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Market News and Contradictions

kenclarkforaz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:01:29 +0000

I have been inundated over the last week with conflicting market news.

The Wall Street Journal saw the Case-Schiller Index and feared a possible double-dip. The best quote from that article tells the story of why people are waiting to buy: they are nervous from hearing bad news, feeding a self-fulfilling prophesy. “You’ve got a whole [...]

Mortgage Lenders Regulated

kenclarkforaz — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:30:28 +0000

One of the things that I like about being a real estate agent is the tough code of ethics.

It is true that some agents play fast and loose with this. I’ve had one particular agent here in town (who was later profiled on “3 on Your Side”), whose repair contractors painted over termite damage and [...]

Vultures Everywhere

kenclarkforaz — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:06:43 +0000

There was this very interesting article about “Vultures”, those investors who buy up very cheap property and fix them up. This article centered on the Phoenix market.

On its face, vultures are a bad thing. They are doing well because somebody lost their home to foreclosure. One could argue that if too many of them are [...]

Two Witnesses, One Crash

kenclarkforaz — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Earlier this week, I posted a quick note about how the Arizona Republic took a national report and drew some sweeping conclusions about the Arizona market. Their headline sent many people to their phone, computers or social networking spaces to comment in fear that the Phoenix market was about to tumble all over again.

See how [...]

Great Deals in the ‘Hood

kenclarkforaz — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:59:56 +0000

Here is this week’s updated list of the best deals in the ‘hood.

1) This expertly updated ranch in CenPho is walking distance from Light Rail and convenient to all the CenPho attractions. You can walk to Lux, Pane Bianco, Copper Star and all the shopping on 7th. That’s heaven!

You should see the [...]

A Big Ol’ Grain of Salt

kenclarkforaz — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:33:47 +0000

The Arizona Republic reported this morning that housing prices are due to drop again by 10%; such that they could be cheaper next summer than they are today.

Now, I can’t read tea leaves any more than Lady GaGa would be seen wearing a polyester polo shirt from WalMart.

But there [...]

Speaking of Short Sales

kenclarkforaz — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:30:44 +0000

There has been a lot of talk recently about how short sales are getting closed with greater success. The data is mixed on that.

On the whole: if you are buying a home on and considering making an offer on a short sale, talk with me first. The speed of your closing depends on who is [...]

HAFA Great Day

kenclarkforaz — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:05:05 +0000

For those of you who are thinking you might short sale your home, you need to know about HAFA, Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives.

This is another attempt by the Obama administration to stem the tide of foreclosures, thus far with poor results.

Basically, the program will give the home owner $3,000 to encourage them to stay in [...]

A Note on the Tax Credit and Foreclosures

kenclarkforaz — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:54:40 +0000

You may have heard in the news about an extension of the tax credit for first time home buyers. I’ve not really covered this because it really only applies to people who are in escrow.

I don’t think the media was clear enough about this: the only thing they were extending was the time you have [...]

Mid-June Market Memo

kenclarkforaz — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:54:40 +0000

It is a bit too early to see if there has been a massive drop in prices, as predicted by some of our more speculative and sloppy reporters.

But we can see a couple other trends that your might find interesting:

#1 The Number of Foreclosures in the Market is Starting to Drop. According to this article [...]