One of the dangers of writing a real estate blog for many is the tendency to believe one’s own press clippings, to use an old sportswriting phrase. I’m thankful for my readers but I don’t measure the success of this blog by the number of people who have me in their RSS reader or by my Technorati rank.

Rather, success to me is measured by the people I’ve met through this medium and helped buy or sell the home they have been looking for.

There may be more money in a different approach, say telling everyone what a great marketing system I have and then selling this knowledge to whomever’s willing to pay. For instance, short of flying to Calgary myself, there’s little more that can be done to try and attract Canadian buyers than what I’ve done here and elsewhere.

But I also figured if you have a really great marketing system, you’d be too busy using it to buy and sell houses to be able to spend too much time on the lecture circuit.

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Tags: Miscellany, General Real Estate by Jonathan Dalton
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I had a complete meltdown on my Twitter feed, yesterday. Bernanke told the House that he was concerned about inflation but more concerned about a recession. I initially reversed my float recommendation and subsequently changed it back to lock because I thought Wall Street would hate Ben’s remarks; I was wrong. I violated the first principle; don’t fight the Fed.

The Federal Reserve is worried about a recession. I think we can expect the Fed to cut rates next month.. The anticipation of that cut gives us a chance to see mortgage rates drift lower. You should CAUTIOUSLY FLOAT your mortgage rate if your closing is over 7 days away; I think you’ll have some room to get a mortgage rate that is .125% to .25% lower than it is today.

We’re you paying attention to my Valentine’s Day gift of love? I pointed out the hot curves on the 10/1 ARM; it was a full 1% lower than a 30 year fixed. She’s not as sexy as she was last week but the 10/1 ARM is still .5% better in rate than the 30 year fixed.

This morning’s report is a bit more dry than the others because today will be busy. The Gross Domestic Product showed that the economy is teetering on the brink of recession. That news will be good for mortgage rates. The market is volatile so always check Mortgage Rates Report for updated recommendations.

BREAKING NEWS: I’ll be offering this syndicated column for Home Gain as “National Mortgage Rates Report”, every Monday and Thursday.

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One of these days I’ll get an assistant to handle some of these details. In the interim, though, I’ll just work through my schedule as best I can. Showings take precedence over the updates - I’ll do the same for you whenever you’re ready to buy.

In any event, the master list of Bank Owned Homes has been updated with everything to come to market in the last week. I’ll be updating the city lists within the next couple of hours.

Don’t have a password for the city sites? Send me an e-mail with your name and contact info and I’ll send it through!

UPDATE: All maps have been updated except Surprise and Peoria. Those will be updated later today.

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Tags: Phoenix Foreclosures, Phoenix Market, General Real Estate, Tips for Buyers by Jonathan Dalton
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I feel like Mel Brooks in Spaceballs when his head was placed on his body in reverse. “Why didn’t anyone tell me my ass is this big?”

Why didn’t anyone tell me the widget in the left column was showing the wrong information? The old widget was flipping the equation on the U.S. and Canadian dollars, as best I could tell, but in either even it’s out of there in favor of the new version.

My earlier point remains, though, that exchange rates are going to impact Canadians purchasing here in the states to a greater degree than property values.

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Not to minimize the impact a foreclosure can have on a homeowner, but in many ways foreclosed properties are exactly what the Phoenix real estate market needs.

Reality is tough to swallow. Many sellers still suffer from “but my house is better” syndrome when pricing their homes for sale. These same folks are looking at the bank-owned homes in their neighborhood and ignoring the signs under the guise of “but the bank’s desperate to sell.”

If you’re not desperate to sell, or at least fairly motivated, you shouldn’t be trying to sell. It’s about this simple. Testing the market at above-current market prices is a waste of time - primarily yours, as you keep your house showing ready for buyers who never are going to materialize.

Short sale listings can be disregarded because the list prices are imaginary. But REOs? That is where the market is heading. Face the reality, price accordingly and condition may carry the day toward a sale over a bank-owned home.

Foreclosures are good for this market because they are attracting buyers. Where willing buyers and motivated sellers meet, the market bounces off the bottom. Price recoveries will lag but anything that brings buyers off the fence they’ve sat on for two years and into the market only can help in the long run.

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Tags: Phoenix Foreclosures, General Real Estate, Tips for Sellers, Tips for Buyers by Jonathan Dalton
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