new homes: The State of the Arizona New Homes Market - 01/28/09 12:12 AM
On 9/12/2007 I posted what I thought would be very cool news.
The post was titled, "The Housing Giants Sortable List of Builders"
The post included a link to a list that HousingZone.com has been keeping ... a list of the top builders in the nation.
The best feature is this: you can sort by revenues or closings.
I used to work quite heavily in the new homes arena. It became important for me to know how the builders were doing.
Though I still keep track of new homes, I don't concentrate on that segment as much as I used to.
… (0 comments)
|
new homes: Home Buyers- Consider the Loan Costs - 01/26/09 10:58 AM
Seven Percent?
What am I talking about?
Here it goes:
If you want to buy a home you will need a down payment. Right now that's typcially 3.5%.
Then there are closing costs... loan costs plus prepaids... these costs can include fees that allow you to take title to the property... insurance costs... home-owners fees... and various other costs that are associated to turning a property over from the seller to you the buyer.
These costs can be in the 3-4 % range.
In summary, on average- there is a 7% out-of-pocket cost to buying a home... unless:
You ask the … (5 comments)
|
new homes: New Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Results - The J.D. Power List is Out - 09/12/08 01:26 AM
J.D. Power conducts surveys to help potential customers gain insight into the level of satisfaction that consumers have with regard to companies with whom they have experience. They cover the gamut of commodities, from vehicles, to electronics, financial services, health-care, travel, insurance, telecom and yes... even homes.
They've announced the results for new home builders, which they break down by major metro areas. Here's the Phoenix area Top Ten (With regard to Overall Customer Satisfaction):
Click on the above link to see how the builders performed. You will also be able to sort the results by other categories such as: Overall … (15 comments)
|
new homes: Gilbert Arizona Spec Homes... Luxury at an Entry Level Price - 04/20/08 04:58 PM
Arizona has many new homes available.
Home Builders, both large and small, have noticed the valley's wild population growth patterns, and have set up stakes in this area.
It's quite the task to keep up with all the developments... but it's very much worth it, as many new homes are priced below current market.
It's a great time to buy as the competition is fierce and people are able to buy more-home for-less money.
With the nationwide housing bubble, not every developer will survive the downturn.
... which is a shame because many of these subdivisions are … (2 comments)
|
new homes: Top Builders in America - A Sortable List - 04/09/08 06:25 PM
Last September I posted a blog which presented a Sortable List of America's Top Home Builders of 2006 & 2007.
The blog reading community was underwhelmed.
Chalk it up to inexperience or a paucity of information- but the link to Builder Online's research was a big eye-opener for me.
For those who specialize in buyer representation, it's helpful to know the trajectory of America's builders.
You'll find all the large home builders as well as many of the smaller builders listed there.
More importantly you can sort them by units sold or Revenue.
Who were the big five of 2006... how … (11 comments)
|
new homes: Mesa Arizona Gains New Home Community- Pent Up Demand Exists - 03/15/08 07:32 PM
It's peculiar.
Mesa Arizona is one of the largest cities in America.
And it's sprawling.
Yet it's very short on new single family homes.
This is being addressed in north east Mesa as a builder is opening a master planned community with 18 different models and prices ranging from the mid $200s to the high $600s.
Pent up demand brought large crowds as several hundred showed up for the grand opening, which was held on Saturday. One of the agents targeted the actual count close at close to 900.
Interested in touring what Mesa has to offer?
Give me a … (0 comments)
|
new homes: Active Rain Success Story- First Time Home Buyers Found Me - 02/21/08 08:42 PM
Can I admit to favorites?
Here's the story.
First time home buyers used the net to find someone to help them.
I was a first time blogger.
I had posted new home buying tips on Active Rain.
They found me ... I give them advice about establishing credit.
They followed that advice and last night we went into contract.
They couldn't be more excited that they now own a home.
It was a first for both of us- each using the internet...
Each of us happy as can be that we'd found just the … (29 comments)
|
new homes: Is this a Good Deal? New Homes as an Investment - 02/05/08 05:34 PM
"Is this a good Deal?" The investor asked me as we looked at a model home. I replied that it is and then did the research to back it up. Here's a simple way to verify the "deal" status of a new home.The investment buyer will want to know two things: 1. What's the marketability for this home? 2. What are the rents for this type of home?Let's use a recent purchase as an example.The buyers looked to purchase a new home (after incentives) for $144K. They hoped to be cash-flow positive. Their target monthly payment for this home would … (1 comments)
|
new homes: A Guide to Purchasing Inventory Homes vs. New Builds - 01/28/08 07:51 PM
Buying a new home? You have two choices:
New Build- a home based on a basic floor plan that is built to your specifications. Inventory Home- a home either under construction or already finished. (a.k.a. "Spec Homes") Why purchase a new build?
You pick all the upgrades: Colors (within a builder's palette), Elevation (variable appearance), Fixtures, Cabinetry, Flooring, Countertops, and other extras such as landscaping and added features. Why not purchase a new build?
You lack time- new builds can take from four months to a year or more to complete. The Inventory home is more compelling. Why Purchase and … (2 comments)
|
new homes: They Ding You On The Upgrades - 01/17/08 01:27 PM
Who wants a cookie cutter house? It's like asking "Who likes urban sprawl?"
To avoid the cookie cutter look, builders offer amenities and upgrades. Amenities are unique attractions that are neighborhood specific. The upgrades pertain to the lot and the house. Optional upgrades allow the buyer to customize the exterior and interior to the buyer's liking. The builder could build a basic house... but they'd rather not. Upgrades allow the builder and the buyer the opportunity to differentiate. Though a new home subdivision may look very homogenized in the early phase of construction, the neighborhood is born through customization.
Yet … (5 comments)
|
new homes: SilverLinings: New Home Inventories Declining - 12/28/07 03:42 PM
What's a real estate investor to do?
Applying the "buy low sell high" rule to today's market is a simple task. One must glean the good news from the bad. Sometimes it's easy... as is the case in today's Wall Street Journal (Dec. 28, 2007, C1). The Title? "New Homes Sales Data May Contain a Bit of Hope".
The article contains the negative data: New home sales are down- lowest level in five years/50% below peak.
Positive data: The inventory level of new homes is declining. (Down to 520k from the high of 570K).
Depending on where you sit in … (1 comments)
|
new homes: Questions For The First Time Home Buyer - 09/24/07 12:17 AM
Every buyer is different. Each buyer has specific wants and needs but the first time home buyer will tend to have as many questions as requests. Here are the questions I usually seek to answer for the first time buyer:
Do you want a new or existing home? When do you need to move? What places do you need to be near? (School, Work, Family, etc.) After these questions are out of the way, the financial questions need to be answered:
What do you hope to spend per month? Do you know your credit score? Are you pre-approved? Do you have … (3 comments)
|
new homes: The Housing Giants - Sortable List of Builders - 09/12/07 07:03 PM
As a buyer's rep whose clients very often desire new builds over existing homes- I'm often asked who the biggest builders are. This is an ever changing list as no one builder "owns" the top seller designation. One builder may sell the most units while another builder garners more revenue. Which builder is biggest? Depends on how you define big.
Wouldn't it be great if you could go to a website and click on column headings that would automatically sort such things? Fortunately there is a link... it's from housingzone.com and here it is, the sortable stats page. Here you'll … (0 comments)
|
new homes: What is NewHomes.com ? - 09/10/07 08:31 PM
I'm an agent with New Homes Realty. Were a nationwide assemblage of real estate agents who represent buyers who are looking for new homes. We also help people find land and homes from the existing market. We don't do listings- we only help buyers. This helps us keep a narrow focus on the market.
We make it our duty to identify all the new home builders in our area. Our database is constantly being updates. People are able to search it for elevations and floor plans. We also accompany people to the model homes so that they may be able … (0 comments)
|
new homes: Here Come the Investors? The phone is ringing again, but it's not Mom & Pop - 09/10/07 02:41 PM
In Arizona, residential-investor interest went from tepid to warm to hot. This cycle began at the turn of the millennium and lasted deep into 2005. The past two years have seen a decline. That is until recently.
Why the renewed interest?
It appears that interest rates, after a chain of rising and capping, are poised for a drop. It's anyone's guess what the Fed will do in the coming days but the market is already responding to speculation that rates will fall. Lenders have begun to lower rates in anticipation. New Home builders are sitting on inventory. In some cases … (1 comments)
|
new homes: Arizona's Top 25 "Quick Close" New Homes- September Edition - 09/04/07 08:38 PM
New Home Builders have many homes on the market that are in some stage of readiness. These homes will close quicker than a pure new build because the construction process has already begun. These homes tend to come with added builder incentives. I have ranked them by cost per square foot.
For information about these new homes or others, please visit www.newhomesaz.com
Chuck Willman - 480.292.0600
… (1 comments)
|
new homes: Arizona- the Greater Phoenix Area Real Estate Market Overview - 09/04/07 02:57 PM
With the nationwide real estate market in flux I'm often asked how Phoenix is doing. Home prices have come down; existing homes remain on the market longer and large builders are weathering an earnings decline storm... resulting in their offering of significant incentives.
Still, there are areas of the country that appear to be outperforming. One of these areas is Maricopa County... which is the fastest growing county in the country. It includes these incorporated cities and towns: Avondale, Buckeye, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Fountain Hills, Gila Bend, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Guadalupe, Litchfield Park, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Phoenix, … (0 comments)
|
new homes: Builder's Lender vs Outside Lender - 09/03/07 06:31 PM
Across the nation new home builders are offering incentives... especially of the buyer uses the builder's lender. In many cases the builder's lender is owned or affiliated with the builder. There was a time when General Motors was losing money on cars- yet they were still profitable. That's because they owned GMAC financing. In other words, the loan was the real money maker.
If a lender knows that they're going to make money off of your loan over the next 30 years; or generate additional revenue by selling your new home loan, they may be more inclined to lower the price … (0 comments)
|
new homes: Builder Incentives- Paying the Agent More than the Buyer - 09/03/07 03:26 PM
Under certain circumstances a builder will offer higher than traditional commissions to buyer's agents.
Here are some of the circumstances under which a builder may offer such a premium:
Builder is approaching close-out. The builder may be ready to deploy the selling agents at a newer community. By offering higher incentives the builder is hoping to close the community sooner and put a quicker end to the associated expenses of running a community. Builder is experiencing slow sales. Higher commissions do bring in more agents. Buying agents need to ask themselves, "am I showing this home because it offers the … (0 comments)
|
new homes: Is the Buyer's Agent a Salesman? - 09/03/07 02:38 PM
When showing homes I'll often have a buyer asking me what my incentive is to sell them a house. I'll spend a little time discussing "fiduciary" explaining that my interests are in helping them find the best house for them. Also, when I'm acting as a buyer's agent, I don't consider myself a "salesman" in the tradional terms ... not that I have anything wrong with that term.
Here are a few ways I differentiate Seller's Agents and Buyer's Agents:
Seller's agents are responsible for providing informations that buyers will need to make an informed home purchase. They will often employ marketing and advertising terms and … (1 comments)
|
;)
;)
;)
