Archive for November, 2011

Real Estate News by the Numbers: Week of November 19 – November 25

A quick rundown of the important real estate news from the week of November 19 – November 25, by the numbers:

4.97 Million Existing homes sold in October on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. The number of sales is in October up 70,000 from September.

3.3 Million Number of homes listed in October on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. The number of listings in October is a two percent drop from September and represents a 8.0 month supply of homes.

45 Months Amount of time it will take to clear the nations shadow inventory according to S&P. Its an improvement from 3 months ago, when the supply was at 47 months.

28% Amount of home sales that were either foreclosures or short sales in October. The number is a 30% drop from September.

11.2% Drop in home mortgage applications in a two weeks span. Applications dropped 1.2% in the week ending November 18 and 10% the week before. The index of refinancing applications fell 4.0 percent and the refinance share of total mortgage activity dropped to 75.9 percent of applications from 77.3 percent. It


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Black Friday Shopping Tips: How To Get The Best Deals On The Things On Your List

If youre anything like thousands of other people out there, youve been saving up your hard earned cash for months now in anticipation of finding a great deal on that special item on the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday.   Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the day that traditionally retailers books will go into the black for the year, and when they start making a profit.   If the day turns out anything like years past, it will be a day of deep discounts, mobs of people trying not to be trampled and quite a few disappointed people who just barely missed out on the amazing deal on the 50 3D plasma TV.

So how do you make sure that youre not one of the people missing out?  You need to plan your day with military precision, detailing your battle plan down to the smallest detail.

So what do you need to do in order to have a successful shopping trip on Black Friday?  Heres what I do before I even go to  wait in line for the door-buster deals in the wee early hours of the morning.

  • Figure out what you want to buy in advance.  Make a prioritized list:   Dont go out and buy things you dont need just because theyre a great deal.  But if your old 20 tube TV just died on you and youve been shopping for a new one, this may be a good time to buy.   Make a list of the things you want or need, and put them in the order that you need or want them.  Dont buy on impulse.
  • Set a spending threshold and dont go over it:  It can be tempting with all of the amazing deals on Black Friday to buy all sorts of things you dont need or didnt realize you needed until you got to the store.
  • Save up cash for the items youre buying: Because buying things is that much sweeter when you pay in cash!
  • Check for Black Friday deals in advance: Often stores will sell certain items at the discounted Black Friday prices in advance of the actual day.  For example, one laptop I was considering buying was at the Black Friday price online, a week in advance.
  • Visit the stores in advance so you know where the items are:  At some stores on Black Friday theyll just open the doors and there will be a mad rush for the most popular doorbuster items.  If you visit the store a day or two before the sale youll know just where you need to go to find the item youre looking for.
  • Coordinate a battle plan with a friend:  If you are looking for more than one item,  you may need to find a battle buddy, someone who is willing to wait in line with you and make a b-line for item number 2 on your list before it disappears.  If the other deal you want is at another store, they may have to to go that store for you.  Buy them lunch to thank them for the help!
  • Figure out if youll need a voucher/ticket to get a deal:  At many stores you have to arrive super early in order to get a voucher to take advantage of the hottest deals.  For example at a Micro Center I went to on Black Friday a few years back, only the first people in line got tickets to buy a deeply discounted TV.  Find out if this is the case at your store, and if so, make sure to get there early.
  • Dont despair if you miss out.  Some of the best deals dont happen on Black Friday!: If you dont get the deal you had hoped to get on Black Friday, just remember that some of the best deals people get dont even happen on this day.  Case in point -  we bought our 50 plasma TV earlier this year for $580 and not on Black Friday!   I have yet to see a deal that good for the same or a similar TV on Black Friday!

So make your battle plan early if you havent started already, do it today!

One of the most important pieces to having a successful Black Friday shopping trip is doing your research in advance.  You need to scour the all the ads, looking for the best deal on the widget you were hoping to buy.

Some of the best places Ive found to do research for Black Friday include:

  • Fat Wallet Black Friday Forum (my favorite)
  • Black Friday.net
  • Black Friday at GottaDeal
  • blackfridayads.com
  • Black Friday Ads
  • iBlack Friday
  • Black Friday Central
  • Black Friday at Amazon.com

Another cool resource that Ive found for finding the deal on exactly what youre looking for is the Black Friday spreadsheet that someone over at Deals Vista has put together. It has all the deals in one ex


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Tri merge credit report to ensure one’s good credit score

One will often read or hear the term about tri merge credit report when one is going to apply for house building loan. Prior to Bank approve one’s loan; they will first consider one’s free credit scores obtained from three bureaus of credit reporting. This signifies that one’s credit will be verified three times as all three bureaus of credit reporting provide their data separately. There is no relationship between one bureau and another. Their methods of reporting are different and the lender will judge the outcome of the reporting by the three bureaus and consider the average yield. In this way the tri merge credit report is made.

The lender will deny or approve one’s loan requested depending on the outcome of tri merge credit report. If one’s free credit scores are found better, one will obtain the loan as per one’s request or chances are there that one’s application for credit will be rejected. So, if one wants seriously to obtain sanction for one’s loan application, one should obtain one’s free credit scores. One may perform m
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NAB Chief Clyne Receives Whopper Pay Package

Cameron Clyne, chief executive of Australian banking major NAB who controversially passed on just 20 basis points of the 25 basis point cut enacted by the Australian central bank, despite the fact that the lender posted a 19.2 per cent increase in full year net profits on $5.5 billion is in line for a large pay hike.

The lender released its annual report recently which shows the NAB chief received a pay hike of 12 per cent, meaning Mr. Clyne received $8.67 million in compensation during the last financial year.

Mr. Clyne’s total compensation was increased by over $950,000 compared to the previous year, which comprises a base salary worth $2.7 million, and stock worth $3.8 million, and short term cash bonuses worth $2 million.

Mr. Clyne’s contemporaries at ANZ and Westpac have both had their cash bonus components of their compensation packages cut. ANZ chief Mike Smith saw his cash bonus cut by as much as $750,000, whilst Westpac chief Gail Kelly had her short term cash bonus component cut by $460,000. In contrast Mr. Cly


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Can a Credit Card Save you Money?

Credit cards are a very popular financial tool, and they are used by millions of people in the United Kingdom. This suggests that they undoubtedly have their uses, but could changing your credit card or being careful about which one you apply for save you money? Read on to find out more.

If you currently have a credit card then you may well be able to get a better deal by researching what’s available and, if necessary, applying for a different card. For instance, one of the benefits of credit cards such as balance transfer cards is that they can help to limit the amount of money you need to pay back.

As an example, balance transfer cards work like this: say you already have a credit card with some money owing on it, at a rate of 18% interest. If you were then accepted onto a balance transfer card, you could move the balance over to your new card. This would effectively pay off the old card and you’d be able to pay back what you owed on the new card at a rate of 0% interest, essentially minimising what you paid back.

You can sometimes also save money on credit cards by considering an interest free credit card. As
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