Phoenix AZ | Scottsdale AZ Real Estate

Taylor Morrison, a Scottsdale new home builder , with communities in Goodyear, Phoenix, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Chandler , Avondale and Buckeye is offering...

a Dream Home Giveaway in which one lucky Grand Price winner will have the opportunity to choose from hundreds of eligible Taylor Morrison homes across the country.

They are also offering a Dream Vacation in which the winnder will receive a four day, three night trip to the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim, California

For the official rules and eligibility requirements << click

I love Taylor Morrison homes. They offer a variety of models, price points, communities with a plethora of amenities for all ages and interests, high-quality craftmanship, award-winning customer service, outstanding builder warranty and a great reputation for home buyers purchasing another Taylor Morrison home again and again.

In Gilbert, take a look at Carrara Estates - prices start in the mid $300K at nearly 3,000 sq/ft.

In Chandler, preview Quail Springs - prices start at the upper $200K with 3 beds/ 2.5 baths

also, in Gilbert, see Lakeview Trails - prices start at the low $300K with 4 bedrooms and 3,000 sq/ft

Call your Real Estate agent who specializes in new home sales and construction and/or visit the Taylor Morrison sales office knowledgeable professionals.

**I have received no compensation from Taylor Morrison for writing this article**

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© James Wexler, All Rights Reserved. *Scottsdale new home builder ‘Taylor Morrison' to give away new home*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix | Scottsdale Real Estate needs

Today, we have entered into what I call the ‘Perfect Storm' of Real estate where many factors have come together to cause this economic crisis that appears to have no end.

The House of Representatives , the Senate and the Bush Administration  has continually approved legislation providing help to struggling homeowners and more importantly liquidity to the lending institutions, banks, AIG and giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which was expected to renew confidence on Wall Street. It has not! The market dropped what feels like nearly 3000 points in the last several weeks.

In fact, we have now watched Fixed rate mortgage soar , though, they are still at historic lows.

The National Association of Realtor said existing sales resumed their decline in what (I think) is 7 stragith months after a slight rebound in May.

This is, how shall I say it, not upbeat news;

Typically, as home prices decline, sales will actually rise. (due to the cheaper bargain basement prices). This did not happen! and is is very shocking. And can only mean a likely a precursor to further and steeper declines in home prices or no sales.

It does not take more than having Internet access, network television or delivery of the Sunday newspaper to be aware of the fact that Real Estate is going through a difficult time here in Greater Phoenix and the surrounding towns of Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Tempe, Peoria, Glendale, Mesa and many other cities in Arizona and unfortunately across many parts of the Country.

As real estate professionals, we cannot control the market. However, often have the task of being the bearer of bad news. And too often, people like to shoot the messenger.

If you are a real estate professional and your clients, friends and family ask. Do the difficult and be honest.

If you own a home and need to sell.,  Lower the price to where it needs to be to sell.

If you cannot sell,  speak with a lender to Re-Fi while rates are low enough to make a difference; And before credit lending standards become possibly more strict.

Homeowners may not love to hear it.  However, they will thank you later.

~~ James Wexler  - Please don't shoot , I am just the messenger

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recently, most experts and analysts have been saying that they expect home prices to decline as a result of several key factors including high oil prices , foreclosure levels and turmoil in the credit and lending markets.

As Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson points out, "the U.S. economy is going through a rough period'.

If you are a real estate professional in Phoenix or any of its surrounding towns, you do not have to be an economist to know times are tough in Real estate.

However, amidst all the negative headlines of record foreclosure rates, sharp price declines and turbulent credit and sub-prime lending markets I wonder how close we are to a bottom in pricing.

In fact, the big question on everyone's mind is "when will the bottom occur?"

Unfortunately, my crystal ball is not working, so I look elsewhere for answers...

One place I look is a web site called  Housing Predictor which provides independent real estate market forecasts for more than 250 cities in all 50 U.S. States and housing news.

The site updates reports regularly and claims to use more than 20 factors in each forecast, including economics, regional political influences, business development, employment levels and other socioeconomic issues."

Other sections rank:

Top 25 Real Estate Markets and the

Top 25 Worst Real Estate Markets

Now, this is just an unbiased opinion of the state of all things real estate.

However, instead of listening to the headlines laced with attention grabbing concepts and negative themes that are, at best, attempts to sell newspapers, ...

go to ...

HousingPredictor.com and read about your  local markets which have their own factors such as job growth, taxes, business development, inventory, etc.. attributing to a decline or rebound in housing.

You can always call these real estate professional for expert market analysis in your area:

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Copyright © James Wexler, All Rights Reserved. *HousingPredictor.com - Phoenix Prices - rise or fall ?*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix | Scottsdale Real Estate needs.

Sub-prime lending and easy credit are widely considered the primary factors that caused the expansion of the housing bubble and the expansion of housing prices that led to the ultimate implosion of the real estate economy. However,

....what are the reasons that caused the mortgage crisis?

and the collapse of Bear Stearns, IndyMac, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a free-fall in housing prices in greater Phoenix and in virtually every part of the country.

Who really is to blame??

• Borrowers - The vast majority of borrowers where honest in their loan applications. These are the neighbors that are hardest hit as unqualified buyers walk away from next-door homes as prices fall and interest rates adjust higher. Though, remember, Buyer Beware! We are quick to recall that old adage until it happens to us. However, buyers must take some responsibility before they are quick to point blame.

• Lenders - different than mortgage banks. Most lenders originate loans to consumers with the plan of immediately selling this loan to another institution. Greed by lenders to get paid a commission led to "liar loans' and a wide disregard of borrowers ability to pay for the mortgage.

• Banks - Lack of over sight by management, low underwriting standards and poor explanation of borrower risks are key factors to the sub-prime meltdown as banks quickly packaged loans and sell them to Wall Street investment banks and Hedge Funds for high rates of return.

• Wall Street -Investment banks pooled these CMO 's (collateralized mortgage obligations) and sold to their investors with high rates of returns. However, the ability to use leverage allowed banks to buy more than they could afford. When it was time to pay investors the value of these funds was virtually gone.

• Government- In a odd twist of fate, the government is taking little criticism or pointed fingers of blame. However, we are a Country built on borrowing; not Savings. The vast majority (some say more than 80%) of our gross domestic product (GDP) is from consumer spending. This has been great for economic expansion. However, lack of now planned oversight of allowing too many to buy what they cannot afford in order to support growth, may have come too little too late.

We all have our opinions of who is to blame.

Unfortunately, there is no one answer. No easy answer. No easy solution.

As the President pointed out, "it took us some time to get into this and will likely us some time to get out"; not comforting news, but likely the truth!

Note **

James Wexler , a.ka. , Wexzilla is not running for office, but he does like to share his opinion on the Phoenix | Scottsdale Real Estate Market and the US Real Estate Economy !

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Copyright ©  James Wexler, *Housing Crisis - Who's to Blame ?*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix | Scottsdale area Real Estate needs

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When it comes to buying a new construction home from a new home builder there it is a detailed process that requires time , patience and understanding.

In Metro Phoenix, you have a nearly unlimited city choices in the area of Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale and Tempe and even Paradise Valley.

The builder process is further complicated by the large number of choices in new home communities within all of these Phoenix area cities, a dizzying amount of amenities and the large amount of quality new home builders.

Large builders like, Toll Brothers, Pulte Homes, KB Homes, DR Horton, Shea Homes and smaller local builders like, Camelot Homes and Cachet Homes.

Some of the steps to new home construction are research, shopping, negotiating, model choices, lot selection, buying, interior design, building, construction, electrical and drywall checklist, final inspection, walk-through, and closing, ...

New Home Construction can be intimidating.  However, it can also be very very rewarding.

Once you have found the builder and community, and have negotiated a price that is affordable....

Make sure you follow these 11 steps of the building process.

1. Lot selection
2. Model/Floor-plan choice
3. Interior design - fixtures, finishings, paints, options, upgrades, etc..
4. electrical/mechanical
5. pre-construction
6. drywall/framing/roof
7. Inspection of workmanship, materials, measurements, electrical
8. Pool/ landscaping - completion
9. walk-through - inspection of Interior fixtures, finishings, paint, appliances, etc...
10. Independent Inspection of entire new construction
11. Final walk-thru and Close of Escrow

This is just a quick summary. Each step of the process is quite detailed.

I highly recommend you always speak with a one of the many real estate industry experts on Active Rain.

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Copyright © James Wexler,  *10 Key Steps to New Home Construction*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix | Scottsdale area Real Estate needs.

John McCain or Barak Obama ??  I am from AZ, so by default, a McCain Supporter.

However, the economic crisis is not a political issue. This is a national security issue and something we all need to work towards.

We desperately need a plan that will directly help housing.

Otherwise, foreclosures continue to mount, causing prices lower, and losses even greater to lenders, wall street and main street forcing us deeper into a recession.

Under the John McCain plan to help housing, if elected, would order the government to buy up bad mortgages to cut homeowners' monthly payments and as a result keep more homeowners in their homes.

For example, the government could buy a $200,000 subprime mortgage on a home now worth just $100,000, give the homeowner a 30-year, $90,000 loan with a 5 percent interest rate, and essentially eat the $110,000 difference.

That would effectively bail out the banks and lenders at 100% with taxpayer money.

Many experts believe that this may be the only solution to a spiraling housing market. However, Mr. Obama argue that the plan would cause the government "to massively overpay for mortgages in a plan that would guarantee taxpayers lose money and put them at risk of losing even more if home values don't recover,"

In my humble, but strong, opinion, we need to do anything and everything to get liquidity back in the banks. If not, real estate prices could drop drastically further with no end in sight.

However, we must own equity (shares) in these banks, lenders, etc... If the bailout works to avoid the catastrohpe that is threatened, then we need to share in the profits.

We cannot take all the risk for (much of which) has been bad lending practices and Wall Street greed.

We cannot let Wall Street and lender off the hook completely for much of which is their mistakes?

Let me know what you think?

I am a real estate broker/agent. I make my living helping people buy and sell Real Estate in the greater Phoenix and Scottsdale area.

The first rule of Real Estate 101 taught to new agents is to ask "Why Rent when you can own?"

Traditionally, and especially in the past 10 years, following this home buying advice has proven lucrative and accurate.

However, the last 2 years has proven that this is not a hard fast rule to follow for every potential home buyer.

I have read so-called experts claim that if home prices do not rise, then you are doing little more than renting from a bank.

Since, as we have seen recently, real estate prices do not always go up, you need to follow a better guideline in your decision making than answering the age-old question of "Why Rent when you can own? and "renting is throwing money away!"

Here are the questions to ask yourself if home buying is right for you

• Do you need the flexibility of renting? or can you afford to stay in your home for at least 5 years or longer?
• Can you afford a 20% down payment?
• Can you afford a monthly payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage?
• ask your CPA ... Does the tax benefit of home ownership offset a potential decline in home value?
• Have you reduced other real estate debt before you add more on this home purchase?
• Does a fixed monthly mortgage payment for the next 15 years outweigh the likely inflation of rents during that same time (called an inflation hedge)

These are broad questions that can have many variations for each individual situation. However, it is a good foundation from which to start your home buying process.

You do not need the Real Estate boom to enjoy the many benefits of owning a home.

However, you do need to the answer the right questions of whether or not real estate ownership is right for you and your family.

I always recommend you speak with respected on of the many industry professionals here on Active Rain to get the best answers for your personal situation.

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Copyright © James Wexler *Don't Buy ! Rent !*

Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix | Scottsdale area Real Estate needs

Camelot Homes , the #1 ranked Arizona small volume builder (by Ranking Arizona) is in demand new home builder based in Scottsdale is one of the most respected luxury home builders in Arizona.

Camelot Homes is offering 2 beautiful homes in Sonoran Mountain Ranch in Peoria, AZ that are well worth taking a look.

Sonoran Mountain Ranch is located in the Northwest (of Phoenix) Valley at 67th Avenue just north of Jomax Road. and is a spectacular gate guarded hillside community with luxury homes and majestic mountain views.

If you are looking to live in the Northwest Valley, go take a look at these 2 opportunities.

28633 N 68th Dr. Peoria , AZ - $475,900 ~~~ originally listed at $781,000

• 5 Bed/ 3 bath
• 3,644 sq/feet

28570 N 68th ave. Peoria, AZ - $475,900 ~~~ originally listed at $821,000

• 5 Bed/ 4 bath
• 3,829sq/feet

Both homes feature large open gourmet, stone, brick and impressive patios and foyer and wonderful mountain views.

These same new build homes were listed at $781,000 and $821,000 respectively.

**I need to point out that I am not the listing broker agent.

**I have received no compensation for this information.

I encourage you to speak with your real estate experts and industry professionals for detailed information before any buying decision.

Ask for Kellen Britt at the sales office and tell her James Wexler sent you.

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Home ownership can be a personally and professionally rewarding endeavor where most Americans can raise a family, call a house a home and create wealth.

However, often  real estate professionals, mortgage brokers,  friends and family will tell you things like

•  Don't wait, buy now.
•  renting is a waste of money.
• Taking on debt is always o.k.
• real estate prices are going up
• you don't need a down payment

Now,  these advisers likely have your best interest in mind. However, they do not know your personal situation.

I am a big believer that home-ownership can be a great thing. However,

Here are 5 Home Buying Rules to live by to help you decided whether now is the right time for you.

1. Do you want to own a home. - there is no reason to buy just because everyone else says you should. Home ownership can be expensive, can tie up your money and can be filled with upkeep headaches.
2. Do you love the home. - Make sure you will be happy in your home for a long time. There is no reason to work hard to pay a mortgage on a home you do not enjoy.
3. Do not buy until you have at least 10%; however, I recommend 20%. - you will get the best fixed mortgage rates available and have no PMI (private mortgage insurance)
4. Buy a home you can afford - just because a lender will give you a mortgage does not mean you can afford the home. Make sure that there is extra money for utilities, bills and unforeseen events (job loss, health and medical bills, clothing, school, etc..) - you will not enjoy or last in a home if you take on additional debt just to pay your mortgage
5. Pay off debt, improve credit score, obtain best mortgage - the cost of money (your mortgage) can be as important as the price you pay. - take a little extra time to improve your health to obtain the cheapest mortgage

If you are planning to buy a home in Phoenix, Scottsdale , Paradise Valley, Peoria or any of the towns in Maricopa County, ...

make sure you take your time, make prudent decisions, and follow these 5 important rules of home buying, ...

you can have wonderful place to live, enjoy and call home; you will receive tax advantages, a hedge as a safeguard against inflation and build equity as you contribute towards your nest egg.

please speak with your personal and professional advisers before any decisions. However, also remember...  you are the best expert of your own money and personal financial situation.

Only you can decide if home ownership is right for you.

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Contact James Wexler (480) 221-8080 for all your Phoenix Scottsdale AZ Real Estate needs.

I wanted to share this message I received from a motivational email from the local Coldwell Banker Designated Broker, Connie Windahm

Too often, people are frightened of asking for referrals. Is it the fear of rejection, or are they concerned about annoying their prized clients?

If you're providing truly exemplary service, you shouldn't be ashamed to ask for the opportunity to provide that same service to other people your clients know!

In fact, it should be the next natural step after asking a client how the service was.

The way you ask this question, however, is very important. Open-ended questions help people to brainstorm, instead of giving them the chance for a simple "Yes" or "No" answer.

Instead of asking, "Do you know anyone else who could use my services?" ask, "Who do you know who could use my services?" The difference in how they respond is amazing!

It's also critical to expect the referral. When your tone or facial expressions show that you don't really believe your client will have a good answer, they won't have one! Don't let your body language change your question into, "I don't suppose you have any referrals for me, do you?"

Instead, expect the referral like it's the most natural thing in the world. With enough practice, it will be!

If people seem tentative, or they say they'll think about it, tell them you'll get back to them, and set a specific time to do so. Keep the appointment, even if it's just a phone call. Remind them that this is the way your business model works.

You "get buys" with a little help from your friends