Calling All Apartment Dwellers

Very rarely do all factors converge to make an ideal situation for buying a home.  But, it has happened this month.  The top three factors that make it the best time to buy your first home are:

1.   The Federal Government is offering YOU $8000 to Buy a Home in 2009.

No kidding!  First Time home buyers (of those of you who have not owned a home in 3 or more years) qualify.  It is a $8000 or 10% of the value of the home in the form of a Tax Credit.  This is NOT a tax deduction.  A Tax Credit is claimed on your tax return and reduces your tax liability.  If you have more credit than you owe in taxes, you will receive a Refund Check.  How cool is that?  Just stay in the house for three years and you never have to pay back a dime.

 

2.  Interest Rates are at an amazing 4.875% for a 30 year fixed rate loan.  Rates haven’t been this low in years.  This means your monthly payment will be less than you would think.  Good Deal!

 

3.  Arizona Home Prices are incredibly low right now.  Between the rash of foreclosures and short sales along with bank owned properties, the chances of you finding a house at a bargain price on a wonderful home are great.  If you are willing to look in outlying areas, the number of properties to chose from quadruples.

 

First time home buyers have never had so many reasons to buy.  If you’ve been thinking about buying but have been waiting to see what the market would do, it’s time to act.  Any of these three factors may change this year, but the change may not be in favor of the new homebuyer. 

 

 

Home For Sale 3 bed /2 bath in Gilbert, Arizona USA. Perfect ranch style home on a quiet cul-de-sac street with park and walking paths. This property boasts a two car garage, covered patio and desert landscaping. All appliances are included in this well-maintained home. Neutral decor is found throughout the home. Vaulted ceilings, vertical blinds and ceiling fans work together to make this home ready for you to unpack. The large back yard is more than big enough for a built-in pool. The low maintenance landscaping will appeal to families that wish to lock and go. This home is move-in ready. It is convenient to shopping, restaurants, and less than 30 minutes to the Sky Harbor Airport.

 

 

With so many homes on the market, how will your home ever sell?  Here are the Top 9 Secrets to Selling Your Home Fast:

1. Your home will need to be priced very competitively. Unfortunately, yourcompetition includes Short Sales and Bank Owned Properties.  Keep this in mind, your buyers will.
2. Massive Internet Exposure - most buyers (>85%) start their home shopping online.  Your home has to be seen!
3. Photos, photos, photos will help your home to show it's best side online. (Professional quality pics are best)
4. Offer higher commission to Buyer's Broker - will move your home to the top of a showings list.  Agents create lists of properties to show their clients, to make sure your home will always be shown, offer more commission to these buyer brokers. 
5. Curb Appeal - Clean up, especially the front door area, paint is inexpensive so use it liberally.  You want the buyers to actually come in the home, not just drive by.
6. Appeal to the senses - The first sense activated upon entering your home is Smell.  If you have pets, ask your Realtor for an honest opinion about the scent of your home.  Light - Open all of the curtains, blinds, drapes, shades etc... Clean the windows inside and out.  Music - studies have shown the psychological effects music has on consumers.  Use this info to influence potential buyers.  Have some mellow music playing as a backdrop. 
7. Staging - Your Realtor should be able to help you with staging your home to show off it's best points.  If not, consider consulting a professional stager, they can make your house very inviting. Simple touches like: table settings, flower arrangements, snacks for visitors, bathroom towels etc... can work wonders.  (Always have toilet seats down, Always!)
8. Become more flexible with showings - Allow a Lockbox to be used, Don't limit the times of showings, don't be present during showings (take a walk around the block).
9. Choose a Realtor who is responsive and returns your calls promptly.  Your Realtor should be Internet savvy in order to draw as much attention to your home as possible.  Make sure you like your Realtor, as you will be talking to them daily.  You do not want to be pressured by a pushy agent.  Your Realtor should have many connections that you can use for Home Inspections, Termite Inspectors, Pool Inspectors, Stagers, Title Companies, Mortgage Brokers, Movers, Landscapers, Painters etc...

Following these tips will make sure your home is seen by prospective buyers and will give you a leg up on the other properties you are competing against. 

When you decide to sell your home, please contact me and let's get started!

My son came home from work yesterday and was going on and on about this new Entrepreneurial website called Kiva.  He thought it was genius, pure genius. (He's 19).  He explained that it allows individuals to make loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries which they can use to start up or continue their small businesses.  I entered my car today and switched on the XM Satellite radio and there on the NPR station was an interview being played with Matt Flannery, Co-founder of Kiva.  Hmmm, coincidence or not?

Kevin along with wife, Jessica, fought against a lot of naysayers in 2005 to get his site started. Friends said it just wouldn't work.  An attorney told him it was illegal to give money to people in third world countries and then have them mail their loan payment back. So, Kevin researched the case law and policy on this topic, but could not find anything illegal about it.  Venture capitalists did not see how anyone could make enough money on this type of deal.  Foundations would not support the idea because it did not appear to be charity but instead, a type of commerce.  Kevin and Jessica went ahead with their plans for the site.

Today, Kiva.org is one of the hottest sites on the web.  When you visit, you can look up struggling business owners around the world and see their pictures.  They receive recommendations by other Kiva uses.  You are able to read their profile and decide if their business is something you would like to support.  A tally shows how much money they need and how much they have received to date.  You can start teams among your friends/family to give as a group.  Team tallies are also displayed on the site. 

Some loaners have even gone as far as visiting the Kiva entrepreneurs they have loaned money to.  The site has been featured in every major magazine and many news shows. (Where have I been?)  This site is hot because it lets a loaner feel like they are really helping a specific person. You actually feel like you are forging a connection with someone in Senegal, Peru, or the Ukraine. For example, Justina, Ayacucho, Peru is 48 years old and married with five children. She sells potatoes from a stand in the Las Americas market, she also travels to regional fairs to sell clothing and buy grains. She is requesting a loan of $275 to buy more potatoes. As of today she has received $75.  You can see her picture on line.  She is just one of thousands of individuals affiliated with the site.  You do not get this same kind of feeling when you donate to a big charity. You just don't.

Check out the site: http://kiva.org  This is an amazing "Feel Good" site.  You'll be talking about it, too.  Very cool!

 

Join me in welcoming our newest member, Yvonne Carter to our Active Rain community.  Yvonne is currently working with Hohokam Real Estate and Land Company Scottsdale, AZ 85262.  She is an experienced agent working in Scottsdale and Northern Arizona. Yvonne works with her husband, Ed, who has many years of experience in Real Estate.  Together they make an exceptional team that can take care of all of your residential real estate needs.

I specialize in Luxury Properties in the Phoenix Area.  View my ad for three of these stunning homes in the current issue of Luxury Home Magazine (Nov/Dec 2008 issue).

This custom "Smart House" was built for today's busy family. Designed with Crestron Home Automation, which allows you to control audio, lighting, climate, pool, water features, spa, and security from the touch screen panel or remotely from your laptop. This 4580 SF home boasts a round greatroom with soaring 25 foot ceiling. 5 bedrooms each with its own private bathroom. For recorded information call 1-800-291-8017 x 1200. Call for pricing.

This 4200 square

feet, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom custom horse property was designed for entertaining. Two master suites, gourmet kitchen, travertine flooring and top of the line appliances add to the attraction of this property. With over 2 acres of panoramic views the biggest decision will be where to locate the horse stable. For recorded information call 1-800-291-8017 x 1400. Call for pricing.

 

At nearly 6000 square feet, this fully furnished Santa Fe style home has been upgraded with the finest of details. Enjoy the Southwestern style of this 6 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom home featuring dramatic touches. Saltillo tile, gourmet kitchen, library, home gym, multiple covered flagstone patios, heated pool, kiva, outdoor kitchen and views. For recorded information call 1-800-291-8017 x 1300. Call for pricing.

 www.HomeSweetAzHome.com

 

This Professionally upgraded and decorated home is conveniently located at Dobson and Warner, one mile from the 101.  This 2 bed/2bath home boasts a gourmet kitchen replete with granite counters, stylish lighting, stainless appliances and refinished cabinetry.  The greatroom is graced with a vaulted ceiling, fireplace and custom tile.  A private patio is perfect for a morning retreat. This home is perfect for young professionals or owners who wish to lock and go.  Contact: Christine Loschiavo @ 480.628.0496 to schedule a tour.

www.HomeSweetAzHome.com

Gina is facing foreclosure. But it seems this is only one of the many problems she has right now.  She has been laid off from her administrative position, her son's spring semester tuition is due, her health care benefits are running out at the end of the month and her ex is dating again.  Feeling the weight of these burdens, she was encouraged by the official looking letter from a Prize agency which arrived in the mail.  Gina always enters contests because she feels her luck will have to turn sooner or later.  She has not really won anything but a watch at a bazaar once, but she keeps hoping. 

So she tore open the letter on her way back from the mailbox.  Inside was a prize notice with a Cashier's check for $500.00.  The notice stated that she had won a lottery for a Special Olympics fundraiser that was held the previous week.  The enclosed check came out of the winnings and would cover the cost of the administrative fees that needed to be paid in order to claim the prize.  Gina was thrilled.  She took the check to the bank and deposited it.  She felt that things were looking up for her.  The letter also stated that she provide her bank account information so that the remainder of the prize money could be wired directly in to her account.  The money would be wired just as soon as she sent the administrative fees required to the lottery address ($495.00).  Gina wrote out a check for the stated fees and mailed it out that day.  And then she waited for her prize money to be wired in.

And she waited.  She checked her online balance several times a day, excited about seeing the wired funds being deposited into her account.  After one week, she still did not have the funds.  She did however have a message from her bank that the Certified Check was not good and had bounced.  The check she wrote to cover the administrative costs of the lottery had been cashed.  Her bank account was down $495.00.  Realization finally dawned on her.  She had been scammed.

Gina wants others to know how this happened to her.  She is an intelligent woman in a bad situation.  She thinks that if her whole life had not been in such a shambles, she would have thought this through and realized that it was not for real.  There was no lottery, no administrative costs and no prize money.  She wants others to know that these scammers prey on people going through rough times.  They may have obtained her information from the foreclosure records.  She does not know.

 Red Flags to watch for:

1. Requests for bank account information so that your prize money can be deposited directly into your account.
2. If you receive a check as part of a prize notification, assume it is counterfeit.  If you deposit it, wait until the check clears your bank account before drawing against it.
3. Requests to mail money to cover administrative fees involved in processing our winnings.  A legitimate lottery would deduct such expenses from your winnings.

 www.HomeSweetAzHome.com

 

Of course I have heard about these phony prize notifications being generated from Nigeria.  But when I received a notice from Italy that a relative with my last name had died and left me an inheritance, I was intrigued.  They had my last name and email correct.  I guess it was possible I had a long lost relative named Giuseppina Loschiavo, even though I had never heard of her.  The letter told me I had been left a large sum of money and that all I had to do was contact the sender. Visions of vacations in my own Italian villa floated through my mind. The sender's return email looked official, like some sort of law office in Florence.  When I showed the email to my family, they sadly shook their heads.  Don't be take in, they told me.  It's a scam.

 

      Darn! Good-bye vacation villa.

 

 

Phony lottery, sweepstakes and inheritance notification are among the most successful scams in history.  We can thank the World Wide Web for this success.  Consumers receive a notice that they have won a lottery, prize or have money from a deceased relative waiting for them.  Usually, the consumer has never heard of the contest or relative.  But, it sounds plausible.  Just maybe it's true.  That thinking is what the scammers are counting on.

 In the long lost relative scam, the scheme requires a small payment for ‘processing' or ‘taxes' or ‘conversion of currency'.  The writer usually claims to hold a high-ranking position.  The foreign ‘lawyers' advise the heir to keep the inheritance a secret to protect the money from the Internal Revenue Service.  They then request bank account information to facilitate sending the alleged money and may ask for a ‘good faith' payment up front.  The ultimate goal is to obtain these advance fees and the personal financial information is a bonus to these scammers.

Chances are if you have never heard about a relative overseas, they don't exist.  Even if you have unknown relatives, the chances of them wanting to leave YOU an inheritance are slim to none.  If you receive one of these emails or letters, delete or shred it as fast as you can. 

 Red Flags to watch for:

1. Beware of request to wire or mail money to cover administrative fees, taxes or legal fees involved in processing ‘your winnings' or ‘your inheritance'.
2. Beware of any attempt to prod or threaten you into sending money immediately or the money will be lost.
3. Beware of requests for bank account information so your prize/money can be deposited directly into your account.
4. If you have lost money, report it at once.  Mail victims should contact the US Postal Service. Others should contact their state Attorney General's office. 
5. Once you have fallen victim to one scam, you will most definitely be targeted for future scams.

www.HomeSweetAzHome.com

Paul and Sharon of Chandler, Arizona, were in a tight spot.  Paul, an engineer, had been laid off from his job at a Semi-conductor plant in May.  Sharon, a stay-at-home mother of three, thought she was used to the ups and downs of the job market in his field.  They were in the habit of saving as much as they could for these periods when Paul was looking for work.  But, this lay off had come at a very difficult point. 

They had purchased their ‘dream home' eighteen months ago, in a newly constructed planned community.  They had decided to use a huge chunk of their savings towards the down payment and the upgrades they really wanted.  Paul had been sure his job was stable for a few years.  They didn't think it was going to be a big risk to put their savings towards the house.  The lay-off caught the family off guard. 

By October, they had missed three mortgage payments.  They received a notice from the bank that they were going to be foreclosed upon.  As Sharon explains, "We were just panic stricken.  We knew we were behind but Paul was interviewing.  He was going to get a job very soon.  We didn't want to lose the house.  The kids like the school and we have made friends here". 

The received a call from a "Mortgage Rescue" company.  The caller, Brad, told Sharon that his company would be able to help her to keep their home.  Brad said they had helped many homeowners in the area and would be able to arrange for Paul and Sharon to work things out with the mortgage company.  Sharon recalls, "I was very excited.  I asked him for references, even.  He gave me two names.  This guy was really nice and so helpful.  He said his company was helping lots of people in Chandler". 

As Brad explained the program, his company would lend Paul and Sharon money to make the back-payments on their mortgage.   They would then make the monthly payments to his company that included the original mortgage payment plus a payment on the new loan (at 21% interest).  Sharon and Paul would sign a deed transferring the property to the rescue company, temporarily, so that the rescue company could work with the mortgage company to save the home from foreclosure. Brad told her that once Paul secured a job and they had regular income, they would pay off the new loan and the deed would be transferred back.    Sharon was thrilled that she had possibly found a way out of the mess they were in. 

Paul, however, was skeptical.  He did not like the idea of a new loan or the requirement to sign over the deed to the house.  He did some internet investigating.  His search led him to the county District Attorney's office which had information about this fraudulent method of operation.  The plan which Brad had outlined to Sharon was a scheme designed to take their home and steal any equity they may have had. 

When this scheme plays out, the homeowner signs over the deed to their home which gives the rescue company ownership.  The former homeowner has to pay back the rescue company for "bailing' them out.  This is always at an exorbitant interest rate.  The homeowner ends up renting their former home.  If the homeowner fails to make rent payments on time, the rescue company evicts the former owner.  All rights and equity in the home are lost and go to the rescue company.  Often times the rescue company does not pay the mortgage at all, but keeps all of the money paid to them. 

Paul and Sharon decided not to accept Brad's offer of help.  They have chosen to go through the foreclosure proceedings and are now looking for an apartment.  Bad luck, but it could have been worse for them had taken Brad's claims at face value.  They may have not only lost their home but also the money paid to the fraudulent company.

Be Careful.  These Rescue Rip-Offs are designed to take your home and steal any equity you have built up.  Look for these Red Flags:

·         The Rescue Company wants you to sign over the Deed of your home so it can work with your mortgage company to "save" your home from foreclosure.

·         The Rescue Company tells you to sign a Deed transferring your home to them and promises that once you have caught up with the past due mortgage payments your home will be transferred back to you.

·         You are required to pay a Service Fee to locate a lender or buyer for your home.

 

For more information: www.homesweetazhome.com