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.
Dogs in Space.
Did you know that dogs were first in space? While remembering the anniversary of the U.S. landing on the moon, we should give credit to the dogs that paved the way for manned space flight. The Soviet Union was the first to use dogs in orbital flights to obtain the...
The Cost of Selling to iBuyers.
Collateral Analytics analyzed quarterly median purchase prices for single-family homes in Phoenix bought by iBuyers and traditional buyers. The comparison quantifies the costs to sellers of working with iBuyers - such as Offerpad and Opendoor, versus listing with a...
What is a CFD?
A Community Financing District is a method of paying for an improvement (like sewer lines) which benefits a number of properties. The impact on an owner of a home within a district is a periodic payment paid through the property tax collection process. CFD payments...
Apartment Rent Growing Fastest in Arizona.
Arizona Big Media reports that apartment rent grew 5.8% in the first half of 2019, the fastest in the U.S. Figures from a Rent Café survey show that Arizona’s rent increase easily exceeded the national average of 3.2%. Back in April I tweeted about last year’s...
International Home Buying in the U.S.
The latest Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate has been released by the NAR: https://tinyurl.com/y4xtsec2. The major foreign buyers are from China, Canada, India, the United Kingdom and Mexico, in that order. Arizona continues to be a top...
Avoid Lead Removal Liability.
Part 3. The disclosure part of the lead removal rules (see part 1 and 2 for the other guidelines) requires that an EPA booklet entitled "The Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right" be supplied. This document must be supplied before the work is done if there is an...
Floodplain Insurance Requirement Dropped.
Hundreds of Scottsdale residents in the Grayhawk master-planned community have been removed from the Rawhide Wash 100-year flood plain. This revision to the flood insurance rate maps means pricey flood insurance is no longer mandatory for those home owners with a...
Ride-Share House Scouts.
Real estate firms are hiring ride-sharing drivers from Uber and Lyft to search for house flip projects. The drivers look for homes that appear to be good candidates for renovation and sale. One company hires drivers to find potential flip houses in 20 states. Drivers...
A Dog: Man’s Best Physician?
In the ancient world, dogs were thought to have knowledge of medicine. It was noted that dogs elevate an injured leg, just like Hippocrates (the father of medicine) prescribed for injured limbs. And dogs know to lick their wounds to ensure they will remain clean and...