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Reverse mortgages have a reputation for being complicated, risky, or even a way for the bank to take your house. That is not how a reverse mortgage works. A reverse mortgage is a loan secured by your home. You generally keep ownership of the home. The lender does not buy your house. The biggest difference … Read more
Escrow, Attorneys, Contracts and When You Actually Get the Keys People moving to Arizona from other parts of the country are often surprised by how different a real estate closing looks here. Where is the attorney? What exactly is escrow? How can a real estate agent prepare a purchase contract? Why did I sign everything … Read more
When the Federal Reserve changes interest rates, many people expect mortgage rates to move by the same amount. That sounds reasonable, but it isn’t how mortgage rates actually work. On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds target rate by a quarter point, to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%. But that doesn’t … Read more
The deed has recorded and your home is sold. Before you put the transaction behind you, there are a few important financial and practical details worth checking. Selling your home is a major milestone, but closing does not necessarily mean everything related to the sale is finished. A few follow-up steps can help protect your … Read more
A house can be priced correctly based on what similar homes sold for six or twelve months ago and still be overpriced for buyers shopping today. That does not necessarily mean the original price was wrong. Inventory changes, interest rates change, buyer demand changes and competing listings change. Your house may have been priced right … Read more
More Choices, Same Affordability Problem The most interesting part of the August Phoenix housing market was not simply that inventory increased. It was why it increased. Phoenix had 17,707 active listings, 5.2% more than a year earlier, while new listings increased only 0.6%. That means most of the additional inventory was not created by a flood of new … Read more
Getting a house ready to sell does not have to mean remodeling it. In many cases, cleaning, maintenance, organization, and a few inexpensive repairs can make a bigger difference than costly improvements. For sellers throughout the Sonoran Desert Corridor™, these 11 simple steps can help your home stand out from many of the other homes buyers … Read more
What Buyers and Sellers Should Expect An Arizona home inspection is not a pass-or-fail test, and it is not a list of everything the seller must repair. The best way to think about the inspection report is as a chore list for the house. Some items may need attention now, while others are routine repairs, maintenance … Read more
What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know Most buyers expect a home inspection to find something. Usually it finds quite a few things. That does not mean the house is bad, and it does not mean the seller is expected to fix everything. Think of the inspection report as a chore list for the house. Some … Read more
More Sales, But Buyers Still Set the Price The Phoenix-area housing market improved in July, but the improvement came with an important qualifier: more homes sold, yet most sellers still accepted less than their original asking price. ARMLS reported that July single-family sales increased 3% from a year earlier. At the same time, 75% of homes sold … Read more