Dwight Miller's (realtordwight) Blog

Higley Groves Homes for Sale

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:24:33 -0700

Here's Higley Groves Homes for Sale. I live in Higley Groves and help homeowners buy and sell homes in the area. Its tree-lined streets and large grassy areas give it a midwest feel and this neighborhood is one-of-a-kind. For more information on the neighborhood go to www.HigleyGrovesGilbertAZ.com and go here to see the Higley Groves video tour. Prices continue to rise driven by a lack of inventory and fantastic mortgage rates. I must admit it feels like 2005 again, kind of scary, but it’s a great time to build equity or sell your home. On the west side of Higley Rd in Higley Groves West, there’s only 1 home still on the market. 6 homes are under contract and pending and 2 homes have closed in the last 60 days. Average closed sales price is $122.70 per sq. ft. but under contract list prices are as high as $146 per square foot. On the east side of Higley Rd there’s 5 homes still on the market. 5 homes are under contract and pending and 14 homes have closed in the last 60 days. Average closed sales price is $127.53 per square foot with a high of $141 per square foot. Under contract list prices average $125 per square foot with a high of $131.64. The average list price of the 5 active homes is over $134 per square foot, which may partially explain why they haven’t sold yet. Please contact Dwight Miller with DPR Realty at (480)694-1285 with any question about homes in Higley Groves and the Gilbert area. You can also find me at www.HigleyGrovesGilbertAZ.com.

Not Top 5 on Google? Here's a New Opportunity to be Top 5 on Five4Now

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:19:43 -0700

With everything going mobile the writing is on the wall for the traditional PC and laptop. Will you ever buy another PC? This will change how people will find you and your business! I've learned in real estate that change equals opportunity. To see what I'm talking about you have to check out this new mobile app that just launched a few days ago called Five4Now. You can go to five4now.com or better yet download the free app in the App Store by typing "five 4 now" and hitting search. The app will be available on Android in 2-3 weeks. Five4now gives the user up to 5 great businesses in your area in the business category you've searched in literally about 5 seconds, which is just 2 or 3 touches in most cases. When you open the app you see your location on a map, you hit the search button, select the category you want like "professional", "real estate", "residential" and voila there will be up to 5 realtors that display on the map. You can click each icon to see their name, address and phone number and with one more touch you can call them or get directions to their office. In a couple weeks you will also be able to click a link to their website or book an appointment for today or tomorrow, all through the app. It is so easy, so simple, no Google, no spam, no ads, and no clicking through multiple pages. Every business on the app has to maintain their customer rating or they get booted off, ensuring that the businesses deliver quality products and services. So here's the opportunity. You have to sign up to be on the five4now app. The app is called five4now because they only allow up to 5 businesses to advertise in each category. All you have to do to stay one of the 5 businesses is maintain your customer rating above 7 out of 10 and honor your monthly subscription. So if and when this app takes off, you will be locked in as 1 of 5 great businesses in your area. The pricing is based on population in the zip codes you choose and is very reasonable compared to costs of other local advertising. Since the app is brand new there's probably not going to be 5 people in your area signed up in your category so that's even better. If you already have a mobile website this would be a great tie-in as well. I've heard they're tweaking a few quirks since launching this week. And the Droid version is a few weeks away as well as some additional functionality like appointment scheduling, URL links and customer ratings. But with a little vision you can see how simple and fast the app is and how it may be used several times a month unlike a lot of other niche apps. I also think it could be amazing when traveling, like having a concierge in your pocket wherever you go. I've signed up in my area (signup link is currently on the login page). Please check it out and let me know what you think, and if you know of any similar apps out there. Again, the site is five4now.com and you can download the free app in the App Store by typing "five 4 now" and hitting search. The app will be available on Android in 2-3 weeks.

Higley Groves Homes for Sale Update

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:18:43 -0700

The pace of home sales in Gilbert, Arizona, and Higley Groves where I live seems to have slowed down a bit in July. This is the normal summer trend as July is almost always slower than the previous few months. Having grown up in Arizona I think this is due to the 4th of July holiday and the fact that half the population seems to go on vacation in July before school starts. I will break down the MLS activity between Higley Groves and Higley Groves West. Aren't familiar with Higley Groves? Check out this Higly Groves neighborhood tour video. As of today, there are 4 Higley Groves homes for sale with an average list price per square foot of $120.19, which is definitely on the high side which explains why these homes are still available. The average days on market for these homes is 28 days. There are 8 homes under contract with an average list price per square foot of $95.35, and the average days on the market for these 8 homes is just 17 days. 20 homes have closed in the last 6 months in MLS with an average price per square foot of $95.35. Again, you can see that the average list price per square foot of $120.19 is pretty high so these homes will have to be spectacular to fetch those prices. With just 4 homes available to purchase compared to 8 homes under contract and 20 closed in the last 6 months, supply remains very tight so homes will continue to sell quickly as long as they are priced reasonably. On the west side of Higley Rd there are 3 Higley Groves West homes for sale with an average list price per square foot of $122.19, which is a little high but more in line with historical sales. Just 1 home is currently under contract with a list price per square foot of $119.14. 7 homes have closed in MLS in the last 6 months with an average price per square foot of $111.78. With 3 homes available to purchse compared to 1 home under contract and 7 homes closed in the last 6 months, supply and demand look more in balance in Higley Groves West. These homes are larger and priced higher than Higley Groves, and these higher price ranges move slower than the $250,000 and under range that Higley Groves is in right now. If you're thinking about a short sale you may want to do it ASAP so that it completes before the end of 2012 as there's currently a huge financial incentive to do so. The mortgage debt relief act is set to expire. If you're a buyer, check out this video on how to buy a short sale in Arizona and get a great deal. Please contact me with any questions about Higley Groves homes for sale. My cell number is (480)694-1285 or you can find me at my website HigleyGrovesGilbertAZ.com

Bank of America HAFA Program Short Sales Pay up to $30,000 Phoenix, AZ

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:46:07 -0700

Bank of America announced in May a special limited time offer through the end of 2012 that pays homeowners up to $30,000 for HAFA Program short sales in Phoenix, Arizona, and nationwide. Factors in the calculation of how much the homeowner will receive include the price of the home, loan amount and loan to value. My experience with HAFA Program short sales at B of A is that they are much faster and smoother than non-HAFA short sales. I've cursed many times on my B of A FHA short sales lol, painful to say the least. VA and FHA loans aren't eligible for the HAFA Program. Check out my Bank of America HAFA Program video just after the May announcement. Generally, HAFA Program short sales pay $3,000 on most of the homes in the $200,000 and under price range, though I believe B of A's minimum is currently $5,000. I've created another video explaining HAFA Program Benefits and Qualifications. If you prefer text instead of video go to my HAFA Program Short Sale Arizona page. Often my sellers get another 120 days in their home even if they're already in foreclosure, saving them another 3 or 4 months rent or mortgage payments and it gives them time to save up for their move. With the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act expiring at the end of 2012, upside down and struggling homeowners really should give a HAFA Program short sale a good look, especially if they're with Bank of America. This is a fantastic program. Click here for more information on Arizona short sales.

Short Sale Process in Arizona

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 02:01:17 -0700

The short sale process in Arizona has 7 steps (for a video on the short sale process in Arizona): Get a checklist and Arizona short sale forms and gather all the required documents. Hire an Arizona short sale realtor. Give them all the documents from step 1. The realtor will forward the documents to your mortgage companies, list your home for sale and follow up continuously with your mortgage companies to get your short sale approved. When you accept an offer on your home that will be forwarded to the mortgage companies as well. The mortgage companies order an appraisal or BPO (broker price opinion) to determine what they think your home is worth. The mortgage companies compare their valuation of your home from step 3 to the offer you've accepted from the buyer, and negotiates the price and any other terms of the sale. The amount of relocation assistance paid to the homeowner is determined. In preapproval programs such as the HAFA Program, this is determined at the beginning of the process. The mortgage companies issue the short sale approval letter. The sale can proceed like a normal sale from this point forward with the buyer closing in 30 days or less depending on financing. For full details on the short sale process in Arizona, or for more information on Arizona short sales.

Higley Groves Homes for Sale Gilbert Arizona

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 16:33:01 -0700

Higley Groves in Gilbert, Arizona, is a fantastic neighborhood. Its tree-lined streets, green grass, large play areas, walking paths, community parks, white fences, front porches and antique lampposts make Higley Groves a very unique neighborhood, unlike any other neighborhood in Gilbert or the entire Phoenix metropolitan area. I live in Higley Groves and have owned this home since 2003. Take a look at Higley Groves homes for sale. Higley Groves is located north of Elliot Rd on either side of Higley Rd in the north-eastern portion of Gilbert. The neighborhood is divided into 2 main sections, Higley Groves on the east side of Higley and Higley Groves West on the west side of Higley. Sections of the neighborhood offer different home designs and lot sizes. It's a shorter commute to Phoenix than south Gilbert. Relative to the major freeways it's about 2.5 miles south of US-60 and 1.5 miles north of the San Tan freeway (202 loop). You can be at the beautiful San Tan Village Mall to the southwest in 10 minutes or at the Superstition Springs Mall to the northeast in 10-15 minutes. The Gilbert Trail System borders the north side of Higley Groves which is a great path to walk along, jog, bike or ride horses. A short 1 mile walk to the west takes you to Gilbert's Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch. Highland Park Elementary school is nestled in the community with Greenfield Junior High a mile west. Highland High School and Highland Junior High are 1 - 2 miles away. All these schools are public and part of the Gilbert Unified School District. For a list of other schools in the area go to the Gilbert Info tab and scroll down. Healthcare is not far away either, with Banner Gateway MedicalCenter 2 miles directly north on Higley Rd and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center about 15 minutes to the southwest at Val Vista and the San Tan Freeway (loop 202).own. Whether you drive around the area or are looking online, it won't take long to see why Higley Groves has such broad appeal. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Arizona Short Sales - Huge Deadline is Near

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 04:41:53 -0700

Start Your Arizona Short Sales Now! Or it may cost you tens of thousands of dollars in taxes if you wait to deal with your home. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act expires at the end of 2012, which generally allows you to exclude income from the discharge of debt on your principal residence (always consult legal or tax advice for your specific situation). This includes debt reductions through loan modification, principal reduction, foreclosure or short sale. So if those bozo's in Washington do not extend this deadline, and they may not because an extension is estimated to cost over $2 billion, you will have to pay income taxes on the amount of debt forgiven on your principal residence. For example, if you owe your mortgage companies $300,000 and you short sale your home or let it foreclose and the mortgage companies receive $175,000, the difference of $125,000 is the amount of debt forgiven. After the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act expires that $125,000 will be taxed as income to you and will probably jump you up a couple tax brackets as well. So if you wind up in a 30% tax bracket you will owe $37,500 in taxes just on the $125,000 in debt forgiven! I am just picking numbers as an example so if you want tax advice for your situation please consult a tax professional. Since the short sale process in Arizona will usually take 3-6 months you need to start as soon as possible in order to close the sale by 12/31/2012. Don't take the chance of getting stuck with an enormous tax bill when you can take care of it now and not have to pay any income taxes.

Insider Tips on How to Buy a Short Sale in Arizona

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:09:49 -0700

Right now buyers have a huge challenge trying to lock down a house w.ith the inventory shortage in the Phoenix, Arizona real estate market. As the lender-owned inventory on MLS has dried up, realtors and their buyers are left primary with short sales, followed by high-priced investor flips. About a year ago I started writing a ton of back-up offers on short sales for my investor buyers and I am still using that strategy for retail buyers as well. I have a buyer closing on a custom home in Queen Creek next week as a result of this strategy. This is just one of the 5 key strategies I've put together for How to Buy a Short Sale in Arizona AND Get a Great Deal: How to buy a short sale home and get a great deal Hire an aggressive realtor who will out-hussle and out-smart the competition. Or hire a realtor who specializes in listing short sales. Get your offers in ASAP. While a bank-owned listing may stall and wait for multiple offers to come in, for many homeowners it’s a hassle to deal with the short sale and they are not receiving any proceeds from the sale so they often do not want to deal with multiple offers. It’s possible they will accept the first offer received. Make back-up offers. Since short sales take a long time and the bank sometimes counteroffers a higher price, many initial buyers of short sale homes walk away or they simply find another home before the short sale process is complete. I have had great success in buying short sales with back-up offers for both investors and owner-occupants, and I’m not shy about writing back-up offers for my clients. Your realtor must meet the BPO (Broker Price Opinion) agent who is valuing the home for the seller’s mortgage company and provide the BPO agent with comparable home sales that are favorable to you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it is a great opportunity that should not be missed. I and experienced investors I know swear by this. The bank will base its sales price off the BPO so this step is absolutely critical. If and when the bank counteroffers you a price, you must understand that most of the time there will be flexibility in this price. Depending on who the investor is will determine how much of a discount you can negotiate off of the BPO/Appraisal price. These investor guidelines are set by region and may change quarterly. One of my friends who is a local expert says that FHA guidelines are currently 88% net of the BPO price, so if the BPO was $100,000 they will go down to an offer with a net of $88,000. Other investor guidelines are different, so make sure you are working with a realtor who knows how to take advantage of these guidelines to save you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars! Patience and perserverance are required, as always lol. It's also helpful to have a thorough understanding of the short sale process in Arizona.

Arizona Short Sales - It's Easy at AzEasyShortSale.com

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:09:13 -0700

Every single homeowner I've talked to about Arizona short sales has had a lot of questions. I built AzEasyShortSale.com to take care of all these questions and make the short sale process easy for the homeowner. My video Arizona short sales is an introduction to the website and lists the main topics that homeowners ask about. The site has 8 Arizona short sale videos and over a dozen pages of information about short sales. A checklist and all the Arizona short sale forms you need to start your short sale are provided. Just print the forms, fill 'em out and gather the other documents listed on the checklist and the bulk of your work for a short sale is done. It's that easy at AzEasyShortSale.com. Just give all the information to your realtor and they will take care of pushing the short sale approval through the bank. It's that simple in concept. In reality, it usually takes a ton of follow-up on your realtor's part. But it's not rocket science. And in Arizona I recommend never paying a fee to the person negotiating your short sale. If they are not an attorney there's a good chance they are a scammer! I met one elderly Phoenix couple in April who gave a guy $2,000 and never saw him again. So be careful and make sure you check out whoever you decide to trust with this important role. Take care and best of luck.

Arizona HAFA Program Short Sales Are Faster

Dwight Miller (DPR Realty) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:07:56 -0700

Arizona HAFA Program short sales are faster and smoother than other types of short sales. The appraisal is ordered up front and the short sale can be pre-approved in as fast as a month. Last week I got my Scottsdale short sale approval for HAFA and the week before that I received HAFA approval for a Gilbert short sale. Because the government program specifies strict ressponse deadlines for the mortgage servicers, who receive incentives for doing HAFA short sales, the process is relatively smooth. Once you have pre-approval the bank is required to respond to any offer within 10 business days. I have had great success with the HAFA Program this year with more than half of my short sales qualifying for HAFA. Homeowners typically receive $3,000 for doing an Arizona HAFA Program short sale but more is possible. Bank of America announced on May 15, 2012, they will pay up to $30,000 for a HAFA short sale. Click HAFA Program Bank of America to see the video. Click here for a video HAFA Program Benefits and Qualifications. If you prefer a written list go to HAFA Program Benefits and Qualifications. The Arizona HAFA Program is a fantastic program because it has great benefits for the homeowner and it's also the smoothest type of short sale to get approved. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me or go to AzEasyShortSale.com.