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Dogs and Homeowner Associations

June 29, 2010

I love dogs.  Especially big dogs.  Unfortunately, big dogs and Homeowner Associations don’t always mix.

Especially those condo and townhouse homeowner associations.

It’s fairly common to find pet restrictions in HOA governing documents.  If you’ve got a large dog – say 50 pounds or more, you need to make especially sure you’re reading through those association documents carefully.  Often, the HOA will limit you to a certain number of pets, or to pets only under a certain size.

Typically, when you buy a condo or townhome here in Tucson, you get a copy of the association documents.  What normally happens is that the HOA moves very slowly, and you don’t get those documents until you’re nearly through with the home purchase.  So you could be well through your inspections, ready to close, and find out your 75 pound Fido isn’t allowed to live in your soon-to-be-new condo.

To add to the fun, those governing documents aren’t especially easy to get when you’re in the pre-contract stage.  Some of the larger HOA management companies in Tucson will provide you a copy – for a fee of around $250.  Sometimes, you can hunt down the person who does the association management and ask them directly.  Sometimes, the listing agent knows, or can get a copy of those documents from the Seller – assuming the seller kept their copy.  Often, they don’t have one anymore, and there’s no guarantee the rules haven’t changed in the meantime.

So just tread carefully, you Tucson condo buyers with large dogs.  And do your due dilligence carefully.

photo courtesy of the Digital Muzzle

Finding the Bottom of the Tucson Real Estate Market

June 25, 2010

Got a call the other day from someone trying to find the exact right time to buy a home here in Tucson – at the bottom of the market. 

Thing is, you never know when bottom is until you’re well past it.  As I’ve illustrated very scientifically here:

We like to think that property values move like smooth charts.  But they don’t.  There are lots of variations, up and down, fast and slow, that all contribute to an overall smoothed line made from averaging lots of data points.  So when you’re in the middle of the bottom, things are still fluctuating.  You never know when you’ve really pulled out of it until you’re sure all the fluctuations are over.  And that’s something you can only see when you look well behind you and backwards in time.

You can try to purchase at generally the low point in the market, but the only way you’re going to buy at exactly market bottom is through sheer luck.

That being said: what good is a post about the Tucson market bottom without a peek into my crystal ball?

Best guess, in my humble opinion: we have a bit further to fall.  Not nearly as much as we already have, but a bit more, and most likely this fall and winter.  I don’t like the trends I’m seeing so far this summer.  Inventory levels didn’t fall the way one would have hoped, and while sales are still high, they’re peaking way too early due to the expiring tax credit.  So I’m betting small dip over the next 6-8 months, and the start of a long, slow, and highly unstable recovery starting early 2011.

What does your crystal ball say?

Drama and Polybutylene Pipe

June 23, 2010

There was someone on Twitter the other day upset that a buyer was going to walk away because the house she had listed had polybutylene pipe.

Conversely, here’s a house I showed this morning.  It is 21 years old.  I’ll give you one guess as to the kind of plumbing it has.  That 21st year must be the one you gotta watch out for.

Tucson Foreclosure Homes for Sale

June 21, 2010

Last year, I made this little map that seems to be popular! If you click on any of the colored regions, you’ll get a link to foreclosed homes for sale in that part of Tucson.

Of course, you don’t need the map, though it can be useful.  If you go to the Tucson home search on my site, you can enter whatever criteria you’d like and check the “Bank/Lender owned” box in the Foreclosures section.

View Bank Owned Homes for Sale in Tucson in a larger map

Home Buyer Tax Credit NOT Extended

June 18, 2010

There’s news flying around that the $8000 home buyer tax credit has been extended. 

It has not.

To qualify for that $8k credit, you had to be under contract to purchase a home by April 30, 2010.  And then the deal had to close by June 30, 2010.  These things have not changed.

What *did* happen is that the senate voted through a bill that would extend that closing date to to September 2010.  It has not passed the House.  It has not been signed by the President.  It is not yet a law.  It is only step one towards becoming a law.

A review of the process, inspired by today’s post over at the Mortgage Report.

New Tucson Flood Plain Maps

June 14, 2010

The flood plain maps are being revised in Tucson – for all of Pima County, actually.  The final maps are still being reviewed by FEMA, but expect the new flood maps to be out early next year.  According to the Arizona Daily Star, 9480 parcels are being taken out of the flood plain in the new maps – and 9400 are going in.

Other than the risk of your home being flooded, the new maps mean you may have to purchase flood insurance.  If your home is determined to be in the flood plain, your lender is most likely going to require you carry insurance for that.

Your homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover floods, in most instances.  So flood insurance is an extra expense, and costs will vary depending on what kind of flood zone your property is in.  Talk to your favorite insurance agent for specifics on that.

You can get more information about the flood plain revisions at the Pima County site, and check your home’s flood plain status as well.

photo via Flickr Creative Commons, by Gene Spesard

Tucson Home Tour Winner!

June 11, 2010

I WON I WON I WON!
Well, me and my sellers won. The
Tucson Association of Realtors does an agent home tour every week, and then participants vote on their favorite home on tour. And we won!
I’m overly excited. And my sellers will be thrilled.

Tucson Real Estate Statistics – May 2010

June 11, 2010

The Quick Numbers:

• Single Family Home Average Sales Price: $206,514
• Single Family Home Median Sales Price: $161,000
• Single Family Home Units Sold: 882
• Single Family Home Months of Inventory: 6.7 months

• Townhouse Average Sales Price: $138,002
• Townhouse Median Sales Price: $124,000
• Townhouse Units Sold: 91
• Townhouse Months of Inventory: 6.8 months

• Condo Average Sales Price: $92,833
• Condo Median Sales Price: $81,500
• Condo Units Sold: 52
• Condo Months of Inventory: 9.2 months

• Citywide Average Sales Price: $194,664
• Citywide Median Sales Price: $155,000
• Citywide Units Sold: 1025
• Citywide Months of Inventory: 6.8 months

May brings us new lows in Tucson home prices – I’ve been tracking real estate statistics in Tucson since 2006, and haven’t seen anything this low yet.  Sure, we flirted with these levels back in November and April of 2009 – but the median was $10k higher at the time.

Overall, the average sales price in Tucson was $194,664 with a median of $155,000.  Last year at this time, the average price was $212,442 with a median of $175,000.  The average Tucson sales price has been hovering in the low $200ks for a while now, but there was a fairly decent dip in prices between April and May of this year.

Couple of other things I don’t really like: While the number of sales stayed strong, at 1025 units, pending sales were down and the number of active listings didn’t drop as much as one would hope as we’re just about halfway through what is traditionally a summer high sales season – we’re just over 7k listings.

No surprise that pending sales were down though, given the tax credit deadline was the end of April.  There’s a large set of those tax credit purchases that are all going through the system as a lump, and a good portion of them ought to have closed by now.

However, the months of inventory – or absorption rate – in Tucson went down slightly due to the slightly lower number of active listings – it came in at 6.8 months. 

There were109 sold short sales and 320 sold bank owned homes in March, making distressed property nearly 42% of the market.  Last month, distress sales were 39% of the market.

Data gathered from the Tucson MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Figures quoted here include only single family homes, townhomes, and condos in the 9 areas that make up the Greater Tucson Area: NW, N, NE, W, C, E, SW, S, and SE.

Buying Rural Homes in Tucson

June 10, 2010

I’ve got this lovely new listing up at the base of the Tortolita Mountains, up in Northwestern Tucson.  It’s a really nice large rural parcel, but at the same time sits close enough to the city to not be a huge trek into town for a gallon of milk.

There’s a couple of things to watch out for when you buy homes like that.

This one is in unsubdivided Pima County – it isn’t in Marana or Tucson or Oro Valley.  This is important.  When someone sells 5 or fewer unsubdivided parcels in an unincorporated area, the Seller has to provide an Affidavit of Disclosure, which talks about legal and physical access, road maintenance, floodplain, water supply, and various other important issues.

Which ought to set off some alarms in your head.  If it is a dirt road – who maintains it?  Is there a recorded road maintenance agreement?  Is there a voluntary HOA that takes care of it with an annual contribution?

And then there’s things like septic systems and water supply.  Is the septic system sized properly?  Is it in good shape?  Where does the water come from?  Is there a private well or a shared well or some other water company?  Having water at the house would be a good thing.

How about easements and encroachments?  A title report should turn up the recorded easements.  But many times on older homes on larger parcels, previous owners have thrown up a shed or fence or other item that they assume is on or near the lot line.  Or there could be a walking path or bike path over the middle of the property that people have used for years and intend to keep using while you own it.

Buying rural property takes a little more consideration and investigation than buying a home in the middle of an established subdivision – but for some, the rural lifestyle is all worth it.

Urban Athletics Groupon!

June 8, 2010

Have you heard of Groupon?  They just came to Tucson a couple months ago.

Groupon is basically a group coupon.  Local businesses in Tucson offer incredible discounts on products and services – if enough people are willing to buy the coupon for it.  You can sign up at Groupon to have the offer emailed to you daily.  Some of the deals are pretty sweet.

But today’s groupon is for Urban Athletics, my favorite booty-kicking exercise!  $40 for 6 classes from Urban Athletics is a pretty awesome deal.  I’ve already paid for the next month, or else I’d be tempted to pick up a couple of those.

I’ve been taking their classes for about a year now and love it.  It really does work for all ages and fitness levels, and – at least the group I attend at Himmel park – is full of nice encouraging folks. 

So check it out – only 13 hours left before the deal goes away!

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