From the category archives:

Central Phoenix

I’m a little late getting out the ‘press release’ type post on this data, but I’ve been too busy selling condos. Actually that’s not meant to be a joke. I’ve been selling condos lately, but the buyers have been paying cash.

I have heard from my lenders that condo financing is scarce, so I take that as anecdotal, local evidence in support of the March 18 story run by the Wall Street Journal about Fannie’s new stricter condo financing rules. (the article link is just a stub, most of which is reprinted below)

Just as a flood of new condominiums are scheduled to hit the housing market this year, Fannie Mae has added restrictions making it more difficult for developers to sell their units.

The government-backed mortgage-finance company stopped guaranteeing mortgages in condo buildings where fewer than 70% of the units have been sold, up from 51%. In addition, the company won’t back loans for sales in buildings where 15% of current owners are delinquent on association fees or where more than 10% of units are owned by a single-entity.

It’s a shame that it’s getting harder to buy condos using a mortgage. Public opinion is already out on this rule change. One side says “lending on a condo where 15%+ of the owners are late in their HOA fees is a crappy idea and this rule change is correct.” The other side says “Fannie’s rule change makes it harder to buy condos just when the market needs looser lending standards in order to recover.” Call me Obama, but I see the sense in both sides of the argument.

What do I know for sure? I’ve seen some absurdly low pricing lately for metro Phoenix condos. The most silly-ridiculous low I’ve personally seen is about $40,000 for a giant sized (837 sf) 1 bedroom condo located a few hundred feet north of the intersection of 16th Street and Lincoln Drive/Glendale Avenue, at the Greenview Condos.

Locals will recognize this is a seriously decent neighborhood on the border of the Biltmore district, close to downtown Phoenix’s shopping, dining and sports complexes, and at the foot of the Piestewa Peak mountain preserve.  Plus the condos are located in the Madison Elementary School District. These schools consistently rank “excelling” which is as good as it gets.

Greenview are old apartments converted to condos sometime in 2006 or so. Countertops and cabinets were painted, and each unit seems to have received new flooring and paint, new fixtures and hardware. No, it’s not slab granite, but it’s very very nice. Plus, slab granite would be overkill in this price range.

If you’re interested, and you’ve got cash to spend, email me for a list of under $75,000 condos in metro Phoenix. Investors, take note: rents are about $750/mo but the $300/mo Homeowners Association fee that covers electric to the unit will kill your profit margin.


heather

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

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To readers who found us via Realtor Heather Barr’s quote in today’s Wall Street Journal article “Bargain Hunters Descend, Cash in Hand”, welcome! We’re glad you’re here and hope you enjoy our blog content.

Long-time readers who aren’t Wall Street Journal subscribers might have missed our mention.  The story is behind the WSJ’s subscription firewall and I don’t want to tempt copyright lawyers by reprinting the entire article on this blog. You can read the article in its entirety here if you are an online subscriber or on page C10 if you get the print edition.

I talked with WSJ reporter Nick Timiraos about the growing number of cash buyers who see bargains amid the current housing price declines. Here’s the quote:

“Cash investors have come right out and said, ‘We can’t make a return on our money in stocks or bonds,’” says Heather Barr, a Realtor based in Gilbert, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb. “They think Phoenix has had such sharp price declines that we’ve got to be near the bottom and real estate will be a safe place to put their money.”

There are bargains to be had in the metro Phoenix real estate market. It’s increasingly easy to find properties in the suburbs that will cash flow immediately after installing a tenant. For those seeking a vacation home, houses are more affordable than they’ve been in years while mortgage rates are still near historic lows.

Looking for a bargain yourself?

We at The Phoenix Agents team have been working with bank owned properties and investors of all stripes lately so we’re familiar with the banks’ (often confusing) paperwork and requirements.

Click around and visit the various parts of our blog. We’ve got tons of great content, MLS searching with no registration required, and are ready to help you find the perfect property when you’re ready to talk with an agent.

Browse properties listings.

  • At the Phoenix Agents: the whole MLS or our foreclosures-only search
  • At the Phoenix Real Estate Guy blog:  property search (The Phx RE Guy is our broker and famous local blogger, Jay Thompson)
  • All three links here search the same data source, the private Realtor’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS). We just present the data in slightly different ways on-screen.

When you feel like you’ve browsed enough and done the homework you wanted to, give us a call. We’ll help you negotiate the best possible deal we always provide world-class customer service from start to finish, and beyond.

Let the bargain hunting begin!

Related Posts
  1. Inman.com quotes Jay Thompson, “the Phoenix Real Estate Guy”
  2. USA Today quotes Heather Barr on recent changes in mortgage industry
  3. Chris Butterworth interviewed by Phoenix’s own Channel 3 TV about foreclosures


heather

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

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Local Fave Vendor, Scramble

by Heather February 21, 2009 Central Phoenix

The North Phoenix area has a new breakfast joint and it’s in a neighborhood that sorely needed more & better breakfast food. I’m so excited! Partly over the food, partly over the wi-fi, and partly because I know someone who knows someone who’s a co-owner of the spot, so I got to go to a [...]

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Light Rail Pub Crawl ‘09

by Chris Butterworth February 20, 2009 Central Phoenix

Looking for Saturday night plans?
My friend and former colleague Steffy tipped me off to tomorrow night’s next weekend’s Light Rail Pub Crawl, organized and sponsored by RPM.
http://www.rpmslightrailpubcrawl.com/index.php
16 nightlife locations along the light rail route are participating, offering drink specials to patrons wearing an RPM LRPC ‘09 t-shirt.  The event’s goal is to raise awareness of [...]

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Senator McCain’s Former Phoenix Home For Sale (still)

by Heather February 19, 2009 Central Phoenix

Remember back on October 10, 2008 when I blogged that Senator John McCain’s former Phoenix home was going on the auction block?
It didn’t sell.
The home where John and Cindy McCain raised their children, on Central Avenue in suburban Phoenix, is back up for sale. This time it’s a For Sale By Owner (FSBO, pronounced fizz-boe).
Apparently [...]

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Sunday Stats

by Heather February 15, 2009 Central Phoenix

photo credit to MiamiAmia, courtesy of StockExchange. See the entire series for historical perspective.
Time for another edition of the Sunday Stats

Background and Color Coding: red is bad, green is good, inasmuch as it means the stats are moving towards a balanced market. Most local experts/forecasters and Realtors use 6 months’ supply of inventory on the [...]

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Pointe Tapatio Pricing Update

by Heather February 11, 2009 Buyer Help

Been a long time since I did a pricing update on properties at the Pointe Tapatio. For those who don’t know it, this is a quiet little resort-like community tucked into the shadow of the south side of North Mountain, just below the Hilton Pointe Tapatio Cliffs resort on the hilltop. Built by Gosnell Developers [...]

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Landmark Towers-Even More Updates, Opinions

by Heather February 5, 2009 Buyer Help

My posts about the Landmark Towers have sparked quite a bit of interest lately. Prices there are falling to levels that make the term “affordable” just downright jaw-dropping, so it’s not a surprise that internet surfers see the prices and want to know more about the tower.
Here’s some updated info, and updated links to the [...]

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New Light Rail Photos

by Heather December 22, 2008 Central Phoenix

Shot a few quick pics of the light rail trains running up and down Central Avenue late last week. Used my cell phone so the quality isn’t super, but thought y’all readers would enjoy these.
. . . . .
The smudges in the lower left frame of photo 2 are my dashboard. Didn’t have [...]

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Camelback Castle – it’s for real

by Chris Butterworth May 28, 2008 Central Phoenix

A couple of weeks ago I published a picture of Camelback Castle, a Moorish Fortress built into the side of Camelback Mountain. I’ve since had a few people write to ask me if it really exists, so I thought I’d take a minute to share some additional photos and links to find out more about [...]

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Selling My Grandmother’s House

by Steve Nicks April 14, 2008 Central Phoenix

It’s time. My grandmother is getting to the age where living alone in her home, the home that she and my grandfather bought in 1956 when they moved here from New York, just isn’t smart for her any more. It takes maintenance that she’s not able to provide. It takes money to maintain which she [...]

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Aura at Camelback: Green Luxury Living

by Chris Butterworth February 14, 2008 Central Phoenix

Coming Soon – luxury living, urban living, and sustainable living will come together at The Aura at Camelback.

 

 

I’ve seen lots of residential “green living” options, but they’re generally on the small side, and usually outside of town. I’ve also seen several commercial projects using a sustainable approach (we’ve even written about some of them before), [...]

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