9 ways to stay on top of tough times - 11/12/08 10:17 PM
 -- It's hard to find any good news about your money these days. The stock market is tumbling. Banks are failing. Home values are cratering. And you're watching your retirement disappear.
Before you panic though - pause - and take a deep breath. No one expects the economy to fix itself overnight, but there are many ways you can protect yourself now.
Here are nine simple How-to's:
1. How to earn a yield of nearly 5%
If you're retired (or will be soon), chances are you're obsessed with exactly one thing: getting a predictable income stream that's as safe as possible … (5 comments)

An upside to a down Market - 11/12/08 10:11 PM
 
Well, there's little you can personally do to change the market's direction. Even big shots like Treasury Secretary Hank "Bazooka" Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben "Helicopter" Bernanke haven't been able to manage that.
But you may be able to take a bit of the pain out of falling stock prices by harvesting some investment losses in your taxable accounts and trimming your tax bill in the process. If you want those losses to trim your taxes for 2008, however, you've got to take them by the end of the year.
The process of booking tax losses is fairly straightforward, … (0 comments)

Best Time to Buy a Home - 11/12/08 10:01 PM
November 4, 2008 8:11 pm
No one knows when we'll reach a bottom, but you can get a great bargain, if you shop around.
Questions: Given all the foreclosures and other problems in the housing market and the economy, do you think this is a good time for someone to buy a house? Or would I be better off waiting for the housing market to recover? -Mari, San Francisco
Answers: If you're asking me to predict when the housing market will hit bottom and when prices are likely to start climbing again, I'm sorry, but I can't help you. My … (0 comments)

Forcast 2009 Your Home - 11/12/08 09:55 PM
 Forget the old saw that all real estate is local. What's pummeling housing prices in your nabe is the same thing that's hurting them around the country: the credit crisis.
You know the drill - banks' troubles have made it harder for many home buyers to get mortgages, and those who do qualify have to pay more. A borrower with good credit and a
20% down payment recently got charged an interest rate of 6.7%, on average, according to HSH Associates.
It's true that this rate is not historically high (rates often surpassed 9% in the early 1990s). But it's more … (2 comments)

Need to Squeeze More Money From Your Home - 11/03/08 08:50 PM
Sales of new homes rose unexpectedly in September--2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes.
Good news, right? Not so fast.
The median price of a new home dropped 9.1% from a year earlier to $218,400, and September sales were still 33.1% behind the numbers posted a year ago.
In Depth: How To Squeeze More Money From Your Home
If you're a homeowner looking to unload your property and finding few buyers, there are alternatives to dropping the price below what's palatable. These options allow you maximize your cash flow so that you can stay afloat. And if … (0 comments)

Real Estate Markets Most Likely to Rebound in this Market - 11/03/08 08:42 PM
If you're a homeowner seeing property values plummet, look to the commercial real estate market for solace. It might tell you which areas will recover fastest--and which will likely remain weak.
The Urban Land Institute recently asked 700 real estate professionals to name the best (and worst) places to invest in commercial real estate in the coming year. Those surveyed included private developers, Realtors and Real Estate Investment Trust executives. Their answers also apply to the residential market, since the single-family-home sector typically follows the economy. As wages go up and there are more jobs, more people can buy homes, pushing … (6 comments)

 
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Kevin Heinrich

Clear Lake City, TX

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Heinrich Group

Address: 5827 Beaver Falls Dr., Houston, Tx, 77346

Office Phone: (281) 488-0607

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Real Estate News with a Value added punch Clear Lake Texas Real Estate

I think this is a good rule to live by! "We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are always there for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you." ~ Jeff Warner

One last thought for the day:

"Winners Make it Happen, Others Let it Happen!"

kheinrich@firstam.com www.fatcohouston.com

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