Looking for something fun to do with the kiddos while they’re out on fall break? Look no further than Skateland Chandler. Conveniently located at 1101 W. Ray Rd (between Dobson & Alma School), they’re open Monday through Friday from 11am to 3pm for all of intercession.

For more information, you can follow them on Twitter, become a friend or fan on Facebook, visit their blog or website.

See you there!

If you currently have an FHA loan, the time is now (as in right now) to find out if refinancing can benefit you – because the rules of refinancing your FHA loan are about to get more stringent and the rules regarding the FHA streamline program are about to change.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a new announcement from HUD that outlined quite a few changes to the requirements of being able to qualify for the FHA streamline program and as a result, many people in Arizona who can refinance right now, soon won’t be able to. The new rules take effect on November 17 of this year so you only have a little bit of time left to act.

Many people in Arizona are in a situation where they currently owe more on their mortgage than their home is now worth and that is why the FHA streamline program has been a great reason to have an FHA loan — it allows you to still refinance and get a lower rate thanks to the no-appraisal requirements.

Before the new changes take effect, for anyone who wanted to do an FHA refinance streamline, it was a no-income, no asset, no credit score (although this changed for many lenders recently, not all), no appraisal program. As a result of the upcoming changes, it won’t be long before these things are really no longer true.

The new FHA streamline rules are such that soon you will pretty much need to provide all of the same information you provided when you first got your FHA loan such as income information, asset information as well as get a full appraisal because anytime you finance your closing costs (by far the most common choice when refinancing) you will now be required to get a full appraisal.

In plain English… what does this really mean?

It means if you have an FHA loan – you would be wise to act fast and refinance – before the rules change.

Sometimes I find myself looking for some place cool to eat dinner with the family, but not really have any ideas.  Ever feel like that?  Well, if you’re anything like me – sometimes (especially during the summer time), I don’t want to just jump in the car and venture out.  I like to have a plan.

Enter “YELP.com” … ever heard of  Yelp?  Yeah, it’s new to me too.  However, what I’ve discovered at Yelp.com are reviews of places.  Not just restaurants, but all kinds of places and services.

• Looking for a place to host a group at lunch time with a great patio?
• What about a local dog park?
• Need to know what time the bowling alley opens?
• Air conditioner quit working on a Saturday evening of a holiday weekend?

YES – you can find all of these things (and more) just by visiting yelp.com  and after you’ve visited some place or used a particular service you can “yelp” your own review and help others out, too.   I’ve been dabbling with Yelp off and on for a couple of months and, you know what? Not only is it helpful, it’s also kinda fun.

Start Here:

Yelp – Chandler, AZ

Read my Reviews

Escalation Clauses: Bad or Good?

Many people in Arizona are aware that there are multiple offers on homes under $200k that are currently owned by a bank. Consider this question I was asked at least once this week:

Question: My Realtor tells me that if I am tired of being outbid on homes, I might want to consider using an “escalation” clause in the contract. What do you think?

My Answer: There is a fine line between brilliance and stupidity and in my opinion, the escalation clause in today’s Phoenix housing market falls exactly on that line.

Really?

First let’s paint an escalation clause in a brilliant light. Let’s say that you are a 1st time home buyer who plans to finance your new home with an FHA loan. This means that your offer is most likely going to be up against at least one other all-cash offer and one thing you can do to “win” the bid is to simply bid a little more than the other guys. An escalation clause in your offer will do that for you. And there is really only one way that it can work… Using an escalation clause like this will only be considered brilliant if you also make the property value subject to appraisal. In other words, if after the escalation clause your offer ends up being $100,000 and the property only appraises for $90,000 then if you have a “subject to appraisal” clause in there the lender will have to decide to drop the sales price to $90,000 or put it back on the market. Where this can work (and I have seen it work) is the lender will choose your offer above all other cash offers because it is the highest ($100k) – only to have to lower their sales price because of the “subject to appraisal” clause to $90k.

Now let’s paint it in the stupidity light. If you do use an escalation clause but don’t include a “subject to appraisal” clause, then you are really setting yourself up for financial pain. You could easily end up paying more than the property is worth – in cash – because you won’t be able to finance it into the loan. That is the worst possible scenario. Another possible “bad” scenario that could happen is that you could put the escalation clause in, put the subject to appraisal clause in — only to have the lender refuse to lower the sales price and ends up putting it back on the market. Even though you haven’t lost any money per se — you have lost time and effort.

Are escalation clauses bad or good? It depends. And a lot of what it depends on is luck. Luck as in it depends on decisions that the lender who owns the home makes.

All good things must come to an end and the $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers is no exception. The $8000 tax credit program is scheduled to end on December 1, 2009 – and unless it gets extended by Congress, you must have closed on your new home by December 1 in order to qualify for the credit.

If you are thinking to yourself “December is still a ways off – we are in the middle of August!” here are a few things to think about:

• First you need to actually find a home and get an offer accepted. I see many properties with multiple offers on them and the average person that I am working with right now has “lost” a “bidding war” on at least a couple of houses before their offer was finally accepted. I don’t think it would be unreasonable for you to plan to spend a couple of months looking for a home and getting an offer accepted.
• Once your offer is accepted, then you still need to get a mortgage. Turn times right now for a typical loan seem to run in the 30-45 day period.
• Lastly, remember that according to the IRS, you must actually close on the home home for it to be considered occupied and qualified for the credit.

So if you take the 2 months of searching and add another 30 -45 days for the mortgage… you can easily see that if you haven’t already started the process and you want to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit… it is time to get moving.

Will Congress extend the $8000 tax credit? Maybe… but are you really willing to bet $8000 on it?

It’s back to school time and that sometimes includes a trip to the doctor for sports physicals and immunizations.

The Maricopa County Health Department is offering free immunization clinics in Anthem, Queen Creek, Avondale, Gila Bend and Central Phoenix on Saturday, August 1st from 9am to 2pm.  You’ll need to bring your shot record and an adult needs to go with the child to sign paperwork. If you don’t have insurance, don’t worry – they will not charge you.  If you do have insurance, they will bill your company directly.

ABC15’s Daphne Munro (Your Smart Shopper) posted an article and video this morning.  You can read/see more of her story here.

Clinics & hours can be found here – http://www.wearepublichealth.org/ or  you can call the Public Health Nursing Line at 602-506-6767

Be sure to go early, as there will be lines.  Bring water, too.

Also, for more information & updates, you can follow Maricopa Health on Twitter.

If you ever had any doubts as to whether people are doing business on Twitter, yesterday’s Arizona Republic published an article that proved it.

As pictured above, my friend and mentor, Dru Bloomfield with John Hall & Associates was quoted saying “When folks decide to work with me, they have a sense of who I am as a person already.”

That’s truly the essence of Twitter.  While we’re all in business, it’s not about the hard sell.  It’s about relationships and connections.  It’s about being genuine and allowing others to be a part of your life.

Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Jay Thompson and Realty Executive agent, Nick Bastian were also quoted in the article – both mentioning that Twitter (in particular) has brought them business.

Kerry Melcher, a real estate veteran, also uses the computer and Twitter.  “I have referred other Realtors in other parts of the country business from people that I follow on Twitter.”

Want to know more?  Visit Justin Doom’s entire article.

Many people here in the Valley are starting to ask about the “New FHA loan program with only a 1% down payment”.

The good news is that there is a new program that is available that new home buyers can advantage of that will allow only a 1% down payment for an FHA loan. The FHA loan requirements haven’t changed – they still require a 3.5% down payment, but this new program allows people to use government money to pay for 2.5% of the 3.5% down payment requirement – effectively leaving only 1% that a new home buyer must put down.

The new program is called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program – and it even gets better than just having to put 1% down!

Here are just a few of the important details regarding the Neighborhood Stabilization Program:
Neighborhood Stabilization Program Highlights:

• If you own a residence, you must be leasing your primary residence at least 12 months before applying for the program.
• You must use us a lender from the ADOH participating lender list.
• You must attend and complete an eight‐hour Homebuyer Education Class provided by one of the ADOH participating homebuyer counseling agencies. (A list will be provided by your lender once you begin the process.)
• The property you purchase must be your primary residence.
• You must have a maximum debt‐to‐income ratio of 31/43.
• You must be AUS approved eligible.
• You must have two months PITI reserves.
• You can use any type of financing with the NSP program – including paying cash. That means you can still get up to 22% of the purchase price even if you pay cash for the house.
• You must be approved and have your paperwork completed for the program prior to submitting an offer on a house.

Neighborhood Stabilization Eligible Property Types:

• Foreclosed properties only. A property is considered “foreclosed upon” at the point that the mortgage or tax foreclosure is complete.
• One‐unit detached single family homes, condos and townhomes.
• The property must be vacant at time of listing.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program Purchase Price Limits:

Neighborhood Stabilization Program Income Limits:

In order to qualify for the program, you must have a gross income (the total income before taxes, health care costs, social security, etc.) of no more than 120 percent of the average median income for the county they want to purchase a foreclosed house in.

Income Limits For Maricopa County:

Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Too Good To Be True?

1. Up to 22 percent of purchase price
2. All loans are forgivable after a period of time based on the amount of the loan.
   * 5 years for assistance of $15,000 or less
   * 10 years for assistance of $15,001‐$40,000
   * 15 years for assistance of more than $40,000
3. All loans are zero percent interest with no monthly payment.
4. The balance of the loan is forgiven at the completion of the term.

My Thoughts On The Neighborhood Stabilization Program

This program is very new (I think there have been a total of 6 of these transactions done in Arizona so far) but from everything that I can tell, it is a very “real” program. There is money available, the steps to getting the money are fairly clear and there is plenty of housing inventory right now. Unlike some (many?) of the government programs announced in the last few years, the NSP program actually will help people get into homes and in my best estimation, will actually help *stabilize* neighborhoods.

So for anyone out there who gets excited about the 8000 tax credit , just wait until they find out about the fact that they could get up to 22% of the purchase price of their home given to them as an incentive to move in and live in a home… it almost gets us back to the “good times”!

While my life may seem like constant change, I like to think of it more like a roller coaster ride.   While this ride sometimes does seem never-ending, this time it’s taken a very cool loopty loop …. I’m now hanging my real estate license with the really cool folks over at Thompson’s Realty.  To make the ride even more fun, Jay Thompson (Phoenix Real Estate Guy) and now my really cool boss – wrote this very nice post welcoming me to their team.   Yeah, I’m defnitely the lucky one.

In an article written by Liam O’Mahony of the East Valley Tribune, Chandler has been designated as Playful City USA.

WOW! Congrats to all the hard working people who work (so hard!) to keep the City of Chandler progressing.

Read the entire article to learn more about Chandler’s recreation programs and community parks.

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