Bob Caldwell's (rcaldwell) Blog

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Real Estate Report 5/30/13 With the housing rebound in full swing, “pocket listings” are growing in many parts of the country as some sellers look to preserve their privacy, and brokers use them to trigger an aura of exclusivity to a listing. But some in the industry...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell What the Lower Deficits Mean Some good news was released by the Congressional Budget Office in the past few weeks. The astronomically high U.S. budget deficit is coming back down to earth this year. During the depths of the recession, the budget deficit approached $1...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Real Estate Report 5/22/13      Homeowners will see increases in the rates they pay for flood insurance soon with owners of vacation homes seeing the biggest jump. Though floods can bring walls of water 20 feet high, even a few inches of water can cause thousands of ...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell A Lesson To Be Learned      Whipsaws and whiplash. We all know what the term whiplash means when someone gets into a car accident. When we hear the term, we envision a painful neck injury and maybe a neck brace. This term is also often used with the term "whipsaw" wh...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Real Estate Report 5/15/13      Is a home the new engagement ring? A new national survey shows more and more young couples are putting home loans before wedding bands these days. The new Coldwell Banker survey shows nearly a quarter of married couples between the age...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Which Way Are We Headed?      Most everyone had built a slowdown into the equation this spring and the only question was -- how slow would it get? Starting with the uninspiring employment report for March, we had a series of economic reports released that were tepid ...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Real Estate News (Week of 5/5/13-5/11/13)      Most times when a loan officer writes a low down payment home loan, they get the same question from the client. “How can I get the mortgage insurance dropped?” The simple answer—reach 20 or 22 percent equity—will soon be...

From the Desk of Bob Caldwell Will it last? That is the question that most prognosticators are asking when looking at the rebound in the real estate market. Real estate as a sector fell so far and so fast and actually spurred the financial crisis just a few years ago, so it is logical to question...