Nick’s opinion

January 26, 2011

Singing the Short Sale Foreclosure Blues

Who’s got the foreclosure blues? Distressed sales.  You hear the term almost every day. Like most things you hear often, there are two sides to the story. The fact is, not everyone is singing the blues these days. For some, the recent Trulia.com report saying that it is cheaper to buy a home in most markets than it is to rent, is good news. In the report, Phoenix and Mesa […]
November 16, 2010

Can You Compete?

The last few years have been tough on traditional home sellers. Downward pressure on pricing has made it very hard for many people to compete against the large numbers of bank-owned and short sale properties. Unfortunately, many home sellers price their home for what they “should have sold for” when they first thought of selling. Over-pricing a home can be a huge mistake. In order to price properly, you need […]
September 11, 2010
how quickly can we close

Google investing in real estate

I saw an article in Forbes Magazine this past week announcing the fact that Google is investing in real estate. No, not just to continue to gain market share in searching for homes on the internet, they have actually invested $86 million into helping fund 480 low-income housing units across the Midwest and West Coast. Apparently, the boatloads of cash they are sitting on is now being invested in places […]
August 18, 2010
NIck and Lori Bastian

Happy Birthday Lori!

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife. Thanks for being soooo much more than I ever hoped for. The perfect mother, the love of my life and the best friend I have ever had. I thank God each and every day for what we have…
July 30, 2010

Realty Executives Tech Initiative – BIG Website Changes Announced

Today is a day long in the making for some people at Realty Executives that have worked very hard on a project known as the “tech initiative.” Technology and innovation have combined to change two web sites from old school to cool school with what many will think of as a simple flip of a switch. This switch has taken the CTO at Realty Executives many, many hours of preparation […]
July 17, 2010

No Flyers in the Flyer Box!

OK, I saw this video last night titled “No flyers in the flyer box” and had to share it. My friend Darin Persinger is an awesome real estate coach with a unique style all his own. By that, I mean the guy totally understands the needs of his clients. How? It’s easy, he has “been there, done that”. Darin has had a very successful real estate business and now makes […]
May 23, 2010

AZ Real Estate Market Heating Up

Ok, so we had our first 100 degree day recently, big whup…. Around here, that is child’s play. For many, the a/c has been cranking for weeks, but for some, they hold out as long as possible. I can tell you one thing, if you are selling a home right now, don’t try to “cheap out” and turn the a/c up to 85 or 90 when you leave for work […]
May 20, 2010

Joe Knows Breakfast

For those of you that get “Nick’s News” in your snail mail box, you know that I love to eat. In fact, the “Nick’s Pick’s” portion of the newsletter is something you guys seem to find pretty interesting. Normally, I leave that small portion of our newsletter as the only place where I write ( a little bit) about restaurants that Lori and I like to visit. As with most […]
February 17, 2010

Deconstruction Hurts Many Homeowners

Deconstruction is a word making it’s rounds right now. It is a phrase being used to describe the practice of removing fixtures from a home facing foreclosure. Recently, a local man was arrested and charged with defrauding a secure creditor and criminal damage after the deconstruction of his Chandler home. Unfortunately, this has been a very common practice for the past couple years as the wave of foreclosures spreads throughout […]