Gary Ashton

Cross-Border Shopping For Real Estate Gains Popularity

It is no secret that one of the big pillars of the economy that needs to be bolstered before there can be economic recovery is the real estate market. With the struggling US economy, it is no surprise that Americans are having so much trouble with affo... Read >

Inmates Cashing In On Home Buyer’s Tax Credits

While the past year saw many potential home buyers struggling to find homes quickly enough to take advantage of the home buyer's tax credit that was put in place last year, apparently not all of the people who attained these tax credits should actually... Read >

How to Make Sure You Get Your Dream Home

With the housing market full of foreclosures and short sales, it can be a great time to be in the market for a new home. However, particularly in certain areas, it can be a real hassle to be able to make a bid on a home and walk away with a new purchas... Read >

Home Appraisals Under Increased Review

For many home buyers looking to get through their inspections and on their way to closing, the appraisal usually feels like the last step in the process. But more often these days, appraisals are throwing a wrench into the home buying works. Home a... Read >

Delinquent Home Owners Propping up Retail Sales Numbers

News all over the country lately seems to be celebrating economic recovery. Apparently, retail sales have picked up all across the nation while people go back to their old spending habits of old. However, is increased retail spending enough of an indic... Read >

Researchers Struggle to Determine Clear Recession Cause

There are thousands of former home owners across the country who are shaking their heads and wondering where things went wrong in their pursuit of the American dream. So many people around the country have lost their financial stability and their homes... Read >

A Sound Approach to Setting up Your Music Room

Everybody likes music. It's an inherent thing - since humankind first learnt to beat out a basic rhythm on an stretched-out mammoth skin, or twang the dried gizzard of a lizard, we all seem to derive some pleasure from melodic, and rhythmic, stimulation. ... Read >

The Continuing Saga of Chinese Drywall: The Trials Begin

It seems that the home owners who have hadâ€" and are still havingâ€"problems with contaminated drywall are not just going to just quietly go away, and rightly so. Though there seems to have been a dearth of information lately regarding the outcome of ... Read >

Realtor Blogs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As a realtor, your blog can be a valuable tool to help attract people to your website and express yourself in a more casual way than you can on your professional website; or, your blog can be a boring collection of graphs and pasted articles from other... Read >

Buying a New Home With The Homebuyer Tax Credit Down to the Wire

Due to a continuously increasing stock and a languishing housing market, there are a large number of homes on the market, which is a good thing for anyone who is looking to take advantage of the home buyers' credit before it expires. The home buyers' c... Read >

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac May Expect Banks to Buy Back More Faulty Loans in 2010

In efforts to rectify some of the fallout from the housing crash, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have forced lenders to buy back about 4.1 billion dollars in faulty mortgages last year and about 1.3 billion dollars in 2008. While the buy backs have been go... Read >

With Less New Construction, Now is The Time to Renovate

For anyone who has been putting off a home renovation due to the high costs of hiring a reputable contractor and the hassle of trying to get a job done on time, now just might be the ideal time to get those renovations going. New home building has drop... Read >

Home Owners Struggling to Stay Afloat With Underwater Mortgages

Home owners who bought their homes near the peak of the real estate bubble are eagerly awaiting the news that the market has hit bottom and values are beginning to increase again. Some recent reports suggest that this wildly anticipated bottom has been... Read >

Interest Rate Jump Further Stifles Demand for Mortgages

Optimists keep claiming that things in the real estate world are looking up, but reality keeps reminding us that things are not all sunshine and roses just yet. Even with the current government incentive program for encouraging home buyers into taking ... Read >

Homeowner Strategies for Avoiding Foreclosure

Many homeowners are struggling to keep their homes these days; some are scrimping and saving to continue with their mortgage payments while others are fighting a losing battle and can no longer afford to pay their monthly payment. Regardless of the in... Read >