This year, VA-backed loans are up 31 percent nationwide over last year due in no small part to it being one of the few 100% financing options available after 3rd party down payment assistance were eliminated effective October 1 of this year.

I found this fascinating quote today:

VA loans were designed to help veterans of the armed services, either currently serving in active duty or in the reserves, as well as their spouses.  In order to qualify for a VA loan, a veteran must meet the eligibility guidelines set by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  VA Loans enable veterans that qualify to put no money down on a mortgage loan up to $417,000.VA Loans Are A Great Option For Veterans, Oct 2008

You should read the whole article.

Homeowner insurance is probably the least appreciated or thought about policy in your home. You buy it when you buy your home, the premium is paid through your mortgage and when you get the renewal you just look at it and then wonder if you should file it or throw it away.

I found this fascinating quote today:

Here are the basics of what your homeowners insurance policy covers and how you can determine if you’re covered correctly or if you’re paying for something you don’t want..Home Insurance Basics

You should read the whole article.

A private airport in Queen Creek for aviation enthusiasts Pegasus Airpark is looking to change the type of aircrafts allowed to land at the site. 

The Circle G Pegasus Airpark is centered around custom homes and allows homeowners to park their aircrafts either at their property or in the hanger near by. The neighbors near the private airport are concerned with the proposal if approved would allow helicopters and planes with jet engines to land and increasing the noise level. The proposal is scheduled to go before the Town Council on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Currently the airport only allows planes that are under 12,500 pounds and have piston engines. The request comes from the Pegasus group wanting to bring in other types of aircraft popular in the aviation community, which would allow it to market the neighborhood to a broader range of pilots.

When the facility is built out, the group expects up to 20,000 take-offs and landings, which is still less busy than the nearby Chandler and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airports, which can get closer to the 250,000 to 300,000 range, or Stellar Airpark Estates with around 40,000,

Concerned neighbors, such as Greg Clark, a resident of the Orchard Ranch neighborhood just north of Pegasus Airpark, said he "doesn't think the development that could be brought in by aviation enthusiasts would be worth other neighbors wanting to leave rather than live next to an airport that allows planes with jet engines."

If you are not familiar with airpark communities, basically it's a residential airpark and is also known as a fly-in community. The community is typically designed around an airport where the residents each would own their own airplane which they park in their hangar usually attached to the home or integrated into their home.

The residential airpark or fly-in community features one or more runways with homes adjacent to the runway. Often times these airpark communities feature a variety of amenities, such as golf course, equestrian facilities and more. Residential airparks or fly-in communities are usually privately owned and restricted to use by the property owners and their invited guests.

Most do not include commercial operations or businesses. The communities have also become a niche real estate market, with some firms dedicated solely to these developments. If you're an aviation enthusiast and looking to upgrade your home and would like to seek homes closer to an airpark, contact me and I will happy to assist you in finding your dream home either in an exclusive area such as Pegasus Airpark or another local aviation community.

Pegasus Airpark Homes For Sale	Villages at Queen Creek
Orchard Ranch Homes For Sale	Pegasus Airpark Map

Read entire article here

Graphic compliments of EVTribune | Youtube compliments of: flynu4fun

Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Homes is pleased to introduce Justin McHood with Arizona Mortgage Team with our live interview October 9, 2008 (see Podcast below) talking a little about the Mortgage Landscape.

Justin & Tammy McHood with Arizona Mortgage Team will be contributing on a weekly basis on PhoenixHousingBlog.com with mortgage advice, answering mortgage questions and sharing market reports. 

Justin & Tammy McHood both Arizona natives bring their expertise and friendly customer service to each and every client.  Their priority is to help each buyer understand the process of getting a loan and offer a friendly local approach.  After all who is better to work with you with regarding your single largest asset (your home) than someone you can trust.  Someone with national experience, impeccable credentials and yet who lives locally. 

They specialize in FHA Home loans and will be happy to answer any mortgage questions or concerns you may have. There is so much to cover with the Mortgage Landscape and we touched on just a few areas that seem to be the hot topic in our podcast today.  We discussed the impact to buyers with the $700 billion dollar bailout and the passing of that bill. The general impact on buyers overall and the slowdown on the market.  Justin also gave us some insight on the FHA Hope For Homeowners program, that can help buyers that are struggling with their mortgages and being upside down on their notes. 

We also has some great advice on steps that a homeowner could take if they found themselves in a potential financial hardship and perhaps ways to avoid foreclosure.

Justin & Tammy McHood certainly are experts in the Arizona mortgage lending and can help help you with Arizona Mortgage financing options, buying a new home in Arizona also helping you understand Reverse Mortgages.

If you have questions for Justin and Tammy McHood, please feel free to click here

To Subscribe to the Phoenix Housing Blog Podcast with a RSS feed click here.

What Say YOU?

The search for the perfect pumpkin will be at The Great Pumpkin Festival on October 24 - 26, 2008. Visit the Desert Botanical Garden’s very own pumpkin patch, where each day children aged 12 and under can choose their own free pumpkin. Children also can enjoy face painting, the Amazing Bale Maze, balloon artistry, pumpkin decorating and carving demonstrations.

Copyright2007 JHaltom - Scrapbooking Page compliments of my talented sister in-law and charming

niece and twin nephews!

The Great Pumpkin Festival schedule and details is as follows:

 

Friday / October 24 - 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday / October 25 & 26- 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

$12  Non-Member Adult
$6  Non-Member Child (ages 3-12)
$2  Member Adult
$2 Member Child (ages 3-12)
Children Under 3 - Free

For a list of local pumpkin patches throughout the Phoenix metro area and corn mazes and pure Halloween fun read more...

Organize your paper. Simplify your life. I was asked to review the NeatReceipts Neat Business Cards scanner by a friend Chandler Peterson, with Realty Technology Review. I've included a short video for you to see, be sure to check it out. 

I'm thinking Chandler must have known something about my "put off 'til tomorrow' filing system to ask me to review this scanner.  This little gadget had my name all over it.  I have been collecting business cards for years now, more so since I began my Real Estate career in 2003.  I had always had good intent to index them and put them in my database, however it's always been a matter of time and kept putting it off!  

This little beauty is a nifty little gadget and yet a powerful little guy too.  It's so small and mobile that you can take it on the road with you tucked in the tiniest pocket of your briefcase or suitcase. The whole scanner weighs less than 4 ounces! That's about a half a sandwich!

It's the smallest color card scanner on the market. It scans directly into Outlook and ACT, and it's small enough to not clutter up your desktop and yet small enough to bring along on your business trips.  You can stay organized as you go instead of having to face a stack of business cards or in my case a pile of 1000's of them when you finally get the time.

Right out of the box, the Neat Business Cards scanner was pretty accurate with a range of business card styles, both scanning the text fields and then assigning them to the corresponding database fields. It even correctly distinguished telephone, fax, and other phone numbers printed in different styles (parens, dashes, periods), and identified with wildly different marks. I had a few fields it seemed confused with, but over the text was recognized and populated the fields pretty well.

Of course, the scanning is not perfect, and you should verify each card for mis-assigned fields (like phone extensions) and incorrect or missing letters or digits (i.e., at the end of a long number).

The software did struggle with some company information and business titles that were not clearly structured on the page -- it still scanned the text as additional text, which then needed to be manually moved to the proper field. And there were some odd features that I could work around.

You also can export records from the Neat Business Cards database to RTF (Word), CSV (Excel), PDF, and other formats to print or share. 

I give this little 'under $100' gadget a thumbs up and just know it will come in handy to help you scan and organize your contacts and help you simplify your life.

Key Features

• Scan directly in Outlook
• Scan directly in ACT!
• Scan into Neat Business Cards database
• Use vCard, csv or Plaxo to export contact information to smartphones and other email applications
• Highly accurate card reader for US Cards
• Color scanning at 300 dpi
• Free travel case

What's in the box
Neat Business Cards portable card scanner, software CD, USB cable, scanner travel case, user guide, one piece of calibration paper, one piece of cleaning paper

BARKtoberfest is a party in the park October 11, 2008 for adults and children to celebrate the relationships we share with our most loyal of friends—DOGS!

BARKtoberfest is sponsored by the Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit, no kill animal shelter. The Town of Gilbert, one of the sponsors for the annual BARKtoberfest will kick off at 9:00 am and go to 3:00 pm and will be held at the Gilbert Civic Center in Gilbert. 

Local Gilbert residents, and others from all over the valley are invited for FREE to bring their pooches for a day of fun in the sun.

There will be shopping, live entertainment, dog wash, DOGvinci (where your dog is turned into an artist), dog adoptions, raffle, contests (costume,look-a-like, best trick, etc.), and more will keep both people & pooches entertained. Funds raised from this event aid in saving the lives of homeless dogs and cats in our community.

Admission is FREE but some activities may require a donation to participate! BARKtoberfest downloadable flyer here.

Last year I attended my first BARKtoberfest and we adopted my little guy, 'Taco' there! He has now been apart of our family a year and we have adapted really well. Outside of his puppy chewing issues, we adore him! He has a fun personality and I can't imagine him not with us!

Last year I was in awe at how many different breeds in attendance and some I had no idea that existed! You will see unique breeds for sure!

Feel free to bring a blanket or lawn chair and spend the day dog-watching. Please remember that all dogs must be leashed and aggressive ones should be muzzled. There are bags available to clean up after your dog and a Frisbee or two is always around for a toss.

I recommend getting there early as it still gets very hot by noon in October. Bring plenty of your own water for you and your pet. Feed your dog before attending--it keeps them from eating all the treats that are available, preventing that awful upset tummy he might get later. (And we all know how awful that is to clean up)

The event is held at a the Gilbert Town Center located at 50 E. Civic Center Drive in Gilbert on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. See you there!

Other Phoenix Fall Festivals of events lineup

Youth Fishing Day -  Riparian Preserve

October 11th, Kids can drop a line for free at the Riparian Preserve Lake in Gilbert from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The Arizona Game and Fish Department will be providing fishing gear and bait to the first 100 youths. What a great way to introduce children into the world of fishing!

Take a child fishing! This is a great opportunity to spend the morning fishing with family or to bring a young angler that would enjoy the experience!

Participants will not need an urban fishing license to fish on the Gilbert lake. Only for the event that day.  That lake has a maximum depth of 15 feet and features catfish, rainbow trout, bluegill, sunfish, crappie, largemouth bass, tilapia and carp.  Fish are regularly stocked at the Preserve.  At any age, any level, Youth Fishing Day is a perfect opportunity to catch a fish.  The lake is located southeast of Greenfield and Guadalupe roads. This is one of the 20 lakes in Maricopa County involved in the Urban Fishing Progam! See you there!

Gilbert's Riparian Preserve Map