Earlier today the House signed a bill that will extend (and expand) the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit and introduce a similar credit for people who already own their home but need to move. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law on Friday.
Here’s what the law does:
• Extends the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit to May 1, 2010.
• Creates a new credit of up to $6,500 for existing homeowners who buy a new residence if they have lived in their current one for at least five o…
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Added by Bob Stahl on November 6, 2009 at 12:34pm —
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Looking for something to do? Gear up; the month of November is ready for you! Packed with fun filled events to keep everyone and anyone busy all month long. Check them out (and thanks, as always, to About.com for the listings):
4th Friday Art Walk
What: Photography, jewelry, crafts, paintings, sculptures and more. Live music.
When: In 2009: 6 p.m. 9 p.m.
Where: Mesa Riverview.
Ahwa-Turkey Stomp / Car and Motorcycle Show
What: Vehicles of all different makes, models and years. A judged event wi…
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Added by Bob Stahl on November 6, 2009 at 12:33pm —
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On Tuesday I blogged about the fact that home prices rose in Phoenix for the third straight month since August 2006. But there’s more good news: the number of home sales was up, too -- across the nation, actually -- leading one real estate expert to dub this a real estate “mini-boom.”
“There's a mini-boom going on in the housing market,” said Thomas Popik, who conducts a monthly survey of real estate agents for Campbell Communications, a research firm.
Nationally, sales rose 9.4% in September…
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Added by Bob Stahl on October 30, 2009 at 12:23pm —
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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.
…
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Added by Bob Stahl on October 28, 2009 at 1:12pm —
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From Oktoberfest to Halloween, October in the Valley has events to please folks of every persuasion. Check them out (and thanks, as always, to About.com for the listings):
4th Friday ArtWalk
What: Photography, jewelry, crafts, paintings, sculptures and more. Live music.
When: October 23 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Mesa Riverview
Arizona Cardinals Football
What: The Arizona Cardinals play professional football.
When: Home game on October 11 at 1:15 p.m.
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium in…
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Added by Bob Stahl on October 7, 2009 at 12:42pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on October 2, 2009 at 1:34pm —
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I know I just wrote a response to a Realtor.com “Hot Topic” – about what goes in to your credit score and how it affects you as a home buyer. But their most recent hot topic was too interesting to pass up. The question: “Should you continue to pay for a home where you owe more than it’s worth?”
I’ve blogged before about strategic defaults – where a homeowner, who can afford his mortgage, intentionally stops paying and either lets the bank foreclose or tries to negotiate a short sale. The posts…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 28, 2009 at 12:16pm —
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Last week Realtor.com asked “Do you know what affects a homeowner’s credit rating?” It’s a good question – and an important topic – so I thought I’d blog about it today.
The most commonly used credit scoring method is the FICO score. There are 5 factors that are used to determine your FICO score, as you can see in the chart below. The percentages reflect the relative importance of that factor; in other words, payment history is the most important factor, but is only slightly more important than…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 24, 2009 at 12:33pm —
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I decided again this month to look to Trulia to help me give you a more a detailed analysis of what's going on in the Phoenix and Scottsdale real estate markets. A couple of notes:
- Median sales price, recently sold, and foreclosures numbers are based on public records
- Average listing price, homes for sale and open homes numbers are based on Trulia listings
Phoenix
The median sales price of homes
…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 16, 2009 at 1:21pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 11, 2009 at 12:24pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 9, 2009 at 12:31pm —
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Need to get out of the house? There are plenty of fun activities to do in the Phoenix area during the month of September. Check them out (and thanks, as always, to About.com for the listings):
9/11 Memorial Events
What: Observances around Phoenix to honor the victims and heroes of the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001.
When: In 2009: Various dates in September
Where: Phoenix
Arab American Festival
What: More than 40 singers, musicians and dancers from all over the Arab World.…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 9, 2009 at 12:21pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on September 2, 2009 at 9:26am —
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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
…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 26, 2009 at 1:24pm —
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As you know, I usually get my monthly market statistics from ASU, but the Real Estate Studies director Jay Butler said they’re having some problems with their programs and the numbers will be a while. So this month I turned to Trulia, which offers detailed city-level market statistics. A couple of notes:
- Median sales price, recently sold, and foreclosures numbers are based on public records
…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 21, 2009 at 1:09pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 18, 2009 at 12:43pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 14, 2009 at 12:48pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 12, 2009 at 2:10pm —
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I blogged the week before last about strategic defaults -- when a homeowner decides to default on a mortgage (typically through a short sale or by letting the bank foreclose) even though he can still pay the mortgage. Typically, a homeowner does a strategic default because of negative equity -- when the mortgage is more than the home’s market value.
On July 24, I talked about the recent academic paper citing that 26% of all mortgage defaults are strategic. On July 27, I wrote about the nuts and…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 10, 2009 at 12:30pm —
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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…
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Added by Bob Stahl on August 4, 2009 at 12:18pm —
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