Government Pumping $60M Into Phoenix to Fight Foreclosure

The US Government has just pumped another $60 million to help deal with the foreclosure crisis in Phoenix. This is on top of the $39.5 million already given to the city. The money will help be given to buyers to help boost curb appeal, make their homes more energy efficient, and receive housing counselling. They also get a 3-Year home guarantee. It's no wonder the market is in a frenzy. With all these incentives put on by the government, it's almost better off walking away from your upside mortgage and go buy a new house, that is, provided your credit score hasn't been ruined.

For more on this, please check out

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1256732

Process of Foreclosure Due to Property Tax Lien

Download Mark Manoil's PDF "What to do if you receive a 30-Day Notice of Intent to Foreclosure an Arizona Property Tax-Lien" here.

http://members.cox.net/manoil/objects/whattodo.pdf

Mark Manoil is a property-tax lawyer from the firm that deals with the largest numbers of foreclosures in Phoenix Metro - Tiffany & Bosco.

Tax-Lien Auctions - Another Way to Invest in Real Estate

The latest real estate investment craze in the US is tax-lien auction due to unpaid property taxes. All the bidding process happens online, a guide is available at bidmaricopa.com. The process involves bidding on property-tax liens (which consists of delinquent taxes, accrued interest, and costs associated with the auction/sale) where investment returns can be as high as 16 percent annually.

In 2009, the average winning bid was 8.7%, which is better return than most investments in the stock market.

Lien investors pay off other property owners' past-due taxes, receive a decent rate of return for a few years, then hope to make the money back when the property is sold or the taxpayer ultimately pays it off with interest and penalties.

In 2009, an average lien was $1,784 - when the lien is paid off.

To read more about what is a tax-lien auction and sale, click here.

This year in Phoenix Metro, property-tax-lien auction is geared up to be the largest ever in volume and value.

Rampant home foreclosure, plummeting property values, and inactive commercial buildings caused a dramatic spike in unpaid property taxes during the 2008 tax year. In fact, it was recorded as one of the largest sale of property-tax liens on record, an estimated $70 million worth of unpaid taxes on about 42,000 homes and other properties.

The amount of unpaid taxes involved constitutes as 1.6% of the county's total 2008 property-tax levy.

In 2009, Maricopa County (Phoenix Metro) involved the sale of 33,500 available parcels valued at $47.5 million.

On Feb. 8, those unpaid taxes will be sold to investors hoping to earn interest on them until the property owners pay up.

And if the home owner does not pay the overdue tax within 3 years, the investor has the right to collect the property and transfer the title into his/her name.

But as with any investments, there are risks.

If a property doesn't sell for enough money to pay off all county tax liens, which can exist for multiple years and be held by multiple investors.

Investors who don't do their research could find themselves holding a lien on property that has been deemed an environmental hazard, and the investor could be liable for financing the cleanup.

To get the latest info on tax-lien auctions, read the advice of Mark Manoil, a Phoenix lawyer who specializes in property-tax issues and tax-lien investing.

Phoenix Real Estate - Has It Hit Bottom?

According to a report from Arizona State University released mid Jan 2010, lenders in 2009 foreclosed on about 41,000 single-family detached homes in Maricopa County. That's more foreclosures than the Valley has seen during any previous year on record, accounting for more than 35 percent of all existing-home transactions, the report said.

Its author, Jay Butler, associate professor of real estate at the W.P. Carey School of Business, said overall home-resale volume in 2009 rivaled that of the real-estate boom's peak year of 2005, but for all the wrong reasons.

"That (2005 sales volume) was ... due to rising home values and a type of euphoria about real-estate investment," Butler said. "Now we're seeing a totally different type of activity driven by foreclosures."

Foreclosures were up in December, at 4,060, compared with the previous month's total of 2,985, and the median single-family home price decreased to $140,000 from $143,000 in November, according to the ASU report.

Home resales increased, with 5,740 sales in December compared with 5,350 sales the previous month.

Compared with December 2008, foreclosures increased about 31 percent, the median resale price was down 4 percent, and resale volume was up 33 percent.

As much as this hype is driven by investors thinking that the market has hit "bottom" and that prices have no where to go up but from here, it is important to still wait and see. Because as we understand from real estate cycles, we must not buy when everyone else is buying. As long as the "buying" frenzy persists, it is unlikely that we've really seen the bottom of this market. It is wise to wait until real owners occupy these homes before really going in for the last dibs.

Small Improvements to Help Sell Your Home Profitably and FAST

Have you ever wondered what are some of the things you could do to improve your home to increase the value of your house upon re-sale?

Despite recent improvements in the housing market, home sellers interested in selling quickly for the maximum dollar amount should consider making some small improvements to positively affect the bottom line and decrease time on the market. A home that appears well cared for with recent updates will stand out from the competition. Updates do not have to be a $50,000 newly renovated kitchen. Think small and spend your money wisely.

Start with the outside by checking curb appeal. A house that looks well tended on the outside will draw buyers in!

On the inside, start at the ceiling and work your way down. Repair or replace broken doorknobs, light switches, etc. If you cannot remember when a room was last painted, consider painting, being sure to choose a neutral color. If your furniture is old or mismatched, consider slipcovers and some new, inexpensive throw pillows. If you have dirty carpets, rent a rug cleaner and get busy cleaning the carpets. This is especially important if you have pets or rooms with high foot traffic because making your house look and smell its best will enable buyers to see themselves living there.

Remove clutter and depersonalize because you do not want to distract your potential buyers with personal items. Since you are selling your house and moving, you might as well start packing up personal collections, photographs, and other items for your move to a new home. Packing now will make the stressful time of moving day a little easier by having most of your things ready to go into the moving truck. If this is an option, consider moving out and renting elsewhere. This will free up your home for multiple viewings at any time of the day, without you being disturbed.

Turn on the lights! When your house is being shown, do not forget to turn on every light in the house, and open all blinds and curtains to make your home appear light-filled and inviting. Remember, you are selling space—make your entire home look as spacious as possible by placing your overflowing stored items from over-packed closets, basements, and sheds in a storage rental unit. Buyers will be impressed with how much storage space your house has if everything is not falling out of the closet as the door is opened.

There is really no need to break the bank to get your house sold quickly. A few well chosen updates as well as removing clutter by packing up personal items will work wonders in making your home appear more spacious and appeali

2010 REAL ESTATE TRENDS

2010 REAL ESTATE TRENDS PART ONE

According to Keller Williams, the top 10 trends in real estate for 2010 are as follows:

10. Cash Rules
9. Quicker Short Sales
8. Complicated Appraisal Rules
7. Inconsistent Construction Market
6. Increasing Mortgage rates
5. Continued Tight Lending Standards
4. Some Stabilizing Home Values
3. More Foreclosures in 2010
2. More Buyers in 2010
1. A Continued Buyer’s Market

We’ll start with numbers 10 and 9, and work our way backward.

10. Cash rules everything around you – especially when you are trying to buy a foreclosed property. So, if you are looking for a bargain, be ready to pay for it up front and quickly. If you aren’t ready, you can bet someone else is, and they will walk away owning your prized property. With most foreclosed properties being bank (or lender) owned, the motivation is to sell fast rather than high as most banks don’t want to own properties. Buyer competition can be frenzied at best, and to be in the winning circle, you have to be ready with the necessary cash!

9. The Short Sale has a reputation for being difficult; slow and often exasperating, and failing in the end. The property owner is willing to sell for a lesser amount than is owed, but often the lender is not. Sometimes it can take months before the lender voices unwillingness to sell low. Again, however, the bank (or lender) is not in the real-estate market, and the attitude toward short sales is changing. 2010 will find each side attempting to restructure and simplify the short sale and it will become a strong trend in pre foreclosure selling!

Join us next week for part two of our five part series.

More Foreclosures to Come Onto the Market

First American CoreLogic released data on Thursday indicating that 1.7 million REO’s and potential foreclosures hadn’t hit the market by the end of the third quarter.

Based on the current sales pace, it’ll take 3.3 months to get rid of all of these homes. (Compare that with last year’s 1.1 million homes.)

This is not information you’ll find in official measures of unsold inventory. The official number of unsold homes currently on the market stands at 3.8 million as of the end of September. That alone could take 7.8 months to sell. Add to that other unseen and marketed properties and you get 5.5 million
units.

All this indicates that while officially numbers are down towards the end of this year the actual impact these foreclosures will have on the housing market will be much greater than experts predict.

This "shadow inventory" may make its way on to the market in huge bundles, or in steady, manageable streams. Either way, its impact on the market will be immense and provide some ripe opportunities for the timely investor.