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.
How to Hold Title.
Typically, married couples in Arizona hold title as community property with right of survivorship. Following the death of one of the spouses, title will automatically pass to the surviving spouse, avoiding the necessity of a probate. An alternative is to place the...
Rents Keep Increasing.
The metro Phoenix area has the nation’s second-fastest growing apartment rental rates. Some renters may pay hundreds of dollars in higher rent over the next year, according to a new report from RentCafe. From September 2017 to September this year Phoenix had the...
Horrifying Home Stories for Halloween, #2.
An agent listed a home in Antioch, California. When she periodically visited it she started to have “experiences” in the home. On one occasion she was shoved by an invisible force. She was also told during a showing to 'get out' by a disembodied voice. Despite all...
Horrifying Home Stories for Halloween, #1.
Inside a foreclosure in which the previous owner had passed away, an agent and her buyer felt a strong presence, as if someone was watching them. Seeing nothing, they continued on their tour. Halfway through the home all the exterior doors started to slightly open and...
Arizona’s Homestead Exemption.
Arizona’s homestead exemption allows a person to protect from certain creditors up to $150,000 of the equity in the home they live in (house, condominium, or mobile home). It applies only to non-consensual liens. A non-consensual lien is one which arises from a...
Bad Real Estate Advice.
Recently I read a letter from a Canadian that owns a home in Arizona about a construction defect. The letter was in a magazine catering to Snowbirds, and the writer was complaining because he had been told that due to Arizona's real property tax classifications,...
Buy Don’t Rent!
The latest Rent vs. Buy Report from Trulia shows that home ownership remains cheaper than renting with a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the 100 largest metro areas in the United States. This includes Phoenix, which is in the top 10 in size. These numbers...
How to Finance a Fixer-Upper.
The FHA 203(k) program is a loan product designed to help owner-occupants remodel a home. Available when purchasing or refinancing a home, it wraps the purchase/refinance and rehabilitation costs into a single mortgage. To qualify for the loan, the total value of the...
Residential Architectural Styles, Part 2.
Santa Fe/Pueblo. Flat roofs, parapet walls with round edges, straight-edge window frames, earth-colored stucco or adobe-brick walls, and projecting roof beams (vigas) typify the Pueblo style. Ranch. A development of the Prairie and Craftsman styles, Ranch homes are...