At the sake of dating myself take a listen to one of the first “rock” songs I liked when I was young. I really like visiting Wolfgang’s vault from time to time to hear some of the classics!
This version was recorded live in 1977. I think the song came out closer to the early 70’s. Let me know if you remember this song and feel free to give me requests and I’ll track them down.
I had the pleasure of working with a great couple from Michigan that is looking for a “winter” home here in Arizona last week. Anne flew in for 2 weeks to look at homes and to find just the right spot to spend their winters and hopefully some day move here permanently.
We looked at several communities but it came down to Trilogy at Vistancia and Sun City Festival. I have to say these are both great choices for people desiring an active adult community with style. The communities are still growing so the pricing is low and the choices are high. Neither of the areas have a lot of resale’s, mostly because of their age and partly because the builders are offering rock bottom pricing.
Anne settled in on Sun City Festival and will be closing escrow the middle of July. Part of the reasoning behind the choice was the pricing and partly because of the floor plans offered. Both communities offer fantastic views, exercise centers, indoor and outdoor pools, a golf course in the neighborhood and awesome country club style community centers.
Are you thinking about a second or retirement home? If so you’ll have a lot to choose from in the west valley right now. Pricing on homes in the Sun Cities start around $150,000 and can go as high as $700,000. When you’re ready to start looking, let me know and I would be happy to send out information on all the communities and help you dig-out the last dollars (builders don’t tell you about) and ensure you get the right home and the right price.
This morning the Pending Home Sales Report (Click for more details) blew away all expectations. The experts were banking on the report indicating a -1% drop in activity when in fact the report showed a 6.3% increase! This report is a leading indicator for existing home sales and can serve as a strong economic indicator.
On Monday the 7th RE/MAX Integrity had their annual golf outing at Arrowhead Country Club in Glendale, Arizona. Every year for the last 16 years they’ve had this outing and even in these tough times for agents over 94 golfers played. In the past they usually sell out around 140 golfers so this year was not up to par (pun intended) with other years.
The benefactor for this outing is the Children’s Miracle Network and specifically the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. We were blessed to have a young survivor from a major illness that is now around 10 years old. This little girl sang a song near and dear to her heart, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. What a beautiful voice and I just know someday we’ll see her on American Idol, if the show lasts that long.
So we spent 5 hours in the beautiful Arizona sun, temps in the mid 80’s and played a fantastic course at the Arrowhead Country Club. The best part is we raised over $9,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network. All this from an outing put on by one company, which makes me proud to be part of RE/MAX integrity!
As we know not all companies are created equal and the one you choose to help improve your score is very important. One thing I know for sure is most of us do not understand our scores or how they can be repaired. Recently I’ve formed an alliance with a company that does credit score repair and I have to say they do it right and for a reasonable amount of money. If you would like their information please contact me directly.
Did you know that if you pay off a collection from 3 or more years ago, you can actually hurt your credit score? Doesn’t seem to make sense does it? The reason behind this is the majority of your score is calculated on the last 24 months and when you make that payoff you update the collection and now it shows active in the last 24 months thus lowering your score. Usually at the worst time…when you are getting approved for a loan.
Instead you should make this a condition at closing. This allows you to make the payoff at closing after the loan has been approved based on the credit score at that time. Now of course the payoff will still hurt your score but you’ve already closed on the new home.
How about credit card limits? At what point does it make sense to keep credit cards opened and with a balance? Most companies agree that anything over 75% of your limit will lower your score but at what point does it help? Most say just getting your revolving balances under 50% can increase your score by 60 points within a few months. Those points can make a difference between getting the home of your dreams or not. If nothing else it could force you to accept a higher interest rate.
When it comes to buying and selling real estate there are many techniques that you can do to actually hurt your chances and many things I can help you overcome. This is why it’s so important to use the services of a competent REALTOR and loan officer.
For more on how to improve your credit score please email me at Jay@ValleyREAdvisor.com and I’d be happy to send you a detailed list of items that will help.
