You have to give it to them. Despite upcoming triple digit temperatures, the Phoenix Bike Community never stops peddling.

And why would they? All Valley Metro buses are equipped with bike racks and the city is finally expanding bike lanes to help support this very green form of travel.

And I have to say finally! I remember about 12 years ago I tried to ride my bike to work from the Willo neighborhood to downtown. I was certain every morning that I was going to die. The drivers would buzz me as if to say, “yeah, buddy, we’re gonna enforce this here no-ride zone.”

Anyway, in Celebration of the city’s growing bike scene, Twenty-five top local graphic designers will show their original bicycle-themed poster artwork for Third Friday festivities and through the month of April by appointment all leading up to Pedal Craft.

The one night event will feature lots of bikes, plenty of beer, and a bike themed poster show highlighting Phoenix bike culture. Throughout Phoenix, bicyclists, walkers, and pedicab riders will be visiting downtown Phoenix restaurants that have installed bike racks and are offering special menu discounts for PEDAL CRAFT PHX participants. Those bike racks were created in part by SideWalk Phoenix, a newly formed advocacy group for walkable, bikeable, and livable communities, will display a dozen one-of-a-kind bicycle racks designed by local artists and metal sculptors.

SideWalk Phoenix will be raising awareness and funds at Pedal Craft to create a temporary infill “pop-up” park at the quarter-acre Ro2 Lot at 1005 North Second Street. According to Pedal Craft Co-organizer, Jim McPherson,  “Fun, community-minded events like PEDAL CRAFT PHX help to raise awareness and, knock on wood, support for much needed bicycle transportation initiatives in the Valley.”

These are great community organizations and members working together for the great phoenix area. I’m inspired every time I see a new project like this come together.

THIS, my friends, is why people are flocking to Phoenix.

Over the years, brokers have gotten a bad wrap. I work with people everyday who want to go with big banks and credit unions for their loans (because they haven’t done anything wrong in the past few years, right?).

Just recently I had a client who went with a big credit union for her loan, and 7 days before close of escrow, they decided to pull the loan because the bank had issues with the HOA. Lucky for us, Jeanie Bolger from Nova Home loans came in and saved the day. I can’t tell you the number of times this happens.

Here is what I learn and I want to share with anybody who is thinking about finding a lender:

1. Big banks are just that BIG. They’ve got lots of red tape and work to get through everyday, before they even think about giving you a loan. On the other hand, a mortgage broker is a certified professional who seeks the best mortgage terms for you by accessing a network of lenders that includes major banks, trust companies, credit unions and finance companies.
2. Big banks and credit unions tend to be more conservative on loans. So, if you have something out of the ordinary going on, like a second property, a divorce or a spouse with bad credit, stay away from the big banks, especially.
3. Underwriters work fast with Brokers. Jeannie’s brokers are in the same office, so she can work with the underwriter to make sure everything they need and you need is in place. Jeannie can physically walk down a hall and ask an underwriter a question about a loan and get an answer right away. They can’t do that in the mega bureaucracies.

I recently worked with Lonna to find a home downtown. Lonna wanted to go with a credit union because they had given her pre-approval. One week from closing escrow, the credit union pulled the loan and we once again turned to Jeannie.

Lonna loved working with her. “Jeannie answered all my questions immediately and spoke to me like she was trying to help. It feels like your being interrogated when your with a Credit Union, like you’re just a case number, but with a broker it was like they cared.” Once Jeannie took over, it only took two days from when the underwriter received the application to approval.

So, let me be clear: from the time we started to the time we close, Jeannie swooped in and got it all done within 5 days! Its gotta be a record!

So if you’re thinking of buying a home in downtown phoenix, use a broker. Heck, Call Jeannie!

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

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

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.

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.

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!