Tucson Real Estate Blog

The November Statistics show how the $8000 tax credit had a big impact on the Market. We had higher Closed and Listings under contract during October and then things started to drop in November. I have also been seeing fewer showings for this month of December due to the time between the November 30th cutoff of the credit program and the extension of the program. The Short Sales and REO’s got in the way of a quick closing and we still have many months left for Foreclosures and Short Sale properties still entering the market. If you are interested in buying and you may end up with a short sale property you need to get your offer in by mid January to allow time to get the lender approval so you can close before June 30th, 2010. I am experiencing better than 4+ months with Bank of America to approve a short sale.

The figures on this table are subject to change due to late reportings and corrections. These changes are reflected in the next months statisical blog post after we receive the updated information. For this reason you will find inconsistencies if you compare the data on multiple tables.

* Closed during the month.

** For the current month (not the total listing under contract)

Bank of America is now using a new online program to work through the approval process. I had one of my listings with a buyer contract placed into their new system first started as REO-TRANS, and now called Equator. It looks good but I still see the same delays on their end. The faxing is not used now as everything is scanned in as a PDF file. May be hard on the seller to do some of the scanning. Lots of changes. I see I am now allowed to use this method with all of my Bank of America short sales. I also see that two other Lenders will be going into the same system.

If I can help you with a sale or purchasing a property please call me at 240-7130.

I wrote a few articles back in 2006 which were published on various websites, and I thought I would share these again in my Blog over the next few weeks. Not much has changed in the procedures, but three years have past and we have been in a housing crunch for almost those entire three years. I hope this information is beneficial to you.

Use and distribution of this article is authorized as long as the author’s information and copyright is included.

Author: Barry Fotheringham

Article: Pre-qualified? What is that?

Dated: 01/14/2006

You have been looking at homes through a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) link or a Homes magazine and you want to start looking at homes. You call your choice of Real Estate Agent and during the conversation the agent says, “Are you pre-qualified?”

Get pre-qualified?

Before you get ready to buy a home you need to see a lender and start the loan application process. If you are not sure who to contact, talk to your real estate professional for recommendations. I personally like my clients to talk to a loan representative that works directly for a Mortgage Company.

Why do You need to get pre-qualified first?

Most Real Estate agents do not try to do the work of a lender. True professionals usually recognize the need to rely on other true professionals to bring your transaction to a successful close. The Real Estate agent does not want to show properties without the buyer completing a tri-merge credit check through a lender. The cost of the credit report is normally under $25. The credit report will show your credit history and include three FICO scores. It is the middle score that is normally used by the lender. You will also need to complete a loan application. With all the loan programs available, it is up to the loan representative to explain the different type of loans that may be available to you. It is at this point that you will know how much home you can purchase. Be sure you get a “good faith estimate” which shows the costs of the loan and your approximate monthly payment from the lender. This will help your agent structure the costs and financing of your Residential Purchase Contract.

If you are in the state of Arizona your lender will also complete the Arizona Association of REALTORS® form called the “Loan Status Report” (LSR) which must accompany the Residential Purchase Agreement. The Purchase agreement is the most important document, but the LSR is the one item that allows the procedure to continue to an acceptance or a counteroffer. Without the completed LSR it is a total rejection by the Seller. The lender prepares the LSR based on your application and credit report.

I hope you now see the importance of getting pre-qualified before you start looking at properties.

About the author:
Barry has been in the Tucson Real Estate Business for over 30 years. He holds the CRS, GRI, and e-Pro designation with the National Association of REALTORS®. He is the Broker for his family owned business.

Tucson Real Estate For Sale Ability Realty – Barry Fotheringham – Search 1000’s of listings in the Tucson MLS and find valuable information on Tucson!

Let me start off and say that the Numbers on this chart are different from the previous posts, as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) changed numbers to reflect the statistics that came in after the cutoff date. I did not see this until this month when the numbers were really different. You can compare what they reported in the May post. With that all said, we have really seen improvement with 115 additional sales over the last month and 130 additional Listings under contract during June. The Active listings are down by 245 units. All this is really good and really cements the fact that we have hit the bottom and are starting back out. I still feel we may see a hiccup with the foreclosures but this should be able to be handled by new sales.

The figures on this table are subject to change due to late reportings and corrections. These changes are reflected in the next months statisical blog post after we receive the updated information. For this reason you will find inconsistencies if you compare the data on multiple tables.

* Closed during the month.

** For the current month (not the total listing under contract)

Read my post from a couple of days ago about The $8000 Federal Tax Credit. I feel this program is assured of being extended but not sure if more people will be allowed to use it. The Bill in the Senate calls for $15,000, but I really do not think that will happen. If you are a first time buyer (not owned a home in 3 years) I would advise starting to look now. Homes around $150,000 are getting harder to find in good condition and with the popular amenities (A/C, garage, etc.). There is a lot of junk at the moment. Expect the $150,000 priced homes to go above $152,000 and higher in nicer subdivisions. The current Tax Credit will cause more sales and leave fewer good properties on the market.

If you see something you like, get it under contract right away because it will be gone if you wait! You also need to get your “Loan Status Report” (LSR) from your Lender which means you need to get that loan process started. No LSR, no contract, as the contract calls for it to be part of the contract.

If Congress puts out a bill for say a $8000 Tax Credit (extend the current 1 December cutoff date) for anyone buying a personal residence (except investors) this will make our market move faster and have a lot of owner occupied listed homes. It should bring up the prices of foreclosed and short sale homes.

If you are think of purchasing I would suggest you start looking now. Call or e-mail me for assistance. I can give you the name of a couple of good Loan Representatives. You can reach me on my cell at 520-240-7130.