Kelley Koehler

Vanessa - that's kind of a tight spot. Selling your home for less than you owe is called a short sale, which can be a very long and arduous process, trying not only to get the bank to agree to sell short, but to find a buyer that will wait as long as it takes for you and the bank to work it out. And then, if you do succeed in selling short, the chances of qualifying for a loan for a new house after having to sell short are virtually zero.

Things get more complicated if you have more than one loan on the property. Best bet is to talk to a lawyer and an accountant, so you know the legal and tax implications before you make that kind of big decision. - Tue Aug 5 2008, 12:57

Hi Hadar!

There are a couple of issues you may need to consider.

One, if you don't have an American Visa, our lending institutions would consider you a non-resident foreign national. The available financing for that group has gotten very small. The last non-resident foreign national I helped to buy income property here in Tucson had to put down 30% in order to get a loan here. The last time I checked, I only found 2 sources of lending that would still finance non-resident foreign nationals. I'd be happy to put you in touch with those people.

My last 4plex buyer had to put down 25%, even as a citizen. Expect to put down a significant down payment.

There are several 4-plex properties available - if you're having to put down 30-40% to purchase them, then there is a greater chance that they will cash flow. Best person to ask would be a property manager, who knows what a unit might rent for, and can help you forecast potential income. I have several people who can help you with that as well.

On an unrelated note, I vacationed in New Zealand last year - that's such a beautiful place! - Mon May 12 2008, 10:34

Hi Ryan - to add to Vikas answer:

Your money goes farthest in the Southwest right now, it's one of the softest areas in our market currently. In the early 90's, the Northwest exploded with growth, followed to a lesser degree by the Southeast, pushing out into Vail, and then the Southwest development boom hit in the early 2000s. I remember back in 2004 and 2005 when their new homes sold so fast, you felt lucky if you were able to secure one for a client.

Now, with the slower real estate market, the new home builders are undercutting the resale homes, and there are a multitude of short sales and REOs among the resale homes. Prices have declined in that area of town, overall.

Will that be the next boom area? Well, it sort of already boomed, but it lacks the infrastructure, the shopping and whatnot. My opinion is that the Southeast will get those things before the Southwest will, if only because the Southeast boomed earlier, it's development is futher along in the process, but again, that's just an opinion, I don't know for sure. There is also reservation lands in the Southwest, and I don't know the rules about how or if that can be developed privately.

However, if you're willing to drive a bit, you can get a lot of home for your money in the Southwest right now. Something to consider is how long you expect to hold that property. Chances are, that area of town is still a couple years away from recovery, as it is one of the hardest hit.

Good luck! - Mon May 12 2008, 10:15

Hi Cindi - I use my Palm Treo with the eKey. I don't know about the Windows version, but the Palm works okay with the eKey. There's a little bit of funkiness - my phone reboots every night when it automatically syncs. I've had trouble when I'm using the key function and a call comes in - sometimes it freezes and I have to remove and replace the battery to get it going again, but that's a pretty rare occurence. In the past 2 years, I've had to reinstall the Supra software three times - the phone got into a loop where it kept rebooting in the middle of a sync and wouldn't stop. I was using a Palm Zire as my key opener prior to using the Treo. I've found the use and overall reliability to be about the same between the two. - Sat Oct 13 2007, 10:30

Nancy - I haven't found any one warranty company that is better than the rest. I've had good and bad experiences with most of them. I stick with American Home Shield because their local rep has been suportive and helpful to my clients when they have issues with their warranties. All else being equal, they also have a good web interface to make ordering warranties easy. - Fri Sep 28 2007, 11:07