Personal Finance

10 Tips to save more money

Better Life

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From time to time, we post articles that aren’t related to our primary business, real estate sales… except that they sort of are. All our clients, friends and family are in the same boat we are: living through the New Normal Economy, learning to make due with less in a post-Great Recession world. Pretty much [...]

3 April 2011 Read the full article →

Save money on your phone bill

Homeowner Help

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I stumbled on this money saving tip by accident this morning. Do you have a land line telephone in your home? I do. Never use it. It exists only to keep my TiVo happy and full of programming data. I called the phone provider – who is also my internet provider – and asked them [...]

29 September 2010 Read the full article →

FHA Short Refinance program

In The News

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The FHA has announced a new program in the ongoing battle to fix the foreclosure crisis.  See details on the FHA website for this FHA Short Finance program for underwater homes. The main points of the new program – Existing loan to be refinanced is not FHA insured; Must owe more on their mortgage than [...]

14 September 2010 Read the full article →

Lease Purchase, Rent to Own

Buyer Help

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Rent to own and lease-purchase agreements are cropping up in the Greater Phoenix real estate world these days. They’re a natural result of the continuing tight credit market. Lease-purchase and rent to own are essentially the same things.  A lease with a purchase option is almost the same, just with more complicated legalese thrown in [...]

11 September 2010 Read the full article →

Short sales, loan modifications and checking accounts

Homeowner Help

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image credit, user sgback at StockExchange If you’re trying to complete a short sale or loan modification on your home, do not keep money in a checking or savings account with the bank that holds your mortgage. Open accounts with another bank, savings and loan, credit union (or whatever) that is not related to your [...]

31 August 2010 Read the full article →

Home buyer tax credit extended

First Time Buyers

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Legislation that extends until Sept. 30 the closing deadline for claiming the homebuyer tax credit — HR 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010 — was passed by the Senate by unanimous voice vote Wednesday and could be signed into law by President Obama today.  (source, Inman.com) Buyers still needed to be under [...]

1 July 2010 Read the full article →

Phony cashier’s checks going around

In The News

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June 30, 2010 Just got an email news update I thought I’d share. Mechanics & Farmers Bank (NC) reports that counterfeit cashier’s checks bearing the institution’s name are in circulation. “The counterfeit items display the routing number 053100452, which is assigned to Mechanics & Farmers Bank. The items are similar to authentic cashier’s checks. A [...]

1 July 2010 Read the full article →

The Shiny

First Time Buyers

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Real life observation: women who go to the gym in a full face of makeup with their hair done just so. . . . they crack me up. This has nothing at all to do with real estate. Or. . . does it? Many of the buyers we’ve worked with in the past 2 years [...]

27 June 2010 Read the full article →

Credit CARD Act, what’s in it for you?

In The News

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The recently enacted federal Credit CARD Act gives consumers some more protection when it comes to credit card fees. Hat tip to Geri Detweiler at CreditBloggers for the following details on new federal limits on credit card fees: . . .credit card issuers can’t charge a late payment fee (or other penalty fee) of more [...]

17 June 2010 Read the full article →

Buy for less than you pay in rent?

Buyer Help

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The conventional wisdom (and a lot of mortgage companies’ advertising) currently says that you can buy a house for cheaper than you can rent an apartment in the Greater Phoenix area.  Is it true? Mmmmm…  Yes and no. Case in point: First time home buyer, starter home in the south end of the 85016 ZIP [...]

4 June 2010 Read the full article →

Save on your phone bill

Homeowner Help

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(photo credit StockExchange user gokoroko) I stumbled on this money saving tip by accident this morning. Do you have a land line telephone in your home? I do. Never use it. I called the phone provider – who is also my internet provider – and asked them to drop the line. Almost immediately, they offered [...]

7 May 2010 Read the full article →

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