I wrote this in May of 2007

I just found this on my old laptop, and found it both amusing and prophetic.

I'll let you decide how "on the money" I was!

"All Real Estate is an Investment.

People buy and sell Real Estate for any number of reasons. However, the deciding factor is always the financial commitment that property represents.

The nicest home in the world won’t sell if no one is willing to pay the asking price.

If the price is right, someone will buy the most run down of properties.

Why? Because that decision is based on the future perceived value of the property.

However, Real Estate Investment can be a risky venture without a strategy geared towards the current market conditions.

I specialize in helping people develop, and implement, wealth accumulation strategies based on Residential Real Estate properties in the Phoenix Arizona area.

The Phoenix Investment Property market is a dynamic one. Last year's strategy of “fix and flip” will not work in today’s market. Today the focus needs to be “buy and hold”.
Which means finding Renters for your Investment Property, and making it an Income Property.

Today’s market is perfectly suited for this strategy.

Let’s look at some facts:

During the housing boom in 2005, many people purchased properties at highly inflated prices. They financed these homes with risky, Adjustable Rate Mortgages, or Interest Only financing. There is nothing inherently wrong with either of those financing options, in some cases, they are the best option. However, they are both based on the premise that the market will continue to appreciate. It did not. The majority of these loans had two year caps that are now about to expire. Home owners are now looking at drastic monthly mortgage payment increases. Because of the drastic drop in home values, these owners cannot refinance to get out of their current mortgages. This is creating a situation where Properties are being sold in “Short Sales” at lowered prices to avoid foreclosure.

Anyone with good credit, and cash reserves, can take advantage of these circumstances to build an impressive real estate portfolio.

I specialize in finding these properties, and work with a team of financial experts to arrange the safest, most advantageous terms possible. XXXXXXXXXX (Former company) is also one of the largest property management firms in the West Valley.

Let me help you become wealthy."


Obviously, having written that 2 1/2 years ago, some things have changed. Everything I wrote in this piece still applies, but the window of opportunity has begun to close. Granted, it's closing very slowly, but according to a report by ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business, the market here bottomed out in May of this year. And since, we've seen reductions in the number of days a property is on the market, and a rise (small, admittedly) in home prices.

Also, I not only can help you find Income Properties, but I can do the management of them myself!

Interested in putting together a Real Estate Portfolio? Give me a call!

Erin Goldbach
Designated Broker
Vanguard Platinum Realty
602 524 0186

Someone is off their Meds!!! A great deal just got CRAZY good!!

Ok, the property in New River that I posted as "Property of the Day" in this blog has been reduced AGAIN!!

So, you've now got the chance to own a 4bedroom, 3bath, 2600sq/ft home on an acre+ horse property in New River, with tile throughout, granite in all the beds and baths, well............ Just look at the pictures!!

This Property is now listed at

$275,000!

Call me to set up a viewing of this Resort Style Property!!

Vanguard Platinum Realty

Erin Goldbach

Broker/Owner

602 524 0186

Erin@ErinGoldbach.com

"OFFICIALLY" OFFICIAL!!! THE MARKET HAS BOTTOMED!

Boy! If people would just listen to me, the world would be a much better place!! (or maybe not! LOL!)

But in this case, it looks like I was right. I've been telling people that we're at the bottom of the market for about a month now, and Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business agrees with me!

"

ASU study: Phoenix-area home prices “at or close to bottom”

Phoenix-area home prices are “at or close to a market bottom,” according to a new Arizona StateUniversity study that offers hope to many Valley homeowners.

The Arizona State University-Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI) measures changes in average Phoenix-area home prices from year to year. The latest report confirms home prices are falling at a slower and slower pace.

While Valley home prices saw a 37-percent decline in both the February and March reports, the new April 2008 to April 2009 report reveals a lesser 35-percent drop. Preliminary estimates for May and June show annual drops of 33 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

“April is the first month with a slower annual rate of decline, and the progressively smaller declines over the next two months are pretty good evidence that the worst of the price drops are in the past,” says Karl Guntermann, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, who calculates the ASU-RSI with research associate Adam Nowak. “While the housing market is still quite volatile, it may turn out that the low point in terms of price occurred in May, almost three years after prices peaked in the Valley.”

The current slide in home prices is the longest in Valley history at 26 months. This is the first month that Gilbert has been included in the city breakdown of the report. Gilbert and Sun City show the mildest declines in the area from April 2008 to April 2009. The worst drop was in Glendale, where prices plunged more than 40 percent in just one year.

Preliminary estimates show the median Phoenix-area home price for June is $119,000. That’s up from $115,000 in May and $117,000 in April. However, Guntermann says the large number of foreclosed properties being sold at distressed price levels suggests the median price is not likely to go up much for a while.

The ASU-RSI is based on repeat sales, the most reliable way to estimate price changes in the housing market. Repeat sales compare the prices of a single house against itself at different points in time, instead of comparing different homes with different quality factors.

The ASU-RSI is produced through the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. The current report and archived reports are available at the Division of Real Estate – Repeat Sales Reports. Further ASU-RSI analysis is available at http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu."

You can read the full report here

What I've been seeing in the last two months is a lot of competition for "move in ready" homes. And when I say competition, I mean multiple (8 in one case) offers on a home that was ready for immediate occupancy.

The homes that are currently drawing the most attention are Bank Owned Properties. "Why?" you ask? Simply put, you get an answer out of a bank once they've foreclosed on a home that you don't get if you're trying to get Short Sale approval.

It makes a degree of sense. Once a Bank forecloses on a home, they're responsible for it entirely. They pay the taxes, insurance, and other recurring expenses instead of the home owner. They also have to worry about the property being vandalized, which is usually not a concern for an owner occupied home.

Plus, having homes on their books makes the bank look bad financially.

As a result, they want those properties off their books as quickly as they can get an offer and buyers will get an answer in a matter of days, instead of the months you can spend waiting for a short sale approval.

Short sale properties that are move in ready are getting more attention as the number of Bank-owneds dwindles, while "trash-out" short sales are just sitting.

Vanguard Platinum Realty

Erin Goldbach

Owner/Broker

602 524 0186

Erin@ErinGoldbach.com