I’m sure you’ve heard of home buyer programs over the years, programs that are funded by cities or counties and which help you buy your first home, if you qualify.

Folks ask me about them from time to time. And, while I’ve sold homes on these programs, I usually refer them to one of our mortgage broker friends for the latest updates. 

The reason is that the programs come and go faster than child stars on the Disney Channel.

Just this month, a new program was announced that would loan qualified home buyers up to $25,000 to be used as a down payment on a new home. This one is not run by the cities or counties, but by the private non-profit that has set aside $1 million to help low and moderate income families get in to a home.

NOTE: these are not grants, they are loans. So, in addition to the loan on the home, you will have to pay off the down payment loan over 15 years. To qualify – a family of four must make less than $51,000, and a single person make less than $35,850.

Two more notes of caution. First, be careful of anybody who offers you a loan on top of a loan. This organization seems to be a non-profit group that seems to be saying the right things. But, you should always look closely at all materials. Second, it may not be advisable to buy a home with little or no down payment. It is important to have “skin in the game.”

If you want to see a nice list of buyer assistance programs, check out Community Housing Resources of Arizona’s website. This may not be all of the options out there and I don’t personally endorse any in particular. But, they are out there. If you are willing to participate in the program, you may save a lot of money on your first home.

Please give me a call at 602-456-9388 for more information.

The following is an excerpt from the Cromford Report’s comments from March 30th on the state of rentals in the Valley.

• The situation with single family rentals continues to get even more extreme. Today there are just 1,763 active listings on ARMLS, down another 15% since the beginning of the month and down 25% from this time last year. This is 24 days of supply.
• The average lease rate is up to $2,106 per month (up 41% from $1,710 last year). The average days on market is down to 33 (it was 40 last year).
• There are 988 condo rentals active, down from 1,347 at the same time last year, which is a drop of 27%. This is 54 days of supply.
• The average lease rate is up to $1,655 per month (up 13% from $1,461 last year). The average days on market is down to 39 (it was 45 last year).
• Affordable homes to rent or buy are both becoming much harder to find. However there is still plenty of choice in the upper price ranges for both lease and purchase.

Now, the MLS is very powerful as a source of data for sales, but not so much for rentals. I’ve heard told that only about 50% of all rentals are represented on the MLS. Those tend to be the higher priced ones; not the ones that list on Craigslist.com.

Here’s a little more on the topic from an AZCentral.com article.

Still, this an alarming pattern. It means that there are a shrinking number of rental properties for families and individuals. This is also why cities are encouraging the building of new rental projects. See this post from last week, at least as pertains to downtown Phoenix.

Every problem presents an opportunity, however. If you are thinking of getting in to the investment market for rentals, now is the time to do it.

Please give me a call at 602-456-9388 if you’d like to build a strategy.

For those of you who are long-time readers, you know that I’m a fan of the Cromford Index. The index not only tells you whether we are in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, but also by how much we are going one way or another.

If you are buying a home, you’ll want to watch this trend. If the Cromford Index is moving upward, you need to move before it goes too far in to the seller’s advantage.

If you are selling a home, you need to watch out for the opposite trend. If you see the index moving downward, then you want to be more aggressive in your pricing –get out ahead of the market so you are not chasing it downward.

So, where are we now? Check this out.

Remember, 100 is a balanced market. Over 100 is a seller’s market and under is a buyer’s market.

See how much of a buyer’s market it was during the Great Recession? Then see how the seller’s took over from 2010 to 2014? Those were the people who bought during the lowest of the crash and then sold once we started to recover.

Notice also that we’ve been mostly riding 100 for a little while. Well, it looks like we are moving up towards a seller’s market once again. What does that mean? It means that sellers have an advantage — no seller-paid closing costs, prices will go up if supply stays low.

Combine this with the possibility that interest rates may go up later this year and you will want to get on in to the hunt today if you are a buyer.

If you are a seller, those interest rates are mixed news. Yep, the market seems to favor you, but an increase in interest rates may deter buyers. Or, it may encourage buyers to get in the market. We will see.

Check out this chart over just the last month. This market is definitely heating up. Just in the last month, the index for Phoenix has moved upward 14%. Only Tempe dropped.

What this means for you also depends on your specific situation and the neighborhood in which you live.

No doubt, this is a shifting market.

If you need help navigating it, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 and let’s assess the situation.