April 28th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Everyone wants to get a great deal on a homebuilders spec home in Tucson AZ but how do you do it? Well hopefully these tips will help you truly get the best deal on a brand new builder spec home in the Tucson/ Phoenix area. When trying to get the best deal it’s always best for a few things to line up for you as a buyer and these would include the following:

1) The longer the home has been on the market completely finished typically means the better for the buyer when trying to negotiate the price.

April 27th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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New Home sales came in better then expected as inventories have started to fall. This is good for the overall market as inventories declining puts pressure on buyers to make a buy as fewer options are available. In Tucson I would say the vast majority of new home builders have placed strict controls on when and if they build a home. Builders in Tucson are guarding against starting a home and then having a buyer either not get financing or decide they can find a better deal elsewhere and cancelling to buy something else (mostly foreclosures) leaving them with a spec home (A new home finished with no buyer). At the end of the day by builders watching very closely which homes and how many they start construction on it leaves less “spec homes” on the market (inventory) and strengthens the overall new home market. There is still a ways to go for new homes in Tucson however most builders are down to a rock bottom price and most neighborhoods are selling. Of the past 4-5 new homes I have sold in the past couple months all the new home communities seemed to me to be selling relatively well. In other words I believe the worst is behind the new home builders in Tucson builder’s profit margins are about non-existent currently but at least currently most builders have found a close equilibrium between sales price and buyer demand.

April 23rd, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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First time buyers in both Tucson AZ and across the country right now essentially are the real estate market a new report came out today showing that almost HALF of all home sales were first time buyers! This is a very good sign for the real estate market (in my mind anyway) when the first time buyers enter the market it allows the other sellers and buyers in the move up categories to do just that “move-up”. So for the time being I high percentage of the market is first time homebuyers here in Tucson this is also ho0lding true as the under $200k market seems pretty hot. In the past month I have represented several first time buyers and in almost all cases there has been a lot of activity and small bidding wars. Low interest rates, (sub 5% currently) combined with sub 2002 home prices in Tucson, (in most situations) and a federal $8,000 tax credit for making a first home purchase are simply making it to cheap for first time buyers not to step up and make a purchase.

April 22nd, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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With a lot newcomers moving to the Tucson area I thought a good set of posts would be profiling the different areas of the Tucson Valley to give those new to the area or aware of other areas an insight. The first set of these posts will be about Oro Valley real estate what makes it unique, statistics about the homes, and other interesting facts about it. So first with the stats obviously if you’re new to Oro Valley Arizona (AZ) you would most likely be interested in the basic statistics so here they are.

-Incorporated in 1974

April 13th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Last week Pulte Homes purchased new home builder Centex for $1.3 billion in Pulte stock. Many people in the new home industry and that watch the industry think this is the beginning of the end of the housing correction as builders start to make moves to either make themselves stronger companies for the rebound or merge to stay in business. Pulte figures they will save roughly $350 million in cost reductions due to the overlap that the companies share. With the purchase Pulte Homes becomes the largest homebuilder in the nation and will continue with the Pulte name and headquarters in Bloomfield Hills MI.

April 12th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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The Tucson real estate market is still in a “feeling the bottom” stage. I think we are very close as unit sales are only off 4% while all other metrics are down close to 20%. Conventional wisdom would suggest as prices (of anything) decline, sales should increase. I am expecting sales of Tucson homes to start increasing on a fairly steady basis over the next 6 months.

This article, including charts, links to previous reports, and a link to this month’s full MLS report, is continued on Michael’s website. Please click here to continue.

April 8th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Are you in looking for a public search for foreclosure homes in Tucson AZ? Where’s the best place to find foreclosures in Tucson? Is there a public way to search for all the foreclosure/ bank owned homes in Tucson? Well the simple answer is NO, there is no such thing as a “public search” however lists of the upcoming foreclosures are available at the county recorders office. Other then that the best option is to work with a Realtor who specializes in foreclosures and bank owned homes in the Tucson area. (Which we do) On top of that we offer a special search function that gives potential buyers limited access to all the foreclosures in Tucson and the Tucson area including Marana, Sahuarita, Oro Valley, and Vail. (Look along the left hand side of the screen the button is red and says “Search Foreclosures”)

April 6th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Couple days ago a story titled: “To succeed agents need Facebook page, be LinkedIn and should Twitter” was published on http://www.azbiz.com this publication is the leading source and publication for serious business news for the Tucson AZ area. The article by Joe Pangburn, Inside Tucson Business talks about how real estate agents are using the social media avenues to boost business and also thoughts about different internet marketing strategies. Joe called me for an interview to get my thoughts on the subject and as quoted in the story I think for real estate agents building their own personal brand is the absolute most important thing one can do. The other internet marketing platforms while they can be effective (namely Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.) but for those that don’t have a “voice” online yet time is best spent on your own website and blog then branching into the other areas of online marketing. Here’s a link to the article: