Travis A Martinez, Real Estate Consultant

The short answer is NO! In today's issue of the Ravalli Republic there is an ad by the local Windermere real estate company that states "Windermere is the only western Montana Real Estate company associated with www.trulia.com" This concerned me.  Through Point 2 Agent (a great web hosting site for ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

In an effort to give my clients the best marketing service for their home I have stumbled upon the newest thing in home marketing.  VIDEO TOURS.  Rather than a panoramic still photo that we use as a virtual tour (View an Example Here), this is like using a camcorder to do a walk through of the house.  This gives more of a first ...

I was a little appalled this morning when watching the Today show that they had a gentleman that said "Don't you dare buy now!"  He was a TV personality that you often see on shows like CNBC's Mad Money,  he was also the co-founder of TheStreet.com, Jim Cramer.  He obviously has a background in investing in Wall ...

I constantly get asked, "what is the real estate market doing?" Well, there is how the market is doing in Ravalli County: In the first quarter of 2007, 170 properties were sold that compares to 192 in the first quarter of 2006. There were 588 new listings put on the market in the first quarter of 2007.  The average days on ...

Everything in the lending market changes quite frequently.  That is why I am in the selling side of real estate.  My take on the situation based on different conversations with mortgage brokers and investment planners is this: Some companies made some poor decisions in lending to people that did not have good credit.  Because of ...

As many of you heard yesterday as I did the stock market took a turn for the worse.  This appears to be due to the foreclosure rate going up as much as 25% (based on what source you look at) mainly from sub prime lending.  What is sub prime lending?  Well, it is when some one has less than good credit (usually a score of less ...