This time of year brings us to the point of being of wanting to be blindly optimistic about the general direction of our socio-economic reality. What else can you do? I am sure most of you are not happy about the bailouts, and the chorus of feed me, feed me.... from all the late to the party opportunity seekers. Many of us have been working ( wow, really working) and been sacrificing and saving. Or should I say SAVING AND SACRIFICING? We have been hoping to navigate through the economic rules and regulations in order to facilitate a successful retirement. Well, it looks as though the rules are going to change. Oh, I forot that was the mantra....change. It seems unbelievable to me that most people know that one law of physics
dictates that the only constant is change. So, to get caught up with an ambiguous and undetailed plan for change from a politician would bring ridicule instead of success. So change we will have if either of the two major candidates would win. It is all subjective, relative to the person defining what change will mean.
So that means, since things are changing, there is an opportunity for us to make some sound investments and positive times are possibly stright ahead. We live in a great area without most
of the natural disasters that face many of our citizens across the country. There are 953 homes on the market in our mls today. We had sold 772 homes in a one year period from 2008 to the present. While, from 2207 to 2208 in the same time period we sold 1013 homes. It looks like a
24% decline in sales. Considering that the inventory is leveling out, that is not too awful of a position to begin a slow climb. Many areas, of course, are in a lot more negative position. Arizona continues to be a sought after state for relocation. That is another positive factor. So,
I will do my part to remain solidly optimistic. Check out our site at: http://www.greenvalleyazsearch.com/ and give us some consideration if you are relocating. We would love to have you as neighbors.

Since this is the most celebrated time of the year, I must try to count some of my blessings, especially when it comes to the world of real estate. When it looked like things might begin to stablilize in early October, here comes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Even with all the surprises they brought, they also have brought opportunity along with them. At least, it is obvious to me , that there is opportunity in that they need some regulation desparately and a sobering look at how they arrive at creating their loan programs. It is also a given that they need to massively tighten up their criterion for determining the eligibility of loan prospects. Along with constructive evaluation and redirection, the banks themselves need to get back to banking and forget the emphasis on the direction of speculation.
As realtors we are concerned about all the aspects of the home industry...not just sales, but sales that will tend to lead to the direction of responsible growth. In Green Valley, Arizona our MLS inventory is at 981 units avaiable on the market today. This has been very steady level for the last 2 months and that is a positive signal. In the calendar period from January 2nd of this year until the 10th of December, we have had 754 sales. In the same calendar period in 2007, we accomplished 961 sales in Green Valley. That translates to about a 22% decline from the 2007 period to the corresponding 2008 period. Considering the heighth and breadth of the revelations that have occcurred, that is not a terrible launching point. It is evolving into our busy season, and I look forward to more positive momentum in this area, hopefully making 2009 a great year for real estate. You can see all the homes on the market in our beautiful area on our website: www.greenvalleyazsearch.com. We are also looking forward to enjoying the rest of this year and hope all of you will do likewise.

We have all survived the hysteria created after the JP Morgan and the others scenario, the AIG thing, followed by the housing and the bank fiasco, and finally the election and its potential implications....WOW!!!

That gives me reason, along with the other obvious ones, to get excited about sitting down for the traditional holiday meal with all of our families and friends. This is indeed something to be grateful for. As far as real estate is concerned, with the passing of the election as well as the other crisies, I believe we will begin to finally see some sales land and hopefully they will initiate some momentum.....at least in a positive direction.

A conversation occured today between another local realtor and myself concerning a particular area here in Green Valley, Arizona. He had asked me about the status of a listing that Laura and I had around the corner from his listing. I told him that I was fortunate to have sold our listing. He was a little surprised, as his listing was still on the market and it currently is priced at about $85 a square foot. It is a 20 year old home and is in a very well kept condition. I am confident at that price, he should not have to wait much longer for a buyer. As for our area here in Green Valley, I do not think prices will go much lower, but of course, we all would like to see the number of buyers increase.

So Laura and I will be faithfully anticipating a great Thanksgiving holiday....I do not think anyone could handle or wish to handle any more of these catastrphic events that we have all had to experience. I hope we can all look forward to things improving slowly over the long run. I sincerely wish all of you a great Thanksgiving.
Visit us at our website:www.greenvalleyazsearch.com !

We are thankful that the election season has come and gone....except for a few closely contested races. No matter who you chose, we are all faced with the prospect of moving forward. I have maintained that in order for the real estate market to really begin to see growth, we must first move past the election cycle. Now we can hopefully look forward to homebuyers beginning to formulate or finalize their plans when it comes to relocating, or purchasing a home. In our area prices are still the best for the buyer and with the corrections financially that have occurred, hopefully they will positively affect the availability of funds. It is also apparent that the general public has recognized that home buying is important just for providing residence .....not as a vehicle for careless speculation.

The Green Valley home sales market from November 2007 to November of 2008 stands at about 850 sales....while in the same period of November 2006 to November of 2007 stands at about 1000. That is about a sixteen or seventeen percent decline. Everyone knows how troubled the market has been. We do hope that this type of scenario never happens again. Green Valley, Arizona is a great destination spot for retirees; as we have a great many adult community activities here. When you add the abundant recreational possibilities paired with well priced housing, you have a hard combination to beat. And, if you like the big city amenities or activities or endless retail shopping, Tucson is about 20 minutes down the road. Of course, we have numerous restaurants, plenty of great grocery stores, a local Super Wal-Mart, a conveniently located movie theater, lots of shops and places to fill up the tank. The scenery and air quality here are always spectacular! Please visit us at our Green Valley Real Estate website or feel free to give us a holler.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Labels: Green Valley

Certainly, one must admit that this has been an interesting year so far. What a ride the economy, which includes the real estate market, has taken us on in 2008. I would like to get to our destination so we can begin to stabilize and start that upward trend that people like to see. As of this writing, we have 904 homes available in the Green Valley, Arizona mls. From October 1 in 2007 until October 1st of this year we had 837 home sales. If you compared the numbers to the same period in 2006 to 2207 there were 1036 sales that occurred. Here is Green Valley, Arizona we are fortunate that our market is beginning to stabilize and not still sinking downwards. One reason for this is that Green Valley, Arizona has been lauded as one of the top ten retirement areas in the country. We do have plenty of outdoor activities here as well as great air quality and plenty of sunshine.

The sentiment is nearly unanimous....Arizona voters wish to vote Yes on the new state proposition 100. About 80% of the people polled recently have expressed their support for Proposition 100. This is the legislative offering that protects homeowners from the potential of real estate transfer taxes. Probably, about the only thing more caustic for the real estate market would be to top off a real estate transfer tax with an overall federal tax increase. That, we believe would be the worst one, two punch imaginable. However, I do have confidence in all of you out there. We are looking for 2009 to turn this momentum upwards in a slow and positive way. Please stop by and look at our Green Valley Real Estate site!

....We hope you enjoy our site. Green Valley, AZ is a great vacation or permanent settling down spot!

Labels: Green Valley

Labor Day was great, and we hope all of you enjoyed the holiday.  As Realtors we have to embrace the time we have for our clients as well as for our perspective clients. It is imperative that we use that precious commodity wisely.  Everyone has heard about the finantial crisis that is looming over our heads as this article is being written  We, as with most of you, indeed are hopeful for a possible solution that will not leave us in a more perilous position.

When it comes to our philosophy with our sellers, honesty is always the best choice.  At this time in the real estate marketplace, we have to make sure that we make an effort to realistically help our sellers price thier homes accurately.  It is so crucial now, that we use the competitive market to helping to arrive at an accurate comparable, as well as to decompress the time that we look back on previous sales instead of perhaps traditionally looking back a whole year.  With the fluctuating rapidly, the accuracy lies in a smaller period of time to use in determining the correct value for marketing a property.  Unfortunately for sellers, this of course means that the home selling price of 2 or 3 years ago will have little or no bearing for this market!   This has been become a frequently encountered obstacle when consulting with new sellers.  So we feel, if a seller will not acknowledge the realities of this market, we will not take the lisitng.   The bottom line truth is: Only properly priced homes in this market will attract a buyer!

Now when it comes to working with our clients on the buying side, things are quite a bit more positive.  For the buyers right now, they can expect to find some possibly "never again prices".  After a recent seminar, we were tuned into the underlying reasons that so many "new" homes are available.  It is much better for a builder to continue to produce homes than to fold up their tents and go home.  So that means that we can show potential buyers both new and resale homes and they can expect to find something that they will like either way.  In the semiar we attended, it was brought out that the Green Valley, Arizona market has pretty much "leveled out" according to the 2 expert appraisers that spoke at the event.  If any of you are interested in the Green Valley, Arizona marketplace, come and visit us on our website:  www.greenvalleyazsearch.com..... and enjoy our new mls search!

Labels: Green Valley

With the beginning of August rolling on through, we are hoping to enjoy a great month of weather as we move forward towards Labor Day.   We have had phenomenal weather this summer, our mildest summer in over 7 years.  A lot of 80's and 90's type days....thanks to a great monsoon season.

Laura and I attended a seminar on FHA benefits and appraisals.  One fact we gladly wrote down was noting that Green Valley was not a a still declining market, but had basically leveled out in price corrections.  That was in a presentation from the Pima and Pinal county appraisers.  That was unusal because the appraisers both agreed that Tucson was still in a declining market, while there were other areas that were in a default scenario.  The FHA speaker was presenting the program that they have for reverse mortgages.  The FHA programs max out at about $239,000.  This is a fantastic way for people over 62 to use the capital equity in their homes to enjoy life or pay other outstanding bills and yet be able to maintain residency in their homes.  For a government program, it holds quite a potential for the right candidates.

Our market showed a little over 900 listings for availability, as about 950 listings last year at this time.  So the easing of inventory is a welcome sight.  Last year at this time our mls had sold 680+ homes, while year to date we have sold about 520+ homes.  Indeed, it is a little down from last year, but we seem to be leveling out.  It is quite a beautiful summer, as with all the moisture it is truly "green valley".   If any of you are interested in our area, please visit us at: www.greenvalleyazsearch.com or pick up the phone, email us and let us answer any quiestions you might have about Green Valley.

Labels: Green Valley, Labor Day, real estate market