The Dealmaker: 1/13/2017

SCHOOL’S OUT – Saint Xavier University to pay Gilbert $4M for closing campus, ending lease early. “The agreement will settle [SXU’s] financial obligations to Gilbert and buy the town time while it looks for a new tenant… The building is in [the] bustling downtown Heritage District…” AZCentral has more on the settlement, plus what town officials are saying about the “effort to find a new tenant.” —> http://bit.ly/2j8C9gD

HOUSE KEEPING – U.S. property foreclosures at 10-year low in 2016; Tucson saw increase, however. “Foreclosure proceedings affected nearly a million… homes and other real estate last year, down 14 percent from 2015 and down 70 percent from the worst of the housing crisis in 2009…. “ Click through for more foreclosure data from the ATTOM Data Solutions report, including numbers for Tucson and a handful of other metros. http://bit.ly/2jN3yrR

New Report: Younger home buyers run up against higher rates. “The rise in rates during the last three months has lowered the median size mortgage that borrowers can qualify for by 9%, according to… Fitch Ratings. That comes on top of rising down payment requirements in many housing markets….” HOWEVER, according to this report in The Wall Street Journal, there are “[s]ome costs [that are] on the way down.” But will these reductions be “enough to fully offset rate changes”? Click and find out. http://bit.ly/2il8bco

HUD: HEY, IT’S NOT BRAIN SURGERY – Top takeaways from HUD Secretary Nominee Ben Carson’s Senate hearing. “[D]uring the 2.5-hour hearing [Dr. Carson] didn’t delve into specifics on what he would do if confirmed to the post,” so it’s impressive that Realtor.com’s Clare Trapasso is able to squeeze out any takeaways at all for her report. But she does. Among them: “[Carson] would… go on a ‘listening tour’ across the nation”; “Carson expressed support for public-private partnerships”; [Carson] wants to continue to provide security for loan seekers.” (BTW, it’s too bad Carson wasn’t selected to be Surgeon General — we could’ve called him the Neurosurgeon General.) http://bit.ly/2jseCqU

Comprehensive tax reform threatens supply of affordable rental housing. CPA and Forbes contributor Peter J. Reilly looks at the Low Income Housing Tax Credit — its background, benefits, and the prospect of its elimination — and wonders: “What if we need that extra capital the credit provides flowing into the rental housing market in order to avoid more communities turning into Pottersville [the town in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life]. Will the credits be replaced by spending?” http://bit.ly/2ilg7dE

Great Arena Polo Party weekend one day away; join us at Barrett-Jackson – http://bit.ly/2jN2jJa

Get ready to love where you work: Rose Law Group is hiring a Commercial Litigator – http://bit.ly/2hRxUZH