I’ve blogged before about how important the Internet is as a tool for home sellers. Why? Simply put, because a huge percentage of buyers look to the Internet first when they’re starting their home search.

ABC News the other day did a story about how “A Good Web Listing Can Help to Sell Your House During this Down Market.” While the authors do admit -- rightly, I think -- that the most important factor determining whether or not a home sells is the price (price relatively high, forget about it;… Continue

Two years ago, most of the rules related to real estate were lax. Or, at least, regulators looked the other way. Today, the pendulum has swung completely to the other side – now everything from the mortgage to the appraisal is scrutinized carefully. Where appraisers were encouraged to appraise homes for high values three years ago, they’re now being “encouraged” to assign low values to homes.

But there are steps you can take to ensure that your appraisal is as fair as possible; because whether… Continue

The online magazine Knowledge@W. P. Carey, produced out of ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, recently reviewed Steve Bergsman’s “After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade.” I haven’t read the book yet myself, but I will -- Knowledge@ certainly makes it sound like a must-read for anyone involved -- or thinking about getting involved -- in real estate.

Some of the most salient points from the Knowledge@ story:

• “‘Although that (late-'80s) re… Continue

Read on for a snapshot of what went on in the Phoenix area real estate market in May.

Enjoy!


What specifically happened last month/quarter in this market?

A total of 9,980 resale homes sold in Maricopa County in May, up 9.7% from April and 38.4% higher than in May 2008. Of the homes sold, 30% were foreclosures, slightly higher than the share of foreclosures in April (27%) but much lower than the share in May 2008 (40%).

“The slowdown [in foreclosure activity] can primarily be attributed to… Continue

An article yesterday in the Arizona Republic talked about a number of steps home sellers can take to get their home sold. One was: “Ask your listing agent to burn up the phone lines with calls about your home. During the heady seller's market a few years back, well-priced properties in popular neighborhoods practically sold themselves and listing agents had relatively fewer marketing duties. But now that the buyer is king, the well-honed marketing skills of an experienced listing agent are more… Continue