Real Estate Investing 101

How To Find Crime Statistics For Phoenix Arizona

We are often asked how a homeowner or real estate investor can look up and find the crime stats for different neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona. Fortunately, the Phoenix Police Department has a nifty web site that will give you lots of information. Below is a summary of how to use this site.

Begin by going to the Phoenix crime statistics web site by using this link. Click on the "View Crime Statistics" button. You will go to a "Choose Analysis Level" page. We usually scroll to the bottom and choose the "Grid" analysis button. Now click "continue."

On the next page you can choose a date range or data for the current year. Make your choice and hit the "continue button."

The next screen is a large grid map. If you want to go directly to this grid map, we have a link to it here. The stats from this link are for the current year only. Looking at the large grid map, determine the general area you are interested in investigating. When you click on that zone you will be taken to a more detailed grid.

The detailed grid is a little tough to navigate. We use a Thomas Brother map or detailed Google map to compare to the web site's map. Find the grid that matches your search area and click. You can also click on neighboring grids, up to 10 of them, to get a broader picture of the area.

Once you have selected your grids, go back to the top of the page and select "Next." This action will take you to the results page where you can review and print the information. Below is a sample of the results page showing the type of information available.

 

If you need crime stats for other cities, contact the city's police department for information. Not all cities have a cool web site like Phoenix's.

We believe viewing crime stats is a prudent part of any home buyers due diligence and highly recommend it.

Best to you and thank you for being a regular reader of Real Estate Investing 101. Come back often as we continually add new content.

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

We're brothers, you'll feel like family.

Landlords... Do You Know Your Fair Housing Law? Violations are a serious offense.

We just attended a fair housingseminar our brokerage sponsored. It reminded us that we have not talked about this on Real Estate Investing 101. Our bad.

The fair housing act was signed into law by President Johnson back in 1968 and has been amended a few times since. Fundamentally, the law prohibits discrimination against people buying, selling, renting and financing housing based on a number of criteria. We will be focusing on the rental side of the law in Arizona, however, Fair Housing is a Federal Act and applies to all States.

The Arizona Attorney General's office oversees violations to the Fair Housing Act. Below is a summary of the Act and some of the considerations a landlord needs to understand.

When based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status or disability, the following actions by housing providers or professionals are prohibited under the Fair Housing Act:

• Refusing to show, rent or sell a house, lot, or apartment.
• Refusing to negotiate the rental or sale of a house, lot, or apartment.
• Charging more to buy or rent a house, lot, or apartment.
• Requesting a larger security deposit.
• Telling a person that the property is no longer for sale or rent when it really is.
• Advertising that a certain type of person is wanted to sell or rent the property.
• Denying services that are available to others.
• Insisting that a family live in a designated area.
• Denying access or use of the facility or service that is normally available with occupancy of a property.
• Telling owners or renters to move because the neighborhood is being integrated by minorities.
• Suggesting that a person move to a specific area or property.
• Refusing to permit reasonable accommodations for assistive aides, assistive animals, parking, or physical modifications to existing properties.
• Failing or refusing to provide wheelchair accessible housing in new construction of multifamily dwellings (i.e., accessible environmental controls, accessible routes into and through the dwelling, usable bathrooms, etc.).
• Engaging in retaliation or intimidation against a person who complains about housing discrimination.
• Harassment such as racial and sexual slurs or threats.

As you can see, there are a number of ways a landlord can violate fair housing and this list is just the beginning. A.G. Goddard says most violation are due to ignorance of the law or simply not understanding its applications. We recommend landlords take continuing education classes to better understand the law and learn about specific case studies.

In Arizona, housing providers who would like to attend a free training on the Fair Housing Act and their responsibilities and rights under the law may contact Joy Johnson, Fair Housing and Technical Assistance Coordinator, (602) 771-1026. Other States offer similar courses for your edification.

Failure to comply with fair housing laws can come with stiff penalties. Below is a partial list:

• Civil Action fines up to $11,500 for the first offense and up to $50,000 for repeated offenses
• Unlimited punitive damages if the case proceeds to federal court
• Compensation for actual damages, including humiliation, mental distress, and loss of housing opportunities.
  

We've included a link to the HUD web site page on the Fair Housing Act for your reading pleasure.

Happy studying...

Ron Urban & Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Don't forget to take a look at our sister site, Urban Life, where we focus on downtown and central Phoenix.

The above information is provided as educational and does not constitute legal advise. Legal questions should always be addressed to a qualified legal professional.

Short Sale Real Estate ... How long does it take to buy or sell a short sale home?

BREAKING NEWS: The Urban Team has launched a site dedicated to short sales. We have the latest news and information for those needing to know more about short sales in the Phoenix area. Go to www.short-sale-phoenix.com.

We get asked a lot of questions about short sale buying and selling. The most common question is: "How long does it takes to complete the transaction?"

We recently posted an answer to this question on our sister site, Urban Life. In this article we provide a lot of information about the short sale process and a look at the time line to complete a sale in the Phoenix, Arizona market. Just go to Urban Life to learn how long it takes to buy or sell a short sale home in Arizona.

Have a great weekend.

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Urban Team Hosts Sucessful Real Estate Investor Seminar & Discussion

Just a quick post on last night's Arizona residential real estate investor panel discussion. First, let us thank all those who came to the gathering. It wasn't a huge crowd, just the right number to have valuable discourse.

Gene Urban led things off with an update on the Greater Phoenix residential real estate market. The focus was on REOs and short sales. The fundamental market shift has been diminishing bank-owned listings with  a rise in short sale listings and actual closed transactions.

If you've read our blogs for a while, you know we have not been big fans of short sales. The odds of closing escrow have been pretty miserable and there are a lot of variables. That said, we are looking at them a bit more favorably. Many of the banks have finally gotten their act together on short sale transactions and more are closing escrow. There are still a lot of loose ends and concerns,  but the odds of closing escrow are much better and may be worth the hassle.

The stats on closed short sale transactions for the Greater Phoenix market are very interesting. During the first three months of 2009 only 1527 short sales made it through the bumpy process to completion. However, this past month, July 2009,  1304 short sales were reported "Sold" on ARMLS... that's a big performance shift.

Next up on the panel was Jennifer Ridenour, a ten year veteran of property management. She talked about the current state of the rental market. Her main topics were tenant acquisition and retention.

One area of concern is amateur landlords who are taking tenants without background checks and waiving part or all deposits. This puts a lot of pressure on the pros who have learned better. Oh well... the times are a changing. She recommends continuing tenant screening and perhaps be more open to tenants whose credit issues are primarily foreclosure related.

Tenant retention was another topic. Landlords are having to be more accommodating than in times past. A little honey helps keep happy tenants. We wrote a blog post on this topic a few weeks back you may want to take a look at...how to reduce vacancy rates on rental properties. 

Judy Giel with MetLife Home Loans was next up and talked about changes in lending practices. The focus of her talk was on condo loans. Last March Fannie Mae changed the loan guild lines on condos and FHA has fallen in with the tougher standards. The most problematic area has to do with HOA's. Fannie Mae won't buy loans on condos where over 15% of the homeowners in a complex are behind on HOA dues. As you can imagine, a lot of properties have more than 15% of the home owners behind on their dues.

Judy's take on the condo market is that loan aquisition will continue to  be difficult, resulting in a softening of condo sector. Cash investors may be able to pick up some incredible deals in Q4 2009 and into 2010. She advises very strong due-dilligence on HOAs.

The evening ended with a general Q & A session. A lot of good questions and answers where shared.

Best to you our loyal readers... we appreciate the time you spend with us.

Ron Urban & Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Short Sales Can Come With Surprises... HOA fees, Back Taxes, Mechanics Leins

Short sales are one of the many sales vehicles investors use to purchase residential real estate. Unlike traditional transactions, short sales have unique problems and variables. We contacted a number of short sale specialists to better understand some of the issues that can arise for the investor/buyer. Below is a list of the predominant concerns the experts voiced.

THE PURCHASE OFFER: Shorts sale purchases come with a number of special addendum. The property is generally offered in AS IS condition as well as being a short sale. Addendum to the contract for these special circumstances are generally required. Most banks have additional special addendum the buyer will be expected to execute. Experts say that many offers are rejected because all the required documents are not included in the original offer package. Make sure all the required addendum and documents are included at the time you make your offer.

HOA FEES: Unpaid HOA fees are often an issue at COE. Homeowners tend to stop making their HOA payments, thus accumulating late fees and penalties in addition to the unpaid dues. Most banks are refusing to contribute to this deficiency. The burden is placed either the homeowner or the potential buyer. We advise short sale buyers to be aware of this possibility when buying a home that resides in an HOA and expect to be asked for a contribution. It may not happen but it is better to be prepared.

PROPERTY TAXES: As with unpaid HOA dues, property taxes must be brought up to date in order to close escrow in most transactions. Buyers should be aware that some banks feel it is the responsibly of the home seller to bring these current. If that homeowner/seller does not have the funds, you may need to participate in order to complete the transaction.

DEFICIENCY: If you are buying a short sale, know the bank may require the seller to sign a note for the deficiency amount; This occurs most often if the home is 2nd home or investment property or if the 2nd lien is a home equity line of credit.  This can be a last minute deal killer.

THE REAL ESTATE AGENT: The listing agent for a short sale is a very important player. Make sure they know what they are doing and have had success in closing short sale transactions. Good negotiation skills, knowledge of the players and keen record keeping are needed skills.

TIME TO CLOSE ESCROW:   Short sales, on an average, take a longer period of time to close escrow than most transactions. We reviewed 300 closed short sale deals in the Greater Phoenix market and found it took the average transaction 100 days to complete; This was the average and many took much longer.

CYA STATEMENT: The aforementioned items do not constitute all the possible concerns and problems one can experience during a short sale transaction. Please seek the advise of your real estate agent/broker and legal counsel during a real estate transaction.

We hope this has been of help and please feel free to contact us with additional questions and concerns. Be advised that our expertise lies in the Greater Phoenix Arizona region and may not be applicable to other states and countries.

If you would like to search the short sale and bank-owned home market in the Greater Phoenix area, please give our always up-to-date search tool below a try. Everyone says it is the best!!

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

What To Do With Personal Property Abandoned By a Tenant... ARS 33-1370

The question of what to do with property left behind by a tenant comes up pretty often. ARS 33-1370 of the Arizona Residential Landlord Tenant Law is quite specific. A wise landlord should know this legislation and follow it fully. We've provided the step by step procedures outlined in this legislation for your review.

If you have specific questions, we advise you contact an attorney who specialized in landlord/tenant law or send us an email and we'll have it reviewed by one of our legal friends.  Happy reading.

ARS 33-1370
D. After the landlord has retaken possession of the dwelling unit, the landlord may store the tenant's personal possessions in the unoccupied dwelling unit that was abandoned by the tenant, in any other available unit or any storage space owned by the landlord or off the premises if a dwelling unit or storage space is not available. The landlord shall notify the tenant of the location of the personal property in the same manner prescribed in subsection A of this section. E. The landlord shall hold the tenant's personal property for a period of ten days after the landlord's declaration of abandonment. The landlord shall use reasonable care in holding the tenant's personal property. If the landlord holds the property for this period and the tenant makes no reasonable effort to recover it, the landlord may sell the property, retain the proceeds and apply them toward the tenant's outstanding rent or other costs which are covered in the lease agreement or otherwise provided for in title 33, chapter 10 or title 12, chapter 8 and have been incurred by the landlord due to the tenant's abandonment. Any excess proceeds shall be mailed to the tenant at the tenant's last known address. A tenant does not have any right of access to that property until the actual removal and storage costs have been paid in full, except that the tenant may obtain clothing and the tools, apparatus and books of a trade or profession and any identification or financial documents, including all those related to the tenant's immigration status, employment status, public assistance or medical care. If provided by a written rental agreement, the landlord may destroy or otherwise dispose of some or all of the property if the landlord reasonably determines that the value of the property is so low that the cost of moving, storage and conducting a public sale exceeds the amount that would be realized from the sale. F. For a period of twelve months after the sale the landlord shall: 1. Keep adequate records of the outstanding and unpaid rent and the sale of the tenant's personal property. 2. Hold any excess proceeds which have been returned as undeliverable for the benefit of the tenant. G. If the tenant notifies the landlord in writing on or before the date the landlord sells or otherwise disposes of the personal property that the tenant intends to remove the personal property from the dwelling unit or the place of safekeeping, the tenant has five days to reclaim the personal property. To reclaim the personal property the tenant must only pay the landlord for the cost of removal and storage for the period the tenant's personal property remained in the landlord's safekeeping.

H. In this section "abandonment" means either the absence of the tenant from the dwelling unit, without notice to the landlord for at least seven days, if rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for ten days and there is no reasonable evidence other than the presence of the tenant's personal property that the tenant is occupying the residence or the absence of the tenant for at least five days, if the rent for the dwelling unit is outstanding and unpaid for five days and none of the tenant's personal property is in the dwelling unit.

Once again, we hope this helps you be a more successful landlord.

Ron Urban & Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives