New Listing! 9514 W. Greenway Rd. Sun City AZ 85351

MLS # 4150795

Offered for only $140,000

Enter this fine 2 bedroom, 1.75 bath home through the Saltillo tiled courtyard, a beautiful place to enjoy breakfast, cocktails, or just sit and watch the world go by.

The home has a light and bright kitchen with breakfast nook, all appliances are included. It also has a large living/dining room with neutral plush carpeting. The spacious Arizona room opens to a covered, screened patio on the north side. It is a perfect to enjoy alfresco dining.

Also included are a 2 car garage and a utility/laundry room with washer and dryer.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

Buyers often ask me:

"What is the market going to be like if I buy a home today?"

Unfortunately, in the short-term my answer has to be, "I don't know".

I have never been an agent who recommends short-term purchases, flips or investor remodels, so I have to give my clients my long-term answer.

In the long-term I look the the history of how the market in the Sun City neighborhood has behaved over the last 5 years.

In spite of the price decreases since the 2005 "Bubble" market, the Sun City Neighborhood real estate market has performed well,  with an appreciation rate of 30+% in Zip code 85351 in the 2003-2008 period, and an appreciation rate of 43 % in 85373 over the same time frame. (Source, Arizona Republic, 3/22/2009)

It looks like real estate beats the stock market doesn't it?

With today's low prices, plentiful inventory, and hisotrically low interest rates PLUS and $8000 refundable tax credit from the government, isn't now a great time to buy?

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

Yesterday, February 18, 2009, the President revealed his housing recovery plan. He chose Arizona to make this speech since it is one of the states most affected by the current housing and foreclosure crisis. After analysis of this program it is evident very few people will be helped in our most affected markets, including Arizona.

    After doing hours of research, I am sad to say the plan is disappointing to say the least. Looking at just two of the valley’s many communities here are my findings.

Sun City Arizona, a retirement community, average sales price in 2006 = $224,414. In 2008 the average was $179,139, a 20% loss in value.

Surprise Arizona, a family community, average sales price in 2006 = $273,244. In 2008 the average was $$204,477, a 25% loss in value.

The Arizona Regional MLS reported decreases of up to 30% in overall.

    Mr. Obama emphasize the plan was to help “responsible borrowers”. After careful reading of the speech and further explanations on the White House blog site, it is obvious that “responsible borrowers” EXCLUDES:

VA (Our honored Vets aren’t responsible?)

FHA ( A government sponsored program to broaden homeownership)

ALT-A

    ACCESS TO REFINANCING:    

This plan is available for “responsible borrowers” with a conventional, conforming loan and a property with an appraised value greater than the current mortgage value. The plan hopes to allow borrowers to take advantage of today’s lower interest rate, resulting in lower monthly payments. It also allows borrowers to refinance with resulting loan-to-value ratios greater that 80%. It requires that the new loan and costs be no more than 105% of current market value.

The problem with this plan is that a conforming loan, the target of this plan, had a 20% down payment requirement. Valley home values have dropped 36% or more between 2005 and 2008. There is no way an average Phoenix area home will qualify under this plan.

    HOMEOWNER STABILITY INITIATIVE

This plan seems to address the Alt-A and sub-prime loans of recent years. If the value of the home is lower than the mortgage balance, the borrower MAY be eligible for a government sponsored modification of that loan for FIVE years.

1. The current lender must lower interest rate to the level that the borrower’s debt payment is now 38% of income.
2. The government and the current lender will SHARE further reduction to lower the resulting payment to 31% of income.
3. If the borrower stays current during the five year period of this modification, the borrower will earn $1000/year credit to principal.
4. After five years the payments will increase at a “moderate”, rate, phase over an undetermined amount of time. Unsaid is how much is “moderate”?

The problem is this plan requires the participation of the current lender. Lenders have been notorious in failing to participate in modifications and workouts so far. This is one of the reasons why the project Hope has been such a dismal failure. Some carrot and stick must be applied to this program to make it work. Anything less makes this just a feel good measure.

    Noticeably absent from the current proposals is any plan to encourage buyers to buy existing foreclosed properties. These properties must be absorbed before any meaningful recovery can occur.

    I believe every incentive should be made available to first-time buyers to get them to buy these properties. This should include low down payment FHA loans, expedited FHA 203K (rehabilitation loans), tax incentives, just to name a few ideas.

Jim Little, Sun City REALTOR®

How many ads, blog articles or signature lines do you see with “I specialize in…” stated? Do yourself a favor and read these claims with a critical eye.

Do you really believe that an agent in a metropolitan market can “Specialize” in residential, rental, commercial, land business opportunities, etc? Really? These claims are simply a way of saying there is no specialization, the agent has NO area of specialization, and will grab at any opportunity to make a buck.

It is exactly the same thing with geographic specialty claims. It is about 50 miles from Sun City AZ. to Gilbert AZ. Can an agent in Gilbert “Specialize” in Sun City?

It is often stated “All Real Estate is Local”. Only a local agent can tell you about the particulars on a neighborhood you wish to buy in. Only a local agent will have the contacts amongst agents selling in a neighborhood to help you sell your home.

It is even more important to sellers to have a local agent when the property is vacant. Who is more likely to check your home after a storm, the agent who lives and works nearby, or the agent who is located across the valley?

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

2007 Sun Cities Market Report

As you can see, it was not all doom and gloom. I would be lying to
imply this is the greatest year ever, but we did sell a lot of homes
in spite of the media and mortgage meltdown.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

1. Is this a good time to buy? The answer to this is: It depends. If you are going to buy a home to live in for several years, EMPHATICALLY YES! Prices are low, there are plenty of choices, and interest rates are low. What more can you ask for?
   
2. Have we hit bottom yet? If you are going to live in the home for several years, it doesn’t matter. With the exception of the great depression, real estate has always recovered from slumps within a couple of year. In the mean time, you still have to live somewhere, don’t you?
   
3. Should we wait until the market changes? SEE ITEM 2 ABOVE.
   
4. All the news on TV and in the newspapers is negative. Of course, that is what sells papers. The economy is strong, over 100,000 people move to Arizona each year, job growth continues, but where are the headlines about these items?
   
5. We don’t want to pay too much. OK, as your REALTOR® I don’t want you to pay too much either. That is why I will give you recent comps. You can than decide how much you are willing to pay, and make an offer accordingly. With so many homes on the market, sellers are willing to negotiate from their asking price.
   
6. What is going to happen to the economy? Heck if I know, I don’t know anyone that smart, do you?
   
7. There is so much to look at the choices is overwhelming. You bet, that is one of the most important reasons to use a neighborhood specialist. If you are looking to buy a home in the Sun City or Sun City West neighborhoods, your agent should be able to tell you much about the models available, and their features and problems without even getting out of the office. A good real estate agent is invaluable in helping you select the neighborhood and home of your dreams. The agent will help you avoid costly mistakes, and make you aware of potential problems BEFORE you spend your hard earned money.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

The president of my company (Ken Meade Realty Inc) Steve Meade just wrote this article for the company newsletter, THE KEN MEADE REALTY Report. It contains some valuable information for all who are interested in buying or selling real estate at this time.

DOES MARKET TIME TELL US WHICH HOME TO BUY?

The number of days a home was on the market in the third quarter of 2007 averaged 173 days in Sun City Grand and 174 days in Sun City West, In Sun City, the average market time during that period was 129 days, while Surprise averaged 121 days and the Phoenix Metropolitan Area averaged 113 days.

Statistics can be interesting to look over, but what do they really mean? Is a home that has been on the market 10 days a better buy than a similar home with a current market time of 210 days? Should a buyer avoid making an offer on a home that has been for sale for 310 days and look for something with less time on the market? Or, should a savvy buyer request to see only homes that have been on the market for more than 6 months or a year in hopes of making an incredible deal?

The average market time tells us a considerable amount about overall market conditions. It does not necessarily tell us which homes to look at or the best home to make an offer on.

A short average market time, like 30 or 45 days, indicates that there are numerous buyers for the number of homes on the market and that homes have, on average, been selling quickly. This is often referred to as a ‘Sellers Market.’ A longer market time, like 180 days, indicates that there are fewer buyers for the homes available and that, on average, homes have been taking longer to sell. This is often called a ‘Buyer’s Market.’

In a ’seller’s market,’ of course, we can still find homes that didn’t sell at all or took much longer to sell. And, in our current ‘buyer’s’ market,’ some homes still sell within a few days or weeks.

Average market time does not actually tell us whether only a few homes or many homes sold, only the average time it took those that sold to get an offer. Average market time also does not tell us if there is a large supply of homes on the market or very few homes for sale. Generally, however, there is a much larger number of properties for buyer’s to choose from in a ‘buyer’s market.’

Knowing that we are in a ‘buyer’s market’ tells prospective buyers that many homes have been on the market for a substantial period of time. When a buyer compares homes, however, market time alone does not indicate that one home is a better buy, or more desirable, than another. It also doesn’t tell us that one seller is necessarily more motivated than another.

As an example, let’s say a prospective buyer looks at two very similar homes and that both are priced at $247,000. One home ‘property A, came on the market 10 days ago. The other, property B, has been for sale 210 days. Many prospective buyers might think that property A is the more desirable property because it just came on the market. Market time, however, doesn’t necessarily indicate value. Perhaps property B has been seriously overpriced, but was recently reduced. Or, perhaps the sellers of property B just replaced the carpet, painted the exterior, had the interior professionally cleaned and the yard groomed. Reducing the price substantially or dramatically improving the condition really makes property B a different home than the one that racked up all those days on the market.

Our prospective buyer may think that the owner of property B will be more motivated than the owner of property A. While that may be true, it isn’t always the case. Property owner A may have placed their home on the market at an attractive price because they truly need to move and are highly motivated. Property owner B, on the other hand, has just reduced the price or made improvements to the home and might feel the home should now attract considerable interest. Therefore they might, or might not, be as highly motivated as owner A.

By looking at recent sales comparables, the prospective buyer can probably determine how much properties similar to homes A and B have sold for recently. This data, in my opinion, is far more important than the number of days a home has been on the market.

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

For NEW users of Microsoft Office 2007, the following link is invaluable. One of the best features is that it links also to the Crabby Office Lady.

When you have had it with something, it is like having someone sympathize and teach at the same time.

This site also links to the templates and downloads pages for Office 2007, AND uses the infamous RIBBON BAR. You can start to get used to it here.

They have clip art and photos here also. See my new listing.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/getstarted/default.aspx

Another great help with tips and tricks is the How-To Geek. See this site here

Jim Little, your Sun City REALTOR®

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

It is a great time to buy!
If you are a typical new Arizona resident, you will find that inventories of existing homes are at an all-time high, while prices are 15-20% below recent historical peaks.

1. "Conforming" loans are still available. Conforming loans includ VA and FHA loans and conventional loans with as little as 5% down payment. These loans do have maximum loan limits. At this time, the VA loan limit is $359,650. The FHA limit is $263,160 The conventional loan limit is $417,000.
2. New home builders are offering great incentive at this time. DO NOT GO WITHOUT A REALTOR®! If you go the first time to a builder site, you CANNOT be represented. It costs you NOTHING to be represented by your own agent. The BUILDER PAYS US!
3. Rental occupancy rates exceed 98%. That is a very high occupancy rate.
4. Homes offered for rent today are very likely to be in danger of foreclosure. Many are homes bought with sub-prime loans in the speculative fever of the 2004-2005 seller’s market. Many if not most were financed with questionable instrments like option ARMs 2/28 or 3/27 interest only loans now resetting into ARMs with exceedingly high interest premiums. No way are today’s renters going to pay enough rent to subsidize the high mortgage payments on these. If you rent one of these you may find yourself living in a foreclosed property.

Do you want to  "wait until the prices drop"?
Better think again. While there is a liquidity problem today in the sub-prime and Alt-A markets, there is no such problem in the conforming loan arena YET. Many people who were qualified for loans 2 weeks ago, no longer qualify, or have found the terms that they qualify for have changed drastically. If you will live in the home for the foreseeable future, better to buy now and enjoy the tax benefits and any future appreciation, than to wait and be excluded from future equity housing for you and your family.

For more information on homes in Sun City, Sun City West, El Mirage, Glendale, Peoria and Surprise that meet the "conforming" criteria, please see http://activerain.com/blogsview/176816/Can-I-get-a

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!

Can I get a Mortgage Today?

Yes!

If you meet the reasonable credit and downpayment standards of the "Conforming" Loan. These loans include:

• VA with a maximum loan value of $359,650
• FHA maximum loan value of $263,160
• Conventional maximum loan value of $417,000

In six of the west Maricopa county area alone, there are 4085 homes for sale today that meet the criteria of one or more of these programs.

Homes for sale in:

• El Mirage       483
• Glendale      2216
• Peoria          1558
• Sun City         735
• Sun City West 276
• Surprise        2044

Call me today for help in buying a home in one of these fine communities.
See also my companion post http://activerain.com/blogsview/176795/Buying-a-Home-You

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!