Mark Geis's Blog

I'm often asked by sellers the same question time and time again: "Don't I have to be late on payments before I can qualify for a short-sale"?  The answer, in a nutshell, is NO.  Banks will negotiate a short-sale if there is a great risk of "Imminent Default."   HUD defines "Imminent Default" as:...

  Don't:   1)  Don't worry about the color.  You can change it.  You will likely change it.  Throw this notion out.     2)  Don't be a structural engineer.  If you over-analyze every crack in the foundation - you'll imagine the worst when they could just be typical tension cracks and have nothing...

More and more we hear professionals in real estate, finances, economics and lending talking about the inevitability of inflation and the resulting increase in mortgage interest rates.  Most everyone is expecting rates to rise back to 7% – 9% by late 2012. What this means to home buyers is that th...

Picky, picky, picky! Are today's first-time home buyers passing up great deals because they insist on flawless "move-in ready" houses requiring little or no changes - even at the starter-home price levels at which shoppers traditionally have been willing to factor fix-ups and renovations into the...

As a Realtor, I’m often asked that question and it frustrates me to hear otherwise rational people talking about home ownership the way a speculator might talk about the price of gold.  Nobody needs gold, but everyone needs a place to live. If you’ve found the house you love, you intend to make i...

When the housing market is slow, referred to as a "buyers' market," there are typically more houses for sale than buyers interested in purchasing them. Anxious sellers may reduce their prices and offer concessions to lure buyers in. That can make it a great time to buy -- but don't throw caution ...

6 Factors That Help To Determine Home Affordability There are various factors that determines "how much home can I afford". These are interest rates, property taxes, home insurance, closing costs, housing ratio, debt-to-income ratio, etc. The first time home buyers can know about “how much home c...

  Buying versus Renting There are many advantages to buying a home versus renting one. View these advantages in the Buy vs. Rent Comparison Chart, or view a financial comparison of buying versus renting in the Buy vs. Rent Calculator. Your income, savings, and monthly expenses play an important r...

Fixed mortgage rates have fallen to historic lows for a fourth straight week and I feel they're likely to drop further. The average on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.01 percent from 4.09 percent this week, Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's the lowest rate since the mortgage buyer began keepin...

Well the Orchestrator of the economy has spoken.  He made two vile points that raised my eyebrows:   (1)  $200,000.00 per job is cheap.  Really???   I would think taking the fear out of economy would be a cheaper way to spur job creation.  But, instead, they want to spend $200K to create a job wi...