Not only will we be celebrating our independence come July, but we’ll also be celebrating independents. That’s because July 1 through July 7, 2012 is the 10th anniversary of National Independents Week (or “Indie Week” if you’re cool). This is the week that everyone is encouraged to shop locally and support independent businesses.

A great place to start is by visiting Local First Arizona where you can find a directory of local business and learn how to “Shift the Way you Shop”. According to the website, for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $73 remains in the local economy and $27 leaves . In contrast, when you shop at a business that is not locally-owned, only $43 remains in the local economy and $57 leaves.

Shopping local re-circulates your money over and over, creating more tax revenue to the state and your community. Not only do local businesses help to drive the economy, but they also support sustainability and add character and uniqueness to the community. You’ll also probably get better and more personal service.

In honor of Independents Week, Local First Arizona is offering a “Golden Coupon” where you can get 20% off at participating local establishments.

So, go ahead and take the pledge to shop locally and support your community merchants. Then head down to the farmer’s market, the Melrose District or your favorite local restaurant and help build our economic independence during Independents Week.

(Yeah, go ahead. Say it. “Phoenix and Historic Preservation are oxymorons.” Did you get it out of your system? Ok. Thanks. Proceed.)

In keeping with the National Preservation Month’s May theme—“Discover America’s Hidden Gems”—past and present Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission members will share their favorite Phoenix memories and “hidden gems”.

Nine Phoenix resident commission members, from at least one of the following categories—registered architect, real estate professional, archeologist, and historian—serve on the commission for a three-year term. The newest member is Tazmine Khatri Loomans (“but you can call me, Taz”), architect, writer and advocate for sustainable building practices. Her first committee meeting was May 21, but I know she’ll have plenty to contribute to the celebration! (For more info on Taz, check out her excellent ‘city. sustained.’ Phoenix-based blog, Blooming Rock.)

Maybe we’ll hear something along the lines of discoveries in 2010’s excellent coffee-table book, “Midcentury Marvels: Commercial Architecture of Phoenix, 1945 -1975” co-written by The Phoenix Historic Preservation Office and Ryden Architecture, Inc.

The Phoenix Historic Preservation Office writes books!? And they do a lot more, working to protect and enhance historic neighborhoods, buildings, and sites. They work closely with the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission, to identify designate districts and properties that are eligible for a listing on the Phoenix Historic Property Register.

To qualify as a Historic Property in Phoenix, a property has to be at least 50 years old or have achieved an exceptional level of significance in the past 50 years.

“Significance” can mean one or more of these things: that the property is connected to events have contributed to wide patterns in the Phoenix history; that it is associated with significant people from Phoenix history; that it has, or is likely to in the future, provide information that will be helpful to increasing our understanding of Phoenix history or pre-history; and/or that the construction of the property clearly represents a specific type, period, or method; or it represents the work of an artistic master.

National Historic Preservation Month Celebration
6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 29
Encanto Clubhouse
2605 N. 15th Ave.

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.

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.

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!

Mix 60% road race and 40% Joseph’s Technicolor Dream Coat (minus Donny Osmond) and what do you get?

The Color Run!

This weekend, just a hop and a skip from downtown phoenix,  the annual Color Run 5k will be happening in Tempe.

Don’t worry non-runners, the 5k is a fun run for all levels of athleticism. Runners will receive custom Color Run race shirts, a bag of Color, race number, “Color Runner” finisher sweat band, donation to local charity, and Sponsor Goodies. There’s only one rule, wear white. Why? Oh because you get covered in paint along the way! Each kilometer of the event has a designated color.   As the runners/walkers hit the KILOMETER COLOR ZONE, they will be dusted with COLOR.

Don’t worry, it’s for a good cause. All the proceeds from the 5k go to Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa. After you cross the finish line you be invited to a post-5k party with bands, food, and more. Non-runners can join too, but be warned, there’s a good chance of walking away covered in paint dust.

The annual Color Run is going down at Tempe Beach Park in Tempe, Arizona on Saturday, 28 January 2012.

Insert “woe is me moment”: I’m soooo bummed I can’t run this. I’m still nursing an injury from my Grand Canyon run in November!

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