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Question: I have substantial equity in my Arizona home. I know that Arizona has a law called the “homestead exemption” that protects a home owners’ equity in the home. To obtain the protection of Arizona’s homestead exemption, do I have to record or file a document with any governmental agency? Answer: Arizona [...] Last month the Phoenix area experienced an increase in home sales to 4,620, but 65 percent of resales are the result of foreclosures. The Phoenix Real Estate Guy has an excellent post on why Phoenix area home buyers need to understand the market for the area where they intend to buy and should not have unrealistic expectation. He says: Home buyers on the other hand almost seem to be losing their grip on reality. . . . [...] For years investors pumped money into Right Place Properties, a company that bought apartment complexes, renovated them then sold off the units as condominiums. When the real estate bubble burst so did Right Place Properties. It suddenly stopped making payments to investors in November of 2009 when it also laid off most of [...] Arizona Republic: “officials at Alliance Bank of Arizona say their stake in the new CityScape project symbolizes a long-term commitment they’re making to downtown Phoenix and Arizona. The bank not only extended a $40.2 million loan to build the complex’s retail space and garage but also will occupy a floor of the first-phase [...] Arizona Republic: “The Valley’s epic home-price slide reached another recovery milestone in January, the first month in nearly three years with a single-digit annual rate of decline, according to preliminary data from Arizona State University’s Repeat Sales Index. ASU professor Karl Guntermann said January’s year-over-year decline of 9 percent continues a stabilizing trend [...] Arizona Republic: “A downtown Phoenix 1931 bank building [now called Hotel Monroe] that was entangled in Mortgages Ltd.’s collapse appears headed for foreclosure. The 12-story Professional Building at 15 E. Monroe Street is scheduled to be auctioned on April 20 . . . .” Jay Thompson of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy posted an article entitled “$8,000 (or $6,500) Home Buyer Tax Credit – Lobbyists on the move for ANOTHER extension.” “The $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit ($6,500 for existing homeowners) is scheduled to expire April 30 (sales contracts signed by April 30 have until [...] The Arizona Department of Real Estate and the Arizona Association of Realtors jointly produced the Arizona Real Estate Buyer Advisory. If you are considering buying Arizona real property, you must read this important advisory. The introduction states: This advisory is designed to make the purchase of real property as smooth as possible. [...] A story in the Washington Times says that the City of Phoenix picks and chooses property owners to receive millions of dollars in real property tax savings. The property taxes saved by property owners who are favored by those in power in city government (the winners) come at the cost of higher property [...] Arizona Republic: “Arizona is one of five states that will split $1.5 billion from a new federal program aimed at helping regions hardest hit by home foreclosures. President Barack Obama announced the new funds Friday in Las Vegas as part of a government push to reduce the number of homes falling into foreclosure by assisting [...] Phoenix Business Journal: “Arizona is sixth in the nation with 12.6 percent of mortgages one or more payment past due as of Dec. 31, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. That 12.6 percent is an increase of 62 basis points, according to the MBA. The delinquency rate excludes loans in [...] Phoenix Business Journal: “The Arizona real estate market will recover slowly and approach modest levels of normalcy — but not until 2014. That was the assessment of a group of experts who gathered Friday morning for “Gloom to Zoom,” a seminar sponsored by Rose Law Group and held at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Hotel. Phoenix Business Gazette: “Over the past week, Maricopa County homeowners have been receiving their latest property valuations in the mail. Most are seeing a third straight annual drop in home values. Residential property values fell an average of 15.2 percent in 2009, according to the latest report from the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.” Phoenix Business Journal: “The once popular adjustable-rate mortgage has fallen out of favor with borrowers, and more homeowners are working faster to whittle down their mortgage debt. A quarterly Freddie Mac report on refinancing activity showed fixed-rate loans were overwhelmingly preferred by borrowers, with 95 percent of all refinancings being a fixed-rate product.” Arizona Republic: “Most Maricopa County homeowners will see another significant decline in their homes’ value when they open their 2011 property-assessment notices in the next few days. But property taxes for the coming year still may go up as the state, cities and school districts struggle to close huge budget deficits.” Arizona Republic: “Foreclosures remained a dominant force in the Phoenix area’s housing market in January, as foreclosures and resales of foreclosure homes accounted for two-thirds of existing-home transactions during the month, according to an Arizona State University report. Even with brisk sales, a key to the housing market’s recovery remains creating new jobs, [...] Whether a homeowners ’s decision to allow his or her lender to foreclose is based on a presently existing financial hardship, anticipated financial strain over time, or to strategically divest themselves of a bad investment, the debate rages as to whether such a decision on the part of the borrower is morally wrong or [...] The Phoenix area condo market has tanked. Condos are very difficult to sell, especially those priced above $417,000, the maximum amount of conventional home loans. Jumbo loans over $417,000 for residential properties are very difficult to obtain in today’s lending environment. 44 Monroe, located at 44 West Monroe in downtown Phoenix is a [...] Arizona Republic: “Maricopa County homeowners will begin to receive their latest property valuations in the mail today. Most will see a third straight annual drop in home values. Residential property values fell an average of 15.2 percent in 2009, according to the latest report from the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.” An Arizona State University report says that one half of the recent sales or homes in the Phoenix area involved forecloses and two thirds of the sales in January were either foreclosures or re-sales of foreclosures. Phoenix Business Journal: “Arizona ranked second in foreclosures for January behind only Nevada, which has held the top spot for 37 months running, according to a RealtyTrac report released Thursday. One in every 129 Arizona housing units was hit by foreclosure proceedings during the month, a 4 percent increase over January 2009. That [...] Arizona Republic: “January’s significant drop in pre-foreclosures is the indicator many metropolitan Phoenix housing-market watchers have been anxiously looking for during the past several months. For the first time since November 2008, the monthly tally of Valley homeowners to fall behind on their mortgages and face foreclosure is below 7,000. Actual foreclosures dropped [...] Arizona Republic: “The Arizona Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the CityNorth case has reignited debate in Scottsdale over whether public subsidies and tax incentives truly benefit the community. Some say the more than $220 million the city has committed in subsidies has only wasted taxpayer money by lining the pockets of developers. Others [...] The Real Estate Guy: “So you get the call from your agent that the title company has received the loan documents and needs to set up an appointment. Lucky you! If you are a first time home buyer, everyone tells you to ‘get ready to sign your life away’ or ‘man is [...] Question: I have several investment properties in Arizona that may go into foreclosure. I am looking for an attorney who understands and believes in the “Produce the Note” defense. Can you represent me? Answer: No. The “produce the note” defense is where the borrower attempts to stop a foreclosure on real estate secured by a [...] Arizona Business Gazette: “State lawmakers are moving to slam the door on what some see as fly-by-night scammers who hold themselves out as foreclosure consultants. Legislation making its way through the House would establish, for the first time, some regulations on the practices of those who say they can help homeowners avoid losing [...] Don’t Mess with Taxes: “I know I’ve blogged about the first-time homebuyer credit a gazillion times. My most recent post on the tax break was The home buyer credit’s three E’s. But I cover it yet again, this time for Bankrate.com, in Homebuyer tax credit extended, expanded. Quick aside: That article is Daily [...] |
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