- Look To Recent Sales for Remodel
Q: I just bought a house that's a real fixer-upper and I plan on a major renovation. I'll be living in it for at least a few years, so I should be OK to go all out on the remodel, don't you think?
(Thursday, September 09, 2010)
- New Pizza Place on the Way Bernalillo location expected to open in November
Casual dining options will expand for residents of northern Rio Rancho, Bernalillo and Placitas this fall with the projected opening of a new Dion's location.
(Thursday, September 09, 2010)
- Refinance Program Cuts You A Break
Q: I live in Rio Rancho and have been trying to refinance my home for the past 18 months with no luck. Because the value of my home has dropped $75,000 in value (about 20 percent) since I bought it two years ago, I no longer have the 20 percent equity needed for a refinance and I really can't come to closing with a huge amount of cash. The only option that keeps coming up is paying mortgage insurance, but I really don't want to go down that route. Do I have any other options?
(Thursday, September 02, 2010)
- Heading West Tomato Cafe opens location near Coors and Montaño
Barely a year after reopening in a new Northeast Heights location, Tomato Cafe has branched out with second location west of the river.
(Thursday, September 02, 2010)
- Rio Rancho Adds Florist
Less than six months until Valentine's Day, and Rio Rancho has a new flower shop.
(Thursday, August 26, 2010)
- Focus on Building Value in Upgrades
Q: I've lived in my house for about 10 years and my house is looking pretty dated. I'm thinking of selling in the next few years and I'm wondering what kinds of updates I should make to my house to get it ready to sell. Do you have any advice on what I should do right away and what I should do right before selling?
(Thursday, August 26, 2010)
- Refinance Home, If You Can Swing It
Q: We recently moved to New Mexico from Colorado and have purchased a new home here. Because the housing market is so bad back home, we have rented out our old home so we wouldn't be forced to take a huge hit when we sold. Based on some recent sales in the neighborhood, I think the home is worth about $290,000 and we currently owe $250,000 at an interest rate of 6.25 percent. We bought the place for $350,000 five years ago and put 20 percent down. Do you think it's worthwhile to refinance this home?
(Thursday, August 19, 2010)
- Garage Hopes To Instill Trust
Scott Chazdon concedes that trust is a sentiment in short supply in many auto repair relationships.
(Thursday, August 12, 2010)
- Pricing Your Home Too High A No-No
Q: My Realtor and I are talking about the listing price of my house. She feels it should be lower, but I've put so much into it and I want to try to get my money out of it. Should we start higher and then lower it if we have to?
(Thursday, August 12, 2010)
- Rental Home Complicates Picture for Couple
Q. My wife and I recently moved to New Mexico from the Chicago area and would like to purchase a home in the next year or so. Our problem is that we still have a home with a fairly large monthly mortgage payment (about $1,700) that we rented out when we left. We are charging $1,500 in rent so we aren't even covering our basic expenses for this home. The housing market continues to be very bad where we came from, and we'd have to pay about $8,000 just to sell the home and then we'd end up losing about $45,000 in the deal because of our down payment. My question is this: Would you recommend that we buy a new home under these circumstances?
(Thursday, August 05, 2010)