I’m sure y’all have heard that “broken window theory” of criminology, made popular by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1982. Basically, if law enforcement does not address small crimes like broken windows then it becomes harder to fight more serious crimes.
I’ve seen this in reverse since I moved to Phoenix in 1998. I’ve seen greater attention on the part of the city and police to things like graffiti and petty crimes. As a result, and along with hard work of urban pioneers, things have gotten much better here.
Well, as city budgets have been cut (thank you Grover Norquist and the like), we are not training new cops and we don’t have the ability to respond quickly to graffiti like we once could.
So, we citizens have to respond in new ways. That is why I am happy to see that Mayor Greg Stanton has created an advisory committee to advise him on current issues impacting phoenix neighborhoods. Mayor Stanton believes “our city is only as strong as our individual neighborhoods, so we must keep an open line of communication.”At Quarterly meetings the committee, comprised of 29 members, will discuss such topics as law enforcement, parks, streets, neighborhood services, etc. The first meeting is set for the end of this month.
On of the reasons we love and live in downtown phoenix, is because if it’s walkability and promise for future communities. It’s important to support the local community and neighborhoods, not only for our quality of life downtown, but our home values in the future.
Short sales sound worse than they are.
Two years ago they took a lot longer and confused many more people (agents and lenders, alike). Now the systems are in place to make these transactions close more smoothly.
Even more important, if you qualify for the HAFA Program, you could get up to $4,500 for short selling your home!
A short sale is where the seller owes the bank more than than the property is worth. The term “short sale” literally means that the property is being sold “short” of what the seller owes the bank. In a short sale transaction the bank must agree to accept less money than what the seller owes and agree to release all liens on the property so that the property can be sold.
If you’re thinking about short selling your home there are a few short steps to the process:
1. Find an Attorney to speak to about your short sale. This shouldn’t cost you a lot of money. You can usually get an initial consultation for about $250. You DON’T need to have an attorney negotiate with the bank for you. If you have a tax attorney or CPA, speak with him or her, too!
2. Get your Property Listed. Listing your property with a seller with short sale knowledge is key to a smooth transaction. This is where I come in.
3. Find a Buyer. You should know that the average “days on market” are much, much lower now than they were even six months ago. This really should not take us long.
4. Send a contract to your lender along with proper documentation. We’ll work with you to make sure all the paperwork is in order for quicker approval. This is the part of the process that takes the longest. But I can take much of the pain out of this.
5. Get Approval and Close Escrow. This part goes largely the way normal sales go –inspection, appraisal, close of escrow.
Just when you thought the world of home finance could not get more exciting, more changes are headed our way in the form of mortgages.
OK, I’m going to type the following but then explain it, so bear with me.
Effective for case numbers assigned on or after April 18th, 2011, FHA is increasing the Annual 
MIP on all forward mortgages by .25%. For an FHA loan where the home buyer makes the minimum 3.5% down payment, their MI will increase from .90% to 1.15%. And though that sounds scary and monetarily foreboding, it’s not that complicated.
First, What is an MIP? Well, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) encourages mortgage lenders to approve loans for buyers by promising to pay FHA-insured mortgages in full if buyers default on the loans. Collecting the FHA mortgage insurance premium (MIP) on every loan allows the FHA to make good on those promises. Most FHA loans require two types of MIP payments: an upfront premium paid in full at closing, and an annual premium paid monthly over the life of the loan.
FHA’s guidelines are very lenient, although most lenders have overlays in order to bolster the product, and claim that borrowers with credit scores of 580 or more can put down as little as 3.5 percent. The FHA will increase its annual mortgage insurance premium by 0.10 of a percentage point for loans under $625,500. This annual premium is broken down in monthly payments. The upfront mortgage premium is also increasing by 0.75 of a percentage point, bringing the premium to 1.75 percent of the loan amount, which can be financed/added into the mortgage.
What does this mean for you? In the Mortgagee letter issued by HUD, they state that they anticipate this change will have minimal impact on borrowers but will significantly strengthen the Mortgage Insurance Fund. While I would agree that an extra .25% is not huge, You can save that extra .25% by going under agreement in time for the lender to order the FHA case number prior to April 18th. And you can always put down more than 3.5%
See, not so scary.
If you have questions or need to discuss mortgage options,
Please call Jeannie Bolger, Sr. Loan Officer for more information.
Or call me for more information about the market: 602-456-9388.
16th Street Should Not Be Ignored
That is the message of Por Vida Gallery. Our January 2011 Get Your PHX was a celebration of 16th St. and we are going back to see what’s new.
Por Vida owners Pablo Luna, Thomas “Breeze” Marcus, and Lalo Cota have a foothold and a new statement that they want to share with you.
Lalo Cota tells us that 16th is the next logical step in art in Phoenix. First Friday, he says, can’t be about just 3rd and Roosevelt anymore. He tells us that space has become too much about food and artists are struggling. So it is time to expand.
Come see if the leading edge of art in Phoenix truly is making a move east and see Douglas Miles’ transfixing =Apacheria= show in which Miles challenges cliché images of Native American life through mixed media.
This will be the most engaging Get Your PHX that we’ve hosted for some time. So, don’t miss it!
Special sponsors to be announced soon!
Please join us and RSVP at our Facebook Fan Page.
March Get Your PHX
Thursday, March 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
2800 N. 16th St
Phoenix, AZ 85006 Map Here
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This weekend marks the 11th annual M7 Street Fair. The fair and classic car show features indie crafts, live music, food, cool cars, shopping, vintage trailers and fun for kids in Downtown Phoenix.
Every street fair that we have, every open market goes to building a better downtown. You just don’t get this sense of community in pre-planned developments. I’m just sayin’.
The first fair was 11 years ago, when local vendors partnered up with the School of Architecture at ASU to revitalize phoenix and a deteriorating Melrose Curve. The merchants received grant money from the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Fight Back Program and with the support of the surrounding neighborhoods, the Melrose District began to rebound. One year after the Seventh Avenue Merchants Association incorporated, they held a “street fair” to commemorate the building of the first lighted canopies on Seventh Avenue.
Just over a decade later, what started as a 6 vendor street fair has grown into a highly anticipated family event with over 140 booths, food, live music, over 200 classic cars, and almost 18,000+ visitors
Its happening this weekend, March 3, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 7th and W. Glenrosa Avenues
We’ll you there! I’ll be out there with Ru visiting the booths and all that fun stuff.
As an Phoenix home seller, you might be wondering if you should put your home on the market or wait till Spring, which is not all that far away. 
Of course, given what is has happened in pricing in the past month, waiting on the sidelines to make your move after the last of the market slump is played out seems like a pretty smart strategy. But while you’re laser focused on the idea that home prices may bubble again, which you may well be right about, you know that buyers are likely to be more conservative this time around.
As you can see, the number of homes available has dropped significantly in the past year, but the buyers haven’t gone anywhere. So the time is now! The best reason there is to sell now is to buy a better house within your price range while those prices are still low. This is called “trading up”. You may not get what you want from the house you sell in a low market, but you will more than make up for it by buying your newer home in that same low market.
If you’re a home Seller and are serious about selling your home don’t wait! Remember to price it right, have it staged to sell and make your home easily accessible to prospective buyers!
And as always, contact me ken@getyourphx.com or at 602-456-9388
Did you know 40% of single family and condo sales in Greater Phoenix in January were cash purchases. Now, I’m not talking about sacks or briefcases full of cash, but people are buying homes outright and their are some benefits.
- Psychologically, there is a big benefit in knowing that you own your house free and clear. You also free up quite a bit of income because you will have no rent or mortgage.
- Buying a house with cash means that if the value of the home goes down by 10% then the money you put in also goes down by 10%. The most you can lose is the amount of money you put in. In the case of a 20% down mortgage, if the house’s value goes down 10% then you lose 50% of the money you put in because of leverage.
- When you have the cash to pay for the full amount of a house, it means that there will be no contingencies on getting a loan and the amount of time needed to close a deal is shorter. This generally gives you the buyer more negotiating power for a discount on the price of the home, and with the number of homes on the market quickly drops timing is everything.
But is it for you? Well there’s no tax advantage. But if the amount of cash you spend does not consist of a significant portion of your liquid assets and the amount of savings you get from an all cash deal versus a loan deal is significant, cash might be for you. In other words, you might be earning more money on your investment in a house than other investments.
Now, I’m not a financial advisor and I suggest you speak with one before you purchase a home. But if you want to know more about the market, please give me a call at 602-456-9388.