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.
Simplified Passport Renewal for Canadians
For those Canadians living in the United States, Passport Canada has announced a Simplified Passport Renewal process. Previously the mail-in renewal process required that the application be verified by a specific type of person (such as an attorney). Called a...
Foreclosure Reporting
James B. Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency today released the first monthly Foreclosure Prevention Report, which provides comprehensive monthly data on the loan modification efforts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae’s HomeSaver Advance...
Foreclosure Prevention Resources, Part 2.
Part 1 of this blog series detailed some of the programs and resources available to distressed home owners from the government and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those programs were insufficient to assist the increasing volume of struggling homeowners. This segment deals...
Foreclosure Prevention Resources, Part 1.
Traditionally, the help available to a distressed home owner from the government and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was limited to information and advice, such as that under the Hope Now Program. Hope Now is a free foreclosure prevention service provided by loan servicers...
Purchase by Fed should help Borrowers
The residential real estate market and the mortgage industry received some good news this week. The Fed announced that it will purchase $600 Billion worth of mortgage-backed securities (mortgage bonds) backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. This should...
Stop Overreacting and Buy.
Joel Naroff, a Philadelphia economist, was honored by Arizona State University in New York City on Thursday. An economist, he was honored for being one of the most accurate forecasters in the country. He gave his view on the housing market, its foreclosures and...
It has been a bad 10 years for stocks
And you thought real estate sucked? According to an article in the Arizona Republic this weekend by Russ Wiles, stock values overall have gone nowhere since the late 1990s. This is a rare occurrence, and hasn't happened since the stagflation days of the late 1960s...
How to Make Repair Requests.
No home is perfect, so there may be items or components of a property that need repairs. That is why when buying a home, you should get an inspection and make any other investigations recommended by your agent. Use the information you have gained, request that...
Overpriced Homes Won’t Sell
Unfortunately some of the homes currently on the market will never sell. This is because some sellers are overpricing their homes. This is nothing new, as some sellers will always over-price a home. Although over-priced sellers actually do want to sell their home,...