The Mini Token Blog

When fuel prices were low, it was often difficult to justify the upfront outlay of cash required to install solar panels, solar water heaters and similar equipment. The reason was simple to understand - it would simply take too long to recoup the cost of the equipment in the form of lower energy bills.

But prices are now higher than many of us ever expected. As energy prices continue to go up, the amount of time required to recoup the upfront cost goes down. In addition, a number of state and local tax incentives make it even easier for homeowners to go solar and save money right away.

Solar power has already proven itself and its ability to lower energy costs substantially, and more and more homeowners are taking a serious look at converting their residences to solar power. The costs of installing solar panels is still high, with a typical two kilowatt installation of solar panels from OVR Solar costing around £10,000 / ($20, 000) in most cases, but special tax incentives and long term energy savings can help homeowners recoup those upfront costs faster than ever before.

Encouragement for our governments is now forthcoming. This tax savings can help eligible homeowners recoup some of the costs of installing solar panels and solar water heating systems up front, in addition to the energy savings they will enjoy down the road.

Any homeowner considering the installation of a solar system should be sure to check with his or her state and city to determine what types of tax breaks are available. It’s sensible to look into what help your local authorities are willing to provide. Just Google it to find out what help is available to you.

Breakeven point for your outlay may seem far away at todays prices - but what about at tomorrows?. However, as the prices for heating oil, gas and other forms of traditional energy continue to soar, so will demand for alternatives

Have you ever watched a house sit empty before, without anyone checking on it, or moving in or out? This may be one of many bank foreclosure homes that the bank owned because someone could not pay their mortgage like they had promised. Many American consumers are having this problem in light of the tough economic conditions existing in the United States. Stocks are down, employment rates are dropping, and companies are cutting spending having a disastrous effect on the economy as well. But the bank is a business like any other and needs to make money, or take back what they paid for, namely your home.

Are you in search of that perfect home? Or maybe just a home you can afford? As interest rates climb so do the home foreclosure listings across the nation. These listings are from consumers defaulting on their mortgages and the bank acting on it. The rate of foreclosures continue to rise across the country as the year progress and both the mortgage and banking markets are feeling the pressure. But you don’t have to! This may be the perfect time for you to buy! Find your perfect home and do not overpay for it! It is a buyers market, so get out there and buy your new home!

I saw the ads in our small-town newspaper for years before I realized exactly what was going on. They were always the same: A house for sale with 5% down and payments of 1% of the purchase price. It might be a three bedroom home for $90,000, for example, with $4,500 down and $900 per month payments.

A friend started doing the same thing and explained the process to me. It was a way to get a great return on capital. It was the opposite of buying with no money down. You bought for cash.

A Real Estate Investment Formula

It is simple, really. When you buy for cash, you often get a much better price. A house that needs a little work might be worth $75,000, for example. By offering $65,000 cash, you negotiate your way to a $68,000 purchase price. If not, you walk away - there are always others.

Then you put few thousand into high-return repairs and improvements. Paint, carpet, and maybe asphalt for the dirt driveway. For our example, we’ll say you put $5,000 into it.

Now it’s worth $85,000 perhaps, but you target those who can’t get financing easily, and you finance it yourself. By making it easy for the buyer, you can get $90,000 for the home - and do it without a realtor’s commission. Whatever the sales price, you let the buyer put 5% down, and make monthly payments of 1% of the purchase price. Of course, you get higher than market interest too.

The buyer is thrilled that they can buy instead of renting, and you get a capital gain of perhaps $14,000 after expenses, plus good interest. Your total rate of return is somewhere over 25%!

The first to do this cosistently in our town were a father and son. They were both lawyers, and saved money by doing their own foreclosures when necessary. After forclosing, they just raised the price and sold it all over again, of course. By the way, if you can get an average return of 18% on your money, you’ll turn $75,000 into more than one million dollars in about fifteen years.

Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

With the current appreciation of real estate within the last few years, you can’t go anywhere without someone talking about their latest real estate deal. With the sour taste of the internet stock bubble still fresh in everyone’s mouth, one can’t help but worry about a similar real estate bubble bursting in the near future. Looking at the facts is the only way to gauge whether or not real estate in the Phoenix-Scottsdale-Mesa Metro area will see a sharp decline.

Real Estate Price to Income Ratio - This ratio is often used to imply an impending real estate bubble forming, although this is not correct. While income has not risen to keep pace with the price of real estate in Maricopa County, a better figure to take into account is the mortgage debt servicing cost to income ratio. This number allows us to look at whether people can afford their mortgages on their property, since most people carry debt on their real estate. For the Phoenix Metro area, that number is currently 21% for the Phoenix Metro area, compared to an average of 30% for the top 20 US metro areas. This makes property in the Phoenix metro area surprising attractive, combined with a 3 year appreciation of 69%.

The “Catch Up” Effect - Much of the current appreciation we are seeing in the Phoenix metro area can be attributed to the lackluster performance during the 80s and 90s. During that period, home prices were relatively flat, so the current rise in prices can be seen as a “catch up” effect.

Future Job Growth in the Phoenix Metro Area - A decline in home prices is rare, and the median home price in the US has not declined since the great depression on the 1930s. Local markets have seen declines when accompanied by sharp declines in the local job market. The 3 year job growth outlook for the Phoenix Metro area is a strong 4.8%, compared to the national average of 2.4%, making a strong argument that home prices will not fall.

Mortgage Climate for the Phoenix Metro Area - 18% of the mortgages in the Phoenix metro area are above 90% of the real estate’s value, making the foreclosure risk in the area minimal. While a rising interest rate would cool the recent growth we’ve seen in home values, it would only bring the area in line with the national average mortgage debt servicing cost to income ratio.

After looking at the numbers, it’s clear that Phoenix AZ real estate bubble concerns are overstated. Job growth for the area looks good and foreclosure risk is minimal. While past returns cannot guarantee future growth, the future looks very promising for real estate investment in the Phoenix metro area. A cooling in appreciation may occur if interest rates rise sharply, but this would be far from the bubble burst the stock market saw. But even with the current rise in mortgage rates, the Phoenix area is still seeing appreciation in real estate.

For further information about real estate in Maricopa County, Arizona please visit http://www.maricoparealestate.net/

If you are looking to buy property abroad try Property Index, specialists in overseas property.

Even though the Property Index is only a fairly young syndicate, starting their business only in March of 2007, they were very quick to prove their mettle. They’re a rather unceremonious syndicate fully concentrated on guiding anyone who is contemplating to buy real estate assets across the globe. What they affirm is to lend you a hand to uncover precisely what’s required quick and, further, in a trouble-free manner. Property is being offered everwhere presently, one of the really elite areas being realty you can purchase in Spain. It should really be easy as falling off a log to list some of the ripping realty for sale in Spain, one argument for opting for real property here being estate on the market and the possibility to live amongst this optimistic and high-spirited people.

It is one of the truly trendy countries presently, and with the overall attractiveness and sunshine that surrounds you all the time, how could you ever be wrong? Property in Spain is very rich in history and culture, this realm of the world has been and is still home to quite a few cultures. About one generation ago you would find merely a dribble of Britons in search of realty in Spain. Ask any one person who has relocated to Spain and they’ll back it up. There are those who would are wont to call it a temporary fad and others are wont to call it a that’s nearly an obsession. Patrons who are keen on moving to this region may range from young families looking for a bit of a new life perspective to the older generation planning on relaxation and enjoyment.

Bear in mind, though, that you are liable to encounter some obstructions when attempting to buy realty in a foreign country — you’ll have to cope with dozens of differentiated, rather complex, actions whether organising, visiting or signing up. If you miss out on just a single minor step that could generate dramatic obstructions as well as, preeminently, financial loss. Obviously and expectably with this well-liked place, realty may well be very high priced in this destination and this, of course, is unquestionably owing to the increasing demand. However, the homebuyer is spoilt in terms of choice in an area so full of shining surroundings. Actually it’s able to offer the lot you could ever fancy, and plenty more.

Selling your home yourself can save you thousands of dollars in commissions. However, that doesn’t mean you should necessarily do it for the following reasons:

Just Suffered A Major Trauma

People who have just gone through an event which changed their lives in a negative way are also apt to benefit from working with an agent instead of selling their homes as FSBOs. You aren’t likely to be your usual calm, clear thinking self if your husband or wife just died, for example. The same thing is probably true for people who are selling and moving because they have been diagnosed with a life threatening or debilitating disease. Divorce also makes it hard to function as well as normal for a period of time. Anything which really rocks your world in an unhappy way just before putting your home on the market is an indication that hiring a good agent is probably a positive move for you to make.

You Need Someone to Blame

Some people are very independent. They weigh the pros and cons and make decisions quickly and easily. Occasionally something goes wrong. They just chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

At the other end of the spectrum are folks who agonize over decisions, cannot stand to make a mistake, and must have someone to blame if something goes wrong. With my apologies to real estate professionals, these people will probably be better off working with an agent. An experienced agent can’t always stave off problems, but she (or he) has probably solved similar problems and is likely to be able to help you solve yours.

If either of these situations describe you or your situation, going FSBO is probably not for you.

Why alternative housing? To save money, to travel, to live creatively - there are many reasons why people choose to live in tents, RVs, cabins, underground homes, rental rooms and anything else that’s less common than the houses, condos and apartments that most people call home. Below are some of these housing options, and their advantages.

Alternative Housing That Moves

Camping at a hot springs area, we sat around the campfire one night with several young men living in the desert in their old converted school bus. It cost them nothing to park it in the desert (on BLM land you have to move every two weeks, though), bathed for free in hot spring tubs that were as nice as those in nearby expensive resorts, and played guitar around the fire each night. Not such a bad life.

In Arizona there are whole communities that spring up each winter, full of people living in their RVs. Advantages of RV housing are obvious, and include moving with the seasons, trying out different places, and not paying property taxes. I’ve talked to people living in Rvs that cost $200,000 and ones that cost $600, so the selection of accommodations is varied, to say the least.

My wife and I lived for almost a month in our conversion van as we traveled from Arizona to Florida and then to Michigan. Advantages of a van include better mileage than an RV, and being inconspicuous. We found that could park and sleep almost anywhere.

Other Alternative Housing

In most areas where rents are high, renting rooms has become common. This makes sense for single people. Just pay a set amount each month or week, and (if it includes utilities) you have a predictable and lower cost of living. I rented out rooms in my own home for years, and even put carpet and lighting in a shed so I could get $50 per week for it in summer.

A friend of mine lived in a shack he built for $3,000 on a small piece of land he bought for $7,000. Eventually he ran into problems with the county because he had no occupancy permit. Apparently you can’t live on your own land in the woods if your home is too small. However, you can camp on it, so a $2,000 used RV parked on your land makes for a cheap and legal housing alternative.

Some people live on houseboats and avoid paying property taxes. Some live in the jungle near the beaches in Hawaii, so they can afford to be in paradise. I know people who lived in a basement while slowly building the house above for cash. People live in cabins built in the national forest wilderness, moving every few years as they are discovered. Truly, your imagination is the only limit to your alternative housing options.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Doing your homework and shopping from a variety of mortgage lenders and brokers will save you thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage. Here is a basic primer of mortgages and mortgage terminology.

A mortgage is basically a loan secured by your home. The lender charges you interest at a specified rate for use of their money. This interest rate can be fixed at a certain percentage for the duration of the loan, or it can be an adjustable interest rate. if you choose a loan with an adjustable interest rate your lender will periodically change the amount of interest rate it charges you at regular specified intervals. The interest rate you will be charged will be tied to some index, such as the prime interest rate for example, plus a premium amount charged by your lender.

The term of your mortgage is the duration the lender grants you to pay back the loan. Common term lengths are 5 years, 15 years, and 30 years. The longer the term length you select for your mortgage, the lower your monthly payments will be; however, you will pay a higher interest rate for longer terms than you would for shorter term lengths.

There are steps you need to take before shopping for a mortgage loan. You should make sure your credit is in order and take steps to protect your credit while shopping for a mortgage. A free mortgage guide can show you how to do this and could save you thousands of dollars.

You will also be able to avoid common mistakes many homeowners make while going through the mortgage process.

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Louie Latour has twenty years of experience in the mortgage industry as a mortgage broker.

He is the owner of Mortgages Refinance Advisor, a mortgage help site devoted to saving homeowners money with a free guidebook HREF="http://www.refiadvisor.com" rel="nofollow">Mortgage Refinance: What You Need to Know.

Sign up for your free guide today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Have your home’s appreciation grow twice as fast.

For Seniors over the age of 62 a Reverse Mortgage is a tool that, while new to many, is increasingly being used to maximize their retirement income. A Reverse Mortgage frees up large amounts of equity to be used in investment vehicles, insurance policies, and savings plans that add to the safety and enjoyment of many seniors’ lives.

When a Reverse Mortgage is employed, it allows you to keep earning appreciation on the home, while also earning growth on the equity. Equity normally has no growth. Example: Two people A and B buy the same home for $200,000. Person A puts a down payment for $200,000 while Person B puts down $10,000 and invests the difference. In 5 years both homes are worth $250,000. Person A’s equity experienced no growth while Person B invested the $190,000 not locked in the home and enjoyed 2 times the growth of Person A.

Reverse Mortgages are a very safe way for seniors to release the equity trapped in their homes. A Reverse Mortgage is a Federally regulated and insured loan that uses home value and age as a calculator to extract a portion of the equity that Seniors have built in their homes. A good way to estimate the amount that can be received is to subtract the amount of purchase price and current mortgage from the estimated sale value. This is the equity that can be reasonably expected to be obtained with a Reverse Mortgage. Reverse Mortgage Nation provides a free online calculator.

The differences between a Reverse Mortgage and a standard equity loan are that the Reverse Mortgage NEVER requires the Senior to make a monthly payment. For as long as the applicant lives in the home, there are no payments required. All of the money that is generated with a Reverse Mortgage is 100% tax-free and will not affect any social security or Medicare benefits.

One generally overlook strategy in doing a Reverse Mortgage is managing the interest growth. The home is the only tax-beneficial financial investments in existence. If you earn a large return on a bond or in the stock market, you will experience taxes based on the size of your return. With a Reverse Mortgage, you pay zero tax for any money generated, and because Reverse Mortgages have no-prepayment-penalty, you can receive these funds tax-free, pay off the accrued interest for the year, then take additional tax-deductions on the interest that is accruing. All this with no risk of default or foreclosure because there are never any payments required.

Troy Shellhammer is a Reverse Mortgage Loan Officer with Reverse Mortgage Nation (NGFS, a division of 1st Mariner Bank). He can provide illustrations and examples of these strategies for yourself, a friend, a client, or an elder parent.

Contact details:
troyshellhammer@reversemortgagenation.com
1.888.973.8377
http://www.reversemortgagenation.com