Travis A Martinez, Real Estate Consultant

This weekend is the annual Tour of Homes for the Bitterroot Valley.  I am very excited.  My favorite part is seeing all of the finish work.  The detail and intricacies of the finish work are amazing.  In fact after last years' tour my, then fiancee, and I got a wild hair and redid out bathroom with Venetian Plaster and ...

Anthony Martinez is my father.  Today is his birthday, as I reflect on him I remember one of the lessons he taught me from a very young age.  First I will give you a little bit of background knowledge.  He was a salesman.  Even when that was not his trade (even though most of the time it was) he was a salesman.  There was ...

As many of you may be aware, the President signed the Housing Stimulus Package last week.  What does this mean for you? Well if you are a first time homebuyer this could mean that you get a $7,500 tax credit.  If you are a FHA buyer this increases your loan limits.  If you are in Foreclosure this new law could provide for some ...

The House of Representatives passed the Housing Stimulus Package.  What happens next? The Senate will need to confirm it, which is expected to happen; the President will need to sign it into law, which is also expected to happen.  What does this all mean? Here is a great list from an article in the Wall Street Journal:Key points of ...

As college approaches parents everywhere are making preparations for sending their kids off to the big scary world of higher education.  Many decisions must be made before college starts in September.  What major will I have?Will I have a job?How do I make friends?Where will I live?Much much more........I want to address just one of ...

The prevailing interest rate is often referred to as the "cost of money."  Or more simply put the amount that you have to pay to use someone else's money.  Typically long tern money (30 year mortgages) is more expensive then short term (10 or 15 year mortgages) money.  Another way of looking at this is as an ...

As I read the article below I was a little disturbed at the lack of coordination in DC.  It stinks and there is nobody that is clean in this situation.  Read below and see for yourself.  Bush Set to VETO Homebuilders BillArticle Originally published in the Wall Street JournalMay 7th, 2008WASHINGTON -- President Bush and Congress ...

Are these admirable goals for an advertising campaign?  Or, maybe a better question is, is the goal of an advertising campaign to change consumer behavior or to just focus it?  Organizations such as MySpace and Facebook have truly changed the way we look at the internet.  They would fall under the Persuade, Change, and Influence ...

This weekend was not only beautiful it was a furry of activity.  There was the Spring Fair at the Fairgrounds, lots of yard work to do, and yeas even people looking at property.  Not only did I show property to some buyers that I have been working with, but I also got some activity on my listings.  By activity I not only mean ...

Every time I turn on the TV I see the gloom and doom about our country.  So we might be in a recession......So what?!?! There are opportunities around every corner.  If you want to be engrossed by the negative of the situation then you will not be able to see the opportunities that exist.  What opportunities you might ask.  If ...