The Scott's Sell Scottsdale

The beautiful town of Fountain Hills, Arizona, offers visitors spectacular desert and mountain views from the comfort of a hotel jacuzzi suite or a sparkling resort pool. With a southwestern sunny climate and located just minutes from Scottsdale, it's no wonder travelers include this cozy town on their itinerary.

But don't let the small town feel fool you; besides a spectacular water fountain (one of the tallest in the world!) that shoots a stream of water over 550 feet into the air, Fountain Hills has a lot to offer visitors such as luxurious hotels and fine resorts with all the amenities including pools, spas and tennis courts, great hiking trails, watersports and other outdoor activities, beautiful golf courses, wonderful restaurants, and for your gaming needs, Ft. McDowell Casino.

So starting making your travel plans to relocate or visit Fountain Hills today!

Search the MLS for Homes in the Fountain Hills "85268" Zip Code

The Get Motivated Business Seminar presented at America West Arena on Feb 4, 2010 was both an entertaining and inspiring day! The advertised goals of the event were things like goal achievement, team building, communication, time management and increased productivity but I found motivational life changing nuggets of wisdom from these dynamic speakers. Speakers included ports icons Kurt Warner and Steve Nash, successful businessmen Steve Forbes and Zig Ziggler, Rudy Giuliani, General Colin Powell and Laura Bush. Now, how can you not learn something from such successful individuals?

This diverse cross section of powerful speakers shared their passion and internal drives that brought them success in spite of failures. Although each story was unique, there were two underlying motivations that they all shared. They all had a drive to be the best that they could be and they continued to follow through any adversity they encountered along the way. Many of their personal stories brought both laughter and tears but they all forged on to become successful in their individual careers. Determination to succeed, a faith in God and themselves, a willingness to sacrifice and a desire to make a contribution motivated them to accomplish many great life achievements. 

The audience was encouraged to listen and learn from others, to give more than you take and to appreciate those around you. Do not let failure define you, but use the difficult times to grow and become the best that you can be!

Do you view your cup as half empty or half full?
It is all in your faith, attitude and motivation to overcome!

You would think that after living in Scottsdale for almost 30 years, we would have already attended this art show. But, it took an invitation from past clients to get us there. We really enjoyed the magnificent art work, meeting many of the artists and eating a great lunch! We will definitely make this an annual event! The Celebration of Fine Art show at Scottsdale Rd & the 101 Freeway is celebrating it’s 20th year of presenting very talented artists in an studio like venue. The show began Jan 16th and will run through March 28, 2010. The 40,000+ sf tent houses many unique well known and upcoming artists.

Watching the various artists create an art work before your eyes and being able to talk with them about their techniques and learn about their passions makes the event a truly unique experience.  Gosh, makes one wish for the talent to be so creative. 

After an excellent lunch in the food court with our past real estate clients Pat and Loren, we began our tour of the artists.  Each artist has their own studio area where they display some of their completed works and then also have an area dedicated to working on a new piece. From paintings (both oil and water color) to metal work.  work carving, and glass blowing, each artist produced his own signature masterpiece.  There was also jewelry, woven baskets and sculptures. All candy to the eye.

We met several artist friends of our clients. What fun it was to become acquainted and listen to their stories. We visited with well know artists David Jackson , local artist Fiona Purdy and New York artist James McGulpin. 

One of the artists actually pled "guilty" to inspiring Loren to become so interested in learning to panit, that he decided he needed a bigger home for his art studio.  That was 2001. Pat and Loren asked us to sell their existing Scottsdale patio home and help them find a larger Scottsdale home.  Every year when as Pat and Loren return to town for the winter we get together with them.  Over the years we have watched Loren improve his art skill and you should see the bears that Pat makes. They are truly amazing people. We love to see the new art pieces that they continually add to their home.  One of these days, they may even need an even bigger home just to display the beautiful artwork they have gathered!

Please view our slide show of some of the artists and stop by to the
Celebration of Fine Art to check it out for yourself! It is definitely worth the trip!

So, you have decided to lease your Maricopa county property.
You have moved and your property is now vacant. The market is slow, you either  can't sell your home or you do not want to sell your home because you think it is worth more than the current comparables are indicating. For whatever reason, now you have become a property manager or have hired one.

Here in Maricopa County, if you choose to lease your property, you have some obligations to the county.  If you lease your property for more than three months in any given year, you MUST update the Legal Class form "Owner Occupied" to ' Rental Property".  If you do not register your property as a rental and the county discovers that you did in fact lease it, there are substantial fines.  The information regarding rental property can be found on the Maricopa County Assessor web site.  Changing the status is easy and inexpensive.  Much cheaper than paying the fines!

• NOTICE!!! If you own Residential Rental Property in ARIZONA!
• Online Residential Rental Property Registration Form
• Printable Residential Rental Property Registration Form

Once you have legally registered you rental, you may be responsible to pay rental tax to the city in which the property is located. The tax is paid monthly only when the property is leased.  Each city within Maricopa County has different rules regarding how much and when the rental tax is paid.

Here in Scottsdale, property owners that have residential rental property in the City and have more thantwo (2) such rental units available in the State of Arizona are subject to City tax at the 1.65% tax rate. For those owners with less than 3 renal properties, there are rules regarding wheather you live in or our of state, whether you manage your properties or have an in state property manage and the length of time the property is leased in a given calendar year. Check out the Scottsdale Real Property Rental -Scottsdale Privilege & Tax Use publication and the City of Scottsdale Tax Rate web site  to make sure you are handling your rental properties legally.

Happy Leasing.

In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, Friday, Jan 15, 2010, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow a quicker resale of foreclosed properties.

The 90 Day “Seasoning Rule” for FHA financing,  will be lifted starting Feb 1, 2010.
It will be in effect for ONE year.

FHA currently requires a seller to own (must be on the title) a Phoenix property for a minimum of 90 days before they can sell it to a buyer using FHA financing.  In today's real estate market,  FHA seems to be the financing of choice by first time home-buyers searching for the American Dream of home ownership. 

In the past, if an investor wanted to sell their property to a FHA borrower, the investor would have to hold the house for 90 days before they could write a contract with the borrower. The rehabilitating and the reselling of these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Thus investors would sell the property VA, conventional or cash buyers before the FHA buyer had the opportunity to make an offer on the property.  This lift of the 90 day 'seasoning rule' will now permit buyers to use FHA-insured financing to purchase homes they previously could not qualify to purchase.

To protect FHA borrowers against predatory practices of "flipping" where properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers, this waiver is limited to those sales meeting the following general conditions: See the HUD website for detailed waiver requirements.

· All transactions must be arms-length —With no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.

· In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller's acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.

· The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

Seems to be a good compromise!
Good for both Investors AND the FHA buyer as well as for our communities!

Begin your Scottsdale and Greater Phoenix Metro area Real Estate Search here!
AZ-real-estate-sales.com

The National Association of Realtors(NAR) continues to monitor the historical trends and current status of the real estate market across the country.  While some of these numbers may be broad they also provide general local statistics for several major cities.  Every state, city, community and subdivision is unique. However, a general report is a place to begin if you are thinking of relocating or if you simply want to have a better understanding of your area.  The media information often lags the true market status by a few months while they wait for the data to be dissected.  The latest reports included in the NAR site are through Quarter 3 - 2009. (we are now in Jan 2010).  The data will provide the trends and give us an idea where the market is heading.

Since we live, work and play in Scottsdale, a suburb of the greater Phoenix metro area, I have selected to find out more about the Local Phoenix Report from the NAR web site.  The chart below is a subset of the useful information provided.  The Phoenix market accelerated in the real estate boom years 2004-2005 and then fell drastically when the housing bubble finally burst in 2006.  Following the bleak years of 2006-2007, the 2008 market began to show signs of life.  And, in 2009 the high inventory, foreclosure , low interested rates and low prices coupled with the first time home buyer tax incentive and the attractive FHA financing option, the market was once again very active. However, the sales volume of activity in 2009 was very different from that of 2005.  Lenders, still stinging from the creative financing and easy loans were beginning to tighten their guidelines and ensure that home buyers were actually qualified to purchase. Overall, the general statistics including the info from the chart below show that prices have declined to the 2002 level.  The good news is that we ‘hit bottom' in April 2009 and prices are once again increasing. Bottom line, if you bought your home before 2002 and did not borrow on it when the prices were higher you still have equity. 

Now is an excellent time for first time home buyers to jump in to the market and
take advantage of the $8000 tax credit.  If you currently own a home and may be
thinking of relocating, downsizing , retiring or transferring,
may be eligible for up to a $6500 tax credit.

Check the NAR 2009 Local Market Reports  for your
city/area or for cities that you are considering relocating to.

If you are thinking about the greater Phoenix metro area please select this hyperlink to view properties.
AZ-real-estate-sales.com home search

If you would like more specific detailed, up to date info about a
specific, zip code, city or subdivision, in the Phoenix metro area ,
feel free to contact us at any time

garyandclaudia@cox.net
480-948-0550

Welcome to 2010!  Buyers in today's real estate market are reluctant to push the limits of their budgets. Unlike the buyer in the hot 2005 real estate market which instilled major fear that
"if you do not buy today, you will be priced out of the market tomorrow", today's real estate buyer is more cautious and wary.  There are multiple factors that have caused this prudence. The general economy, the falling real estate values (why buy today when it may be worth less tomorrow?) , fear instilled by observing buyers who are now 'upside/down' on their homes and recession / job loses.  Bottom line, we are all afraid to enter into debt in this time of uncertainty.

The previous attitude of ‘buy before you are priced out of the market' coupled with the fact relaxed loan qualification standards were major instigators causing the real estate bubble waiting to burst.  Prices were rising unrealistically. Owning the American dream became a real nightmare for many! Unfortunately, all property owners suffering if after affects of the bubble that eventually burst.  Even if you did not purchase in the height of the market or dip in to the artificial equity of your home, your home value has been affected by the repercussions of today's foreclosure/short sale market. Every community and neighborhood has been impacted.

Not only are buyers being more cautious about staying within their budget, lenders are ‘forcing' them to purchase within their budget. The pendulum has swung from the days of relaxed loan qualification guidelines to a very stringent qualification process.  In the end, this more thorough requirement process will be beneficial to all.

Many markets, have hit ‘the bottom' in pricing.  One does not know where the market "bottom" is until it starts to improve. And, that is what is happening in the greater Phoenix metro area.  Most forecasters agree that the Phoenix area real estate market hit bottom in April of 2009.  The sales prices have stabilized and have slowly improved since that time. There is an optimistic outlook for 2010. 

Although the first time home-buyers tax credit or 2009 resulted in a pent-up demand from a large pool of qualified renters to purchase, there still remains many renters qualified to purchase a home.  The extended first time homebuyer tax credit and new expanded credit to current homeowners meeting certain qualifications, along with lower prices on properties and record low interest rates will continue to stimulate many renters to purchase. This will be a boost to the overall real estate correction.

Now is the time for homebuyers to take advantage of the tax credits, inventory and interest rates while being able to conservatively remain within their budget to purchase.

The 2010 real estate market is a more favorable buyer friendly market to
"buy while you can afford it before prices increase"
than it was the case in the frenzied height of 2005.  

The greater Phoenix metro area real estate market is booming once again!
As of TODAY (12-29-2009) there have been 89,777 properties sold!  And, we SHOULD reach 90,000 before December 31st.  There were approximately 60,000 properties sold in 2008.  Thus, real estate sales improved approximately 50% in 2009!

We probably will not see the 50% increase in unit sales that we saw at the end of 2009. However, a 5-10% increase in sales is attainable, and that figure will be the 3^rd highest number of closings- all time for our market.

So What is the future for the Phoenix metro area real estate market?
Here are some  factors that will greatly impact Phoenix real estate next year:

1. National Government Intervention: The extended tax credit for contracts signed before 4/30/10, which now includes a move up buyer provision with higher income levels, will definitely have a positive effect on our market for the first 2 quarters next year.
2. Low Mortgage Interest Rates: Anything below 6% will allow for a steady market recovery.
3. Lender Owned Properties (REO's):The percent of REO's will continue to decline from the 65% of all closings' peak in May of 2009, but will be replaced by Short Sales.  REO's will account for approx 55% of all closings in 2009.  The percent of REO's sales should decrease to under 40% for 2010.
4.  Short Sale Properties (SS): SS's started 2009 at about 5 or 6% of all closings and has risen to 15% YTD.  SS's will at least be double that number for 2010.
5. New Home Construction: New home sales should increase from 2009 levels, it will be minimal but a start in the right direction.

Predictions for 2010 are that we will see a market that performs a lot like 2009 especially the second half of 2009, in terms of number of sales and price improvements.  Now is the time to jump in to the real estate market while there are still 'deals' to be found!

Search the Scottsdale / Phoenix area Multiple Listing System (MLS) NOW:

Gary and Claudia Scott
John Hall & Associates
Scottsdale, Arizona
480-948-0550

Whether you have poor credit or excellent credit - there is never a bad time to improve your credit score!

Your credit score is an extremely important financial tool. It provides access to the financing you need in order to buy a car, a home, or pay for college tuition, among other things.         

When applying for a mortgage, every point in your credit score can make a big difference. Make Plans now to ensure your credit is accurate and begin to make increases on your score over time.

So, where to you begin??  First, at a minimum, you should review your current credit report for accuracy.  Make sure the information on your report is about You. If you find something on your credit report that is incorrect or missing, you should dispute the mistake by contacting the credit bureaus directly.  Take the initiative to begin the process of a dispute investigation. Free Trad Commission - Protecting You

Assuming that your credit report is accurate, look for ways to improve your score:

• Payment History: 35% impact Paying debt on time and in full has a positive impact. Late payments, judgments, and charge-offs have a negative impact. Missing a high payment has a more serious impact than missing a low payment. Delinquencies that have occurred in the last two years carry more weight than older items.  If you’re struggling to catch up, contact your creditors to work out a payment schedule.  
• Outstanding Credit Balances: 30% impact. Outstanding Credit Balances: 30% impact.Of course, attempt to keep your balances reasonable. A high average balance will negatively affect your score. 
• Credit History: 15% impact. This marks the length of time since a particular credit line was established. A seasoned borrower is stronger in this area. 
• Type of Credit: 10% impact  A mix of auto loans, credit cards, and mortgages is more positive than a concentration of debt from credit cards alone.
• Inquiries: 10% impact Every time a lender runs your credit, an inquiry is recorded. This quantifies the number of inquiries (or requests for credit) that have been made on a consumer's credit history within a six month period. 

If you do not have a credit card, get one. Unfortunately, it is one of the ways that the credit bureaus can monitor that you are able to handle credit effectively. Creditors need to determine how much of a risk you are and want to know how likely you are to repay the money they loan you.  Your credit history helps them understand your payment history.
Do not however, get extended, Use it strategically, make small purchases that can easily be paid off monthly. In this somewhat depressed economy, it is sometimes difficult to not live on credit. Byt, at least, attempt to make the minimum payment required. Definitely pay more than the minimum if possible. it is better to attempt to pay off revolving debt rather than moving it around.

Unfortunately, negative credit items can remain on your credit report for up to 7 years (up to 10 years for a bankruptcy). But, it is never too late to begin the repair your credit. Keep all of your current accounts in order and pay them down as quickly as possible.

Your credit has improved??? Now is an excellent time to purchase real estate!

Home buying in the greater Phoenix metro area - search for your home here!

Homebuyers have been given a gift! The extension and expansion of the tax credit provides time to still jump in to this ripe real estate market. And, there are some excellent choices available.

The FHA option of putting only 3 1/2% down is an excellent opportunity for those buyers who are 'cash poor' but certainly able and qualified to make the monthly mortgage payments. Often the final monthly mortgage payment is less than the cost of rent even without the additional benefit of deductible interest at tax time.

Now buyers have until April 30, 2010 to sign a purchase contract and until June 30, 2010 to close escrow.

HOW IT WORKS TAX CREDIT: Ten percent of the purchase price of a primary residence, up to a maximum of $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for others.

DEADLINE: Purchase agreements must be signed by April 30 and closings must be final by June 30. MILITARY: The deadline is extended by a year for those who have served outside the United States for at least 90 days from Jan. 1, 2009, to May 1, 2010.

INCOME LIMITS: Individuals who make up to $125,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $225,000 qualify for the full credit. Individuals with incomes up to $145,000 and joint filers with incomes up to $245,000 qualify for reduced credits.

HOW TO APPLY: Taxpayers can claim the credit on their federal tax returns. If the credit exceeds the tax bill, the government will issue a payment. Taxpayers who want immediate refunds can amend their 2008 returns.

The new deadline will

probably NOT be extended again. The market may never be as ripe as it is today. And the interest rates will continue to rise.

Actually, there is another gift - the gift of a ripe real estate market with many reasonably priced options to choose from.

Checkout the local Phoenix metro area market place and
begin your shopping now while these gifts are available.

              Search the Local MLS by Map