Urban Life

What Are The Most Affordable Cities & Towns In Greater Phoenix?

We, the Urban Team, were recently asked to give some insight into the most affordable areas to buy homes in the Greater Phoenix region. The answer to this question is outlined in the chart below.

The chart ranks 41 cities/towns from most expensive to least based on the current average price per square foot sales prices. The chart also compares last year's numbers with this year's and give us a percent of change.

We found Phoenix's percentage of change a pretty extraordinary at 45.3%. We believe the percentage of change and average $/sq/ft/ figures are tipped low due to the dominance of low-priced bank owned home sales. This figure will adjust upwards as we see more mid-high priced home sales. Of little surprise is the weakness of outline city home values.  

If you have specific questions about an area's performance, we love to share our thoughts and opinions. Just let us know.

Happy Monday Urban Life readers.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

How To Use The Phoenix Crime Statistics Web Site

We often send people to the Phoenix Police Department's crime stats web site as part of their due diligence on a home. The site is great, but using it can be a bit tough... not very intuitive.

In response, we wrote a step-by-step guide for using the Phoenix crime statistics web site on our sister site, Real Estate Investing 101. Below is a link to the article.

A Step By Step Guide for using the Phoenix police crime statistics web site.

Hope this helps you...

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

What You Need To Know About Loan Modifications... the real truth

One of the information sources we subscribe to is Inman News. Its a great real estate news site with loads of information. An article in today's feed caught our eye. It has to do with the Federal Government backed loan modification program. What was interesting is what they called The Ticking Time Bomb. 

Most people are not aware of a balloon payment often added to the back side of your loan after modification. Isn't there is always a hook with a government back program?

Rather than summarize the article by noted columnist Marcie Geffner, we thought we'd just give you a link. If you or someone you know is considering loan modification, this is am important read... don't pass it up!!

Here is a link the the Inman News article on loan modifications. 

If you have any question or need a referral to an honest loan modification specialist, please let us know. In addition, we wrote an article on the subject you may want to read as well. Below is a link to our article on loan modifications.

Loan Modifications... what they are and how to do them.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for spending time at Urban LIfe. Come back often to see what's new on the real estate front.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Arizona Republic Today Confirms Urban Team Way Ahead Of Media On Real Estate Trends

Sometimes you have to toot your own horn a bit. The August 20th headlines in the Arizona Republic and AZCentral.com said, Valley Home Prices Holding Steady."  Urban LIfe readers were advised of this trend back in April, 2009... about 4 months ago. Our readers were given information that kept them ahead of the market... something we like doing, big time.

The Urban Team held off until early June to make an official announcement to our clients...just wanted to be safe and confirm the trend was solid. Even with the delay, our peeps were informed 2 months ahead of the general public.

How are we able to provide information so far ahead of the media? We live and breath real estate. Gene spends 4-6 hours each day researching the market, looking at stats, spotting trends and writing for our two blogs, numerous real estate sites and several newspapers. Ron is out in the field negotiating contracts, viewing properties and doing the physical work. The combination of experiences provides real life, real world knowledge that we are able to bring to you.

Another factor in our success is our relationship with Realty Executives. This brokerage goes above and beyond to keep us well informed and knowledgeable. Just yesterday they held an all day educational event. Our speakers included Attorney General Terry Goddard, the Commissioner of the AZ Department of Real Estate, market Guru Mike Orr, fellow blogger and social media expert Jay Thompson and more. In addition, Realty Executives hosts 2-3 agent training events a week. To top things off, our President and designated broker, John Foltz, is regarded as one of the top ten brokers in America. Its no wonder our firm has such a dominate presence in the Arizona market.

We want to thank you for spending time with us each week. It is an honor to have you turn to us for knowledge and insight.

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Real Estate Market Update for 85003 in Downtown Phoneix

Greetings Urban Life fans. Today we'd like to give a little update on 85003 in downtown Phoenix, AZ. The 85003 zip code is a fun one if you like diversity and urban living. It is bounded by the salt river (s), Thomas (n), 7th Ave. (w) and Central Ave. (e).

The region includes much commercial development as well as a variety of housing. The southern area has seen less updating and improvement with subdivisions like Montgomery much very low priced housing. To the north we have several top historic neighborhoods including Medlock Place, Roosevelt and Willo. Added to the mix are a number of condo developments including the popular Portland Place, Orpheum Lofts, 44 Monroe and Tapestry on Central.

The real estate market data for 85003 is pretty difficult to interpret due to the diversity of housing and the effect a remodel can have on home values. In general we are seeing the price per square foot on the SFH market rising. Supply has fallen from a high of 18 months in April to a low of about 4 months in July. We like to see supply in the 4-6 month range... it indicates a more balanced market.

The condo market is still soft in this region, however, as prices have fallen a buyer market is being found. We still advise caution with the condo market. Recent changes in Fannie Mae lending requirements on condos have made financing and future resale more problematic.

Conclusions: We are big fans of the downtown sector for many reasons and the historic districts of 85003 are a big part. There are some very sweet homes here and many home buyers are taking advantage of the deals REOs and short sales offer.

We also like the growth potential of the city core with ASU's commitment to the area and a fairly diverse employment market. As with all purchases, due diligence is a must... especially with historic properties and condos.

If you would like to see what is currently being offered in 85003, we've included a dedicated search tool for your convenience below. Just so you know, the search show both resale and rentals in 85003. Click on the map to open the search tool, then click on search button to put in your specific criteria. We hope you have fun.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

How Long Does It Take To Buy or Sell A Short Sale Home?

NEWS UPDATE ON SHORT SALES: On November 6, 2009 we launched our new site dedicated to news and information about short sales. Go to www.short-sale-phoenix.com for all the news.

We often get the question, "How long does it take to buy a home advertised as a short sale?" We tell people it generally takes a minimum of two months and generally much longer to purchase a short sale property. Most clients have a hard time believing this time line is true; It simply does not make sense it could take so long.

I decided to gather some hard figures on recent short sale transactions so our readers could see first hand the reality we see day in and day out. I performed a search on ARMLS, the database that stores real estate transaction information for the Greater Phoenix Arizona area. The search criteria was pretty basic... homes that closed escrow since June 2009 and were advertised as short sales or pre-foreclosure. 

The search came back with 1290 transactions, thus giving us plenty of information to review. Forty-four homes were chosen from the list. You may wonder why 44... 44 was the number of lines on my notepad and offered enough data to give a sense of the market. 

The chart below shows the results of the study. As you can see, the fastest horse in the short sale race completed its journey in 61 days and one likely frustrated buyer waited 235 days to reach the finish line. The average transaction took about 100 days.

  

THE BOTTOM LINE: Short sales take as long as they take and many never reach the finish line. We've found some listing agents know how to get the job done and some don't. It is a complex course and strong skills and experience are needed to reach the finish line.

Below are a few things we've learned through experience and talking to other experts in the field that help move things forward:

• Make sure the offer you and your agent present is complete with all the applicable forms and signatures. An incomplete  package is often kicked back or not reviewed.
• Ask the listing agent if they are submitting one offer or multiple. One offer gives a potential buyer greater odds of closing escrow.
• Make your offer as clean as possible. Asking the bank to pay lender fees, HOA transfer fees, home warranty policies can make a difference. The bank is trying to loose as little money as possible.
• Know that short sales with multiple loans against the property will take more time.
• Some banks are faster than others. I can't post the actual names due to liability reasons, but the better agents know who plays ball and who doesn't.
• BE PATIENT

For additional information about short sales, please read our post, Short Sales...our opinion on buying one. 

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call or send an email.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777
gene@UrbanTeamAZ.com

Real Estate Update Phoenix Arizona 85004. Home & Condo sales, news & info

It's been a while since we've posted information about the real estate happenings in Phoenix zip code 85004. For those who don't know, 85004 is a downtown Phoenix zip code bounded by Thomas (N), the Salt River (S), Central Ave (W) and 7th St. (E).

85004 is home to much of what makes downtown so exciting and fun including the ASU Downtown Campus, Chase Field, US Airways Center, The Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix Art Museum,  CityScape, The Herburger and more. Some of our favorite "eats" spots are here to including: Matt's Big Breakfast, Pizzaria Bianco, Majerle's, Switch, Hanny's and Sen's. It is the heart of soul of First Friday, home to a bevy of local events and on the light rail line. It is no wonder a lot of people love this area.

Real Estate in the region is a mix of single family homes, condos and lofts. Prices are all over the place with multi-million dollars homes in Los Olivos & Alvarado and sub-100K places in the southern region. Condo/Townhouses dominate the sales and inventory with projects such as Artisan, Tapestry, and Summit at Copper Square. 

The Summit at Copper Square has been in the news lately as a notice of foreclosure was recently filed. According to a July 13,2009 article in the Phoenix Business Journal, only 55% of the 165 units have been sold and a sizable mechanics lien, 3.1 million dollars, has been filed against the property and individual condo owners. Since mechanics liens are generally not forgiven with a foreclosure and follow the property, sales in the development could be both difficult and perilous.

There is both good and bad news on the real estate front; let's start with the good. Bank owned homes do not dominate the single family home inventory. The past few months sales have gobbled up many of the REO homes. Of the current active single family homes, none are bank owned or short sales. In addition, the notices of default are very low for this area of town.

The condo/townhouse/loft market is not in such good shape. We see a number of bank-owned units on the market and a lot of short sales. Prices have fallen considerably making the likelihood of more foreclosures probable in the coming months. However, the lower prices have made the region much more affordable and we are seeing condo sales on the rise, especially in Artisan Village. 

Most of the closed transactions for June & July 2009 were in the sub-$200K range. Higher priced properties still have not found a market and we do not expect much change during Q3 and probably Q4.

The Bottom Line:  We expect sales in the under $250,000 range to dominate all sales. The single family home market looks pretty stable and homes in the bottom end may see some valuation in the next 6-8 months. We believe the condo/townhouse/loft market will continue to be soft with more price reductions, especially in the more expensive units. We strongly advise caution if you are exploring a purchase in the Summit at Copper Square. If I were buying there, I'd hire an attorney to review documents and offer counsel... that comes from a full-time Realtor. 

I believe the region has huge upside potential. ASU is expanding their campus and enrollment; Despite a tough market, CityScape looks to have substantial leases in place; The new convention center is booking larger groups than ever possible, thus bringing out-of-state dollars to the City. In addition, Light Rail provides easy access to the city-core and ridership numbers are far above projection. We like the long term potential of downtown Phoenix!

Thanks for being a loyal reader of Urban Life and we hope this information has been helpful. If you need specific information about the downtown real estate market, please feel free to contact us.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Click Here to Read Past Commentary on 85004

Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data was collected from ARMLS. Although we like to think ourselves knowledgable, our opinions are just that, opinions and may or may not be prove correct.