Arizona Real Estate News

What The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Doesn’t Mean To Homeowners

February 19, 2009

In Mesa, Arizona, Wednesday, the President presented the Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan, a multi-pronged effort to support the housing market. The story made the front page of nearly every newspaper in the country . The president’s plan is sweeping: Incent mortgage servicers to work with at-risk homeowners before delinquency starts Let homeowners with good credit but little equity refinance to today’s low rates Fund Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to support mortgage markets It’s a broad plan with many positive angles, but for now, we can’t forget that it’s just a plan .

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How Does the Economic Stimulus Plan Help Homeowners?

February 19, 2009

Tax Credit for Homebuyers First-time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit. Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit […]

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What You Should Know When Buying A Short Sale or A Bank Owned Home (Part 2)

February 11, 2009

I will focus on the bank’s mindset when looking at or receiving your offer. Oh what a stubborn bunch! We have given them a ton of bailout money yet they are still being very rigid on the offers they are accepting from buyers. In my opinion this will drag out the housing crisis longer than […]

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Fannie Mae Removes Its 4-Financed Property Limit

February 10, 2009

Friday, Fannie Mae rolled-back one of its least popular mortgage guidelines updates of the last 12 months.

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10 Cities For Job Growth In 2009

February 6, 2009

Employment figures released this morning show that the economy has now shed 3.6 million jobs since December 2007, included close to half that in the last 3 months alone. The Unemployment Rate is now 7.6%.

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How Today’s Mortgage Rates Impact Home Affordability

February 5, 2009

Comparing July’s conforming mortgage rates to today’s average rates, there’s a 1.5 percent difference in favor of homeowners.

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Selling your Home Quickly Without Lowering your Price

February 4, 2009

Selling Real Estate has become more difficult as the market has changed. In areas where housing inventories are high, it can be very difficult to make one home stand out from the other homes in the subdivision. When this happens, the initial reaction is to lower the price so that buyers choose the lower priced […]

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Did We Miss the Chance for 4.5% Mortgage Rates?

February 2, 2009

Consumer confidence reached an all-time low and 100,000 Americans were issued layoff notices last week, each playing a role in the mortgage market’s relative worsening. For the third consecutive week, mortgage rates rose and average loan fees increased, too. Amid all of the negative economic news, however, there were two bright spots worth identifying and discussing.

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How To Sell Your Home For 17% More, 40% Faster This Spring

January 30, 2009

Super Bowl Weekend traditionally marks the start of the Spring Buying Season in real estate. Anecdotally, real estate agents will tell you that buyer activity tends to tick higher at this time of the year

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Explaining What The Federal Reserve Did In Plain English (January 28, 2009 Edition)

January 29, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged today. It remains within a target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release , the FOMC reiterated most of the key points from its December 2008 statement, including: The U.S

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What To Expect From The Fed Today And How It May Impact Mortgage Rates

January 28, 2009

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from its 2-day meeting today.

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Did We Just See The First 2 Signs Of A Housing Recovery?

January 27, 2009

Don’t let the plunging median sales price fool you — December’s Existing Home Sales data has home sellers smiling. Just one month after falling below the 5-million unit trend line, sales volume roared back by 300,000 homes in December, surprising housing analysts and making a case that this spring’s Buying Season could be a competitive one. Falling home prices helped fuel home sales

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What You Should Know When Buying A Short Sale or A Bank Owned Home (Part 1)

January 25, 2009

Today’s post comes from our new real estate writer Hugh Lorch. Hugh is a 20 year veteran of real estate in Arizona. He is an agent working for Keller Williams Realty in the east valley. Hugh will be covering the tools, tactics, strategies and market dynamics of real estate here in Arizona. His website is […]

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Move-Up Homebuyers Face New Lending Challenges This Spring

January 23, 2009

When a homeowner sells his home and decides to buy a new one, there are 3 basic options for the residence — sell it, keep it, or rent it. Unfortunately, no matter which path they choose, move-up homebuyers in need of a new conforming mortgage will find qualifying for a home loan to be more difficult this season than in the past

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Could Mortgage Rates Have Already Bottomed Out?

January 22, 2009

After improving through 11 straight weeks, mortgage rates finally ticked higher last week.

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An Interactive Chart For Home Values

January 21, 2009

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index is a popular measure of domestic home prices, released monthly. The index reports on the largest 20 U.S.

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