Last week President Bush signed into law a sweeping housing bill. The goal is to help the struggling housing market and bolster mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some perceive the increase of the minimum down payment and the elimination of down payment assistance as a flaw. I think it may slow the economy temporarily after September, but it will only be temporary. God Bless America.

This is not a rodeo, this is THE PBR. The PBR was in town last weekend at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ. BIG Congrats go out to 2007 Daisy Rookie of the Year Clayton Williams on his first Built Ford Tough Series win. On hand were our company's founders Coldwell & Banker. Check out the photos for some of the excitement.

I’ve been showing homes in the Maricopa County area of Queen Creek, the city of Mesa, and also in the city of Gilbert. Sossaman Estates, Cortina, Mountain Heights, Gila River Ranches, Vista Del Oro are just a few of the subdivisions. These are beautiful homes in the $300 - $400,000 range, and are 3000+ square feet in size.

If you were wondering whether I have been running into foreclosures and pre-foreclosures in this market as well, the answer is yes. This segment of the market isn’t immune to the impact of foreclosures. In fact, 8 out of every 10 homes that I showed were foreclosures.

I did want to mention an election topic coming up in November in this week’s blog. There is a new Real Estate Transfer Tax on the ballot that you should be aware of, and start thinking about now. A real estate transfer tax (RETT) is a state or local government imposed tax that would be collected when you transfer the ownership of a home, land or commercial real estate. It would burden our already burdened real estate market, create double taxation, and punish the homeowner by affecting the equity.

Look for it on the ballot, and remember that a “Yes vote means No” to the new tax.

That’s it for now. Have a great weekend, and write me with questions or comments for new topics.

After much ado, my Blog has been given the "green light". When I posted my first post, I didn’t realize that there was an approval process, and then I had to figure out what to say. So, I've spent the last month trying to figure out how to get started, and what to say.

This being my first foray into blogging, I just wanted it to be perfect. And then it struck me that perfection is an unattainable goal, and that I should “just do it” in true Nike form.

I hope everyone’s Fourth of July celebrations went well. Mine was spent with family, barbequing the 4th, 5th and the 6th. We watched fireworks and took care of things that people take care of over the 4th of July weekend. We were very thankful for not having to work for three days. Of course, all of you that are BBQers know that’s not really true. Cook-outs are hard work :-). But heck, we at least got to sleep-in every morning. 7 am instead of 6 am. We have 4 pound puppies (Shepard and Akita mixes), that still need our attention in the morning. But then back for siesta. Breakfast was at lunch, and dinner was served on a paper plate. It doesn't get any better.

As for local real estate news, in spite of slight drops in sales, common at the beginning of summer, our local market activity is steady. For the Phoenix metro area, Maricopa and Queen Creek still lead the market based on pending sales, with Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe not far behind. Hooray for the East Valley.

Look for the newly redesigned, new and improved, better than before, not as seen on TV, AZMOVES.COM website due to be published in the month of July 2008. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out exactly when.

Well, that’s about it for now. I have lots of work to catch up on, since I didn’t work for the last 3 days. And I mean lots.

Welcome to the first post, of my first blog. Be sure to join me here often, as I intend to add content here regularly. Topics will vary, and will always provide both entertainment, as well as education.