WOW Tempe AZ under $200,000!!!

This one WON'T last!

Trilogy Adult Golf Communtity in Gilbert Arizona!

5439 E. Eucalyptus Dr., Gilbert, AZ 85298 View Map

Unbelievable golf course homesite & mountain views with privacy. This spectacular floor plan offers a split family/living/formal dining room, bonus/workout/sitting room in the master, beautiful granite and stainless steel in the kitchen, double wall oven-microwave, 2 separate patios, built in barbeque, water features & 10-12 flat ceilings. All of this in the award winning community of Trilogy and Shea’s new (Environments For Living) energy efficient construction and detail.

Real AZ haunted house!

http://www.carpenoctem.tv/haunt/az/img/bisbeeinn.jpg

Great new listing in Orchard Ranch on almost an acre!

http://www.realestateshows.com/flyer.php?id=341463

Home Buyers Seminar, Wednesday, October 15, 7pm

What’s stopping you from purchasing a home? Having the education and knowledge going into the market can give you the competitive edge necessary to make the best home buying decisions for you and your family! With home prices down now is truly an excellent time to invest in real estate! Whether you’re a first time home buyer or a seasoned buyer, this seminar is a wonderful opportunity for our property managers, lenders and real estate consultants to answer many of the questions that have been holding you back.

Brought to you by My Arizona Home Team, TCT Property Management and Sterling Mortgage.

2500 S. Power Road, #121

Please call to reserve your seat
(480)510-9551

HUGE 4 car garage home in MESA! 5 bedrooms with mother-law-suite!

http://www.realestateshows.com/flyer.php?id=338302

AMAZING home Tempe! What a deal!

http://www.realestateshows.com/flyer.php?id=339800

ARIZONA’S GREEN HOME TOUR CHARITY

ARIZONA’S GREEN HOME TOUR CHARITY


The Arizona Green Home Tour Charity (AZGHTC) was created by Sustainable Real Estate Group to build awareness and educate the public on green homes, local green building programs and how to implement these practices into their homes. Using generous sponsor contributions; AZGHTC will be donating all proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. These proceeds will help further Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to build energy efficient and affordable homes for those in need. Habitat for Humanity will speak at the event regarding its 18 home community in Apache Junction which is taking necessary steps to become LEED certified. Furthermore; the AZGHTC has partnered with AZ Solar Energy Association and AZ Solar Center’s ‘Living With the Sun - Arizona Style - Solar, Sustainability and Green Buildings Fall Tour’ in an effort to create more awareness and offer more to our attendees. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is a supporter of this event and will be present. Also; all attendees will ride in style compliments of Discount Cab’s Hybrid Green Limousines. This exciting event will be covered by Channel 15 and presented in their Sonoran Living segment.

Call 480.250.0023 to RSVP (by 10/15/08)

Katie and Laurel's October Podcast!!

This month's podcast is all about short sales and foreclosures.  Please email the show at myrealtalk@gmail.com with questions or comments.

Enjoy!

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Bailout or Porkout?

Whew! We can all breathe a sigh of relief now that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act has passed.......NOT! Yesterdays blog fully expected the bill to pass and it did. Congress is ecstatic. Now we can start to get the wheels back on the economy. If it were only that easy. This legislation is so full of pork and earmarks it is incredible. What began as a 3 page proposal from Sect'y Paulson two weeks ago, ballooned to roughly 150 pages under the House's proposal early this week to well over 400 pages in the Senate version which eventually passed. Hope we all like pork, the other white meat, because it does appear that we're gonna be eating it for quite awhile. How about tax breaks for rum distillers in Puerto Rico, bicycle commuters, children's arrow makers, whatever that means? There are a few things in the bill for the average American, though. Upgrade your home appliances to more energy efficient ones, get a tax break, although nominal. Upgrade to other energy efficient products in your home, get a tax break. There are incentives for builders to build more energy efficient homes. One very positive thing for first time homeowners (meaning you haven't owned a home in the last 3 years) is the extension of the so called $7500 tax credit through 2010. It is really a tax free loan, payable in your income taxes at $500 per year over 15 years.

Guess we win some and we lose some. What can the average guy do with this? Consult your tax professional, find your tax advantages in this bill and implement them. Hey, we don't get to make the rules, we just have to play by them. As the Beatles sang, "o-bla-di, o-bla-da, life goes on." We'll keep weeding through the legislation to find those other little pieces that may help our clients. Oh yeah, if anyone happens to be involved in the wool industry, check pages 288 and beyond, there's some benefits for you.

Well, we should know by the end of the day. Congressional leaders are confident that Bush will push the bill through this time for the $700 billion bailout. What's this going to do for our economy? while the core plan remains the same, the new bill calls for billions of dollars in revisions of tax plans - many think this is to 'sweeten' the deal for lawmakers. Well DUH! If you put a carrot in front of a donkey, he's going to go after it. With both Obama and McCain backing the bill it seems inevitable that it is going to pass, it's now just a matter of when. What's it going to do to our housing industry? There's nothing we can do but wait and see - the published bill does not state how they are going to handle the current foreclosed homes so it's hurry up and wait for Washington to make a decision.

If you, or anyone you know is in a distressed situation and would like to talk further about your options, give us a call and we will be glad to sit with you, confidentially, to discuss your options.

Good Riddance?

A recent article in the AZ Republic Living section front page story was about ridding one's self of all the things that tend to encumber us. From emotional baggage, to all the trappings of success many have experienced in the last number of years, many consumers have gotten tired of all the "stuff" in their lives. I'm reminded of the dot-com run up of the early 80's when all the quick millionaires were accused of being guilty of "conspicuous consumption." These "overnight successes" were buying huge homes, driving foreign sports cars, taking exotic trips, eating $100 steaks and drinking $1000 a bottle wine. They had the big theatres in their homes, $200,000 pools, McMansion square footage and the list goes on and on. Having realized that after awhile it all means little, something called "emotional shelf life", and all that stuff goes away quickly with a market crash, now some of these same folks are dumping all their "stuff." One guy, Dave Brunno (guynameddave.com) got so serious about this issue in his life that Time magazine picked up his crusade. He vowed to pare his personal possessions to a total of 100 things by the middle of November. Seems like he's well on his way. Another trap of having all these things that we think are so necessary is maintenance and storage. And of course, now we need a bigger house to handle it all which brings higher costs and the snowball continues to get larger and larger.

Thinking of simplifying? Ask yourself these questions adapted from Donna Smallin's The One Minute Organizer and Judi Culbertson's The Clutter Cure: Do I really need this or is it just taking up space? Does this help me attain the goals I've set? (Assuming you have goals) Does this improve my life? If there were a fire or flood and I had to get out quickly, would I grab this? Worth thinking about.

DPA Programs Gone

Legislation signed by President Bush in late July had a number of little publicized tidbits tucked away in it. One of the largest pieces in the legislation is the elimination of down payment assistance programs like Ameridream and Nehemiah. There is justification for this on both sides of the proverbial Congressional aisle. And, real estate agents, lenders and prospective buyers are scrambling trying to get deals done before the deadline of September 30, 2008 hits. Basically, all loans dependent on these programs must close escrow before October 1, 2008 or the deal implodes. However, what most consumers don't realize is that the legislation gives some flexibility to banks and the investors who hold the mortgage portfolios regarding when they actually discontinue funding or accepting these mortgages, as long as there are no more as of October 1. A number of banks have already stopped allowing these programs and they are dwindling on a daily basis.

The biggest challenge with this legislation is that it was passed hastily. If one looks historically, almost every piece of hastily passed legislation ends up bad legislation. Now to add fuel to the fire. As soon as the President signed the bill, the next day legislation was introduced reinstating the programs, and I might add....hastily. From there, Congress promptly went on vacation for the month of August.

No one can predict where this situation will end but suffice it to say, if buyers have been on the fence, they better move yesterday or the window of opportunity will slam shut in a few weeks for many of them.

October 2008 Home Improvement Tip

For Sale By Owner?

This article was found on http://www.daveramsey.com/. Mr. Ramsey is a nationally known debt counselor and has helped literally millions of people get out of debt through the many books that he has authored, his nationally syndicated radio show and his acclaimed debt counseling class, Financial Peace University. I think this guy knows what he's talking about!

Why You NEED a Real Estate Agent

When homeowner’s get ready to sell their home these days, they are faced with many more choices than they were just a few years ago. Because of the Internet, we are seeing discount brokerages and do-it-yourself websites pop up everywhere. But with all of these new options, are people really saving money by using these new services? The answer is NO! Let me explain: There’s an old adage “you get what you pay for.” Nothing could be truer in the world of real estate. Listing your home For Sale By Owner to try to save money is a huge mistake.

Homeowners have the tendency to overprice their home, thus keeping it on the market without a sale. Also, one wrong move can cost you more than the realtor’s commission. When you pay for nothing, you get nothing. In addition, be wary of agents who cut their commission to get your business. These agents rarely cut the amount of money he or she puts in their pocket. Often they are cutting the services they provide that are essential to marketing and selling your home for top dollar. This has become a popular technique with agents who are unable to get business based on their abilities and track record. Don’t be fooled, if an agent lists your home for 5% and then lists another home for 6%, which house do you think they will spend more time marketing? In real estate you really do get what you pay for. A full price agent will earn every dollar you pay them by sparing no expense to make sure your home is strategically placed on the market for sale. They also know how to: Price your property to sell. Agents are not emotionally attached to your property. Additionally, agents have access to the local Multiple Listing Service that allows them to price your home based on very specific data from homes recently sold in your neighborhood. File paperwork and negotiate contracts. There is a myriad of paperwork “hoops” to jump through when selling a home. Lead inspections, termite inspections, appraisals, etc…all must be performed before a home is sold. Agents also know how to effectively negotiate to get top dollar for your home. They do it all day, every day and are very good at it. Market to your target audience. Agents know how to reach the people who want to buy your home. Again, their experience will save you months on the market. You should know that I’m all for saving money, but not at the expense of your home. You will end up saving both time and money in the long run by trusting an expert agent to sell your home. My team and I see it everyday with people who choose our real estate endorsed local providers. When you get ready to sell your home, make sure you get a great agent.

http://www.daveramsey.com/If you've tried selling your home on your own and would like to finally have it sold, give us a call. We have full time licensed agents ready to help advise and guide you through every step of the process! We look forward to helping!