Savings Retirement or House Down Payment
February 23rd, 2010 by aclazaro
If you would have to choose between saving for retirement or for your house down payment, what would you choose? What would be a better option?
Apparently, both are very essential. The younger you may have started with your 401(k) contributions or the IRA, the longer you can have some compounding interest. But we cannot deny the fact too that it is during the younger years of our age that we desire to have our own homes so that we can be more prepared once we reach the next phase of our lives like getting married or having kids.
Of course to save for both is possible, but it could really be such a burdensome commitment. Hence, you will be moved to just make one priority. But still in the end, the financial experts say it is better to save for retirement first. It could be a more sensible option to prioritize.
Photo via http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/partners/free/rrsp/2008/primer8.html
Repairing Your Home For Less
January 25th, 2010 by daphne reyes
We all have a long list of things we need to fix in our home. We all know that most of these doesn’t get done at all. When it’s time to sell our home, you will realize that this affects its value. Either it will cost you more to have it fixed by a professional or you get to sell it for a much smaller price. Experts say that most of the repairs that needs to be done, could have been avoided all in all for a smaller cost.
“Our experts in the heating ventilation air conditioning industry tell us that 60 percent of all their service calls start because it’s a dirty filter issue. If you have a dirty filter, it affects the efficiency of your furnace,” says Reed. She says that it’s a simple and easy repair that improves the air quality and saves you money.
“If you’ve got a leaky faucet or running toilet, that’s going to cost you,” says Reed. “If you don’t get it fixed you’re going to be paying more and more. It can also lead to mold damage. It can lead to a loss of your cabinetry—the flooring in your cabinetry can be rotted away and that can affect your floor underneath and the walls. So you can have a big issue if it’s not fixed soon,” says Reed.
Fannie’s to Save Florida Condo Market
January 18th, 2010 by daphne reyes
Fannie Mae has designed a new policy to provide more mortgage money to stimulate condo sales in Florida. They will be providing special approvals for loans for condo units that usually don’t qualify for financing. This includes more than 51 buildings in the hard-hit Miami area with about 17,000 units. They will have a dispatching team to check the buildings to see if they can give an exception.
Fannie official said that they have come up with this to save the condo sales. To provide liquidity to the currently depressed condo market caused by speculative overbuilding, walkaways by earlier buyers abandoning sales contracts, tanking prices and financially-troubled condo associations.
Majority of realtors reacted positively to Fannie Mae’s new policies. They say that it will create a real opportunity to move condo units that were sitting unsold. Investors who have purchased multiple blocks have ended renting it out longer before actually selling it. “No question this will be great news to investors who managed to get in low,” said Jack McCabe of McCabe Research Associates of Deerfield Beach, a condo market feasibility expert.
Brands with a Social Purpose
January 18th, 2010 by daphne reyes
It should be about building better communities and not just building homes. It should not just be about selling a good product but about selling a product that helps the environment. According to the third annual Edelman goodpurpose Consumer Study, the survey says that despite the recession, people are spending more on products that have a social purpose. 57 % globally say that companies are earning more on products that supports a good cause. The study also shows that 83% of people switch habits just to help make the world a better place. Considerably more people (70 percent) would prefer to live in an eco-friendly house than merely a big house (30 percent), and 68 percent also now feel that it’s becoming more unacceptable not to make noticeable efforts to show concern for the environment and live a healthy lifestyle.
People are becoming more and more aware of their responsibilities socially and this cause gains for companies who are true to their intentions on helping our world a better place to live in. Money loses its value as it is more important to save the earth than save money on brands that hurts our environment.