FHA loans limits in Maricopa County ....DROP January 2009

FHA loans limits in Maricopa County for all property types will be reduced as of January 2009

FHA lending limit in Phoenix drops to $271,050 for single family homes. Multifamily properties also decreased but are higher then single family homes depending on the number of units.

These FHA loan limit for Maricopa County will go in affect next year. If you were planning to buy a Phoenix Valley home, now would be a great time to consider doing it if it matches your plans.


Starting in January, the maximum for the government-backed Federal Housing

Administration loans in Maricopa County will be $271,050. Currently, the FHA limit in the Valley is $346,250.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development quietly announced the changes to FHA loans last week.

Last year, HUD raised its loan limits to try to help struggling homeowners who owed more than their house was worth and couldn't refinance anywhere else. The move also was to encourage more lenders and borrowers to use FHA loans in the tight credit market.

The FHA dropped its limit in Maricopa because it considers the Valley a "low-cost" area for housing. Metropolitan Phoenix's median existing home price is now below $200,000 much lower then the peak in early 2006.

Contact Linda 602-391-8246 or send an e-mail for more information
Azhomes4u@gmail.com

What is the first Thanksgiving you can remember?

Mine was at my grandma's home in the countryside of New York a little town called Westfield. I remember the family driving from Erie, PA about a 40min drive to granny's. All of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles would be there. My Cousins and we were a pretty big bunch would go off in the woods to swing on a tree vine across a deep ditch.. What great memories I have. Even the Thanksgiving when the dog grabbed the Turkey off the table... That's when it was great to be Thankful that we are Italian because the turkey was gone but all good Italians always have a side of Pasta.


Thanksgiving is a time to sit back and be thankful for the many blessings that you have been given. Every day you are given is a gift...make the most of it.

Tell someone that you are thankful for them today!

Happy Thanksgiving To All
Have a Safe and Wonderful Holiday

November 2008 is looking to be a good month for the local buyers.

With home prices coming down and the high number of homes listed it would be the ideal time for buyers to make a move. There are several factors that help make this a buyers market: 1. Interest rates are low and banks want to lend money to qualified borrowers; 2. The unemployment rate is low; 3. AZ is a great place to live and work; 4. There is a limited amount of land for new housing, keeping pressure on the demand for re-sale homes. One way to view the health of the real estate market is to focus on the "absorption rate" (i.e. how long would it take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell). The current absorption rate is about 11 months. Some examples of past abnormal absorption rates include 19 months, when the market stalled in the 1990's and there were 3 times the number of homes for sale here than there are now; and 1.5 months, during the feeding frenzy of 2005 when there was almost no inventory and Buyers lined up outside homes to make offers. The current 11 month supply of homes for sale is NOT NORMAL. Supply and Demand are tilted to the buyers side.
So... If you are a Seller, hire a great Realtor(R) and price your home fairly. Most homes that don't sell in the first three to four months or two are overpriced. If you are a Buyer, you have many choices... find a house you like and can afford and make an offer. Give me a Call Linda 602-391-8246 or e-mail azhomes4u@gmail.com

Fannie & Freddie To Suspend Foreclosures Through New Year

A Little Holiday Cheer!!!!

Additional Time Taken To Implement New Program

The initiative has come down from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to their network of servicers to halt all foreclosure and eviction proceedings between Nov. 26 2008 and Jan. 9, 2009, meant to give a recently announced rescue plan time to work.


The move is expected to give Fannie and Freddie additional time implement the new streamline modification recently announced and set to launch December 15th. The plan enables delinquent borrowers to get a modified mortgage that lowers payments to no more than 38% of their gross incomes.


"By delaying these foreclosure sales, the nation's servicers will have the opportunity to work with more borrowers who could qualify for a modification under the new [program]," said Freddie Mac CEO David M. Moffett in a statement.


As a result, Freddie has told its servicers to immediately contact the 6,000 borrowers who already have auction sales or evictions scheduled for between the specified dates to tell them the sales are postponed. Fannie estimated that 10,000 of its borrowers will be affected. Borrowers facing eviction between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26 were not expected to get relief.


The foreclosure suspension affects only a small percentage of homeowners facing foreclosure over the next two months. Although Fannie and Freddie mortgages account for more than half of all mortgages, they have relatively few of the most risky subprime loans at the center of the foreclosure crisis.
"The vast majority of what's going into foreclosure are not Fannie Freddie loans," said Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German.


The Fannie, Freddie plan was unveiled on Nov. 11. Eligibility is determined by several factors: Homeowners must be 90 days or more late in their mortgage payments, owe at least 90% of their home's current value, live in the home on which the mortgage was taken and have not filed for bankruptcy.


The mortgage rate could be lowered to as little as 3% for five years. After that, it would increase by 1 percentage point a year until it hits either the market rate or the original interest rate, whichever is lower.
Unlike previous federal efforts, participation by servicers is not voluntary. However, as mentioned in previous articles, this plan may not affect a great deal of at risk borrowers. We will continue to provide details of this plan and others as they roll out.

Mortgage rates down

Mortgage rates down for 2nd week
Freddie Mac cites weakening economy for easing of long-term rates.

Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have been at 6% or higher for five consecutive weeks. Between the week of Oct. 9 and Oct. 16, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage posted its biggest weekly jump since April 1987, rising from 5.94% to 6.46%

Full Story

$224,900 Willo Historical It's your time to live in the Willo

$224,900 Great price to live in the Willo Historical Neighborhood
Beds/Baths: 2 / 1
SF: 1,197
Year Built: 1939
Nice Lot 7,501 - 10,000



Willo Historic District $224,900
E-mail Linda for more information

This fabulous Transitional Ranch style home was built in 1939, and designed by the architectural firm of Lescher and Mahoney (Orpheum Theater, Federal Bldg @ 522 N. Central). It is now LENDER OWNED but ready to be owned by YOU! It has been beautifully restored and enhanced with vaulted ceilings in the Master bedroom and kitchen, and painstakingly decorated with hand painted walls you have to see to believe. Square footage does not include an unfinished -- but ducted --AZ room. 2nd bathroom also unfinished.

For more information on this home or other Historical Properties
Call Linda 602-391-8246 AZhomes4u@gmail.com

Same-Sex Marriage on the Ballot in Arizona, a Second Time

VOTE NO ON 102

Hopefuls Differ as They Reject Gay Marriage

Same-Sex Marriage
Gay Couples Celebrate New Status

BETH KERRIGAN and Jody Mock returned from their twins’ first overnight Boy Scout camping trip last Sunday afternoon with loads of laundry and everyone tired and hungry. They ordered in Chinese food, threw some clothes in the washing machine and read to the boys before bed.

They have always considered themselves to be really no different from any other Connecticut family, balancing work with the children’s activities and adorning the walls of their comfortable suburban home with children’s drawings and photographs.

Only now, they will be allowed to put a name to their living arrangement that is routine to many Connecticut couples: Marriage.

The Oct. 10 State Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage — making Connecticut the third state in the nation to do so — will change little else about day-to-day life in the Kerrigan-Mock household. They will still go to their jobs in the insurance industry every day. Their lives will still be centered on their 6-year-old twins, Carlos and Fernando, adopted from Guatemala, and they will continue to worry about how they will pay for their college.