by Jamie on July 15, 2008
If you do there may be good news- if you are facing foreclosure. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that IndyMac, the 8th largest lender, is freezing all foreclosure proceedings. Here is the full story.
“Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, who has been one of the most outspoken officials calling for banks to ease up on struggling homeowners, said that the agency is “really focused” on keeping borrowers in their homes for both their sakes and to maximize IndyMac’s value for taxpayers. “We will very aggressively pursue loan-modification strategies for unaffordable loans to make them affordable on a long-term, sustainable basis,” Ms. Bair said in an interview Monday”
She goes on to say “We can’t make any promises,” Ms. Bair said. “We’re going to look at each one before we are going to let them continue on to foreclosure, and when we find people who want to stay in their homes, we are going to try to work with them to see if we can modify their loan.”
Sounds like there is a lot of work to be done, but let’s up they can keep some families, that want to stay, in their homes at payments they can afford.
by Jamie on July 15, 2008
If you have traveled down Riggs off of Ellsworth lately you will have noticed the HUGE structure looming in the distance. No, this is not a new Home Depot or another strip mall. This building is the covered arena!
This brand new addition to the parks of Queen Creek started this spring and is set to open in December of 2008.
The first phase of construction will include the covered arena, barn, maintenance and business office, restroom and meeting room. It will also include a community arena for use by Queen Creek residents only. A second phase will include trails.
It took a while for the construction to begin as the developers were waiting for the Queen Creek Landfill to close. Yes, that is correct, this new park is being built where the landfill used to be. This park near Riggs and Hawes roads is expected to cost $17.5 million.
The residents are quite excited to have this center in the future. Many residents and people in the area are horse owners and it will be wonderful to have a place to ride so close. Many people are hoping that this beautiful arena will attract horse shoes, rodeos and maybe even polo matches. You can bet they are planning a huge celebration for the grand opening.
Queen Creek Real Estate- Market Statistics for June 2008
Currently there are 1826 active listings showing an 7% increase in inventory from last May. The current absorbtion rate or supply of homes in Queen Creek is 5.24 months.
For the month of June
New Lisings: 576
Pending Sales: 397
Sold Homes: 348
Queen Creek Real Estate- Listing Status June 2008
The average sales price for homes in Queen Creek actually increased in the month of June from $168k to 174k.
The next 2 charts show New Listings vs Sold Homes and List Price vs Sales Price. There is a small difference between list price vs sale price, which means homes are being priced to sell in Queen Creek. A larger percentage of homes in Queen Creek are short sales or REO (bank owned) homes that are being aggessivley priced to sell quickly and many are getting multiple offers.
by Jamie on June 29, 2008
I get ask from potential Queen Creek home sellers that have to sell their homes- which is worse- a short sale or a foreclosure. 
Both will impact your ability to purchase a home in the future. There are some very important changes coming as Fannie Mae has announced changes that will be in affect starting August 1st 2008.
You cannot purchase a home under the following guidelines and time frames using Fannie Mae Conventional financing:
- Chapter 7 bankruptcy; 4 years
- Chapter 13 dismissed; 4 years
- Chapter 13 discharged; 2 years
- More than one bankruptcy filing in the past 7 years; 5 years
- Pre-Forclosure (short sale of home); 2 years
- Deed in lieu of foreclosure; 4 years
People with foreclosures will have the following restrictions placed on them:
- 5 year time period from completion date to finance or refinance without taking cash out a primary residence with a minimum of 10% down and a credit score of 680.
- 7 year time period from completion to finance a second home or investment property.
- 7 year time period from completion to take cash out of a refinance on any property regardless of occupancy type.
by Jamie on June 27, 2008
The FUSD governing board has chose the name for the new high school. After reviewing dozens of essays from FUSD 8th graders, the first class to graduate from the new high school, they chose Poston Butte High School as the new name.
According to Meghan Kuebler, an 8th grader at Copper Basin: “I chose the name Poston Butte High because Poston Butte is a well known landmark; it is the burial place of its founder, Charles Poston; and, I think we should recognize that Mr. Poston convinced President Lincoln to add Arizona as a United States territory. I think we should honor the “father” of our state through the spirit of a high school.”
Well said and well done! Megan looks forward to being one of the group that will be the first to graduate from this high school.
The building of this new school comes just in time. The students living in Pinal County have been bused miles out to Florence to attend Florence High School. While Florence has been around for a very long time, it just can’t hold all of the high schoolers coming from the San Tan Corridor as well as residents of Florence.
Now, the high school students will attend high school right in their own backyard!
by Jamie on June 23, 2008
Anyone that knows me, I am a dog lover, and a new foster Mom for Basset and Blood hounds. Here are some pictures of my babies-
Waylon is my Bloodhound, Jesse is the blood hound mix that I rescued and Savannah is my foster Basset, looking for a loving home. Savannah loves her people and is just as sweet as she can be. She is not real fond of the big dogs, but loves my doxies. 
She is a people person, and is not fond of being left alone. Hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you are interested in adopting a Basset Hound, please visit AZBR. Please spay or neuter your hound.
by Jamie on June 21, 2008
It’s not a secret that the slump in the economy has turned some of our neighborhoods in Queen Creek to virtual ghost towns. Many homes are being foreclosed upon and many others have had their owners just walk away. With this desertion has come weeds, trash, green pools and countless other issues.
But in Queen Creek, neighborhood leaders are banding together to find the best solutions to their common problems.
Queen Creek resident Chris Clark has been working with town leaders to create a Neighborhood Summit for HOA board members and others in the community to discuss vandalism, landscaping problems and other issues that arise with the increasing number of empty homes.
The Neighborhood Summit is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Queen Creek Town Hall, 22350 S. Ellsworth Road. All residents in Queen Creek and the nearby Santan area are invited.
The day will include a talk from the Maricopa County Sherrif’s office on how to keep the neighborhoods safe and attractive via Neighborhood Watch programs. Other speakers that are expected will be experts from the Leadership Centre, a public-private partnership based in the East Valley that helps develop strong communities and community leaders, are expected to give advice.
For more information, contact Clark at cclark@azfamilyfinance.com
by Jamie on June 19, 2008
For those of you living in the Queen Creek area, you undoubtedly know the name Amber Hess. You might have forgotten who she was and why you know the name. This weekend will be a reminder of who she was and what was lost.
Amber Hess was killed last year by two friends and left the community wondering how and why this could happen in our own backyard. That same community gathered and organized a ride in memory of her and to raise funds to help her parents pay for her funeral. This year, the community is doing it again. But this time the funds raised will go towards the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Justice Foundation Crime Prevention Fund. Her parents, Mike and Candy Hess, will be in attendance and say this is just the first of the annual events that will help keep the memory of their beloved daughter alive. Candy Hess also wants to make sure that no other child is savagely killed like Amnber was.
The cost is $25 for cars and motorcycles, including a $5 fee for each additional rider or passenger.
Registration for the Ride & Drive will begin at 6:30 a.m. and the ride starts at 7 a.m. at the Sheriff’s Office in Florence.
The ride will end at Big Daddy’s in Copper Basin. Participants will receive free breakfast there.
Info on Sunday’s event
by Jamie on June 19, 2008
Ironwood Crossing in Queen Creek is set to open sales offices this weekend Saturday June 21 with an amazing $750 move-in deal. Fulton homes is trying to alleviate the Queen Creek Real Estate housing slump and get customers in to the sales office and start building homes and a community.
The development features 2,107 home sites that are being sold on a first-come firs-served basis. FHA financing is available, including the AmeriDream Down Payment Assistance program, which allows Fulton Homes to package up to 6 percent of the buyer’s closing costs and/or down payment into the loan. Homes are prices from the mid $100,000’s and offer super sized garages with four bays. Also included is the option of 3-9 bedrooms and 1,302 to 4,065 square ft. plans.
The brand new Ironwood Crossing in Queen Creek is located off Ironwood just north of Ocotillo.
If you would like more information call me at 480-216-4849 or email me jamie_geiger@cox.net
by Jamie on June 17, 2008
Have you heard about the projected State Route 802?
Have you heard about the 4 proposed “routes” this freeway COULD take?
For the residents of mainly Castelgate and Laredo Ranch, communities off Ironwood and Ocotillo, proposed routes 3 and 4 could level their homes!
Check the link below for information from ADOT regarding the plans for the freeway.
ADOT
Now, I can say that MOST EVERY resident out here in Pinal County is ready and excited about the idea of a proposed freeway moving closer to our homes. We just don’t want to lose our homes because of the construction of said freeway.
The first two routes go mainly through state land. Choose one of those routes and don’t build anything in it’s path in the meantime!
There was a meeting held a few weeks ago to answer questions and put fears to rest for the residents located in the path of proposed routes 3 & 4. Unfortunately this meeting did little to calm their fears.
Although State Route 802 or the Williams Gateway Freeway isn’t projected to be built until after 2016, ADOT is currently studying and collecting comment on where the road should go.
It kind of seems like a simple plan, but why are they even looking at land that has houses and neighborhoods on it? Why not just go through the GM Proving grounds and then across state land? Many people in eastern Pinal County are not happy and are not going to go away! If you live in the area or are planning on it, this is an issue you need to take a further look at!
