Living In Tucson Blog

I love March in Tucson with the smell of orange blossoms wafting through the air. The weather is usually about as good as it gets and there are lots of fun activities to enjoy such as the 4th Avenue Street Fair and Spring Training. It’s not too hot and the days get a little longer even though we don’t set back the clocks here. I enjoyed the beautiful weather this afternoon by taking a long bike ride. I must have been passed by more than a dozen pickup trucks on Soldier Trail during while riding north from Tanque Verde. There must have been a pickup truck rally at Agua Caliente Park!

This morning paper had an article on the front page with the headline “Tucson’s No. 1 for housing investors”. This assertion is made by Realtor.com and is based on the low prices for investors who buy distressed properties and fix them up for resale. Homes are selling faster this year and the prices appear to be stabilizing although it is too soon to predict a turnaround in housing. Just this past week, the government released a report that existing home sales are down. Of course, the report is national and real estate is local. As I indicated in my last post, buyers that I have pre-qualfied and the Realtors who referred them to me are telling me the inventory is low and the competition for homes that are priced right and in good shape is very competitive.

In other mortgage related news, FHA mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) are going up. The program attracts buyers who have credit scores as low as 600 and small down payments so it is no mystery that the defaults are still happening and raising the MIP will help to reduce the governments losses by collecting higher fees. Starting in April, new FHA loans will have 1.75% upfront MIP instead of 1%. The FHA loan requires a minimum down payment of 3.5% of the loan amount. The 1.75% upfront MI is added to base loan (96.5% of the sales price). Another change to anticipate is reduced seller concessions from 6% of the sales price down to 3%. The reduced seller concessions should have little impact on the loan program. Even though sellers do wind up paying for buyer’s fees, it typically wouldn’t exceed 3% in my experience. FHA loans have represented a significant percentage of home loans in the past four years.

If you have any mortgage related questions, call me, David Wolsky! david@davidwolsky.com – (520) 977-3300.

My dad always advised me to buy low and sell high! You would be hard pressed to find a better market for mortgage rates and real estate pricing. Have you heard that the affordability index has measured that home buying is at it’s most affordable level in since the 60′s?  Tucson is a great market for buying real estate and it’s no secret that housing values have plummeted in Arizona. There are lots of foreclosures and short sales offering  very low home prices. Check out www.homepath.com for Fannie Mae owned properties. My company, PHH Mortgage offers special financing terms for a Home Path Mortgage (we are not currently offering the Home Path Renovation Mortgage at this time). Home Path Mortgages can be obtained with a 3% down payment (or more), there is no mortgage insurance and they do not require an appraisal. Fannie Mae often pays for the buyers closing costs too.

If you already own your house, have you thought about a refi? Here’s an article from yesterday’s USA today: Mortgage Rates Reach Record Lows, Sparking Refinancings.

The article indicates 63% of residential mortgages have rates above 5% and 46% of homeowners have 20% or less equity in their home. It is harder to refinance your home without sufficient equity. It can be hard to refinance your home with equity too as underwriting guidelines continue to get tighter. However if you qualify, now is the time. 5/1 ARMs are currently below 3% APR. According to this week’s Freddie Mac survey, 15 year fixed rates are at 3.5% and 30 year fixed rates are at 4.32% which is very near the record low. Freddie Mac has been tracking rates for over 40 years.

What if you don’t have equity and you still want to refinance?  You might qualify for the HASP (Home Affordability and Stability Plan) program that can enable you to refinance your loan even if the current mortgage is up to 125% of the home’s value. You had to have purchased your home before June of 2009 and the existing mortgage is with Fannie Mae (www.fanniemae.com) or Freddie Mac (www.freddiemac.com). Go to the Look Up tool to see if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owns your mortgage. They do not service the loans, but they are the investors.

Call me to review your options. David wolsky at 520-275-2536 or david@davidwolsky.com.

Outside Magazine has recognized Tucson, AZ as on of the best towns in America based on a balance of great culture, perfect scenery, stress-free and reasonable cost of live and easy access to the outdoors. The winner will be featured on the cover of the October issue of the magazine. The other contenders are Charleston, S.C., Chattanooga, TN (currently has the most votes), Madison, WI, Portland, ME, Santa Fe, NM, Ashland, OR, Boulder and Burlington, VT.

You can vote at www.facebook.com/outsidemagazine until June 26th.

Go Tucson!