Happy Halloween!
October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!
Unexpected Moments in Tucson Real Estate
October 28, 2007
“What’s that over there?”
“Uh, looks like a Scottie in a tree.”
“Yup, that’s definitely a Scottie in a tree.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Well, how else is he going to check out the new neighbors?
What’s In Those Client Only Pages?
October 28, 2007
You may have noticed those links at the top of the blog to Private Buyer and Seller Pages Client Only Pages. I’ve had a couple questions as to what that’s all about. If you click on them, you’ll quickly realize they are password protected – hence the word ‘Private.’
note: just moved these pages to client only, so this is an old screenshot. just updating the post now to reflect some changes…
A private page on the blog is just one way for me to communicate and share information with my clients. For my Sellers, they can log onto their private page to find out the latest web traffic for their listing, review the feedback they’ve been given on their house, see the history of print ads and showings, and keep track of critical dates and events during the term of their listing and the sale of their house.
For Buyers, we start this page as a Buyer goes under contract and detail out important dates and events as the first entry. That way, when my Buyers are at home at midnight and can’t remember what day their inspection period ends, they can log into their private page and find that information. There’s also records of my calls and faxes, interactions with inspectors, their lender, title and escrow folks, things like that.
Basically, it’s all an effort to make my Buyers and Sellers as comfortable and informed as possible. Who wouldn’t want the important details of their particular home buying or selling transaction available to them from any computer 24/7?
The pages are still young, but we’re working on the next generation of these pages as well as improvements to our business systems to help keep the pages as accurate and up-to-date as possible. We have lots of ideas and plans for these pages, ways to make it easier for me to keep them updated and for my clients to receive and add to that information.
Want your own private Buyer or Seller page? Email me and let’s get started!
Sunstreet Mortgage Open House
October 25, 2007
Today I got to schmooze with the good people at Sunstreet Mortgage. When First Magnus imploded, my favorite loan officer from First Magnus, Phaedra Wilson, found a new home at Sunstreet Mortgage. My friend and I were invited to the Sunstreet Mortgage Open House, so we made the trip up to the Tucson Foothills today to show our support for Phaedra and her new digs.
Here’s my friend (and fabulous loan officer) Phaedra Wilson, with a little surprise inside – she’s 5 months pregnant. Congratulations Phaedra!
We had a chance to chat, and Phaedra says she’s come to love Sunstreet Mortgage, the people that work there, and the products they offer. Plus, she says she can be more competitive now than she was at First Magnus – I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with her again.
You can call Phaedra at (520) 977-7247, or email her: phaedra @ sunstreetmortgage.com.
Sunstreet Mortgage is located at 6340 N Campbell Ave, Suite 140. That’s the Southeast corner of Campbell and Sunrise, over behind the Flemings Restaurant in that back row of offices.
Student Housing near the University of Arizona
October 24, 2007
I’m working with a guy who has a son attending the University of Arizona. Instead of renting student housing near campus, he’d like to buy a place for his son to live as he completes his education at the U of A.
Here’s some different things to consider:
- How long will your child occupy the house and what will you do with it once your kid is out of college? Will you sell it? Rent it?
- Will your kid have roommates? Will you be in charge of writing leases and finding tenants? Are you prepared to evict your kid’s friends if they don’t pay rent?
- Who will perform any routine maitenance on the place? If you need to hire a yard service, pest control, or handyman, you’ll want to make sure you budget for that.
My client and I are looking at condos, specifically, those within about 5 miles of the University of Arizona. There are several condo conversion projects going on in Central Tucson that might work.
Closest to the University – right across the street, in fact – is the Campus Walk condos. Pricing for their 2 bed, 2 bath units is in the mid $200s now. I believe that project is getting pretty close to completion.
Then there’s Casa Club Condos, over off of Campbell and Blacklidge, about 1.5 miles from the University. They’ve got some small 1 bed, 1 bath units starting around $90k, and head upwards from there.
One a little further away, but in a nice little spot off of Columbus and Glenn, is Columbus Park Condos. I like these because they aren’t apartment style, they’re one story, side-by-side condos with nice little yards. They’ve got 2 bed, 1 bath units for $124k right now, completely remodeled, new appliances, A/C, some nice finishes. These would be a pretty quick bus or bike ride down the Glenn and Mountain paths, about 5 miles away from the University.
One last condo conversion that I like is the Winterhaven East Condos, off of Country Club and Ft. Lowell Roads, about 3 miles from the University of Arizona. This is a smaller community, so it has a nice feel, I think. They have 2 bed, 2 bath units for $134,500 right now, nicely remodeled.
Need to find something for your student? Gimme a call, we’ll find something.
What Does It Cost To Buy A Home?
October 22, 2007
When you buy a house in Tucson – or just about anywhere – there are lots of people that provide services to you, from the lender and the appraiser to the tile insurer and the guy that carries the documents down to the city to be recorded. Naturally, all of these people want to be paid to help you complete your house purchase. If you add up all those payments to service providers, that’s what we call closing costs.
Closing costs is money paid at the very end of the home buying process. In Tucson, you’ll probably bring a cashier’s check to the Escrow officer when you come to sign your closing documents. That’s the check that pays for your down payment and your closing costs.
I’m not going to address your down payment here – it will vary widely depending on what loan program you’ve chosen. But keep in mind as you read on that the closing costs described here are in addition to your down payment. Also bear in mind that is is incredibly common to ask a Seller to assist you in paying your closing costs.
A fast and dirty rule of thumb is that closing costs are roughly 2-3% of the purchase price. Your agent should be able to provide vastly better estimates than that.
Okay. So traditionally when you buy a home in Tucson and you get a loan, you pay for all of your own loan costs. A Seller will typically expect a Buyer to pay for their own appraisal, the secondary title policy (that’s coverage especially for the lender), any origination fee, or discount points paid, things like that. This is the most difficult part of your closing costs for your agent to estimate, because lenders charge vastly different things! When you talk to lenders to get pre-approvals, make sure you get Good Faith Estimates, so that when you and your agent start to estimate your closing costs, you can be as accurate as possible by looking at the numbers on the Good Faith Estimates.
Next, the title insurers and the escrow officers want to be paid for providing those services. Their costs are based off of the purchase price and the loan amount. Around here, the escrow portion of that fee is usually split 50/50.
Then there are your taxes and impounds. Impounds are easier to explain. Your lender wants to make sure that your homeowner’s insurance and your real estate taxes are paid and paid on time, so they’re going to collect a portion of that from you up front. Usually, you’ll pay one year plus a 2 month proration of your homeowner’s insurance cost as part of your closing costs. Due to the way lenders calculate and collect interest, you’ll also pay the interest due on your loan from between the day you close and the last day of the month (this is why many people want to close at the end of the month!). For example, if you close escrow on the 15th of November, then there are 15 more days left in the month, so the lender will collect 15 days worth of interest up front.
The real estate tax costs are sometimes hard to understand, and really deserve a post to themselves. For now, let’s say that the amount of real estate taxes that are collected up front will depend on the month that you close. You may have to bring in anywhere from one to 5 months worth of real estate taxes up front.
Finally, there’s some miscellaneous costs. If you’re buying a house with a Homeowner’s Association, then there might be some fees associated with that. The Recorder’s office charges to record your documents. There’s a courier that takes all your signed documents downtown, and there’s some FedEx charges to send your documents back to your lender.
It is important to budget for closing costs when thinking about buying a home. Gather up your Good Faith Estimates when you talk to your agent, and have them run some estimated costs sheets for you. No one wants surprises at the end! Better know what you’re getting into up front.
One last thing – on the Good Faith Estimates, your lender has probably estimated your closing costs. These aren’t necessarily accurate. Your agent probably has the best idea of costs for your specific situation, but will need to see your Good Faith Estimates to glean the lender’s costs and add that to their calculations. Don’t be surprised if you find very different closing cost numbers on your agent’s estimations than on your lenders.
You Decide.
October 19, 2007
Dog? Or Furry AT-AT Walker? Coincidence? I think not.
Have a good weekend!
Lakes Near Tucson
October 17, 2007
I don’t know if you know this, but Tucson sits in a desert. The Sonoran Desert, to be precise. Those of you relocating to Tucson from greener pastures may go through a little water-withdrawl. But don’t worry – you don’t have to sell your boat before you move here. We’ve got plenty of lakes for fishing and boating and jet-skiing and whatnot nearby. Near, meaning anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours away.
Closest to Tucson is Lake Patagonia. Also here. There’s no jet-skiing here, but you can camp, picnic, water ski, fish, and hike the area. Half of the lake is a no-wake area for the fisherpeople. It gets a little busy in summer months, when water skiing is prohibited on weeekends because of the high traffic on the lake.
Lake Roosevelt is one of the larger lakes in Arizona, and is East of Phoenix. Created by damming the Salt River, Lake Roosevelt has plenty of recreational activities.
Lake Pleasant is Northwest of Phoenix. The Lake Pleasant Harbor folks say you can scuba dive there, but I’m not too sure about the quality of that diving! Lots of other things to do there, however.
There’s also Rose Canyon Lake, San Carlos Lake, Apache Lake, Canyon Lake, Saguaro Lake. If you’re feeling frisky, you can drive the 3-4 hours to Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco en Español) down in Mexico and sit on a real beach by a natural body of water.
Just remember to drink lots of water and bring your sunscreen!
Tucson Months of Inventory September 2007
October 16, 2007
Holy September, Batman!
Little crowded on the chart, but this is Months of Inventory for September 2007 in Tucson, broken down by area. The number of closed sales in September took a pretty sharp drop while the number of listings stayed relatively the same – hence the spike in months of inventory. As anyone with a listing on the Southwest side of town can attest, it was a rough month out there.
Home Buying Negotiations Round One: Price and Terms
October 15, 2007
Earlier, we discussed the second round of home buying negotiations: Repairs. Let’s go back and look at the first round: Price and Terms.
There’s over 20,000 words in an Arizona Resale Purchase agreement. There are dozens of possible clauses and contingencies that we may need to include or negotiate with, based on your individual situation. Negotiating for a home involves a wee bit more than just filling in the blanks on a form.
Let’s look at some of the major items.
- Price. Obviously, this is a biggie. However, there’s price, and then there’s terms. Sometimes good terms make up for a worse price, and vice-versa.
- Earnest Money. Earnest money is one sign of a Buyer’s commitment to the deal. Sometimes, a Seller gets to keep a Buyer’s earnest money, so usually a Seller wants lots of it, and a Buyer wants to give as little as possible. There’s a balance here to be found, with consideration to the rest of the terms.
- Closing Date. A typical closing is 30-45 days, but I’ve done them as fast as 10 days or as long as several months. Sometimes a Buyer or Seller has specific requirements for a close date. The person with the most flexibility might be able to give the other party what they want here in trade for something else we want more.
- Inspection Period Length. The boilerplate on the contract says 10 days, but we can negotiate for more or less time. If you’ve got a demanding job and will have trouble attending inspections, then we need a longer inspection period. If we’re trying to close fast, then we need a shorter inspection period. Sellers normally want a shorter inspection period so that they get to repair negotiations faster – if we can’t successfully negotiate repairs and a Buyer walks away, then the Seller can put their home back on the market faster.
- Who Pays Loan Costs. Traditionally, a Buyer pays all of their loan costs, but it is becoming more common to ask for the Seller to make a contribution to those (and other) costs. There are several ways to frame a request for closing and loan cost assistance, so discuss this carefully with your agent, with Good Faith Estimates from your lender in hand.
- Home Warranty. Some people want ‘em, some don’t. Built into the contract is the ability to negotiate for one.
- What Stays and What Goes. Just because the MLS printout says the refrigerator stays, it doesn’t necessarily bind the Seller to leaving it. Make sure you specifically ask for the appliances. I’ve had some clients ask the Seller to leave appliances that were not included on the MLS print out. Just remember that it’s all a balance between give and take.
There are lots of extra clauses or contingencies that we might need to add, depending on the situation. Is this a 1031 exchange? As-is sale? All cash? Contingent on another home selling? Do we need to move in earlier than closing? Is there a well? A septic tank? A Homeowner’s Association? Is there FHA or VA financing? Is this a short sale? Corporate or Bank owned?
When you put pen to paper to sign an offer to purchase a home, you’re making a myriad of commitments. Make sure you understand the terms and agreement by having an open discussion with your agent! After all, we’re here to make it all work out well for you.
Image via Flickr, byTT IN THE DESERT
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