Time flies and Phoenix RE BarCamp 2010 is approaching fast. If you are in or around the Real Estate Industry and you don’t know what RE BarCamp is, now would be the time to check it out and put April 9th 2010 on your calendar.

• RE Barcamp PHX 2010:
  147 days, 11 hours, 47 minutes, 32 seconds ago

I know everybody is busy, but trust me if you make time in your calendar then this will be a day well spent.

There is a very good reason why RE BarCamp has evolved from its original roots in San Francisco to a  movement with events happening all over the country now.  Not only can you select from many open, participatory workshop-events (referred to as sessions), whose content is provided by participants themselves, but it is also a great way to network, meet new cool people and  reconnect with old friends. This will also a great opportunity to take your existing online relationships offline and and meet your social media connections in real life.

If you are near the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, RE BarCamp PHX 2010 will be kicking off at the Scottsdale Stadium with the sign-in starting 8:30 am, April 9th 2010.  If you check on the who’s coming page there are people registering for RE BarCamp Phoenix from 2094 miles away willing to travel to this event. This fact alone should give you an idea! Take advantage of it and just show up – it won’t cost you anything, other than your time and effort getting to the event.

So what are you waiting for? Clear your calendars and head over to the RSVP page!

Oh, by the way, there is still time to become as Silver or Gold Sponsor to replenish your brownie-points in your good-karma-account.

I want to take a moment and wish all of you a prosperous, healthy, and safe New Year! As this year is coming to an end, enjoy the very last day of 2008, and ring in 2009 with a happiness.

photo credit: bryanecho

Speedequity® FREE for a Limited Time!

During the summer of last year, when the decline in the housing market started to become obvious, Mortgage Acceleration Systems started to become more prominent and created a big buzz among consumers.

I have written about Accelerated Mortgage Payoff Programs previously, but now in these tough economic times the interest in this topic may even grow bigger.

There have been many different opinions out there whether one should pay off a home mortgage early at all, to pay off the mortgage early using the help of a Mortgage Acceleration Software or to simply make bi-monthly payments.

With this big buzz different products and offers came along and also with them a lot of hope for consumers to get out of debt. After all, it sounds to good to be true that it is possible to pay-off a home loan in half the time without refinancing.

Today is my little boy’s birthday and Christmas is just around the corner, so I thought I would pass along a gift for everybody who wants to find out how Accelerated Mortgage Payoff Programs work.

Click here for your free Speedequity® Mortgage Acceleration System

 

UPDATE: This Promotion has ended, however the good news is that a 12 months subscription is still available for $49.95!

Nope, you won’t find false hope for gain offered in exchange for profit, instead you will get a free very inexpensive resource to educate yourself on how Mortgage Acceleration works. It is definitely not for everyone and each individual situation since it requires more discretionary income than your monthly liabilities, but your financial situation may change in the future and you possibly could benefit from implementing Mortgage Acceleration in your financial plan later down the road – without having spent a lot of money upfront.

So, from now until December 31st of 2008 I will be giving away Speedequity® for virtually for FREE!

After that, Speedequity® will be available at a very reasonable price (to be announced) but definitely NOT for $3,500.00.

 

Full Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Harj Gill’s Speedequity® System and won’t be making a dime off the Free Speedequity® subscriptions. There is a possibility that I will make a couple of bucks down the road from paid subscriptions which will pay for hosting and maintenance.

Christkindlmarkt coming to Mesa, Arizona:

The holidays are approaching fast and usually this is the time of year when I reflect on childhood memories of the holiday season. One of my favorite things was going to the Christkindlmarkt and I can’t tell you how much I miss the smell of roasting chestnuts and warming up with a cup of good, hot & strong Glühwein between my fingers.

After being in Arizona for over 10 years, I have become pretty thin-blooded and I am already starting to shiver when it is 65 degrees out, but every once in a while I miss the “Winter Wonder Land” and the holiday atmosphere from home.

photo credit: Rinaldo W

This December 6th I will be able to get a little “taste of  home” when the Arizona Center for Germanic Cultures is presenting its first annual Christkindlmarkt in downtown Mesa.

The Christkindlmarkt – a celebration held throughout Central Europe – will bring cherished German and European traditions to Mesa with holiday entertainment, German and Austrian cuisine, vendors and local artisans selling merchandise like children’s toys and Christmas ornaments, and much more for the whole family! Admission will be free.

Perhaps I’ll see you there!?

Where: Mesa on North Macdonald Street near Main Street

When: December 6th, 2008 – 12:00 Noon until 10:00 PM

View Larger Map

photo credit: kevindooley

Realty Studies associated with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus reports that Greater Phoenix residential resale numbers show a huge decline in prices.

The decline in prices certainly does not come as a surprise as we painfully witnessed this negative trend over the last couple of months, however ASU’s Jay Butler’s findings may signal a glimpse of hope.

The October 2008 same-month sales volume of non-foreclosed resale homes increased by a whopping 58% compared to resales numbers reported in 2007. Median home prices in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area have come down by 30% compared to October of last year and sparked interest for potential investors and owner-occupants, especially in the lower income ranges.

Lower prices are certainly helpful to improve the absorption of the existing inventory but so far we are nowhere near to a recovery of the real estate market due to; eroding consumer confidence,  a weak economy, possible job losses and tighter mortgage underwriting guidelines.

Last June, after great due diligence I have implemented a map-based mls property search on the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area Real Estate Blog because it is simply one of the best.  Today, approximately 5 months after the initial release the map based MLS-search has gotten even better.

Here are some of the most significant improvements:

• The search panel has been completely overhauled. Now you are able to expand the search criteria boxes by the clicking on them with your mouse.
• The text boxes and sliders are no longer separate options. Instead, your can now use either option at your will and use either option at any time. No more switching back and forth, just simply choose your preferred method of input.
• The first search box (city / community / tract / neighborhood / zip input box) has been changed. Instead of using commas to separate the different areas, you will need to press “enter” when you’re finished typing or just click on the city in the drop down. Entering multiple areas is much easier now.
• Now you can search for pre-foreclosures (short sales, notice of default, etc) and foreclosed (bank owned) properties. Diverse Solutions developed a proprietary algorithm that analyzes each property’s description to determine whether or not a property is a pre-foreclosure or has been foreclosed upon. If you view the details of a property the search returned you will know wether the property is a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure.
• Looking for a home in a certain school district? Now you have the option to search for properties by typing in the name of the school and/or school district.  Once you entered the the first two letters a drop-down menu will appear with available schools and/or school districts to choose from.
• Bargain hunting? Now there is a feature to easily look for properties by price-drop-percentage over a period of days. Just select your parameters.
• Have you seen a lot of properties? Now you can take and save notes to make your pre-selection easier.

The guys and gals over at Diverse Solutions say that today is a really good day, and I totally agree!

Now what are you waiting for? Go explore the new features and start searching for properties on the Phoenix Home Search!

Well not exactly and if it just were that easy. Today is post-election day and finally it is sinking in: Barack Obama is President elect of the United States of America.  This campaign was tough, and it almost felt as if there was no end in sight but now this chapter of American history has come to an end and with that the unbelievably annoying robo-calls. Now the daily interruptions will revert back to the occasional carpet cleaning and credit card offerings.

Come January 20th of 2009, a new chapter of American History will begin and so far we only have the title and summary on the flap of this book; “Yes We Can”. It sure looks promising and could be a heck of a story, however the story of this book will be concluded in 4 years (and possibly 8). Jay Thompson, the Phoenix Real Estate Guy, gave us a little glimpse of the beginning of this book and there is a chapter called “Obama on Housing”; most certainly a chapter of importance for homeowners (present and to be) and the Real Estate and Mortgage Industry alike. One thing I know for sure is that  this book will have a lot of difficult chapters and sections, but we’ll have to wait and see how the saga continues and if there is a happy end.

Now, as this first day after an election comes to an end, it is starting to sink in… Barack Obama is President Elect. There is hope in living where a democratic process is valued and respected; and I saw it today at the pre-kindergarten my son goes to. Principles of choice and democracy are taught early – the substance of this Country.

This country has spoken loud and clear, and so has the 3-year-old group of my son’s pre-kindergarten. Time to change the flavor, if only it was really just that simple in politics.

One of the many reasons why I attended Inman Connect is to stay informed and keep abreast with the latest industry issues, social media, the transformation of the real estate business.  During Bloggers Connect first day’s session I realized that it was time to lay out the ground rules on my blog, the comment policy.

Fortunately I have not ran into any nasty situations here on the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area Real Estate Blog and just have to deal with the common nusinace of comment spammers. But it does not hurt to establish some house rules which I call common sense.

photo credit: jakedobkin
One would think that commons sense, and the principal of ethic reciprocity should be enough to avoid any problems, but needless to say that this is simply not just the way it is and rules have to be spelled out.

No, my comment policy is not as long and detailed as the Blog Herald suggests, and I prefer to lay out some simpler ground rules which are governed by the golden rule, but my comment policy should at least cover the basics. What do you think, care to comment?

Now I am ready to turn off the computer and will be heading out to San Francisco shortly.

This will be a first for me and I am looking very much forward attending these events. See you in San Francisco!