Valley News

In addition to the joy of being out in nature, biking and hiking have benefits that go beyond fun and fitness.

As with other physical activities, when riders or hikers exceed what they perceive as their limitations, they realize they can go beyond their limitations in other parts of life, as well.

Mostly, though, mountain biking and hiking is about the simple pleasure of cruising or walking along a trail with the wind in your face. Hiking is experiencing the beauty of nature as well.

“For a lot of people, whenever they throw a leg over (a bike), it brings back a part of their childhood,” says Mike DiStefano, who works at Rage Cycles in Scottsdale. “You can forget your daily troubles when you’re on a bike.”

The proportion of U.S. homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than the properties are worth has swelled to about 23%, threatening prospects for a sustained housing recovery.
Nearly 10.7 million households had negative equity in their homes in the third quarter, according to First American CoreLogic, a real-estate information company based in Santa [...]

Short-sale approval is often contingent on the buyer and seller making concessions. This means that the lender could ask the buyers to pay a higher price. The seller could be asked to bring money into escrow so that the lender nets more from the sale than the contract provides. If either party is unable or [...]

Last spring, I included many, many photos of our wildflowers, and I suspect with the rain we’ve been fortunate to have this past winter, that we’ll have as good, if not better, displays.
While we wait, though, there’s a gallery on my hiking page, that profiles many of the great trails we have and the views [...]

It wasn’t the first time that Katherine Scheri ruined a real estate agent’s day with a low property appraisal.
Scheri, a real estate appraiser, had sized up a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Santa Ana, Calif., for $30,000 less than what the buyers offered to pay. A typical deal-killer for a seller.
The agent urged the lender to [...]