1. DID YOU RECEIVE AN OFFER TO CONTEST YOUR 2009 PROPERTY TAX BILL FOR $189?

    August 19, 2009 by lourie

    Don’t do it!!!!! This is a scam. I was privileged to be at a real estate renewal class today. Our guest speaker was Terry Goddard, Arizona’s State Attorney General. A very informative class on Fair Housing Law. During part of his presentation he brought this latest fraud scheme to our attention…and indicated that it is currently one of his Fraud Division’s top priorities.

    In order to contest your 2009 property tax bill, you would have to have done it by the end of April, 2008…that’s right…2008!!! In fact, in order to contest your 2010 Property Evaluation, you would have had to have done so by April 30, 2009.

    So if you have received one of these letters, contact the Arizona Attorney Generals office at www.azag.gov or call 800-352-8431. If you unwittingly sent this group $189 chances are you will get it back…the AG’s office was able to identify the culprits…and the Postmaster of the post office box is collecting all of the “blue” envelopes and should be returning them to you…but you should still call the AG’s office to report your incident.

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  2. So…is it a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market in Phoenix?

    August 17, 2009 by lourie

    The answer is a little of both!  In Maricopa County, as of the time of this post, there were 18,493 residential properties listed in the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service as active under $350,000… 7,925 properties were listed over $350,000…totaling 26,418 active residential properties versus over 55,000 this same time last year!  Last week alone in Maricopa County 1,406 residential properties closed escrow and 2,157 went into escrow!

     

    Why?  If you consider that the maximum FHA sales price for the Phoenix Metro area is $346,250…with a minimum down payment of 3.5%, or $12,119.  It would take a household earning $80K – $90K per year to likely qualify for the payment using this scenario…depending on their credit rating, interest rate, insurance, property taxes, and other non-housing related debts.  This is not a lot of money and under FHA guidelines the down payment and closing cost funds can be gifted!

     

    The point is that you can buy a great deal of home for this price.  I saw a 4300+ spft. home, with a three car garage, on an acre listed in east Mesa 10 days ago for $270,000!!!  In 4 days the listing agent had so many offers, that the seller refused to accept additional offers for review.  Besides the incentives for first time homebuyers, there are a lot of cash investors back in our market.  This has created an extremely competitive market…a Seller’s market…for well priced properties under $350,000. 

    It’s rare that I right an offer that isn’t competing with at least 5 other offers.  Don’t kid yourselves…the only part of the market that is a “Buyer’s market” is the market for homes over $400K. and that is just 30% of our available inventory!  So don’t listen to the media…they are clueless!  And if you’re thinking about buying or selling give me a call…

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  3. First-time Homebuyer $8,000 Tax Credit Facts

    August 10, 2009 by lourie

    Many of you may have heard conflicting information about the deadline is for this tax credit. It is November 30, 2009…you must close the sale before the end of business on this day. Did you know that you don’t have to wait to file your 2009 tax return in 2010 to receive your credit? You can revise your 2008 tax return as soon as you close on your new home and get your tax credit this year!

    This is the official overview of the program as found on the Internal Revenue’s website.

    First-time homebuyers may be able to take advantage of a tax credit for homes purchased in 2008 or 2009. The credit:

    Applies to purchases that close after April 8, 2008, and before Dec. 1, 2009.
    Applies only to homes used as a taxpayer’s principal residence.
    Reduces a taxpayer’s tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.
    Is fully refundable, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.
    The credit is claimed using Form 5405.

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  4. City of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program

    August 6, 2009 by lourie

    On July 1, 2009 the City of Phoenix rolled out their Neighborhood Stabilization Program for downpayment and closing cost assistance for low to moderate income homebuyers.  Highlights of the program include: up to $15,000 in funds available to qualified homebuyers for downpayment and closing costs, participants must meet maximum income and minimum credit score requirements, must attend a qualified Homebuyer Class and Counseling Session, can not currently own real property, and must purchase a foreclosed property located in the City of Phoenix. 

    The following is a link to the City’s Fact Sheet about this program: http://phoenix.gov/nsd/factsht.pdf

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  5. Downpayment Assistance Programs

    by lourie

    Did you know that as part of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, $13.61 billion was approved for projects and programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients on February 25, 2009.

    Part of these funds became available in Maricopa County on July 1, 2009. There are several programs available through different government entities. The most popular so far is Your Way Home AZ which is administered by the Arizona Department of Housing and offers downpayment assistance to qualified buyers of up to 22% of the Purchase Price.

    Highlights of the program involves buyers qualifying by attending Homebuyer Classes and Counseling, there are income restrictions and minimum credit score requirements. Also, buyers can not currently own a home, and the must buy a foreclosed property. For more information visit www.YourWayHomeAZ.com

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