North Phoenix Agent Blog

Locally owned and operated Ninetta’s Passion Bistro is a hidden gem. Tucked in a strip mall on the Northeast corner of 7th Ave & Union Hills road, you’ve probably never heard of it. The owner does advertising the old fashioned way - word of mouth. What the restaurant may lack in location and big-budget advertising it more than makes up for in truly yummy food and old-fashioned customer service.

From www.ArizonaBistro.com : “The cozy atmosphere, reasonable prices, spectacular food and personalized service makes this casual yet charming restaurant fabulous.”

When I visited with a couple of girl friends on a weeknight, the owner (Marco) himself greeted us at the door. He was our waiter, sommelier and charmed us utterly. His wife, Ninetta, takes kitchen duties. She features local & regional food and wine as often as possible. These people love food and it shows.

The food was delectable! Bruschetta appetizer featured fresh, vibrant tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes; imagine that. The Zuca Zuca Zuca (butternut squash filled ravioli in sage butter sauce) was so good my girl friend said she wanted to lay down and roll around in it. We used bread bites to sop up the butter sauce and had to restrain ourselves from licking the plate! The Tilapia Emilio was perfectly cooked and the Chicken Picatta had a wonderful mix of lemon & capers. Ninetta herself sent over a dessert featuring chocolate & fresh berries that pretty much sent we 3 amateur foodies over the edge.

I added myself to their mailing list and get periodic calls from the owner personally inviting me to dinner/wine events, which all feature live entertainment.

Ninetta’s Passion Bistro, 814 E Union Hills, 623.434.8967

Update, Spring 2008: Marco is such a cutie. He calls me personally to invite me to his Prix Fixe dinners. Once when I told him last fall that business had been off and I’d need a boyfriend to spring for the $75 a pop price, but was lacking said boyfriend at the time, …. Marco actually called back the next day and tried to fix me up with another regular patron of his who had similarly just broken up with someone. It was adorable! By that time I was booked already but the idea of it was so cute that I nearly went. Imagine having a local restaurant where the staff actually knows your name and cares about your life! It’s almost Normal Rockwell-y.

Seems like everybody’s got their opinion about the current mortgage market meltdown. Here’s my two cents worth.  Like pulling off a band-aid, removing stitches, or stopping yourself from using the last credit card in your wallet with any money left on it, the credit pullback is necessary but painful.

Lenders got a little loan happy in the boom market of the past few years. People with credit scores way down into the 500’s were being approved for loans on the strength of a 5 minute phone call, without any documentation to back up their stated income.

I heard an NPR report about 4 weeks ago that’s stuck in my head. The reporter said, “we’re going back to the bad old days when you had to have 10% or 20% down, a good credit score and a solid job history in order to qualify for a home loan.”

I’m not sure those were the bad old days. Truth is, if you have a mid-500’s FICO, little or no money in the bank, and just took a new job, maybe you shouldn’t be taking a loan for a quarter- or half-million dollars (or more). Seems simple, but a lot of industry types lost sight of these basic risk-based lending guidelines in the boom markets when home prices grew by thousands of dollars seemingly overnight.

So, the subprime loan is scarce on the ground these days. Maybe that’s not terrible, maybe it is. That’s for another post.

The temporary problem? Like a pendulum swinging back after a hard push, the mortgage lenders will probably over-correct for a little while in their fear of defaults and foreclosures (and Wall Street performance rankings). Folks who are inbetween subprime and A paper might have troubles getting approved for a loan at a reasonable interest rate for the next couple of months. Time to get creative!

“Subprime” is a term thrown about quite a bit these days. For the newbie, here’s a rundown of subprime, Alt A and the others you’re hearing about.

The Types

 Let’s imagine a person. We’ll call him Mr. Responsible. He looks like your Dad. He’s got a least 2 years of job history at the same company, making a decent wage and getting a satisfactory little raise every year. He’s got 2 years of tax records at the ready. He’s got money in the bank, enough to put 10% or 20% down payment on that home he’s eyeing. Lenders salivate over Mr. Responsible. They give him a loan as fast as they can and call it a prime loan, or A paper loan.

 Now imagine another person. We’ll call him Mr. Down-On-His-Luck. Girls, you might also know him as Bad Boy #17. He’s fun to date. Believe me, I’ve done it. But you wouldn’t want to lend him money. That’s because Mr. Luck  job hops. His idea of a savings account is checking under the sofa cushions. Tax returns? Yeah, he did some of those. Once. 10% down? It’d take years to save that much, and there’s a drink special at the local watering hole tonight, so he’ll start saving tomorrow. Mr. Luck is considered subprime, by mortgage lenders and wise women alike.

The exception is the young first time buyer. They often have so little credit history that they’re assigned a low credit score and considered subprime by lenders. That’s where the government and not-for-profit organizations like AmeriDream and the Maricopa County IDA Bond loan program step in. They’ll still give newbies a home loan without considering a low FICO credit score. They’ll often help out with the downpayment too.

Caught in the middle are the Alt A folks. They’re often self-employed or otherwise have trouble proving their income.  Basically, if you’re not Prime or Subprime, you’re probably Alt A.

What’s Going On Now 

Calling Prime Buyers! Got your tax returns, a steady job, and some money in the bank or equity in your existing home?  Willing to heave all that paperwork over the desk at your lender for scrutiny? Good. You’ll probably still get a great rate on a good loan. Choose the home you buy wisely and plan to stay in it for 3+ years - you’ll be just fine.

First time buyer finding yourself in the subprime category? If you’re a first time buyer, or haven’t owned a home in the past 3 years, call up a lender or two and start asking about FHA, VA and other special loans for first timers.  Then find a Realtor who says, “Yeah, I’ve done those loans before.”

Subprime but not first time buyer? Well, let me recommend a couple of months of judicious savings and a visit with a credit counselor. Don’t, under any circumstances, pay someone who claims s/he can ‘remove’ bad credit marks from your credit report. I’ve never met one yet who wasn’t a con man.

Somewhere in between?  Call a few lenders. See what you can qualify for. Ask a Realtor to help you figure out how much house that monthly estimated payment will buy you. Skim the MLS or Realtor.com and see if you like the looks of what you can afford. If you like what you see, and plan to stay put in your new home for 5-7 years or more, go ahead! Despite the doom and gloom headlines, it’s actually a good time to buy if you choose wisely.

Up Next: My Two Cents on the Credit Crunch.