After several months of resting below parity when compared to the Canadian dollar, the U.S. dollar has held the upper hand for the past month or so. Now comes this news, that futures traders are betting for the first time in 2 1/2 years that the dollar will strengthen against the Euro.

Though it would be prudent for Canadian buyers to keep an eye on the exchange rates, just in case there’s a significant change, some experts say the window of opportunity to purchase in the United States due to a near-parity Canadian dollar should remain open into next year.

Movement against the Euro is of more interest as an indicator of the strength of the U.S. economy more so than something that likely will impact the Phoenix real estate market.

At Destination RE/MAX last month, one of the company’s international marketing folks said that Europeans are looking for properties on the East and West coasts and also in Arizona. But that hasn’t been the case - at least as far as Arizona is concerned.

Consider we’re an additional four-hour flight from any East Coast destination - a geographic factor that limits even Canadian buyers to those from the western provinces - and the possible impact of cash-rich European real estate buyers in Phoenix remains slight at best.

(h/t to John Wake for finding the Bloomberg article)

Technorati Tags: Phoenix real estate, Canadians buying Arizona real estate

Popularity: 7% [?]

Share This

Tags: Canadian Buyers, General Real Estate by Jonathan Dalton
1 Comment »

“Is that list price a typo?”

Such was the question from a prospective buyer about a bank owned home we viewed in Goodyear’s Estrella subdivision (nee Estrella Mountain Ranch.)

No, it wasn’t a typo. But unfortunately, another buyer made that discover a day or two ago; the home was active in the MLS because the bank, while providing verbal acceptance of another buyers’ offer, had not sent back the paperwork to make it official.

There are other options on the market, both bank owned and otherwise. But the entire episode served as further proof of bank’s motivation to sell after the foreclosure has taken place and the home is on the lender’s books.

Most bank owned homes are priced aggressively from the start. There are exceptions, but most are priced at or below the last sales in an effort to attract interest. And the list prices are legitimate.

Contrast that with your average short sale where the bank has next-to-no motivation to sell the home … and virtually no motivation if there’s mortgage insurance against which a claim can be made. We looked at a couple of those today.

Some of my buyers recently have debated making offers on short sales. They’re looking for investment properties and are in no particular hurry, so the elongated time frames do not mean anything to them.

But there are opportunity costs when pursuing a short sale … homes that could be had for the same price or less, without the uncertainty and the waiting, that come on the market while buyers wait for the bank to provide an untimely answer.

Incidentally … this home in Estrella was on the market on and off for a year before the bank foreclosed and took possession of the home.

After the bank took possession? It was under contract in less than a week.

That, dear readers, is aggressive pricing.

Technorati Tags: Phoenix real estate, bank owned homes

Popularity: 7% [?]

Share This

Tags: Canadian Buyers, General Real Estate, Tips for Sellers, Tips for Buyers by Jonathan Dalton
2 Comments »