Willo Home Tour 2012: More Information

by Foreclosure Financing on February 9, 2012

One of the highlights of the downtown housing areas is the Willo Historic District. It is a popular destination to just drive through and see the homes. The annual 2012 Willo Historic District Home Tour attracts thousands of people each year because of this love affair with cool homes in this awesome downtown Phoenix location.

The Willo home tour is a self guided tour and lets you peek into some of the best houses as well as see the tree lined streets and there are also shuttle busses as well.

There will be 13 homes on the tour and the historic firehouse at 13th and Jewel will also be available for a tour. In addition to touring the homes, there is a LOT of excitement around the Willo street fair that will have food, artisans, music and more. It’s a great way to spend a Sunday.

2012 Willo Home Tour:

Date: Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Time: Tour open 10am-4pm ( pick up will call tickets starting at 9am)
Place: Willo! ( McDowell to Thomas – 1st Ave to 7th Ave
Tickets: You can BUY TICKETS for $15.75 before the tour, $18.00 day of tour
Parking: Free parking at 1st Ave and Holly ( just north of Chateau )

If you don’t already live in downtown Phoenix, here is an idea – TAKE LIGHT RAIL! Just a hunch, but I think it might just make the parking situation slightly better for you and your family.

Here is a video that gives a great overview of what to expect at the Willo home tour:

The Willo home tour is a family friendly way to see plenty of homes in the historic Willo district in a fun way. Maybe that is why many people come back for the Willo home tour year after year!

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Curt Baumgarth: Century 21 Real Estate

by Foreclosure Financing on February 8, 2011

From time to time, we are happy to feature people who live and work in Real Estate along the light rail and today we are proud to feature Curt Baumgarth who is a Realtor with Century 21 and works right here in the Valley.

Curt Baumgarth: With Century 21 in The Phoenix Metro

Sure, the Phoenix metro is a big area, and most Realtors choose to focus and work in a specific area.  Curt has lived and worked in the East Valley for years and can easily be considered a “local” who has local knowledge about the various communities throughout the East Valley that you may want to call home.  Curt Baumgarth works with Century 21 because it is a national brand that people can trust, yet they allow him the flexibility to work with buyers and sellers who can be sure that even when using someone who works with a national company like Century 21, they can still get the care that  boutique real estate firm provides.

Curt Baumgarth: Buyers Agent With Expert Negotiating Skills

When you are buying a home, you want to have someone on your side who can help you not only find the right property that will work for your family, but can also help you get the absolute best price on that property.  Getting the best deal involves being prepared with market knowledge before ever making an offer on a property and then also having the skills to help each side get to a point where a deal happens.

Curt Baumgarth: Short Sale Experience

Property values across the Phoenix metro area have fallen anywhere from 25- 65% in the last few years and many homeowners are in a situation where they currently owe more than their home is worth.  For people who find themselves in this situation, many times it makes the most sense to consider a short sale as an option – and when it comes to short selling a property, Curt Baumgarth is someone with experience to help you every step of the way.

Curt Baumgarth Contact Information

Interested in learning more about Curt or in working with Curt?

Curt Baumgarth

Century 21 All Star Realtors
Real Estate Agent
430 W Warner Rd #122
Tempe, AZ 85284

Curt Baumgarth ‘s profile on Zillow
Curt Baumgarth ‘s profile on Trulia
Curt Baumgarth‘s business card
Curt Baumgarth on Facebook
Curt Baumgarth on Twitter

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VA Loans: Compensating Factors Are Sometimes A Gray Area

by Foreclosure Financing on May 5, 2010

Lately, I have been doing a lot of work around VA Loans and was researching some specific qualification requirements for a recent loan loan scenario. As I was doing this, I confirmed two things: loan requirements are boring and exact. But as I was plodding my way through the pages and pages of VA loan requirements I came across something called “Compensating Factors” which reminded me of something I once heard from an ole mortgage mentor of mine.

He said, “there are ways that things are supposed to be done and then there are the ways that things really get done.” He further explained that as a loan officer if you have a loan applicant that falls outside of “boring and exact” loan requirements, it is up to you to show the underwriter why the loan makes sense – if in fact it makes sense.

I have written a lot of loans for my customers over the years where I have used this coaching, but it has always been up to me to figure out the angle. Now at least as far as Va loans (and as I looked the list – many other mortgage programs) thanks to this section I ran across on Compensating Factors I have some sort of reference point to start from if I need ideas about how to make sense of a loan that falls outside of the “requirement box.”

The “falling outside the requirement box” that I’m talking about is like the Gray Area. I gotta think that most people have heard of the term Gray Area. If you haven’t send me a note and we’ll talk about it. But, for what we’re talking about here – VA Loans – the Gray Area refers to an aspect of a VA loan applicant’s loan application that falls outside of the “boring and exact” mortgage underwriting requirements.

Let’s be real, very few people in life really fit perfectly into a box. Just about everyone I know has something going on – has some story – that makes either their income or credit situation just a little different from the next person. Yet, VA loan underwriting criteria as with all mortgage loan criteria are pretty cut and dry when it comes to what they accept.

Well it seems that the VA is pretty smart as they recognize that people have their “stuff” and have made some allowances for that stuff. Here is a list of the stuff that the VA calls: Compensating Factors which if make sense when presented with a loan application might just lead the applicant to an approval even though they don’t fit perfectly into the loan requirement qualification box.

  • excellent credit history
  • conservative use of consumer credit
  • minimal consumer debt
  • long-term employment
  • significant liquid assets
  • sizable downpayment
  • the existence of equity in refinancing loans
  • little or no increase in shelter expense
  • military benefits
  • satisfactory homeownership experience
  • high residual income
  • low debt to income ratio
  • tax credits for child care, and
  • tax benefits of home ownership.

So, if you are considering looking to buy a home using a VA loan, or any mortgage for that matter and you think that you have to be perfect and fit into a box, remember this list and this article and apply for your mortgage anyway. If it makes sense – you have a good shot at getting the mortgage and your home. What do you have to lose?

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New Mortgage Office In Town

by Foreclosure Financing on February 27, 2010

It isn’t every day that you see a mortgage company opening up a new office in today’s mortgage environment. And it is even more rare that we see a company from Tucson expanding into Phoenix.

But that is just what is happening – and it is a great thing.

Recently, Sunstreet Mortgage announced that they are expanding by opening a Mesa office and one of my friends (and soon to be loan officer extraordinaire) Christoph Schweiger is planning on joining their team.

Christoph will be a great loan officer in my opinion because he has spent so many years in real estate – in fact, he was one of the first Realtors who had a blog here in Arizona. And if you are looking for help with your home financing or to refinance your current home, who better to help you than someone who understands both the financing side as well as the real estate side of the transaction?

In any case, here are a few company highlights that Christoph points out:

  • The three principal partners have over 56 years of originating loans and over 20 years of experience in running a mortgage banking operation
  • The branch has two managers to help their loan officers
  • The company is based in Tucson with branch offices in Nogales, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Was founded by John E. Capp, Sarah J. Roads and Patrick W. Sniezek

They are planning on having a grand opening party, but until they are completely moved in, you can also feel free to stop by for a visit!

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Buying Bank-Owned and Short Sale Homes and the Escrow Process

by Light Rail Real Estate info on November 24, 2009

Part 1 – Bank Owned (REO)

In this series, I’d like to focus on the differences in the title and escrow process for the two most common transactions in today’s market – Bank Owned (REO) and short sales. In Part 1, we will discuss REO (Real Estate Owned) transactions.

The first difference from a traditional escrow is the bank owning the property nearly always directs the transaction to their preferred title company. The banks have negotiated rates and developed relationships with specific companies, and they insist that the escrow be opened with their title company.

Another difference is the contract. More specifically, it’s the addendum that banks add to the purchase contract. A couple of major points addressed are:

  1. The bank details which fees they will or will not pay
  2. The bank insists on final approval before the transaction can record

These changes to the contract are significant and buyers need to be aware of them if purchasing a bank owned property.

Much of the time in these escrows, the title commitment and policy are issued through a national provider, not the local title company. Once again, this is because the banks have negotiated deals with title companies on a national level. This can delay receipt of the title commitment, and it also requires another layer of approval before the transaction can record.

As you can see, needing approval to record from the selling bank and an outside title company can create delays that can push back the close of escrow date. With the high volume of these types of transactions, some requests can take up to 72 hours to process. This is an important consideration when purchasing a bank owned property. For many people, however, the slight delay in closing is well worth the deeply discounted prices many are finding in this market.

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Big thanks to our friend, Bill Risser for writing this “guest post” for us.  Bill is a branch manager for Chicago Title in Gilbert and is a great resource for us. Watch for more posts from Bill in the near future.

To search for bank owned homes near light rail in Phoenix, feel free to contact us any time.

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