Some of Arizona’s most Successful Agents call John Hall & Associates home.

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Freddie Mac Short Sale Addendum

by on Jun 29, 2011 | Careers and Training, Legal Issues, Real Estate News

Freddie MacHave you seen the changes made to the required Freddie Mac Short Sale Addendum? They’ve recently added three “agents/parties”; seller’s agent, buyer’s agent, and escrow closing agent. All three are required signatories to the addendum.

Previously the buyer and seller had to acknowledge and agree to things like;

  • it’s an arm’s length transaction,
  • there are no agreements that haven’t been disclosed,
  • misrepresentation may subject the parties to civil and/or criminal liability,
  • there is no appraisal fraud, flipping or straw buying.

Now the real estate agents and escrow agents are also ‘acknowledging and agreeing’ to these conditions. In addition, there is a new paragraph that creates huge liability issues for the parties that sign this addendum;

13. Each signatory agrees to indemnify the Servicer and Freddie Mac for any and all loss resulting from any negligent or intentional misrepresentation made in the affidavit including, but not limited to, repayment of the amount of the reduced payoff of the Mortgage.

“Negligent or intentional misrepresentations made in the affidavit”…. What does that mean? Or better yet, who has seen these affidavits? Earlier in the addendum it states that “‘the Servicer and the Investor are relying on statements made in the affidavits as consideration for the reduction of the payoff amount.” These statements are made by the seller, but who has seen these affidavits? Has the buyer, buyer’s agent or escrow closing agent been given a copy of the statements and the documentation to verify that the seller’s statements are true? Probably not. So how can they “indemnify the Servicer and Freddie Mac for any and all loss” based on a seller’s statement that they haven’t seen or have no knowledge of?

Oops – I probably should have started with…

I’m not an attorney. I do not play an attorney on TV. This is not legal advice. My broker advice is to advise your clients to get legal advice concerning this document.

My advice to John Hall agents being asked to sign this form as a buyer’s agent is to “Just Say No!” Don’t be surprised if you find more and more title companies declining to sign also.

Kevin Duff Receives REALTOR® Emeritus Status

by on Jun 20, 2011 | Real Estate News, REALTORS® Association, REALTOR® Success Story

Broker, REALTOR® Emeritus, Broker, SAAR President

Last week during an awards breakfast for the Scottsdale Area Association of REALTORS®, Kevin Duff was awarded with REALTOR® Emeritus status.

Kevin has been working out of the John Hall & Associates Scottsdale office since 1984 and he’s been licensed in Arizona since 1971. Nice going Kevin, well deserved my friend!

REALTOR® Emeritus Status:

Any person who has held membership in the National Association as a REALTOR®, REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®, or a combination of both, for a cumulative period of 40 years in one or more Associations of REALTORS® is eligible for REALTOR® Emeritus status.

 

HomePath® Buyer Incentive: June 14 – October 31

by on Jun 20, 2011 | Buying, Careers and Training

HomePath from Fannie MaeFannie Mae has recently announced a special incentive effective with offers submitted on or after June 14th.
Fannie Mae is currently offering buyers up to 3.5% in closing cost assistance through October 31, 2011. A $1,200 selling agent bonus is also available to selling agents who close on an owner occupant property and meet all eligibility requirements and terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions:

  • Buyers and/or selling agents (the agent representing the buyer) must request the incentive upon submission of initial offer.
  • Initial offer must be submitted on or after June 14, 2011 and close by October 31, 2011. Initial offers made prior to June 14 are not eligible for the June 14 – October 31 incentive.
  • Sale must close on or before October 31, 2011. No exceptions will be made to this deadline. (Note: Initial offers submitted after September 15, 2011 may not close by the incentive deadline of October 31, 2011.)
  • Buyers must be purchasing a HomePath property to use as their primary residence to receive closing cost assistance. Second homes and investment properties are excluded from the incentive.
  • Sales closed via the retail channel are eligible, including those utilizing public funds. Pool and auction sales are ineligible.
  • Buyers must sign the Owner Occupant Certification Rider to the Real Estate Purchase Addendum.
  • Buyers with total closing costs under 3.5% are not eligible to receive the difference as a credit.
  • Properties where Fannie Mae acquired the property in connection with financing under a reverse mortgage are not eligible. Ask the listing agent for details.
  • Buyers should consult their lenders for guidance on financing. Lenders and mortgage products may impose their own limitations on the use of the 3.5% incentive. For example, the lender may consider the incentive a Seller Contribution and limit the amount to 3.0%. In those instances, the remaining 0.5% will no longer be available to the buyer.
  • Fannie Mae reserves the right to remove any property from promotion or end the promotion at any time. Any dispute over the payment of the incentive shall be resolved by Fannie Mae in its sole discretion.

Note that this incentive will be identified on the purchase contract, and must close by October 31, 2011 to receive the incentive from Fannie Mae.

Luxury Homes Tour – Paradise Valley / Scottsdale

by on Jun 13, 2011 | Careers and Training, Company News, REALTOR® Marketing

Arizona Luxury HomeOn June 8th the John Hall & Associates home tour visited Arizona luxury homes in Paradise Valley and Scottsdale. Many thanks to the Eilers Real Estate Team for organizing this monthly event. This month included “gorgeous Camelback pocket listings to sprawling Paradise Valley estates and custom new builds.”

Tour Improvements

Ever since the Eilers started organizing the home tours they have been making helpful improvements. The tours now have a set time frame. The bus leaves at 9am and returns by noon. They also replaced the standard school-like bus with a limo bus. The limo bus has seating designed similar to a stretched limo; REALTORS® face each other rather than everyone facing forward. This turned out to be a great catalyst for conversations and networking. I also like that a week before the tour they announce the area of focus; last month – McCormick Ranch and Pinnacle Reserve, this month – luxury homes in Scottsdale/Paradise Valley. Stay tuned for July’s area…

Looking to network with other dynamic REALTORS®? Join the next tour on July 13th!

Have a listing you’d like to add to the tour? Contact the Eilers Team through the Paradise Valley office or drop them an email (eilersoffice at gmail). Next month’s tour date is Wednesday July 13th. Hopefully you can attend!

View pictures from this year’s tours…

 

Arizona REALTOR® Quarterly

by on Jun 8, 2011 | Careers and Training, REALTORS® Association

 

Arizona REALTOR

Just when you thought the only way to read the Arizona REALTOR® magazine was in a digital format, AAR brings back a printed version… with a twist.

In a cost cutting/going green strategy last year (or was it the year before?) the Arizona Association of REALTORS® stopped printing their monthly magazine/newsletter to the dismay of many members. It has been argued that readership has dropped causing less-knowledgeable REALTORS® on the street. Luckily for us AAR cares.

Now four times a year you can receive a printed version of the Arizona REALTOR® Quarterly in your physical mailbox. AAR is aggregating the best articles and legal hotline questions from their monthly publications. All you have to do is subscribe at http://aaronline.com/azq. There is a cost = $28/yr.

So what do you think? Are you going to sign-up?

Phoenix Foreclosure Market – June 2011

by on Jun 3, 2011 | Buying, Careers and Training, Real Estate Statistics, Selling

The Information Market released their greater Maricopa County foreclosure statistics for May 2011. Although April’s numbers were probably more newsworthy with a greater number of foreclosures completed than new notices issued, May’s numbers provide newsworthy occurrences also. It’s time to review the current Phoenix foreclosure market and identify some significant changes that have occurred since the first of the year.

Foreclosure numbers as of 5/31/2011

  • Total active residential notices are 27,396; the lowest number since 11/08. The number has dropped 28% since the first of the year, which is more than 10,000 fewer residential properties in foreclosure.
  • The number of new notices in May was basically the same as the number of completed foreclosures. This is only the 2nd time that new monthly notices were not greater than monthly completions in the past 10 years;
  • There were 4,000+ residential foreclosures cancelled last month; second highest all time.
  • With only 1,900 short sales closed (Maricopa County) for May, there are other reasons that trustee sales are being canceled.
  • New notices for May were basically the same as April and April had the fewest since 11/07.
  • The number of residential properties currently owned by banks in Maricopa County is 18,451; the lowest since July of last year.

Bank Owned Inventory = 18,451

  • 3,901 active listings in ARMLS;
  • 325 listings in AWC status;
  • 4,986 properties in pending status.

This accounts for 9,212 of the 18,451, or 50% of all bank owned properties. Where’s the other 50%? Good question. I imagine there are a number of issues such as previous owner evictions, tenants with valid leases, title issues, maintenance/property condition issues, or a few others that fall into the “miscellaneous legal issues” category. With basically a 1 month supply of active REO listings in the county (3,901 active / 3,765 sold in May), bringing on the other 50% of bank owned inventory will not “flood the market.” In fact, adding 9,000 active listings would add an additional 1 month supply to our current 2.4 month supply for the entire market.

As various sources reported last month, these developments are significant steps necessary for our market to improve. Sure these might be small steps and we’re not out of the woods yet, but I thought you might be interested in a year-to-date review as we head into our summer selling season.

Phoenix Real Estate Market Report – June 2011

by on Jun 2, 2011 | Buying, Careers and Training, Real Estate Statistics, Selling

Once again when I ran my initial numbers for May, I was pleasantly surprised. Initial closings for the Greater Phoenix real estate market in May 2011 are 9802, which is within 88 sales of the highest May on record (2005). May 2011 is 5% over April 2011 and 7% above May 2010, which continues 2011’s improvement over 2010’s numbers.

Now the reality check: Prices fell slightly

  • Average Sales Price $158,000 down 2%;
  • Median Sales Price-$108,000 down 3%;
  • Price per square foot-$82.55-down 1%.

These price numbers are all down from April, which can be attributed again to the ‘mix or make-up’ of the sales figures. REO sales were 44% of the total and Short Sales came in at 22% of all sales. So ‘distress sales’ bumped up slightly, which dropped prices accordingly.

I like the Price Analysis that the Cromford Report published at the end of May. It compared prices a number of ways: such as greater Phoenix vs. outside greater Phoenix; single family vs. condos; various price range points from under $25,000 to over $3 million; and finally a breakdown by city showing today’s price per square foot and comparing it to 90 days ago and last year. Yes all cities are down year over year, but the results are mixed comparing the last 90 days. This is valuable information to provide to clients buying a house, REO sellers, appraisers and anyone else trying to evaluate prices for the Phoenix area.

Besides the number of sales in May, probably the biggest news is number of Active Listings. Current number of Actives stands at 23,624 which is only 2.4 month supply of homes. A balanced market has a 4 to 6 month supply, so we are in a ‘seller’s market’, but prices are the last piece to feel the impact of the short supply. It’s a 5 year low for number of Active Listings and if you factor out the AWC’s, you have to go even further back to reach a 2.4 month supply. Within the Active Listing numbers bank-owned properties have a greater shortage with a 1 month supply of inventory and only a 3 week supply of HUD homes. I guess the shortage of supply explains the return of the multiple offer situations and the dreaded multiple counter offers to explain to frustrated buyers.

The market doesn’t really show any signs of cooling off with 13,254 Pending Listings; the same number as the start of May.

There are a few warning signs on the horizon as the Federal government considers how to deal with Fannie and Freddie, maximum loan amounts, and minimum down payment requirements.

Stay tuned by subscribing to our market reports via email.