Let's have some fun and watch some baseball!

If you know me and read this blog, you know that I love hanging out with family and friends. If you are family or consider me your friend, I would like to invite you to a fun Friday night at Chase field!

I am teaming up with friends in the "Night Rail" spirit for a great time on Friday, September 18th. We have prime seats in the very cool Diamond Level at a discounted rate of just $20.00 to watch the Dbacks vs the Rockies at 6:40 pm. It’s the perfect venue for all of us to get together and have some fun. We all have busy lives but I hope you will be able to set aside some time on a Friday night to enjoy some baseball and hang out with some friends or meet new ones.

Here’s the scoop…

Game: D-backs vs Rockies, Friday September 18th @ 6:40pm

Simple process to purchase tickets:

1. Click on the following link: www.dbacks.com/groups

2. Log in with the following information:

sign-in ID – rail

password – life

Special discount ticket option includes:

$20 (reg. $30) in the Miller Lite Diamond Club

The Miller Lite Diamond Club is an upscale club located in right field on the main concourse level at Chase Field. It is a PERFECT place for a bunch of people to hang out. No assigned seats, special lounge seating throughout the entire location, full service bar (cash bar), pool tables, and HD TV’s make for a great night where will have some of the best seats in the house. Plenty of standing / mingling is possible in the Diamond Club with it’s cool lounge style seating.
Click to see pics of the Diamond Club <---


Yes... Everyone is invited. This section is perfect for having fun with friends. Feel free to use this as an excuse to invite family or friends to watch a game and have some FUN with hot-dogs, baseball and probably even apple pie.

Remember: To purchase tickets for the game, just visit www.dbacks.com/groups and use the sign-in ID of rail and the password of life. You will get the discounted price of $20.00.

Lori and I really hope to see ya there! If you have any questions... "Just Call Nick!"

Change is good - questions remain

Changing markets bring about a lot of issues that often become misunderstood or over looked. In the past 17 years of selling homes, I don't recall a time where people had so many questions and misconceptions on home prices, terminology and the market. If you are reading this as a "club member," you probably know me pretty well and know that I enjoy working with people that know me and trust what I say. There is a difference between people that call on a sign or an advertisement and people that call who have been recommended by a friend or someone that I have worked with in the past. Often, those responding to an ad are skeptical when they first call. Usually this is due to misperceptions of our industry or they have been reading the papers, which often (in my opinion) report real estate related information about 6 months too late. A recent article in the paper said that cash buyers are playing a large part in the market right now. Really? Six months ago, when you told someone that there are bidding wars on properties and that investors are snatching homes up, paying cash, and making it hard for "normal" buyers to compete, it was often met with a "deer in the headlights" type of look. Now, people are becoming more aware of the difficulties in certain markets.

Short sales and bank owned homes come with a LOT of questions right now, as well. A short sale can be a complete nightmare or it can sometimes go fairly smooth. However, the idea of looking at a bank owned home and offering "50%" under list price typically won't work. Banks normally price the homes (currently) aggressively and are not necessarily going to "dump them" as callers often hope. That doesn't mean you can't bargain or get a good price, it just means you need to understand how the process normally works.

Short sales are similar. Wow, can they be a LONG process. I have seen short sales take many (many) months and have seen others take less than 45 days. Yep, we recently closed a short sale in less than 45 days. This was possible because the "first" buyer decided to give up after waiting 4 months for the bank to make a dang decision. Once they got tired of waiting, they canceled. Lucky for my client, the bank had just issued an approval and we were able to get an acceptance in a couple of days and close in a "normal" amount of time. Other times, we wait months just for a response. Crazy.

Bottom line is this... If you have questions about buying or selling real estate. "Just Call Nick!"

Take a Hike!

Around here, we are always up for fun things to do! Recently, Lori and I took the boys on a "train ride" to Tempe to go hike Hayden Butte. ( "A Mountain) We all had a great time so we decided to do it again. This time, we thought we would invite some friends!

Please join us Saturday, March 21st as we get together with our friends from Take A Hike Arizona to meet at “A” Mountain in Tempe, for a fun morning hike, stroll or walk up Hayden Butte. The easiest way to get there is via light rail. Exit at the 3rd and Mill station and meet us at the coffee shop on the south west corner. (Mills End Cafe at 310 S Mill Ave) We will leave Mills End at 8:15 for our fun morning “hike.” Hey, what else are you gonna do on a nice Saturday morning that would be more cool than hanging out with some friends and getting some fresh air?
Like they say at Take A Hike Arizona, “The Butte may not qualify as an all out hike, but it does provide a nice quick jaunt uphill (just over 1/2 mile) and provides nice views of downtown Tempe, Tempe Town Lake and the surrounding area.”

Much of the trail is paved and the entire walk probably doesn't take an hour. It is a perfect Saturday morning trip! Click to see some pics from our recent trip...

The Butte is also a designated historical landmark. Just off the trailhead on the Leonard Monti Trail, you can find a number of petroglyphs carved into the rock by the Hohokam people. I recently spoke with Michael Monti (Leonard’s son) and I believe he will be joining us in the morning. It will be fun to learn some of the history of the Butte from him.

The founders of Take a Hike Arizona Tracey Epel and June Kleier will be on hand to join us as well. They have a very fun attitude about outdoor activities and I have enjoyed getting to know them recently.

The plan is to meet on Saturday morning, March 21st at 8:00am at Mills End Cafe which is located directly south of the light rail stop at 3rd Street and Mill Avenue. Mills End will be easy to find, just look for the Rail Life banner in the window Saturday morning. We plan to leave (ie: cross the street,) by 8:15am.

If you have never been on the light rail yet, you might want to see this information about the Park and Ride locations and check out how to purchase a light rail pass for your trip! Any questions? Just Call Nick!

Distressed Properties - The good bad and ugly

The Arizona real estate market, like many others, continues to change at a rapid pace. While the trend is currently looked at by many as "distressing," there are those who look at this market as an opportunity to purchase real estate in an environment of low interest rates and at price levels not seen for quite some time.

One of my long time "partners" in the real estate business is Fidelity National Title. For those of you that have worked with me for a long time, you might be familiar with them. Recently, I got some very interesting statistics from my friend, Jennifer Weller, an account rep for Fidelity. We discussed some of the current issues banks are dealing with when handling distressed properties.


1. 40% of the subprime loans written in '06 & '07 had no income verification.

2. Chase has a new program that if you lose your job-they will reduce your payment to $500 for months to help homeowners not lose their home.

3. It costs lenders on avg 75-125k per bank owned property.

4. fannie mae loan-primary residence...foreclosure=ineligible for 5 yrs for a FMae mortgage, short sale=2 yrs

5. investor ineligible for a Fannie Mae loan for 7 yrs in Foreclosure, short sale=2 yrs

6. foreclosure lowers credit 250-300 pts for avg of 3 yrs...and stays on credit for 10+ yrs
These 6 items are from Jen's "Twitter" feed while attending a seminar. I hope to go over the details with her in the near future and will gladly update you with any questions you might have. We will be reviewing the notes and updating / adding to the information in the near future.
As in every market, it is best to understand and make good educated decisions before buying or selling. There is always a seller that wants to sell and a buyer that wants to buy.
Let's discuss your situation before you decide to make a move. As always, I'll give you my honest opinion of your current situation. If it makes sense for you to make a move, I am happy to assist. If it doesn't, I will be glad to tell you so.

If you just want to "get a feel" for prices of homes in an area, (including foreclosure lists) you may visit my FREE map-based home search page to begin the process. As always, remember to "Just Call Nick" with any questions or comments!

New Year, New Opportunities

I have not written here much lately, mainly because there have been so many other things going on! I "need" to try and do a better job of writing more often as I really do enjoy it.
I wanted to quickly say that the new year has begun with a lot of really exciting things. The phones are busy, interest rates are great and pricing looks to be creating some real opportunities in some areas. While I feel many areas are still facing severe challenges, I do believe others are stabilizing and looking like a real bargain.
I hope you had a great holiday season! If you have any questions concerning sales, values, using our free mls search or would like my opinion of the market in your area... "Just Call Nick!" - I'd be glad to help. :-)