scottsdale: Not everyone is bad....
- 04/19/08 06:36 AM
Bankers, lenders, mortgage backed securities investors lend me your ears! Not everyone today is a credit risk. Just like not everyone in 2004 and 2005 was eligible to borrow. With crisis always comes knee jerk reactions. And in our current credit/financial crisis we have been seeing the lenders act as overly cautious as they were irresponsible just a few years ago. No loan seems to go smoothly these days. Even folks with 750 credit scores, six figure incomes, and steady employment are under the tightest scrutiny these days. Let me say this to the lenders. You're in the business to LEND MONEY! If you … (6 comments)
scottsdale: Customer Service in the Banking Industry and how it affects the Real Estate Market
- 03/27/08 03:38 AM
Now that short sales have become this year's black I'm sure that eveyone has experienced the joyful process of dealing with the loss mitigation departments of the various lenders. Which leads me to the title of my blog. And customer service. Or the lack thereof in the lending/bankiing industry. Since the advent of ATM's, voice automated phone services, and online banking, the concept of customer service in our banking industry has become an oxymoron. Ever try getting a hold of someone at your local branch, where YOUR money is deposited. Good luck getting through the maze of the automated voice system. Anyway, I … (3 comments)
scottsdale: The natural beauty of Phoenix, Arizona.
- 03/26/08 02:26 AM
As I was at the gym this morning I was looking out the huge glass plate window that faces east over looking one of the fairways of our golf course and I was once again struck by the beauty of our Arizona landscape. I live in Anthem, Arizona which is located at the northern most point of the Phoenix city limits. We are elevated off the valley floor. You would pass right by on your way to Sedona. Anyway, we have some of the most fantastic vistas. My business partner Ben Bailey has and will continue to post some terrific photos of the … (1 comments)
scottsdale: Phoenix Real Estate - Is greed good?
- 03/22/08 04:09 AM
We've all probably seen the Oliver Stone movie "Wall Street" from the late 80's, starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas. In the most famous scene from that movie Michael Douglas, portraying the corporate raider Gordon Gecko, makes a speach at shareholders board meeting in which he states, "greed, for lack of a better term, is good." For years I kinda of bought into that notion as it applies to our capitalist economic system. However, as I've seen first hand our economy go through several boom and bust periods I've come to realize that GREED is not good. Ambition is good, greed … (0 comments)
scottsdale: Anthem is in bloom...
- 03/21/08 03:09 AM
When I first proposed the idea of moving to the Phoenix area about four years ago to my wife one of her first comments was, "but they don't have any trees down there." I think she was thinking something along the lines of the Sahara desert. Well, upon our first visit to the area that notion was dispelled rather quickly. My parents live in a beautiful retirement community, Sun City Grand, which has four beautifully manicured golf courses, and in which the entire community is immaculately maintained. We then ventured up to what became our eventual home, Anthem Arizona. As stunning as … (0 comments)
scottsdale: Tuning in to Phoenix real estate...
- 03/20/08 03:38 AM
We as Realtors doing a lot of driving. Not all of it with clients in our car. As I'm sure most of you do, I listen to music while driving (sometimes motivational CD's as well). So I'm curious as to what others listen to while in their cars. I'm a rocker so while I'm tooling around the Phoenix area I'll usually switch back between a coupl of local stations in the area, KCDX 103.1 out of Florence, AZ or 98.7, The Peak. I have an eccletic taste in music, ranging from 80's new wave to classic rock, to classical music. I find these … (0 comments)
scottsdale: Where's that global warming Al Gore invented?
- 03/17/08 04:13 AM
I don't know about you folks, but here in Phoenix we're having a somewhat colder winter/early spring than usual. By this time (mid-March) we are usually seeing temperatures move up into the low 80's even 90's sometimes. Yesterday we had a high of about 60. With wind and rain that made it seem colder. I know the folks back east and the midwest will probably comment that 60 would be nice, but when you're used to mid 80's this time of year, 60 seems down right frigid. On another note, our office, Windermere Phoenix Northwest raised about $950 this weekend at Anthem Days (which … (0 comments)
scottsdale: The Arizona Lifestyle...
- 03/14/08 11:57 AM
In some of my previous posts I've mentioned the weather here in Arizona and the lifestyle it affords us. But I don't know if the rest of the country really understands what I am saying because Arizona does a terrible job of marketing itself. When most people think of Arizona they think Grand Canyon, desert, hot, and maybe Scottsdale. But there's far more to it here than that. Culturally Phoenix has a ways to go before it will rival New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Chicago. But if you enjoy open spaces, beautiful natural scenery, a more relaxed lifestyle and the ability … (0 comments)
scottsdale: Arggghhhhh! Weeeeeds!
- 03/08/08 02:51 AM
One of the nasty little secrets they don't tell you about Arizona is, you do get weeds. (Read more about weeds) And well, they grow like weeds. Every winter after we get some heavy rains you count on having weeds pop up immediately afterwards once the weather begins to warm up. It's amazing how quickly and how plentiful they grow. When I drive around my community here in Anthem I can see them spring up almost within hours after a heavy rain. With the rock desert landscapes most of us prefer to have here it is nearly impossible to pull them … (2 comments)
scottsdale: Golf in Arizona...
- 03/07/08 10:41 AM
There are more golf courses in Maricopa County (Phoenix, Scottsdale, etc.) than they're are McDonalds. Next to Florida, Arizona is a golfer's haven. There are a tremendous number of world class golf resorts here and just as many or more golf course communities. Of course the winter months are the high season when the weather is nice, but the summertime is not bad either. If you get out early enough you'll avoid the midday heat and be able to golf at some of the world's most beautiful and prestige courses for a fraction of the price of the peak season. For more … (0 comments)
scottsdale: Self fulfilling prophecies...
- 03/04/08 03:41 AM
Much is made of the media's impact on the public's opinions and actions. Most seems to be true. Approximately every seven to eight years our economy goes through a boom/bust cycle. Obviously we are now in bust mode. 2000/01 saw the dot com crash and the economic impact of the 9/11 attacks. Before that it was the Asian currency crisis of 1994, before that it was the S&L crisis of 1987/88, before that the Iran hostage crisis which sent oil prices through the roof and economy in the tank, and I can go on and on. One thing I've noticed through the years … (3 comments)
scottsdale: Bank repos and reality...
- 03/03/08 02:03 AM
Over the past several months my business partner and I have shown several buyers bank repossed homes. I think we all need to educate our clients on the prospects of bank owned properties. Now don't get me wrong, I have come across a few that were in good condition and had some nice upgrades. But, on average, the bank repos tend to be in some state of physical distress. We need to inform our buyers of this. Many of my buyers have had a notion in their heads that they are going to get the Taj Mahal for half the price. … (4 comments)
scottsdale: Presidential Election's Effect on Real Estate Market
- 03/02/08 12:12 AM
Over the past several months I've heard pundits, "real estate experts", and even our own broker proclaim that real estate buyer's will be sitting on the sidelines this year to see who is elected president. And many of them have proclaimed that every election year is a slow year for real estate. I've questioned the validity of those comments and harken back to the 2004 election year. One of the hottest years in real estate ever. Many economists have done studies of the impact of a president on our general economy. They have determined that the President's impact on the economy is generally negligible. As little … (1 comments)
scottsdale: Weather is nice, wish you were here.
- 02/29/08 01:04 AM
When you think of Phoenix, you think HOT! But, that's only for 3, maybe 4 months out of the year. The rest of the time we enjoy very nice, sunny, mild weather. Yesterday it was 80 degrees, on February 28th. After some of the coldest winters in recent history some of you from the midwest, east coast, and northwest might be salivating at 80 degree weather in February. That's what makes Phoenix real estate so attractive. Yes, it gets to 113 degrees in the dead of summer. But, having traveled to Florida, and Jamaica, New York during the summer, and even … (5 comments)
scottsdale: The boys of summer are back...
- 02/28/08 01:58 AM
Being a huge baseball fan I always get excited this time of year. Living in Arizona makes it that much better, since the majority of the big league clubs now come to Arizona for Spring Training. Every year we get fans from all across the country making their pilgrimage to the Phoenix area. Fans of teams like the Giants (me), A's, Cubs, Royals, Rangers, Mariners, Padres, Angels, and now the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, make spring training an annual right of passage. Many of these fans either own second homes down here or rent homes for a few weeks during spring … (5 comments)
scottsdale: Update on the Phoenix real estate market...
- 02/27/08 10:09 AM
Phoenix was one of the first metropolitan areas to slip into this current real estate slump, and historically we tend to be one of the first out of such downturns. At the peak of the market there was a lot of speculation in the Valley of the Sun. Some estimates say as many as 25% of the homes sold here in the Phoenix metropolitan area were investment properties bought by out of state owners. Hence the problem we have now in our market. Many of the owners are now upside down on their homes and have negative cash flow on those … (0 comments)
Bankers, lenders, mortgage backed securities investors lend me your ears! Not everyone today is a credit risk. Just like not everyone in 2004 and 2005 was eligible to borrow.
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