As reported in the Arizona Daily Star, local homebuilder Sierra Pacific is looking to unload $20M worth of their land holdings. Sierra Pacific is currently going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (the bankruptcy was filed on June 27th, 2008). Sierra Pacific is trying to decide whether it would be best to unload all their land holdings here in Tucson. The holdings are in the following communities: Sonoita Ranch, Mountain Manor View, Vista Montana Estates, Countryside Manor, Andrada Ranch, Desert Point Estates, and Valencia Alvernon Commerce Center. Court records indicate that Sierra Pacific has enlisted Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services brokers James Marian and Dan Feig.

Some people know what HUD homes are and some have no clue. A HUD home is a foreclosed home that had a federal government loan (i.e., an FHA or VA loan) backing it. These properties that are taken back are then put on the market as HUD homes and require a very regulated sales/buying process for both real estate agents and buyers alike.

This may seem like an easy topic for the public to understand, but most don’t. This post will explain how the real estate agent business works.

As I stated last month, I truly think the Tucson real estate market is hitting bottom — or may already have. Time will tell, but these numbers shown are not good if you are a seller. If you’re a buyer, they mean you have saved more money than you would have last year. I think the trend to watch in order to know if the market is gaining strength rather than becoming weaker is the number of active and new listings. In my opinion, as long as active listings continue to come down — which has been the case for the past several months — eventually we will get to a balanced market…

I did a post a while ago that talked about the absolute need to have better than average pictures of your home on MLS to get more buyers into your home. With so many active listings on the market, most buyers (and agents) will quickly discount or altogether disqualify a home based on the few pictures that they see online, in flyers, or in other advertising. So here are some more examples of poorly done pictures. I just cannot understand how anyone with a professional mindset could use these pictures to represent a listing. Keep in mind that high quality pictures can frequently attract that one buyer who is willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the purchase. The reverse is also true. Just one truly horrible picture may misrepresent the home so badly that the one buyer who was perfect for that property disqualifies it and will NEVER SEE IT!

Hot off the press! IndyMac Bank has just been ordered to shut its doors due to the bank’s failure today. As everyone has known for a while, the recent real estate downturn has seriously hurt banks that lent money out for mortgages that have gone bad. IndyMac is now a victim of this vicious cycle. This is from Yahoo Finance:

“The FDIC said the estimated cost of the California-based bank’s failure to its insurance fund is between $4 billion and $8 billion. The regulator said it will operate IndyMac to maximize the value of the firm for future sale.

I recently took a new listing on Tucson’s east side. This home is in a very desirable location, just southwest of the Speedway and Houghton intersection. Homes in the 85710 area are highly desired by many due to the proximity to new retail shopping and the general attractiveness of the overall neighborhood. This home is just minutes away from quite a bit of new commercial shopping and services located at Harrison and Old Spanish Trail. This property is over 1600 square feet (1642 sf to be exact), was built in 1987, and offers a larger than average lot with no neighbors behind. If you’re looking for a new home in a great location for under $210k, this could be it. The home features a split floor plan with double doors to the master suite, wood floors, a patio, and a 2-car garage. To see additional pictures and info about this home, please click here.

This recently built 1813 square foot home has just been listed for $207,900. This home is 2-bedroom/2.5-baths with an oversized loft that is perfect for a home office, den, or media room. The loft could also easily be converted into a third bedroom if needed by the potential buyer. This property sits on one of the largest lots in the Tierra Vista neighborhood located northwest of the intersection at Alvernon and Valencia. Tierra Vista was built between 2002 and 2007 by KB Home and offers a very diverse range of 1 and 2 story homes, sized from 1060-2530 square feet. This home for sale has many upgrades including maple cabinets, upgraded appliances, extensive tile flooring, upgraded carpeting, and landscaped front and rear yards. The rear yard contains mature trees and plants and a gazebo. The home is better than new with all the upgrades already installed, and buyers could literally just move their furniture in and feel at home. If interested in a private showing or additional information about this home, please contact Michael. For additional pictures and info you can also click here.

The newest listing to hit the market on the south side of Tucson is this 1446 square foot, 4-bedroom, 2-bath DR Horton home, built within the Desert Stone neighborhood in 2006. This home has many included upgrades including Corian countertops, upgraded tile and carpeting. The floor plan offers buyers a great room, kitchen with an island, large master bedroom suite and a split plan that allows for privacy for all residents. (Master bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from the other bedrooms.) This home is located in the highly desirable Vail school district, and is close to I-10, which makes all areas of Tucson accessible. Included in this sale is a custom rear yard complete with a play set, anchored into the ground and surrounded by a sand play area. There is also a gazebo with electricity and lighting that sits atop brick pavers, making the backyard look like a small resort. As with most new homes, buyers should experience greater energy efficiency and lower costs for utilities. If interested in viewing or obtaining additional information about this property, please contact Michael Oliver to set up a showing. For additional pictures and info you can also click here.

Bank-owned homes (also called REO or foreclosure homes) are becoming really good deals now compared with just 6 months ago when banks were reluctant to price home cheaply to get rid of them. In the past three weeks I have been seeing bank-owned properties at lower prices than ever. The reason I think this is happening, to put it simply, is that the banks are receiving record numbers of homes back. While they have previously been able to hold out for higher selling prices, they are now trying to keep their inventory levels from rising further by making fast sales. The result is much lower listing prices that are often 5-10% below comps for a neighborhood. I have witnessed several bidding wars break out on bank properties recently, meaning two things: