Phoenix Bank Owned Foreclosure Homes--Phoenix Real Estate Vlog » Phoenix Foreclosures

2 Ways to Strengthen Your Phoenix Home Offer without Increasing Price

Joe Martin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 03:46:43 +0000

Multiple Phoenix home offer scenarios requires Buyers to keep on their toes during negotiations

This does not necessarily mean a higher purchase price. In this market, multiple offers on homes and competition among buyers can be common. There are ways to strengthen your Phoenix home offer other or in addition to raising the price to make your home offer more competitive.

1. Increase your Earnest Money to strengthen your Phoenix home offer

The earnest money is due once you enter a fully ratified agreement with a Seller and usually due within 24 hours or 1 business day. Unless otherwise negotiated the earnest money will remain refundable through your inspection period and if you are financing your Phoenix home purchase through the inspection period in the event the appraised value does not meet or exceed the purchase price and through closing day if for some reason you are unable to qualify for your loan. That being said a higher earnest money amount can make your offer more desirable to a Seller. Ask yourself, If everything else remained the same with two competing offers regarding price, loan type, inspection period, etc and you were the Seller would you consider the offer with $10,000 earnest money stronger than the offer with just $1,ooo?

2. Strengthen your Phoenix home offer by reducing inspection period time

This does not meant to waive your inspection period and this blog post does not advocate that you do so. Each property, each offer, and more importantly each Buyer is different with different comfort zones. Each Phoenix home offer is structured with terms on a case by case basis. With that being said it should be noted that a shortened inspection period time could be appealing to a Seller. This negotiation tactic is most practiced by Phoenix real estate investors that are happy with the condition as-is provided they get their offer accepted at a certain price. Also, this does not leave out the possibility to have a professional inspect the home before you even write your Phoenix home offer!

If you are a cash buyer than you will want to write an offer that can close in 5-7 business days or upon completing your Phoenix home inspection. Of course there are things out of your control such as the HOA taking their full 10 days to get the resale statement to the title company which could make your offer take longer to close but that’s okay. As long as your Phoenix home offer shows you are ready to close quickly with HOA and other parties permitting your offer will be stronger than a cash buyer asking for a full 30 day close for obvious reasons.

A good real estate agent will be savvy with effective negotiation strategies to increase the strength of your Phoenix home offer. Do you have any negotiation tactics that were successful? Please share your experiences regarding your Phoenix home offer with our readers by posting your comments below.

11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Closing

Joe Martin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:18:23 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

Your almost ready to move into your Phoenix Home

When do I get the keys? A question that is commonly asked by anxious home buyers anticipating getting settled into their sometimes long awaited Phoenix home. The answer=As soon as it records. In most cases Buyers can not take occupancy of their Phoenix home until the transaction closes and records. This is especially the case if you are buying a Phoenix foreclosure home. However, this is a negotiable term and in some instances you may be able to occupy the property earlier than closing.

Review of the Phoenix home transaction from contract to close

Your Realtor should inform you on each phase and what to expect as you move along. The key milestones leading up to this point from the time your Phoenix home contract was accepted (assuming you are financing your purchase with a loan) are outlined below;

Escrow
Loan application
Due diligence
Appraisal
Underwriting
Loan docs
Final walk-thru
Signing
Funding and recording
Occupancy/Keys

Prepare so your Phoenix home transaction is a smooth one!

With a positive attitude, a little education on the Phoenix real estate market and an experienced Realtor by your side, your Phoenix home transaction should go off without a hitch! Upon this conclusion to our 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series (and for a shameless plug ) we would like to remind you to contact our team of experienced Buyers Agents today to get started with your Phoenix home search.

Our Phoenix home listings below are updated in real time so please take a moment to browse recent Phoenix foreclosures below;

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 141. See more Phoenix Foreclosure Homes For Sale.
(all data current as of 5/18/2012)

$271,500 : 19636 N 15th Place, Phoenix

3 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 1,981 sq ft

Lot size: 6,029 sqft
$129,900 : 2801 W Muriel Drive, Phoenix

3 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,451 sq ft

Lot size: 5,260 sqft
$199,900 : 6621 W Molly Lane, Phoenix

3 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,845 sq ft

Lot size: 6,519 sqft
$371,900 : 16818 S 37th Place, Phoenix

5 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 2,815 sq ft

Lot size: 7,374 sqft
$312,900 : 18836 N 41st Street, Phoenix

4 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 2,039 sq ft

Lot size: 7,655 sqft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

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11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Writing Your Offer

Joe Martin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:15:13 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

Negotiating your Phoenix home offer can be a very exciting time

In today’s Phoenix real estate housing market it is important that when you find that perfect home that you really love you do not hesitate to write an offer. Prior to writing an offer on a Phoenix home you should understand the nuts and bolts of the purchase contract. Your Realtor should be available to help guide you through the real estate purchase contract but they will not interpret it for you. You are expected to read the real estate purchase contract throughly and ask any questions you may have for clarification.

The main terms to consider when writing an offer on a Phoenix home are;

Purchase price
Earnest money
Contingency terms
Inspection period

A copy of the Arizona Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract can be reviewed below.

The purchase price is obviously something your Realtor will consult with you about and will also be no higher than your pre-approved loan limit at your desired down payment amount.

The default inspection period in the Arizona Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract is 10 Calendar days. If you do not change or waive this in your offer you will be asking for a 10 day inspection period.

Contingencies are clauses in a contract that give either the buyer or seller a way to get out of the contract if certain conditions are not met. There are endless types of contingencies and they are negotiable but the three most common that are default when writing your offer on your Phoenix home are;

loan–regarding Buyers ability to qualify for financing
appraisal–regarding purchase price vs. appraised value
inspection–regarding completion/satisfactory home inspection

Your Realtor will help you through the entire offer writing process on your Phoenix home

The right Realtor for you is one that is knowledgeable, accountable and helps you understand the the home buying process. It is important to find a Realtor that you trust and feel comfortable with that will represent you and your best interests. Our team of real estate agents in the Phoenix-Metro area are ready to assist you with all of your Phoenix home buying needs.

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11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Home Search

Joe Martin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:05:57 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

The Phoenix home buying search process is an exciting experience!

It’s a very exciting time to be shopping for your first home of even your second or third if that is the case. The main thing to remember is there is a method behind the madness so to speak and a systematic approach to the home buying process is the best way to stay focused, save time and reduce stress. If you have read the previous posts to this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series that are listed at the top of this page you already know that addressing credit issues, selecting a mortgage specialist, getting pre-qualified and selecting a Realtor precede the home search phase of the Phoenix home buying process.

Be realistic with your Phoenix home buying wish list

It is important to determine from the start how much Phoenix home you can afford and where you can afford it. Since you already analyzed your monthly budget you know what a comfortable mortgage payment would be and when you are pre-qualified, depending on the fluctuation of rates, you should know approx. how much you can spend on a Phoenix home and stay within your monthly budget. This is the top of your price range. Locations and neighborhoods are going to have different price ranges to buy into a specific area. Also, certain amenities you may desire such as a basement, no HOA, upgraded lot sizes, horse privileges, golf course communities, proximity to schools or work, etc will help determine which areas of the Valley you can consider and still stay within your price range. If your desired amenities do not meet your acceptable price range you will have to modify your wish list accordingly. Your Realtor should be able to tell you exactly what areas of the Valley fall within your budget and meet your other Phoenix home wish list requirements and also which amenities you may have to compromise in order to be within a certain area. Once you find the right balance you can narrow your search to specific neighborhoods, communities and/or geographical boundaries.

Foreclosures are great first time Phoenix home buying options and offer a great value

The current real estate market is distressed and as a result there are foreclosure homes throughout the entire Phoenix-Metro area and neighboring Valley cities. Many times these home are move-in ready (despite what some new home builder advertisements like to depict), and foreclosure homes also may qualify for free home warranties, closing cost incentives and down payment assistance programs. Overall a Phoenix home purchase that is a foreclosure (bank owned) property overs first-time home buyers and second home buyers or investors a great value.

Click here to search foreclosures in all Phoenix-Metro Valley cities to find your Phoenix home.

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11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Financing

Joe Martin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:31:45 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

Secure a Phoenix home loan before you start your home search

If you have been following the future posts in this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series we touched briefly on how to establish or clean up your credit if needed. Now for the purposes of this series moving forward we will assume you have a least a 620 credit score, a steady documented income for the previous 12 months and your DTI is 41% or less as indicated in our previous post regarding debt-to-income ratios…the next step is to get pre-qualified with a Phoenix home loan.

Ask for referrals to qualified Phoenix home loan specialists

Word of mouth is the best way to find a great loan specialist for your Phoenix home loan and your Realtor is a great place to start. Your Realtor should have excellent referrals for you as they tend to use the same preferred lenders over and over again that make them look good and give their clients the best service available. Just like any business if you do a good job, word gets out about your services and others refer you business. I do not recommend just haphazardly going online and completing online questionnaires or applications. 9 times out of 10 your information is sold and you can get bombarded with loan professionals. Find a few that come highly recommended by asking your family, friends, neighbors and Realtor and start there. A lender should be able to take a phone application and/or secure online application and have answers for you the same day. Unless of course you go to a brick and mortar bank where a pre-qualification can take up to five business days.

Understand the terms and fees associated with your Phoenix home loan

After you complete the application process via online, over the phone or in person you will be provided with a pre-qualification letter that will state the amount of financing you qualify for. In Arizona specifically your Phoenix home loan qualification letter may be issued on as an LSR or Loan Status Report. An LSR will be required to write any offer and typically required prior to view homes. If this is your first time buying a home and applying for a Phoenix home loan you will have several questions. Your lender should be able to tell you your rate (which can still change until you lock it), your estimated mortgage payment including taxes and insurance, your estimated closing costs to bring to the closing table (which you can negotiate the Sellers contribute to), and your required down payment for your particular Phoenix home loan program. First time home buyers will typically use an FHA loan with 3.5% of the purchase price required as a down payment.

Example: 100,000 purchase price x 3.5% = $3500 down payment

There are also Phoenix home loan programs such as a USDA loan which allows first time home buyers to purchase at $0 down provided the property is located in a qualifying area. Phoenix-Metro areas that qualify mainly are Queen Creek, San Tan Valley as well as parts of Apache Junction.

The next step once you receive your Phoenix home loan qualification letter is to select a Realtor to represent you if you have not already done so which we will discuss in the next post in this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series.

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11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Budget and DTI

Joe Martin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:56:16 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

The Phoenix home buying planning process means time to budget

It is time to finally track your spending and put pen to paper an itemized list of where you spend money each month and how much. The goal here is to see how much Phoenix home you can afford within your budget. The good thing is right now in Phoenix-Metro area you can own for less per month that what you can rent in many areas so your living expenses might actually go down once you buy!

Accurate figures are important to the Phoenix home buying planning process

Start with making a list of all your expenses such as utilities and living expenses such as electricity and groceries, then all monthly expenses such as credit card bills, car insurance and yes add your entertainment, clothes, etc. as well. If you spend $40/week on movies and you want to continue to spend $40/week on movies than include it, otherwise remove or lower it to something you feel is reasonable and then follow that. You may be surprised to find out how much money you spend on certain things that with a few minor changes here and there you can drastically reduce your overall monthly expenditures. After you total everything and subtract it from your income you will have a figure. From that figure take a certain percentage off the top to add to your savings accounts and/or retirement plan, etc and the final figure leftover (assuming you already accounted for miscellaneous disposable income in your list) is what you can afford as a mortgage payment with/without any lifestyle changes while growing your savings.

Lenders consider Debt-to-income (DTI) ratios during the Phoenix home buying pre-qualification process

The above budget is mainly for your purposes so you can determine during the Phoenix home buying process your comfort level with the money in and money out every month and also help identify spending habits that can be modified to help strengthen your overall financials. Lenders will take your debt such as current mortgage/rent, credit cards, car payments and compare it to your income (aka DTI ratio). The qualifying ratio will vary by loan program and fico score but for our example we will use FHA which is 41%.

Lets consider a quick scenario in determining DTI for a Phoenix home buying loan applicant;

Your Monthly payment on mortgage/rent = 1200
Minimum Monthly Credit Card Payments = 300
Monthly Car Loan Payments = 450
Other Loan payment = 300

Thus, your total monthly debt payment = $2250

Now, let’s consider your Gross Annual Salary = $75000
So, gross monthly salary = $6250
Other monthly income = $1000
Thus, your gross monthly income = $7250

So, mortgage debt to income ratio = (monthly debt payment)/(gross monthly income)
= ($2250/$7250) = .310 or 31% which is well within the standard DTI ratio.

Hopefully now you have a good idea of how much you can comfortable afford every month, what changes to you budget need to be made if any and if your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is in-line with qualifying. If not you may have to pay off some debt to get your ratio where it needs to be as part of the Phoenix home buying process.

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11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series-Intro

Joe Martin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:27:02 +0000

Table of contents for 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series

Buying a Phoenix home may take planning…

When buying a Phoenix home nowadays it takes more than the ability to fog a mirror as in the old days of the No Income Verification and No-Doc loans. It’s not as simple (especially now) to qualify when buying a Phoenix home. This is a good thing, as we sure don’t want a repeat of the mess we’re in now. Or maybe, you disagree and are miffed about it being more stringent to get a loan when buying a Phoenix home. Either way, leave a comment, I’m curious what everyone thinks about this.

It is important to understand when you think of credit that you think of credit ‘history’. Lenders want to know you have established and used your credit wisely. The history of your credit for the past twelve months or longer in some scenarios will come into play when trying to buying a Phoenix home and qualifying for a Phoenix home loan.

No credit=no qualify when buying a Phoenix home

No credit means no credit ‘history’. As mentioned before this is something that will affect how or if you qualify for a home loan. Keep in mind there are ways to boost your credit score and/or establish credit in a responsible way that will be addressed during this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series.

Start saving now if you are planning on buying a Phoenix home within the next 12 months.

If you already know you qualify… Congratulations! You can stay tuned for future posts in this 11 Steps to Buying a Phoenix Home Series that more closely relate to where you are personally at in the home buying process.

If you are not sure if you qualify or already know you do not qualify these next few posts will be just for you! Hopefully, you will qualify within the next 12 months or less to meet your home buying goal and we look forward to helping educate you on the process.

*Please keep in mind this series in not intended to give you financial or credit advice and you should contact a qualified financial and/or credit specialist to further investigate ways to help you establish or build your credit. We have great referrals for you that can guide you on how NOT to make the common mistakes many would be buyers make every single day.

Looking forward to your comments on this 11 Steps to buying a Phoenix home Series!! I’m curious, do you think we should still have less stringent loans (i.e. NIV, No-Doc, etc.) available when buying a Phoenix home?

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Phoenix-Metro Rated in Top 5 Sunny Cities To Watch in 2011

Joe Martin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:18:41 +0000

Phoenix-Metro Real Estate Recently Rated #2 in 5 Sunniest Cities To Watch in 2011 in Investopedia–a Forbes digital publication.

One thing is for sure and that is Phoenix-Metro real estate has some of the best real estate deals in the US from both an investors standpoint and opportunities available to owner-occupied and/or first-time home buyers.

Phoenix-Metro Real Estate Offers a High Standard of Living

On average 293 people move to Arizona everyday for business opportunities, warm climate and low-cost housing. Golf courses and a plethora of dinning, shopping and entertainment venues native to upscale locations such as Scottsdale also keep Phoenix-Metro Arizona as a great place to visit or own an affordable vacation getaway.

Phoenix-Metro Real Estate is Popular Among Snowbirds

Phoenix-Metro is a popular destination for retirees and other Midwest, Northern and East Coast relocates as well as Canadians looking to get out of the harsh winter climates either seasonally (snowbirds as we like to call them) or as year-round residents.

In a recent Investopedia article, Ryan Fuhrman, sited Phoenix as one of 5 sunny cities to watch in 2011, stating;

Given that they were among the hardest hit, they could see quicker recoveries that also build steam in the next couple of years. They share some positive characteristics, including sunny locales that retirees find popular, and all were benefiting from a general population migration to warmer climates from colder ones in the northern parts of the country.

Whether your a snowbird, year-round resident, retiree, Midwest transplant, investor or an Arizona native the Phoenix-Metro real estate housing market has a lot of low-cost housing opportunities to take advantage of now and to come in 2011.

Click here for Phoenix-Metro real estate foreclosures by city

The Fine Art of Negotiating Your Phoenix Foreclosure Real Estate Transaction

Joe Martin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:10:35 +0000

Negotiating your Phoenix Foreclosure Real Estate Transaction is something mastered by experienced Realtors.

Like with anything, experience builds confidence and confidence builds excellence. Negotiating a Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction is no different. Most Realtors in today’s Phoenix real estate market have negotiated some foreclosure transactions if they have done business the last three years or so. That is not to say they are excellent at it.

Proper representation is important in a Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction.

Proper representation is important in a a regular or short sale real estate transaction as well. This is just to point out that ‘proper’ representation in a Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction is more times than not with a Realtor that has extensive experience in negotiating Phoenix foreclosure transactions. The main difference in negotiating with the Seller of a bank owned foreclosure property is that there is a chain of command that must approve and/or sign documents and each bank follows their own line of protocol and time frames. This translates overall to deadlines being strict, terms being firm and stakes being high.

Keep your emotions out of your Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction.

Don’t take it personal that the bank wants to charge per diem fees if you don’t close on time or that they don’t want to replace the out-dated fixtures. A Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction will state the homes are sold ‘as-is’ and there are other certain characteristics of a Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction that are pretty much universal, such as;

Earnest money needs to be in the form of a cashiers check
Sellers will not provide Seller Property Disclosure Statements (SPDS)
Sellers will not provide insurance claim history (aka CLUE)
Home is being sold in as-is condition
Per diem charges will apply if Buyer does not close on time through no fault of Sellers
Buyer is required to re-key the home after closing
There is no chance or pre-possession

Keep your eye on the prize and employ an experienced foreclosure Realtor to represent you and the process will go smoothly and stress free. Click here to contact us directlyor complete the short form below if you are looking for Buyer representation in the Phoenix-Metro area. Our foreclosure team services Phoenix Valley Wide and has several experienced and knowledgeable Realtors dedicated to helping you with your Phoenix foreclosure real estate transaction.

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Phoenix Bank Owned Foreclosure Process Explained–After Closing

Joe Martin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:17:54 +0000

Table of contents for Bank Owned Foreclosure Process Explained

Congratulations on successfully closing your Phoenix bank owned foreclosure home!

Technically you do not close on your Phoenix bank owned foreclosure home until you record. The County recording the new deed is known as recording. This is when legally your real estate agent can hand over your keys.

You should re-key your Phoenix bank owned foreclosure home immediately after closing

The banks will require it. Without going into too much detail here you just want to keep in mind that some banks, such as Fannie Mae will require a mandatory re-key fee on the HUD settlement statement which the Buyer has to pay and the Sellers agent then arranges the re-key immediately after recording. In other instances the bank does not require a fee and just has the Buyer sign off that they know to re-key the property immediately and your real estate agent will usually arrange for this to occur at Buyers expense. Typically an entire exterior re-key will range from $75-$125.

It is important to save all your documents for your Phoenix bank owned foreclosure transaction.

Many Realtors will give you a cd of your transaction with all documents you signed electronically archived. If not you should receive a large legal size folder that you can use to store all your documents in a safe place. Your homeowners association (if applicable) will be sending information via mail most likely within the next couple of weeks.

Your Realtor will most likely not have your mailbox key for your Phoenix bank owned foreclosure home.

Many Phoenix foreclosure homes will come with the exterior key (which must be re-keyed as mentioned above) and items such as mailbox keys or garage door openers are sometimes never recovered by the listing agent that represents the bank after the trustee sale occurred. You will have to contact the local Phoenix post office in your neighborhood to retrieve a key and many times will have to buy a garage door opener at your local Lowes or Home Depot.

This concludes our Phoenix Bank Owned Foreclosure Process Explained series. We hope you learned a lot! Please post your comments and questions at the bottom of this post.

Below you will find all MLS listings for a Phoenix Bank Owned Foreclosure.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 141. See more Phoenix Foreclosure Homes For Sale.
(all data current as of 5/18/2012)

$271,500 : 19636 N 15th Place, Phoenix

3 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 1,981 sq ft

Lot size: 6,029 sqft
$129,900 : 2801 W Muriel Drive, Phoenix

3 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,451 sq ft

Lot size: 5,260 sqft
$199,900 : 6621 W Molly Lane, Phoenix

3 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 1,845 sq ft

Lot size: 6,519 sqft
$371,900 : 16818 S 37th Place, Phoenix

5 beds, 3.00 baths

Home size: 2,815 sq ft

Lot size: 7,374 sqft
$312,900 : 18836 N 41st Street, Phoenix

4 beds, 2.00 baths

Home size: 2,039 sq ft

Lot size: 7,655 sqft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

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