This is an update from the association of Realtors sent out today (2-24-09):

A couple with a 13-year-old boy asked to look at an occupied home for their parents who live in San Diego.  They gave the impression they were very interested in the home.  In the process, the boy used the bathroom.  After further discussion with the Realtor, the sellers determined their medication was missing.  The couple was driving a white pick-up truck with no license plate; however, it did have a paper registration. They were possibly of middle-eastern origin.  The woman and boy were heavy set.

This report is very similar to the one received by the association in December 2008.  There is a male, approximately 40 years old, attending open houses of occupied homes in Sun City. His mission is to acquire prescription drugs from bathrooms. Reportedly, he drives a newer model pickup truck.

Realtors should advise their clients and sellers should be aware to place their medication(s) in secure places and pay attention to the where-a-bouts of open house guests.

If you feel there is risk while showing listings, please call the Sheriff's office or the local police. Any additional information you can share with them will be beneficial in catching them. 

From the National Association of Realtors:  7 Steps to Preparing for an Open House

1.    Hire a cleaning service. A spotlessly clean home is essential; dirt will turn off a prospect faster than anything.

2.    Pay attention to the outdoors. Mow your lawn, and be sure toys and yard equipment are put away.

3.    Serve cookies, coffee, and soft drinks. It creates a welcoming touch. But be sure the kitchen has been cleaned up; use disposable cups so the sink doesn't fill up.

4.    Lock up your valuables, jewelry, and money. It's impossible to watch everyone all the time.

5.    Turn on all the lights. Even in the daytime, incandescent lights add sparkle.

6.    Send your pets to a neighbor or take them outside. If that's not possible, crate them or confine them to one room (a basement or bath), and let the salesperson know where to find them.

7.    Sellers, when represented by a Realtor, leave. It's awkward for prospective buyers to look in your closets and express their opinions of your home with you there.

Do you know about these free services?  If not, I hope you find them helpful!  Have fun!!!!

-    Great "Seller" Resource!  Buyer Hunt - http://www.buyerhunt.com/home?  It's free.  They call it "real estate in reverse."  Instead of sellers telling buyers what they have to sell, buyers tell sellers what they want to buy.  Nice concept...check it out!

-    You can create a free virtual tour at http://picasa.google.com/ - all you need is a google account.  Free.

-    AND, if you're registered on Facebook, you can add a simple button to Picasa and upload your photos straight to Facebook!  Just think you can easily add your listing photos to your Facebook business account with a click of a button!  Free!  http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2483740875&b

If you know of any others, please feel free to share!

When it comes to closing escrow, we all want to ensure that all loose ends are wrapped up and that things run smoothly.  There has been some confusion with regards to banks issuing Official Checks instead of Cashier's Checks.  Banks have been telling customers that they are one in the same and they are not.

SAME DAY AVAILABILITY

.  Cash (Special requirements may need to be met if necessary to accept cash)

.  Electronic Transfer

NEXT DAY AVAILABILITY

.  Official Checks (Must be in state drawn on FDIC Insured Institution

.  Cashier's, Certified and Teller's Checks

.  US Treasury Checks

.  Postal Money orders (other money orders see below)

.  Federal Reserve, Federal Credit Union &

.  Federal Home Loan Bank Checks

- State and Local Government Checks - Must be In-State

2ND DAY AVAILABILITY

.  Other Checks - Personal/Corporate/Credit Union/Money

.  Market/Travelers Checks - Must be local (See below)

5TH DAY AVAILABILITY

.  Official Checks - Out of state &/or Not drawn on an FDIC Insured Institution

.  Money Orders (Except Postal Money Orders - see above)

.  State & Local Government Checks - Non Local

.  Other Checks - Personal/corporate/Credit Union/Money

.  Market/Travelers Checks - Non Local/Other

NOTE - Because of the length of time it takes to receive notice from the banks on NSF and returned items, regardless of the information shown here, if a personal check was deposited and 10 days have not elapsed since the funds ere deposited, telephone verification from the customer's bank that the check has been paid is required.

ACTUAL GUIDELINES

CASHIER'S CHECKS are the preferred type of check accepted for closing funds to close "next day".

An Official Check drawn from an out-of-state bank cannot be accepted as "Good Funds" for "next day" closings per Arizona law and if issued, could delay the close of your escrow.

If your bank cannot issue a cashier's check, please call the escrow office for wiring instructions.

Along with reports of our great year-round weather in the Valley of the Sun, often come news reports of accidental deaths by drowning. This makes water safety a high priority for Arizonans where the potential for disaster from swimming pool drownings exists all year long.

On average, nearly 90 people die from drowning in Arizona each year with the majority of those deaths happening between April and August. This comes as no surprise since Arizona summers are known for outdoor recreation including swimming and boating.

Although they make up only 20% of the number of total drowning deaths in Arizona according to the Arizona Department of Health Services, news reports usually center on children who have drowned in their family's or a friend's backyard swimming pool. Most of them, about 75%, were being supervised around water by at least one adult and were out of the sight of those adults for 5 minutes or less.

While less than half of all drowning deaths in the state involve swimming pool accidents, owners of swimming pools must adhere to stringent state and local building codes.

However, the best way to prevent swimming pool drownings is by following simple water safety procedures including these from the National Safety Council:

·          Never swim alone.

·          Never leave a child alone near water. If you must leave, take your child with you.

·          Enroll children over age three in swimming lessons taught by qualified instructors.

In addition to water safety relating to swimming pools, you must be aware of other drowning dangers, especially for children, in and around your home. These include bathtubs, decorative ponds, and even mop buckets. It only takes 2 inches of water and a couple of minutes for a small child to drown.

Carelessness while participating in water sports, including boating, tubing, and piloting personal watercraft, contributes to many drowning deaths in Arizona. Following these water safety tips from the National Safety Council can help prevent such tragedies:

·          Always use approved personal flotation devices (life jackets). Don't jump or dive into unknown bodies of water.

·          Always have a first-aid kit and emergency phone contacts handy.

·          Never consume alcohol when operating a boat or other watercraft.

Arizona is a wonderland for outdoor recreation throughout the year. It's also well known for being consistently above the national average for drowning deaths. Water safety is serious business. Following these few simple rules can keep your outdoor activities fun, and your friends and family safe for many summers to come.

The monthly ASU Realty Studies (as reported by the Arizona Republic) listed 5,585 sales in April 2008 compared with 4,855 sales in April 2007. According to the report, valley-wide, the median home price decreased from $265,000 in April 2007 to $210,000. This is the lowest median price since February 2005 when it was $200,000; the lower median sale price has contributed to the turnaround, and it is cautioned that the recent increase in resale numbers does not necessarily indicate the housing market is recovering.

This is only one month's figures and arguments on whether the housing market is recovering can be made on both sides. Resale figures include publicly recorded foreclosure sales, which helped drive down the median price as the valley's high foreclosure rate continues. Across the valley, home-resale transactions for March and April totaled 9,920 sales down from 10,245 sales in the same two-month period in 2007. The current year-to-date total is 16,975 sales, compared with 19,045 sales in January-April 2007.

West Valley communities saw the biggest percent gains in home-resale activity, with relatively high foreclosure rates driving April median prices down more than 24 percent from the previous April. For example, sales in Avondale more than doubled from 90 in April 2007 to 190 a year later, while the median price fell from $233,980 to $176,000, the report shows.

See http/www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0514biz-resales0514.html

CNNMoney.com reports that single-family home prices dropped 7.7% in the first quarter in the largest year-over-year decline since the National Association of Realtors began reporting prices in 1982.

The median sales price fell to $196,300, down 4.8% compared with the last three months of 2007. Hurting home prices were big rises in foreclosure rates over the past 12 months which threaten to get even worse.  Delinquencies more than doubled over that time and more than 155,000 lost their homes in bank repossessions during the first three months of the year. With many adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) poised to reset this year to higher interest rates, defaults could go even higher. All that foreclosure activity added to the glut of homes on the market. The total inventory has risen to an average of 10 months worth of unsold homes. In addition, a record number - 2.9 million - of vacant homes are up for sale, according to the Census Bureau. The big inventory has led to aggressive price slashing and increased incentives by builders looking to sell homes. They've also cut way back on housing starts, which are at a 17-year low. The article gives the median price for homes in the first quarter of 2008 and the change from a year ago.

Studies report that foreclosed properties sell for an average of 20% less than comparable properties that have not been foreclosed on.

As for the bubble markets that have already lost 30% of their values, it is predicted that the declines are not over. It is expected to drop another 20% or so through February 2009. 

(First Published: May 13, 2008)

NAR 1st quarter 2008 home prices

Single-family Homes

Apartment Condo-Coops

Total Home Sales

Note1: California prices provided by the California Association of REALTORS®
*All areas are metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget as of 2004.
** Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH - Data from New Hampshire not available
They include the named central city and surrounding areas. N/A Not Available p Preliminary r Revised
©2008 National Association of REALTORS® © 2008 National Association of REALTORS®

For more information, see

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/12/real_estate/Q12008_home_prices/index.htm?postversion=2008051314

CNNMoney.com reports that a combination of the economic slowdown and tighter credit appears to be putting the brakes on nonresidential projects. Even if work continues on those projects already underway, there are signs that the pipeline of new construction is about to dry up. A slowdown in the entire construction market would be bad news for the economy. Investment in nonresidential buildings added an average of $250 billion to the economy every year since 1990. A downturn is also expected to lead to the loss of many well-paying jobs in the months ahead.

Economists say a fall-off in nonresidential construction in the face of an economic slowdown shouldn't be a surprise. "Developers are a little nervous about getting enough rent, getting enough tenants so they're pulling back," said Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data. David Seiders, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, said problems in the residential mortgage market seem to have spread to the nonresidential construction sector as well even though there hasn't been a corresponding problem with rising defaults on those types of loans. He points out that the Federal Reserve's latest loan officer survey showed that tightening of credit in commercial real estate.

For detailed information, see

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/16/news/economy/nonresidential_construction/index.htm?postversion=2008051909

There has been a lot of confusion between ASU's April monthly sales report and one released by ARMLS on Monday according to a recent Arizona Republic article.  The report, compiled each month on home-resale transactions in Maricopa County, reported that home resales were up 15 percent compared with the same month in 2007, the first year-over-year increase since July 2005.

That conflicts with a report released by the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service indicating a 12 percent decrease in home sales in the same period. The reason is ASU's report does not differentiate between "trustee sales," in which banks take over properties from borrowers in default, and routine home resales. More than one-third of the sales reported for April, or 2,025 of the 5,585 total, were trustee sales. The listing service includes new-home sales, some pending-sale transactions and sales in certain areas of Pinal County. But since January, ASU has been painting a rosier picture, reporting higher sales figures than the listing service for each of the year's first three months.

ASU agrees that trustee sales should not be lumped in with routine resales and would be reported separately from now on.

See http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0520biz-homesales0520.html

Voters at azcentral.com, according to the The Arizona Republic, have chosen ARROWHEAD as the valley's best neighborhood. "Arrowhead" is loosely used to identify a region of northern Glendale into Peoria. But the name was branded with Arrowhead Ranch, a former citrus ranch on about 5,000 acres that was transformed in the 1980s into a posh master-planned community in north Glendale.

Arrowhead won over competition from Phoenix's swanky Biltmore neighborhood and its historic Willo district. It also topped Scottsdale's DC and McCormick ranches.

Today, the development, divided into subdivisions, is at 95 percent build-out. Arrowhead Country Club's golf course and the course at Legends at Arrowhead are immaculate. And, Loop 101 allows residents to access all points of the Valley with greater ease.

A 2001 survey by Nielsen's Claritas, a San Diego market-research company, found that the area's 85308 ZIP code had more millionaires than any other in the Valley.

For more information, see http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/2008/05/17/20080517gl-arrowhead0517-ON.html