New Fannie Mae Condo Rules: What Scottsdale Owners Need to Know

Quick Answer: Fannie Mae rolled out big changes to condo financing rules in 2026. The biggest one raises the required HOA reserve fund from 10% to 15% of the annual budget, starting with loans dated January 4, 2027. Lenders also dropped the "Limited Review" shortcut starting August 3, 2026, so most Scottsdale condo buildings now go through a full review. If you own or want to buy a condo here, these changes could affect your HOA dues, your closing timeline, or both.

What Changed in Fannie Mae's Condo Lending Rules for 2026?

Fannie Mae buys or guarantees a huge share of home loans in this country. When it changes its condo rules, lenders everywhere have to follow along. On March 18, 2026, Fannie Mae published Lender Letter LL-2026-03 (see below…

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Buying or Selling in Scottsdale? Watch These 5 Numbers

WHAT ARE THE 5 IMPORTANT NUMBERS TO WATCH FOR THE CURRENT SCOTTSDALE REAL ESTATE MARKET?

Quick Answer: Scottsdale's housing market runs on five numbers: inventory, days on market, price reductions, months of supply, and mortgage rates. Right now, Scottsdale has about 2,208 single-family homes for sale, and homes take a median of 73 days to sell. Nearly 52% of active listings have had a price cut. Together, these numbers tell you whether it's a buyer's market or a seller's market, and what to expect if you list or buy this year.

These five number valuations are for any market, anywhere in the United States. The actual numbers in this post reflect Scottsdale real estate. 

What's the Current Inventory in the Scottsdale Housing Market?

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Selling in Scottsdale? Here's What Buyers Want in 2026

What Makes a Scottsdale Home Listing Stand Out in 2026?

Quick Answer: Scottsdale's median home price sits near $960,000, and homes are averaging 63 days on the market, so today's buyers have room to be picky. In 2026, listings stand out by being move-in ready, showing beautifully online with professional photos and a 3D tour, and priced right from day one. Homes that skip any of these steps tend to sit and then need a price cut to catch up.

Why Is It Harder to Sell a Home in Scottsdale Right Now?

Buyers simply have more options than they did a couple of years ago. Scottsdale's median home price is up 6.67% year over year to $960,000, but homes are also taking longer to sell, averaging 63 days on the market compared to a much tighter…

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Your Gray Walls Are Showing Their Age - Here's What Buyers Want Instead

What’s In and Out for Homes in 2026, According to Buyer Behavior

Some of my highest-read blog posts have been my home decorating posts. That tells me that home decor is a subject many people are interested in. I think it's more curiosity than a blueprint for what a person should immediately follow to make sure their place is decorated in the current style. It's like fashion, designers create new looks for the current year, and it's fun to watch and see, but most of it doesn't fit with the average person's lifestyle.

However, home decor is something people can pick and choose when considering an update or a remodel. So these decorating posts are what today's interior designers are telling us is in or out of home decor fashion. It's up to us…

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Homebuyers Are Backing Out at the Highest Rate Ever Recorded

Getting Under Contract Used to Feel Like the Finish Line. Not Anymore

Something genuinely interesting is happening in the housing market right now, and if you're thinking about selling your home, this is exactly the kind of thing you need to understand before you put up that for sale sign.

Back in the not-so-distant past, getting a buyer to sign a purchase agreement felt like you had basically won. Pop the champagne, start packing boxes, call the moving company. The hard part was over. But that's just not the reality anymore, and the numbers tell a pretty striking story about how much things have changed.

In December alone, roughly 40,000 home purchase agreements across the United States were canceled before ever making it to the closing…

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The 25 Biggest Turn-Offs in Home Showings That Cost You Thousands

25 Things Turning Buyers Away Before They Even Make an Offer

So you've decided to sell your home. You've picked an agent, set a price, and scheduled showings. You might even be feeling pretty confident about the whole thing. But here's the thing that a lot of sellers don't realize until it's too late: the way your home shows up during those visits can make or break whether a buyer ever submits an offer. And we're not just talking about obvious stuff like a leaky roof or a cracked foundation. Sometimes it's the small, seemingly harmless details that send buyers heading straight for the door.

Real estate professionals across the country see this play out every single day. They walk into homes with their clients, watch those clients form instant…

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Why the Housing Market Isn't Actually Falling Apart (Even Though It Feels Like It)

Reasons the "Housing Is Doomed" Narrative Misses the Whole Picture

Every time you scroll through social media, there's another post about how housing is completely broken. Prices are sky high. Mortgage rates are brutal. Rent keeps climbing. The comments section fills up with people saying the whole thing is about to collapse, that we're headed for another 2008, that you should just wait it out because everything's going to crash.

But here's the thing. When you actually look at what's happening in the housing market right now, the picture is way more complicated than any single viral graphic can show you. Yes, housing is expensive. That's not up for debate. But there are some genuinely positive shifts happening that get completely drowned out by…

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The Quarter-Century Shift: A Realtor's® Honest Take on 2025's Market and 25 Years of Change

You know that feeling when you're flipping through old photos and suddenly realize just how much time has passed? That's exactly where I found myself as 2025 winds down.

Not because I'm getting sentimental about another year ending—though there's certainly some of that—but because this particular year marks something bigger. We're closing the door on a full quarter century, folks. Twenty-five years since we collectively panicked about Y2K, wondering if our computers would implode at midnight. (Spoiler alert: they didn't, but plenty of other things in real estate certainly exploded, imploded, and transformed beyond recognition.)

I started in this business in 1983, which means I've now spent 42 years watching people make one of the biggest…

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Peeking Ahead at 2026 Real Estate: Prices Up, Rates Steady, and Why You Might Not Want to Wait

2026 Housing Vibes: No Wild Swings, Just a Smoother Ride—Or So the Experts Say

You can almost hear it now—the collective sigh of buyers and homeowners, each wondering the same thing as we inch toward 2026: Is this finally the year things start feeling normal again?

Ever think about how housing markets are like those old roller coasters at the county fair? The ones that creak and jolt, leaving you exhilarated but a bit nauseous. Yeah, that's the vibe I'm getting for 2026—not a plummet into bargain-bin prices, but a steady chug uphill toward something resembling normal. Or at least, that's what the crystal balls from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), Realtor.com, and Zillow are whispering.

I’ve been around long enough to know that…

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The Sneaky World of Real Estate Scams-and How to Outsmart Them

Don't Get Played: Your Crash Course in Outsmarting Property Scammers

You know that feeling when something "just seems too good to be true"? Well, in real estate, that gut instinct can save you a lot of money, and possibly your entire savings.

Scammers today are slick. They don’t just target people who are careless or new to the game. They go after everyone, from first-time renters to seasoned investors. And they’re good at it, too. FBI reports show that thousands of people have lost hundreds of millions to real estate fraud, and that number keeps rising each year.

Why? Because home transactions have gone digital. We’re emailing, signing electronically, and wiring large sums online. And scammers? They love that. They’ve learned how to slide…

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