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Prescott Valley, AZ Real Estate News

By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
I work as a buyer's agent for an active REO agent in the Central Arizona region.  My business partner Stephanie Woods often  has over 40 listings at any time. So when I get sign calls the first challenge is to figure out what property the potential buyer is looking at. Here is an example of one such call:   Example, Caller: "Yeah I'm calling about your house. It’s a yellow house with a tree in front."   Buyers Agent (BA): What city is it in?"  Caller: It's got a birds nest above the front door."  BA: "Is that in Prescott Valley?"  Caller: "And its right next to my aunt Ethel's house with the 5 wrecked pintos in the front yard".   BA: "Oh yeah, that would be 1234 Ramble Way , let me look it up".  Caller: "How much is the rent?". BA: "....sigh".   Sometimes, even armed with a current prop...
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By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
There are many ways listing agents choose pricing on their short sale listings. All too often the method involves pullling a price out of nowhere. Rather than doing careful research or a broker price opinion. Certainly listing a home at below market value will get buyers looking at it, but the gap between the list price and market value still needs to be bridged for the lender to agree to the sale. One of the biggest challenges when working with buyers on a short sale is trying to convince them that the list price is not related to the market value. In a recent Prescott Valley short sale transaction, my buyer offered slightly above the list price of a short sale. My research showed the market value to be about $20,000 above the offer, but I had trouble helping the buyer to separate the ...
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By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
How often has this happened to you?... After much market research, driving around and conversations with your agent (and often many others) you find the REO home you were looking for. Its only been on the market one day and you know its priced below the market and within your approved budget. Your agent calls the listing agent only to find out there is already one accepted full price offer and two more back up offers.  This has been my experience way too often in the last few months so I found a creative way to get my buyer's offers first in line. Its all about building relationships with the AZ REO listing agents. Just as they had to work to build relationships with the lenders and the asset management companies, Arizona REO buyers agents need to invest time and effort into relationshi...
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By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
Home buyers have many different ideas about buying bank owned homes. The two I hear most often relate to what its like dealing with banks and what to expect with regard to the condition of the homes. I wanted to write about the second question.  Here in the Prescott Arizona REO market we see a wide variety of bank owned property conditions from pristine to "ready for demolition".  But most bank owned properties are in average to very good condition. Homes that have been damaged by the former owners usually receive necessary repairs by the bank before they are marketed. An early part of the process in the pre-marketing time frame is the broker price opinion (BPO). The BPO consists of trained agents comparing the subject property with similar properties in the same area that are currently...
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By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
More and more I am seeing Prescott bank owned homes being listed at prices that drive many competing offers to them. Often, multiple offers push the contract price up to the same level as retail sales. Today I am working with a buyer on one of these REO properties. By the time we finished with our "Highest and Best" offer for the bank, the price was above some of the retail listings in the same subdivision. I spoke with my client about the situation and suggested we spend a little more time comparing the home to other comparable listings.  In the end I think the buyer will stick with this property because it has the best location and upgrades available. But sometimes we just have to take a breath and do a reality check to make sure we have our client's best interests at heart. Its also ...
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By Dave Conners, Are You Ready For Awesome?
(Keller Williams Check Realty )
Thanksgiving is past, but I'm still grateful today. There are a hundred things (and people) I am grateful for, but I want to write about challenges of the Prescott AZ Foreclosure Market and the problems that go along with it. First I should back up and explain about problems and in particular "High Quality Problems". In real estate the worst problem to have is no clients. No clients equal no problems which of course is the worst one to have.  As I wrote a few days ago, the Prescott AZ REO market has shifted from moderate to red hot. Today's new bank owned listings often get multiple offers the first day on the market.  That brings me to my first problem (that I am ever so grateful for). The time between a new listing going public and getting a good offer submitted is very short. So the ...
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Foreclosure activity booming this week  Thirty nine foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market last week, way up from last week's 18.  They made up about one in every 3 homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system.  This is a marked increase and a one week high for distressed listings in the Prescott area.  Could some of the phantom inventory being coming on the market? See this post:  Banks to unleash a phantom inventory of foreclosures say some There were also 87 traditional listings that came on the market last week at an average of $177 per square foot.  Compare that to the $104 per square foot average for the homes below.  Which ones do you think will sell faster? Short Sales:  9/39 are short sale listings (see yellow highlight).   Short sales are becoming eas...
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Sales volume in the  distressed home market in the Prescott AZ area is up to a record high this year with 36 homes closing in the first 15 days of June.  This compares to 79 homes sold by traditional resales during the same period. The average price per square foot for REO and short sales was $91 and the average time to sell was 123 days compared to $111 per square foot and 163 days on market for traditional resales.  Traditional home sellers are continuing the trend of reducing their prices to sell against the foreclosures and short sales. Short sales about 12% of sales: of the 36 homes sold, 4 were short sales (highlighted in yellow).   REOs continue to sell at a much higher rate than short sales.  Over 47% of the homes sold at or more than asking price (see green highlight).  Last we...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
The Mortgage Bankers Assocation reported yesterday that Arizona residential deliquencies rose to 9.22 percent of homes in Arizona and foreclosures were started on an additional 2.52 percent of AZ mortgages bringing the total to 5.56 per cent of all homes in foreclosure. "It is difficult to overstate the severe impact home-price declines have had on mortgage performance," said Jay Brinkmann, the MBA's chief economist, in a statement." Brinkmann also said the MBA suspected the foreclosure numbers had been kept low by foreclosure-moratorium policies imposed by various states, lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "Now that the guidelines of the administration's loan-modification programs are known, combined with the large number of vacant homes with past-due mortgages, the pace of foreclosu...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
Twenty new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market last week, about one in every 4 homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system.   6/20 are short sale listings (see yellow highlight). Want to see what the latest sales figures are for the Prescott Az area forelcosure market?   See: Prescott area REO and short sale homes sold 5-1-09 thru 5-15-09     Foreclosed and short sale homes new on market MLS Address City List Price  SQFT  $/SQFT 937766 1199 Opal Drive Prescott $157,990     2,579 $61 937849 12140 Obsidian Loop Rd Dewey -Humboldt $109,900     1,525 $72 937788 13110 Ponce St Dewey -Humboldt $150,480     2,019 $75 937839 1280 Kobol Way Chino Valley $299,250     3,784 $79 937840 4361 Ranger Rd Prescott Valley $69,600       864 $81 937830 4729 Raven Drive Prescott...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
 Eighteen new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market last week, about one in every 6 homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system, and one third of the closings were distressed sales in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and the outlying areas of Yavapai County.  The difference between what newly listed traditional homes and Prescott foreclosed/REO and short sale properties per square foot remains large at a 42% discount.   Days on market was higher this week for both market segments, but REOs still sold 19% faster. Are your considering a short sale as a solution to your mortgage woes?  Before jumping in, see this post:  Do your research with your CPA before your decide on a short sale The percentage of foreclosed/REO/short sale new listings...
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Activity in the distressed home market in the Prescott AZ area was weaker this time with 15 homes closing in the last 15 days of April.  This compares to 44 homes sold by traditional resales during the same period. The average price per square foot for REO and short sales was $88 and the average time to sell was 160 days compared to $133 per square foot and 190 days on market for tradional resales.  You can see that the REO and short sales market in Prescott and Prescott Valley is moving much quicker and at a much lower average price. Short sales increase: of the 15 homes sold, 6 were short sales (highlighted in yellow).   Short sales can take a long time, see this post: How to help speed up a short sale tips Almost 1/2 of the homes sold asking price or more (see original post) and got ...
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More signs that the bottom of the real estate market in California is here or near!  That is great news for home sellers in the Prescott and Prescott Valley market areas since we rely so much on the buyers from CA to buy our homes.  This includes retirees looking for on of the top 10 places in America to retire, (See Best Places to Retire: Prescott, Arizona ), and professionals moving here to service the growing population. The California Association of REALTORS® released the following information on Tuesday the 28th:  "The March sales figure of 522,980 homes indicates that the market continues to be very active," said C.A.R. President James Liptak. "All of the regions in the state experienced increases in month-to-month raw sales, with the smallest gain in the Sacramento region at 9.7 ...
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    Thinking of buying a home in the Prescott, Arizona area?  Perhaps one of the foreclosed or REO homes?  Now is the time with the incredible decline in home prices and historically low interest rates!  Are you prepared to move forward?  Before you answer yes, have you consulted a lender? If you are one of the 30% or so who do, congratulations!  Many others rush out to seize the opportunity and forget a vital step.  Why is it so important?  Well, ask any lender and they will tell you how radically different the loan process is compared to three years ago.   Gone are all the non-qualifying programs along with stated income loans for self-employed borrowers.  Higher credit scores are required and additional monies for down payments particularly for second homes and investment properties....
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
The news that just came out of the Phoenix market is that foreclosures are down as percentage of sales, but we have not seen that so far in the Prescott area, where the distressed real estate market in the Prescott area was once again busy on the listing AND closing sides this week.  Seventeen new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market, about one in every six homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system, and just over one half of the closings, or 10/18, were distressed sales in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and the outlying areas of Yavapai County. The difference between what newly listed traditional homes and Prescott foreclosed/REO and short sale properties per square foot remains large at a 42% discount.   The market down in the vall...
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It's getting old to say, BUT, the distressed real estate market in the Prescott area was busy on the listing AND closing sides this week. Identical to last week, eighteen new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market, about one in every five homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system, and just over one half of the closings, or 12/25, were distressed sales in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and the outlying areas of Yavapai County. The difference between what newly listed traditional homes and Prescott foreclosed/REO and short sale properties per square foot remains large at a 39% discount compared to 40% discount last week.   The market down in the valley is continuing to show progress and that's good news for us as many of them buy second...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
I've been posting for a couple of weeks about cash buyers are starting to make up the majority of my clients and how they feel it is time to buy.    They have been buying a mixture of foreclosures, estate sales, and traditonal resales (all at bargain prices) in downtown Prescott, Talking Rock cottages, and income properties in Prescott Valley.  Now the numbers are starting to come out of the valley and according to the Arizona Republic this morning, "for the first time in years, there's good news coming out of metropolitan Phoenix's housing market." The article, by Catherine Reagor their real estate guru, goes on to say that March saw several firsts: 1) Home sales rose to 2005 levels; 2) Foreclosures fell for the first time in a year; and 3) Several Phoenix neighborhoods saw prices stab...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
I have many clients who call me looking for deals on short sales and foreclosed homes in the Prescott Arizona area market including Precott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey-Humboldt.  Many think that short sales are better deals than foreclosures, but his is rarely the case. What the difference? The short sale process has many moving parts that must be aligned in order for the sale to close.  First of all, the lenders have to agree to a short sale, but sometimes banks won't agree to a short sale without an offer.  This means that the home has been listing for a price that the bank hasn't agreed to, and once the offer comes in, the bank will assign a loss mitigator to review the process.  This could take several months and most likely will involve a counter offer by the bank close to the l...
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By Patrick Schutte, REALTOR
(Flex Realty)
Last week I posted about the Southern California real estate market and how it was rebounding, see: Great news for Arizona! So Cal prices didn't drop in Feb, and now we have good news from our southern neighbors in the Phoenix area.   Our home sellers in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Dewey-Humboldt rely on the real estate market to the south of us as well.  Many buyers from Scottsdale, Peoria, Glendale, and other valley cities acquire second homes and investment properties in our area.  Good news down south, means good news for the Prescott area as well. Mike Cromford, in his Arizona Real Estate Market Report, on March 22nd said:  There is no doubt that we are experiencing a boom in buying across all the areas where pricing is very low. This increase is having little effe...
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By Bob & Carolin Benjamin, East Phoenix Arizona Homes
(Benjamin Realty LLC)
One need not travel to Vegas to see a Cirque du Soleil production. In Prescott Valley Arizona in northern Arizona, from November 20nd-23rd there will be a Cirque du Soleil production called Saltimbanco. The event takes place at a facility called Tim's Toyota Center at 3201 E Main Street in Prescott. The production is a celebration of live and the city. For more details, ticket prices, buying tickets and details call 928-7772-1819.
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