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Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Mesa, Arizona Offers Great Lifestyle For The Money, Say Realtors

by Blanche Evans

Low taxes, valley access and beautiful neighborhoods are just a few of the reasons to live in Mesa, Arizona, say local Realtors.

"Mesa Arizona is a great place to live," says Realtor Pam Stevenson. "There are many nice neighborhoods. Mesa is an established community with many services, restaurants and recreational activities."

Stevenson explains, "Located 12 miles southeast of Phoenix, Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona. With a population of 450,000 and growing, Mesa continues to attract thousands of newcomers each year. Affordable housing is one of the attractions to Mesa. Most of the new home building is in North Mesa and East Mesa. Mesa's shopping, recreational, educational and cultural amenities are some of the most extensive in the Valley. Many "snowbirds" migrate to Mesa in the winter months to enjoy the sunshine, golf courses and desert living. Even though interest rates are moving in an upward trend, (6.0 percent), rates are still low -- good news for homesellers and homebuyers, as well as our local economy and a very exciting real estate market."

"Mesa is located in the East Valley," adds Realtor Gregg Beeson. "Mesa has a great diversity of new and re-sale home prices. From low-cost homes to multi-million-dollar gated communities."

Beeson says, "The home market in Mesa is hot! The resale market has increased by 19 percent in 2003 over 2002 and the median price has increased by 7 percent. Both of those numbers signify a hot market that benefits both the seller and the buyer. Looking at basic supply and demand, the market is tilted slightly to the seller, but there are many great opportunities for the buyer."

He advises, "Buyers; the sooner you buy a home the sooner you will take advantage of the appreciation of this great market. Home prices is about many things like location, age of home, shopping, freeways, views and many other factors."

"Because of the freeway systems, Mesa is completely accessible to the entire valley," says Realtor Rob Jones. "It also offers some of the lowest tax rates in Arizona. No matter what kind of home and how much you want to spend, it is available in Mesa."

Jones suggests, "Right now is a great time to purchase a home or even property. Yeah, it is a little bit of a sellers market but with rates so low you still will pay less! Lenders are being very creative to obtain you as their client and that makes you the winner. Even if you have poor credit or self-employed you still can find a great home for an excellent APR."

Published: April 13, 2004
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Market Conditions City Reports

Blanche Evans is the publisher of Agent News and the associate editor of Realty Times, the Internet's largest independent real estate news service. She is the author of two best-selling real estate books: The Hottest e-Careers In Real Estate, Real Estate Education Company, an Internet marketing primer for real estate professionals, and homesurfing.net: The Insider's Guide To Buying And Selling Your Home Using The Internet, Dearborn, a consumer homebuying and selling guide. In 2000, she was recognized by the editors of REALTOR(r) Magazines as one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate," and in 2003 when the "Most Influential" list was updated, she was recognized as one of nine "Notables." She is also a frequent contributor to "Your Money" on CNN fn.
E-mail Blanche at: blanche@realtytimes.com

For more articles by Blanche, Click Here

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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Strong Sustainable Neighborhoods Benefit All Canadians

by PJ Wade

Across Canada, concerns about affordable housing grow even though interest rates are at historic lows, and real estate buying and development are at record highs. Provinces are tackling their affordability issues with pilot projects financed with funds matched by the Federal Government. Taking housing past the pilot project stage will be up to individuals and organizations across Canada intent on seeing real improvement in the range of available housing, a crucial element in sustainable communities.

The Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Agreement is a five-year commitment that will create affordable housing units in Ontario. This partnership combines C$245 million in Government of Canada funding with matching contributions from the Government of Ontario, municipalities and other private and non-profit partners. The C$56 million released recently will help to create a total of 2,306 new affordable housing units under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program:

C$41.8 million for 26 pilot projects located in eight municipalities

C$13.2 million allocated for affordable housing in the cities of Windsor (C$3.78 million for 140 units), Brantford (C$2.7 million for up to 100 units) and Stratford (C$2.7 million for 100 units), and the Region of Niagara (C$4.05 million for 150 units)

C$1.0 million to the non-profit organization, Frontiers Foundation, for the renovation, rehabilitation or replacement of housing in Northern Ontario.
The selected housing projects involve construction of rental and rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units for those under the greatest financial pressures. A variety of groups are involved building the units. These projects will not end local demand for affordable housing, however, they may serve as good starting points. Here's a sampling of the 26 Affordable Housing Projects:

C$1.43 million for a 53-unit project at 53 Cummer Avenue in Toronto. The project, sponsored by the Newtonbrook United Church and the Taiwanese United Church of Toronto Non-Profit Homes Corporation, will house lower income seniors (definitions of "seniors" may vary with projects), families with children and single persons with approximately 60 per cent of the tenants paying market rents.

C$7 million for a 264-unit project at 333 Sidney Belsey Crescent in Toronto. The project is sponsored by BG Schickedanz and designed for lower income seniors, families with children, and single persons.

C$837,000 for a 31-unit RGI Toronto project, sponsored by the non-profit Bellwoods Centre, for tenants with disabilities.

C$324,000 for a 12-unit RGI project at 450 Pond Mills Road in London, which is sponsored by the non-profit organization London's Affordable Housing Foundation, for lower income families.

C$1.56 million for a 58-unit project on Eagle Street East in Newmarket, sponsored by the municipal non-profit organization of the Regional Municipality of York, for lower income seniors, most of whom will pay subsidized rents.

C$702,000 for a 26-unit RGI project at 307 John Street South in Hamilton, sponsored by non-profit St. Elizabeth Homes, for lower income seniors.

C$189,000 for a 7-unit project at 32 Gordon Street in Guelph, sponsored by the non-profit Guelph Unit 344 of the Army, Navy and Air Force in Canada (ANAF)/Matrix Affordable Homes for the Disadvantaged Inc., for lower income seniors and single tenants.

C$1 million for a 44-unit project in Guelph, sponsored by the non-profit organization 805395 Ontario Ltd.

C$1.3 million for a 50-unit project Peterborough, sponsored by the municipal non-profit organization of the City of Peterborough.

C$110,000 for a 6-unit Kingston project sponsored by the non-profit Elizabeth Fry Society for lower income families and single persons, and C$347,000 for a 14-unit project sponsored by the non-profit Home Base Housing, for lower income single persons.

C$1.4 million to fund 85 units of a 110-unit project in Kingston, sponsored by P. Martin Construction.

C$1 million for a 136-unit project in Mississauga sponsored by the municipal non-profit organization of Peel Region for lower income seniors and an additional C$408,000 for a 48-unit project for lower income single tenants.
This money will be well spent if these pilot projects are replicated in the selected communities where they are built and in locations across Ontario and Canada. The knowledge accumulated through projects funded by this program and other provincial efforts must be broadly accessible and widely promoted so that these efforts are truly good beginnings.

Your interest in these and similar projects will encourage funders to support diverse housing models and developers to build them. Strong sustainable neighbourhoods benefit all Canadians. What's happening in your community?

Published: April 13, 2004
Related Articles:

Canadian News

"The Canadian Connection"

PJ Wade, The Improvement Coach, is a business strategist and an internationally recognized authority on retirement and the Maturing Marketplace (= baby boomers and seniors). PJ's firm, The Catalyst, provides strategic communication and educational services to the financial, healthcare and housing sectors - and the clients they serve.Author of 6 books and over 850 published articles, PJ's current books are Have Your Home and Money Too, "the owner's manual for your home," (Wiley, ISBN 0-471-64400-5) and Caring for Your Aging Parents (Coles, ISBN 0-7740-0613-7). PJ is a widely-known and often-quoted financial commentator and a popular strategic speaker. For more, visit http://www.thecatalyst.com.

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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Will Real Estate Brokerage Go The Way Of Cheap ATMs?

by Peter G. Miller

The National Association of Realtors has some one million members and a huge political action committee, but what it does not have is the ability to prevent the further swelling of the federal government.

This is not a criticism of NAR, rather it's a reflection of our emerging national reality: State government is now allowed to oversee whatever it is that the federal government does not want to regulate, control or tax -- a list which seems to grow shorter each month.

So when the question arose as to whether national banks could broker real estate as a by-product of their federal charters, when it was asked if national banks could avoid the inconvenience of state regulation, the answer from Washington was pre-ordained: Of course.

According to OpenSecrets.com, NAR has the best-funded political action committee in the 2003-2004 election cycle while the National Association of Home Builders ranks third.

Brokers, builders and mortgage bankers are doing what you're supposed to do according to the civics texts: Make your case in Washington. Support your backers. Show your numbers.

But while it has long been said that "all politics is local," that is no longer the case. The major drivers of political action in Washington are; first, the willingness to spend someone else's money; and, second, the expansion of your fiefdom. As to state governments, they're conveniently trumped by endlessly-expanding federal powers, an expansion which distorts the meaning and intent of our founding documents and thinking.

It was hardly a surprise when the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) -- "the administrator of national banks" -- exempted its charges and their operating subsidiaries from state consumer protection and lending laws. Why not? The ruling effectively gives OCC more to do plus it makes a client industry happy.

One can argue that brokers and builders are driven by narrow self-interest -- as if bankers are not. But what about all 50 state governors? Real estate regulators? AARP? The Consumer Federation of America? The National Conference of State Legislatures? They too opposed the OCC decision.

Does anyone associate the emergence of multi-state banking Goliaths during the past few years with better service? Lower fees? Reduced ATM costs? More branches? More jobs?

In every state we have real estate regulators. You may agree or disagree with given decisions and policies, but such regulators are local, accountable and have the power to fine, suspend and revoke realty licenses -- the ability to limit or end someone's ability to earn a living. You can meet with regulators, use them to file complaints against brokers and agents and toss out the politicians who appointed them -- which means you can ultimately toss out the regulators as well.

The events on Wall Street in recent years are instructive. If not for New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer, who would protect the public trust? Where were federal regulators? What's been the reaction to Spitzer's efforts? An immediate attempt to limit state regulation even further.

The OCC decision fails to protect the public interest because it removes regulatory authority from the states where it has rested for decades; benefits a relative handful of financial behemoths; creates different rules for the same services; and will inevitably lead to the tying of mortgage loans and trust services to in-house broker representation -- a banking advantage independent brokers will be unable to contest. In the end, there will be fewer local brokers, less competition and higher costs -- the very scenario we see in banking itself under such oversight as the OCC now provides.

It's now up to Congress and the courts to overturn what the OCC has wrought, but the real issue has little to do with regulation or the best interests of consumers. Instead, again, we have a growing central government, declining state authority and a public that will soon require 800 numbers to speak with "local" executives.

For more articles by Peter G. Miller, please press here.

Published: April 13, 2004

Related Articles:

NAR's Battle: The OCC Rule Exempts Banks From State Oversight

The Big Grab (Part 1): How Washington Works

The Big Grab (Part 2): Should Banks Sell Real Estate?

The Big Grab (Part 3): Can Banks Compete With Brokers?

Peter G. Miller, also known as OurBroker®, is the author of six real estate books -- including The Common-Sense Mortgage -- and is the original creator and host of America Online's Real Estate Center. Mr. Miller welcomes your questions, comments, and news releases via e-mail at peter@ourbroker.com.

Copyright © 2004 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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