Scott Messing's (scottym909) Blog

These are tough times all around. Families are feeling the pinch with rising utility costs, fear of job losses, layoffs, higher education, medical, dental and grocery costs. Tami and I know this first hand as we deal with the same concerns as most do. We review our family budgets; cut costs in ma...

Foreclosures & short sales are accounting for almost 35% of the current housing inventory in the Treasure Valley area of Idaho. With this number expected to rise in 2009 it's creating some very upset buyers and sellers. We just recently finished helping a client close on a short sale that took 12...

We've often been asked to show a home, setup a tour to view homes or to provide automatic email so people can see homes the same day they are listed. Sometimes while showing a house our clients fall in love with the home only to find out later that the monthly payments are too much to handle. Man...

Statistics in the Treasure Valley indicate that approximately 35% of homes listed on the market are either subject to a short sale (dependent on bank/lender accepting less than what the owner currently owes) or are bank owned (foreclosed) properties. This statistic is truly eye opening. This mean...

The people are what matters in real estate and not the buildings. Every structure has a family that can call it their own. Making it their own can take days, weeks, months or even years. Having a place to call home is part of the American Dream. As new homes are listed it's very common for neighb...

Have you ever walked into a house thought the layout was great but said oh my god there's no way we could live in this house? What made you feel that way? Was it the clutter or the need of repairs? Was it the choice of the décor? Was it the wood paneling, the boogie night motif or perhaps the sha...

Homeowners and soon to be homeowners need to learn how to dance with each other. Whether you are thinking about buying or selling in this uncertain market please take the time to learn to dance. A key factor in any successful real estate transaction is the art of negotiations. It doesn't have to ...

There's nothing like a trip to the Bay Area of California to put things back into perspective! My family and I went to visit relatives and friends the past few days. As we drove around the crowded highways it was a challenge to remain calm. You see I tend to notice things easily and sometimes I t...

Does selling a home in today's market make sense? Many homeowners assume that when they need to relocate to another area or to upgrade or downgrade their housing the wise thing to do is to sell the home. This makes sense in a strong housing market when there's either a balance between supply and ...

A very popular alternative to foreclosure is the short sale. A home is subject to a short sale when the lending institution (bank) maybe willing to accept an offer on a home that is less than what the current owner owes. On most of the newer homes built in the past 5 years or so the costs for ban...