Sellers can improve the look of their home by hiring a real estate agent with expertise in preparing homes to sell, or by bringing in a professional stager, a trained expert who arranges your home to maximize its appeal to the broadest swath of buyers. Home-staging experts say successful selling is about presentation. Here are two key ways to ensure a winning look:
Clean: “People think their homes are clean, but we all get used to our own dirt,” says Schwarz, who recommends hiring a cleaning service or soliciting a nitpicky third party for feedback on a home’s cleanliness. Along with the obvious such as made beds, spotless bathrooms and pristine floors, attention should extend to cupboards, doors, baseboards and moldings. Also check outside decks, walkways and landscaping. “People forget side yards,” Schwarz adds. “Get tarps and two-by-fours out of there.”
Clutter: A home for sale shouldn’t be bare, but it should be depersonalized. “America is cluttered to pieces,” laments Schwarz. “You’re not hiring a Realtor to sell your things. Pack it up now, and save yourself time and stress later on.” With a less-is-more mantra, view your home through the eyes of a potential buyer. Think of it like a job interview, when you present yourself in the most favorable light, suggests Valerie Smith, an agent with Sotheby’s in Princeton, N.J. “When a buyer walks into the room, all the lights are on, the fireplace is going if it’s gas, there is soft music in the background,” she says. “We’re going to create this space where someone comes in and they really don’t want to leave.”
Homeowners beware of advertisements claiming your house qualifies for a “property tax reduction review.”
The Arizona Attorney General’s office has issued a warning about what appears to be a new way to take advantage of homeowners trying to cut their costs.
The solicitation requires a $189 processing fee and is printed to look like an official government document with a notice number and deadline to apply.
The property tax appeals process has ended for 2009 home valuations so the solicitation is allegedly offering a service that cannot be done.
Most Valley homeowners have seen declines in their past two property tax valuations. Property-tax bills lag valuations by 18 months in Arizona. Part of the lag is to allow people to appeal any property tax valuations they believe are in accurate.
Valley homeowners will receive tax bills on their 2009 valuations this fall. The deadline to appeal those bills was last year.
Any Phoenix-area homeowners will questions on their property tax valuations or bills can contact the Maricopa County Assessors office.
Homeowners who believe they have been scammed by a firm offering them help in lowering their property tax bills can contact the Arizona Attorney General’s office.
Here are mo?e ?ositive signs from metropolitan Phoenix’s housing m?rket, which do?sn’t appe?r to be deteriorating any more. H?me sales climbed again ?n June to re?ch 9,614, according to the Information Market/Cromford Rep?rt survey. That’s an 11 percent increase fr?m May’s home sales. June is the s?xth straight m?nth home sale? ha?e climbed in th? Valley.
The medi?n Valley resale home price ?lso climbed in Jun?, the first monthl? price ?ncrease since lat? 2007. Last month, the m?dian tic?ed up to $125,000 from $122,000 in Ma?.
Foreclosures also climbed in June aft?r dropping off fo? ? few months. The?e w?re 5,149 t?ustee sal?s o? foreclosures in the Valley, compar?d to 3,809 in May. Pre-foreclo?ures, or notice of trustee sales, continue to hover around 8,700. But so far the additional foreclosures aren’t creating an oversupply problem for th? housing mark?t.
Mike Orr, publishe? of the Cromford Report, said the number of lende?-owned ?roperties listed for ?ale in the Arizona Regi?nal Multiple Listing Service fell t? 5,150 in June, from 5,475 ?n May. “So th? supply wa? huge, but th? demand was ?ven greater,” said Orr about Valley foreclosure hom?s.
Also, the average price-per-squ?re-foot of foreclosures sold by lenders during J?ne climbed t? $65.64 ?n June, from $63.77 ?n M?y.
On June 20, 2009 for “all areas and types” we recorded a Monthly Median Sales Price of $124,000, up 7.8% from the $115,000 we recorded on April 30.
This is for ALL ARMLS listings and all types of dwellings, so it represents the median across this entire market. But specific sectors may be performing quite differently. The principal reason for the price increase is the change in the market in west Phoenix, where properties below $50,000 have become much scarcer and purchase prices have risen sharply due to intense competition and reduced supply. A similar increase in pricing, but less pronounced, can be seen in many other affordable areas of the valley. In addition, lender owned properties now comprise a diminishing percentage of the total number of homes sold, diluting their power to bring the median sales price down to the extreme lows we saw in April.
Pricing above the $500,000 level is still falling, but these homes now constitute a very small part of the market compared with a few years ago.
On June 10, 2009 for “all areas and type?” ?e ?ecorded a Cromford Market Indexâ„¢ ?f 110.1 - the first time it has ente?ed the “Green Zone” sin?e November 16, 2005.
When the index rises above 110 it signifies ?e are in a “seller’? m?rket” ?ith demand comfortably outpac?ng supply.
Sinc? this is fo? ALL ARMLS listings ?nd all types of dwellings, it represents the entire mark?t. Individual sectors may b? well above o? below th?s value. In gen?ral, the affordable se?tors are showing Cromford Market Ind?x values higher than th?s while the luxury home are?s are below. Among the large? cities, Phoeni?, Mesa, Gilbert, Glendale, Surpris?, Peoria, Queen Creek, Avondale and Goodyear ?re already in the g?een zone, whil? Scottsdale and Tem?e ar? still in the red. Chandler currently lies in the balanced y?llow zone.
May produced ? very strong sales number of 9,293 across all a?eas and type?. This is the 8th highest monthly total f?r sales on record. The record l?vel was 10,223 set in June 2005. Given the c?ntinued high pending sale? c?unt it is possible that this rec?rd ?ould be ch?llenged ?n June 2009.
S?pply tightened acr?ss the boa?d although there are still pl?nty of activ? listings ab?ve $500,000. Those buyers hunting for affordable lender ?wned properties ar? finding them very mu?h scarcer. M?ny have started to tr? to p?ck them up at the foreclosure auction on the courtho?se ?teps o? from ?holesalers rather than t?y to hunt them down on ARMLS where competition ?s extremely fierce.
In most ?reas th? fall ?n the su?ply of REOs ?s re?arkable. L?t’s compa?e the nu?ber of single fa?ily detached REOs that are active (without contingent offers) on June 2 versus March 2:
Those wh?se theorized in March that we w?re about to be h?t by an av?lanche of foreclosed prop?rties ?ill ne?d to come up with ? ne? theory.
Pricing is increasing
The $/SF pricing for lender owned properties has in?reased sh?rply ?y 2.2% since hitting a low point on A?ril 27, while $/SF pric?ng for normal sales i? up more modestly by 1.8% from the low point on April 6. $/SF pricing f?r ?hort ?ales ?nd pre-foreclosures ?s still falling and looks set to fall ? l?ttle further yet. Overall $/SF pricing has moved higher by 4.2% since the low po?nt of A?ril 6. The reason th?s numb?r i? higher than any of th? sub-categor?es is that the sales mi? h?s m?ved aw?y from REOs ?nd to?ards normal sales. This is trend that is likely to continue as the percentage ?f REOs (57.2%) among pending sales ?s dropping sharply fro? the peak of 68.4% reached on Fe?ruary 21.
The recover? i? still str?ngest at the affordable end of the market, but we are now s?eing sales volumes increas? sign?ficantly acr?ss pric? ranges up to $2,000,000. It seems buyer enthusiasm ?s s?reading up-market f?ster than we ?reviously anticipated.
Foreclosures
Maricopa county trustee sales rose in May t? 3,809, b?t this ?s st?ll lower than 8 o?t of the 12 most re?ent months. Notices of for?closure d?opped t? 8,613, but this is still the thi?d highest month ever. With cancelled foreclosu?es at 2,354 in May, the inventory of pend?ng foreclosures h?s stabilized at around 45,000. 42,813 forecl?sed properti?s have ?een sold thr?ugh ARMLS in the last year. Since sales of REOs through ARMLS currently exceed 6,000 per month, the trustees would have to dramatically increase the foreclosure rate to keep up with buyer demand for foreclosed properties, so we anticipate the inventory of REOs on ARMLS will decline further over the next month.
Ahwatukee AZ ?s experiencing much imp?ovement in its housing market a? buyer demand acceler?tes.
The Ahwatuk?e AZ ?eal estate ma?ket im?rovement is due prima?ily to ?ncreased buye? de?and for hom?s a? a result of lowe? home values, low ?ortgage interest rates, and th? Federal Go?ernment’s $8,000 “first-time hom?buyer” tax credit. The combination of these factors i? creating an appe?ling ?ncentive f?r purchases of Ahwatukee homes and homes in other parts ?f the Valley of the Sun.
Buyer demand f?r Ahwatu?ee AZ ?eal ?state, ?s me?sured b? the n?mber of Ahwatukee AZ hom?s cur?ently under contract for purch?se, i? experiencing measurable im?rovement. Almost 30% of marketed Ahwatukee AZ h?mes ?re now ?nder contract for purchase ?s compared to 18% a year ago. This represents a 66% improvement fro? last year.
In ?ummary, the Ahwatukee AZ housing market appears t? be stabilizing and even creeping upwards ?s buyer demand intensifies. If this trend continu?s, the results will ?e lower inventory, higher pric?s and higher Ahwatukee home s?les though th? impact from future foreclosures rema?ns un?ertain.
Ahwatukee AZ has often been referred to as “the world’s largest cul-de-sac”. This is because it is bordered on the north by South Mountain, on the east by the I-10, and on the south by the Gila River Indian Reservation.
This is good for some things and bad for others…like traffic. There are basically 4 streets that intersect with the I-10 (Elliot, Warner, Ray, and Chandler roads) and they are the only way to get in and out of Ahwatukee AZ.
On the other hand, Ahwatukee is very scenic (with views of South Mountain), and very clean. There are really no bad areas in Ahwatukee. There are some very beautiful properties in Ahwatukee AZ with a wide range of prices and floorplans. It’s relatively quiet and crime is lower than other parts of the valley.
All in all, it’s a VERY nice place to live year round or as a winter retreat.
On May 14, 2009 14,098 home? wer? recorded with pend?ng sales on the ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service) database. This i? the highest number ever and indicates that the 2009 ?oom in house buying in Greater Phoenix st?ll h?s a lot of stea?. On top of this numbe? a?e a r?cord 4,166 active listings with signed contracts but outstanding contingencies. That’s a t?tal ?f over 18,000 listing “unde? contract”.
