First item of interest is that I became a Broker. I took the test and passed it the first time (unusual and only about 30% pass the first time). To answer the question I know you are wondering is      when I am going to open my own office. I am not going to be going on my own office in the foreseeable future. Having broker status is (using the military as an example) I went from being private to getting my sergeant stripes. There can be many brokers at one office, only one is the designated broker. How this change is important for you is, when I am dealing with my fellow agents, they will know what I am talking about. It gives me more authority and credibility in the overall community. I still have to adhere my Broker’s guidelines, since he is the Designated Broker and he has ALL the responsibility. He does give me quite a bit of lea-way, on most items. Oh did I say he, yes I did. This brings me to the …

Second Item, as a result of my becoming a Broker, I have been offered a manager position and a higher commission split. I am now with Rising Bid Realty: Rising to the highest standards to do your bidding, how is that for a catch phrase?! We are located on Highway 95 between Hancock and Ramar in the middle of town. We are just south of Ramar on the East side of the street (the side away from the river), Next to Mad Dogs

Third Item is from some of my customers who have been asking me how I can say the Bullhead Tri-State area has hit bottom when the newspapers are telling them the cities are still sliding down and down in prices. This is a fairly easy question to answer: the most important part of the answer is Real Estate is very much a LOCAL business. Yes there are trends in cities in the USA. The other part of the answer is that the Bullhead Tri-State area is a Second Home/Resort community (mostly second home) not a primary lived city and as such more than 1/3 of the homes in the Bullhead Tri-State area are non-owner occupied; these are people who’s second home is here and the others are rentals.

Yes we have hit the summer with 120ºs and so when you plan to come out here, PLEASE bring lots of water and coolers to keep it cool.

Lenders have tightened the rules and are still tightening the rules. You may have heard that Indymac (very large lender) cannot do loans at the moment until the re-write their business plan. This is a very simplistic way of saying it, and as such there is a lot more to it than that. Countrywide is also in a world of hurt by being swallowed up by Bank of America.

I am in the middle of a deal and the banks have revised (again) their rules to be even tighter. It is very hard to get any loans through unless you have all your documentation and at least 10% down.

Prices are at about a 5 -7 year low, now is the time to buy! A few people have been in contact with me to do just that. The pricing will hold fairly steady until the inventory is bought up, so come and get what you want for the price you want (almost). The only price drops are as I mentioned above: those who can afford to drop it and the banks who want to get rid of it.