Has the ATM machine quit working?

Tens of thousands of people have been getting letters informing them that their HELOC loan is no longer available or has been substantially reduced. Yep, fine print at it's best. You may recall how these same banks offered these loans at "no-cost" and marketed them as a great tool for you to use for college, cars, home improvements and even credit card debt. It sounds like their irrational exuberance has come back to bite their tails just a bit.
Those that don't have or didn't get a "second" loan on their home will now find it much more difficult to do so. Countrywide, Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA, WAMU appear to be "reviewing" their guidelines in this market. Before, they made it almost too easy, now, they might be too difficult but hopefully, we will soon be back to "normal."
If you have questions about the availability of your funds, you might want to call your bank. This is relatively new and a lot of them are just getting started. The fact that you haven't received a letter yet, doesn't necessarily mean you still have all of your funds available.
MSN recently ran this story about lenders cutting off the home equity tap that had some pretty good info. Take a look..

Nick Bastian.com getting a new look

We are getting close to having the "new and improved" version of NickBastian.com ready for your opinions. The conversion started a few weeks ago and my lovely assistant (ok, my right arm) Michelle, has been working really hard to fix some of the kinks. In the next couple of weeks, we will have better home search pages, more customization and the ability to make even more custom changes as we go. We will add pages of information on neighborhoods we like and areas of town that we feel are great places to live etc.

Old and new versions of "Nick's News" will be added over time as well. And yes, the famous (or infamous?) "Nick's Picks" restaurant reviews will be available one of these days too. It is amazing how many of you guys call or email me about the restaurant choices. Thanks because we have a lot of fun with that one. :-)

This blog will always remain a focus for my favorite people; Those of you that are "members" of the "Just Call Nick" club. We hope to add more fun events and drawings for cool things in the near future. I hope you will visit both of the sites often and continue to provide me with feedback concerning how I can better serve your real estate needs.

Anyone that cares to read even more of the things I write about can visit my Active Rain Real Estate blog.

Thanks again for your continued support and referrals. 2007 was a great year for my business. That probably sounds crazy as it was a "horrible" market but, because of many of you people in the "Just Call Nick" club, I have been able to really stay on top of my game!

Thanks! I'll let you know when the "new" web site is ready..

Green Stuff - Condos to Commodes

So, since it has been the big buzz for quite some time to "go green," I thought I'd start a series of topics related to green living. Green living means different things to different people. I will report on some energy saving tips, green construction techniques etc in hopes that people find it interesting. While I have probably never been called a "bark biter," I am always looking for ways to improve my quality of life and to save a buck or two along the way. There is a "green marketing group" within a blogging community where I read up on a lot of these things. If I find any good tips, I'll pass them along here and on NickBastian.com
Green living can be as simple as installing low water use toilets to complete construction plans. This week, the paper had an article about a new community called Aura. I was recently invited to preview the new AURA at Camelback project in Phoenix. (Aura calls itself "Sustainable Luxury Living") Basically, the developer ran some video renditions of the new development and had drawings/ plans etc. available for us to check out. It was one of those things where pretty people pass out fancy little finger foods and offer you wine so we will fall in love with the community.. Some one has to do it.. The concept was very interesting and this upscale condo project that will be in the beautiful "Camelback Corridor," has a lot of features that will give it the "green effect" they want. According to their web site, " One exciting, environmentally conscious outcome of Aura at Camelback will be to leverage solar technology in ways that the Valley has never before experienced. Aura at Camelback is on track to be the benchmark and set the stage for solar residential power projects in Arizona. Aura at Camelback is so unique because every single home in the Community will have immense solar capacity, saving up to 75 percent on electricity costs. Residents will have all the power they need and it will be power from the sun." The solar aspect was interesting to me as I was able to meet and talk to people from Agenera. These are the guys that provide the Solar power for the units. They had a true passion for the project and brought along a "sample panel" that looks nothing like the old style panels from back in the 80's. Aura's brochure mentions "saving up to 75 percent on electricity costs." Other features of the project were dual flush toilets, low-flow shower heads, loe-E windows, underground parking, private elevators and the use of a lot of "open space" within the community. Pave stones will be used around the exterior of the development instead of concrete or asphalt to keep from adding to the heat-island effect. These 36 townhouses should break ground soon with first occupants moving in around mid-2009. Current pricing was quoted in one brochure as being from the $800's to $1.2 million. The units range in size from 2469 - 3147 square feet. - wanna take a look? I have some brochures etc.. So, "Just Call Nick" and I'll give you some more of the scoop. :-)

Arizona embracing the Paperless transaction

I found this interesting video talking about the Arizona Association of REALTOR'S embracing the paperless transaction. Stewart's Sureclose transaction management system should be an interesting change. Sounds pretty cool to me but I am sure there will be some challenges getting cooperating brokers, buyer's, seller's, escrow companies, inspection companies, appraisers etc. all on the same "page." Granted, this shouldn't be rocket science and it could be very beneficial to many of us. I just know that change can be difficult for some people. :-) Heck, even when we have changes in our contract, it is sometimes hard for people to keep up.. Arizona will probably be watched closely to see how we react to these changes. So, what do you think? Ready to sign on the dotted line/screen?

inman Connect - NYC 08 - Travis Wright and Craig Sanford