Your Opinion Needed on FHA Plans

FHA temporarily increased the amount that the seller can contribute to the buyer's closing costs from 3% of the sale price to 6%. Now they are thinking of reducing it back to 3%.

This is another example of the government getting in the way of a housing recovery. FHA is looking for opinions on this proposed change. Remember, as the government makes home sales more difficult, more houses will stay on the market and home values have to drop. Even if you aren't buying or selling in the immediate future, vacant houses affect you because of 1) the loss of property tax revenue to the city and county, resulting in reduced services, 2) the blight of vacant houses and 3) the reduction in your home's value, potentially making refinancing impossible.

Make your comments here.

10660 E Rusty Spur Drive

This is the Arizona Dream. Horse property out in the country, with miles of riding trails in the wash across the road.
Extensive remodeling in 2005 raised the living room, foyer and kitchen ceilings to almost 12 feet.
Lots of wildlife and native vegetation. Serenity next to your diving pool. Family fun on the basketball court and playground. Dinner parties on the deep back porch.
Cozy fires in the family room. An eye-popping view of the Catalinas from your airy living room, with its huge arched window.
Custom-built painting studio with beautiful north light. Check out the interactive floor plan.

10660 E Rusty Spur Drive was offered at $299,000. This was a fabulous opportunity. Sadly, the bank refused to accept a reasonable short sale offer. AARGGGHH! This is part of the reason why the housing market is such a mess.

Back Home Again

I started my real estate career in 1995 with Long Realty. In 2003, I moved to Realty Executives, and thought I would stay there forever. In March this year, the local Realty Executives franchise became Keller Williams. In the following weeks, about 70 of the agents from the old Realty Executives moved to a new Realty Executives franchise in Tucson. Along with 230 of the old Realty Executives agents, I transferred my real estate license to Keller Williams, because I could stay with my mentors from the old Realty Executives, and I wouldn't have to leave my sweet private office on River Road.

After four months with Keller Williams, I concluded it wasn't a good fit for me. Amazingly enough, the new Realty Executives signed a lease on an office building at 2251 E Grant Road last week. I called just minutes after the lease was signed to inquire about a private office, so I had my pick. Serendipity! This is a beautiful Southwestern style building in a great Central Tucson location. Bookman's! Ragin' Sage!


You walk past the white stuccoed walls with their vigas and rusted gates into a pleasant, leafy court yard. My office has French doors going out to another court yard. Needless to say, I am thrilled to be home and to have lucked into this wonderful office.

NFIP and New Home Buyer Tax Credit Extended

Buyers, sellers, real estate agents and mortgage loan officers have had a frantic few weeks. The $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers was scheduled to expire June 30. Buyers had to have their home purchases in escrow by April 30 to qualify. Everyone worked feverishly to meet the June 30 deadline to close escrow. It is estimated that without the extension of the deadline, 220,000 sales would not qualify for the tax credit.

Also, as noted in my blog on June 25, Congress failed to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, leaving buyers of houses in FEMA-designated flood plains unable to get mortgages.

Not a moment too soon, Congress awoke from its slumber.

The House and Senate have passed H.R. 5623, the "Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act," extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit to October 1, 2010 for any borrowers who've entered a binding contract by April 30, 2010.

Also, the Senate approved House-passed H.R. 5569, the "National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act," extending the NFIP through September 30, 2010 and reauthorizing the program retroactive to May 31, 2010.

President Obama is expected to sign both pieces of legislation into law today.

Flood Insurance

The National Flood Insurance Program expired on June 1, leaving homeowners without access to reasonably-priced flood insurance. The National Association of Realtors begged Congress for months to extend the NFIP, to no avail. This means buyers have been unable to buy houses in the flood plain for over three weeks.

The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies estimates that due to Congress's inaction, about 1,200 real estate transactions requiring flood insurance fail to close every day in our country.

You might think any one who builds their house in a river bottom shouldn't be able to sell it anyway, but this affects a lot more people than you may think. Much of Central Tucson requires flood insurance, including parts of Winterhaven, Sam Hughes, Broadmoor, north and south of U of A, Casas Lindas and many other seemingly high and dry locations.

Way to put the brakes on the housing market recovery, Congress.

Cowtown Keeylocko

Last night Steve and I drove out the Ajo Highway past Three Points to Cowtown Keeylocko. This is a working cattle and horse ranch owned by Ed Keeylocko, who bought the land after returning from the Vietnam war. Ed loves the Wild West myth, and has built a small town that he proclaims is "The Way the West Really Was".
Actually, he has improved on the way the west was and is, because his house rules require a level of civility that has never been seen in the real world.
The Blue Dog Saloon is a barn with a sand floor and two bars. Suspended from the ceiling, hanging on the walls and crowded onto every surface are saddles, ropes, photos, animal heads, a baby buggy and an accumulation of decades of dusty old stuff.

Inspired by the movie "Lonesome Cowboys", filmed by Andy Warhol in southern Arizona, French-born Tucson singer Marianne Dissard filmed part of "Lonesome Cowgirls" at Keeylocko last night. Thanks to incorrect directions in The Tucson Weekly, we missed the filming, which must have been fun. By the time we finally found this ranch at the end of six miles of dirt roads off Highway 86, the costumed actors, including Tucson's own magical Flam Chen, were busy drinking and listening to Marianne crooning in French.

Keeylocko is a delightful Tucson treasure that reminds me of Valley of the Moon. Generous, imaginative men of vision created their versions of utopia, and then invited the world into their homes.

May Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has announced the Residential Sales Statistics for May.

Average sale price in Tucson in May was $194,838 and median sale price was $151,000. This was a decline of 3% in average price and 5% in median price from April.

This decline may indicate the increased prices we saw in April were due to the first time home buyer tax credit that expired April 30. Buyers needed to have an accepted contract by April 30, and they need to close by June 30, so we will continue to see the effects of the federal stimulus for another month. Because lenders are overwhelmed with buyers trying to get that $8,000 tax credit, some of the sales in escrow will not close by June 30. For this reason, the deadline to close may be extended.

The 6,603 active listings outnumbered the 1,227 sales in May 5.38 to 1. This is below the magic 6:1 ratio that is considered a balanced market. When we get below a six month supply of listings--which is another way of saying a ratio of six listings to one sale--we have what is considered a seller's market. Sellers of homes priced over $300,000 may find that hard to believe, but here's the explanation: 87% of the sales were of houses priced below $300,000 and 55% of the sales were under $160,000.

We had 2,080 active listings priced over $300,000 in May, of which only 164 sold, indicating a one year supply of houses in this price range. We have a 23 month supply of listings priced above $500,000.

First time home buyers and investors still dominate the market. Government-insured loans--VA and FHA--accounted for 36% of the sales, and 23% of the sales were cash.