I kinda like this … gives me a great Bill Murray singing Star Wars kinda vibe.

Enjoy your Halloween. I’ve got a winter lawn to put down two weeks late.

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Inman News released their list of the Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers. The best part about such lists released by Inman are that they’re hidden behind their Premium subscriber wall where the vast majority of the public can’t see what’s there.

And so, allow me a moment to tell you that I ranked number 3 (in a survey of real estate bloggers I influenced into getting beer at an Irish pub after a meetup at Chipotle). In what I considered to be a stunning announcement, Tobey ranked number 2 (among beagles in real estate, nosed out in an upset by Teresa’s beloved Daisy in St. Paul).

You can trust that I ranked where I say because it’s hidden behind a firewall so you can’t see I’m really on the list because I’ve influenced other influential bloggers in important areas such as wine selection, happy hours, IDX registration and blatant violations of NAR’s Code of Ethics.

Teresa once wrote about Tobey being Sex*y. That’s not influence? Or what about the now several bloggers in the Phoenix real estate market tracking absorption rate when once upon a time it was only me? Influence, influence, influence.

I’ve also been known to use big, important, influential words … like important, influential and absorption.

So you see, as far as you know, I must be influential. Because that’s been my goal from the beginning. I’d much rather be influential than sell a house yeah right.

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Here’s one of those stories where nobody wins.

Brown Family Communities (if you’ve lived around here long enough you’ll remember the days when it was simply Dave Brown) was forced to close this week after more than 30 years in the business.

Why? Short story is Brown’s lender re-appraised the builders’ land value at a lower amount and issues what amounts to a margin call - bring in the difference or else.

Brown Communities couldn’t do it. And so this week, Brown laid off it’s 60 employees.

Worst of all, those buyers who were purchasing a Brown Family home now will not be allowed to close because the bank’s holding the homes as collateral.

From the Arizona Republic:

Brown said he had been trying to negotiate a compromise for months, and in the meantime the bank began keeping all of the proceeds from every home sale, cutting off Brown’s ability to generate revenue.

“They sucked every nickel out of the company,” he said. “I went through the company’s money and my own money.”

Valley real-estate analyst RL Brown, publisher of the Phoenix Housing Market Letter, said he was surprised by the way Dave Brown’s (no relation) lender handled the credit issue.

“I think that particular bank’s technique was pretty short-sighted,” he said. “This is a company that, at least on the surface, one would think was as solid as any builder in town.”

Dave Brown, the company’s founder, said he’ll be refunding everyone’s earnest deposit. So at least the buyers are held harmless financially, even if they’re unable to close on the home that they had purchased.

From here, it looks like another situation where fear’s dictating actions that make little to no sense. I could be wrong, but it just seems like there had to be a better situation that could have been worked out.

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The next few weeks are going to be as predictable as summer weather forecasts here in the Phoenix area … inventory rising, sales declining and not much of a change expected until after the holidays.

Inventory of single-family homes across the Phoenix real estate market rose slightly, up just over 100 houses to 38,323. Sales over the past 30 days fell by nearly 500 from a week ago, further confirming the spike caused by the disappearance of seller down payment assistance programs at the beginning of October.

Absorption rate for the Phoenix real estate market sits at 9.79 months, up a full month from last week.

Bank owned inventory was on the rise again and now sits at 7,404 homes. Sales over the past 30 days were down to 1,635 for an REO absorption rate of 4.53.

There’s little that can be said with certainty these days when it comes to real estate, but it remains safe to say the volatility in the real estate market is nothing compared to the wild ride on Wall Street these days. Down 300, up almost 900 … and we still haven’t elected our next president.

Interesting times, indeed.

Below are the details for communities around Maricopa County and the greater Phoenix real estate market. As always, all data is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Phoenix Real Estate Inventory: October 28

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… like spooky music.

Yes, it’s bank owned. Yes, it’s a fixer. And yes, it’s priced accordingly.

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