Several times recently I’ve been in the position where I have either turned down listings or not “gotten” them because I’ve refused to list them too high. While we may be in a bizarre competitive ”Buyer’s market” in much of the Phoenix market right now, buyers still aren’t willing or able (we’ll talk about appraisals later) to pay too much for a house. Sometimes, I’ll if push comes to shove I’ll allow a seller to list the property higher than I think the market will allow for as long as we have an automatic price reduction in place. Now, all you purest REALTORS who are up in arms that I just said that, I do know that the first couple of weeks is when we’ll get the most showings and activity and I make sure a seller is fully aware of that. But if they still persist and I think more reason can be seen later I’ll allow for it.
So once the house is listed how do we tell if a house is over-priced?
That’s when I use what I call the Rule of Tens.
- If the house is on the market for 10 days with no calls or showings…it’s over-priced
- If the house has 10 showings and no offers…it’s over-priced
That’s it.
Plain and simple…my Rule of Tens.
On a totally personal note: 10 is my youngest daughter’s favorite number. Her name is KiersTEN and this year she’ll be 10…on 10/10/10.
Over the years I have spent hours and hours at the end of the month on the MLS breaking down the active, pending and sold numbers by city and price range and importing them into Excel spread sheets. While I greatly enjoy the knowledge and interpretation of the numbers, as someone who doesn’t love Excel or spreadsheets this is almost as much fun as a paper cut on my eyeball. Recently, I have become acquainted with The Cromford Report a subscription site where they compile the numbers and I just have to pay for it. There really sick are people out there who LOVE putting this stuff together. They even come with colored arrows for those who can’t figure out if things are trending up or down.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the Phoenix real estate Market as of today:
Things to make note of include:
- The active listings – see how they are coming down, that means that houses are selling and/or expiring and not being replaced with new listings.
- The pending (under contract) listings – nearly twice as many as this time last year! The buyers are getting it…
- Sales are up too!
- Months Supply of inventory is way down. If no other houses came on the market at the rate things are selling it would take 4.3 months to deplete the inventory on the market.
Things are a-changing…
If you are a parent and you are contemplating the idea of making a move one of the likely things on the top of your list of questions pertains to the schools. Where are they? What are they like? How are they rated? I frequently have clients ask me questions about schools and thought I’d share with you the resource I send them to: greatschools.net.
Greatschools.net is a researching parent’s dream. From public to charter to private schools, you can learn about everything from student and teacher statistics, spending per child, test scores (see Las Sendas Elementary 4th grade AIMS scores above), demographics, extra cirricular activities, parent & student reviews, and much more. You can also compare schools or school districts.
If you have something to say about a school your kids go to make sure to leave feedback for others there, too and then sign up to receive updates about your specific schools.
Don’t miss Great School’s blog, too!
With all the first time buyers realizing the opportunity that exists if they buy a home this year in time for the $8,000 tax credit I am frequently asked questions about who qualifies as a first time buyer. I thought this bit from the Q & A section of the National Association of Home Builders website was worth sharing.
What is the definition of a first-time home buyer?
The law defines “first-time home buyer” as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. For married taxpayers, the law tests the homeownership history of both the home buyer and his/her spouse.
For example, if you have not owned a home in the past three years but your spouse has owned a principal residence, neither you nor your spouse qualifies for the first-time home buyer tax credit. However, unmarried joint purchasers may allocate the credit amount to any buyer who qualifies as a first-time buyer, such as may occur if a parent jointly purchases a home with a son or daughter. Ownership of a vacation home or rental property not used as a principal residence does not disqualify a buyer as a first-time home buyer. (my emphasis)
Now is a great time to be a first time buyer. If you know of anyone who should be taking advantage of the opportunity let me know.
This just in: If you are a first time buyer, you now have an $8,000 down payment!**
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced this morning at the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) Midyear Conference that the Federal Housing and Administration (FHA) will allow it’s lenders to offer first time buyers the opportunity to use their $8,000 federal tax credit toward their down payment.
This is HUGE!
Now, if you qualify for the first time home buyer tax credit you don’t have to wait until you buy the house, close on it and then file or amend your taxes to get the $8,000. The $8,000 will be offered in the form of a small bridge loan that will be paid back after you get your tax credit. To find out more about the tax credit, check out this informative website.
With the interest rates at historically low numbers, prices at 10-year lows and an $8,000 tax credit there has never been a better time to buy a home! And I’m not just saying that because I get paid to.
If I can help you with your dream of home ownership, please don’t hesitate to ask.
**(Some limitations and exclusions apply, yada, yada, yada…see your friendly loan officer or Realtor for specific details.)
