• Greater Phoenix Area ~ Labor Day Weekend Freeway Closures & Restrictions ~ September 4–7

    September 3, 2009 // Comments Off

    Greater Phoenix Area - Highway Construction and Closures over Labor Day Weekend September 4 - 7, 2009

    Have a safe and fun holiday weekend, hopefully with very little labor!   ;-)

    Gilbert Homes ~ Chandler Homes

    Mesa Homes ~ Queen Creek Homes ~ Phoenix Homes

    Posted in phoenix freeway conditions

    I’m done… I can’t buy a home in this market…

    July 16, 2009 // 2 Comments »

    Okay…  I’ll confess…  I’m bummed…  a home buyer I’ve been working with for over 6 months decided to call it quits.  No, he didn’t commit suicide – at least not in the physical sense – but in the metaphysical real estate sense.

    His one question?  “Why in hell should I continue to view properties that I have no chance of buying?”

    This home buyer has excellent credit and has worked his tail off to save up the 3.5% down payment required for an FHA loan.  His price range is $80K-$100K, and we’ve been looking for a home in the East Valley, primarily Mesa and Phoenix.  He’s been open to a single family detached house, townhome or condo.

    I’ve lost count of the total number of properties we’ve viewed, and the  number of aggressive offers (even above comps) that we’ve submitted on nice, decent homes ~ but to no avail…

    We’ve gotten our asses kicked on every last one of them – by two types of buyers:

    1. Cash
    2. Conventional Financing

    With a cash buyer, there is typically no appraisal done on the property, and there’s no financing contingency – both of which are HUGE incentives to the seller.

    With conventional financing, the buyer is paying 20% down and at least on the surface appears to be a better credit risk than an FHA buyer who is only putting down 3.5%.

    My client simply got tired of the fray, and gave up.  And while I very much appreciate and respect this client, I am very disappointed with his decision.  Patience and perseverance will always prevail.  My only regret is that this particular client gave up his dream and allowed defeat to dominate his lifestyle.

    Am I deluded?

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    Posted in arizona market conditions