In late 2007 early 2008 there were nearly 50,000 homes for sale on the market with a medium asking price of $267,000.  One year ago the medium asking price is $139,900 with about 32,000 homes on the market.  As of January 2012, the median asking price has increased to $177,200 and there are less then 19,000 homes on the market, you do the math.

What happens when there are more buyers than homes for sale?? 

Let’s look at an Example…

Let’s say there is a particular home for sale that is close to Arizona State University Campus that is in great condition and has 5 bedrooms and 2 baths and is priced reasonably for today’s market.  This would be a perfect home for an investor looking to rent out to college students as an income property.  In today’s market there will be more then one investor looking to buy this property.  This means there will be multiple people putting offers on the home.  When there are multiple offers a multiple offer situation will be created.   When there is a multiple offer situation, your realtor will come back to you and ask for your highest and best offer creating a bidding war with the other investors putting offers on the property.  If these investors really want the property they will raise their offer to win the bid.

What is the Result…?

This is raising the prices of homes all over the Valley.  If the inventory stays low and the number of people looking for homes stays higher, this will keep pushing home values back up as demand rises.

Why Buy Now?

No one can predict the market, but as trends are showing you will miss out on these historically low home prices.  Now is the time to find the perfect home for you, whether it be for an investment,  your first home or your starting a family and looking for something larger.

Getting a Loan Through a Bank

When getting a mortgage loan through a bank, credit union or other lending institution, the entire loan will originate from one lending institution. While that institution may have several different types of loans to select from and many employees may be involved in the loan process, the entire loan is handled through just one institution.

Working with a Mortgage Broker

If you choose to obtain a loan through a mortgage broker, you will gain access to the mortgage loan options that are available through a variety of different lending institutions. This is because the mortgage broker does not work for any particular lender. Rather, the broker has forged relationships with dozens of institutions and he uses these relationships to find the best deal to suit your needs. When hiring a mortgage broker, you will have to pay a fee for his services. If the mortgage broker is able to find a better deal than you could find on your own or if the mortgage broker helps you save time, however, this cost may be worthwhile.

Mortgage Broker vs. Bank – Which is Better for You?

For those who do not have the time to compare a variety of different lender options or for those who are uncomfortable with understanding mortgage loans, hiring a mortgage broker a help to reduce stress and confusion. This is also true for those who have poor credit, as finding a loan through a lending institution may be difficult without the help of a broker. When meeting with a loan officer at a bank or other lending institution, you will find that there is no incentive for that person to approve your loan. In fact, if your credit is poor, the loan officer has no reason to take a risk in order to approve your loan. A good mortgage broker, on the other hand, can find a loan for just about anyone with any type of credit. After all, the broker’s income is dependent upon finding a lender on your behalf.

In short, if your credit is solid and if you are comfortable with exploring the mortgage loan options that are available to you, working directly with a lending institution is probably the way to go. If you have poor credit, if you are uncomfortable with comparing loan options or if you simply don’t have time to shop around, hiring a mortgage broker may be the way to go.

About The Author – Brian Kincade specializes in Colorado luxury condos, including Landmark Condominiums Greenwood Village, and is broker of The Home Cart team in Denver, CO.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when buying a foreclosure is that you need to know how to conduct a title search. By performing a title search, you will have a more realistic picture of what you have gotten yourself into. After conducting a title search, you will have a clear idea of how much is owed on the home and how much you have truly invested in your purchase. The last thing you want is to purchase a foreclosure for $75,000 only to learn that it also contains a $100,000 lien.

Another thing you should keep in mind is that foreclosure homes are sold “as is,” which means there may very well be expensive repairs that need to be made before the home can be resold or inhabited. In some cases, you will not have the opportunity to look inside the home or have it inspected by a professional before you make a purchase. Even if the previous owner didn’t damage the home on purpose, he may not have had the money necessary to maintain the property up until the point it was foreclosed upon. Those unexpected surprises could suddenly change your great deal into a money pit.

Finally, it is important to know that there are three ways to purchase a foreclosure and that the process is different with each option. These methods include:

— Pre-Foreclosures – involves purchasing the home directly from the homeowner before the bank actually forecloses upon it, which means you have the opportunity to inspect the home and conducted a full title search before making a purchase.

— At Auction – involves purchasing the home from the bank at an auction, which may take place at the home, in a county clerk’s office or on the courthouse steps. Purchasing a home At Auction can offer the most discounted price, but also carries the most risk.

— REO – involves purchasing the home from a real estate agent, hence the name “Real Estate Owned.” With an REO purchase, you can demand a clear title, you can fully inspect the property and you can make the sale subject to getting a mortgage, making it the least risky option. As a trade-off, however, you typically cannot get as good of a deal with an REO purchase as you would At Auction or during the Pre-Foreclosure stage.

If you go into your purchase with a basic understanding of these fundamentals, you just might be able to find the home of your dreams at a price you can afford.

About the Author – Eric Bramlett is co-owner and broker of One Source Realty, a boutique Austin real estate firm, and specializes in Steiner Ranch Austin real estate.

While the summer months offer plenty of sunshine and opportunity for enjoying the great outdoors, it is also a good time to take care of some of your home’s important maintenance needs. Today’s home buyers expect a home that is well maintained. In order to give yourself the best chance of selling your home, here is a brief maintenance checklist that you should consider completing this summer.

Maintenance Tip #1: Perform an Energy Audit

Experts estimate that homeowners can save as much as 20 percent on their heating and cooling costs by repairing gaps, cracks and leaks throughout the home. Some places to look for potential leaks include:

• The switch-plate that covers the circuit box, which can be replaced with an insulated cover
• Phone jack covers, which can be replaced with insulated covers
• Junctures where walls meet the floor, where windows meet walls and where the wires enter the home
• Mail slots
• Fireplace dampers
• Air conditioning units
• Attic doors
• Weather stripping

If you would rather have a professional conduct an energy audit, your utility company should be able to provide you with referrals.

Maintenance Tip #2: Clean and Repair Concrete

Driveways, sidewalks and patios can become dirty and grimy over time, but you can keep them looking great with the help of a power washer during the summer months. To clean up oil stains, soak the area for a half-hour with a mixture of a cup of TSP mixed with a gallon of hot water. Then, scrub the area with a stiff-bristled brush before rinsing.

If you have cracks in your concrete, you can patch them with masonry crack filler. Before injecting the filler into the cracks, make sure to clean the area thoroughly. If you have more than just cracks in need of repair, vinyl concrete patching compound will fill in the openings.

Maintenance Tip #3: Repair Asphalt

If you have asphalt instead of concrete, it is important to inspect the asphalt two or three times per year. All cracks should be repaired with asphalt patching caulk. If the cracks are left unrepaired, they will widen over time and will cause further damage. Furthermore, you should be sure to coat the asphalt with a sealer every five years.

Maintenance Tip #4: Prune and Remove Problematic Trees

Any trees hanging over your roof or rubbing against your gutters should be pruned in order to prevent damage to your home. Not only can these trees drop leaves and sticks onto your roof, but they also provide a way for rats, squirrels and other pests to get to your home. Damaged trees should also be removed in order to prevent them from falling into your home. If you are uncomfortable with pruning and removing trees, consider contacting a professional tree-care service.

Maintenance Tip #5: Mend Fences

Repairing damage as it occurs is the most cost-effective way to keep your home properly protected and secured. Before inspecting the fence, be sure to mow down the surrounding grass in order to obtain the best visibility. Then, walk the length of the fence and inspect its condition by tugging on posts and slats and looking for signs of rot. After ensuring all of the parts are properly attached and in good condition, repaint or stain any areas where the finish is cracked, thin or peeling.

How Many Active Clients Do You Assist at One Time?

While you should certainly expect your real estate agent to have other clients, you don’t want to select someone who has overextended himself by taking on too many clients. After all, the more clients the agent has, the less time he has to spend on taking care of your needs.

What Type of Marketing Strategies Will You Use?

At the very minimum, each real estate agent you interview should have a well-defined marketing plan to explain to you. Ideally, you should hire an agent who will take full advantage of the vast array of technology that is available. By listening to each agent’s marketing plan, you will be better able to determine which one will be the most likely to help you get your home sold quickly.

How Will My Home Be Presented on the Internet?

With more than 80 percent of home buyers conducting online searches to help them find a home, you certainly want to hire a real estate agent who will fully tap into the power of the Internet.

How Often Do You Sell Homes for the List Price?

If you are selling your home, you want to choose a real estate agent with a high rate of selling homes at or near the list price.

How Successful are You with Negotiations?

Whether you are selling your home or buying a home, hiring a real estate agent with solid negotiation skills is essential. Either way, you want an agent who will help you get the best deal possible.

How Do You Manage Your Contracts?

Whether buying or selling a home, there will be a significant amount of paperwork involved in the process. Therefore, you want to hire a real estate agent who has a clear method in place for keeping all of the paperwork in proper order.

Are You a Full Time Real Estate Agent?

Believe it or not, many people “dabble” in real estate while still maintaining a full or part-time job somewhere else. Obviously, a person who does not devote full-time hours to real estate will not have the knowledge or experience necessary to handle your needs. Furthermore, getting in touch with your agent will be quite difficult if she has a day job where she’s not allowed to answer phone calls.

What Type of Services Do You Provide?

While some real estate agents focus only on selling or buying homes, others will assist with staging the home, with taking pictures or handling other tasks. Even if the agent doesn’t do these things herself, you should hire someone who has the connections necessary to get these other tasks accomplished.

What Types of Communication are Available?

Ideally, you want to select a real estate agent who has many different communication options available and who has extended office hours that allow you to get in touch when necessary.

Do You Have Any Vacations or Other Upcoming Absences Planned?

Asking the agent about upcoming vacations is a fair question. After all, you want to be sure he will beavailable over the next couple months in order to meet your needs. Or, if the agent will be going away for a few days, he should provide you with information about the agent who will be handling your contract while he is away.

About The Author – Kevin Koitz is a Washington DC native and specializes in Bethesda homes for sale.

1. A heating and air-conditioning system can last you up to fifteen years when tended with proper maintenance. A professional should be called in about twice a year to inspect motors and fan blades, as well as wiring, the control box, and other system parts. Simple check-ups like these, as well as consistent cleaning of filters and vents, will alert you to small problems before they become big and expensive ones.
2. Your clothes dryer is a work horse that has a life expectancy of about fourteen years. This appliance, however, can be a major fire hazard if neglected. The dryer vent should always be kept clean, and the lint trap should be cleared after each load of laundry. The appliance should be inspected once a year by an electrician, who can remove the access panel behind the dryer and have it vacuumed out. Any wall ducts and aluminum vents should also be removed and cleaned out at that time.
3. The refrigerator will be around about as long as your dryer, maybe even years longer. Keeping the condenser coils clean improves the refrigerator’s efficiency by as much as thirty percent, so pulling the appliance out and vacuuming the coils should be a part of every spring cleaning routine. Once or twice a year you’ll also want a qualified appliance repair tech to remove and vacuum the cover panel.
4. Every year, be sure to have a plumber check out your washing machine hose connections, including the drain hose, to ensure that they’re secure and have no bends or kinks. Proper maintenance will help you avoid one of the most expensive appliance failures your home can experience: the dreaded failure of the washing machine hose.

These are just some of the places in your hardworking home where a little attention and a bit of maintenance can extend the life and productivity of your appliances and systems, saving you major headaches and unexpected expenses.

See Also:

Appliance Life Expectancy Chart

Home Buying Guide

Does Making Your Home Green Add Up?

Studies have shown that ninety five percent of buyers and sellers have reported that working with a professional real estate agent or broker is vital and the key to a successful real estate transaction whether purchasing or listing a property. Real estate consumers understand how imperative it is to have a real estate professional represent them in the process. What makes a superb real estate professional stand out from the others is one who has a vast knowledge of the real estate industry, both on a global and local scale, is current on real estate trends, has excellent networking capabilities, is an expert in home buying and selling, delivers superior customer service and advice, and provides a successful and rewarding experience for their clients.

On a scale from one to seven, this same study revealed that sixty eight percent of buyers and sellers rated their agent as a six or a seven. This shows the soaring level of consumer confidence and supports the credibility of the real estate professional. Additionally, forty eight percent of those surveyed found their agent by way of referral, and eighty percent of these buyers and sellers would recommend their agent to a friend or family member, particularly those individuals who had purchased or sold a home in the past twelve months.

Whereas in years past, the agent was the first step in the home buying or selling process, today, real estate consumers are have an infinite wealth of knowledge, are incredibly internet-savvy individuals who can gather information and educate themselves, long before they make contact with a real estate agent. Thanks to the World Wide Web, the internet empowers and provides consumers with a wealth of knowledge, the ability to search for homes and neighborhood information, area demographics and statistical facts, price comparison and exploration of financing options on their own. Yet, regardless of all of the tools and resources available to today’s real estate consumer, when it comes time to actually buy or sell a home, there is nothing more valuable and important than choosing a realtor who has superior real estate industry knowledge, and offers outstanding expertise and guidance. Nothing can compare with having a real estate professional on your side and the exceptional services that they bring to the table.

This is affirmation that the world of today and more so than ever, a real estate professional is an invaluable resource in the home buying and selling process.

About the Author – Tim Ryan specializes in helping buyers find great deals on Naples Real Estate. You can visit Tim’s website where you can find thousands of Naples homes for sale.

Before watching the video, please be advised that there is adult language and is not work appropriate.

I’m including this video here for two reasons. First, it’s impossible to find online because YouTube keeps yanking it off its servers. So if you were looking for the video, here it is. Second, there’s a lesson to learn here somewhere. In this instance, I’d say that Casey Haynes, the big boy, is you, me, and every other typical American. The little bully would be the banks. And that horrific body slam? That is us regular joes walking away from our houses and going into foreclosure.

How can that possibly equate, you ask? Well, that kid got suspended from school for body slamming his schoolmate. This is just like how your credit is ruined for seven years because you have a foreclosure on your record. So what would have been the appropriate action? I’d say turning the kid in along this video. Then, you don’t get suspended from school! That, of course, would be the short sale. You solve your problems responsibly, nobody gets hurt, and you’re on the road to recovery.

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