I’ve seen a fair number of questions on impound accounts in the last several months. An impound account, also known by the confusing term escrow account because the lender is holding it in escrow, is money that you give the lender in order to pay the property taxes and homeowner’s insurance on the property. The …
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Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?
(This was originally posted in 2006) One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you’re one of those still in denial about it, how prices jumped so far so fast). This has to do with several factors. Legislation made real estate …
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Facts Of Life On Buying and Selling “Without an Agent”
I saw your article on on Searchlight Crusade about exclusive buyers agents and I have a couple follow up questions pertaining to my own situation that I am hoping you could shed some light on. I don’t have any buyers agent (currently). However I have spotted 2 houses in an area that I think I …
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Dammit Jim, I’m a Real Estate Agent Not A Doctor!
(With apologies to the late great DeForrest Kelley) Just got off the phone with an agent I know who had an interesting experience today. One of this agent’s listings called. Actually his significant other did, because the guy fell down in pain. Still somewhat conscious, but in lots of pain. Now, if I were in …
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Looking For Loans In All The Wrong Places
No, I’m not turning into a country western singer. Just got a search for “no closing costs no points loan cheapest rates loan”. The visit (to this article) lasted less than a full second. The obvious implication was that it wasn’t what that person was looking for. As I have said before on many occasions, …
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Variable Annuities: Debunking the Ignorant Press
Found an annuity article in the local paper with an error so glaring that I had to debunk it. Here’s the article:Income for Life And here’s the critical error, conveniently in the first two paragraphs: Interested in annuities? The type known as an immediate annuity may pique the interest of some investors. But the first …
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Thoughts on Abolishing Estate Tax
I have never liked or favored the estate tax, and yet I am very much of two minds about actually abolishing it. I’m glad of the benefits to the individuals involved, and yet it is only one of the issues involved in planning for what happens to all of us eventually, and abolishing it removes …
The Prerequisites of Investing
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that there are things you should do before you make your first investment. The SEC, NASD and all of the various other financial planning organizations all explicitly list three things that should be in place in most cases prior to making your first investment in anything. The first of these is …
The Biggest Risk
If you’ve been around the financial planning business any length of time, you’ve likely run into the saying “The biggest risk is not taking one.” It is endemic to all financial instruments, indeed, all investments, that return is the reward for risk. It is axiomatic that the entity that takes risks gets the rewards. Generic …
The Consequences of Not Shopping Multiple Lenders
Minorities get higher rates. They add that the fact minorities are more likely to borrow from institutions specializing in high-priced loans could mean they are being steered to such lenders or that some lenders are unwilling or unable to serve minority neighborhoods. What they describe is called redlining. It is illegal. HUD really gets their …
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