The Coming Explosion in the Mortgage Market
According to the following post, 50% of Alt-A loans (alternative A rated loans) which consist of adjustable loans and fixed loans to stated income borrowers (basically, borrower tells lender their income) could be ‘fraudulent.’ His major point is that bond insurers could avoid insuring mortgages and send themback to the original lender if the application […]
Potentially Helpful Real Estate Sale Improvement Advice
Just thought I would make you aware of this article on ways to improve the “curb appeal’ of your house when you try to sell it. Some of these ideas are well known, but just in case, perhaps this could be helpful to you:
Real Estate Curb Appeal from Yahoo Finance
Enjoy!
Chris Grande
4.28.08
FYI:Thoughts on Our Hotels in the UK and Ireland
Let me just say…
Shannon International Airport is very nice. We got here early for our 1:15PM flight. This airport is relatively new and the government goal is to funnel traffic through this airport. Also, interestingly, for American travelers, the US has a customs facility AT Shannon Airport so you can walk right off your plane […]
Problems in Ireland
Talking to my tour bus driver Newton, I discussed with him the current state of the Irish real estate market. One development he knows of, 20 houses were built and NONE have sold.
Prices are falling (the low rate contagion spread worldwide it seems) and the construction business is grinding to a halt. Newton did tell […]
Same Problems Here…
I am still in Ireland. Today I wandered downtown Dublin and tomorrow I will go west to see some of the more rustic parts of the country and take in some more traditions such as step dancing, the Blarney Stone, traveling around County Kerry, etc.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the problems here are […]
While Exploring England and Wales…
I am surprised at the extreme lack of internet access around London and then especially in Wales. Interestingly, and appropriately, pubs in England have internet access as our coffee shops do in Boston.
My hotel wanted to ream me for $15/hour for the internet which worked poorly (on the wireless side) so I gave up on […]
Does Extreme Altitude Change My Mind?
FYI - I am in the UK and Ireland this week so forgive my sporadic blog entries…
At 37,000 feet, I am wondering if I get a different perspective on all that has been happening in the the world of finance over the past year, 2 years, 5 years, heck 30 years. I am discovering that […]
They Thought This Was Funny When I Said It…
In 2005, during a class in my masters program, I referred to the rising cost of dairy and the effect on my friend’s cheese costs for his pizza shop. The randomness of this caused most in the class to laugh over what was admittedly, a funny thing at the time.
But no one is laughing now. […]
Nomadic Tendencies and Your Property Value
This week’s Economist-probably one of the best I have read recently for trend and investing ideas - highlights an increasing US trend toward the workforce moving to a “nomadic” model as people shake off the chains of working in a traditional office.
Economist Article
The article describes how many people want freedom and the ability to […]
“Return-Free Risk”
Jim Grant, in a great interview last month, described investing in government bonds as “return-free risk” (quoting a friend). Let’s examine something I learned back in Economics 101:
Nominal interest rates include the real rate of interest plus inflation. For example, if interest rates are currently 5%, then we can subtract inflation to figure out the […]
In SF Today - The View Isn’t Any Prettier From Here
Waiting in the airport to head off to San Francisco from Boston, I heard a quick blurb on the TV that the market was swooning. No surprise there. As earnings season kicks in and companies reports prove that the perennial “second half recovery” will not happen, markets will sell off. The fun started with GE […]
Foreclosure Purchasing - Ideas from Joe DiMeo
Hey everyone,
Those of you who are not part of “Bail Out Nation” (thank you Bill Fleckenstein) and actually saved money over the past few years instead of blowing it on too big of a house and $75,000 kitchens, will probably be interested in this article by my friend Joe DiMeo about the current foreclosure market […]
Interesting Environmental Idea from a Real Estate Manager
As you can imagine, I subscribe to so many print and online publications, I don’t get a chance to read them all and actually, only tend to read something when it catches my eye. Check out this article about a Phoenix property manager offering rental breaks for tenants who will live close to work and […]
As I Mentioned Before on Rates…
This article was brought to my attention in Bill Fleckenstein’s latest article (see link to the right for a list of his articles). As I mentioned in my post on April 3, even though the Fed is lowering rates, the 30 year mortgage rate, which is determined by the market, is not falling and in […]
Do You Really Wanna Save Some Money? Do Ya Punk?
Are you looking to save some serious money in your monthly budget? Are you willing to take some time and extra effort to save hundreds if not thousands in your annual budget? Well then I have a good place to start. Here is an article that appears today on the front page of Bankrate.com
Article […]