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.
FSBOs Get Significantly Less.
Sellers tempted to try to sell their home on their own to avoid commission costs may get a much lower sales price. According to a new study by Collateral Analytics, sellers not using a real estate licensee achieve prices “significantly below” those from similar...
Baby Boomers Love Arizona.
Arizona ranked second behind Florida for drawing the most people over 60, according to personal finance firm Smartasset. It analyzed the latest Census data from 2015 and found Arizona grew by 27,576 retirees. It also attributed the state’s low property taxes to the...
Dobermans go to War.
In my blog about King Mickey, I told the story of a Marine Corps bulldog during World War II. Bulldogs aren’t the only dog with ties to the Marines. In WWII the Marines needed dogs for combat as “scouts” on patrol or as sentries when dug in, to warn our troops of the...
Lower Your Insurance Costs.
In 2013 The American Association of Insurance Services created a cosmetic damage exclusion to home owners policies. It makes home insurance rates more affordable by eliminating cosmetic damage as a loss under the policy. This gives home owners the option of fixing and...
Get the Attorney-Broker Advantage!
The purchase of a home is complicated and involves a number of documents that have legal implications. Agents may have the right to prepare real estate documents, but they can’t supply legal expertise because they don't have that training. Bruce Gardner, a real estate...
When Uncle Sam Wanted your Dog.
Animals have served with distinction in U.S. military conflicts, but when the U.S. entered WWII, there was no official military dog program. Although dogs had been used in WWI, the training programs had been disbanded so everything had to start from scratch. Due to...
Canadians still love the U.S.
Overnight travel by Canadians to the U.S. for business and pleasure increased each month during the eight months prior to May 2017. And between Jan and April of this year, Canadians made 4.8 million non-business trips to the U.S., an increase of 6.3% over the same...
Look Out Silicon Valley, Phoenix is Coming.
The Phoenix metro area ranks third on the list of the 20 fastest-growing tech markets based on year-over-year data. ZipRecruiter’s analysis of its database of more than 8 million active jobs found that Phoenix is one of the best examples of how the tech industry is no...
Animals in the Military.
I stick to real estate and Arizona economic topics in this blog, but can’t pass up writing about my two favorite things - pets and military history. So I told you about Reckless, a Marine Korean war horse. This time the war is WWII and about a dog. Phoenix resident...