Mortgage Rate Update

Freddie Mac’s official release last week shows mortgage rates holding steady. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.98% (with an average 0.7 points) which is down fractionally from 3.99% the week prior and still substantially lower than this time last year when the FRM averaged 4.87%. The 15-year FRM settled at 3.21% (0.7 points) on […]

Under Contract? Hold Off on Purchases

One of the common mistakes that both first-time homebuyers and sesasoned real estate buyers can make is to throw a wrench into a loan approval prior to closing by making large purchases. Today most buyers will receive pre-approval before even making an offer but may not fully realize that it’s not until a loan is […]

Interest Rates Edge Upwards Again

One of the factors that has made today an excellent time to buy a home has been the extremely low interest rates. Clearly this won’t last forever and as the economy continues its recovery the Fed will certainly raise interest rates once a solid foundation takes hold. This last week’s interest rate rise is certainly […]

Warren Buffett’s Sage Advice – Buy Homes!

Investment tycoon and perennial prognosticator, Warren Buffet, delivered a two part message this past week. First is that he was dead wrong about the housing market’s recovery which he predicted last year would have already rebounded. The second is that he still believes housing is an excellent investment by generating rental income. While the so-called […]

National Builders See Uptick in Contracts

Several of the nations largest homebuilders, including D.R. Horton & Lennar recently have publicly stated an increase in sales orders of new construction homes nationally. Largely fueled by the improving affordability of homes in contrast to renting, this spurred D.R. Horton to beat Wall Street estimates of its profits for the 1st quarter. Homebuilder sentiment […]

Checking For Termites

One of the routine maintenance items every homeowner should do is a visual inspection of the home exterior. Check for any signs of unusual wear, water leaks, and of course of primary concern in Arizona are termites. Subterranean termites will most commonly be visible on the concrete stem at the base of the home and […]

Closing Costs Rising

Even as housing costs have come down over the last few years throughout most of the country the amount of money paid in closing costs has increased by 8.8%. Nationwide the average closing costs for origination and title fees on a $200,000 purchase mortgage totaled $4,070 which is up from 2010’s average of $3,741. So […]

Biosphere 2 - Future Community Developing?

The investment group which purchased Biosphere 2 and it’s surrounding property back in 2007 has recently donated ownership of Biosphere 2 to the University of Arizona, which took official ownership at the beginning of July. The UA has operated the facility since CDO Ranching & Development purchased the property, but now gains full ownership of […]

Tucson in Top 5 Best Cities For Investors

Real estate industry news analyst Inman News announced a recent study which shows the Top 10 best cities for real estate investors. Reaching number four on the list was Tucson, Arizona! This analysis of hundreds of real estate markets factored in median sales price, loan data, foreclosure sales and discount statistics, population, and unemployment data. […]

Rental Market Outlook Bodes Well For Landlords

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies issued a comment in its latest report that renters will likely find a very challenging rental market in the upcoming months. Significant slow downs in multi-family housing growth means there will be fewer options available to those looking to rent properties, and subsequently rental rates will likely increase. […]