I wanted to post some information I recently found out about regarding MLS. After doing some searches for my clients, I came across a listing that stated the home did not come with certain appliances as well as having a $0 pet deposit. Unkowingly, my client had called the listing agent for this rental property and was told the home DID have these appliances as well as a $200 pet deposit. Further investigation into why this listing agent did not fill out the MLS form correctly lead to the answer of "MLS is advertising only and not a contract in any way".
I find it sad that we REALTORS have to pay so much money for these services when in fact there seems to be zero policing of the listings as far as truthfullness goes. It seems clear to me now that many agents are putting false information into thier MLS listings so that your searchs pull their listing up and then you later find out the depostits and/or price is incorrect, but there is nothing you can do about it since it's considered "advertising".
I hope change is in the near future for MLS and that some sort of fine or penatly will be standard for agents/brokers who continually put false information into MLS.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sunday, November 8, 2009
High Profile Realty - Chris Hanson not paying agents and others...Channel 5 report on Monday night
Should be very interesting to watch.
It will be on the 10pm news on channel 5 here in Arizona.
Investigates Chris Hanson of High Profile Realty and his business practices...many people claim he has not paid them for services rendered.
It will be on the 10pm news on channel 5 here in Arizona.
Investigates Chris Hanson of High Profile Realty and his business practices...many people claim he has not paid them for services rendered.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Arizona is ready to spend more than $121 million in federal housing funds
Arizona is ready to spend more than $121 million in federal housing funds to help people buy homes in neighborhoods blighted by foreclosures.
The money arrived in April under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program put in place last year, before the 2009 economic-stimulus package. The goal is to help people of modest means buy foreclosure homes, fix them up and stop the overall slide in home values.
Two months into the program, no one in Arizona has closed on a home yet. Several have qualified, however, and hundreds more have applied.
The program took shape last fall when Arizona cities submitted applications explaining how and where they would use stabilization money. Phoenix received the largest share: $39.5 million. Other cities with money to offer include Mesa ($9.7 million), Glendale ($6.2 million), Avondale ($2.5 million) and Chandler ($2.4 million).
Most of Arizona's federal money is being spent in communities in the Valley, which has witnessed a record 65,000 home foreclosures in the past 18 months. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is expected to help people purchase thousands of foreclosure homes in the Phoenix area. People living in and taking care of those homes are expected to help revitalize the Valley's neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures.
Potential buyers must plan to live in a home they purchase. Investors and second-home buyers cannot participate.
Beyond that restriction, terms and the process to qualify and buy a home vary from city to city. Some cities can offer $20,000 or more to a buyer for a down payment, closing costs and repairs. To obtain money, applicants must work with a housing counselor and complete a course in budgeting and homeownership. In some cases, the participating city determines which properties are available under the program; in others, buyers shop on their own.
Arizona housing advocates say some lenders have been reluctant to sell foreclosure homes for less money than they could potentially get from investors. But hopes are still high among home buyers and cities that the money will be used to help revitalize neighborhoods. Under the terms of the program, the money must be spent by early 2011.
"The money is here. Let's spend it. We are already three months into an 18-month deadline," said John Smith, president of Housing Our Communities, a Valley non-profit that is working with Avondale and Mesa on their Neighborhood Stabilization programs. "If we make some mistakes along the way, we'll fix them."
The money arrived in April under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program put in place last year, before the 2009 economic-stimulus package. The goal is to help people of modest means buy foreclosure homes, fix them up and stop the overall slide in home values.
Two months into the program, no one in Arizona has closed on a home yet. Several have qualified, however, and hundreds more have applied.
The program took shape last fall when Arizona cities submitted applications explaining how and where they would use stabilization money. Phoenix received the largest share: $39.5 million. Other cities with money to offer include Mesa ($9.7 million), Glendale ($6.2 million), Avondale ($2.5 million) and Chandler ($2.4 million).
Most of Arizona's federal money is being spent in communities in the Valley, which has witnessed a record 65,000 home foreclosures in the past 18 months. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is expected to help people purchase thousands of foreclosure homes in the Phoenix area. People living in and taking care of those homes are expected to help revitalize the Valley's neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures.
Potential buyers must plan to live in a home they purchase. Investors and second-home buyers cannot participate.
Beyond that restriction, terms and the process to qualify and buy a home vary from city to city. Some cities can offer $20,000 or more to a buyer for a down payment, closing costs and repairs. To obtain money, applicants must work with a housing counselor and complete a course in budgeting and homeownership. In some cases, the participating city determines which properties are available under the program; in others, buyers shop on their own.
Arizona housing advocates say some lenders have been reluctant to sell foreclosure homes for less money than they could potentially get from investors. But hopes are still high among home buyers and cities that the money will be used to help revitalize neighborhoods. Under the terms of the program, the money must be spent by early 2011.
"The money is here. Let's spend it. We are already three months into an 18-month deadline," said John Smith, president of Housing Our Communities, a Valley non-profit that is working with Avondale and Mesa on their Neighborhood Stabilization programs. "If we make some mistakes along the way, we'll fix them."
A look at the Neighborhood Stabilization Program
A look at the program
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act approved last August.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was given $4 billion to award to areas with the highest foreclosure rates. City and state governments applied with plans for spending the money. HUD awarded funds to the Arizona Housing Department, Maricopa and Pima counties and Avondale, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Surprise and Tucson.
Most of Arizona's Neighborhood Stabilization funds are aimed at buyers who earn close to their respective city's median income. In most cases, buyers must earn $30,000 to $80,000 a year to qualify. The more people there are in a household, the higher the qualifying income level rises.
Phoenix's plan focused on a couple of dozen of the city's 79 ZIP codes, areas with the highest rates of foreclosure. Mesa was awarded $9.1 million and focused on ZIP code 85024. Chandler is buying 17 vacant foreclosure homes scattered across the city with plans to resell them to buyers.
Participating cities and the state Housing Department have assembled teams and designed a process to distribute the money. Under federal guidelines, buyers must pass a class on budgeting and the obligations of homeownership.
With those elements now in place, it's time to spend.
Fred Karnas, former director of the Arizona Housing Department who oversaw the state's plans for Neighborhood Stabilization funding, said, "It's a complicated program that has never been done."
"But HUD wants the money spent quickly to help people now, so we are on a fast-track schedule," added Karnas, who in February became a senior adviser to HUD in Washington.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
