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Pinetop, AZ Real Estate News

By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
An Update to an Old Post!  Out with the old, in with the new! Your Buyer has signed their papers, they've handed over their money, and now all you are waiting for is the lender to fund.  But wait, the Escrow company calls and says, I was just going through the funding conditions and they asked for the Signed Termite Report and Clearance.  What does that mean, do you know?  Now mind you this is at six pm on the Friday night before the long Christmas weekend, Ummm....and how do you propose I get this answer? You have to make a decision so you tell the escrow officer to send the signed Termite Report in with the closing package.  If they want something more we'll find out after the Holidays are over when funding is due.  It is an agonizing process.  I now will spend my long weekend, four ...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Afternoon Everyone, There has been a notable shift in our Buyer's market in the past month or so, those Foreclosures and Short Sales are losing their appeal.  Buyers are realizing that they are no longer being sold at Give Away prices and the hassle that goes along with the purchase are just not worth it.  Buyers are finding they can get just as good a deal on a retail seller's home as they can from a bank.  They have a real live person to deal with who is anxious to make the deal work rather than sabotaging it the way the Banks often do.  These Asset Managers who are on their little power trips are starting to shoot themselves in the foot.  They make the sales so hard to do that the Buyers are getting discouraged and are starting to avoid them.       You would think that the Bank...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Evening Everyone, I've been negligent this last week with my posts but I have been busy.  Yes, the buyers are back in the marketplace and they are looking and better yet, they are buying!   If you are selling, now is the time to reexamine your property and your pricing to get it is the best position you can be to stimulate traffic.  I know many sellers are very discouraged because they haven't had much traffic, they are getting pressured constantly to lower their prices, and they feel that they are wasting their time trying to sell.  I don't think that is true any longer.  The Buyers are returning to the market but you need to position yourself so you will get the traffic you need to sell. Here are a few tips to help. 1) Spiff up the place.  Get all that winter debris out of the y...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Friday Afternoon Everyone, It doesn't seem possible but April is almost over.  That means tax day has come and gone, Easter is over for another year, and Spring really is on the way.  There is still one event in April 2010 that you do not want to miss if you are purchasing your First Home.  The First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.  It isn't too late but it's a close thing.  You have until next Friday, April 30th, 2010 to pick out your home, get your offer accepted, and escrow opened.  You still have time, but you must move NOW!  Don't let that $8000 in "free" money get away from you!  Just think what a great little nest egg that would be to start your IRA, your College Fund for the kids, or even a nice vacation you couldn't otherwise afford.  Once its gone, it's gone.  There is not ev...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Afternoon Everyone, So what could I possibly be talking about when I say April 1st is the beginning of the end? The Home Buyer Tax Credits of course. You only have 30 days left to locate your new home and get it in escrow. Once it's over, it's over. At least that is what is being said right now. They extended the credits once but will they do it again? Probably not. The extension did not bring the flurry of activity that the Feds expected so it will probably go away. Something else to keep in mind right now. The Fed also stopped buying down interest rates to major banks yesterday. So far it hasn't caused a major spike in interest rates but will it? Who knows for sure but my opinion is that they are going to go up at least a little bit. What does that mean to you? Less buying power....
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Evening Everyone, As most of you do we have an automatic notification system on our MLS so as new listings surface they go to our clients based on saved searches we have done for them.  Tonight I got an email from one of my propects asking for pictures on a listing.  There were none of course. I have to wonder why agents don't put pictures on their listings or maybe only one exterior shot.  That is what attracts people to the homes and I can't imagine not having tons of pictures on my listings for people to see.  I wonder if the agents who don't put pictures on their listings do it because they don't want anyone else to sell their homes or if they are just lazy?  It certainly seems like a disservice to their seller clients unless for some reason the seller has directed them otherwi...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Evening Everyone, Wow, what a busy week. The buyers are returning to the market and as a result the inventory is dropping. I have been searching out properties for people for a couple of days and I am amazed at how few listings I have been able to locate for them. There aren't too many foreclosures left in our market, at least right now, but we are starting to see more Short Sales. This may be the year of the Short Sale in the White Mountains. They haven't been too prevalent before but we are seeing more and more of them now. I'm sure it is a result of Sellers who have been frustrated by not being able to move their homes in the past year or so. If you are thinking of buying the market is tightening up a bit so you will need to be diligent in your searches and you need to be ready ...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
I know many of you have been doing a lot of Short Sales in your market but they haven't been to plentiful here.  We have had quite a few of the REO's but our Sellers have been hanging on by their fingernails hoping things would get better.  Now they are frustrated because their homes don't get any traffic and they can't price competitively unless they list as Short Sales.  I really feel for them but the Buyers are still looking for the deals and until the prices on our properties in this area get down where they are appealing they are going to languish on the market. I heard about a resource today for a company that handles the paperwork and negotiations with the banks for these Short Sales.  They don't charge a fee and they don't charge the Buyer or the Agent for their service.  They p...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
  My Sunday Evening Lament, I was such a nice week.  The sun was shining every day, most of the old dirty snow went off around my house, and there were even signs that the lawn was starting to turn green.  Not tonight, it's snowing again and it's supposed to snow on and off until Wed.   It is time for El Nino to GO AWAY!  Everyone in our mountain community has had enough of this white stuff this winter.  It started early, before Thanksgiving, and it hasn't stopped since.  I guess it is to be expected since it is only March but it sure seems like it ought to be May.  The bad news is that I just heard on the weather report that March is often the wettest month in Arizona.  Guess it isn't over yet. In other news, business is still lagging in our community.  It is hard to show property to o...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
For the second time this week I have found myself in a multiple offer situation on a REO or Short Sale property.  One buyer lost out because he low balled, the second is still waiting because the REO Asset Manager came back and asked for the Highest and Best from the various bidders on the property. It may be a good sign but I am inclined to say it is going to result in a lot of disappointed buyers who waited too long to pursue buying and are now finding that the volume of "bargain" properties has decreased significantly.  In our market, there never were huge numbers of them.  Early in 2009 when the Banks made the mistake of flooding the market with them there were.  But after they started releasing them a few at a time in an attempt to stabilize values, there haven't been that many to...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Time is flying by and the tax credit deadlines loom.  I have noticed in our area that the move up credit hasn't really done much for our marketplace.  A few first time buyers have ventured out to see if they can capture the First Time Buyer credit but move-up buyers have been non-existant.  I believe in our market it is because they can't sell their existing homes because the foreclosure sales are dominating the marketplace.  How is this working out for you?  Are you finding the same thing or are more "Normal" markets benefiting from the second tax credit.  Unfortunately here because we are a second home destination, it hasn't made much difference in our Buyer traffic. I was just curious as to how this is working in other areas. Have a great evening everyone.   
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
I just listened to a Webinar today about the guidelines that have been issued by the Governement for the handling of Short Sales.  While they sound great in theory, I am not sure they will really help.  I read a horror story today of a fellow that had a contract on a Short Sale and it was approaching a year since the start of the process.  He was very discouraged because it got all the way down to the end, supposedly, and the second lien holder refused to close unless the seller was willing to sign a promisory note for the balance.  Of course the seller refused so the sale was in limbo. He wanted to know what to do.  The comments from everyone were to move on.  But I sure did feel for the guy.  It has got to be so frustrating for these buyers who get their hearts and hopes set on the p...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
So far, 2010 is shaping up to be a better year for Real Estate.  The Buyers are starting to venture back in to the marketplace and are getting more serious about buying property.  Oh there are still a few out there who are convinced the market hasn't hit bottom yet and they are still waiting.  I have a feeling they are going to find they have waited too long.  Our market here in the White Mountains is very dependent on the Phoenix and Tucson markets.  All indications are that those markets turned the corner and started back up about mid-2009.  Our market follows in about a year.  I am really optimistic that we are going to see a big increase in traffic as soon as the deep winter is over.  Buyers are just waiting for the weather to moderate and I think we are going to see quite a few of...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Hello Everyone!  Happy New Year from the White Mountains of Arizona.    
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Good Evening Everyone, Well Santa has returned to the pole for another year and now I'm ready to get back to work.  However, no one else seems to be in the same mode.  Title Officers are still out, HOA Offices are closed until after New Years, my Short Sale lender must be off too since I sent information to them early last week and haven't had any response, and I have buyers wanting to close a sale and we can't!  We can't close because no one is working this week.  Isn't that a bear!  A year like this one you would think everyone would be chomping at the bit to get something finished up, but no, they have to take off for a week or two to celebrate a Holiday.  Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas as much as anyone.  But once it's over, it's over as far as I am concerned.  I can't afford...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
Hi Everyone, It has been a while since I posted to AR, been busy trying to get ready for the Holidays.  So what are your thoughts for 2010?  Are things going to improve , stay about the same, or continue to get more difficult?  My opinion, the later.  No matter how much money the government throws at the economy, in the end things will recover when they recover.  In our State the only ones who got any benefit of the stimulus money were the major metro areas and most of that went to Phoenix.  We sure didn't see much of it here in the smaller rural counties and our unemployment numbers are in the high teens and maybe even the low twenty percentile, I haven't checked for specifics lately!  Lending is getting tighter and tighter.  Even FHA is raising the bar and the downpayment requirement...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
OL' MAN WINTER SHOWED HIS FACE TODAY IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.  IT IS A LITTLE EARLY BUT IT IS GOOD NEWS BECAUSE WE REALLY NEEDED THE MOISTURE.  There have been several wild fires burning in our area for a while.  This time of year tends to be dry and windy and that doesn't help the firefighters on the lines. So if we can't get rain, snow is almost as good.  Just a little early for it to be quite so cold.   What does snow mean to us?  It means ski season is on it's way and with it our winter visitors.  It is hard to believe that 2009 is almost over and we are already approaching the Holiday Season.  I'm not ready for it, my mind keeps telling me that it can't possibly be the end of the year already but it it.   We are all just hoping for a nice snow season because it brings in those visi...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
I love the Real Estate Business, I really do.  But I have to say that while I used to love to show property to prospective buyers knowing that sooner or later we would find the one they want and we'd get our offer on the table and the next thing you knew they were happy homeowners today's market is so different.  Buyers have no sense of urgency and I find myself feeling more and more like an unpaid tour guide than a Real Estate Agent.  In today's market  you can show and show, even show the same properties over and over again, and still, the buyers are reluctant to make a choice.  I suppose it is because they figure since a property has been on the market for months and months that it is still going to be there next week or next month.  What they seem to have forgotten is it only takes...
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By Sandra Paulow, REALTOR, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR
(Aspen Properties, Inc. )
The night before last we had the privilege in our little community in the White Mountains of Arizona to meet and greet the 2010 NAR President, Vicki Cox Golder.  Vicki is a native Arizonan from a small community just outside of Tucson.  Her family has a summer get-away cabin here in the mountains and our local chapter of WCR asked her to come and visit with us.  It was a lovely evening and those of us who showed up for the reception felt truly privileged to have an opportunity to meet and personally visit with her.  She told us a little of her hopes and plans for the future of NAR and we all really enjoyed spending the evening with her.  For our little community and for our State, this is such an honor and will certainly make the Arizona voices heard in high places.  I personally thank...
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Pinetop, AZ Real Estate Professionals