Blog entries

It's Difficult To Talk About.....

Frank Russo

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RE/MAX Professionals� Frank Russo Team Receives Top Award

Frank Russo

Phoenix, Arizona - Even as the real estate industry continues its slow recovery from the dramatic downturn in the economy, RE/MAX agents continue to support hospitalized children across North America. Knowing that children’s hospitals have been impacted deeply by the recession and downturn in philanthropic giving, RE/MAX agents worked harder than ever to live up to their motto “Outstanding Agents, Outstanding Results®” in their support of Children’s Miracle Network.&n [...]

PREDICTIONS

Frank Russo

Indianapolis Colts will win BIG – that was my Super Bowl prediction. I hope my next one is better! Here it is – The real estate turnaround is closer than you think. In qualifying this, prices will remain flat for some time to come. Activity, however, will grow dramatically in the near future. In one periodical that I read there were 3 articles over 2 pages that read:” Apartment Shortage Looming”, “New Inventory Too Low in Some Areas” and “Builders Predic [...]

FAQ - Homebuyer Tax Credit Changes

Team Associate Shannon

Yummy Holiday Wreaths

Team Associate Shannon

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

1/3
cup margarine or butter

1
package (10 oz. about 40) regular marshmallows

- or -

4
cups miniature marshmallows

1
teaspoon green food coloring

6 cups
Kellogg's Corn Flakes®

- or -

6 cups
Ready-To-Eat Cereal Kellogg's Frosted Fl [...]

Understanding HOA's

Team Associate Linda

For Your Clients: Understanding Home Owners Association Fees

By George W. Mantor

RISMEDIA, December 14, 2009—“The homeowner’s association fee is too high!” That is one of the most common objections to purchasing real estate where there is a community Association requiring the payment of regular dues and fees. These can range from less than a hundred dollars per month, if for example the only service is streetscaping, to upwards of a couple of tho [...]

10 Important Facts about the Extended First-Time Homebuyer Credit

Team Associate Stephanie

10 Important Facts about the Extended First-Time Homebuyer Credit

IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2009-13If you are in the market for a new home, you may still be able to claim the First-Time Homebuyer Credit. Congress recently passed The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act Of 2009, extending the First-Time Homebuyer Credit and expanding who qualifies.Here are the top 10 things the IRS wants you to know about the [...]

Agent Pedals 1,300 Miles With Son

Team Associate Shannon

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Sixteen years ago, Dan Rabourn brought his newborn son Danny home from the hospital. He lived in Denver then and dreamed of one day bicycling from the Mile High City to his hometown in Michigan. Last month Danny and Dan pedaled 1,325 miles in 17 days from Denver to their current home in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"It’s something I’ve wanted to do for 25 years," says Rabourn, an avid bicyclist and RE/MAX Hall of Fame member with RE/M [...]

Changing Times

Frank Russo

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a private breakfast with Dave Liniger, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of RE/MAX International, Inc.

There was one statistic that he gave us that really struck me. Of all the First-Time Home Buyers currently looking for a home; 24% are Single Females and only 12% are Single Males. Approximately 40 years ago, a woman could not even buy a home on her own. This just shows how much times have changed.

Secrets of Stress-Free Entertaining

Team Associate Stephanie
Secrets of Stress-Free EntertainingHosting a holiday party can feel like an overwhelming balancing act. But if you plan ahead and defuse the stress, you can entertain in style and actually enjoy yourself.Was your grandmother like mine? She cooked like mad during the holidays. When you walked into her house, you were greeted by the scent of turkey stuffed with bread crumbs, celery and onions roasting in the oven, and pumpkin pies cooking on the counter (next to a sink full of dirty dishes). But e [...]

Treasury sets guidance to simplify "short sales"

Team Associate Shannon

By Al Yoon Al Yoon – Mon Nov 30, 6:58 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed "short sales" of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem a rising tide of foreclosures.

The Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program provides financial incentives and simplifies the procedures for completing short sales, a growing practice in which a le [...]

Essential Home-Selling Tips

Team Associate Stephanie

By Sabrina Soto

Crank up the curb appeal

Pull weeds, rake leaves and trim overgrown shrubs, especially if they block windows or the path to your front door.

Paint

It's important to make your house generic. A fresh coat of neutral paint will make your home appear larger, brighter and more appealing to potential buyers.

Make repairs

Fix things like leaky faucets and sticky cabinets, and replace old screens. They may seem insignificant, [...]

Top 5 Home Improvement Projects Based on Cost and Return on Investment

Team Associate Julie

HomeGain.com, one of the first websites to offer Web-based free instant home values, announced that it has released the results of its nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer survey.

HomeGain’s recent survey shows the top do-it-yourself home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers. HomeGain received responses from nearly 1,000 Realtors nationwide and configured a list of the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements that cost unde [...]

On the Road to Recovery

Team Associate Linda
10 cities where prices are rebounding

5. Phoenix

Phoenix home prices rose 1.6% after a 1.8% increase from June to July. The city was one of the hardest hit in the real-estate bubble. Prices have dropped by more than 25% since last year.

As seen on MSN.com

Housing Starts Fall Back to Lowest Level in Six Months

Team Associate Shannon

RISMEDIA, November 20, 2009—Nationwide housing production fell 10.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units in October 2009 as builders awaited word on whether an important home buyer incentive would be extended, according to data recently released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

“As of October, the deadline for starting a home that could be completed in time for purchasers to take advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit had come and gon [...]

Are Short Sales Really the Next Big Thing?

Team Associate Julie
If you believe the hype, it appears that the next phase of the housing market recovery is going to rely heavily on short sales to help remove distressed properties from the home sales pipeline. A “short sale” is a sale where the bank accepts as full value a price that’s less than what’s owed on the property. The debt is forgiven (although not always without some tax consequences), a foreclosure is avoided, a buyer gets a good deal on a property, the bank saves t [...]

Slow Recovery for Arizona

Team Associate Linda
Slow recovery for Arizona economy and real estate, says Federal Reserve president

“Thing are beginning to look up in Arizona as they are for the nation. Still the Phoenix housing market is nowhere near a return to health.”

The pronouncement came from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen on Tuesday to a group of the Valley's leading real estate and banking executives.

“As the housing market collapsed and the nation fell into fi [...]

Landscaping Tips That Can Help Sell Your Home

Team Associate Stephanie

Potential home buyers form their first impression of a home from its curb appeal. Yet often a home's outdoor landscaping is overlooked, or underdone, in the preparation for the sales process. An attractive and well-maintained landscape can add as much as 10 percent to the value of your home.

Ideally the time to get started cleaning up your yard is about a month before you plan on showing your house. That should give you enough time to get everything looking just right and not leave [...]

Obama Signs Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension

Team Associate Shannon
RISMEDIA, November 9, 2009—President Barack Obama has approved the first-time homebuyer tax credit extension which will extend the tax credit until April 30, 2010. The extension is part of a $24 billion economic stimulus bill that will extend the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers who are purchasing their first home from the current November 30 deadline and expands the program to offer a credit of $6,500 to homeowners who have lived in their current home for at least five years and [...]

Home Sales Rise

Team Associate Linda
National Summary (U.S.)

Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,1 a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level si [...]