The House and the Senate are in the process of working out the Short Sale type FHA package. It still could get Vetoed by the President if some of the things the Senate added are not compromised on. We really need this Bill passed.

A major bank was taken over by the Federal Reserve and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are getting Federal Assistance that will require Congressional Approval. I hope they will finally act for our best interest and not their political interest.

Slow down and save Gas!! Call me at 240-7130 if I can help you.

There has been a lot of news in the paper this past week. The numbers that they are using I know are not always true. I remember back around last July or so I found lots of double reporting by RealtyTrac. I also read that their statistics include double reporting when the house has a second loan which many did from early 2004 through 2007. The numbers can really look bad if you are not comparing apples to apples. We have 8808 residential units on the market right now and a number I heard was in the 4000’s that were foreclosures. I am not seeing that. There are a lot of them out there but not that large number.

If Congress and the President ever get the FHA program going for the coming foreclosures/short sales it will really help slow down the number of foreclosures and keep the owner in the house. I think it is a great bill and will help everyone including those that are trying to sell and did not have any of the tough loans. Everyone is paying and paying for this housing crunch. If you are against the bill I hope you have read the information I posted last month. The Senate is changing some of that bill and it will get even stronger. I see it as a pay as you go for the program and some real financial gains for the program.

Are you enjoying the high gas prices? Are you still flying down the freeway at 75 to 80mph? I have dropped back to 62mph on my trip to work. I have about 9 miles of freeway in my 18 mile trip. I do not scream away from the red light and I watch ahead to see what the light is doing. I slow down long before I reach the lineup of cars. I can not believe the number of people that race from signal to signal in their big SUV. Slow down and save a gallon here and there.

If I can help you call me at 240-7130.

Lets get real here!! The bill that the Democrats and a small number of Republicans  sent out of committee is one of the smartest things our House of Representatives  has done in a long time. The problem is, will the Lenders participate? Click here for a news item that shows me most of the public is uneducated about this bill.  I see people that are complaining have not read the Bill, and the News Media now has a new topic to feed on and misrepresent the truth.

Here is a summarized copy of the bill. Read it for yourself and see that this is not a bailout for the lenders or investors. If it goes the way it is written, the program will more than pay for itself and then some. The Old Lender is the one to voluntarily cover the costs of most everything. I think most of the Lenders will approve the chance for the homeowner to stay in their home and take the Short Sale amount and move on. As this program is voluntary for the current Lender, it simply gives them one more option for dealing with a loss they are about to experience, and the homeowner gets to stay in their home with manageable payments if they qualify.

Now you say “so what”. WHAT is the fact that when YOU try to sell your home In say, Tucson, Arizona you will not have as many of those Short Sales and foreclosures as competition in the sales market. Think about it, and this really will save a lot of people from going into deeper debt, and I am not just talking the homeowner, but the people that lost their job because we all stopped buying and the employer had to let them go. Now tell me what did that have to do with the so called Bailout? Absolutely nothing. We ALL caused that. I can give you lots of other examples, but I think you get the picture.

This again is the best solution I have seen yet. We have two years or more of this current housing problem if we do not do something like this bill. Read the Bill a second time and understand it before you say something that shows me you really do not understand or do not care about it. I am sure this Bill will get changed between the House and Senate but something along this Bill’s lines will help our floundering economy and bring many peoples lives back to a much better position.

Once you understand what they are trying to do, get in touch with your Senator and Congressman and ask them to support something along this Bills Lines. We need to get our President to also understand this is not a Bailout and that it will pay its own way. NO VETO!  I am not a Democrat but HOORAY for the Democrats.  Bipartisan politics is the only way to save our economy and our country!  Now if we can just convince our divided Congress of this.

You have my permission to copy this and send to Your Senator, Representative or whoever you think will help. Use anything in my thoughts that will help you write something to make that contact.

THIS is a very important issue.

Are prices going to go up? Not yet but we will see things starting to steady out. The Average and Median Sales price both went down in April but I look for them to come back to the March level in May.

If you are thinking of buying please talk to a lender soon. You will need to have the Loan Status Report (LSR) that the Lender will supply to your agent as it must go with your contract. No LSR, you will get a refusal from the seller because they do not know you are qualified to buy their home. This is very important!!  Call Elaine DeTour-Spronken at Countrywide  731-8382  Ext 235 for a very honest, service oriented Loan Consultant. Then call me at 240-7130

I am working with a lot of buyers right now and I am sure other agents are doing the same. Have we hit the corner? I think we have. Call me at 240-7130 if you need my experience and help.

Remember to slow down and save gas. 65mph is not really that slow and really saves Gas and Money.

Foreclosures are still showing up in Tucson but they are being absorbed by buyers who have decided now is the time to buy. Arizona is third ranked for foreclosures, following Nevada at #1 and California #2. This ranking is based on filings compared to households in that State.

Now here is what I think shows Tucson is not really Arizona statistics. Phoenix ranks #7 out of 100 in the nation for foreclosures. Tucson is #54. We are not Arizona or Phoenix but we are paying the price because of that. My point is that I think we are leveling out in Tucson on Sales and Price. February and March MLS Statistics show this. I am waiting for the April Stats that should be available around May 10th before I predict we are on the mend. If you read some of my earlier Blogs, I said I thought we would level out in March. I sure hope I am right and the market gets back to a normal flow.

I still want to help anyone who is looking to buy. I can also recommend a lender who is very service minded. Call me at 240-7130 and lets get things started.

My wife was talking with a Century 21 Broker soon to be just a Salesperson and she said things are starting to change in the Phoenix area. I believe her, as we are seeing the same here in Tucson. Arizona can go down for a while but we are still a destination State and they will come!!

Notice the numbers and how they are all better except the Average Sales Price. The average went down but if you look at all the past numbers this is one area that really seams to fluctuate right now. Again lets see what April brings and than we can put a better light on what we can expect over the next six months. Don’t listen to the National Statistics as we are not THAT. We are Tucson and we do things different.

Interest rates are still hovering around 6% but many buyers will be using FHA for that new home. Credit Scores will not kill you right now for a FHA Loan. Plan on 3% down but there are still some Bond programs out there that can get you in with zero down. Call Elaine Detour-Spronken at 731-8382 Ext 235 and see if you qualify for the Bond Program and then call me to help you find your next home.

The Federal Reserve did lower rates again a couple of weeks ago to try to stimulate the Economy, but it did not do much for Mortgage rates. The Federal Government is working on other programs, but as usual it is at a snails pace. I do not think they really see the big picture and what is happening to the cost of goods and lack of jobs. Gas is really up there and we are really helping the oil producing Nations and the Oil companies. Can you believe their profits, and they say it is not their fault they are making all that money.  Ha Ha!!  And can you believe they are getting around $18 billion Dollars in Tax subsidies?

I still think we need to go back to a National 65MPH speed limit. I don’t think you would believe the savings in gas consumption. If you use less you save more, now isn’t that an interesting idea.

Call me any time at 240-7130

The Median price dropped, but the Average Sales price increased. More expensive homes sold to push that number up. Notice the Days on Market jumped to 83. That is the most for the past year. More listings coming on the market giving more selection.

The Federal Reserve dropped both rates by 1/2% two weeks ago. I think this created an inflation fear in the market and caused the mortgage rates to go up  a few basis points. We still have some great rates so think about it. We still have a long ways to go in reducing the number of listings available. I expect at least a 1/4% and maybe another 1/2% decrease in the Fed Rates at their next meeting.

Don’t forget to file your tax returns by April 15th to be able to receive your Stimulus Check. I usually filed an extension which helped my tax preparer, but not this year. Buy something you need or want and that money will multiply as it works through the economy this next year.

If I can help you purchase give me a call on my cell 240-7130.

Here is a quote from my November 11th Blog.

“The Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds Rate and The Discount Rate by 1/4% two weeks ago. I wish they had lowered by 1/2% as I believe the economy has really slowed. I think they will lower another 1/4% before the end of the year but I felt it was needed sooner not later. It is not a permanent thing and they can take it away as fast as they want.”

I was saying what I saw happening in November, and I feel our great government and the Federal Reserve is so out of touch with what is really going on out there. The Federal Reserve has two open positions that the Democrats are not willing to fill from the current Presidents nominations until the new President is elected.  The nominations are for very capable, knowledgeable, money people. That hurts you and me. You can thank Senator Dowd for this.  Our Congress is so bad and has been for both parties over the past years. They don’t get it. We elected them to get things done for the betterment of all of us. The only thing that matters to them is their party and how much Pork they can sneak in for their state in each Bill that goes to the President. No wonder he has started putting a Veto on more bills. We need a pay as we go government, not a government that mortgages our kids and their kids.

I know the war in Iraq has really pulled our economy down, but we are there and we need to finish it, and get a stable government in Iraq. I am a retired enlisted Viet-Nam Vet and I am really sick at the number of lives that were lost there because of politicians running the war. The same thing has happened in Iraq. But now we have a Secretary of Defense that has put the fight in the hands of the right person and given him the authority and manpower to get the job done. Can you believe Clinton and Obama and some of the Republican candidates will destroy all of that and the people of Iraq if any one of them is elected.

Well I better get off my political soap box for now. Here is hoping for an improved economy.

The number of new listings fell to 1590 in December as compared to 2224 new listings in November. The re-lists of properties in December was 116 as compared to 184 in November. Days on market jumped probably again because of the Holidays.

I expect January will see numbers just under the December numbers, but I think the Listings Under Contract will increase to about the November numbers of around 900.  After that, I truly expect to see the numbers of Solds and Listings Under Contract to go up every month at a slow rate.

We have not seen the last of the foreclosures and short sales. There are some great bargains out there. A large portion of a homes search will contain many of these.

I still say you should start the loan process and start looking before prices stabilise and start back up. Loans just below 6% are showing up. The Federal Reserve is poised to cut the the Discount Rate the end of this month. Everything I see says it will be 1/2%. Now this does not mean mortgage rates will go down that much, but it will have a slight affect.

I still think now is the time to get your ducks in a row and be ready to look to see if the home you want is out there.

Have a great 2008, spend wisely, and slow down to save gas.