Why We Live Here

The jonquils are in bloom.

Some of you have heard me speak of visiting my brother and his wife at their beautiful home next to a state forest in Connecticut. My sister-in-law is a mail carrier, and went out today to try to deliver the mail, but the mailboxes were buried in the drifts, so she had to give up. This is their home. Pretty, but... I'll wait until spring to visit.

Finger Rock is visible from much of the city. Last weekend Steve and I hiked up Finger Rock canyon and got a nice look at this Tucson icon.

2223 E Calle Alta Vista

OPEN SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21 FROM 1 TO 4 PM

Just one house away from beautiful Connor Park in a fabulous neighborhood. Owned by perfectionists, this immaculate home is a welcome relief after all the depressing fixer uppers you've been seeing. All original construction, with a floor plan that makes sense. Vaulting ceilings. New tile and paint through out. Updated bathrooms. The kitchen is spacious with vintage 50s tile. Classic built-in cabinets in hall. All bedrooms have ceiling fans and lovely new entry doors. Metal 8'x10' shed. More storage in the carport shed.
Sit on the wide, north-facing covered porch and admire your big, private, shady yard.
Under two miles to UMC. You snooze, you lose.
This house sold in December 2010 for $160,000.

Foreclosure Moratorium

Bank of America, GMAC and JP Morgan Chase have halted foreclosures in several states. Only BofA has stopped foreclosures in Arizona.

Banks have illegally used a system called MERS (explained in this blog on October 1) to transfer bundles of mortgages between investors. Deeds weren't recorded as required by law, and no one is sure who actually has the right to foreclose on some of these properties.

People who knew nothing about mortgages were hired by the banks to "review" foreclosure documents. These "robo-signers" sign thousands of foreclosure authorizations per month. Obviously, signing is all they are doing.

While a moratorium on foreclosures may be welcome news to homeowners facing foreclosure, it will prolong the housing market recovery. All the homeowners who can not pay their mortgages will eventually have to lose their homes. Only after the glut of foreclosures and short sales work their way through the system will we see the housing market turn the corner toward normalcy.

The following is from The Wall Street Journal, Dawn Wotapka (10/12/2010):

Best-Case Scenario for Foreclosure Freeze
Gregor Watson, a principal with McKinley Partners, a development company that buys foreclosed homes, told listeners on a Citi home-builder conference call that there were three potential outcomes from the foreclosure fiasco:

· Best case: These are technical issues that can be resolved quickly so the foreclosure process can continue and the glut of foreclosed homes is cleared from the market.

· Medium case: There is significant litigation that takes years to sort out and this slows the troubled housing market even further.

· Worst case: The market grinds to a halt and title insurers refuse to insure mortgages involving foreclosed homes. “It would be devastating for the resale market if this robo-signer issue spiraled out of control,” Watson says.

Tarantula

We can now add tarantula to the wildlife we have seen at Desert's Edge. Fortunately, this stunning creature was outside, unlike the pack rats who took over the attic. I think I have won the battle with the pack rats, thanks in part to Desert Wildlife.

This tarantula was especially impressive because instead of the usual black back, this one was honey-colored.

After the paparazzi harassment ceased, the tarantula continued its fascinating eight-legged march into the desert behind our house.

September Residential Sales Statistics

The Tucson Association of Realtors has published the Residential Sales Statistics for September.

Average sale price was $181,612, down 7.7% since September 2009. Median price was down 10.5% over the past twelve months to $145,855.

With 7,217 active listings and 873 sales in September, we have a 8.27 month supply of listings. In September 2009, we had a 6.36 month supply.

Changes to FHA financing have made housing less affordable to first time buyers. Effective October 4, an FHA mortgage on the average priced house ($181,612) will cost $46.98 more per month than it did in September. See my August 7 post for details on the changes to FHA financing. The monthly mortgage insurance payment is now 0.9%/12 of the loan amount, compared to 0.5%/12 in September.

One bright spot is that interest rates are around 4.5%, which is a huge benefit to buyers with good credit, employment and a 3.5% down payment, which can be a gift from relatives.

Rampant Mortgage Fraud Puts Foreclosures on Hold

GMAC recently stopped foreclosure proceedings in most states. Now JP Morgan Chase has also stopped foreclosures. The reason? Consumers who have wrongfully had their houses foreclosed are fighting back.

The problem is that after a home buyer signs for a mortgage, the mortgage is bundled with other mortgages and sold. To save money, the companies that buy and sell the mortgages decided not to publicly record the lien transfers as is required by law. They just decided to keep electronic records among themselves. Incredibly, this seemed like a good idea to them.

Watch this video clip from Florida Representative Alan Grayson.

Citizenship

Yesterday Steve and I went to Saguaro National Park West to see our Aussie friend Chris become a U.S. citizen. It was a very moving ceremony, and the setting among the saguaros was perfect. Chris said when he saw the saguaros during his first visit to Tucson in 1982, he knew that living in the Sonoran Desert would compensate for leaving his home in Tasmania.

Of course, a slide show of our country's astounding beauty was accompanied by "I'm Proud to Be an American". I knew I should have brought some tissues.

Chris and the other new citizens registered to vote and posed for pictures in front of the national park they now co-own with those of us lucky enough to be born here.
He was also interviewed by Fox News, and was quoted in the Arizona Daily Star.
Chris then made the brilliant suggestion that we go out for some American food. We had a great meal and tasty local beer at Barrio Brewing Co.