Blog
N. Mark Kramoltz, JD, GRI, CIPS writes blog articles on the metro Phoenix, Arizona, national and global real estate markets. Written from his perspective as a designated broker and real estate attorney, his articles avoid the inaccuracies and vacuous industry propaganda common to most real estate writings. He also blogs about animals (mostly dogs in the military) due to his love of pets and military history.
Two Valley Cities in Top 10.
Phoenix, Arizona area cities Scottsdale and Gilbert are top 10 best places to raise a family according to WalletHub. It compared more than 180 U.S. cities based on 48 factors including the cost of housing, the quality of local school and health-care systems, and the...
International Purchases Collapse.
Over the years, I have provided updates on the importance of foreign buyers to Arizona and the U.S. But for several years now, participation in the global residential marketplace has been waning. In the U.S., purchases of homes by foreign buyers has been declining...
Buy a Home in the Arizona High Country.
For the first time SimplySOLD has access to homes listed for sale in Gila County. This includes cities and towns like Payson, Pine, Strawberry, Christopher Creek, Kohl’s Ranch and the Heber/Overgaard area. So we can now make available second or vacation homes outside...
The Vietnam Ratter.
In the Vietnam war Special Forces Medics were in charge of Green Beret camp sanitation. One cleanliness issue to be dealt with was rats. Medic Jerry Kizan first used a 12 gauge shotgun to stem the horde. In order to reduce indoor personnel and equipment damage, he...
New Home Demand Soars.
Housing permits in the Phoenix metropolitan area - which includes Mesa and Scottsdale - are up by nearly 36% from last year. Despite the recent shocking increase in building costs, and corresponding sale price increases, Valley of the Sun housing building permits rose...
Phoenix’s Hottest Higher End Neighborhoods.
The increase in values that has dramatically affected lower priced homes in metro Phoenix has spread. Higher value neighborhoods across the Valley of the Sun have seen significant increases since March 2020. The greatest rise in home prices occurred in Peoria’s zip...
Phoenix Luxury Market Thrives.
In 2020 in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area 3,233 homes priced at $1 million or more were sold, a 56% jump from 2019 according to Realtor.com. Those sales far outpaced other single-family home sales, which saw an 8% growth overall. Overall, prices for...
Native American Haulers.
In Draft Dogs I wrote about the use of pack dogs in wartime. But long before those European conflicts, dogs were hauling goods in the Americas. Dogs were an important part of early native American life - besides hunting and religious uses, dogs were used to carry...
File Your Form 8840 by June 15.
You may have to file a U.S. tax return if you’re a Canadian that received money from a U.S. source while here in 2020. Since travel here last year was presumably limited due to border closures this may not be much of an issue this year. But those who worked in the...