Unfortunately, as I suspected, in Tucson we’re not yet close to seeing an end to foreclosures coming to market. As Josh Brodesky reported in the Arizona Daily Star on 10/16/09, we have seen roughly 1500 foreclosure filings a month since the beginning of 2009 with 1480 in the month of September. These filings include both notices of upcoming trustee sales (pre-foreclosed property) as well as trustee deeds (actual foreclosures).

This has far reaching implications for Buyers, Sellers and those of us who make our living as Realtors.

Buyers there will be continued opportunity to enter or re- enter the market and take advantage of previously unprecedented prices. Be careful. Do your homework. Negotiate hard, particularly where properties do not reflect current pricing reality. Get expert help from Realtors with experience in  REO property and short sales.

Sellers must be realistic in pricing and especially in land and lots,  offer extraordinary seller financing to set their properties apart. Be aware there are a lot of sales going on now; almost all of which are price driven. Agents must expect to work harder, actively learn more about dealing with lender owned property, know expertly all the comps in your sub-market and plan for lean times for the next year or two.

I hear many of my colleagues say they’re not having “fun” anymore referring to the fast and furious markets of 2004-2006 and the difficulty of making a living in 2008 and 2009. I agree, but also realize that its time to change our business model and realize the great sense of acomplishment we’ll  feel as we successfully guide our clients through the morass of current issues to complete transactions. We’ll plan to spend more time with our customers and clients and remember one of the primary reasons we chose this profession was because the business of relationships and service was so rewarding.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.