Blogs - Teacher A Plus

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Phoenix Home Prices Rise for Third Straight Month

Home prices rose in the Phoenix area for the third straight month in August ¬ – a sign that the real estate market may well have hit bottom and caught the recovery wind. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, the median price of resold homes in the Phoenix area was up 1.6% in August compared to July. Prices rose 1.1% in June – the first time they increased since the real estate bubble began to deflate in August 2006.

… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on October 28, 2009 at 1:12pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Think You Don’t Need an Inspection on a New Home? Think Again

Imagine lying awake at night listening to your brand new, $357,000, golf course home cracking. Or needing to replace the roof on your new home even before you replace its light bulbs. Or being forced to move out – just months after you moved in – because of toxic mold growing in your new home. These are problems that can arise, even in newly-built homes. The solution? A home inspection. Despite what many people think, a home inspection is a must, even when you’re buying a newly-built home. An… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on October 2, 2009 at 1:34pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Now May Be the Time to Buy – Here’s Why

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: now may be a great time to buy a house in Phoenix. Have home prices stopped falling, for good? Will they rise again soon? I can’t answer those questions, but I can offer two great reasons to buy now: Reason #1: The First-time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit Is Set to Expire on December 1 Congress is debating an extension of the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit, but as the law stands now, it’s set to expire on December 1. Part of the Housing and Economic Reco… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on September 11, 2009 at 12:24pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Will Credit Flow More Easily Again? Yes, But. . .

When I can, I like to respond to the Realtor.com “Hot Topic” which they typically refresh every week or so. This week’s is “Will credit flow more easily again?” My answer, in two words: Yes, but . . . Yes Last September, when the global credit markets went to hell in a hand basket, everyone realized (overnight, it seems) that mortgage lenders had grossly underestimated the risk associated with their mortgages (in other words, rates of borrower default, it turned out, were far higher than lende… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on September 9, 2009 at 12:31pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Step 1: Market your home. Step 2: Market your home. Step 3: Market your home.

No, my “paste” function didn’t get stuck on repeat. The fact is that marketing your home is the most critical factor that will determine whether, when, and for how much you sell your home. It should be steps 1, 2, and 3 when you’re listing a home for sale. (REALTOR.com periodically posts “Hot Topics” for REALTORS® to blog about. This week’s was about marketing.) Question: As a real estate agent, how do you market your listings? a) Newspaper ad b) Single listing site c) Featured home on my websi… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on September 2, 2009 at 9:26am — No Comments

Jim Soap Box August 2009

JIM'S SOAP BOX Real Estate Newsletter Aug 09 TIME IS RUNNING OUT…. November 30th is the last day to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit available to first-time homebuyers. Qualified first-time home buyers may claim a tax credit of ten percent of the purchase price of their home, up to $8,000. In order to meet that deadline, first-time homeowners need to select a home and begin the loan process as soon as possible! Surveys show that fewer than 1 in 5 homebuyers currently shopp… Continue

Added by Jim Cunningham on September 1, 2009 at 4:31pm — 1 Comment

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: First-time Homebuyer? The Market Is Your Oyster

There was an article last week in SmartMoney Magazine about how the housing bust has transformed the real estate market into a first time homebuyer's paradise. "In this market, first-time buyers are getting VIP treatment. Indeed, they're the star players in a nascent market revival."
Real estate market a buyer's paradise
In fact, according to the National Association of R

… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on August 26, 2009 at 1:24pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Survey Says, Homeowners More Optimistic About the Future

As I was driving to meet a client yesterday, I was listening to NPR and the story was about the economy. The central question, as it always is, was whether or not we’ve hit bottom. I won’t go into the details, I mention it only to recall what the interviewee said, “At the end of the day, you have to look at yourself, look at your neighbors – how are you feeling about the economy? Are you spending money?” In other words, the economy won’t really begin to recover until consumers start spending ag… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on August 18, 2009 at 12:43pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Selling? Price Your Home Right from the Get-go

Trulia reported today that as of August 1, 26% of Phoenix home sellers had made at least a 1% reduction in their original asking price. The average reduction is 13% for a total of $84,109,665. “The reality is, today’s sellers need to price aggressively to avoid reductions. Consumers are looking for value and when they find a good deal, they are taking advantage of market conditions,” said Trulia’s co-founder & CEO Pete Flint. Erring on the side of pricing your home too high might seem like… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on August 14, 2009 at 12:48pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Are You a Buyer-Customer or a Buyer-Client?

You think your real estate agent is working for you. But is he? Maybe. Then again, maybe not. While it seems intuitive that your real estate agent would act in your best interests -- and only your best interests -- when helping you buy a home, that’s not necessarily so. In fact, if you haven’t established a buyer-client relationship with your real estate agent, he could be working for the seller’s best interests -- steering you to particular homes or encouraging you to make a higher bid than y… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on August 12, 2009 at 2:10pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Neighbor’s An Eyesore? What You Can Do About It

They’re a growing problem, especially in those Valley neighborhoods most heavily affected by foreclosures. They’re unkempt yards and houses, and they can wreak havoc on the values of homes in the neighborhood. If you’re a buyer, of course you’re going to consider the condition of homes near the one you’re considering to buy. First, who wants to live next to an ugly house or yard? Second, if you ever plan to sell the home, you could have difficulty because of eyesore neighbors. Finally, the kind… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on August 4, 2009 at 12:18pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Reading the Tea Leaves, Now May be the Time to Buy

The Associated Press reported today that the gap between the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home and the median monthly rent has shrunk from a $777 difference three years ago to $221 today (in other words, today, monthly rent payments are, on average, $221 less than monthly mortgage payments). That phenomenon, which is owed primarily to rising home affordability (not rising rents), combined with the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax incentive, the usual mortgage interest tax deductio… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on July 22, 2009 at 12:57pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Near the Bottom of the Housing Market in Phoenix?

I don’t really like to do two posts in a row about market statistics -- because it just feels too wonky. But a recent news article about a possible light at the end of the tunnel forces me to do two statistics blogs in a row. The day before yesterday, I wrote about what home sales volumes and prices did in June compared to May. Sales volumes and prices were up month-over-month -- good news, of course. More good news came in the Arizona Republic this morning as ASU real estate Professor Karl Gun… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on July 17, 2009 at 1:13pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Curb Appeal Is So 2008. Today It’s All about the Web Appeal

I’ve blogged before about how important the Internet is as a tool for home sellers. Why? Simply put, because a huge percentage of buyers look to the Internet first when they’re starting their home search. ABC News the other day did a story about how “A Good Web Listing Can Help to Sell Your House During this Down Market.” While the authors do admit -- rightly, I think -- that the most important factor determining whether or not a home sells is the price (price relatively high, forget about it;… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on June 26, 2009 at 11:55am — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: 6 Steps to Ensure a Fair Appraisal

Two years ago, most of the rules related to real estate were lax. Or, at least, regulators looked the other way. Today, the pendulum has swung completely to the other side – now everything from the mortgage to the appraisal is scrutinized carefully. Where appraisers were encouraged to appraise homes for high values three years ago, they’re now being “encouraged” to assign low values to homes. But there are steps you can take to ensure that your appraisal is as fair as possible; because whether… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on June 22, 2009 at 12:14pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Want to Sell Your House? Hire an Agent to Market, Market, Market

An article yesterday in the Arizona Republic talked about a number of steps home sellers can take to get their home sold. One was: “Ask your listing agent to burn up the phone lines with calls about your home. During the heady seller's market a few years back, well-priced properties in popular neighborhoods practically sold themselves and listing agents had relatively fewer marketing duties. But now that the buyer is king, the well-honed marketing skills of an experienced listing agent are more… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on June 11, 2009 at 12:31pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Obama Expands Making Home Affordable

I wrote a post earlier this year about the two-pronged mortgage relief plan created by the Obama administration. One part of the plan is designed to help as many as five million homeowners who would like to refinance their mortgage. The other part is designed to help three to four million homeowners modify their existing loans to make them more affordable. But one of the criticisms of both parts of the plan was that they didn’t really help homeowners who are deeply underwater -- owing much more… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on May 28, 2009 at 12:27pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: How Many Phoenicians Will Making Home Affordable Really Help?

In an article the week before last, the Associated Press answered some commonly-asked questions about the governmnet’s Making Home Affordable program, which aims to help homeowners stay in their homes through refinancing and mortgage modification aid. For more information, or to see if you qualify, visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov. Q: How will my credit profile be affected? • “Refinancing generally doesn't affect your score since it's simply a rewritten mortgage. This is especially true of re… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on May 5, 2009 at 2:55pm — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Good News in Phoenix-Area New Home Sales

According to a report released last week, new home sales in the Phoenix-area were 28 percent higher in March than in February.* That in itself is great news, but even better, reported the Arizona Republic, is that “many of the recently sold new homes were built last year or the year before, either speculatively or for buyers who pulled out of deals. Depleting the inventory of built-but-unsold homes will help the area market rebound.” Some factors to consider: • The Phoenix-area housing market w… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on April 30, 2009 at 9:46am — No Comments

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Phoenix-Area Luxury Home Market Foreclosures to Crest this Summer, Experts Say

As I was driving across the Valley this morning I heard an interesting report on KJZZ about experts’ forecasts for the area’s luxury home market -- meaning homes priced above $1 million. “Most of the home foreclosures that have propelled Arizona into an economic crisis have hit the lower end of the housing market. But as the recession deepens, thousands of homes worth more than a million dollars sit unsold in the greater Phoenix area,” KJZZ’s Dennis Lambert reported. According to KJZZ reporter… Continue

Added by Bob Stahl on April 27, 2009 at 12:41pm — No Comments

< Previous Post

All Blog Posts Tagged 'home' (66)