I read a ridiculous amount of blogs and news sites. Call it an obsession. Blame it on my iPad ”“ that thing is a content consumers dream.
Thought I’d share some of the recent goodness I’ve come across. If I was smart, I’d turn this into a regular feature. However, I’ve tried “regular features” in the past and failed miserably at delivering them consistently. I don’t like failing, so I won’t even go down the road of claiming this will be a regular thing here on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. We’ll just call it, “quasi-regular” which really means, “whenever Jay remembers and gets around to it.”
So without further ado”¦
Dan Green, who writes The Mortgage Reports — what I think is one of the best mortgage blogs on the planet — brings us, Spring 2011 : The Complete FHA Streamline Refinance Guidelines. This is the single best article I’ve seen on FHA streamline refinancing.
Local experts dispute Zillow’s housing stats is an interesting article in the Phoenix Business Journal. Zillow, for those not aware, is a national real estate site that has home listings and an “AVM” (Automated Valuation Model) that estimates home values. They also publish a boatload of real estate related data and statistics. In an earlier article in the same publication, Zillow claimed that nearly 70 percent of mortgages in Phoenix were under water. That number seemed high to me, and several “local experts” seem to agree.
Those that read much real estate stuff don’t have to go far to find Phoenix at the top of most sh!t lists ”“ price drops, foreclosures, short sales ”“ we are typically in the Top 10 (shouldn’t those really be “Bottom 10” lists?). The New York Times gives us, “Housing Market Looks Sickest in Cities That Once Seemed Immune” and we find out that the Phoenix’s and Las Vegas’ of the world are not alone in seeing a dip in real estate prices and overall market conditions. Heck, Atlanta is fairing worse than us. Phoenix is still #5 on their year-over-year price drop list, just ahead of Seattle ”“ despite two local Seattle economists who “were quoted all but guaranteeing that Seattle was immune “if history is any indication.” I’m no economist, but here’s a tip ”“ NO PLACE is immune from housing prices falling or economic struggles. Good grief, haven’t we learned yet that thinking home prices always rise is just stupid?
And finally, there’s a new real estate blog in town! ARMLS (the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service) has spawned ARMLSBLOG.com ”“ which according to them is, “the official blog of Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. We’re focused on real estate, technology and all things MLS as yet another service for our Subscribers.” Sounds cool. Their first post of sustenance is already generating some good comments. I suspect interaction will be high. Annoyingly, you have to register to comment, but it’s painless and probably a concession to the attorney types who tend to fear uncontrolled commenting”¦
Hope you enjoy reading these! As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated. Should I attempt to do “linkage” articles like this on a quasi-regular basis? Is it helpful? Waste of bandwidth? Does it even really matter? Inquiring minds want to know”¦
Photo Credit: Horia Varlan on Flickr. CC Licensed.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Jay,
Yes, you should do “linkage” articles like this on a regular basis. It helps spread the love and is awesome for networking.
If you are looking for your next site… check mine out.
=)
Nice digs, Jay – thanks for sharing.
I like the NYT piece.
Jay,
Yes, please continue the “link” pieces on as regular a schedule as you can muster! I enjoy reading timely pieces about the housing market and the state of lending but I simply don’t allot the necessary time to finding the articles. Thanks!
Hey Jay,
Thanks for the Dan Green tip…he was one of the blogs (along with yours, Teresa Boardman, etc) that really helped me get started just seeing the quality of content and consistency.
I’ve been hearing that Phoenix, Florida, California and Atlanta are among the top…or should I say bottom.. of the recovering real estate markets. I’d be curious to see a list from a reliable source rather than media outlets that focus on unspecific blocks of time.
Columbia SC has been fairly stable. I’ve seen lots of “Cash” transactions lately. I wonder if lenders will ever start lending again? You can’t just sit there and complain about a bad market and use it as an excuse. You got to get out and make things happen!
LOL I agree with Michael Orr “Zillow’s reputation for accuracy is as about as good as Lindsay Lohan’s reputation as a role model for good behavior,”
As usual, great article Jay. You are right and it shouldn’t take a genius to see that markets can change no matter where they are. Keep that ipad going. We can always count on you for great information.
We have learnt so much for how you real estate guys do it in the US. It is so different in Australia!
This is how our commission works in Queensland, Australia:
Residential property
The maximum commission on the purchase or sale of residential property:
* If the purchase or sale price is less than $18 000, the commission is 5 per cent of the price.
* If the purchase or sale price is more than $18 000, the commission is $900 and 2.5 per cent of the part of the price that is more than $18 000.
I have added you to my links page out of courtesy!
Colin
Webco Real Estate
Gold Coast Queensland Australia
@Colin, it sounds like real estate is much tougher to make a living down in Oz. Do the sellers help to cover marketing costs or do you just have to do more transactions and make your money on volume?
Good post. I appreciate the info. Also, if your looking for another blog to check out, ours is half decent!
its just my website/blog
Thanks!
This is great information. I have some property in north scottsdale and looking to buy more. Very dynamic situation in the Phoenix area. I am in Los Angeles area. It’s almost as “interesting” here. Thanks for your time. All the best.
Jay,
At first I was not sure if your comments on the new blog in town were meant to be sarcastic or not! Anyway, I find it a bit frustrating when the local MLS (pick a state) is more geared up to creating a web presence for consumers instead of really catering to the needs of its members – like maybe focusing on providing the VERY BEST search tools that agents can use in their personal websites. So often the local MLS really seems to forget who their paying customer are – or maybe I just have it all wrong.
I hate those “the official blog of (insert your state here) Regional Multiple Listing Service”. They make all this fuss about how good there blog is but yet when you go into their office the customer service stinks. As Mike said they need to focus on the members.
Thanks for these links! Several here I didn’t know about. Would you ever consider making this a regular feature? (Maybe once a month?)
Wow, fantastic weblog format! How lengthy have you been blogging for? you make blogging glance easy. The whole glance of your web site is magnificent, let alone the content!