Scottsdale Real Estate

Bank of America Corporation completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial Corporation to create the nation’s leading mortgage originator and servicer. 

Bank of America will focus on responsible home lending, serving as a reliable source of mortgages for consumers. Bank of America will also ensure new and existing customers have the right product to meet their needs.

“This purchase significantly increases Bank of America’s market share in consumer real estate, and as our companies combine, Bank of America will benefit from excellent systems and a broad distribution network that will offer more ways to meet our customer’s credit needs,” said Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

As previously announced back in April, Bank of America plans to offer the following types of first lien mortgages: conforming loans underwritten to standard guidelines of government sponsored enterprises and the government, including FHA and VA loans and other loans designed for low and moderate income borrowers; interest only fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgages (ARMS) that are subject to a 10 year minimum interest only period, which lessens the possibility of short-term payment shock and fixed period ARMS that provide borrowers low initial rates with the security of fixed payments, subject to protections against steep increases in payment amounts.

Light Up the Sky Festival

July 3, 2008, 7-10 p.m.

Maryvale Baseball Park, 3600 N. 51st Ave.

Musical entertainment, kids’ rides and craft activities, topped off with fireworks at 9:30 p.m.

Free

Sponsoring Agency: City of Phoenix, 602-262-4539

Annual Fabulous Phoenix Fourth

July 4, 2008, 6-10 p.m.

Steele Indian School Park, Indian School Rd. & 3rd St.

Entertainment, carnival, family activities, and fireworks

Sponsoring Agency: City of Phoenix, 602-495-0739

May 1, 2008 - July 31, 2008
Times: 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Location:  Scottsdale Community College
Phone:  480-998-7971
Admission:  FREE

What better way to endure the summer than to be inside and exercising your brain? McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (MSC), the Center for Native and Urban Wildlife (CNUW) and City of Scottsdale have come together to present the McDowell Sonoran Series.
Addl. Info: This potpourri of programs are delivered by top experts in a wide range of fields. They are all so passionate about their subjects that they are sure to infect you with their enthusiasm!

June 26: Phyllis Strupp - Our Brainy Elders

July 10: Conrad Sorad - A Pack Rat Story & Life in the Desert, A Desert Tortoise Tale
July 17: Meg White - Brown’s Ranch Long Term Research Project
July 24: Ann Kinzig - The Study of Birds in the Phoenix Area

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America reports that in its national survey last week, applications for new, conventional loans to buy houses jumped by 11 percent — and applications for FHA insured mortgages were up by 17 percent. With home prices sharply discounted in many of the former high-flying boom markets, and down slightly in many other areas, smart buyers are recognizing that it’s time to make their move. – “Real Estate Outlook: Buyers Off the Sidelines,” by Kenneth R. Harney, Realty Times, June 19, 2008.     The latest (Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors^®) was a big surprise … it rose by 6.3 percent on sales contracts signed during April and heading for closings in the next couple of months.  You can make a very strong, objective case that the home price-mortgage rate equation is more favorable to buyers right now than it’s been any time in the last six or seven years.  – “Real Estate Outlook: Pending Home Sales Rise in April,” by Kenneth R. Harney, Realty Times,
June 12, 2008.

Months after Congress moved to lower borrowing costs for homeowners in a number of high-priced housing markets, interest rates are finally becoming more attractive on certain types of so-called jumbo mortgages. At J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the volume of jumbo-conforming applications has doubled since prices began to fall in early May. For some California lenders, jumbo-conforming loans now account for as much as 25% of applications. “It’s definitely addressing a need in the market. Most of the activity is in purchases, which is nice because it opens up the market for entry-level homes.” – Pete Ogilvie, president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers “Rates Improve For Some Loans On Pricey Homes,” by Ruth Simon, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required),
June 19, 2008.

Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal,  June 11, 2008

Next month, Michelle Augustine plans to walk away from her four-bedroom house in a Sacramento, California sub-division and let the property fall into foreclosure. But before doing so, she hopes to lock in the purchase of another home nearby.

“I can find the same exact house as what I live in right now for half the price,” says Ms. Augustine, 44 years old, who runs a child-care service out of her home. She says she soon will be unable to afford her monthly payments, which will jump to $4,000 from $3,300 in August, and she doesn’t want to continue to own a home that is now worth $200,000 less than what she paid for it two years ago.

In markets hit hardest by falling home prices and rising foreclosures, lenders and brokers are discovering a new phenomenon: the “buy and bail,” in which borrowers with good credit buy a new home - often at a much lower price - then bail out of the “upside down” mortgage on their first home.

Homeowners are able to pull off this gambit - which some lenders and real-estate agents call mortgage fraud - by taking advantage of mortgage-lending practices that allow them to buy a new primary residence before their existing residence has been sold. And with the lending industry in disarray as it tries to restructure millions of mortgages, some boast they are able to pull off the strategy with ease.

In some cases, homeowner’s are coached through the buy-and-bail process by real-estate agents and brokers who see nothing wrong with it. Some blame the phenomenon in part on lenders’ unwillingness to cut deals or restructure loans made when home prices were inflated. “It’s just a business decision,” says Linda Caoili, a Sacramento real-estate agent who is working with Ms. Augustine and others who are considering walking away from their mortgages. “If you’re upside-down $250,000, why would you keep it? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Even if it is legal, walking away from a mortgage has plenty of drawbacks. For instance, borrowers will lose the ability to take out unsecured loans, since foreclosures can stay on a credit report for seven years. In some states, lenders can sue for assets, including a new house. Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage underwriter, recently revised the amount of time borrowers with a foreclosure must wait to receive a home loan to five years from four. Proposed Fannie Mae guidelines, which could take effect later this month, also would require those borrowers to make a 10 percent down payment and meet a minimum credit score after the five-year period.

While buy-and-bail is on the rise, the practice doesn’t appear to be widespread. Credit is much tighter now than it was during the real-estate boom, and most families with an upside-down mortgage likely will hold on to their homes and hope the market improves in the future.

I am always available to answer any of your lender directed questions.

Best Regards,

Randall Steckler
Countrywide Bank, FSB
Home Loan Consultant specializing in Scottsdale Real Estate
480-314-7824 (office)
602-502-3233 (cell)
www.randallsteckler.com
Randall_Steckler@countrywide.com

The Bush administration is temporarily suspending a 5-year-old rule intended to deter property flippers, as part of an effort to help speed the sale of foreclosed properties.For one year, the Federal Housing Administration will no longer impose a 90-day waiting period before foreclosed properties can be sold to receive government-backed loans.The policy was put in place in 2003 to deter property  “flipping” schemes, in which buyers are overcharged for foreclosures or other distressed properties. But the surge in vacant properties resulting from borrowers who were unable to afford their mortgages has become a far more pressing concern.“A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes harms neighborhoods, frustrates homebuyers and delays a community’s recovery,” FHA commissioner Brian Montgomery said in a prepared statement.The new policy “will allow homebuyers to purchase these homes in much greater numbers and ease the excess supply of unsold homes,” Montgomery said.

I am always available to answer any of your lender directed questions.

Best Regards,

Randall Steckler
Countrywide Bank, FSB
Home Loan Consultant specializing in Scottsdale Real Estate
480-314-7824 (office)
602-502-3233 (cell)
www.randallsteckler.com
Randall_Steckler@countrywide.com

taken from Dana Dratch, Bankrate.com 

It’s tough being the seller in a buyer’s market. But you can improve your odds with the right research.  In many cases, making a smart deal and getting the best price come down to studying your market and being an educated seller.  “You’ve got to know more than you would have if you’d sold a year ago,” says William Poorvu, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School and author of the upcoming book “Creating and Growing Real Estate Wealth.” “If you want to protect yourself, you have to become knowledgeable.”  

Recognize that housing markets are local.Home prices are like the weather — very different in different areas.  In many markets, home prices have actually gone up from last year, says Dick Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors.  In addition, demand will change depending on the price range and even the neighborhood. What you need to know: What’s the demand for a house like yours in your area?   “You have to look at what’s being sold and at what price,” says Poorvu. “That’s important.”  Look at comparables for similar houses. Study prices and sales for one year ago, six months ago, three months ago and current numbers, says Gaylord.What are the trends? Are prices going up or down — and by how much? How many days are homes staying on the market? If they are on the market longer, how much of that could be seasonal? In many areas, spring and summer are the busy seasons.  Pay special attention to “the delta between the list price and the sales price,” says Ron Phipps, broker with Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. That is, look for a meaningful relationship between list price and sales price. Perhaps most homes are selling for 5% less than the list price.   Analyze who is buying and selling in your market.What’s your competition? Who are the buyers, and why are they shopping?  Do you live in an area like Phoenix, which Poorvu calls “a growing market with people coming in”? Or are you living in an area that doesn’t attract a lot of new residents, where many shoppers don’t have to buy but are looking to pick up a bargain?  Are you competing against a flood of new houses from builders eager to sell, or are you selling a newer home in an area where most of the housing stock is older?  Ask about the “absorption rate,” says Phipps. What that means: In the current conditions with the current inventory, how long would it take the market to absorb, or sell, all the houses on the market?  Assess the market where you plan to buy.If you’re selling one house and buying another,… look at the market where you plan to move. Says Poorvu, “It might be that, with the housing there, it’s a great time to buy.”

The Arizona Department of Transportation plans the following projects to prepare the Loop 101 Freeway for construction of high occupancy vehicle lanes:

The southbound lanes of the Loop 101 Freeway will be completely closed between Hayden Road and Pima/90th Street from 9 p.m. Friday, June 20, through 5 a.m. Monday, June 23.

Eastbound/southbound freeway traffic will exit the freeway at Hayden Road and follow a marked detour route that will return to the freeway at 90th Street. 

During the weekend of June 28, northbound lanes of the Loop 101 Freeway will be completely closed between Pima/90th Street and Hayden Road from 9 p.m. Friday, June 27, through 5 a.m. Monday, June 30.

Northbound freeway traffic will exit the freeway at 90th Street and will follow a marked detour route that will return to the freeway at Hayden Road.   

More information on the Arizona Department of Transportation and Valley freeway projects is available at: http://www.azdot.gov/index.asp

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