Health Savings Accounts
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Saturday, December 13, 2008
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Justice blasts state schools, threatens to sue Texas | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News
Justice blasts state schools, threatens to sue Texas | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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Friday, November 07, 2008
The Largest Facebook Group - Come Join us!
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Our goal is to have 25 Million Members by June 2009. If this is successful, we will then file this with Guinness World Records.
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Defects hit homes like a ton of bricks | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News
Defects hit homes like a ton of bricks | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Breaking News for Dallas-Fort Worth | Dallas Morning News
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Thursday, November 06, 2008
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Priced to Sell
How to Educate Agents and Sellers to List at the Right Price
RISMEDIA, Oct. 14, 2008-Now is a time to face facts. In the past four months, research suggests that housing inventory has climbed to an 11-month-plus supply.
According to NAR, in fact, there was an 11.1-month supply of homes in June 2008.
As an industry, we need to come together to focus on the best strategies for getting this inventory sold. Putting new tools into the hands of home buyers-including the recently enacted housing stimulus package-is certainly expected to spark an uptick in the months ahead, but in the meantime, it is our responsibility to encourage sellers and agents to price properties correctly in order to start moving this abundance of inventory off the market. NAR has several consumer-focused tools available at www.REALTOR.org to help the cause, including publications like “It’s a Great Time to Buy, Getting it Sold,” and “Pricing Your Home to Sell,” and helpful toolkits, such as, “Tips for Pricing Your Home.”
In this month’s Power Broker Roundtable, panelists tell us why it’s so important to work with sellers to price properties correctly, and how this effort is critical to reducing housing inventory.
Moderator: Alex Perriello, Special Liaison for Large Firm Relations, NAR
Participants: C. Dan Joyner, Broker/Owner, Prudential C. Dan Joyner REALTORS®, Greenville, South Carolina
Robert Weber, President, First Weber Group, Greater Wisconsin
Pat Riley, President and COO, Allen Tate Companies, Charlotte, North Carolina
Alex Perriello: Bob, how important is the right listing price in your market?
Bob Weber: Well, according to the MLS in Central Wisconsin, unit sales were down 25% from July ‘07 to July ‘08, but the average selling price was down only 2%-so we haven’t had to face some of the huge price declines that other regions have faced.
Our agents put great stock in doing a detailed market analysis for each seller and showing them true comparisons. We take a four-stage approach when it comes to taking a listing: we show up, we listen, we tell them the truth-and if they can’t live with our suggested list price, we walk away.
Pat Riley: We understand that selling your home is an emotional decision. Some will say, “My neighbor got X amount a year ago, and my home is so much nicer than theirs.” They are not realistic about competing homes in their region. So we just put our sellers in the car and take them around personally to see the competition for themselves.
Dan Joyner: We all know that thorough market analysis and neighborhood price comparisons are the only way to set the right listing price-especially as the market keeps shifting. In fact, the last two months have been very encouraging. If a home is reasonably priced and market-ready, we are beginning to witness multiple offers within the first few days of the listing-but the right listing price is essential.
BW: Absolutely. The fact is, there hasn’t been a better time in years to buy that first home-or a second or vacation home for that matter. More and more buyers are beginning to realize that, and I think sellers are realizing it as well. They understand they have to be realistic to take advantage of what’s happening today.
PR: There’s another issue we point out to our sellers-the nature of the swing. That is, any dollars they may give up on the sale of their home, they will likely make up on what they buy. It’s a moot point, so pricing the property right in the first place is a win-win situation.
AP: So as sellers in general become more realistic, sales will continue to improve?
DJ: Yes, and as that happens, and the good buys are being snapped up, the number of homes on the market will decrease. That is precisely the situation we need in order to get back on track.
BW: Which brings us back to point one. Our agents know we need to walk away from listings where the seller has no urgency to sell, because those are the homes that will simply clutter up the marketplace.
PR: We also need to focus our energy on buyers-because we know there are plenty of them out there, wanting to buy and buy now. The sooner we can help our sellers to realize that, the sooner the market will return to more normal levels.
The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® and Alex Perriello, NAR’s Special Liaison for Large Firm Relations. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.
For more information about pricing your home - visit http://www.robertjrussell.com for details.
Is your home a Fire Hazard ?
What type of pipe carries gas into your home? This isn't a trick question; it's actually an important question that many homeowners and interested buyers can't answer. But they ought to know for safety reasons.
"This is an education issue," says Angie Hicks, founder of Angie's List. Her company provides consumer ratings on local service contractors.
"We did an Angie's List poll when we started to look into this issue and [we found that] 44 percent of our members admitted that they don't know what kind of gas lines are coming into their house," says Hicks.
Why is this so important? According to Angie's List, the fire department in Fishers, Indiana -- one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation with the majority of its homes newer -- estimates that half of its reported lightning-related fires result from breached corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST). These types of pipes have become very popular in the last twenty years.
According to ToolBase Services, since 1989 more than 150 million feet of CSST for gas distribution have been installed in residential, commercial, and industrial structures. The product's usage has been increased in the last several years. ABC News reports that an estimated 2 million homes that these types of pipes in them.
Angie's List writes that, "The cause of CSST-related fires has been attributed to either a lack of, or inadequate, bonding and grounding, which has resulted in arcing damage to the tubing. That may lead to a puncture in the CSST wall, causing gas leakage."
The very thing that makes the product popular also causes it to be more dangerous especially when not properly installed. CSST is thin and therefore electrical energy tends to linger longer. That energy seeks to escape through the easiest path such as by blowing out a hole in the gas tube and igniting a fire.
Hicks witnessed this in her Indiana neighborhood. A nearby house burned down because of this type of incident. "The lightning when it struck the house penetrated that line and caused a gas fire," says Hicks.
CSST is more common in homes that have been built or remodeled since 1988. "About half of the new homes built each year contain it," says Hicks. However, just because a home has CSST doesn't necessarily mean that there will be problems. The key is to know what type of pipes are used and if they've been installed correctly.
"You should have your home inspected and check to see that the lines are grounded properly; that is the key here. It's not that you can't have a CSST line. In fact, the American National Standards Institute regulates these lines -- having them is fine, it's just ensuring that they're grounded properly," explains Hicks.
She says, "You need to have someone who is licensed and certified in handling CSST installation. The interesting thing is that industry standards changed in early 2007 in regards to handling CSST. After a class action lawsuit was settled, now only licensed electricians and plumbers certified in CSST are supposed to bond and ground the product," says Hicks.
"You need someone experienced to handle this," cautions Hicks.
Monday, October 27, 2008
How to Be Yourself
It's quite possibly the most commonly used phrase in the history of advice: Be yourself. But it's such a vague adage. What do they really mean when they tell you to be yourself? And is it really as easy as it sounds?
Steps
1. Find yourself. You can't be yourself if you don't know, understand, and accept yourself first. Try to take time to yourself and contemplate on your life and choices. Try to think about what kind of things you would or wouldn't like to do, and act accordingly; finding out through trial and error helps more than you might think it does. You can even take personality tests, but be careful to only take what you want from them and not let them define you. Work on accepting mistakes and choices you've made; they're done and in the past, so there is no use crying over spilled milk.
2. Stop caring about how people perceive you. The fact is, it really doesn't matter. It's impossible to be yourself when you're caught up in wondering "Do they think I'm funny? Does she think I'm fat? Do they think I'm stupid?" To be yourself, you've got to let go of these concerns and just let your behavior flow, with only your consideration of others as a filter—not their consideration of you. Besides, if you change yourself for one person or group, another person or group may not like you, and you could go around in a vicious cycle trying to please people; it's totally pointless in the end. However, if someone you trust and respect critiques aspects of who you are, feel free to judge (honestly) whether or not it is accurate instead of dismissing the critique automatically or accepting it indefinitely.
3. Be honest and open. What have you got to hide? We're all imperfect, growing, learning human beings. If you feel ashamed or insecure about any aspect of yourself—and you feel that you have to hide those parts of you, whether physically or emotionally—then you have to come to terms with that and learn to convert your so-called flaws into individualistic quirks. Be honest with yourself, but don't beat yourself up; apply this philosophy to others, as well. There is a difference between being critical and being honest; learn to watch the way you say things to yourself and others when being honest.
4. Relax. Stop worrying about the worst that could happen, especially in social situations. So what if you fall flat on your face? Or get spinach stuck in your teeth? Learn to laugh at yourself both when it happens and afterwards. Turn it into a funny story that you can share with others. It lets them know that you're not perfect and makes you feel more at ease, too. It's also an attractive quality for someone to be able to laugh at themselves and not take themselves too seriously!
5. Develop and express your individuality. Whether it's your sense of style, or even your manner of speaking, if your preferred way of doing something strays from the mainstream, then be proud of it... unless its destructive to yourself or others. Be a character, not a type.
6. Have a Productive Day. Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and that some days, you're the statue. People might raise eyebrows and even make fun, but as long as you can shrug and say "Hey, that's just me" and leave it at that, people will ultimately respect you for it, and you'll respect yourself.
7. Believe in who you are. If you're always working to be someone you're not, you'll never be a happy person. Be yourself and show the world you're proud of the way you are! Nobody knows you better than you and that's how it should be. You deserve to be your own best friend, so start trying to figure out how you can do that. If you had to hang out with yourself for a day, what is the most fun type of person you could be, while still being yourself? What is the best version of you? Believe in this idea and use that as your starting point.
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In just five short years, the typical real estate customer has changed radically. In 2003, only 55% of all real estate shoppers began their home searches online. The next year it was 77%. Then steadily upward year after year until the newest numbers have it at well over 90% (we've unofficially heard as high as 97%) starting their search on the Internet."
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Thursday, October 23, 2008
Foreclosure filings down 12% in September
New state laws slowing foreclosure processBy Inman News, Thursday, October 23, 2008.New state laws that require loan servicers to give advance notice before filing a notice of default helped push down foreclosure-related filings by 12 percent nationwide in September, data aggregator RealtyTrac said today.
California, which accounts for nearly one-third of foreclosure activity, passed legislation that took effect in September requiring lenders to make contact with borrowers 30 days before filing a notice of default. Notices of default in California dropped 51 percent in September, with a corresponding "significant impact" on national numbers, RealtyTrac said. RealtyTrac said notices of default fell 66 percent in North Carolina, a state that now requires lenders to provide homeowners and the state commissioner of banks 45 days' advance warning of plans to file a notice of default.
Lenders file notices of default as the first step in the foreclosure process, in most cases after borrowers fail to make two or more payments. A notice of default starts the clock ticking on a forced auction sale or bank repossession of a delinquent borrower's home.
Foreclosure-related filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Because many borrowers refinance, get current again on their loans, or negotiate a short sale or loan modification with their lender, not all properties subjected to filings are actually repossessed or sold by lenders.But in many instances, the new laws governing notice of default filings may only delay lenders from initiating the foreclosure process.
After a new Massachusetts law took effect in May requiring that lenders give homeowners a 90-day right-to-cure notice, initial foreclosure filings were lower than normal for the following three months. But initial foreclosure filings were up 465 percent from August to September, RealtyTrac said, as the first loans subject to the new rule emerged from the 90-day window.
Nationwide, RealtyTrac counted foreclosure related-filings on 265,968 properties in September, down 12 percent from August but up 21 percent from a year ago.
At the state level, Nevada saw foreclosure-related filings jump 11 percent in September. The rate of foreclosure-related filings in Nevada -- one for every 82 homes -- was the highest in the nation, and more than five times the U.S. average of one filing per 475 homes.
With one filing for every 178 homes, Florida moved from fourth place to second on the list of states with the highest foreclosre rates.
In California, the dramatic decline in notices of default contributed to a 32 percent decrease in foreclosure-related filings. Still, one in 189 homes was subjected to a filing, the third-highest rate in the nation.
Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana and Colorado rounded out the list of the 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates.
For the third quarter, RealtyTrac counted foreclosure filings on 765,558 homes, up about 3 percent from the second quarter and 71 percent from a year ago.
Six states -- California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada -- accounted for more than 60 percent of foreclosure-related filings.
The 10 cities with the highest foreclosure rates among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas in the third quarter were located in California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
They were Stockton, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoeniz, Ariz.; Sacramento, Calif.; Orlando, Fla.; Fresno, Calif.; and Oakland, Calif.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Understanding FHA
RISMEDIA, Oct. 21, 2008-With the Federal governments re-emphasis on the FHA as a key vehicle for resuscitating the real estate market, now is a good time to review FHA in more detail.
Let’s start with some basics. First, the FHA insures loans that approved lenders make, it does not purchase them as Fannie and Freddie do. If a FHA insured home goes into bankruptcy, FHA pays off the mortgage to the Lender, takes ownership of the home, and then proceeds to sell it (a HUD home.)
To mitigate its risk and provide income to offset foreclosures and defray their expenses, FHA charges the borrower insurance premiums, both an up-front and a monthly premium. The up-front premium can be included in the mortgage amount.
FHA loans are available for purchasing or refinancing a 1 to 4 unit, owner occupied home. There a number of FHA programs that cover the gamut of real estate offerings, from your “vanilla” FHA loan to Condos to REO’s to Reverse Mortgages to Rehab to Veteran loans and more. In subsequent articles we will be reviewing these programs in more detail.
Over the last number of months, FHA began implementing some changes to their programs. In addition, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act placed additional changes in FHA practices, some of which modified FHA proposed changes. I have listed some of those changes below.
Converting Existing Homes to Rentals
The FHA changed their underwriting rules to limit the ability of a homeowner to use rental income from a previous residence that it converted to a rental property, when applying for a new mortgage on a second property. Under the new rule, the homeowner must prove sufficient income to make both mortgage payments without the rental income or has an equity position in the rental property that it will not likely result in defaulting on that mortgage. There can be an exception to this rule for employment relocations.
This change mirrors the announcement by Fannie in August. Apparently, homeowners, in increasing numbers, are choosing to vacate their existing principal residence and purchase a new residence. They are then providing misleading information on the rental income of the property being vacated to justify the new mortgage. These changes effectively end “bail and buy” loans.
Moratorium on Risk Based Premiums
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act provided for a one-year moratorium on the implementation of the FHA’s risk based premiums beginning October 1, 2008. The effect of the risk based premium was to increase the premium based on the amount of the down payment.
This will not delay the implementation of an upfront premium as well as well as monthly premiums on all loans.
Seller concessions of 6% are still allowed; however, down payment assistance programs have been eliminated effective October 1, 2008.
Down Payment Requirements
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act also called for an increase in down payment required to 3.5%. That change will not go into effect until January 1, 2009.
As with any loan program, there are a number of stipulations that need to be met to gain approval. That is why it is important to choose the right FHA approved lender. Not all FHA approved lenders service all FHA loan programs.By Jason Kotar
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Robert J Russell Financial Update Newsletter
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Whenever we put a house on the market, sellers will ask us " Where will you advertise it ?"
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Pending sales hit 14-month high
By Inman News, Wednesday, October 8, 2008.
Inman News
Pending sales of U.S. resale homes rose 8.8 percent in August compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Realtors reported today, rising to the highest level since June 2007.
The index offers an indication of future sales, as it measures the volume of signed contracts for sales transactions that have not yet closed -- sales are typically finalized within one or two months of signing, though some deals fall through before the transactions are closed.
"It's unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we're hopeful most of the increase will translate into closed existing-home sales," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a statement.
NAR's Pending Home Sales Index reached 93.4 in August -- an index level of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity in 2001, which was the first year to be examined for the index and first of five straight record years for sales of resale homes.
Regionally, the index rose 37.8 percent in the West, 6.6 percent in the Midwest, 2 percent in the Northeast and sank 2.1 percent in the South in August compared to the same month last year. The nationwide index rose 7.4 in August compared to July.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Under-employed and under the radar
A growing number of people are working part-time jobs because they can't find full-time work, or abandoning their job search altogether.
By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: October 3, 2008: 2:00 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The economic crisis has taken a severe toll on the nation's workforce. But while much of the discussion centers around layoffs and unemployment, a growing number of Americans are becoming under-employed - struggling to pay their bills on a smaller salary, or completely giving up on finding any work.
Unemployment claims have climbed to 7-year highs, but the number of people who have settled for part-time work or given up on finding a job altogether is the worst it's been in over 14 years, but isn't included in the official unemployment rate.
Because of the slowing economy and credit crunch, companies are not only laying off workers, but also scaling back hours and shifting some full-time employees to part-time shifts. That can make it extremely difficult for those workers already having trouble making ends meet in the face of higher gas prices and mounting expenses.
"Even workers who hold onto their jobs during a downturn can suffer on this dimension," according to Heidi Shierholz an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a research group based in Washington. "Those additional 10 hours of work can be the difference for a family being able to make their rent, fill their gas tank, heat their homes."
The under-employment rate, which counts those without jobs who have become discouraged and stopped looking for work, as well as part-time workers who want full-time jobs, rose to 11% from 10.7%, the highest rate since April 1994, according to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report.
The report also breaks down the specific number of people working part-time jobs because they couldn't find full-time work or their hours had been cut back due to slack conditions, which jumped by 337,000 people to 6.1 million. That's the first time there have been more than 6 million part-time workers wanting full-time jobs since 1993.
That reading is up more than a third from a year ago, the biggest 12-month jump since the period right after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Other than that short 2001 spike in the reading, there hasn't been a jump like this since the deep recession of 1982.
Those numbers really hit home for people like Sherida Jones, 48, who lost her job as a senior mortgage loan processor and underwriter in February 2007. Since then she's been unable to land a comparable job in the mortgage industry.
After her unemployment benefits ran out, Jones began waiting tables at a Mexican restaurant in her town of Lewisville, Texas.
Her part-time position pays $250-$350 a week - a far cry from the $72,000 a year she made as a loan processor, but Jones says she is quick to pick up extra shifts when she can to help make ends meet. She has never stopped looking for a full-time job.
"At this point I will take anything," Jones said.
Are you underemployed? Has your employer recently cut back your hours? Have you been forced to take a part-time job for lack of full-time work?
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Free Real Estate Advice Conference Call - Sat Oct 4th
I will be hosting a FREE Real Estate Advice Conference Call on Sat Oct. 4, 2008 at 10am Central Time. You will have the opportunity to ask a Licensed Realtor in the State of Texas any Real Estate related question concerning topics such as:
* When is the best time to sell a House ?
* When is the best time to buy a House ?
* Is Staging a house important ?
* Should you buy first or sell first ?
You ask the questions and I will answer them. Calls are anonymous and this is your opportunity to ask all Real Estate related questions.
To get your Dial In Conference Call Number and Access Code - email me at wediditagaingroup@yahoo.com
Limited Attendance - RSVP Today!
If you have any questions - call me 972-679-9029 or visit http://www.robertjrussell.com
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