AZBUILD
J U N E | J U LY
2015
ArizonaHomebuilder
You’re an Arizona Builder, We’re an Arizona Lender.
BILL ROGERS Founder & CEO of Homeowners Financial Group
“As an Arizona based lender we always welcome and
EXPERIENCE THE HFG DIFFERENCE
recognize the value of working with builders who are
with local and in-house Processing,
building Arizona communities. Working with other local
Underwriting & Funding. Call us
companies helps Arizona to build stronger communities.”
today to find out how we can help
-Bill Rogers, CEO of Homeowners Financial Group
you sell more homes and give your clients better service!
Corporate Office | 16427 N. Scottsdale Rd. Suite #145 | Scottsdale, AZ 85254 | www.homeownersfg.com | 480.305.8550 All loan products and loan amounts may not be available in your area and are subject to credit and property approval pursuant to guidelines. Information is subject to change without prior notice. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Homeowners Financial Group USA, LLC is licensed in AZ: Mortgage Bankers License No. BK 0906222, NMLS#93718; CA: Department of Business Oversight under the Finance Lenders Law License No. 603 F033; ID: Mortgage Broker/Lender License MBL-5879; NM: New Mexico Mortgage Loan Company License 03068; ND Money Broker License MB102538; OR Mortgage Lending License ML-5229 WA: Consumer Loan Company License CL-93718; MN: Residential Mortgage Originator License MN-MO-93718; MT: Mortgage Broker/Lender License 93718; NE: Mortgage Banker License NE93718 and registered in CO: Mortgage Company Registration.
Produced by Desert Lifestyle Publishing • 480.460.0996 • www.DesertLifestyle.net
DEVELOPER SPOTLIGHT BELFIORE MARKET OVERVIEW FINANCE CORNER
Growth Trifecta for Landmark Homes USA Landmark Homes USA enters the Arizona market with a trifecta of growth as an urban townhome developer. Since 1977, the largest homebuilder in Alberta, Canada, Landmark Group of Companies has built over 15,000 residences. Recognized and awarded for sustainability and leading building innovation in housing construction, Landmark Homes USA presents Aerium, Aerium Encore and Center 8 as premier Arizona communities with style and impeccable real estate timing. The launch of three major townhome communities in prime hotspot locations stand up to their futuristic tag line ... FORWARD LIVABILITY. LOCATED. Landmark Homes USA brings communities to life that inspire people through location, community design, lifestyle amenities, and exciting features offered in each unique home setting. “We’ve opened to a fantastic reception from the real estate community and urban lifestyle home shoppers. Right out of the gate, 85% of the community was secured for sale in early April when sales began. Many of our buyers are first-time buyers and locals, who impact our entire community economy year round,” says Ken Johnson, Marketing VP at Landmark Homes USA. Entertainment and a shopper’s paradise, the first project in the upscale heartbeat of downtown Scottsdale is KEN JOHNSON called Aerium. Located in the Arts District at 70th St Vice President, and Goldwater, Aerium features 27 soft contemporary Strategic Marketing townhomes ranging from 1,429 to 1,847 square feet, 2 Landmark Homes USA to 4 bedrooms and 2.5 to 3.5 baths. Starting in the low $400s, the three floor plans feature open and airy living environments with open-tread staircases, sustainable quartz countertops, and Bertazzoni® ovens available in authentic Ferrari® colors. Chef-inspired kitchens and spa-inspired master bath options are also available. The community’s 19,200 square feet of open space and amenities boast a sparkling lap pool, organic herb garden, and outdoor cooking facilities where local chefs will be featured to prepare fresh locally grown dishes that incorporate pairings from the unique Aerium garden. All have attached garages, oversized balconies and private patio courtyards.
This “fee simple” classification opens more doors for financing, and means that residents will not bear the high cost of condominium association fees. “It’s the best of both worlds,” says Johnson. “We’re now able to provide the traditional form of home ownership that consumers and lending institutions prefer, while still achieving a density needed to keep the homes affordable.”
Instead of shared elevators and underground parking, typically found in Downtown Phoenix condo projects, each Center 8 home will have a private 2-car garage, yard and balcony. This living configuration provides residents with privacy, safety, and convenience for carrying in groceries and much more indoor/outdoor living space than found in similarly priced loft-style condominiums. The floor plans offer unique space-saving features including built-in, under-stair storage cabinets, and a “wet room” option that makes a small flex space on the ground level function as a third bedroom with an adjoining full bathroom en suite. Standard features include home security automation, and numerous colors, texture and pattern opportunities to customize the home to the buyers’ own style. The community includes privacy gates, an outdoor BBQ area complete with shade ramada, table seating, and an organic herb garden. The 5 square miles boast over 32 art galleries, 180 places to shop including CityScape and Arizona Center, 275 dining options, numerous salons and spas, 25 museums and theaters, 20 nightlife venues, sporting venues where the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns and Mercury play, and some of the best charter schools and the largest employment corridor in the Metro Phoenix area. The Roosevelt Triangle bordered by Roosevelt St. to the north, 7th Ave. to the east, and Grand Ave. connecting the two is a unique area that offers quiet privacy with lifestyle at your doorstep. A literal trifecta of connection to food, arts and culture - residents can choose to walk, take the Phoenix Metro Light Rail, or take the Valley Metro to get just about anywhere in the area. Plus dwellers can enjoy the First Friday’s Trolley Tour stopping at over 50 entertainment venues and theaters.
Strong interest continues and is expected to flow into Aerium’s newest sister community, Aerium Encore. Located just two blocks south of Aerium, this community will begin sales this summer.
JOHN KOSTARAS General Manager Landmark Homes USA
Center 8 Geographic growth is also on the horizon, as Landmark enters the Downtown Phoenix urban market with the opening of Center 8. Located at 8th Ave. and Roosevelt in the up-and-coming Roosevelt Triangle area, this 30-unit townhome community is highly connected to Downtown Phoenix food, arts and culture. Center 8 will offer two floor plans ranging from 1,553 to 1,680 square feet with 2-3 bedrooms, and 2-3.5 baths. Prices start in the mid $300s. The homes will be among the first to use the new City of Phoenix “single family attached” zoning designation.
Geographic growth is on the horizon
“We expect that many of our buyers at Center 8 will actually be the neighbors,” said John Kostaras, General Manager for Landmark Homes USA. “Adjacent to The Roosevelt Triangle are the FQ Story and Encanto-Palmcroft historic districts built in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of these homeowners love the area and want to stay in their neighborhood, but are tired of repairing a historic home. Center 8 will allow them to stay where they live, work and play in an energy efficient, low-maintenance, newly built home, while retaining fee-simple ownership and the privacy they’re used to enjoying.” The Center 8 sales center is located directly across the street from the property at 906 W. Roosevelt.
Landmark Homes USA will continue to develop additional urban developments in the Phoenix area, with a focus on providing residents with Forward Livability. Located.™ It’s their ideal and successful recipe involving innovative home design, sustainable construction technique, and uniquely prime locations. For more information about these great new projects, contact Ken Johnson, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Landmark Homes USA at 602-618-1221 or visit www.LandmarkHomesUSA.com.
At Long Last, Growth JIM BELFIORE
Spring 2015 has proven a relative boom for Metro Phoenix Area homebuilders following two years of stagnating demand. Finally, two full years after the false-start recovery, homes sales are solidly climbing, and supply and demand indicators suggest the market is well-poised for the long-anticipated, sustained recovery expected to be well underway by now.
In April, new home sales reached a 33-month high, increasing 38% yearover-year. This growth in new home sales was substantial enough to drive up the number of monthly sales per subdivision, despite a simultaneous 17% year-over-year increase in the number of actively selling new home communities. Monthly sales per subdivision, an ever-important stat for homebuilders, increased to an average of 2.7 per month, up from 2.1 the previous month and 2.3 in April of last year. Sales office traffic, a tell-tale indicator of purchasing interest, was as high as it has been during any period in the last 8 years in March and April. Sales will very likely continue to rise, likely peaking in mid-May or Mid-June, traffic figures suggest. Belfiore Consulting
Recent activity in the resale market has started to support the new home industry as well. Between mid-March and mid-April, resale demand increased 10% year-over-year and resale inventory concurrently declined 12%, per Cromford Report® data. Healthier circulation of resale product, not present in recent years, is now resulting in more potential new homebuyers selling existing homes and purchasing new homes. Far more new homebuyers are dropping contingencies from their new home purchases than during any other period in recent years. Currently, as a whole, Metro Phoenix Area new homes prices remain stable, not really rising but not falling either. Prices rose in a few select submarket areas over the last 60 days; in nearly all of these instances, the price increases are resultant of declines in incentive levels. The substantial boost in sales has not yet spurred on significant overall average price increases, and Belfiore analysts do not expect it to this year. Builders are likely to prefer to further increase sales volumes before meaningfully raising base prices. Belfiore Real Estate Consulting now projects 1% to 3% appreciation in Metro Phoenix Area by the year’s end – likely most, if not all, of that appreciation coming in mid-year months. Although few sales records are likely to be broken this year, the housing market is performing better, and thus, homebuilders are feeling better about the performance of active communities. If sales activity climbs in May and June, as expected, look for homebuilders to rightfully increase land and lot purchasing. For additional insight, call Jim at Belfiore Real Estate Consulting, 480- 706-1002, or visit www.belfioreconsulting.com.
THANK YOU! Landmark Homes USA for generously donating to the Care Fund for each home sold in Arizona. They care for your home...while you care for your family.
Who will be Ready for TRID? TIM JORDEN
If you are wondering “what is TRID?” we have a lot to discuss! Many of you have heard discussions about the upcoming TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID). We are now less than 2 months away from these new rules becoming reality which is bringing a lot of consternation to some companies in the real estate industry. Senior Vice President of Sales Homeowners Financial Group
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the sweeping changes of TRID, because I don’t want this to be a 10 page newsletter. However, I do want to discuss some highlights of these new rules that everyone should be aware of: 1. TRID goes into effect for any new loan applications on or after August 1, 2015. The CFPB has given us over 18 months to prepare for these changes, so I don’t anticipate the CFPB delaying the timeline for implementing these new rules. 2. The new rules will affect almost every person involved in the residential real estate industry. The timelines will become more stringent and accuracy in estimating costs vs closing figure tolerances will have less room for error. 3. Closing timelines will no longer be a “mere” contract issue that can be resolved with a “rush funding.” These new regulations implement waiting periods for funding based on the borrowers’ acknowledged receipt the Closing Statement, similar to what already exists on most refinance loans. 4. Loan origination systems and loan closing software need to be successfully updated to originate and close loans in a compliant fashion. Who will not be ready for TRID? That remains to be seen. However, in a recent October Research, LLC publication of the Dodd Frank Update, Rod J. Alba, vice president of mortgage finance at the American Bankers Association (ABA), makes it all too clear that you must choose your mortgage partners wisely in the months to come. Alba is quoted as saying, “Banks will do everything they can to comply, but this is a logistical nightmare.” Alba added, “What we have here is an absolute overhaul of the infrastructure that is required for every mortgage loan in America. It’s not taking a month to figure out, for example, a change to line 101. Basically, we took 40 years of regulation and legal concepts and threw them all out the window, and we’re starting from scratch.” To be clear, these changes are not going to be easy to implement and the industry will experience some growing pains as the effect of the new regulations becomes apparent. Prudent lenders and title companies will be ready for the changes come August 1st. As a service to our valued partners, we will be providing TRID training that is catered toward Realtors, Builders and Financial Planners. If you are interested in attending a training session, please reach out to me for details on the available dates and times. Tim Jorden is the Senior Vice President of Sales at Homeowners Financial Group and oversees the Arizona Builder Division. He can be reached at TJ@homeownersfg.com.
www.landmarkhomesusa.com www.thecarefund.org
Growth Trifecta for Landmark Homes USA Landmark Homes USA enters the Arizona market with a trifecta of growth as an urban townhome developer. Since 1977, the largest homebuilder in Alberta, Canada, Landmark Group of Companies has built over 15,000 residences. Recognized and awarded for sustainability and leading building innovation in housing construction, Landmark Homes USA presents Aerium, Aerium Encore and Center 8 as premier Arizona communities with style and impeccable real estate timing. The launch of three major townhome communities in prime hotspot locations stand up to their futuristic tag line ... FORWARD LIVABILITY. LOCATED. Landmark Homes USA brings communities to life that inspire people through location, community design, lifestyle amenities, and exciting features offered in each unique home setting. “We’ve opened to a fantastic reception from the real estate community and urban lifestyle home shoppers. Right out of the gate, 85% of the community was secured for sale in early April when sales began. Many of our buyers are first-time buyers and locals, who impact our entire community economy year round,” says Ken Johnson, Marketing VP at Landmark Homes USA. Entertainment and a shopper’s paradise, the first project in the upscale heartbeat of downtown Scottsdale is KEN JOHNSON called Aerium. Located in the Arts District at 70th St Vice President, and Goldwater, Aerium features 27 soft contemporary Strategic Marketing townhomes ranging from 1,429 to 1,847 square feet, 2 Landmark Homes USA to 4 bedrooms and 2.5 to 3.5 baths. Starting in the low $400s, the three floor plans feature open and airy living environments with open-tread staircases, sustainable quartz countertops, and Bertazzoni® ovens available in authentic Ferrari® colors. Chef-inspired kitchens and spa-inspired master bath options are also available. The community’s 19,200 square feet of open space and amenities boast a sparkling lap pool, organic herb garden, and outdoor cooking facilities where local chefs will be featured to prepare fresh locally grown dishes that incorporate pairings from the unique Aerium garden. All have attached garages, oversized balconies and private patio courtyards.
This “fee simple” classification opens more doors for financing, and means that residents will not bear the high cost of condominium association fees. “It’s the best of both worlds,” says Johnson. “We’re now able to provide the traditional form of home ownership that consumers and lending institutions prefer, while still achieving a density needed to keep the homes affordable.”
Instead of shared elevators and underground parking, typically found in Downtown Phoenix condo projects, each Center 8 home will have a private 2-car garage, yard and balcony. This living configuration provides residents with privacy, safety, and convenience for carrying in groceries and much more indoor/outdoor living space than found in similarly priced loft-style condominiums. The floor plans offer unique space-saving features including built-in, under-stair storage cabinets, and a “wet room” option that makes a small flex space on the ground level function as a third bedroom with an adjoining full bathroom en suite. Standard features include home security automation, and numerous colors, texture and pattern opportunities to customize the home to the buyers’ own style. The community includes privacy gates, an outdoor BBQ area complete with shade ramada, table seating, and an organic herb garden. The 5 square miles boast over 32 art galleries, 180 places to shop including CityScape and Arizona Center, 275 dining options, numerous salons and spas, 25 museums and theaters, 20 nightlife venues, sporting venues where the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns and Mercury play, and some of the best charter schools and the largest employment corridor in the Metro Phoenix area. The Roosevelt Triangle bordered by Roosevelt St. to the north, 7th Ave. to the east, and Grand Ave. connecting the two is a unique area that offers quiet privacy with lifestyle at your doorstep. A literal trifecta of connection to food, arts and culture - residents can choose to walk, take the Phoenix Metro Light Rail, or take the Valley Metro to get just about anywhere in the area. Plus dwellers can enjoy the First Friday’s Trolley Tour stopping at over 50 entertainment venues and theaters.
Strong interest continues and is expected to flow into Aerium’s newest sister community, Aerium Encore. Located just two blocks south of Aerium, this community will begin sales this summer.
JOHN KOSTARAS General Manager Landmark Homes USA
Center 8 Geographic growth is also on the horizon, as Landmark enters the Downtown Phoenix urban market with the opening of Center 8. Located at 8th Ave. and Roosevelt in the up-and-coming Roosevelt Triangle area, this 30-unit townhome community is highly connected to Downtown Phoenix food, arts and culture. Center 8 will offer two floor plans ranging from 1,553 to 1,680 square feet with 2-3 bedrooms, and 2-3.5 baths. Prices start in the mid $300s. The homes will be among the first to use the new City of Phoenix “single family attached” zoning designation.
Geographic growth is on the horizon
“We expect that many of our buyers at Center 8 will actually be the neighbors,” said John Kostaras, General Manager for Landmark Homes USA. “Adjacent to The Roosevelt Triangle are the FQ Story and Encanto-Palmcroft historic districts built in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of these homeowners love the area and want to stay in their neighborhood, but are tired of repairing a historic home. Center 8 will allow them to stay where they live, work and play in an energy efficient, low-maintenance, newly built home, while retaining fee-simple ownership and the privacy they’re used to enjoying.” The Center 8 sales center is located directly across the street from the property at 906 W. Roosevelt.
Landmark Homes USA will continue to develop additional urban developments in the Phoenix area, with a focus on providing residents with Forward Livability. Located.™ It’s their ideal and successful recipe involving innovative home design, sustainable construction technique, and uniquely prime locations. For more information about these great new projects, contact Ken Johnson, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Landmark Homes USA at 602-618-1221 or visit www.LandmarkHomesUSA.com.
At Long Last, Growth JIM BELFIORE
Spring 2015 has proven a relative boom for Metro Phoenix Area homebuilders following two years of stagnating demand. Finally, two full years after the false-start recovery, homes sales are solidly climbing, and supply and demand indicators suggest the market is well-poised for the long-anticipated, sustained recovery expected to be well underway by now.
In April, new home sales reached a 33-month high, increasing 38% yearover-year. This growth in new home sales was substantial enough to drive up the number of monthly sales per subdivision, despite a simultaneous 17% year-over-year increase in the number of actively selling new home communities. Monthly sales per subdivision, an ever-important stat for homebuilders, increased to an average of 2.7 per month, up from 2.1 the previous month and 2.3 in April of last year. Sales office traffic, a tell-tale indicator of purchasing interest, was as high as it has been during any period in the last 8 years in March and April. Sales will very likely continue to rise, likely peaking in mid-May or Mid-June, traffic figures suggest. Belfiore Consulting
Recent activity in the resale market has started to support the new home industry as well. Between mid-March and mid-April, resale demand increased 10% year-over-year and resale inventory concurrently declined 12%, per Cromford Report® data. Healthier circulation of resale product, not present in recent years, is now resulting in more potential new homebuyers selling existing homes and purchasing new homes. Far more new homebuyers are dropping contingencies from their new home purchases than during any other period in recent years. Currently, as a whole, Metro Phoenix Area new homes prices remain stable, not really rising but not falling either. Prices rose in a few select submarket areas over the last 60 days; in nearly all of these instances, the price increases are resultant of declines in incentive levels. The substantial boost in sales has not yet spurred on significant overall average price increases, and Belfiore analysts do not expect it to this year. Builders are likely to prefer to further increase sales volumes before meaningfully raising base prices. Belfiore Real Estate Consulting now projects 1% to 3% appreciation in Metro Phoenix Area by the year’s end – likely most, if not all, of that appreciation coming in mid-year months. Although few sales records are likely to be broken this year, the housing market is performing better, and thus, homebuilders are feeling better about the performance of active communities. If sales activity climbs in May and June, as expected, look for homebuilders to rightfully increase land and lot purchasing. For additional insight, call Jim at Belfiore Real Estate Consulting, 480- 706-1002, or visit www.belfioreconsulting.com.
THANK YOU! Landmark Homes USA for generously donating to the Care Fund for each home sold in Arizona. They care for your home...while you care for your family.
Who will be Ready for TRID? TIM JORDEN
If you are wondering “what is TRID?” we have a lot to discuss! Many of you have heard discussions about the upcoming TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID). We are now less than 2 months away from these new rules becoming reality which is bringing a lot of consternation to some companies in the real estate industry. Senior Vice President of Sales Homeowners Financial Group
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the sweeping changes of TRID, because I don’t want this to be a 10 page newsletter. However, I do want to discuss some highlights of these new rules that everyone should be aware of: 1. TRID goes into effect for any new loan applications on or after August 1, 2015. The CFPB has given us over 18 months to prepare for these changes, so I don’t anticipate the CFPB delaying the timeline for implementing these new rules. 2. The new rules will affect almost every person involved in the residential real estate industry. The timelines will become more stringent and accuracy in estimating costs vs closing figure tolerances will have less room for error. 3. Closing timelines will no longer be a “mere” contract issue that can be resolved with a “rush funding.” These new regulations implement waiting periods for funding based on the borrowers’ acknowledged receipt the Closing Statement, similar to what already exists on most refinance loans. 4. Loan origination systems and loan closing software need to be successfully updated to originate and close loans in a compliant fashion. Who will not be ready for TRID? That remains to be seen. However, in a recent October Research, LLC publication of the Dodd Frank Update, Rod J. Alba, vice president of mortgage finance at the American Bankers Association (ABA), makes it all too clear that you must choose your mortgage partners wisely in the months to come. Alba is quoted as saying, “Banks will do everything they can to comply, but this is a logistical nightmare.” Alba added, “What we have here is an absolute overhaul of the infrastructure that is required for every mortgage loan in America. It’s not taking a month to figure out, for example, a change to line 101. Basically, we took 40 years of regulation and legal concepts and threw them all out the window, and we’re starting from scratch.” To be clear, these changes are not going to be easy to implement and the industry will experience some growing pains as the effect of the new regulations becomes apparent. Prudent lenders and title companies will be ready for the changes come August 1st. As a service to our valued partners, we will be providing TRID training that is catered toward Realtors, Builders and Financial Planners. If you are interested in attending a training session, please reach out to me for details on the available dates and times. Tim Jorden is the Senior Vice President of Sales at Homeowners Financial Group and oversees the Arizona Builder Division. He can be reached at TJ@homeownersfg.com.
www.landmarkhomesusa.com www.thecarefund.org
AZBUILD
J U N E | J U LY
2015
ArizonaHomebuilder
You’re an Arizona Builder, We’re an Arizona Lender.
BILL ROGERS Founder & CEO of Homeowners Financial Group
“As an Arizona based lender we always welcome and
EXPERIENCE THE HFG DIFFERENCE
recognize the value of working with builders who are
with local and in-house Processing,
building Arizona communities. Working with other local
Underwriting & Funding. Call us
companies helps Arizona to build stronger communities.”
today to find out how we can help
-Bill Rogers, CEO of Homeowners Financial Group
you sell more homes and give your clients better service!
Corporate Office | 16427 N. Scottsdale Rd. Suite #145 | Scottsdale, AZ 85254 | www.homeownersfg.com | 480.305.8550 All loan products and loan amounts may not be available in your area and are subject to credit and property approval pursuant to guidelines. Information is subject to change without prior notice. Other restrictions and limitations may apply. Homeowners Financial Group USA, LLC is licensed in AZ: Mortgage Bankers License No. BK 0906222, NMLS#93718; CA: Department of Business Oversight under the Finance Lenders Law License No. 603 F033; ID: Mortgage Broker/Lender License MBL-5879; NM: New Mexico Mortgage Loan Company License 03068; ND Money Broker License MB102538; OR Mortgage Lending License ML-5229 WA: Consumer Loan Company License CL-93718; MN: Residential Mortgage Originator License MN-MO-93718; MT: Mortgage Broker/Lender License 93718; NE: Mortgage Banker License NE93718 and registered in CO: Mortgage Company Registration.
Produced by Desert Lifestyle Publishing • 480.460.0996 • www.DesertLifestyle.net
DEVELOPER SPOTLIGHT BELFIORE MARKET OVERVIEW FINANCE CORNER