Archive for the 'Arizona Articles' Category

While the high number of foreclosed houses and Mesa repo homes for sale continues to bring down the housing market of the area, unsuspecting residents are now forced to cope with another source of danger to their properties – fraudulent rescue firms.

According to local authorities, as the number of repossessed homes in Arizona increases, the number of companies pretending to be foreclosure rescue businesses also rises. Officials have warned residents about being too trusting when it comes to dealing with these companies. Several of these firms have reportedly taken over properties by pretending to help homeowners then asking them to sign the deed of their homes to their firms.

Most of these companies allegedly promise to prevent homeowners' dwellings from getting foreclosed or ending up in the hands of people who purchase repossessed homes. They either ask the owner to sign the deed to the companies or ask for fees for services such as loan modification and payment reduction.

The Arizona attorney general's office has recently filed a lawsuit against the company Guardian Group. The office has accused the firm of deceiving over 2,000 homeowners, including those who eventually lost their properties to Mesa repo homes for sale. Allegedly, Guardian asked homeowners who are facing foreclosures to pay them with the promise of working towards modifying the homeowners' mortgages or getting lenders to approve a reduced monthly payment.

Court documents reveal that Guardian demanded up front payments worth $1,595 from each homeowner, explaining that the fees are for the company's mortgage reduction program. However, the lawsuit alleges that this service is rarely, if ever, provided to the homeowners who already paid the fees.

Local officials have revealed that the number of fraudulent foreclosure rescue businesses operating in Arizona has increased dramatically in the past six months. This has caused a lot of homeowners to lose their homes to foreclosures and bank repossessions, along with certain amounts of cash that they paid to these companies.

Arizona authorities have recently launched various efforts to stop these companies from further aggravating the state's housing market problems brought about by the high number of Mesa repo homes for sale and other foreclosed properties in other areas of the state.

Although foreclosures and Tucson repo homes for sale remain relatively high, some economists believe that the state's housing market is on its way to a recovery. However, they did admit that this particular recovery might take a long time to gain momentum.

Foreclosed dwellings and repo homes in Arizona account for a significant percentage of housing market properties. However, some economists believe that the state, particularly the greater Tucson area, has hit the bottom and will soon be on its way towards a recovery, albeit a slow one.

They stated that, despite the high number of repossession home listings, stronger employment rates and improved consumer confidence will make a difference on the housing market and the general economic status of the state. They also claim that the worst of the recession is past and that the national economy is on its way up, although it would be a slow climb since some sectors are still mired in depression.

Local housing market observers have tried to explain how slow the recovery will be for the housing market. According to them, because of the high number of foreclosures and Tucson repo homes for sale, home buying and home prices both declined in the past couple of years. As an example, they cited Tucson, where more than 11,700 single family dwelling permits were issued back in 2005. Compared that with the 2,100 permits issued in 2010 and people will have an idea of how bad the real estate market has become.

Some economists expect the number of building permits for residential properties to rise by 3,600 each year until 2015. This shows how slow the recovery will be. Economists also stated that the bottom might have been reached, but it is a wide one and it will take a lot of time before the whole area will get out of it and reach the surface.

Another evidence of how far the market has dropped can be seen in the contribution of home building to the economy of Pima County. According to statistics, the residential construction business made a $2.4 billion contribution to the county's economy in 2006. This year, that contribution dropped to $400 million, particularly as the small number of new home owners would rather purchase Tucson repo homes for sale rather than build new residences.

News of various preservation and real estate development projects in downtown Mesa are great news for investors in Mesa repo homes for sale, as these projects stabilize communities andenhance the values of properties, whether they are newly constructed or long included in a repossession property list.

Among the most prominent Mesa properties being eyed by investors is the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory which will be vacated by the military next year when it relocates its operations to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the state of Ohio.

The two entities vying to convert the air force base into a research facility that would leverage programs and assets already existing in Mesa, such as those of the Arizona State University, the Arizona Aerospace Institute, Boeing and Cognitive Engineering Research Institute, are ASU and Virginia-based Alion Science and Technology. Both ASU and Alion planned to retain the laboratory’s current team of 200 scientists and engineers and to help manufacturing companies in the area create more jobs.

Other projects expected to mitigate the effects of Mesa repo homes for sale are various preservation projects in the area.  One candidate for a seat in the Mesa City Council plans to continue promoting his preservation projects which he has been pursuing as a community leader over many years. His vision is to transform Mesa into a high-rise mixed-use district with its architectural past preserved.

There are also calls for revving up the implementation of the historic preservation ordinance, which designated eight historic districts and 22 sites as part of the National Register of Historic Places. Advocates want to ensure that certain landmarks are preserved when the light rail project is extended downtown.

Aside from these development projects, investors in repossessed homes in Arizona are also encouraged by the foreclosure inventory available for investments. In the first half this year, nearly 39,000 homes statewide entered bank owned listings, including almost 6,000 units repossessed in June. A substantial percentage of these were Maricopa properties that include Mesa repo homes for sale.

Low prices, accessibility to Phoenix and economic growth are the major reasons why people are buying Tucson repo homes for sale.

Scottsdale repo homes for sale still accounted for a significant portion of the total homes sold and the total inventory for sale at the end of May, based on figures released by realtors analyzing the Arizona Multiple Listing Service.

Buying Tucson repo homes while they still abound and while they are still priced affordably is a smart decision.

Finding foreclosure properties in Arizona is never too hard as the state has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Many first-time buyers flocked to the state but they seek properties in the low-end price spectrum.

You can buy a repo home for sale under the Fannie Mae lease purchase program while you are still building up your credit record and saving up for your payments.

Home prices in the Phoenix metro area may have reached bottom, according to real estate analysts in the area. They based their analysis on the three-month stability of home price levels after consecutive declines of 27 months.

The pace of foreclosed houses for sale slowed in Phoenix in July compared to June sales, pushing down total home sales, based on data from a real estate research company.