Award Winning Burkhardt Team to hold Open House Saturday OCT.30 11AM - 2PM

We will be holding an Open House at this great property in the Golf course subdivision of Coldwater Springs in Avondale, AZ. This is a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house in move in condition. The carpets have been replaced and the interior was professionally painted from top to bottom. This is also a great opportunity to talk with our award winning agent to get all the right answers on buying or selling a home. If you can't make the open house we are always available for a private showing on this or any other MLS home. Hope to see you there.



The Burkhardt Team

This Month in Real Estate

This is a quick and informational video on residential real estate across the nation for month of October.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5QaG60QgUU
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.

Buying Real Estate with Reverse Mortgages

Reverse Mortgages have been around for many years and are misunderstood more than other options of borrowing money. In today's market had many people purchased their homes with a reverse mortgage the property would be upside down however there would be know concerns to the owner and the banks wouldn't be foreclosing or bothering the homeowner either. The mortgage is given to the purchaser that has approximately 50% down and the bank allows the resident to live there until they pass on to the ever after. Then the bank reconciles the balance and if there is equity that gets passed to the surviving heirs. If there is no equity the bank takes what they can get and has insurance to cover the short. This can be used to pull equity from a home if the owners need extra income in their later years. We see some retiree's using this product so they can buy a larger home than they could if they wanted to pay in full. The reverse mortgage allows you to pay roughly 50% down and not have any payments for the rest of your life. This allows people that were going to buy a $200,000 home to buy a $400,000 home and have the home they could only dream off without the reverse mortgage. If the mortgage is used with thought into the big picture it can be a very good tool in home financing. We would recommend talking with an estate planner to see if this could be a good fit for your circumstances. As we know all our circumstances are not the same.
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.

OPEN HOUSE Saturday OCT. 23 11AM - 2PM

Come out and checkout a great property http://www.flexmls.com/link.html?rmpd95dz78r,12 in the award winning community of PebbleCreek in Goodyear, AZ. (See favorite websites on the right of this blog - Robson Active Adult Living) The Burkhardt Team will be having an open house at this beautiful property this weekend on Saturday Oct. 23 from 11AM to 2PM. We will leave directions with the gate attendant. This gives you the opportunity to look at a very nice residence and also talk directly with our fantastic buyers agent. We are always more than happy to show other properties available after the open house or we can set up an appointment for another time that is more convenient for you. We can always consult with you on the marketing of your property also.
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.

Interest Rates at 20 Year Low!!!!!! Residential Housing lowest in Years!!!! GREAT TIME TO PURCHASE YOUR DREAM HOME!!

If you are looking to purchase or refinance real estate now is quite possibly the best time in decades. Go to this link http://www.mcimageserver.com/charts/2010_10_20/646__.pdf and you can see just how low interest rates are in relation to what has been out there in the last 20 years. Can it get better? Possibly it could get better but, it could go the other way just like all markets the interest rates can go back up. My question would be if interest rates are the lowest they have been in decades and residential housing is as cheap as it has been in close to a decade, what are you waiting for? Now get out there and talk to a mortgage broker and see what you are qualified for and contact a great realtor (yours truly for example) and find the home that you could only dream of just a few years ago. If you wait for somebody to tell you this is definitely the bottom you have already missed it and may already not be able to purchase the home of your dreams.
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.

Seven Reasons Why to Buy NOW!!!!!!

Please click on the link http://images.kw.com/kw/user_uploads/7ReasonsWhytoBuyNow.pdf to see 7 really good reasons to buy now rather than waiting.

Short Sale FAQ's

Short Sale Question and Answers

1. What is a short sale?

a. A short sale, or short payoff, occurs when a lienholder (bank) agrees to accept less than what is owed on the property in exchange for releasing the lien and satisfying the debt.

                                                

2. Why would a bank accept less than what is owed to them?

a. The banking industry is too complicated to explain in one paragraph, but the biggest reason   for granting a short sale is that it may be better for them than letting a home go through foreclosure. The entire foreclosure process can be extremely expensive for a bank, and at the end of the day, the home will still sell for much less than the amount owed. Granting short sales allows them to bypass most of this process and net more from the sale.

3. How do I know if a short sale is right for me?

a. Speak to professionals:

i. Real Estate Attorney – within a 30 minute consultation, a good real estate attorney can determine if you should try a loan modification, short sale, bankruptcy, deed-in-lieu, or foreclosure.

ii. Tax Attorney – many offer a free consultation over the phone to determine if you’ll have any

tax liability.

iii. Your lender - If you desire to stay in the home and simply need interest rate reduced (due to an ARM adjustment), loan modification directly through your lender may be the best choice.

4. How do I know if I qualify for a short sale?

a. Link Consulting provides a homeowner’s package with various forms to fill out (including a

financial analysis). This package is submitted to your lender(s) for approval. It is very similar to

applying for a mortgage…only in reverse. There must be evidence of a hardship. This may not

necessarily be a financial hardship in the traditional sense. It could stem from medical issues,

family reasons or military reassignments.

5. Will I have any out-of-pocket expenses?

a. The bank will pay your closing costs as well as your Realtor’s commissions. We do ask, however, that you pay your HOA dues and keep the electric and water on at the property. Per the Arizona Purchase Contract, it is required that these utilities be kept on so that the buyer may perform their inspections.

b. If you have a HELOC (home equity line of credit) or Mortgage Insurance, you may be asked to pay a settlement fee or sign a Promissory Note at closing. Depending on the amount owed, this could be anything from a $3000 total payoff or $20,000 paid over 10 years at 0% interest.

It all depends on the lender and the circumstances. Some HELOCs will not discuss your options with you until after the sale has closed. HELOCs are not considered second mortgages under these circumstances, and they do reserve the right to file a deficiency judgment against you EVEN if they agree to a short sale.

c. If you have a second mortgage that was refinanced at any point, and you did a “cash-out” option, this may not be protected against a deficiency judgment.

6. How will my home be marketed?

a. The same way it would if it were not being short sold…only all marketing materials must disclose that “all terms of offers are subject to lender approval.” Many sellers prefer a more discreet approach, and we are happy to leave the sign out of the yard.

7. My Realtor put my home on the market. Now what?

a. Agents will show prospective buyers your home, and we wait for an offer to come in from one of them. We try to price within the bottom 10% of the active listings to get plenty of activity and receive an offer within the first 30 days on market.

8. What will happen after we receive an offer?

a. The offer is submitted to the bank along with supporting documentation from your broker.   The “loss mitigator” is our point of contact during the entire process. He or she will review the package in its entirety before ordering a BPO (Broker Pricing Opinion). This BPO is similar to an appraisal and will require a third-party agent to come to your house and take photos of every room…even the garage. They will then create a report for the bank that reveals the current value of the home.

9. What are the consequences of doing a short sale?

a. Your credit WILL BE impacted. Some banks will report that it was “satisfied in full” while others may say that it was “settled for less than owed.” We have no control over how the bank reports the sale. The number of late payments accounts for the majority of the lost credit points. It may be in your best interest, whenever possible, to continue making payments on your home.

b. You will receive a 1099-C at the end of the year showing that you made extra income. This extra income is the amount that the bank was shorted, or the deficiency. For example, if you owed $250,000 on your home and you short sold it for $150,000, you will receive a 1099-C at the end of the    year stating you made $100,000. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act will protect many sellers in a short sale situation and make them exempt from paying the taxes on the deficiency. An IRS 982 form should take care of the remaining situations. Individual circumstances do vary, and we recommend that you speak to a tax attorney to see if you will qualify for this exemption or any others.

c. Although Arizona has anti-deficiency laws in place for homes that are foreclosed on, these same laws may not apply to all short sale situations. For this reason, my processor and I request that the bank puts in writing that they will “release the lien AND SATISFY THE DEBT.” Please understand that they may not agree. HELOCs (Home Equity Lines of Credit) will not put this verbiage into their approval letters because, in most cases, they can ALWAYS come after you     if they so choose…even if your home forecloses.

10. How do I get started?

a. Request a short sale package. Some are bank specific, so be sure to provide your agent with  all of your loan information as well as an authorization form that allows them to speak to the bank on your behalf.

b. We ask that you reduce communication with your bank after the short sale process is started. We will work directly with the loss mitigation department and discussions with other departments may hinder our efforts. If we need you to speak to the bank, we’ll let you know.

c. Sit back, relax, and let the professionals handle the details for you.

Short Sales change daily!

Please contact The Burkhardt Team for the most updated information

Foreclosure Stoppage? Could it be the fix?

The banks and government just can't seem to do anything without creating a more challenging set of circumstances. First they create the housing bubble by giving credit to anybody with a pulse and I am not sure this was a requirement. Then they tighten credit so that even the best borrowers can't get credit. Then they design a modification system that will hardly benefit the borrowers. Then they get in the way of short selling of the homes. Finally they are accused of falsifying documents and forging signatures. I would have to say we have certainly proved to the rest of the world we can only be trusted to do whatever we want to at any given time as long as we don't think anybody is watching or paying attention. I know I sleep better at night knowing the place that keeps my money can't be trusted to do the smart or correct thing. Well they might have messed this up enough now that we see a silver lining in this debacle.
If the government stops the foreclosure process and forces the banks to reexamine their processes and it takes them long enough, which shouldn't be a problem. The inventory may slow from coming on the market causing the prices to go up. It may also cause the banks to get serious about allowing the short sale process to work creating less foreclosures.
This buys some of the people out here more time to talk to a real estate attorney and CPA to see if the short sale process is a better avenue then the foreclosure. It almost always is and it may be a little more work buy it does allow you the homeowner some control of how it will effect you. There are attorneys and CPA's that will do a consult for a minimal charge, some as low as $50. A professional real estate agent can help you find a qualified real estate attorney and CPA and also help you through the process. The real estate professional should be paid by the banks when the process is complete so there should not be a charge to the homeowner for selling the house. Some agents will ask for a retainer upfront for their services and I guess I would continue to look for another realtor because there are many excellent short sale professional Realtors out there that will not charge a retainer or if they do it is refundable unless the homeowner quits the process before the process is able to be completed, otherwise this would be refunded at closing.
The sceptics say all this is going to do is slow the recovery but I think we might not be as smart as we think we are and this could be just what we need. Less intervention and some time for the market to cure it self.
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.

Honey, It has a resort back yard!!!

Traditional Sale:
4 Bedroom/2 Bath family home with family room, formal dining and living room. 4th bedroom could be used for den with double doors and tile floor. This is a must see!!!!

Real Estate Today.

Many people out here have no idea what is happening in the residential real estate market today. For the first time in many of our lives we found out that the housing market is just that a market. Houses can go down in value too. Even our government and banks seemed to forget that there is a reason it is called the housing market. The prudent thing is to purchase a home in the neighborhood that you want to live or raise your family in and to plan on being in that home for at least 5 yrs or like any other investment you should probably not be in the market. We now have went from people buying any house they could find to I would prefer to rent. Nobody can call the bottom with complete accuracy but we have fallen more than 50% in most Phoenix markets so we have to be closer to the bottom than the top. We also have record low interest rates at the exact time that the market is down. This is probably the best time in your lives to be buying that home you would have died for just a few short years ago and in some cases you can live there for less than you pay for rent.
 For those that have secure jobs and extra savings this is also a good time to be looking at investing in income property. There are a lot of single family homes that will have positive cash flow even after paying a management company to handle the day to day things. We see investors coming in and buying distressed sale houses and renting them out and having returns above 15% without the tax savings and the potential for capital gains. While the banks are paying less than 1% on money market and Wall Street going who knows where this seems to be a pretty good risk. Notice there is RISK in all investments including the current housing markets.
We at the Burkhardt Team would be happy to discuss these topics and more with anybody that is interested and will continue to get you current information and ideas. Please forgive us for any inaccuracy's and feel free to give us topics you would like us to blog on.