Investors

Phoenix area housing statistics

Investors

Here are a few charts from the Cromford Report website that show the most current statistics on the Phoenix-area housing market. All figures are for metro Phoenix Arizona through the first 10 days or so of November 2011, and all types of housing (condo, detached home, patio/town home) are included. These are charts for Days [...]

15 November 2011 Read the full article →

Email Question – How much fixing up is too much?

Buyer Help

Question: Is it worth putting in some work on the houses or should I just run away? How much fix up is too much? Answer: There isn’t an exact science about how much is too much.  It’s all very personal and very dependent on the ability (financial, emotional, and hammer-swinging) of the person doing the [...]

7 November 2011 Read the full article →

Phoenix foreclosure bargains #1

Central Phoenix

Metro Phoenix can be a real estate investor’s wonderland, or your worst nightmare. It’s all in whether you choose your residential investment property carefully. Or not. From time to time, we here at The Phoenix Agents @ Thompson’s Realty like to point out those too-good-to-pass-up houses. Here’s one…it’s a complete fixer-upper but priced about $30,000 [...]

22 June 2011 Read the full article →

Phoenix not in Top 10, but investors still buying here

In The News

Inman News reports on “The 10 Best Markets for Real Estate Investors” and here’s some takeaways from that report: Tucson is in the Inman “top ten” best real estate markets for investors, but Phoenix is not. Investors usually pay cash for homes (61% compared to just 20% of owner-occupant buyers who pay cash Most investors [...]

5 June 2011 Read the full article →

What happens at a foreclosure auction?

Foreclosures

A frequent question we’re asked here at The Phoenix Agents is about the process a home goes through when it transitions from being a short sale to a foreclosure.  Here’s the skinny. Typically, banks and mortgage companies will allow a homeowner many months to attempt a short sale. Sellers hire a Realtor who lists the [...]

18 May 2011 Read the full article →

Buy Phoenix foreclosures 30% below market!

In The News

Riffing off what Chris posted yesterday… In Phoenix, the winter tourist season is here. Every year this means a new wave of newbie real estate investors who are convinced that you can buy investment property in metro Phoenix for 20% or 30% below market value. Here’s the real deal… I’ve been helping investors in the [...]

21 February 2011 Read the full article →

Funny things in the MLS

Investors

This is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in the Arizona Regional MLS in a long while. It’s in the Realtor-to-Realtor “private remarks” data field. Promise of response within 12 hours with a full price non-contingent offer. Okayfine…   How random. Am I supposed to think that’s a good thing? Cranky me, I feel like [...]

18 February 2011 Read the full article →

Landlords: IRS says send a 1099 to vendors

Investors

Hat tip to Scottsdale colleague Dru Bloomfield: the IRS is changing their rules for landlords. Not a huge change, but one you absolutely want to know about ahead of time. It always stinks to have to go back and create a paper trail for the IRS! New IRS 1099 Requirements for Landlords Starting in 2011, [...]

25 January 2011 Read the full article →

Not paying your mortgage? Don’t worry, banks making money off you anyhow.

Investors

Clients always ask me, “WHY are banks so SLOW in agreeing to short sales??” There’s a ton of reasons; almost none of them make sense. But for about 2-3 years I’ve been adding this opinion to my list of reasons banks are slow to OK short sales. Mind you, this is my opinion. I have [...]

14 January 2011 Read the full article →

Lease Purchase, Rent to Own

Buyer Help

Rent to own and lease-purchase agreements are cropping up in the Greater Phoenix real estate world these days. They’re a natural result of the continuing tight credit market. Lease-purchase and rent to own are essentially the same things.  A lease with a purchase option is almost the same, just with more complicated legalese thrown in [...]

11 September 2010 Read the full article →

Renting? Food for thought here.

Investors

Some thoughts I’ve had lately about being a renter in today’s real estate market. Landlords usually do a credit check and sometimes even a background check on prospective tenants. If I was a prospective tenant, I think I’d ask the landlord for a credit check on him/her in return. You probably don’t need (and won’t [...]

23 July 2010 Read the full article →