Sheryl Robinson

When selling your home - keep this mind...

Here is a scenario -- for sellers to avoid. You contact a real estate agent to list your home and the agent suggests that you might get more for your house than comparable homes on the market. The agent assures you that it only takes finding one person who is willing to pay your price! (And in our current market - I don't know where that sort of person is???)

Some agents approach a listing appointment as if they are bidding for your home. The unfortunate result is that you start out with an unrealistic opinion of your home's value. There is often a strong temptation to work with a person who says what you want to hear. An experienced, reputable real estate agent will back up their opinion of your home's value with hard data. The agent should give you information about the listing price of homes that are currently on the market, and recent selling prices of similar properties in your immediate area.

Even the most heroic marketing efforts won't work on a property that is obviously overpriced, (except in the most exaggerated of seller's markets.) Even if you find a buyer who is willing to pay more than your home is worth, the sale could fall apart when the appraisal comes in lower than the agreed-upon price. Listen to everything, but be careful!

If you are considering selling you home - please feel free to email or call me -- I will provide up to date information on the local area where you house is - and provide you honest answers - even if it will have you saying ouch...

This is an article in the East Valley Tribune about short sales and the market. I, along with Tara Bianco was interviewed by Ed in regards to what we are experiencing in this market.

2nd quarter past-due loans, foreclosures break records

Arizona again among 4 states with highest rate

By EDWARD GATELY TRIBUNE

The national mortgage delinquency rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 9.24 percent of all loans in the second quarter, while Arizona continued to lead most states in distressed mortgages, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquent Survey.

The national rate was up 12 basis points from the first quarter and 283 basis points from a year ago.

The new rate breaks the record set last quarter.

The rate includes loans that are at least one payment past due, but does not include loans somewhere in the foreclosure process. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process was 4.30 percent at the end of the second quarter, an increase of 45 basis points from the first quarter and 155 basis points from a year ago.

"The states of California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada continue to have a disproportionately high share of foreclosure starts, although the share has fallen slightly from last quarter," Jay Brinkmann, the association's chief economist, said in a statement. "Those four states had 44 percent of all the nation's new foreclosures during the second quarter of this year, down from 46 percent in the first quarter."

The percentage of loans 90 or more days past due and loans in foreclosure both set new record highs, breaking records set last quarter.

Sheryl Robinson, associate broker at East Valley-based Home Key Realty, said the evidence is everywhere that more homeowners are in financial duress and looking for help. All of her time is spent helping distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure through short-sales.

"There are a lot of good people in bad situations that are facing this and are having to make some tough decisions on what to do to avoid foreclosure, and one of the options they can take is a short-sale," she said. "The lender wants to see that the people have tried to get a loan modification and exhausted that option. The banks want to see that they've attempted to do a short-sale as opposed to a deed-in-lieu (give the property back to the lender)."

In a short-sale, the homeowner sells the mortgaged property for less than the outstanding balance of the loan and turns over the proceeds to the lender(s), usually in full satisfaction of the debt.

"A lot of people are calling sooner to say, ‘Look, I think I need to short-sale so I don't have to have a foreclosure,' because a lot of people would rather avoid that at all costs," Robinson said.

More people are choosing to walk away from homes, and not because they can no longer afford them, said Tara Bianco, senior loan officer at AmeriFirst Financial in Mesa.

"There's individuals in neighborhoods who are looking around and they're $125,000 upside down and they're trying to make that decision of ‘Why am I going to continue to make payments on a house that I'm so far upside down in? My neighbors have been able to renegotiate their mortgage or have allowed their home to go into delinquency in hopes of a modification of some sort,'" she said.

Homeowners who bought their homes in 2003-04 in the outlying areas of the East Valley are significantly upside down, and they're calling to find out what the adverse effects are if they choose to walk away, Bianco said.

"There's still a lot of people trying to figure out if there's an opportunity to leverage the market if they are upside down in their home," she said. "Can they afford to buy another home and hopefully make some money on that house to offset the loss they're going to suffer on the house they're in," she said.

"But it's becoming increasingly difficult to do that. The banks are working together ... to prevent people from buying new homes and walking away from the homes they're in."

EVTRIB.COM

Why live in Spectrum in Gilbert, Arizona? Here is what Souzanne and her girls have to say about the Spectrum neighborhood...

"My girls and I like living in Spectrumbecause it provides a great sense of community. Most residents have young families and the community provides many family activities such as petting zoos, carnivals and community movie nights. The girls like living near the elementary school. Gilbert Public Schools, by the way, is one the best districts in Central Arizona. We like the Spectrum community and hope to stay for quite some time."

Souzanne & her girls

Spectrum residents...

Why live in Power Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona? Here is what Tom and Nan, a local couple, have to say about why they choose Power Ranch, a three time award winning master planned community located in Gilbert Arizona.

"We bought our house in Power Ranch because when we were looking for a home it was the first house we saw that had lots of windows and I could see all the way to my backyard from any of the windows. We liked the many walkways and paths and the two swimming pools in the Power Ranch neighborhoods. This meant we could swim without the upkeep of our own pool. We also liked the tree lined roads and after a while our neighbors have all become close friends and in good weather we spend more time out front with them than in our back yard. There are many activities to choose from and now the YMCA is another plus."

Tom & Nan

Power Ranch Residents

There are 66 homes currently available for sale in Power Ranch starting at $109,900 going all the way up to $789,900 for a home over 6000 sq.ft with a pool. 37 of the homes are priced under $200,000 and of the 66 homes available, 7 are bank owned. For a free list of homes available for sale in Power Ranch send me an email request and I will return the information including prices and pictures.

When selling you home as a short sale... YES condition IS important. Part 6

Here we are at 6 of this 7 part series…I want to stay on the aspect of getting the buyers offer we need to begin dealing with the banks--- with short sales there are many challenges and hurdles to deal with – that being – getting the financial and personal information gathered for the short sale package – however there is the middle part that is sometimes overlooked that is also equally important in it’s own right – which is getting the buyers offer – once we have the buyers offer then the next aspect of my services come into play which is to begin dealing with the lender in working towards an approval.

However if the home is not being is not attractive to buyers and not being shown – we will not get to dealing with the banks in a timely manner – and lets face it with every short sale there is a ticking clock to keep in mind…with that being said

Many homes that are offered on the market as a short sale would benefit from some level of home staging. Home staging simply put is to look at your home through the eyes of a buyer. It is not always necessary to have a professional home stager as this would be an added cost and that is not the goal to spend any more money than required. There is enough programs on HGTV and a multitude of magazine articles and a plethora of advice to be found on the Internet regarding this subject. And just because a home is on the market as a short sale – as I have said before - does not mean price is the only thing to consider when trying to appeal to a home buyer. When you are looking to sell your home via short sale and make your house as attractive as possible so it will be appealing to potential buyers – here are a few thinks to consider-

Keep the home in pristine condition – if beds are unmade, toys are scattered about and the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes sometimes many buyers can’t see past this sort of thing. Moreover, some buyers begin to worry that is the home is in disarray during a showing, the sellers may trash it before they move. Remember buyers by on emotion and if they are getting bad vibes they will move on the next home on their list and forget about yours.

Again we need the buyers contract to begin working with the bank – without it we do not pass go to the next step in the short sale transaction. In the next article we will discuss what happens once we have a solid buyer offer, the elements of a short sale package and touch on what happens once we begin dealing with the banks.