The Housechick Blog

Hot summer days turn to sweet summer nights in the Old Pueblo, perfect for an outing to the park for a concert and, perhaps, even a picnic under the stars.

Everyone is invited for this series of free concerts, human and canine alike.  Put dinner in a basket, grab a blanket, and head over to Reid Park around 7pm.

The Tucson Pops Orchestra has begun it’s summer series of concerts at Reid Park.  Performances are Sunday nights, starting at 7pm at the DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, ending on June 17th.

Here’s the schedule:

• May 20 - Crystal Stark, Tucson’s link to American Idol
• May 27 - Memorial Day Concert
• June 3 - Rick Wamer and Lorie Heald, Mimes Extraordinaire
• June 10 - Nancy Davis Booth, Soprano
• June 17 - The Three Royal Tenors

The DeMeester center is on the West side of Reid Park, North of 22nd Street, off of Country Club.

Photo via Flickr, courtesy of dances fantastic

Around Tucson, Your Termite Guy will tell you: It’s not IF, it’s WHEN.  And he’s talking about having termites in your home.

Termites are little wood-destroying critters who love to feast on your home.  Typically, the come into the walls through small cracks in the foundation, especially around the plumbing, or just head North up the walls from the dirt around the house.  They can cross concrete and empty space to reach their next meal.

Infestations aren’t always visible, but there are a few dead-giveaways.

• Mud tubes on interior or exterior walls.  These look like little bubbles of mud and are little highways for the termites to travel through.  They’re made of mud and, well, termite poo.  Brushing off the tubes doesn’t solve any problems, it just makes the termites build their roads again.
• Mud tubes hanging from the ceilings.  From an engineering standpoint, these are rather awesome little stalactites of achievement for such a small insect.
• Sawdust or droppings.  These are easiest to spot when there’s a small spread of dust next to the wall, or beside a fence post or patio support.  The drywood termites have a black pellet dropping (my second mention of poo in this article - I think that’s a record!)
• Visible wood damage.  The termites carve little round trails through the wood, it’s a very distinct sort of pattern.

As a home buyer, you will probably want to have the home inspected for termites, or wood destroying organisms.  In fact, your lender might require this report.  It’s a fairly cheap inspection, usually around $40.  The company I prefer, Termagon, will offer a one year warranty without treatment if they find no evidence of termite activity.  In this market, if a home buyer finds termites, it is customary that the Seller pay for the treatment and warranty, but not required.

Having a termite warranty is also important as a home seller.  Knowing you have someone to call if a potential buyer finds termites is priceless.  A termite warranty is one of the best investments you can make for your Tucson home - keep your warranty current!

There are two major types of termites, the subterranean and the drywood termite.

The subterranean termite lives exactly where you would expect: in the ground.  From the soil, they eat whatever wood is underground or in contact with the ground.  A termite inspector will make special note of “wood to earth contact,” because that is an open invitation to the subterranean termite.  These are they guys who create the migratory tubes up walls, down from ceilings, and even upwards from cracks in the floor.

The drywood termites make colonies in wood, not in the soil.  They enter the house by swarming into a crack in the wood, typically.  These are more difficult to exterminate.  Sometimes, you only see a small pinhole in the drywall or window casing, and there’s a little pile of dust and debris underneath it.  It’s a harder infestation to spot.

The best course of action is to keep your house under an active termite warranty, and to make sure the conditions at your house do not encourage infestations.

• Stack all lumber and firewood several feet away from the house
• Keep all wood supports (porches, decks, etcetera) away from the home’s foundation, and remove all wood-to-earth contact.
• Move mulch and wood chips away from the foundation
• Repair any leaks at faucets or watering systems
• Do not plant or water plants close to the foundation

It’s usually pretty easy to tell if a property has been treated for subterranean termites.  A typical treatment involves drilling into the foundation and injecting a chemical into the soil underneath.  This creates a chemical barrier between the termites and the house.  Other methods include trenching and saturating the ground, but drilling is the most common.  You see roughly one inch holes that have been patched every couple of feet along the foundation: look at more than a handful of houses in Tucson and you’ll see it right away!  Subterranean termite treatments are usually $400-$700, depending on the amount of work involved.

It’s okay to buy a house that has termites.  It’s okay to sell a house that has termites.  Disclosure is the most important thing.  Damage can be repaired, the home can be treated, everything is solvable.  Just know that if you have real estate in Tucson: you need a termite warranty.  It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s the cheapest peace of mind you’ll ever have.

Photo via Flickr, courtesy of giantmonster

So you’ve found the perfect home and are ready to write an offer.  Fabulous!

Is there a Homeowner’s Association that governs the property?  If so, we’ll have to add a little bit more documentation to our offer.

The HOA/Planned Community Addendum helps a Buyer and Seller negotiate terms and costs that may occur when buying or selling a house with an HOA.  Using this addendum, we’ll spell out who pays for what, what the expected fees will be, and who will be providing the required HOA information to the Buyer.

Let’s take this one item at a time.

First, the addendum discusses costs.

• The regular association dues amount is specified, and in what interval those dues are paid.  This lets the Buyer and Seller acknowledge and disclose what those fees are currently.
• If there are any additional HOA fees, those fees are specified here.  Again, to disclose and acknowledge any fees, so that the Buyer and Seller are on the same page.
• If there are any HOA assessments that are a lien on the property, this form indicates who will pay for that: if the Seller will pay off those liens in full or if the Buyer will prorate and assume those liens.  Typically, the Seller will pay off their own liens (debts), but in some communities, there are large assessment liens on each property to pay for major improvements.  In this case, the Buyer may elect to prorate and assume the lien.
• If there is a fee to transfer the HOA records into the new owner’s name, then this document specifies who will pay that fee, the Buyer or the Seller.  This fee ranges widely, from $50 to $300 and beyond.

Next, the HOA addendum discusses who will provide the HOA information to the Buyer, and defines what information the Buyer must receive, by law.

• If the HOA has less than 50 units, then the Seller is responsible for providing the HOA information, which we’ll list below.
• If the HOA has 50 units or more, then the Seller must tell the HOA to provide the proper information to the Buyer, and the HOA is obligated to provide the information.

By law, the Buyer must receive:

• Copy of the bylaws and rules
• Copy of the CC&R’s (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions)
• Dated Statement containing:
• principal contact information for the association
• amount of regular dues and any other assessments or fees
• what portion of the unit is covered by association insurance, if any
• total amount of money held as reserves by the association
• case names and numbers for any pending litigation
• If provided by Seller, a statement saying whether the Seller has any information regarding violations of the rules for their unit
• If provided by the HOA manager, a statement saying whether the records of the HOA show any violations of the HOA rules for that unit.
• Copy of the current operating budget
• Copy of the most recent annual financial report
• Copy of the most recent reserve study, if any
• and a statement that the Buyer has acknowledged and received that information, with a place for the Buyer to sign.

Every home and HOA is different.  For more specific information regarding a home you like, or the association it sits in, just send me an email and we’ll get some answers.

I love Mexican food.  A lot.

Quite frankly, if you can’t put salsa on something, or otherwise make it spicy, it just isn’t worth eating.

One of my favorite spots in Tucson is Rosa’s Mexican Food, at 1750 E Ft. Lowell Road, on the Southwest corner of Ft. Lowell and Campbell.

Rosa’s is a corner unit of a strip mall, but don’t let the humble exterior fool you.  Inside is a riot of color and taste and smell and, oh yeah, my favorite salsa in town.  It’s a perfect spicy level - not too much, not too little - with an abundance of garlic.

The walls are adorned with art and artifacts from Mexico, along with photos of celebrities who have visited Rosa’s and a large handpainted mural.  It’s casual, friendly, and crowded during peak times, but always worth a short wait.

This is my favorite, the #12.  Three chicken tacos with rice and beans, mmmm….

I was at a home inspection the other day with one of my Buyers.  We had all arrived and were settling in for the inspection when we started to feel that something was wrong, that something wasn’t quite right.

After a quick look around, we realized that the appliances we had negotiated for in the contract were not in the house.

Hmm.  Ehm, where’s the oven?  And the dishwasher?

It turns out that the appliances listed for that house in MLS were never in the house.  When my home buyer and I wrote the contract for the house, we included the oven and the dishwasher, because they were included in the listing in MLS.  When we came to the house for the home inspection, we realized that those appliances were missing!

My buyer had a decision to make.  He is owed those appliances, by the contract.  I called the Listing Agent to ask what the Seller’s plan was, and was told they were planning to have an oven and dishwasher put in before we closed escrow.

If my Buyer were to let the Seller install appliances, he may not be able to specify what KIND of appliances: like stainless steel, or a flat-top range, things like that.  The Seller could go purchase cheap white stuff, which my Buyer would hate.

Instead of accepting the Seller’s choice of appliance, we decided to negotiate a credit towards the Buyer’s closing costs before the end of the inspection period.  This way, the Seller doesn’t have to go through the hassle of installing new appliances, and my Buyer can go purchase what he wants.  If the Seller didn’t agree to the credit, then my Buyer would still have the opportunity to walk away from the deal, or to try to negotiate further.

Real Estate isn’t always a simple business, but it is almost always interesting! 

In the long-standing tradition among bloggers to have Carnivals, the Housechick Blog is pleased to announce it will be hosting Week 5 of the Carnival of Project Blogger.  June 11th is our big day to announce winners of Week 5: stay tuned for updates as our hosting week arrives.

Project Blogger is affiliated with ActiveRain.

Today, thousands of university seniors will graduate, get diplomas, and be released upon the world.  For those wanting to attend, ceremonies are at 9 am and 1:30 pm today, and will be broadcast via the web at KUAT.org.  All the details are at the U of A Commencement site.

I remember when I graduated from U of A.  I didn’t attend the big communal ceremony, didn’t wear the cap and gown, and didn’t toss even a single tortilla.  My engineering college was a pretty small class, so we had our own celebration a few nights before, and that was enough for me, I think. 

This year, there’s a new twist in the graduation ceremonies.  The Daily Wildcat reports that all who enter McKale Center will be searched for tortillas.  Don’t ask me how this search will actually go down: how do you pat someone down for a tortilla? 

For those unfamiliar with the tradition, U of A graduates - instead of throwing their cap at the end of the ceremony - throw tortillas in the air to celebrate their graduation.  It’s a controversial move.  Some people find it insensitive or racist, I even read an argument that it could be dangerous (think airborne stale tortilla shards hitting someone in the eye).

The U of A Administration has taken a stand against the tortilla tossing.  Given their stance, and the search at the entry, it will be interesting to see how many fly at the end of the ceremonies.

Graduation Facts:

There will be 4,557 undergraduate degrees awarded, along with 1,253 master’s degrees and 272 doctoral degrees, according to numbers released from the UA.

Dr. Richard Carmona, former US Surgeon General and a U of A professor of surgery and public health, will give the commencement address at both ceremonies.

EDIT: Overheard while eating at Rosa’s Mexican Food on the day of graduation, “Dude, they don’t throw their hats in the air, they throw tortillas! There were like a thousand tortillas flying, it was crazy!” Guess the person-by-person tortilla search didn’t do so well…

Photo from flickr, courtesy of bwalsh.

If your income doesn’t come from a paycheck or you don’t want to reveal all to a mortgage lender, you can still get a home loan. Here’s how.

Ethical mortgage lenders generally try to talk customers out of getting low-doc and no-doc loans because they cost more. Before applying for one, talk to a qualified mortgage lender and verbally give them all your information first. Most people who ask for stated or no doc mortgages don’t need it. A good mortgage lender can help you work through and document what you think is undocumentable.

Most homebuyers work for a steady paycheck and are willing to divulge details of their finances in exchange for the best available mortgage loan.

But a lot of buyers don’t draw a steady paycheck from a boss. They own businesses, make commissions, live off investments or get their income in cash. Others don’t want to give up their financial privacy. Limited-documentation mortgages are available for these people.

Depending on the mortgage product best for you the lender will still require at least a credit report and a property appraisal. Borrowers who require flexibility and privacy of these types of mortgages generally carry higher interest rates than conventional mortgages. Lenders want these borrowers to make down payments and to have excellent credit.

There are three main types of low-doc/no-doc mortgages.
• Stated-income mortgages tend to be for people who work but don’t draw regular wages or salary from an employer. That includes self-employed people or those who make a living off commissions or tips.
• No-ratio loans are often the right call for wealthy people with complex financial lives, retirees who live off investments and people whose lives are in flux because of divorce, recent death of a spouse, or career change.
• No-doc or NINA (no income/no asset verification) mortgages are for creditworthy people who want maximum privacy and can afford to pay for it.

The Housechick Blog is proud to announce a new contributor, representing the lending side of Real Estate in Tucson.

Mary Maza-Abihai and Cindy Powers will be weighing in occasionally, answering loan questions, presenting opinions on the current lending environment, and adding clear explanations of various loan types and for whom they are appropriate.  We’ll be adding short bios for them in a bit, but I’m too excited to wait to announce their arrival.

In the meantime, you can find Mary and Cindy at www.longmortgage.com/ceteam, via phone at (520) 918-1634, or via email by clicking here: Cindy and Mary.

Welcome!

Tucson is the proud host of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, which is one of our largest employers in the city, and home to pilots of A-10s, which Tucsonans call “Warthogs.”

We’ve also got an International Airport. 

Both are within city limits of Tucson.

By law, a map must be provided to any Buyer who purchases real estate in Tucson within the designated territory in the vicinity of Davis-Monthan AFB.

If you click on the map just on the left, you’ll see the Military Airport Vicinity defined by the big purple square.

You might notice that just about all of Central and Southern Tucson is within the Military Airport Vicinity!

This doesn’t mean that you will only hear plane noise if you’re in these distinct regions.  Really, anywhere in Tucson, you are bound to hear some jet noise every once in a while, whether it is from the airport planes or the air base planes.  The maps are created to advise home buyers that the noise levels may be higher in the defined region.

Here’s the map for the Tucson International Airport Vicinity.

It’s perfectly okay to buy a home in Tucson in these areas.  I live in the Davis-Monthan Military Airport Vicinity myself.  It’s just another piece of information to consider when making the decision to buy or sell real estate in Tucson.