Mark L. Ostrovsky's (marcopolo) Blog

We don't know if it's just us but it feels like there's more than a little populist rage in the air? More than a year after the largest corporate bailout in history many see the writing on the wall ... some banks and insurance companies are too big to fail ... the rest of us not even appearing to...

Just like politics, all real estate is local. Unfortunately many buyers run with what they hear in the mainstream media and may miss out on getting the exact house that they want. Does the following sound familiar? "The real estate agent says this house is priced well below market, and it's exact...

Pretty much all of us have clients, who through little or no fault of their own, find themselves unable to pay their mortgages. This of course is a fact of life these days. What surprised us, however, is learning that their is an increasing number of homeowners who are simply choosing not to pay ...

Here's some information you may find useful. 010 Census to Begin THIS IS PRETTY BASIC ADVICE;     Be Cautious About Giving Info to Census Workers by Susan Johnson           With the  U.S.  Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau  (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious,...

If you're among the many potential buyers out there looking to take advantage of the government's tax credit program here is a YouTube video explanation from The I.R.S. just how that tax credit works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkzB03uuGlg   Special thanks to Realtor Renee Lampann from Omaha,...

  Despite all of the bad news we heard about real estate in 2008, Beachwood, Ohio actually faired surprisingly well. We live here and we work here and find ourselves pleasantly surprised at the data! 2009                                                                                             ...

I came across this very interesting blog this morning about what's in store for mortgage applicants in 2010. The new loan underwriting world - this promises to have a huge impact for REALTORS® because the field of qualified buyers is shrinking further due to many underwriting changes.  Due to th...

The following is something we hear from many homeowners who operate on the apparently common misconception that everything they do to improve or to maintain their property translates into dollars when they go to sell: "I made a substantial improvements to my house and I plan on recouping that mon...

Maybe it's time to buy cleveland Ohio real estate? According to Housing Predictor, a website which provides independent real estate market forecasts for more than 250 cities in all 50 states, Cleveland is ranked the NUMBER #1 housing market most likely to experience appreciation in 2010. That's h...

We live and sell real estate in the City of Beachwood, Ohio where, according to the 2000 Census, the annual median household income was some $77,500, the population just over 12-Thousand, and the median age around 51 years old; which is older than the average age in the U.S. In 2000, families (no...