As of January 1, 2009 the maximum FHA loan limit for single family residences in Arizona are as follows…

Maricopa County                $271,050

Coconino County              $333,500

All Other Counties              $271,050

Current limits for Maricopa county is $346,250.  So if you are looking at FHA financing a home higher than $271K- now is the time to buy!!

For the month of Aug 2008

New Listings: 605

Pending Sales: 355

Sold Homes: 332

Queen Creek Real Estate- Listing Status Aug 2008

The average sales price for homes in Queen Creek decreased about 12%the month of Aug from $167k to $148k.

Foreclosures and Short Sales in Queen Creek

The number of homes for sale in Queen Creek continue to be dominated by foreclosures and short sales.  From a quick glance a the statistics in MLS, of the 1936 active listings, 340 are bank owned/foreclosures and 638 are short sales, however as I suspected, when looking at listings that were not tagged as SS or REO, I noticed several that should be classified as such.  The data is only as good as the agent that enters it in the system, so I suspect the percentage of homes for sale in Queen Creek that are foreclosures or short sales is much higher.

This is a reminder that the foreclosure market has put many 4 legged friends- dogs, cat and horses in danger.

Families are not only losing their homes- but are abandoning their animals. My Broker Jay- wrote about this a couple of weeks ago as well.

So if you know that a family has moved under these circumstances- look over the fence, peek through the windows, knock on the doors-be nosey, you may just save a life.

Here is Guthrie’s story:

He had no food, and the only water was the slime left in the bottom of the swimming pool. Unbelievably it was about a month before anyone noticed him! Guthrie was nothing but skin and bones, and we can’t imagine how he must have suffered during those weeks. The thing that really brings a tear to the eye though is that he’s such an awesome dog that he is still loving, trusting and sweet and has settled into his foster home with no issues at all. He’s obviously enjoying getting two square meals a day and having some companions, and once he’s packed on a few pounds he will be ready to make some lucky person a great forever dog.

Here is a link to the nonprofit group of real estate professionals who rescue pets left behind due to foreclosures or other financial hardship-Lost our Home is the name of the organization

Please spay or neuter your pet.

So my question- if you are looking to rent a home in Queen Creek or anywhere in the Phoenix area- How do you know your landlord is “healthy” and not facing foreclosure as well, and “robbing” tenants for 3-4 months before the rental home is foreclosed, leaving a family homeless and cheated.

A Chicago Sheriff has taken this problem into his own hands.

So what can you do as a potential renter?

1. Ask questions- maybe ask the “landlord” for a copy of their credit report, just as they require a credit report from the prospective tenant.

2. if working with an agent, have them investigate when the landlord purchased the property- If they purchased in 2005 or 2006- beware- they purchased at the height of the real estate boom and may be in trouble.

3. When writing a lease agreement- add some provisions to protect you in the case that landlord defaults.

Fannie Mae is cancelling the planned increase in the Adverse Market Delivery Charge from 0.25% - 0.5% that was scheduled to go into effect next month.

“Our expectation is that this decision to forgo the across-the-board increase in our delivery charges will be passed on to borrowers in the form of lower mortgage costs,” said president and CEO Herb Allison. “The market has changed substantially since we announced this increase to our pricing in early August. We are evaluating all of our risk-management, underwriting guidelines, pricing and costs in light of these changing conditions. As we move forward, we will seek to balance our responsibility to provide the most market support possible with our obligation to protect the company and its many stakeholders, including taxpayers.”

Take this information to heart…We are not in the Great Depression

What Happened in The Great Depression What Happened in 2008

744 US banks failed in first 10 months of 1930                  15 US banks failed in first 10 months of 2008

(over the term of the TGD over 9000 banks failed)

Unemployment rate                                                        Unemployment Rate

1930 – 8.9%                                                                  2006 – 4.6%

1931 – 15.9%                                                                2007 – 4.6%

1932 – 23.6%                                                                thru Sept 2008 – 6.1%

1933 – 24.9%

Dow Index                                                                     Dow Index

Down 90% from late 1929 – 1932                                    Down 29% from January 2008

(in 1934 the Dow Jones Average was at 41.22)                 (with today’s gain the Dow is at 9387.61)

Update of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act

As many of you, I have been trying to follow the progress of the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to see how its implementation may be beneficial to our economy.  After a wild ride on Thursday and Friday of last week, today’s bank holiday was a good opportunity to take a deep breath and look at some of the details of the Plan and get caught up on accurate assessment of their execution.

The Treasury appointed Neel Kashkari as the Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability pursuant to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.  Kashkari was previously the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economics and Development. Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Kashkari was a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in San Francisco, where he led Goldman’s IT Security Investment Banking practice, advising public and private companies on mergers and acquisitions and financial transactions. In a statement to the Institute of International Bankers on Friday, Asst Sec. Kashkari laid out the basic strategy and implementation of the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program)…

Strategy

The Treasury’s strategy is clear and focused. The Treasury is implementing its new authorities with one simple goal - to restore capital flows to the consumers and businesses that form the core of our economy.

Implementation

First, the Treasury is working very closely with both domestic and international regulators to understand how best to design tools that will be most effective in dealing with the challenges in our financial system.  Throughout this process, we have kept in mind one clear priority: to protect the taxpayers by making the best use of their money.

Second, we are using the full resources of the Treasury Department to ensure this program’s success. As soon as the legislation was signed, we immediately created seven policy teams to develop several tools and other important elements that are required under the TARP.

1) Mortgage-backed securities purchase program: This team will identify which troubled assets to purchase, from whom to buy them and which purchase mechanism will best meet policy objectives.

2) Whole loan purchase program: Regional banks are particularly clogged with whole residential mortgage loans and this team will assist with the smaller regional banks in this effort.

3) Insurance program: This team is establishing a program to insure troubled assets. There have been several innovative ideas on how to structure this program, including how to insure mortgage-backed securities as well as whole loans.

4) Equity purchase program: This team will design a standardized program to purchase equity in a broad array of financial institutions.

5) Homeownership preservation: When the Treasury purchases mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, this team will look for every opportunity possible to help homeowners. This goal is consistent with other programs - such as HOPE NOW - aimed at working with borrowers, counselors and servicers to keep people in their homes.

6) Executive compensation: The law sets out important requirements regarding executive compensation for firms that participate in the TARP.

7) Compliance: The law establishes important oversight and compliance structures, including establishing an Oversight Board, on-site participation of the General Accounting Office and the creation of a Special Inspector General, with thorough reporting requirements.

Recruitment

It will obviously take time to bring on board permanent members of the team that will manage this program over the long term and provide stability during the transition. While the permanent team is being identified for tomorrow, we are tapping the very best, seasoned, financial veterans to help launch the program today.

As the above mentioned items sound good on paper, or spoken in front of a crowd, the true test will be measured in our economic recovery over the next several days, months and very possibly years.

· Raffle

· Costume Contest

· Games & Prizes

· Lunch

· Merchandise Left Over from Basset Ball just added

HOWL is always a fun event and the hounds love it because they can run free and play with all the other hounds!

Pre-registration is taking place now. The cost is $10 for the first dog and $7 for every dog thereafter. Don’t fret…if you’re houndless you are still welcome to attend! Hound-less attendees can pre-register for $5 a person and kids 2 and under are free with a paying attendee!

Lunch will be avaialble at an additional cost of $6 per person. We encourage you to pre-register so that we can plan for more food as we ran out last year due to the number of registrations at the door. October 18th is around the corner!

Pre-registration ends October 18th, so you’ll want to hurry and get registered before then! Don’t delay, pre-registration forms available now at www.azbassetrescue.com home page.

I will give more details on the data in these neighborhood posts.

San Tan Heights Market Statistics

Active Listings:  111

Active with Contingencies:  10

Pending Sales: 0

Sold (Sept 2008): 37

Average Sales Price Sept 2008:  $128,789

Average Days on Market for Sold Homes: 55

Homes for Sale in San Tan Heights

Average Asking Price: $143,144

Low Asking Price: $79,000

High Asking Price: $399,000

Sold Homes in San Tan Heights

Low Sold Price: $96,000 (4bd, 2 ba, 1520 sqft)

High Sold Price: $193,000 (5 bd, 2ba, 3CarG, 2290sqft)

]]> http://www.queencreekliving.com/2008/10/08/queen-creek-real-estate-san-tan-heights-market-statistics/feed/ http://www.queencreekliving.com/2008/10/05/welcome-to-the-family-nutmeg/ http://www.queencreekliving.com/2008/10/05/welcome-to-the-family-nutmeg/#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:32:37 +0000 Jamie http://www.queencreekliving.com/?p=123 Anyone who knows me, knows my love of animals and that I am a foster Mom for the Arizona Basset Hound Rescue- that of course also rescues Bloodhounds- I am the Bloodhound Mom.

Nutmeg is rescued

I picked up Nutmeg, from a vet in Mesa, where she was abandoned.  I think she is about 6-7 months old, still has the soft puppy fur. She was spayed on Thursday and recovering very nicely.

What a sweet little girl she is!!!  Half the size of my Waylon and needs to gain some weight.  She thinks she is a lap dog, and loves to snuggle.

If you are looking for a wonderful pet to adopt, please visit the AZBR website.  There are many dogs looking for their forever home.

All rescues are non-profit and operate from proceeds from fundraisers and donations.  The Basset Hound Ball took place in Sept of 2008- they raised $38,000, that will help cover the $10,000/month vet bills incurred by the rescue.

Upcoming events include the Howl-a-ween and Santa Paws.

And always remember please spay or neuter your pet.

For the month of Sept 2008

New Listings: 649

Pending Sales: 359

Sold Homes: 389

Queen Creek Real Estate- Listing Status Sept 2008

The average sales price for homes in Queen Creek increased slightly in the month of Sept from $168k to $175k.

Foreclosures and Short Sales in Queen Creek

The number of homes for sale in Queen Creek continue to be dominated by foreclosures and short sales.  From a quick glance a the statistics in MLS, of the 1909 active listings, 292 are bank owned/foreclosures and 665 are short sales, however as I suspected, when looking at listings (the first 20 I checked) that were not tagged as SS or REO, I noticed several that should be classified as such.  The data is only as good as the agent that enters it in the system, so I suspect the percentage of homes for sale in Queen Creek that are foreclosures or short sales is much higher.

It is absolutely heart breaking, but the good news, these 89 dogs and puppies, now have a chance.

I am a foster Mom for the Arizona Basset Hound Rescue and our rescue is getting ready to receive a female Basset and her 5 puppies (2 male & 3 female lemon and whites) along with another puppy 3 months old and tri-color female.

All animal rescues are funded by donations and volunteers and operate on love for our animals.

So if you are looking for a new dog or cat, consider adoption of a pet from the a rescue organization.