I do believe we are close to the housing price floor. It may take 3-6 months before we really settle down and have gradual price increases,  but it is coming for Tucson. If you are close to foreclosure, try to hang in there, as I see the great possibility of loan and interest adjustments coming. Start talking to your lender if you are having troubles and get their advice on what they think will happen. They may be willing to rework your loan now, into a new FHA loan. It does not hurt to ask, and puts them on notice you are having problems.
 
The Great Bail Out from my perspective was something that needed to be done now, as it takes so long for the Government to get things running and helping people. Many will not get the help because of the time it takes to get the programs working. I do not like the fact that this is having to be done, but it truly is affecting people from all walks of life, not just home owners. I was just talking with an elderly lady and she says her monthly income has gone down because of the stock market. The stock market is  down because of housing. Housing is down because of Banks, Mortgage companies and Freddie and Fannie. We are really tied to a Global Economy and many people will lose their life savings over all of this, and they had nothing to do with the Housing Crisis.  I said months ago that the housing market would really affect more people than most thought at the time. I just did not think it would be this bad.
 
This “Bail Out” is not really a bail out, but a rescue plan. It was not presented well by anyone when it started. The final bill has some pork that should not have been there. Those responsible should be looked at by their voters. It was some one’s Senator. The House Banking and Senate Banking Committees have a large responsibility for the Freddie and Fannie problems. It was brought up with a bill over two years ago and the Democratic, and I am sure, some Republicans shot it down. So here we are in much worse shape because of it. This Rescue Bill in my mind will not cost us any where near the 700 Billion approved and I really think in the end we may recoup the entire amount. My problem is the amount it will cost each of us over the time frame it takes to resolve this .  Lost jobs. Lost savings. Lost opportunities. Lost education. And yes lost lives of our brave military personal.
 
 I know what it feels like to them, as they are all “volunteers” in our nations fighting forces. This is not an easy war, but it is possible to stabilize those countries and and bring security to them and to us at home. I say I know, because I am a retired 21 year, “volunteered” enlisted military person who spent a year in Vietnam. I did not see how our returning GI’s were badly treated by our citizens as I went straight to Germany and could only read about the way our returning Veterans were treated. Please DO NOT do the same to our Current Veterans. I really do not think any of us wanted these current wars and why we got there will be debated for centuries, but we are there, and this time we need to finish what we got into, right or wrong.
 
Oil, and the resulting gas prices are coming down because of the reduced use of gas. I am still driving under 65mph on the freeway and staying very close to the posted speed limit in town. This all causes me to use less gas and therefore not provide more money to those up the food chain. If everyone would slow down we can change the gas usage dramatically. There is noting wrong with 65mph except a few minutes of your time. Lets ALL help.
 
Call me any time At 240-7130  if I can help you.

There is Bond money still available with up to 7% available for down payment and closing costs on an FHA loan. Call me for information. On October 1st, FHA the down payment goes to 3.5% which is slight increase and the Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) will be based on FICO credit scores. More and more, Government loans are being used today as compared to six months or more ago. Lenders are getting tighter and tighter with Conventional loans. Some are having a tough time getting Private Mortgage Insurance  (PMI) for the loans which can delay or halt your escrow. Right now it looks like the safe bet for a loan is FHA or VA if you qualify.

Call me if I can help you at 520-240-7130

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 offers some hope for some of the owners who are in financial arrears to refinance   into a new FHA loan at 90% of the new appraised value if the owners lender will allow it to happen. In a sense it is a short loan process that could save the home owner and possibly save the lender much more of a loss if it went to a foreclosure. You can Google the act and get much more information. There are some good things for new buyers in the Act also. Unless the law is changed the seller will not be able to help the buyer with the down payment as of October 1, 2008. There is a Bill in the House trying to change this. You can still get help from Family members if it is available. FHA down payment goes to 3.5% on October 1st.
 
Lenders are getting tighter and tighter on doing loans. You need a good FICO score, good income and the all important down payment.
 
If I can help you call me on my cell phone at 240-7130.

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