Arizona Investor News Over The Weekend

In case you headed out of the office early on Friday and/or didn't keep up with your Phoenix real estate RSS feed over the weekend (subscribe to ours), you might find these local articles interesting.

• Phoenix Business Journal - 8/28: Foreclosure Home Sale Rates Drop As Resales Show Slight Decline
• Arizona Republic - 8/28: Resales Still Robust As Foreclosures Power Buys
• Az Rep Real Estate Reporter Catherine Reagor's blog on azcentral - 8/28: Foreclosure Homes Fall In Phoenix, Are Lenders Holding Onto The Homes?
• East Valley Tribune - 8/28: Flippers Returning To East Valley Housing Market
• ASU's Realty Studies program even released new info on foreclosures - read it here
• Arizona Republic - 8/30: Rentable Housing Numbers Vex Cities

Have a great Monday!

HomeLovers on Twitter

HomeLovers is now on Twitter - tweeting about local Arizona real estate, property management and real estate investor news, and sharing expertise and options.

Follow us at @azhomelovers today!

Arizona Real Estate News Feed

Ever notice the "Google Alerts" box on the right-hand page of our blog? It is an RSS news feed with the latest residential real estate news happening in Arizona.

(What is an RSS feed? Here is a great post explaining it from one of my favorite blogs, ProBlogger by Darren Rowse.)

We monitor breaking news all over the internet for search terms like "Arizona housing", "Arizona foreclosures" and more to be sure we are on top of our market, including both local and national business and trade publications.

We would like to share it with you - just check it out when you read new postings. You can also bookmark the RSS feed page itself to see the full listings, instead of just the five latest headlines.

10 Questions To Always Ask A Prospective Property Mgmt Firm

When looking at property management companies, there are a handful of questions that savvy real estate investors should ALWAYS ask.

It helps you weed out those agencies that charge "junk fees" and don't have the experience to make sure your real estate portfolio is consistently profitable - whether you have one investment home or a dozen.

According to HomeLovers property management expert Noel Pulanco, these are the areas critical to address during the selection process:

1. What area do you specialize in?
2. What types of properties?
3. What services do/don't you offer?
4. Who handles maintenance?
5. How do you qualify tenants?
6. What types of tenants do you look for?
7. How do you handle non-paying tenants?
8. How did you advertise?
9. How long to rent a home?
10. How/when do owners get paid?

Detail on each of these ten questions coming soon from HomeLovers, one of Arizona's fastest growing property management companies. Stay tuned! We want to help you stay profitable with your real estate investments.

Can't wait and want more information now? Contact Noel at Noel@HomeLovers.com or (602) 792-5324 for a little advice over the phone. It's free.

USA Today - Home sellers frustrated as short sale deals collapse

USA Today recently ran an interesting article on how home sellers are increasingly frustrated as short sale deals collapse - often months into the deal when potential buyers walk away due to lengthy delays. Read the article here.

The author wisely points out that the banks are only part of the problem. Buyers/sellers can’t do much about the banks, but they have total control over the agents they choose.

Now, more than ever, it is critical to choose your experts wisely. Way too often, we see first-time buyers and real estate investors alike being assisted by agents who don’t have enough experience to make the process smooth.

For buyers looking to get a deal on their next personal residence, this will lead to lost deals, frustration and wasted time. Many buyers are putting their moves and future plans into the hands of agents who simply lack the knowledge to get the job done.

For real estate investors, this is an even bigger problem. The inexperienced agents are recommending properties that we would never suggest as an investment. There are great deals out there in virtually every price range, and a short sale can be a great way to get into the perfect property at a nice price. We just caution new homeowners and investors alike to start with the best expert they can find… then shop for the best possible properties… and THEN look for the best deals in the properties they know will work.

If you are going to go through the hassle of a short sale, you want to make sure the home you end up owning is a prize worth winning.

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Bio - Dave Zundel

Meet Dave Zundel
Co-founder, Real Estate Investor

To take the model of a drastically improved property management firm from an idea to fruition, Dave Zundel and Mike Sargent partnered in early 2008 to build HomeLovers, an Arizona-based property management company that specializes in residential rental properties including purchasing and managing rental property to building and growing a robust, profitable investment portfolio.

Dave's Experience
Dave Zundel has been building businesses for over 20 years, including hands-on consulting work with the owners of nearly 200 companies.

Recently, his experience allowed him to redefine residential property management and implement new levels of efficiency for a local Phoenix real estate investment and property management company, resulting in aggressive growth from 300 homes under management to nearly 2000 homes - almost a 600% increase. With a focus on numbers, Dave created tools to assist investors with avoiding purchasing mistakes, maximizing ROI and attracting ideal tenants.

In the same time frame, Dave accumulated a personal portfolio worth over $3 million that included 15 single family homes.

At age 40, Dave retired from his position as CEO to focus on his personal real estate investments. After three years in retirement, Dave could no longer resist the lure of reentering the business world. In looking at all the different types of businesses he had worked with over the years, none had more appeal to him than property management. With the luxury of hindsight, Dave was able to reflect on things that had created challenges and unhappy clients.

After nurturing the idea for several months and launching a joint partnership with Mike Sargent, a dramatically improved property management model evolved.

Today, HomeLovers is one of Arizona's fastest growing home rental and property management companies.

Read Dave's articles on the blog
Join Dave on Facebook

Phoenix Foreclosure Sweet Spot

According to MSN, Phoenix is still one of the top three leading destinations, regardless of all the marketplace grumbling. Read the article: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=19873357&gt1=35000

In spite of all the stress in the economy, people on the move are still coming to Phoenix. This steady growth in population over time is fueling our recovery and contributing to the rapidly shrinking inventory of homes for sale.

While many other cities in the country are still affecting the headlines and promoting a national sense of crisis in real estate, Phoenix is well on its way to a stable market with healthy sustainable growth.

Many of these families flowing into Phoenix are coming from areas of the country where unemployment is high and opportunities tight. The demand for great rental properties is growing fast.

We are working daily with increasingly savvy investors who know the sweet spot in Phoenix is homes for middle-upper middle income families, NOT the cheapest home in the most distressed neighborhood.

Interested in learning more? Read our blog article on "Getting a great deal on an Arizona foreclosure" or yesterday's press release on major pitfalls during today's foreclosure buying frenzy.

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