Ricardo Cortez's (rcortez) Blog

options you have if you want to avoid foreclosure. Re-finance can be difficult due to the decline in real estate values. However, often a bank may offer a re-finance to pay off other high-interest debt like credit cards so that you will have enough income to pay your mortgage.   Short Sale - If y...

But Chief Executive Robert Toll is seeing signs the market is stabilizing -- the company had the lowest contract cancellation rate in more than two years, and more buyers are putting down deposits. Toll Brothers reported earnings today "We believe that there is pent-up demand," Toll said in a sta...

According to the US News and World Reports annual report and rankings of the best college graduate schools in the country Best Graduate Schools the town of Tempe - Arizona State University WP Carey School of Business was ranked # 22 in the US, 8th in the US amongst public schools and only 1 of 5 ...

Tol Brothers,  The Horsham, Pa.-based builder lost $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, in the three months that ended July 31. That's a reversal from a profit of $26.5 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Toll absorbed $84.3 million in after-tax write-downs in the quarter. Exclu...

why Short-Sales are getting more difficult. There are a number of factors to consider if you get that ugly little Foreclosure Notice and before you attempt a short sale. Especially here in Phoenix, Arizona where Deeds of Trust change the landscape a bit. Here's what you should do 1st. Contact you...

The question I have been asked quite a bit lately from sellers is , "Should I Stage my house" in order to sell it at a better price and more quickly? Before I answer that question, you should know more about the A-B-C's and 1-2-3's of Home staging by Craig Schiller who is the Founder of on the pr...

4 home buying reasons to consider: 1) Fannie Mae has significantly eased their lending of  credit, as Teh American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure abuse prevention act was a effort to stimulate the Real Estate market along with the inference of reduced risk to a company whose priority is to make m...

The current housing-reform bill calls for eliminating Down Payment Assistance and the practice of seller assisted down payments. However there are pending proposals which call for allowing such down-payment assistance with more restrictions. As Craig Anderson, of the Arizona Republic pointed out ...