February 24th, 2010 by Michael Oliver

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New short sale procedures are about to be enacted by the Federal Government through a program called “HAFA” or the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program. Effective April 5th, 2010 through December 31, 2012 this new government program is intended to speed up and dramatically increase the effectiveness of those sellers trying to do a short sale. The program is set up to get short sales approved and closed in time lines that before this program was set up would never be possible.

Here is the OLD way a short sale would happen/ close escrow:

new HAFA short sale process, short sales

February 19th, 2010 by Michael Oliver

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Since I started this Tucson real estate blog over 2.5 years ago I have received a lot of inquiries from other Realtors across the country on how to make their real estate blog more effective and a better business tool as well as a marketing vehicle for them. So with this post hopefully it will help those wanting to understand the basic principals behind quality real estate blogging or blogging for business in general regardless of the field.

blogging, real estate blogging, Tucson blogs

December 17th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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I have recently had a few appraisals come in low on both the sell and buy side and I’m sure I am not alone in saying that appraisals are very biased and hard to understand animal of the real estate transaction. To make a simple point two different appraisers can appraise the same property at the exact same time and come up with a completely different value. So what do you do as a buyer or seller in this situation?

apprasial issues when buying a home, appriasal, home appriasal process

December 4th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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The Luxury Market Is Very Slow

The Tucson real estate and the housing market in particular has two completely different markets underneath it presently. Depending upon the price range you are in, you could either find yourself in a seller’s market (and a somewhat strong one actually) or a buyers’ market (and a very, very strong one for buyers’)

high end tucson real estate market, tucson homes, tucson real estate markets, tucson real estate stats

November 30th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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An interesting story just came on cnbc.com about a University of Arizona law professor suggesting that homeowners underwater should be able to walk away from mortgages and forget trying to pay for a home that may never be worth the amount they owe on the property. Here is the story from cnbc.com:

Should homeowners who are behind in their mortgage be allowed to just walk way from the payments? A University of Arizona law professor suggests that maybe they should.

Tucson Foreclosures, Tucson Real Estate

August 28th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Federal Reserve Building

Share on Facebook Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker signaled that the housing market is no longer a drag on the economy making for some of the first official good news the housing depression has passed. (Or is currently passing) Lacker said that the housing market had picked up about five months ago and would no longer be a drag on economic growth, (Which I absolutely agree with and have made many posts about since about the same time frame of 5 months ago.) Lacker also went on to state “I think the economy is levelling out,” Lacker said in an interview with the Danville Register & Bee newspaper. “I think there is reason for hope.”

Federal Reserve, National Real Estate Markets, Tucson Real Estate Market

August 21st, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Share on Facebook is a video that was sent to me on Facebook and it is very interesting to see just how large and important the social media and internet marketing arena has and is becoming. Internet marketing is something I have as a Realtor taken very seriously and been involved with for the past three (going on four) years. For me as a Realtor representing people and their properties the internet is the best way in my opinion to gain their home the best exposure and for potential buyers to find me to help them with their real estate needs. Few Realtors understand how important this segment of the marketing world is. The average Realtor if he/she advertises at all (few do they rely on MLS to do everything) only advertises in the newspaper, home magazine, and possibly radio or television. The problem with that is the internet gives the buyers the most intimate and most information possible allowing your home to shine in a way none of the other media formats can compete with. So without getting to far away from the topic take the time to watch this video and see just how large the social media world and the internet have become. Once you have seen this I think it would be obvious that when selling a home you NEED a Realtor that knows how to showcase your home online and place it in front of the most viable buyers in the marketplace.

August 15th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Share on Facebook CNN Money confirmed a prediction I wrote about here at the end of 2008 for new real estate trends in America, here is the link to the CNN Article: Blog Post:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/07/real_estate/shrinking_home/?postversion=2009081112

The article titled: The incredible shrinking home

The size of newly built homes fell in 2008 for the first time in almost 15 years. Is the McMansion era on the wane?

This article talks about how for the first time in almost 15 years consumer trends are changing and homebuyers are shunning the larger homes that have been the norm for half a generation. New homes that are being build have shrunk by 7% according to CNN Money. Here is an excerpt from a blog post I published here on www.SellingTucsonRealEstate.com/blog  alomst 8 months ago:

-Consumer trends of smaller more efficient homes will continue. Buyers are shunning the “McMansions” and instead buying the smaller more efficient homes with better finishes. This trend I see continuing for many years to come.

This was published in 12/29/09

Here is the link to the entire article titled: “What I Think 2009 Will Bring To Tucson Real Estate”

http://www.sellingtucsonrealestate.com/blog/what-i-think-2009-will-bring-to-the-tucson-housing-market/

Some Interesting Facts About The New Shrinking Home Trend In America:

- Median square footage of newly built homes fell to 2,065 square feet

-Baby Boomers retiring to smaller more manageable homes experts believe is also an influencing factor to this new trend in home building here are some others:

- Tight credit for big mortgages: Jumbo loans needed to pay for these types of houses have been harder to get and more expensive. That would discourage building in this category.

-Energy costs: When the price of oil rose to more than $147 a barrel in July 2008, it drove up all the costs of homeownership. Heating and cooling costs soared, but so did electricity costs. And bigger houses have more lights and appliances. Energy costs also contributed to price increases on building materials, making bigger homes that much more expensive to construct.

- Affordability: That drives everything, Melman said. People tend to buy as much home as they can comfortably afford and, with the economy in turmoil, they simply don’t feel at ease spending today.

August 12th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Share on Facebook Long Realty is Tucson’s largest real estate brokerage. Long Realty currently has roughly a 33% Tucson market share, and 13 offices throughout the Tucson area. If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate within Tucson Arizona Long Realty is probably the by far best known big brokerage name around. Obviously not being an agent of Long Realty I’m a little biased but by being an agent with Tierra Antigua Realty I know the service you receive, results you get, and the information provided to you as a client has everything to do with YOUR individual sales agent.

Long Realty was started in the 1920’s and for the first 20-30 years existed as a relatively small brokerage in Tucson. From there it started to grow in size and number of agents to where it is today as the largest brokerage in the Tucson Valley. Long Realty on a whole is one of the most recognized brokers in Tucson and should be able to maintain their dominance as they recruit heavily towards new agents entering the business. However as previously mentioned as a potential buyer or seller of real estate in the Tucson area you should seriously consider the merits and skill/ experience of the individual agent and not just the brokerage itself and that applies with any brokerage whether it be Long, Coldwell Banker, or even Tierra Antigua since your sales agent will be the one responsible for your direct sale. I have handled transactions with agents from brokerages I have never heard of who did a great job, and also handled escrows with agents from large firms who honestly had little clue what they were doing.

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May 5th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Sahuarita Arizona is what a lot of people from other parts of the USA would consider a “boomtown” within 8 or 9 short years Sahuarita has almost literally come on the map and is on its way to becoming a major suburb of the Tucson Arizona region. What brought attention to Sahuarita was the opening of Rancho Sahuarita one of the best selling master-planned communities in America even today. Bob Sharpe the developer had received the land from his father and spent upwards of $25 million on development before ever selling a dirt lot. Once the homebuilders saw what he had developed though they came running to buy as Rancho Sahuarita is in my mind probably one of the best neighborhoods in regards to amenities and value a homebuyer could find in Southern Arizona.