The production builders are starting to gear up in the Northwest, sometimes in unexpected places.  Only a few projects have new web sites up, but it interesting to get a glimpse of what the new product is going to be.  Smaller, cheaper, downgraded, and stripped of all the detail and froo-froo we had come to […]

continue reading.....

[Feb. 23, 2010 - Note: it has been brought to my attention that some posts (like this one for example) are not displaying correctly depending on the browser used.  I am investigating this, but it seems that this post displays correctly in Firefox or Chrome, but not certain versions of IE.  If you have observed […]

continue reading.....

Though not necessarily news, I received the following info from one of my lender contacts and thought I’d pass it along…
New federal tax credits are now available for green home improvements on a principal residence. Qualifying modifications must meet a certain energy efficiency level to be eligible for the credit.
The credits are available for improvements […]

continue reading.....

The drill was supposed to work something like this:  buy a house as an investment property, use an Option ARM, make the minimum payment, and with a decent down payment, the investment would be cash-flow positive.   Then sell and reap the appreciation.  Even if the negative amortization is running 5% per year, what could go wrong?
Fallis Properties […]

continue reading.....

Thank you to our friends at First Centennial Title for providing January’s Market Condition Report below. Click on the report to enlarge.
From January’s report:

OVERVIEW: Activity is greater than the same time period last year, but continues to slow relative to other market areas. SFR closing price posted a $7K loss while Condo prices continue especially […]

continue reading.....

I received a request from a reader to provide the latest sales numbers for condos in the Reno - Sparks market.  Happy to oblige.
January’s condo sales were lighter than in recent months, and as we saw with the SFR numbers for January, price per square foot hit a new low.  At $51.70/square foot, January’s ppsf […]

continue reading.....

Just an FYI; I received the Washoe County recordings (new home sales, re-sales, and re-fis) from Ticor Title.  I’ve added the chart to Tuesday’s post.  See Ticor Title charts for January

continue reading.....

I received the handout below from a lender friend of mine.  I realize I have recently posted changes to FHA’s lending policies, but this handout concisely summarizes the recent changes quite nicely.  Plus, it doesn’t hurt repeating in case it may have been missed the first time around.
New FHA guidelines in a nutshell:

Increased upfront mortgage […]

continue reading.....

Not that all the upper end properties in Incline Village are all starting to look like the lower end properties at Woodland Village, but the NODs this last week or so are worth mentioning:
-  517 Fairview went NOD on a $4,800,000 loan on a missed March 2008 payment.  This is Reynen of R&B, so it has […]

continue reading.....

Yesterday I posted the monthly median numbers and noted that January’s median sold price plunged more than five percent from December’s median sold price.  After seven months of relatively flat monthly median sold prices, one has to wonder if January’s drop was a seasonal blip? Or does it portend the beginning of a “double dip”?
Where […]

continue reading.....