal is anymore BECAUSE OF THAT GIANT HUMP in the middle of the chart. Who’s to blame? Many people think it was the government forcing the banks to lend to people who couldn’t afford it which drove them to “get creative.” Dave Ramsey calls “creative financing” “Too Broke to Buy a House.” I tend to agree.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what happens, and ultimately, it appears as though we’ve experienced the beginning of the bottom of this roller coaster ride. Which means one thing…
If you haven’t bought a house yet, it’s time to buy. There’s blood in the streets and the street sweepers (the investors) have been very busy recently. Don’t miss out.
More First-Time Home Buyers Than Before
November 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
According to the National Association of Realtors, in 2007, 39% of all home sales were by first-time home buyers. So far in 2008, we’ve seen that number increase to 41%. First-time home buyers have some very attractive incentives to enter the market, and it’s much easier than many would think for a first-time buyer to purchase a home because they aren’t tied to another property.
When you don’t have something to sell, you don’t have to worry about waiting. You have complete freedom to shop the market and quickly purchase a great property. You don’t want to be renting forever.
Renting is money lost. Purchasing a home puts some of that monthly payment back into the home which can be recovered when you sell (Equity.) Not only will you recover it, but it will grow at an average of 4% – 7% annually over time as proven by history.
Even thought recent growth rates have receded due to economic conditions brought about by the mortgage crisis, if you choose the right area to buy your home, such as an affluent area of your city, or a city such as Scottsdale, Arizona which has seen year over year increases in value, you’ll be positioned well in the market and your home will increase in value. They aren’t building anymore land in Scottsdale.
We’ve never seen a better time to buy than now especially IF you are a first-time home buyer with a LONG TERM VIEW.
Getting into the market to make money on your home quickly is not the attitude that you need to have. Lenders are less forgiving when approving loans for investors or people who already own their first home and are looking for a second home or a rental property. Since you are a first-time home buyer, you want to make sure that your perspective is one with a long term view of ownership. Sellers in this market are either desperate to move because of adverse conditions, or they’re wasting their time hoping for an offer at a price that the market will not bear. Lenders won’t lend when the home’s appraisal fails to meet the accepted price.
Understand that the average first-time home buyer stays in their first home for five to seven years on average in a normal market. In this market, where inventory is high and demand is low, the only common denominator is price, and the purchaser must meet the seller in order for there to be a sale. In a buyer’s market, this means the seller will have to move more than the buyer, which puts you in the driver seat. (Article Reference: Supply and Demand, X Marks the Spot)
Buying your first home can be a stressful venture, which is why you need to enlist the services of a professional. By working with a Realtor you will protect yourself from the pitfalls associated with the home buying process.
September 2008 Scottsdale Market Wrap
October 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment
In the month of September, where cool weather is looming, yet still non-existent, and the last days of barbecue and swim parties come to a close, and the financial state of the union appeared to begin to crumble, we experienced the following activity in the real estate market:
In Scottsdale, last month we had approximately 4092 single family detached homes on the market, a 2% increase over the same month last year. The average days on market fell 33% over last year from 250 to 167. In September, 236 homes sold which is 34% more than last year at this time.
The average sales price for Scottsdale homes last year was $712,039, while this year, even though volume has increased, the average price has fallen off by 11%.
On a month to month comparison, in August, there were approximately 4089 active homes for sale which indicates virtually no change. Last year, the difference in homes on the market between August and September increased by about 175 homes whereas this year there was virtually no change.
This September we saw a decrease in the number of closings over the previous month by roughly 11.3%. The average selling price between August and September fell by 1.6%. Last year, between August and September, the average sold price fell over 15.5%. This indicates that the rate of decline is decreasing and the market as a whole in Scottsdale has leveled out.
The market slowed down between August and September this year, and prices on a whole are continuing to creep downward.
Inventory Levels for Scottsdale for September
Price Range: $100K – $199K shows 29 actives at roughly 3 months supply.
Price Range: $200K – $299K shows 226 actives at a 4.8 months supply.
Price Range: $300K – $399K shows 374 actives at 8.1 months supply.
Price Range: $400K – $499K is at 16 months with 448 actives.
Price Range: $500K – $1Million shows 1516 active properties with a 21 month supply.
Price Range: Above $1Million – 1499 actives with 33 closings last month for a 45 month supply.
That’s 3.7 years my friends. Are you in the market for a million dollar home? Looks like they’ll be around for a while. Guess whose home sells first in that type of market? The one with the best value and price.
All figures are calculated based on single family detached homes using data provided by the Arizona MLS and are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. More detailed statistics can be provided to you upon request. If you find this information useful, consider subscribing to my blog to receive regular updates.
Japan on Life in Scottsdale
September 17, 2008 By 1 Comment
Yesterday I updated my status on Facebook calling on any of my friends to write about what it means to them to live in Scottsdale, Arizona, or what they liked most about it. Audrey Heald, who has been out of the country for the past two years teaching in Japan, contributed the following:
Things like running over the hard-packed desert ground in the cool of early morning, when bunny rabbits and families of quail are still out finding breakfast; or hiking Camelback Mountain, or Squaw Peak, or Pinnacle Peak, or South Mountain, or Shaw Butte, or any of the numerous others in Phoenix’s mountain preserves, smiling at the other outdoors-loving people out doing the same thing. High-end shopping and gourmet dining are here in abundance as well (though that could be a tick mark in either column of the tally sheet), and the lush four- and five-diamond resorts and spas draw clientele from around the world to experience the very best in golf and pampering. Everyone says it’s a desirable destination; I guess it just depends what you’re looking for.
The desert truly is a wonderful environment teeming with an abundance of life that you may not be familiar with in your part of the country.
