Here is a link to an article with more information about buying a retirement home.

Retiree Havens Offering Good Buys.

For more information:

Freddie Mac Launches Winter REO Sale.

• You should look at homes in the right price range.  You may end up disappointed and frustrated if you start by looking at homes that cost $150,000 and find out that you can get a loan for $120,000.  By looking at the correct price range in the beginning your home search will go more quickly and smoothly.
• Not all homes can be purchased with all loans.  A good example of this is FHA loans which a lot of first time home buyers use.  The advantage to these is that they have a lower downpayment than conventional loans and you can negotiate to have the seller help pay some of your closing costs.  However, homes that need a lot of work will not qualify for an FHA loan.  Also, for condominums, the community must qualify for FHA approval.
• Talking with a lender at the beginning will also let you know if you need to save up additional money for a down payment or build/repair your credit history prior to starting your home search.

So talk with your lender first.  Then tell your real estate agent what type of loan that you plan to get and the price range of homes you want to consider.  If you don’t have a lender, your real estate should be able to give you names of lenders he has worked with in the past that have done a good job.

Sign up for a free Listingbook account and you can easily:

• Search the Multiple Listing Service, MLS, for homes anywhere in the East Valley (MLS data is updated every half an hour)
• Save the homes you like and they will be there every time you login
• Get notifications of new listings and price reductions
• Adjust your home search criteria at any time
• Easily notify us of homes that you would like to see and arrange a showing appointment

You can search for homes for sale anywhere in the Greater Phoenix area including:  Apache Junction, Awahtukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, and Tempe.

Sign up for your Free Listing Book Account.

According to the Daily Real Estate News, the IRS is experencing higher than normal the number of amended returns and that the IRS does these returns by hand, hence long delays.

We can expect delays to continue and maybe get worse, since the tax credit has been extended and includes home owners now.

Gilbert used to be the town that was way out there. Past the highways, past the malls, past the paved roads. It was synonymous with ‘Day Trip’. Not today. Now you can get on the Superstition (US 60) or the 202 and get anywhere in Gilbert in minutes. Plus, you have the option of the old downtown, the newer Gilbert Town Square or SanTan Village for shopping and dining.

 You can visit the Raparian Preserve and see an assortment of birds and waterfowl. Go to Freestone Park and ride the train, play softball or workout in the city gym. Explore  the canal trail system on foot or by horseback. You can even learn about Gilbert at  the Gilbert Historical Museum for fun. You can enjoy an evening at the Hale Theatre (pictured above) or playing softball at Big League Dreams.

Gilbert is southeast of Phoenix and Tempe. It borders Chandler and Mesa and being the fastest growing city in Arizona it will soon have over 200,000 residents. There’s not a lot of industry, so much of the employment is office and retail in nature. The city was know as the ‘hay capitol of the world’ in the early part of the 20th century and still has farms and ranches to the south and east.

Are you wiring earnest money from Canada or anywhere outside the USA to open escrow on real estate?

Add the international transfer fee and ask the bank if there’s any other fees to be added.  For transfers from Canada, the fee we have seen is $10.00.

Your banker may not tell you this and you’ll be short on the needed money.  This means that you will then need to wire or send the short fall.  Worst case – this can cause you to be in default and the contract could be cancelled.