Arizona is a beautiful place full of fantastic neighborhoods and if you’re moving here, you’ll probably need a little help deciding what community is right for you.

Jeannie Bolger and I have created a guide for new home buyers with links for information about schools and attractions for different parts of the valley.

This guide will be really handy for people moving in to phoenix neighborhoods or for companies to have on hand for their employees.

If you know of somebody thinking to move to Phoenix, or a company that is expanding in Arizona, please share this resource with them.

Download it here and keep it on hand in your office. Ken Clark’s Relocation Guide

Of course, Jeannie and I are just a phone call away if you need anything.

Credit can be confusing. It’s this strange, omnipresent score board of your financial decisions that determines whether you’re a smart financial risk for lenders. But don’t worry. Having a little knowledge on your side will make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward when it comes to raising your credit score.

Did you know that the credit score you may have purchased from one credit bureau isn’t necessarily the one that your mortgage lender, credit card issuer or auto loan originator will see? There are several different credit scores, even within the same credit bureau. Each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) has its own proprietary credit score. 

Luckily, a few years ago Congress required that each of these three agencies to provide you with a free copy of your credit score once a year. Call 1.877.3322.8228 or visit their website to get your score. Hint: they will try to get you to pay for your score, but don’t buy that line. As a lender told me once, the most accurate scores you get when you buy a house are the ones the lender pulls as these are a good indicator of where you are.

Sick of getting preapproved credit cards. You can tell the credit bureau to stop selling your credit information by calling 888.567.8622

Speaking of credit cards, your credit score can be negatively impacted by a late credit card or loan payment, but it can also be affected by less obvious actions. If you close an old credit card account, you’ll reduce your available credit and shorten the length of your credit history, which can negatively affect your credit score. Additionally, applying for new credit can be beneficial to your credit score, but it can also decrease your credit score due to a hard inquiry. Make sure to keep your current credit balance less than 35% of your overall limit

Secure credit cards are a great way to build you credit because you deposit what you spend in advance. Just make sure they report to all three credit bureaus. MidFirst Bank is a great local option for these cards.

Please call Jeannie Bolger, Sr. Loan Officer for more information.

Or call me for more information about the market: 602-456-9388.

Well, yes we’re well on our way to 100 years old, and as Arizonans we need to admire the past while we look towards the future.

Over the last 50 years, Phoenix has grown exponentially bringing on many economic, environmental, and social challenges. To cope with our growth, we need to constantly be looking for ways to innovate, maximizing resources and minimizing waste, while making the city more livable. Lower Grand Avenue is brimming with potential and possibilities

The City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation department along with several other government groups and community organizations, including the Grand Avenue Merchants Association, has been chosen by the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greening America’s Capital program are  to develop a revitalization concept for Lower Grand Avenue. And you’re invited!

A local consultant group, Plan-et has been hired and will hold a three day design workshop with the community to help re-imagine I-10 overpass to Van Buren Street/7th Avenue. Lyssa Hall, Landscape Architect for the Parks and Recreation Department, said that the “architectural assets of grand ave” make the area a perfect spot to incorporate “realistic revitalization goals, working with whats already there, so people can enjoy Grand Ave.”

The 3 day workshop will include strong community involvement to find short and long term reachable goals for the area.

Lyssa expects between 50-70 members of the community to join them for the event, but she wants you ALL there in hopes of inviting political and partnership interest.  The event is February 28th, 29th, March 1st so mark your calenders and look out for more info from the city of Phoenix.

Kick off Meeting: 6 – 8 p.m. on Feb. 28
Public Open Houses: 6 – 8 p.m. on Feb. 29
Open Studio: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb 28 through March 1

I see it more and more everyday. The housing inventory in Phoenix is shrinking and buyers are looking to make offers and get approved as quickly as possible. But for new or first time home buyers the steps to approval can be foreign and slow down the process, which is the last thing you want in this market.

But have no fear! Jeannie’s here!

It’s important as a home buyer to get pre-approval to expedite the process. In short: you want to have a pre-approval letter in hand before you even step foot in a potential home.

Now don’t get confused between pre-qualification and pre-approval.

A mortgage loan pre-qualification is simply an estimate of how much house you can afford and how much money a lender would be willing to loan you. This can be done over the phone in 10-15 minutes by providing information on your income, assets, debts, and a potential down payment amount.

A pre-approval takes more time, but can be just as easy. Getting pre-approved means that you have a tentative commitment from a specific lender for mortgage funding. You provide a home loan lender  with all that fun financial information you probably keep in a drawer in your house (tax returns, pay stubs, assets, debts, etc.) They will run a credit check and work to verify all your employment and financial information. Jeannie can take care of this with you in about an hour in her office.

In the house-buying process, the benefit of being pre-qualified or pre-approved is twofold. Not only do you have the added comfort of knowing what you can afford, the seller may also accept your offer over another if you are pre-approved and the other party is not.

So what are you waiting for?! Please call Jeannie Bolger, Sr. Loan Officer for more information.

Or call me for more information about the market: 602-456-9388.

Over the last couple weeks I’ve seen the same thing happen over and over: houses on the market are in bidding wars within HOURS of coming on the market and they are getting offers well above asking price.

There is a very simple reason this is happening: inventory in Maricopa County has dropped by more than half since January of last year.

This graph should make this very clear. This is terrible news if you are a buyer, but great news if you are listing a property.

This situation is going to last until one or two things happen: (1) Home builders start building more homes and/or (2) people who have been waiting to list their homes put them on the market.

Either way, prices are getting ready to move up. I feel bad for the people last year who told me things like, “it is clear that the market is going to drop again in 2012 because (insert economic theory here).” We agents knew prices were going to go up in 2012 because we’ve been watching this data for a very long time.

Here’s another way to look at it. The “Days Inventory” is going down quickly, too. Another way to see this is if we took the number of houses in the inventory today and divided it by the number of sales every day, how many days would it take until there were zero properties lest to sell. This tells you how quickly things are selling. If you want to break that down further by price, it really tells you a story.

See those charts below. For now, if you are thinking of buying a home be ready to be aggressive in your offers. Give me a call at 602-456-9388 and I can give you more information. Interest rates are still at a historic low. You definitely don’t want to wait until BOTH interest rates AND prices are higher!

Source: The Cromford Report (www.cromfordreport.com)

Active Listings in 2011 and 2012

We all know how important downtown growth is for our economy. As you can probably tell from this blog, I’m a big fan of Green Vendors and sustainable growth downtown (even if the term “green” has been around more than Kim Kardashian).

This image is from 2010 Green Build Conference. I just wanted to show off that I met Ed Begley Jr. Yep, I'm a total renewable energy dork.

Well, if your a pro-environment, sustainable vendor in the city of Phoenix, Green Team is pleased to present the Green Vendor Showcase of Opportunities on Feb. 9

This event is a chance for vendors to work with the city’s EPP Program as well as get one-on-one interaction with some of the city’s department big wigs and discuss new opportunities for the city to make greener choices. And better yet, there’s no cost to participate! But you have to work fast. Vendors need to register but January 31st, (as in tomorrow!) by the end of business hours at the office of Environmental Programs. You can Call 602-256-5669 to register and ask any questions.

Want to just stop by and see whats new in the world of sustainability? Well, you can check out the first annual “We Love Green Vendors” showcase on 2/9 from 9:30-11:30 am in the atrium of Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St.  The event is free!

Y’all might remember my listing at 90 West Virginia. It is the 1930s Fairhope School, newly renovated to a 4,100 square foot home. This is the flagship property in the famous Willo Historic Neighborhood.

Here is the original blog post about it.

Well, the price has just dropped to $750,000! This is an incredible price for a luxury home of this historic significance and quality. This home was awarded best historic restoration of 2009 by the Phoenix New Times.

Stay tuned for notices about open houses. We don’t open this house to the public often, so please drop by to see it!

Good News for home owners in distress!

And by “Good News” I don’t mean some shady scheme to short sell your house to an off-shore corporation in the Caymen Islands.

Fannie Mae is introducing an Unemployment Forbearance program which provides assistance to borrowers dealing with unemployment.

These loans will allow the borrower to receive a reduction or suspension of their monthly mortgage payment for a specific period of time and will prohibit services from foreclosing on your property.

A mortgage loan is eligible for an Unemployment Forbearance if all the following criteria are met:

• The property cannot be vacant, condemned, or abandoned.
• The mortgage loan cannot be an FHA, VA, or Rural Housing mortgage loan.
• The property must be a principal residence. Second homes and investment properties are not eligible.
• The borrower may be either delinquent or default is reasonably foreseeable.
• The borrower must have a financial hardship due to unemployment.

The Forbearance will be canceled if:

• Any of the eligibility criteria and terms stated above are no longer met.
• The borrower advises the servicer that he or she has become employed or is no longer actively seeking employment.

If you need more information contact Jeannie Bolger with Nova Home loans.

Many people recognize this upcoming Monday, as a day off from work. But really its a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who did great things for our country.

If you want to celebrate the right way, HandsOn can help. HandsOn Greater Phoenix is a great NonProfit in Downtown Phoenix that serves the community at large. Every month, HandsOn offers more than 60  diverse, high-impact, one-time community service projects. Martin Luther King Day is a large-scale special days of service for them.

This Monday at 2 p.m. you can head to Fair Trade Cafe & Gallery at Civic Space Park for Eat, Dream, Share. There will be music, poems, songs, laughter, ideas, food and to share personal expressions of how Martin Luther King Jr. impacted your life. And it’s like a pot luck. Participants are asked to bring a dessert to share. If you’re bringing the kids (who have the day off too!) There’s an  spoken word and musical performances by Queen of Queen’s Band Project, Miouo Nance the poet & The Positive Vibes from 6:30 PM-9:30 PM at the A.E. England Building Civic Space Park.

If you’d like to get a jump start on your weekend, HandsOn with also be hosting a 16+ Mural Revitalization this Saturday from 8-12 updating a 1998 mural on 16th Street.

Spots fill quickly, so contact them today and celebrate.

Market trends are upon us again! Try to contain your excitement.

Our Friend Cynthia Lujan from Old Republic Title was nice enough to send us new stats on the current market.

Between November and December supply was is once again on a downward trend for all price ranges. The strongest decline in supply is for homes under $100,000. Sales rates look better between$200,000 and $400,000 while above $400,000 demand is still a problem.  Demand from owner occupiers remains subdued due to strict underwriting standards for “jumbo” loans, but cash buyers including landlords and other investors are quickly snapping up a large part of whatever comes onto the market.

The supply from foreclosures continues to fall with more pending foreclosures getting resolved by short sales. Lenders are receiving fewer homes into REO inventory as a higher percentage of trustee sales result in a sale to a third party. Despite public perception to the contrary, price per sq. ft. has gone up  in the past year. (Do we hear that on the national news? Noooo!)

The strongest recent movement is for the price range below $100,000, where price per sq. ft. hit bottom in February and is now up nearly 7% over the last 12 months. With supply on a downward trend again we anticipate that the peak spring season will find most buyers frustrated by a lack of choice and fierce competition from other buyers.

So what does this mean for you? Buy now!

The inventory of houses between $100,000- 200,000 are down 46.6% and sales prices are now 6.9% higher than last year. Homes from 200,000-400,000 numbers aren’t as dramatic, with supply down 26% and prices up .3%. As all we all learned in our 10th Grade Economics class, as supply grows more limited, demand will drive prices up.

Need help finding a home? Call me today at 602-456-9388