Buy a house, get a free car! Believe it or not, it is possible to just that. As Phoenix shifts from an insane seller’s market toward (TOWARD) a true buyer’s market, many sellers are beginning to offer some unique enticements to get the attention of buyers.
The things we’ve seen range from the “typical” to the quite creative…
* Paying for closing costs
* Buying a home warranty
* Including furnishings, appliances, even the pool table.
* Paying the first months (or 2 or 3) mortgage payments
* Credit(s) for landscaping, flooring, appliances, etc.
* Guaranteeing 12 months of rental payments (Investors take note!)
* Paying for a new swimming pool (!)
* Leaving the new Toyota Four-Runner in the garage (!!)
Most of the “bigger ticket” incentives come with the caveat that the offer has to be for full price. As more sellers come in to the market and buyers become more scarce, expect to see even more bigger, badder and creative incentives for buyers.
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Homes (Data includes Single Family Homes, condo/Townhomes, 2 - 4plex, mobile/mfg and timeshares):
Active Listings: 39,055 (32,805 SFH’s)
Active With Contingencies (AWC): 1,263 (what does AWC mean?)
Pending: 8,262
Sold (April 1 - April 30): 6,793
Land:
Active: 8,602
AWC: 97
Pending: 733
Sold (4/1 - 4/30): 482
Most expensive current listing: $19,900,000
Number of homes listed over $10,000,000 = 11
For more Phoenix Home Sales stats visit the Statistics Page at http://www.ThompsonsRealty.com
Data is extracted from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) and compiled by yours truly
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Automakers get good mileage for money on test tracks
The Arizona Republic (article link)
May. 7, 2006 12:00 AM
New homes could soon replace cars on another big piece of land on the Valley’s fringes.
General Motors’ proving ground is in play again.
The automaker wants to sell the rest of the Mesa site and possibly lease part of it back until it finds another proving ground not so close to so much growth.
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GM sold 1,800 acres of the 5,000-acre property in 2004 but pulled back on selling the rest.
GM’s proving ground was Arizona’s first one for cars. Now it’s the latest casualty of growth. The automaker has hired Nate Nathan of Nathan & Associates to find a buyer for the site. The land brokerage recently sold DaimlerChrysler’s proving ground in the northwest Valley for $312 million. That was the priciest land sale in history. (See story on this very blog)
But there are other big proving grounds to be had by home builders. Sites owned by Toyota or Nissan could be next.
Toyota’s 12,000-acre proving ground was isolated when it opened in April 1993 in the far-west Valley, 16 miles farther out than Daimler’s test track. Now the Japanese automaker’s site is surrounded by developments planned in fast-growing Buckeye, including the 35,000-acre Douglas Ranch project.
Nissan is also exploring the sale of its 3,000-acre proving grounds near the fast-growing city of Maricopa in Pinal County.
Arizona proving grounds have become hot investments for automakers that originally came to the desert for its dry, hot climate and huge stretches of inexpensive land.
The 1,800 acres GM sold to Valley businessman William Levine fetched $45 million.
Automakers are selling not only to cash in on the Valley’s housing boom but also because they don’t want to be surrounded by noisy neighbors.
They want to keep future products and prototype vehicles away from prying eyes and camera-toting industrial spies.
Mesa officials and real estate analysts think GM’s site is prime for commercial development that brings jobs to the many rooftops already built in the area.
More downtown condos
JAG Development is the latest builder to put a residential infill project on downtown Phoenix’s drawing board.
The developer is planning 38 loft-style condominiums at Portland 38 near Seventh and Portland streets.
But unlike other firms trying to develop homes downtown, JAG has a proven track record. It recently completed the Willetta 9 housing project near Seventh and Willetta streets.
JAG is an urban pioneer to build next to the Garfield neighborhood, where next to nothing has been built for decades. The area’s crime rate recently dropped.
JAG is betting Arizona State University’s downtown campus will help revitalize the neighborhood.
The Valley’s real estate industry needs more developers like JAG that are willing to take a risk.
Catherine Reagor is senior real estate reporter. Contact her at catherine.reagor@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8040.
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Overpriced listings. They are freakin’ everywhere! I could cite you a dozen (or more) examples right off the top of my head, but here’s my favorite….
We have a buyer who looked at a $599,000 home. It was a very nice home, never lived in. Great subdivision.
We comp’ed it at $540K, tops. Offered $530K and the seller countered at $545K, IF we’ll waive the appraisal contingency.
So they just admitted they don’t think it will appraise for $545,000. But they listed it for $599,000???? What’s up with that?
Pure unadulterated greed, that’s what’s up. Or a clueless agent, or hopes for clueless buyers. Whatever the case (and it’s probably a combination of all those things) these overpriced listings are out there and are screaming “BE CAREFUL!” to all the buyers. Please don’t just assume a home you’re interested in is priced correctly. Many are not.
Likewise, don’t assume everything is overpriced either. Many are not.
Bottom line, have your agent run comp’s before you submit any offer. If your agent won’t do that, do not walk away, RUN!!
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Home Owners Associations (HOAs) - Love ‘em or hate ‘em? HOAs get a lot of bad press. Rarely do you see people commenting on how much they appreciate their HOAs. Everyone tends to whine about their HOA. My HOA has irritated me in the past. I’ve gotten the letters about weeds and trash cans left out too long. Once I got a letter saying my grass needed mowing, which I found interesting considering there isn’t a blade of grass in my desert landscaped yard…
Despite that, and the near constant complaining I hear as a real estate agent about HOAs, I for one appreciate mine. Yes, I am on my HOA board of directors, so my opinion may be biased. And I happen to think we have an exceptional HOA. Some of our directors are incredibly dedicated. Our property manager is top notch. It wasn’t until I joined the HOA directors that I really understood everything they and the managment company do for our neighborhood.
People whine about the HOA fines. I wish I could share the stories of waived or reduced fines. How about the HOA nominating for a cash credit a family who’d fallen on hard times? How about the HOA director who offered up their services to help paint a homeowners fence that had been damaged in a traffic accident? How about the director that got a group of people together who did all the labor in making a common area repair that saved the association hundreds of dollars? How about the director the walks the entire community and notes plants that need replacing, or common area improvements, or spends his own time and money making improvements and repairs? The list goes on and on.
Yes, getting a letter from an HOA that you need to put the trash can up, or pull your weeds can be annoying. But contrary to popular belief, they don’t write these letters to annoy you. They write these letters to maintain the community, and hence maintain YOUR property values. If you don’t like something your HOA does, get up off the couch and go to the meetings. Make your opinion known. Run for the board and help make changes that way. But don’t just sit back and complain. And if you do see something good in your neighborhood, a friendly nod to your directors isn’t out of order. The vast majority of HOA directors really do care. They aren’t doing it for fun, trust me…
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