The real estate market in Sun City is showing mixed signs of recovery. We have 770 active listings and 123 listings were sold in April. This results in 6.26 months of inventory. Thi 6.26 months of inventory (absorption rate) is very significant. An absorption rate of 6 is considered to be a balanced market. More than six is considered a buyer"s market. less than 6 is a seller's market. If this continues for 2 more months we will have a balanced market for the first time since the 2004-2005 market bubble.

Average selling prices were $135,000 for single family homes and $99,000 for condos and duplexes. Interest rates are at a 37 year low now. This, coupled with the first time buyer's refundable tax credit of up to $8,000 makes today the best time to buy a home in the memory of most agents in the business today.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR

Sun City was started by Del Webb in 1960 when Del Webb opened with 5 model homes, a shopping center, motel, golf course and a recreation center. Originally conceived of as a retirement community for winter visitors, it has become a commmunity of 45,000 people, over 60% permanent residents. If only Del could see it now.

Sun City has 11 golf courses, 3 of which are country clubs. For those who don't golf, Sun City has 7 recreation centers offering sports includin swimming and tennis and pickleball to name a few. Each recreation center has a pool, as well as facilitied for every imaginable hobby, kept current to reflect today's interests and desires. One example is the personal computer clubs. It was 24 years after Sun City was started that the first personal computer was commonly available. At this time there are over 140 activity clubs. Rec fees are currently $420 per couple for a year (4/1/07) Golf fees range from $13 per round in the summer, (Yes we do golf in the summer) to $1186 unlimited as of Oct. 2006.

We are a proud neighbor and supporter of Luke Air Force Base, about 6 miles west. Luke provides services to our many veterans and military retirees.

All of the services you could desire are in Sun City and the immediate area. Malls, shops, hotels, restaurants, medical and hospitals are all convenient.

Homes and condominiums for sale in Sun City range from a studio condo listed for $69,500 to a 5 bedroom custom at $725,000

For more information on Sun City, please fell free to contact me

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR® 800-877-1776 or 623-521-6768

Please visit my Web Site, suncityneighborhood.com where you can search the MLS with no registration for free.

Last night, 9/28/08, I attended the Sun City Recreation Association's free concert. How nice to sit under the stars on a warm, balmy night listening to such songs as Only You, Twilight Time, and the unforgettable Unchained Melody as well as many others. (digression, how do grown men sing falsetto? Doesn't it hurt?)

These concerts occur almost every weekend during the fall in Sun City, and are free to RCSC members (all homeowners in Sun City Belong) and their guests.

The October Sun Bowl Concert schedule is:

10/5/08 6:30 p.m. Desert Winds Community Steel Orchestra, Latin, pop, and island tunes.

10/12/08 6 p.m. Arizona Winds, an adult concert band, traditional band music etc.

10/19/08 6 p.m. The Orpheus Male Chorus of Phoenix, founded in 1929, 17 years after Arizona became a state!

10/26/08 6 p.m. Riders of the Purple Sage, classic cowboy/country sounds celebrating our western heritage.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

Please visit my Web Site, suncityneighborhood.com where you can search the MLS with no registration for free.

When buying a home in today’s market, you MUST be concerned about MORTGAGE FRAUD. Not only the FRAUD FOR PROFIT that many have experienced, but the FRAUD FOR HOUSING. Yes, if you lie, or are encouraged to lie in the mortgage application, that is FRAUD. It is both a Federal and Arizona FELONY. Your buyer’s agent should help you avoid potential financial losses and criminal prosecution.

This post is inspired by 2 others on this forum. Lenn Harley’s MORTGAGE FRAUD THRIVES – THE PLAYERS ARE THE SAME and Broker Bryant’s You want my buyer to do what?

Both of these posts touch on the Buyer’s agent responsibility in the procurement of a home loan. I am just adding some of my thoughts to theirs.

Many problems in today’s real estate market have been caused by FRAUD! Often guided by the lending officer, who feels pressured to make the deal at any cost. Since most states do not require the lending officer to have a fiduciary responsibility to the lender, fraud may easily occur.

Buyer’s agents DO have a fiduciary responsibility to the buyer. It is their highest duty when representing the buyer. Why don’t they stop the fraud? Here are a few reasons.

1. Accepting a buyer provided lender. Sorry folks, this is my biggest fear. Many, if not most lenders don’t play well with real estate agents. They do not keep us in the loop, and often won’t provide us with the information necessary to protect and counsel the buyer. Make sure your lender will talk to your agent, or be prepared to accept the consequences.
2. Many agents don’t understand mortgage rules and procedures. I will bet most agents have never seen a buyer’s Good Faith Estimate. If your agent doesn’t know what is on this document, there is no way to help the buyer understand the loan they are getting.
3. In my state, most buyer’s agents do not attend closings. I have never seen a loan originator at a closing. It is at the closing, or a few days earlier, that you get to look at the Note. The Note defines all of the terms and conditions of the loan. Anything said or written prior to the signed note are null.
4. Many agents were "trained" to let the "mortgage professional" do the job without interference. This has often been justified as "preserving a buyer’s privacy". It is imperative the buyer’s agent be involved.

These are just a few of the things a buyer’s agent should do to protect their buyer, and make the real estate purchase a good one.

It may be only for a few days, but this first day of fall was glorious! I’m sure we will have some more triple digit days before Halloween, but today was great.

The people who live in the New England area, upper Midwest, and even in Arizona’s mountains mark the change of seasons by the changing colors of the leaves in the trees. Those of us who live in the Sun City and Sun City West of Arizona’s Sonoran desert mark the change by the changing colors of the license plates on the cars in front of us. I particularly like the blue of Minnesota, and the red of Wisconsin, but all snowbirds are welcome.

And now for a joke. Seen on a bumper sticker… So many snowbirds, so little freezer space! Joke folks

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

The Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) can be a valuable tool when buying a home. It can also become your worst nightmare.

Benefits of an ARM include:

• Ability to qualify for  more house since the qualification is based upon the first payment level.
• Gradual increase in payments if the ARM is correctly selected. This increase will hopefully be made up by an increase in your earnings.

Pitfalls of the ARM:

• Teaser, or introductory rates. This is why so many people are in trouble today. These rates mean your payments will be abnormally low at the beginning. The loss to the lender is made up by resetting after the introductory period to a level greater than the market rate. The change in monthly payment isn’t gradual, it happens at once, causing monthly payments to be more than many can pay. Foreclosure is the result.
• High prepayment penalties and excessively long prepayment periods. These lock the borrower into the loan, as it is not possible to borrow enough to pay these. Recently I have seen prepayment penalties of 7% and prepayment periods of up to 9 years.
• Income fails to rise as expected, Even if your income doesn’t increase, your payments may. You are obligated to make payments based upon your index, not your income.

I hope this series helps to explain the Adjustable Rate Mortgage. If you have any questions, drop me a line.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

ARMs, how they work.

A basic Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) is based upon the following items (be sure your lending officer and real estate agent explains them in detail)

• An Index
• Margin
• Adjustment Period
• Maximum Increase per Period
• Maximum Increase over the Life of the Loan

INDEX: Each ARM is tied to an economic index. The index relates to the cost of the money loaned, to the lender. The loan interest, upon which the payment is based is equal to the INDEX + MARGIN. Be Careful when evaluating the index. A volatile index means your loan will adjust in an extreme fashion. Common indexes are:

• LIBOR, the London InterBank Offered Rate
• COFI, the Federal Cost of Funds Index
• T-Bills, the interest rate paid by the Treasury Bills.
• Many others may be used.

MARGIN. A percentage added to the index to allow the lender to recover costs and make a profit. If you are the borrower, you want this number to be as low as possible. If you are the lender, you want it to be as high as possible.

ADJUSTMENT PERIOD. This could be monthly, quarterly, twice a year, or yearly. Pick the one you decide will fit your situation. Pick carefully, however, you will not be able to change this later.

MAXIMUM INCREASE PER PERIOD. This one can be a killer. As a borrower, you want this to be as low as possible. An increase of 1% on a $200,000 loan is about an $80 a month increase. If you do this quarterly, you might find you cannot afford the payment.

MAXIMUM INCREASE PER YEAR. Again, another killer. Keep this number as low as possible.

MAXIMUM INCREASE FOR THE LIFE OF THE LOAN. This caps the loan. No matter what happens to interest rates over the life of the loan, this is the maximum interest rate you can be charged.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!

Much has been said recently about the causes of our current and projected foreclosure rate.

Often vilified by the press as the cause of today’s mortgage mess, is the adjustable rate mortgage. (ARM)

The ARM was originally developed as an instrument to give people, often first time buyers a way to get on the property ladder earlier in life. These were often younger buyers, educated, in the early stages of their careers. These buyers typically had some money down and for their closing costs.

The ARM loan was often offered at a lower interest rate since the lender didn’t have the risk of inflation leaving the lender with a low return loan during periods of higher yields. These loans were typically limited to between 5 and 7 year terms, after which the loan would be renegotiated, refinanced to a fixed rate loan, or the property sold.

The advantage to the buyers is that they would be qualified for the loan on the initial rate, usually less than that of conventional loans. The initial payments were lower, and as their income increased, so did the payment.

The borrowers using these loans had every reason to believe that their income would increase as the loan interest and payments increased.

More recently, ARMs were used to finance borrowers who had minimal or poor credit records, and no real potential of increased income. Additionally, these buyers had little or no money to invest in the property, hence need to get their down payment and closing costs financed. As recent events have made clear, this is a recipe for financial disaster.

Jim Little, Your Sun City Realtor
http://jclittle.com/
Ken Meade Realty
17001 N Del Webb Blvd
Sun City AZ 85373
800-877-1776
623-977-1776

By the way…if you know someone who is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Sun City Neighborhood, Peoria, Glendale or Surprise, please call me with their name and phone number. Thank you!