Prescott AZ Lender Stars: Reach for them!
First Published here Feb 13, 2008
Now more than ever, the financing part of any real estate transaction is critical. With lending criteria tightening and home valuations declining (for now), lenders are reviewing standards regularly. Therefore real estate agents need to constantly enhance their lending resources for their clients. At Realty 2000 Town & Country we are doing our best to provide those resources.
As a continuing segment in our Stars series, tonight we present to you – The Lender Stars. Now keep in mind as agents we are discouraged from recommending or endorsing professional services. However, we are often asked to provide guidance in many different aspects of the real estate transaction. That is how the Stars Series got started: to inform our friends and clients about professional services we have used successfully in the area.
Understand that the following vendors are in no way affiliated with Realty 2000 Town & Country nor does this list constitute an endorsement or recommendation of professional services as your satisfaction and results may vary. Please compare services diligently.
Here are lenders that we have worked with, all of them know us, and have done loans with Realty 2000 in the past. Best thing for you to do now is to call them, introduce yourself, tell them Scott Baxter with Realty 2000 Town & Country sent you and let them know that you would like to get prequalified, and later on, preapproved for financing. Tell the lender if you are looking for manufactured homes as that may affect the loan.
Make sure to ask for a GFE (Good Faith Estimate) so you know the cost of the loan. Also, make sure to compare the same loan programs (apples and apples), and please let us know if you have any questions, Realty 2000 Town & Country as always is happy to help out. In last name alphabetical order, and the @ symbol is replaced with (at) to reduce SPAM:
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Full Name: Theresa Baca
Company: Mountain Mortgage Inc
Address: 8196 E Valley Rd, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314
Business: (928) 775-9330
Business Fax: (928) 775-9331
E-mail: theresab (at) cableone (dot) net
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Full Name: Vince Garcia (PRESCOTT, AZ based)
Company: VanDyk Mortgage Corporation
Address: 3923 S McClintock Dr Ste 408, Tempe, AZ 85282
Business: (480) 814-8733
Business Fax: (888) 345-2780
Mobile: (928) 899-1810
Email: vgarcia458 (at) vandykmortgage (dot) com
Visit Webpage
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Full Name: Jerry Jones
Company: Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
Address: 1781 E Hwy 69, Ste 28, Prescott, AZ 86301
Business: 928-778-7665 x107
Mobile: 928-308-2633
Business Fax: 928-778-7376
E-mail: jerry.s.jones (at) wellsfargo (dot) com
Visit Webpage
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Full Name: Theron Wall
Company: Wallick And Volk Inc
Address: 3615 Crossings Dr, Suite A, Prescott, AZ 86305
Business: (928) 778-7167
Business Fax: (928) 445-5308
Mobile: (928) 533-7473
E-mail: theron (at) theronwall (dot) com
Visit Webpage
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Full Name: Christoph Schweiger
Company: Sunstreet Mortgage, LLC
Address: 8426 E. Shea Blvd. #20 Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Business: (602) 325-3415
Mobile: (602) 327-1778
Business Fax: (480) 248-3206
E-mail: cschweiger (at) sunstreetmortgage (dot) com
Visit Webpage
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Prescott AZ Homes – Trustee Sales Remain High
Our local Prescott AZ Real Estate foreclosures remain high, while buyer interest across the broad range of Prescott homes pricing can be described as tepid at best. Many bank owned homes remain overpriced, but are often reduced rapidly, creating a feeding frenzy for buyers in the affordability range. If you are one of those savvy buyers, you are well served to have an Arizona Real Estate Broker that can focus your search on that sweet spot with automatic internet searches and daily email pushes into your email box.
Real Estate represents a great opportunity for buyers, and continued hardship for sellers: On Friday, the local newspaper “The Daily Courier” published 4 pages of legal notices, each entitled “Notice of Trustee Sale”. So while the smart guys on Wall Street and in Washington tell everybody how the economy is recovering, the evidence shows otherwise.
Sure, it stands to reason that in order to deleverage the bubble economy, loans that have been defaulted on need do to be foreclosed and sold by the bank. However, while unemployment and foreclosures remain high, it is difficult for most folks to hear that things are getting better while so many are experiencing financial hardship.
If you are in the financial position to qualify for a home loan and to look for Prescott AZ homes, now is the time to consider buying as pricing is attractive. Our beautiful town still offers great Northern Arizona recreation, good local shopping, plus a mild four season climate that we think is second to none. If you think now is the time to make your move, please contact Scott Baxter Arizona Real Estate Broker (928) 771-2000 with any questions you may have.
Photo Credit: respres on flickr.com
Homebuyer Tax Credit assisting sales in Prescott Real Estate Market
As most people have heard, the new federal tax credits for first-time homebuyers has been extended. A tax credit of up to $8,000 is available for first-time homebuyers through June 30, 2010.
In addition, a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years over the last eight years is available.
Fortunately for buyers looking to purchase homes in the Prescott real estate market the new tax credit coincides with recent lower prices seen throughout our area. For the first time were seeing some of the housing prices approach 2002-2003 valuations which is excellent news for buyers.
Sometimes buyers would like to get that credit in advance of the property purchase, however that is not allowed by IRS rules. You are able to take advantage of the tax credit in 2009 by filing with your 2009 tax return or you can file an amended 2008 tax return to obtain your credit. The credit is only allowed after the purchase of the property.
For more details please contact your lender or contact Scott Baxter at Realty 2000 Town & Country in Prescott AZ for lists of local lenders who can give you additional information. Meanwhile start thinking of that new home and contact me to assist you with your future plans. I can make arrangements to show you some listings in email or here in person, always glad to help.
Prescott Arizona Christmas
Welcome holiday revelers! Do we have a great 2009 celebration in store for you. As you may know, Prescott Arizona is known for annual festivities and gatherings throughout the holiday season.
2009 is no exception. This year’s fun filled events are sure to delight the whole family.
Come and join our family entertainment in Prescott Arizona that includes the Christmas parade, the Acker Music Night, and the not to be missed Courthouse Lighting Ceremony.
www.cityofprescott.net/events/
Light Parade – Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Please welcome the opening of the Prescott Christmas Season for downtown as the decorated floats with lights wind their way around the courthouse plaza.
Courthouse Lighting – Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Join the crowd for the traditional Christmas carols by the Yavapai schools choir & the reading of the Christmas story. Then see the plaza come ablaze with thousands of lights
Acker Music Night – Friday, December 11, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Musical acts in every participating business downtown. A real favorite in Prescott for the holiday season.
No Backup? I run backup hands-free while making coffee
For years, I yearned for a simple “don’t make me think” backup solution for my MS Windows laptop. Everybody needs to run regular backups. I have seen professionals weep over lost data back in my IT days.
Sure, I got one of those big external drives, now collecting dust in the garage. Never cared much for the software, plus I needed something to remind me. Is it so difficult to obtain truly helpful solutions?
Finally found a backup solution: Clickfree – Automatic Backup
It does everything I want it to:
- No software interaction, plug in the USB and it runs
- System Tray loads and reminds you to run Clickfree
- Software upgrades are also handled as a System Tray notification
- Device is small, just a little larger then a typical smartphone.
Backup is important, and I am glad to help out. Please leave a comment or tweet me @prescottscott if you want more product feedback.
Smart Real Estate Shoppers use Automatic Email lists
Just yesterday, I had a potential client come to me and say, “Show me in email all the houses in your area below $100,000.” I have to admit I thought to myself that figure is a well out of our typical range but with today’s market, who knows?
Shopping for Homes the "fast Email way"
So I added 10% just to bracket the range, and I took a look for myself. I was thinking, “I betcha there’ll
be only a half a dozen of these houses and out of those, over half will be false entries from listing agents just to get the leads.”
I must say, I was shocked to find there were 67 entries in our MLS foresight built homes under $110,000. Now mind you some of these are on the outskirts deep in rural areas and some of these are short sell listings with made up asking prices just to gather leads.
Bottom line is: the buying public needs to continue to express their wants and needs to the real estate agents and brokers that serve them. If they’re not getting the service that they asked for it may be time to look for different assistance. For the record, I try to serve every request that I get in the best way that I know how. In this crazy market, that may mean exceptional value for you, the buyer client.
Let me know what you looking for an I’ll do my best to help out in Prescott, Arizona, thank you.
Photo credit: robad0b
How to Never Sell your Home
So much is written about how to sell your home (you should do this and you should do that) but I thought maybe it would be prudent to point out some of the things that would make it impossible to sell your home. 
Most people know about the big problems, things like mold, radiation, and possibly that federal highway right-of-way. But there are many others! One just happened to me today on an escrow that I have and I thought I would share it with you.
I’m sure many of you know people or possibly even yourself who have thought, “Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have a deck, sun room or attached shed on my property.” so you went ahead and built one but you forgot one detail: the need to get a permit. But of course, one can get a little busy and permits were not a priority for you at the time, so you the construction went ahead anyway. Now I’m sure you’re deck, sun room or attached shed is just fine but guess what: when you go to sell that property and the buyer’s appraiser starts asking the city or the county about that construction and no permit was filed, you now will have a problem with the buyer getting his financing.
So please, property owners / sellers do yourself a big favor: make sure that you get all the necessary permits for that construction project that you seek to complete. One day when you go to sell, you’ll be very glad you did.
Photo credit: Paul Keleher
Home inspections – should every home buyer get one?
You’ve heard it before, I’m sure. Most real estate brokers will advise you to get a home inspection during your inspection period. On any residential property that you place an offer on I would have to agree, however there are a few exceptions. Sometimes if you want a close quickly on a property that you feel comfortable with, you may waive the inspection. For example, if you’re someone that has particular knowledge and expertise you may decide that inspections are not needed. Or maybe you are trying to close on a bank owned or short sale property and it is being offered “AS-IS” and you would rather save your money to do the repairs rather than identify them.
Oftentimes a broker will ask you to sign a document that you’ve waived the inspection on a particular residential property that you have decided to purchase without an inspection. If you’ve decided to not do the inspection go ahead with the purchase I would say, “fine, not a problem, sign this waiver”. But just remember if that’s a course of action you choose to take, you just have to deal with issues after the sale.
That’s often the case anyway even when you do get an inspection. I can’t tell you how many times an inspection has been ordered and many things were found and placed on a report. The buyer went ahead with the purchase anyway and maybe asked for a couple of things to be fixed in escrow. Most of things were small items and were fixed after the close of escrow. Now you might ask yourself, “what’s the point in getting inspection?” Well, real estate professionals like inspections more than anyone because it helps protect against liability issues. I agree, but if somebody does not want to do an inspection decides to waive the inspection that’s fine too, sign this waiver.
Most inspections cost somewhere between $250 and $350. If someone is on the fence whether they want to do the inspection or not I will tend to say, “go for it. Having a nice little report your hand is at least some knowledge that will give you some peace of mind during the course of your purchase.” When you’re in the Prescott Arizona area let me know if you want to find out about a few good inspectors and I’ll be happy to share what I know.
Thanks for reading and best of luck with your real estate search.
Photo Credit: RedJar
Posterous.com is a “Photo Twitter”
Use posterous for all your mobile image needs
One of the best tools I found out about attending the REBarCamp in San Francisco last summer is this nifty website called Posterous.
Great little website allows mobile users to take photos or videos, and upload them with email to Posterous. Furthermore, Posterous will autopost to twitter, facebook, flickr, and even your own photo blog. Now that is what I call syndication!
