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First Draft Excerpt from A New Embassy (Number Three)
This is set in the Empire of Humanity, about 35 Earth years after Imperial contact. The first excerpt is here, and the second excerpt is here. It's currently a novelette, but I'll probably re-work it at some point into a...
Excerpt from WIP: The Monad Trap (Connected Realms book 2)
Catharin slept through the night, so when I awoke, I carefully disentangled myself from Petra while making certain the blankets still covered her. She drowsily stirred enough for a quick kiss, then I dressed hurriedly and strode quickly through the...
Government in the Empire of Humanity
In accordance with M'Dorna's Hypothesis and M'Don's Equations, Imperial government is kept as small as realistically possible. The government provides military service, criminal justice, arbitration between parties in a dispute, investigative services (fee required in some instances), foreign relations, and...
Universe Building The Empire Step One Iteration Two
Someone asked about building a minimalist government. For a minimalist government to be stable as such, there must be a reason why it does not follow the historical norm of all governments, to arrogate progressively more power to itself, to...
San Diego Assessment Appeals Board
Been a while since I posted this: In California, your property taxes are based upon your purchase price (plus no more than 2% per year, compounded). But if values fall, you can get your assessment lowered by appealing your assessment....
General Consumer Articles:Weeks in Review January 5-25, 2009
Newly Written Articles January 19th: "Quantity Has A Quality All Its Own": Low Price January 20th: There Is Always A Reason For A Low Asking Price January 22nd: Fifteen Year Loans: Are They A Good Idea? Updated Articles January...
General Consumer Articles: Weeks in Review November 3-23, 2008
I've been working a lot of hours and allowed some of the more usual articles to fall behind. Newly Written Articles VA Loans Have Become The Magic Bullet talking about how, with everything else getting tightened and over-tightened, VA...
General Consumer Articles: Week in Review September 29 to October 5, 2008
Newly Written Articles Second Trust Deeds: Home Equity Loans and Home Equity Lines of Credit Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate Advertising a Sold Property As Available on MLS Updated Articles Refinancing Does Not Cause Your Property Taxes To...
Is San Diego Market Underpriced or Overpriced? - A Thought Experiment for August 2008
Let's do a thought experiment. Any market in any commodity has two components: The demand, or willingness and ability to pay for that good, and the supply of that good. Let's consider the demand half of that first. Specifically, ability...
The High Cost of Waiting To Buy A Home
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email asking Save For A Down Payment or Buy Now?, and I wrote a two part article on the subject. Part 2 of Save For A Down Payment or Buy Now? Gave...
What Remodeling is Likely to Show a Profit on Sale?
My general rule of thumb is "Remodel for your own enjoyment. If you're lucky, you'll get some of your money back when your sell." The remodeling industry has made a very large amount of money seducing people into believing...
Save For A Down Payment or Buy Now? (Part 2 of 2)
(click for Part 1 of Save For A Down Payment or Buy Now?, which deals with the basic question of how well saving for a down payment increases affordability) But suppose, instead of waiting because you can't afford the payments...
Save For A Down Payment or Buy Now? (Part 1 of 2)
An email asked a question I should have thought to answer a long time ago, and the answer may surprise a lot of folks. I've been vaguely aware of this for a couple of years, but I was amazed how...
How Can I Lower The Down Payment Requirements So I Can Buy Real Estate?
With a few lenders starting to loosen their requirements slightly in San Diego, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the bottom is behind us. However, the issue has now become, "I don't have much of a down payment. How do...
San Diego Real Estate Market: June 2008 Advice
My advice to sellers is very simple: Hold off if you can. Things have already improved, but better times are coming once more inventory clears. The prognosis for this is very good. I'm seeing fewer short sales, at least...
Buying Out A Partner - With Complications
First of all I love the information on the site. I've done some research into buying a home and have talked to several people who have bought homes and I can never believe the stories I've heard. My response...
Can I Afford This Property?
Cold Hard Fact for today: The average Real Estate Agent or Loan Officer is not motivated to tell you that you can't afford your property. For the agent you are trying to talk people out of a property after they...
Selling to Avoid Foreclosure in a Buyer's Market
Found this on a public forum I need help to stop foreclosure on my home. I need to sell quickly? I am a couple months behind on my payments and want to sell now. I am not looking to make...
Dangers of a Poorly Written Real Estate Purchase Offer
There's an old literary tradition that cautions the reader to "Be careful what you ask for. You may get it." Many real estate purchase offers are good illustrations of that principle. The rule followed by good agents is, "Never...
From How Much You Make to A Payment You Can Afford
I'm clueless about how home loans work. Is there any way to figure out how much I can afford to spend per month on a home. If I were to get a home for $(figure) how much would that...
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