Many of you probably got up this morning and read the paper or heard the news that RealtyTrac was reporting that foreclosures were up over the month or two.

So, those folks who have been long-predicting a “wave of foreclosures” may be feeling bolstered. Don’t get too excited, my friends. That myth has not been true and it still won’t be. See this link for some reasons WHY you won’t see that happen.

But your thought for the day: put this news in perspective. 

Foreclosure notices have been going down steadily since late 2010. In fact, the height of foreclosure notices was way back in March of 2009. 

Just to be clear, a foreclosure notice is when the lender sends a note to the home owner saying they are going to take the house back. This notice is recorded with the county recorder. So, that is where the data comes from: direct from the source.

From the perspective of my buyers who are frustrated by the lack of inventory on the market, more foreclosures is good. It means more houses on the market. But to put it in perspective, it probably won’t add even 10 percent more homes on the market than there were at the beginning of this year.

So, why am I saying this? Is it ecause I don’t want to go to another cocktail party and hear some guy talk about the “wave of foreclosures” that the “banks are sitting on” while he munches on his organic, fair trade soy chips? 

No. I’m telling you so that you know it is time to buy now before prices go up and it is time to start thinking about selling while the market is hot and interest rates are low.

Call me. I’ll buy the soy chips. 602-456-9388.

On March 6th, 2012 the Facebook page of the Evans Churchhill Neighborhood featured a photograph of Mayor Stanton cutting the tape for groundbreaking of the new Concord Eastridge in-fill project (located on the two immediate blocks south of Roosevelt, between  3^rd and 4^th street) and wrote, “It promises to be a rewarding addition to our neighborhood and the Roosevelt Row CDC area.”

What you’d expect here is a photo of the glorious $52 million dollar housing project. And though you can follow the link anytime you want, I hope you’ll take a minute or two to be reminded of the history of this plot of land. A big part of the reason Phoenix is accused (by residents and non, alike) of not having any history is because when something new starts to rise, there is scarcely a memorial of what’s gone before.

According to historical imagery from Google Earth (left), the real estate of this block has been empty and barren since at least 1992.  (Note monOrchid, top left of the photo, the location of our next Get Your PHX event).

As long as I, or anyone I’ve asked, can remember, this was what it always looked like. The foundations of buildings are all that remain.

In May 2010, playwright and screenwriter, Dan Frey, captured the essence of this very block when he described it in his contribution to the Phoenix art exhibit, ‘26 Blocks’:

“Mostly just space now. Space for Terry to fill shopping carts with recyclables until there’s enough to sell. Space for those kids to smoke and see anyone coming before they get in trouble. Space for an Asian-fusion-smelling breeze to cool you off. A space everyone looks through and walks around. Which makes it the perfect place to stop and look up.”

It also made it the perfect place to stop and look down, as ’26 Blocks’ photographer Chris Loomis showed us in this helicopter shot of the same location.

For two years, the crop circle has been there. Like a target, waiting for something new to set its sights on the future of that block.

March 16th, 2012, two years later,  the Phoenix New Times publishes an article and updates our collective memories with photographs of the work-in-progress: “Construction on Concord Eastridge’s Roosevelt Row Apartment Complex in Full Swing”.

 “$52 million dollar housing project…[to be] completed June 2013… two buildings, one seven stories, one eight stories…325 apartments will be located in each building, as well as 7,500 square-feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground level…500 square-foot studios to four-bedroom apartments…high-speed Internet, private gyms, and swimming pools”.

The New Times article also mentioned that Greg Esser (long time partner of Cindy Dach, who we wrote about in a post last week about Changing Hands) was in attendance at the groundbreaking. If it feels like this blog post is cross-referencing itself more than usual, do read the excellent Downtown Phoenix Journal post from this Feb., “Creating Downtown“, where you’ll see just how interconnected Greg Esser, Cindy Dach, Wayne Rainey (owner of monOrchid), are…and why.

Writer Susan Copeland has a paragraph in the article which she uses to make a great point. One worth clipping here:

Wayne Rainey, Kimber Lanning and Dach/Esser all bought buildings and created art spaces within six months of each other. The prices were low enough at the time to make the spaces affordable. Dach says that artists are natural problem solvers. “We looked at the closed up buildings and dark spaces and said, ‘Yeah, this sucks. How can we fix it?’”

Phoenix New Times says “[The Concord Eastridge Roosevelt Row Apartment Complex will] change the face of the Roosevelt Row arts district.”

It certainly will.

My hope is that it will also remind us of the crop circle target on the long empty lot, and that we should continue to work on Phoenix by setting our sights on the empty lots that remain.

My clients are renting a 1,500 square foot townhouse at Portland 38, downtown. It is a great opportunity to live in the heart of the city and still have comforts such as a personal garage, modern appliances and new construction. Check this out!

These townhouses were built in 2007 with a great industrial style and centered around modern living. The spaces are open, fresh and clean. Check out this link to look at the listing. And, of course, give me a call at 602-456-9388 if you have questions.

The Arizona Corporation Commission last week voted on proposals to reduce the solar rebates that utilities offer you when you install solar panels on your home. There is some debate within the solar industry about whether this is good or bad for the market, as a whole. But we  can say that your personal incentives will go down while incentives for central station power plant will remain the same. Three of these are the same Corporation Commissioners who voted to call a trash burning power plan “clean”.

There is a lot packed in to what I just wrote. So, let me explain. Stay with me because this is a crucial change in direction from the days when the Corporation Commission first started pushing the use of renewable energy.

First, some definitions:

Distributed Power Generation means people generating power from their homes. Good ol’ solar panels which increase your freedom, generate power where it is used and save you money.

Central Station Power Generation means big, remote power plants that actually waste energy as they send energy hundreds of miles to where you use it.

Corporation Commission is the constitutionally-empowered, elected body in Arizona which sets rates for power as well as how much renewable energy we use.

Rebates: we all pay a small amount of money on our bills, which goes in to a pot of funds. Some of that money can be used by people when they install solar on their homes, to bring down the cost. It is available to anybody who wants to use it …..until the money runs out. The current Corporation Commission is shrinking these rebates for regular folks and businesses in favor of big utility companies.

Second, some history:

When the Arizona Corporation Commission created the “Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff”, they divided money between central station (70%) and distributed power (30%). So, the money goes to paying down the higher cost of installing these technologies (which end up being cheaper in the long run). They gave more money to central station than to distributed because those projects are just bigger.

There is a traditional battle in the world of energy between distributed power and central station power. Utility companies like central station power because they have more control and, more importantly, they don’t lose customers (and money) when you decide you want to generate your own electricity. Freedom-loving, true patriots who want to throw off the shackles of Big Brother support distributed generation. (Am I showing bias here?)

OK, that was a little tongue-in-cheek. In reality, we need both distributed and central station. However, the current Corporation Commission is showing favoritism toward the wishes of the big power companies and they are ignoring the needs of regular home owners who want to save money and install solar.

Three of the five current Corporation Commissioners have shown that they don’t care about the overwhelming wishes of home owners to install solar energy and build our new energy economy.

Please take the time to learn about the three candidates for this year’s election who have a proven track record of supporting renewable energy. These three are all Clean Elections candidates.

– Paul Newman  www.paulnewmanaz.com

– Sandra Kennedy  www.kennedyacc2012.com

You heard the scoop here first: on June 14, 2012, nine days from today, Changing Hands Bookstore may officially be confirmed as a tenant of the former Beef Eaters Restaurant on 3rd Ave. and Camelback!

My fingers have been crossed since 2000 that this would happen (which explains this cramp I get sometimes, when the original Changing Hands on Mill Ave. in Tempe closed (the picture above is from their Mill Ave. bookmark). Ever since that first location closed, the only real estate for the bookstore has been the one on McClintock and Guadalupe, where the original bookstore expanded to back in 1998.

Maybe this time…?

I’m very hopeful. What a great thing Changing Hands would do for Phoenix with a location here! Co-owner/general manager, Cindy Dach, has done a wonderful, extraordinary job with her independent bookstore and was recognized early this year in an article by The Huffington Post  for being one of the main reasons there is such optimism in the Independent Bookstore Industry.

The Beef Eaters building is unique. As the website photos and home page describes it, it’s “Beef Eaters Restaurant in Phoenix Arizona is a rambling Arizona style adobe and heavy timber building with oak paneled walls, pitched beam ceilings, black leather booths, high wing-back chairs and linen table service. Trips to London added rare English art to its decor.

Beef Eaters Restaurant features two connected grand dining rooms and a cocktail-dining lounge. It has 4 private party and banquet rooms serving from 10 to 300, plus a quaint wine cellar table for 10. It has two bars, 4 fireplaces, 3 shaded patios and a large porte cochere drive entrance.

It opened in 1961 at 300 W. Camelback and was closed shortly before the passing of its 88-year-old owner & founder, Jay Newton, in 2006. Although the restaurant closed six years ago, its full website remains, floating like a ghost on the Internet.

In January of this year, Niki D’Andrea wrote about the history of Beef Eaters in an excellent Phoenix Magazine 2-page article called, “Steak. Out.”  Apparently, Jay Newton was a former sheep rancher in Utah who named his restaurant after a common nickname for Yeoman Warders (guards) at the Tower of London.

According to an April 14, 2012 Phoenix New Times article, the current real estate owner of the building had an offer from  Jon Kitchell and Lorenzo Perez of Venue Projects (they also helped develop Windsor and Churn in Phoenix) and both sides have 60 days to make a decision before it’s a done deal.

Is it June 14th, yet?

First, a quote from our resident expert, Sr. Loan Officer of Nova Home Loans, Jeannie Bolger:

Effective June 11, 2012–for  any FHA note that was endorsed by HUD on or before May 31^st, 2009–qualifies for reduced MIP on a Streamline Refinance (No Appraisal).  Upfront MIP goes to .01% and Annual MIP will be .55%. Current upfront MIP is 1.75% and the Annual is 1.25%. HUGE SAVINGS.

What? You don’t speak Klingon or Mortgagease?

This may help.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is a branch of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The FHA was developed during the Great Depression as as an effort to stimulate the real estate housing market. The main purpose of the FHA is to encourage home ownership in the United States. To accomplish this, the FHA insures mortgages against the default of borrowers. 

Do you have a current FHA loan (note) that was endorsed (or closed) by HUD prior to May 31, 2009? If so, your FHA loan qualifies for a significant reduction in your upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP; an insurance policy that compensates lenders/investors for losses in the event of a defaulted mortgage loan) on a Streamline Refinance (No Appraisal).

The current upfront MIP is 1.75%. Let’s say your FHA Streamline Refinance of your home is for a new $100,000 mortgage. The FHA will charge you $1,750 upfront on the mortgage insurance premium (MIP). You pay this at closing and the $1,750 payment  automatically rolls  into your new loan balance.

On June 11, the new upfront MIP will be  .01%  This is a HUGE SAVINGS. Using the $100,000 new mortgage example above, you would only pay $1 !

Also beginning June 11, 2012, the FHA will reduce it’s 1.25% annual MIP ($1,250) to just .55 % for certain FHA borrowers (or $550)–more than a 50% savings!

This is one way that FHA can make a real difference to help homeowners who are doing the right thing, paying their bills on time and want to take advantage of today’s low interest rates. By significantly reducing costs for these borrowers, we can make certain they cut their monthly mortgage burden which will benefit the housing market and the broader economy in the process,” said Federal Housing (FHA) Commissioner, Carol Galante. Read the full HUD Press Release here.

Read Jeannie Bolger’s quote at the top of this post, again, and you’ll be amazed at how much Klingon Mortgagease you speak!

REMEMBER: For home loans endorsed by HUD before May 31, 2009

PLEASE NOTE: Loan application may be started prior to June 11^th, but FHA case # must be ordered after June 11^th, 2012 to qualify for program and reduced MIP.

Call Jeannie Bolger, Sr. Loan Officer Nova Home Loans, for more information:  (602) 550-8674

[Photo: Images_of_Money]

You may have seen my previous stories about the effort to put historic trollies on Grand Avenue as an economic development project. This low-cost project would help encourage new businesses along Grand Ave between Van Buren and Roosevelt –a trend that is already under way, but which could quicken and bring new income to Phoenix.

Since writing these stories, I joined the Grand Avenue Rail Project (GARP) board and we are working to get recognition of the great return on investment this represents.

It came to my attention this last week that the folks at the Trolley Museum, where they house the historic trollies which we hope to use on Grand Ave., have received a proposal from a neighboring city to take our trollies and add them to their local museum.

From what I am hearing, the Phoenix Trolley Museum folks, not getting a particularly warm feeling from City of Phoenix, are seriously considering taking this other museum up on their offer. From what I hear, some in the City really want to take back the trolley museum building at Margaret T. Hance Park so they can use it for other things. They have gone so far as to encourage the Trolly Museum to move, but they have not provided a viable place for them to go.

The sad part is that there is a very viable option, which the Museum folks and GARP founder Robert Graham have been advocating for: put the trolly museum on Grand Ave., along with an accompanying trolly line that will encourage new business on Grand.

Thus their frustration.

Here is my concern: if the Trolley Museum moves to some other city, it will be even more difficult to see the GARP idea through and it will represent yet another Phoenix stab at historic preservation. Even sadder is the fact that the city does not need to lay out much money to make this happen. They just need to partner on proposals to the federal government for transportation dollars, which can be used for this purpose.

The estimated cost to build the infrastructure, outfit a new museum on grand and operate the system: $10 million. I believe that the resulting new home sales, infill development and business starts along grand will be worth ten times that.

Please contact your city councilmen and let them know that you support the Grand Avenue Rail Project.

I’m very proud to announce a new listing that I have at the widely-coveted Villa del Coronado.

Please see this link for the listing information.

These condos, built in 1958 are one of the few quintessential examples of Mid-Century Modern design left in Phoenix. Did you know that one of our previous governors used to own a property here?

I use the word “coveted”, above because this community is absolutely pristine and sought-after by Mid-Century Modern buffs.

The owner of this property has renovated the bathrooms with beautiful modern features, opened up the great room. The Villa de Coronado community has two salt water pools, with one heated. It is also one of the few properties downtown with individual garage parking.

The community takes care of everything, even some maintenance for each unit. That way you can get out and explore, wether you are going across the street to the Phoenix Art Museum or to the light rail stop about 300 feet away.

These properties are co-operative condos, a rare breed in Phoenix. As such, the properties are kept in immaculate condition by people who are very particular about the type of property they own. It means that if you own one, you actually own a portion of a corporation. As such, all of your taxes, electricity, gas and other usual HOA fees are paid out of one monthly fee. It also means that these properties can only change hands by paying cash, with one exception –“seller carrybacks”. Financing is not an option.

To put it another way, because you are buying in to a corporation a lender is not likely to give you a loan.

What is a “seller carryback,” you ask? Check out this post from way back in 2010 about seller carrybacks and how they work. Basically, you can buy it directly from the owner through installments.

If you want more information about this unique opportunity, please give me a call at 602-456-9388.

Every so often I like to do a reminder on credit. It’s kinda important, ya know.

So, your credit score, also called a FICO score, is a number based on the information in your credit file that shows how likely you are to pay a loan back on time. You’ll want your number to be higher, rather than lower, because that show’s you’re  less risky (not to be confused with risqué).

Consumers with scores above 700 are usually charged pretty low rates, but those with scores above 760 are charged the lowest rates. So, what should you do if you have less than stellar credit? Jeannie Bolger at Nova Home Loans has come to the rescue with some of her top tips for improving your credit score.

PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME
According to Jeannie, “The best way to raise your credit score is to develop a positive history of using credit to outweigh the old, bad credit history.”  If you’ve made any late payments, establishing or re-establishing a good track record of making timely payments will raise your score.

KEEP YOUR BALANCES LOW
Jeannie also suggests that you keep your current credit card balance at 30% or less than the maximum credit limit. High outstanding debt can affect your score and maxing out your credit cards could lower your average score by as much as 70 points.

OPT OUT
Visit www.optoutprescreen.com to tell the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to stop selling your credit history. You’ll be able to opt of “pre-approved” credit card offers for a period of five years or indefinitely.

GET A SECURED CREDIT CARD
A secured credit card (one that requires you to make a deposit against the card’s credit limit) is a great way to develop a positive credit history. Jeannie cautions that you should not max it out. Instead, maintain a very small balance each month and be sure that the card reports to all three credit bureaus.

GET IT IN WRITING
If you’re paying off an old collection or charge-off, speak to the creditor about removing derogatory information on your credit report in exchange for payment. And don’t forget to get it in writing.

Jeannie Bolger can be reached at Nova Home Loans at jeannieb@novahomeloans.com or (602) 550-8674