Thinking of a greeting card - think about this

A need that people essentially struggle to fill in their lives is the longing to be appreciated. Showing appreciation for others can have a profound and lasting impact on your relationship with them although it may seem like an easy and simple thing to achieve. A good way to accomplish this is to send a greeting card. There's nothing like the feeling of finding an unexpected card in the mailbox. We open that piece of mail first all the time.

Whenever you need to wish your friend or acquaintances happy and belated birthday, or wish your near and dear ones merry Christmas, or send your beloved one happy valentines day wishes or just say hello or give a "get well soon" message to your bosom friend , you just go to a greetings card outlet or visit an online greetings card website and send the desired card. Are you wondering what greeting card is all about and how did it begin? This article is for you if you have the desire to know.

Greeting cards are several of the nicest things we will ever get in our lifetime. When was the last time someone made you cry with a simple card that had a short, heartwarming message? You could perhaps still feel the emotion that overwhelmed you when you first read it if it wasn't too long ago. Greetings cards may be the cheapest that we can buy someone, but they sure are the richest in meaning. Whether it's for a best friend or grandma whom you haven't seen since you were a grader, a card is always appreciated, especially when it arrives with a personal and some hugs and kisses.

Especially those you make yourself, possibly nothing can be nicer than cards except others cards. Homemade cards work even apparently most impersonal of reasons for giving such as for business purposes and never fail to cheer up anyone's day. A nice, personalized note surely can't be beat, so if you want to make all the best and warmest impressions on your receiver, create your own card and say it in your own words which is probably the best way to say it, anyway, whatever it is.

These days, you don't even have to worry about creating the actual card as there will be many tools you can use. You can download a lot of different software that are dedicated to creating personalized greeting cards on the Internet. Although, not everyone will be eager on doing things themselves. So if you think you only have a message but not the means to actually put it in a nice-looking card, there are websites as well that will do it for you for a very cheap price. After all, what's important is your message. Creating a design on the card by drawing it yourself may be great with kids, it just won't work when your receiver is your boss' wife or maybe your boss himself.

Make use of those software that could come much in handy, especially the holiday season if you want to be able to deliver your most honest and personal yet decent message to someone. Or then again, if computers are not your thing, simply find a website that will give you the cards you want with your own message and a great professional look to boot.

Those cards can even open a lot of opportunities for you whether you make your own cards using software or buy them from a website. These days when people when people put a premium on the convenience offered by the world online, a home based greeting card business sure sounds like a great way earn more income.

Explore the possibilities as you plan to put up your own greeting card business by searching the Internet for websites that can help you do just that. If you want proof that this venture works, you can check out review sites where you'll find people with their own greeting card businesses already taking flight. Find out what they have to say about the websites that opened opportunities for them and made them a success.

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Create your own home stimulus package

The Federal Government's Homebuyer Tax Credit may have expired on April 30, but just because Uncle Sam has turned off the financial spigot aimed at housing doesn't mean home buyers still can't get "something extra" during their purchase. The keys for buyers today are how they negotiate and structure the terms of their offer.

While some terms can involve things like leaving the drapes and light fixtures, others involve money upfront and money over time. Depending on the amount of the purchase price and the loan, the amount homebuyers can save can be significantly more than the tax credit that just expired.

This month, YOU Magazine turns to national mortgage expert and consultant, Jim McMahan. McMahan is Director of Training and Education at LoanToolbox, the leading education provider to thousands of mortgage professionals across the country.

The Fed Checks Out
Both March and April of this year saw the ending of two important stimulus programs that were designed to benefit the housing market. In March, the Federal Reserve ended its program for purchasing Mortgage Backed Securities, which helped keep home loan rates low. April brought the end to the tax credit for home buyers. The tax credit was up to $8,000 for qualifying first time buyers and up to $6,500 for qualifying repeat purchasers.

Just because these programs have ended doesn't mean that home buyers can't seek credits from the seller to accomplish something similar. Successful investors will tell you that money is made when you buy something right with favorable terms, not just when it is sold.

What's More Important? Low Rates or Tax Credit
In a recent survey by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, an overwhelming majority of those polled found that when factoring in either low interest rates or the tax credit, low rates were far more important in a decision to purchase a home now.

There's a good reason for this statistic. For example, if you purchase a home for $300,000 and finance $270,000, and your interest rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan was 5.25% versus 4.75%, you would pay nearly $30,000 more over the term of the loan. This is a significant amount of money!

Since the Fed's Mortgage Backed Securities purchase program ended on March 31, there has been much volatility and price swings in the markets. Rates overall are off their lows and are often quoted above 5.00% today with no points.

Looked at from another perspective, if prospective home buyers are waiting for home prices to decline a bit more before purchasing a home, but interest rates push higher towards 6.00% in the meantime, waiting could well cost those home buyers more money in the long run.

In fact, let's say a home buyer delays a transaction but receives a $10,000 reduction off that $300,000 home. If, in the meantime, rates were to rise .75% to 6.00% and the buyer financed 90% of the purchase price, the amount of total payments over a 30-year term would be over $35,000 more than paying the $300,000 purchase price and the 5.25% interest rate.

An Idea to Save Money Up Front and Over Time
When negotiating the sales price for a home, in many respects what the buyer is negotiating for is not only what the sales price of a home will be but also what the monthly payment will be. After all, unless someone is paying cash for the property, the terms consisting of the purchase price, the down payment, and interest rate on the mortgage will all factor in to what the monthly costs of the home will be for the buyer.

Many buyers focus on the sales price when negotiating and this is understandable. A home is typically the largest transaction home buyers have been involved with and the price paid factors in immensely on what it will cost them each month.

However, in negotiating the terms of the contract, a buyer can also negotiate to have the seller contribute money from the proceeds to allocate towards the buyer's closing costs. This money can be used towards either the reduction of cash required to close and/or a reduction in the interest rate on the mortgage.

Double Bonus by Seller Paying to Lower Rate
It's easy to see the benefits for buyers to have a lower interest rate on their mortgage. Even when compared to paying and financing less for a home, the accumulated costs when compared to financing a larger amount with a lower interest rate offer a buyer lower total costs over the time a mortgage is in effect.

However, one aspect of this situation not often considered is that the IRS treats points paid up front to lower a mortgage interest rate as pre-paid interest, regardless of who pays the fees. This means that when buyers negotiate to have the seller pay the costs to lower their interest rate, they receive the benefit of deducting them on their income taxes in the year the home is purchased.

If the costs to reduce the interest rate are 2.00% to obtain a lower interest rate, the $5,400 in this scenario, 2.00% of $270,000, would be deductible as pre-paid interest, netting additional money back to the buyer at tax time.

Time to Look at Your Options
Many guidelines have changed in the past few years, so the first thing home buyers should do is to seek a pre-approval from their mortgage professional in advance of writing an offer to purchase a home. In addition to determining exactly what home buyers can qualify for, pre-approval gives home buyers a stronger negotiating position since they will be perceived by the seller as a cash buyer.

In addition, home buyers who would like to investigate seller paid points as an option may find that they can purchase a little more expensive home.

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Know the Signs that your Home is about to Lose Value

Despite signs that the real estate market is bottoming out, millions of homeowners are likely to find themselves in worse shape within the next two years.

Nearly half of the nation's 52 million mortgage borrowers will have negative equity by the end of the first quarter of 2011, up from the 14 million at the end of this year's first quarter, according to estimates in an Aug. 5 report by Deutsche Bank. With so many borrowers underwater - or owing more on their home than it's worth - the risk is high that they'll default and their homes will go into foreclosure, says Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. (Moody's Economy.com estimates that 17.5 million mortgage borrowers will be underwater by early 2010.)

Negative equity is the product of several factors. The most significant weight is the broad and persistent decline in home values. A Zillow.com index of home values fell 12.1% year-over-year during the second quarter, resulting in a total drop of 22.3% since the market peaked in mid-2006, according to an Aug. 11 report by the online real estate marketplace. Many buyers who bought their home around the peak with a 20% down payment have lost that dollar amount.

"The continued decline of U.S. home prices will contribute to rapidly rising rates of negative equity," Karen Weaver, a Deutsche Bank research analyst, wrote in the report. "The most obvious implication is for mortgage defaults."

Current homeowners, or those shopping for a home and who are concerned that they'll end up underwater, should consider how long they expect to live in their house. Being underwater doesn't affect homeowners unless they plan to sell, Zandi says.

Individuals who are staying put for at least the next five to seven years will likely recoup the lost value of their home, says Amy Bohutinsky, a Zillow.com spokeswoman. In addition, homeowners should refrain from borrowing against their mortgage, she says.

Those who find themselves underwater can turn to the federal Making Home Affordable plan, which can help you refinance or do a loan modification.

Whether you're at risk for falling behind may have more to do with the economy and your neighborhood than your job, your credit or your income. Here are four warning signs that you're heading underwater.

1. Foreclosures in Your Neighborhood

The quickest way to end up underwater is to live in a neighborhood that's plagued by foreclosures.

When one home on your block goes into foreclosure, your home's value drops by 1%, Zandi says. But that isn't a one-to-one relationship. If two homes on a block go into foreclosure, your home's value will drop by more than 2%.

As homes go into foreclosure, they create a domino effect, lowering home values throughout a neighborhood in a cascade beyond homeowners' control.

2. Homes Lingering on the Market

When "For Sale" signs linger in a neighborhood for three or more months, that may mean buyers and sellers can't agree on a price. In that environment, homes are unlikely to sell unless the seller lowers their asking price.

"The time on the market is always a good barometer of demand for homes and for the price homes are transacting at," Zandi says. "The longer it appears that neighbors are taking to sell their home the more likely it is they're not getting the price they want and that prices are falling."

Compare the time it took for homes to sell in your neighborhood three years ago vs. today; if it's taking weeks or months longer to sell, the prices homes can fetch are dropping, Zandi says.

3. Increasing Unemployment

In most cases, the cities where homes have lost the most value during the past year also possess the highest unemployment rates.

Homes in Merced, Calif., have lost 40.2% of their value year-over-year, the biggest loss of home values in the nation, according to Zillow.com. The city's unemployment rate is the fifth-worst among 372 metropolitan areas at 17.6%, according to June data from the Labor Department. El Centro, Calif., where home values plunged 37.6% year-over-year (the second-biggest drop in the country), has the worst unemployment rate at 27.5%.

Individuals living in areas battered by high unemployment are likely to see their home values drop further, especially if they live in areas dependent on dwindling industries - like Central Valley, Calif., and the mortgage lending business or Detroit and the auto industry, Zandi says.

4. Homes in Disrepair

Dented siding, peeling paint and broken porches could be signs that neighbors are having trouble making ends meet and can no longer pay to take care of their home, Zandi says. Or they may have gotten an appraisal and discovered their homes have dropped in value and are no longer worth the cost of repairs. Inevitably, as the condition of homes in your neighborhood worsens, home values are likely to drop.

"The mere fact that they're not investing in their homes will affect you too," Zandi says.

What Underwater Borrowers Have in Common

Risky Mortgages

Some 77% of option-ARM borrowers and 50% of subprime mortgage borrowers were estimated to be underwater as of the first quarter of 2009, according to the Deutsche Bank report. With option-ARMs, borrowers could make minimum monthly payments that didn't even cover the loan's interest. As the market declined, these balances grew over time. With subprime mortgages, borrowers often had poor credit scores and little documentation of their financial situation. In both cases, borrowers often ended up with a large mortgage relative to the house's price.

Date of Purchase

Individuals who bought their home between 2003 and 2008 are at risk of being underwater because they bought while prices were rising, Zandi says. The risk is greater for those who bought between 2005 and 2006, as the market approached its peak.

Excessive Borrowing

Many individuals borrowed against their home when it appreciated in value during the bubble by taking out a second mortgage or tapping into a home equity line of credit or home equity loan. This borrowing left their home with less equity to weather the drop in home values.

Home's Location

The areas that have been hit the hardest by plunging home values include the "sand states" of Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada because they brought the most speculation, easy credit and overbuilding during the bubble, Zandi says. Also hurt: the states where unemployment is especially high and manufacturing jobs have been eliminated like Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, Zandi says.

This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit

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Selling a Home: A Recipe for Success

If you've recently listed your home for sale, you should already have painted, cleared clutter from indoors and outdoors, and replaced any broken items that could detract from its appearance and value. So if the phone rings and your realtor needs to show the home today, you think you're ready to go. But you need to stay organized and pay attention to detail in order to give your home every possible advantage of selling in this buyer's market.

Everyday Organizing and Last Minute Primping

It's not easy to live in a house that can be shown at a moment's notice. Things will go much smoother for a last minute showing if you and your family are in the habit of making their beds everyday, picking up dirty clothes and toys and wiping down the shower. But if some things got out of order, go through the house right before the showing tossing items into a laundry bin that you can pop into the trunk of your car. Strive to keep your countertops and table tops free from mail, newspapers and clutter and keep the bathrooms and kitchens wiped down. Place dishes in the dishwasher after every meal, keep dusting wands handy for last minute run-throughs and vacuum regularly. Mop floors as often as needed and keep a sprayer mop available for last minute touch ups.

Find a Pet Sitter or Take Felix and Fido with You

Most likely you will leave your house whenever it is shown and you would be wise to take your pets with you, or arrange ahead of time for a pet sitter. For one thing, you don't want someone accidentally letting the cat out of the house and no one want to hear a barking dog while viewing your home. Worse, you don't want a scared dog biting a stranger. Not having the pets in the home gives potential buyers a chance to see every room in the house. It's ok if there is evidence of pets, such as beds or bowls, as long as there is no damage from pets and the home is clean. A buyer will be impressed with a home that is clean and fresh smelling, even though pets are part of the family; it indicates that you are responsible and that you keep a well-maintained home.

Good Scents, Bad Sense

While a steaming pie set on a kitchen counter is inviting, don't overdo it with artificial air fresheners. A potential buyer could think that something's fishy and you're trying to cover it up. Make cleanliness your first priority: Empty the kitchen trash can daily and keep the kitchen smelling clean by washing sinks daily. Run a solution of baking soda and water or bleach water through the drains weekly. Keep the bathrooms as clean as possible. A basket of potpourri or unlit scented candles are fine; just don't overwhelm with fragrance.

A bright home is a spacious home

Always turn on lights and open shades before a showing. A home that appears bright, will appear more spacious and attractive to buyers. In a room that doesn't have much natural light, it may be advantageous to swap out darker colored furnishings for lighter ones ahead of time, and turn on every light in that room when showing the home. When a room appears dark, not only does it seem smaller, it gives the impression that the homeowner wants to keep buyers out of those spaces. Keep it bright and welcome potential buyers in so that the can see all the outstanding features of your home, which may now be the home of their dreams.

To find out more about selling a home - visit http://www.robertjrussell.com

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10 Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make

The declining home values that are plaguing homeowners are just one of the factors creating an opportunity for prospective home buyers.

Standard & Poor's latest Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices across 20 major U.S. cities, reported that values dropped 19% in January from a year earlier.

More info? visit http://www.robertjrussell.com

Those depressed values, combined with near-record-low mortgage rates and government incentives (an $8,000 first-time home buyers' tax credit included in the stimulus bill), are luring more first-time home buyers into the market. Indeed, a recent Century 21 Real Estate survey found that more than three-quarters (78%) of potential first-time home buyers say now is a good time to buy.

If you agree, be aware that buying a home comes with plenty of potential missteps. Here are 10 all-too-common mistakes first-timers make.

1. Not knowing how much house you can afford.

Many novice home buyers spend a lot of time researching homes - comparing kitchen layouts and backyard square footage - but very little time researching their financing options. One of the first things buyers should do is talk to a qualified lender and get preapproved for a mortgage, says Claire Clark, senior vice president of business development at Prudential California Realty. Without first figuring out how much house you can afford, you risk falling in love with one you can't.

2. Assuming foreclosures are great deals.

Just because the previous owner owed $450,000 on a house before the bank took it over doesn't mean it's worth that much now. Values have slipped significantly, says Jay Michael, partner at Estate Property Group, a Chicago real estate brokerage, so you may not be getting the bargain you think with a foreclosure. Also, most homes owned by lenders or banks have been sitting vacant for months and may have been vandalized. That could require extensive renovation or repair. Weigh the costs of fixing up the property against the savings you'll likely reap by buying a lower-priced foreclosed home.

3. Letting your true feelings show.

No matter how much you've fallen in love with a house, don't let the seller's agent in on it. Otherwise, they will gain the upper hand in negotiations.

4. Failing to find a good buyer's agent.

Landing a mortgage is tough these days. So buyers should rely heavily on knowledgeable agents to help them get their finances in order, says Michael. After all, buyer's agents have a fiduciary responsibility to the buyer exclusively -- and should be looking out for their best interests. Start your search at the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents, a nonprofit representing buyers. Or consider using an agent recommended by a relative or friend. Interview each candidate about their experience, if they've worked with first-time buyers before and what kind of service you'll get from them.

5. Underestimating the costs of owning a home.

Whether it's a rusty pipe or a leaky roof, things go wrong and need to be fixed. Many home buyers don't anticipate the additional costs for repair and maintenance, or for an increase in utility costs, says Erin Baehr, CFP and president of Baehr Family Financial. Consider the age of your new home and how well it's been treated by the previous owners in your budget. Be prepared to set aside a small percentage (1% at most) of the home's purchase price annually for repairs and upkeep.

6. Failing to budget for property taxes.

Property taxes - and the likelihood that they'll climb over the course of your time in the house - should be factored into any home-buying budget, says Baehr. To get an idea of how much you'll be paying, call the local assessor's office or talk to people in the neighborhood.

7. Assuming your first offer will get accepted.

As home prices get even more affordable, competition is bound to heat up. "You can't assume you'll walk in there, make the offer and get it," says Clark. Try not to get discouraged if you lose out on the first - or second - house you make an offer on.

8. Skipping the inspection.

Before signing anything, hire a professional inspector, says Justin Lopatin, a mortgage planner with American Street Mortgage Company. The seller isn't likely to tell you there's mold in the basement or the walls are poorly insulated. Lopatin advises buyers to find and hire their own inspector - independently of the realtor - to ensure there's no conflict of interest. (You can find inspection companies in the phone book, or by doing a simple web search with your zip code.)

9. Doing too much too fast.

Some buyers want to make the house their own right away, says Baehr. They overextend themselves on credit to do so, and assume the improvement will pay for itself by increasing the home's value. But that's not always the case - especially in today's market. Instead, buyers need to exhibit patience and make changes over time.

10. Failing to include a contingency clause in the contract.

A mortgage financing contingency clause protects you if, say, you lose your job and the loan falls through or the appraisal price comes in under the purchase price. Should one of these events occur, the buyer gets back the money he used to secure the property. Without the clause, he can lose that money and still be obligated to buy the house, says Lopatin.

By Lisa Scherzer, SmartMoney.com

Apr 10th, 2009

Posted by: Robert J Russell, International Real Estate Specialist, REALTOR

http://www.robertjrussell.com

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Seller will help with Closing Costs - House For Sale !!

Homeowner will help pay Buyers Closing Costs - Don't wait - Denton, Dallas, Collin & Tarrant county homes!

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http://www.marketingsplash1.com/RequestHBSR.asp?ID=OMHQMHOBJJCBBJ

or Visit: http://www.robertjrussell.com

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