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 Discover your personality type and what careers are best suited for you
How to hire a good home contractor
Don't hand your home-remodeling project to an unreliable or dishonest contractor. Here are 6 things to look for.
Increasing your property value often entails remodeling. Whether you have a fixer-upper or a great house that you plan to stay in indefinitely, you'll probably hire a contractor sooner or later to finish the basement, remodel the kitchen, or renovate other rooms.
Decisions on home improvement should be made in a judicious manner. If you want to recoup your investment, choose projects that are likely to add value to your home, such as a new kitchen or an extra bathroom.
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Top Online School Matching Service
Have home prices bottomed out?
The latest housing data indicate home prices may be stabilizing, although butterflies over the economy could keep many potential homebuyers on the sidelines.
By MarketWatch
Home prices are closer to stabilizing today than at any time in the past nine years.
Based on the latest data, median selling prices for new and existing homes combined now equal 2.9 times median household incomes, nationwide. This is exactly the ratio that prevailed during the halcyon days of the 1980s, when sales and construction of housing were booming.
Three years ago, just before the housing bubble burst, this ratio was 4.5 times incomes.
Add in the fact that interest rates are much lower today than they were two decades ago and housing is even more affordable.
read more...
10 tips on staging your home to sell
It doesn't take long for a prospective buyer to form an opinion about your house. Here's how you can tilt the odds in your favor by making your home appeal to the widest clientele possible.
Christopher Solomon, MSN Real Estate
Prospective home buyers form an opinion about the home you're selling in 15 seconds, by one estimate.
And the clock starts ticking at the curb -- even before the home buyers get in the house. So how do you tilt the playing field in your favor? Increasingly, it's by staging your home.
Generally speaking, staging means making your home as appealing as possible, as quickly as possible, to the broadest clientele you can.
There are techniques to pulling this off -- some of them obvious, and some not so apparent. We polled the experts to get some of their top tips.
Staging as un-decorating
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Many Mortgage Delinquents Still Unaware There Is Help
mortgagenewsdaily.com
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Freddie Mac has found that homeowners are becoming increasingly aware that there may be help out there should they run into problems paying their mortgage loans but there is still a long way to go in spreading the word...
The survey was conducted after the HOPE hotline was established but before the rate freeze was announced by President Bush in December. Still, even before the recent flurry of media stories about 888-995-HOPE, word was out there. According to the survey, nearly one in four delinquent borrowers (23 percent) report seeing ads for the hotline and 9 percent who were aware of it had actually made the call. The sponsor, Homeownership Preservation Foundation., says the toll-free number now receives between 1500 and 3000 calls per day, up from 250 per day one year ago. More than 200,000 homeowners have called the hotline since June 25 of last year.
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Mortgage information, government home ownership programs, moving information, real estate advice and resources.
FIND A CHEAP HOME
HOPE NOW
The HOPE NOW Alliance includes a number of counseling organizations, which
consists of all HUD intermediaries that have offices across the United States.
An independent, non profit counselor can help you understand your situation,
identify your options and help you work with your servicer to hopefully find an
alternative to foreclosure.
To find a free of chard HUD certified counseling agency in your area visit HUD
and click on your state under “local information".
read more...
Community Action Set Aside (CASA) Minneapolis, MN
State First Time Home Buyer Program in Minneapolis, MN
If you are a single head of household and make less than $61,000 a year.
You may qualify for one or more of the following....
• A fixed low interest rate below market rates.
• $3000 down payment assistance.
• $60 a month payment assistance.
• $10,000 equity assistance.
• Lastly they offer a fixed low interest rate.
Elizabeth Reynolds
Cell: 612-251-3371, Fax: 952-546-0359
The Worst of Times Can Produce Your Best of Times
by Valarie Eiland Davis
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It’s trite but true to say that bad experiences can bring out the best in us. Bad grades can make students work harder. Bad work performance reviews can make us work smarter. Bad relationships can teach us how to be better family members and friends. Bad meals might even make us better cooks. Well, the bad economic times we are living through right now can either bring out the worst in us or make us think thoughts and take actions that will eventually produce some of the best times we could ever have. It’s your choice!
I love the fact that bad times make us scrutinize our money matters with a magnifying glass – from how we spend our pennies, nickels and dimes, to whether it’s the right time to buy or sell our homes.
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American Dream
by Nancy Perry
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Buying a home has been part of the American Dream for many decades. Who doesn’t want the white picket fence and a safe place for our children to play? So, what’s stopping you? Ahhhh, that ol’ problem? Money. It is true that depending on what part of the country you live in, you will either need a $1,000 or tens of thousands of dollars to start out. But before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s discover why owning a home is such a smart move. When I purchased my first house I was 38 years old. I’d wanted to buy a house since my daughter was born 10 years previously, but didn’t think I could. At the time I would occasionally go into Open Houses and talk with Realtors, who often said things like, “You know, you probably can qualify for a home, I have a lender who can help you.”
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Cheap is good - but FREE is better! Join FreeFly's and get FREE samples of name-brand products!
How to Attain your Dreams on a Single Income
by Kelly Kennedy
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If you recently became a single parent and see your dreams being washed away because you feel all alone, you aren’t alone. There are single parents that face future endeavors alone like dating again, living on one income, and buying the home they’ve always imagined. It is possible to do things on your own, be successful, and enjoy every bit of getting to where you want to be in life.
Being a single parent can be an everyday struggle but don’t feel you have to give up your goals in life just because you are on your own. At some point in life, people think about moving whether it is into an apartment, condo, or type of house.
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read more...
Mortgages: States help for home buyers
by Michael D. Larson, BankRate.com
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If you're looking for a mortgage, the best place to start might be your state capital rather than the local mortgage broker's office.
That's because little-known outfits called housing finance agencies can often be found near governors' mansions. These quasi-independent agencies offer special loan programs to low- and moderate-income home buyers, buyers interested in helping to rehabilitate urban areas and a host of other groups. For borrowers, their mortgages can slash ownership costs considerably because they feature below-market interest rates, closing-cost discounts and other benefits that conventional loans simply can't match.
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The 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Real Estate Deal
by David Finkel
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TIPS
Mistake #1
They take TOO Long. Good deals don’t wait around for indecisive people. Many people “think a deal to death.” One way to lower your anxiety level with a deal is to move forward provisionally (i.e. with a clause of some sort.)
Mistake #2
They trust the seller’s numbers. Even if there are only good intentions, most sellers just aren’t knowledgeable, and they are inherently a bit biased.
Mistake #3
They trust appraisals. An appraisal really isn’t meaningful, unless YOU hired the appraiser, and YOU gave the instructions, and YOU are handing the appraiser the check.
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Realtor.Com
A comprehensive database of homes for sale. Also find house price estimating
tools, local mortgage rates, information about neighborhoods, and numerous
guides: Real Estate 101, Buyers Guide, Sellers Guide.
read more...
RealEstate.Com
RealEstate.com is the place to begin the search for real estate, whether looking
to buy or sell a home or property.
read more...
For Sale
By Owner
ForSaleByOwner.com is the nation’s leading for sale by owner website. Since
1999, ForSaleByOwner.com has saved home sellers more than one billion dollars by
providing premium Internet marketing services, real estate guidance and
information, downloadable legal forms, as well as live customer support, to help
customers independently sell their own homes.
The company offers a wide range of advertising and real estate resources,
modestly priced from $89 to $899.
read more...
Online Education Advantages: Explore the online experience with us in a real online classroom. Hear from former students and experts about online education. Learn the value of a distance learning degree.
Buy Owner
Since 1984, long before the internet boom, Buy Owner has been helping buyers and
sellers of real estate save thousands of dollars in real estate commissions.
Establishing itself as the original for sale by owner company, Buy Owner grew
and expanded its expertise to the Internet, becoming the first “by owner”
company to provide magazine quality text and pictures to a real estate web site.
As the Internet market expanded so did Buy Owner by offering virtual tours with
almost every listing online.
read more...
BankRate.com
BankRate is the Web's leading aggregator of financial rate information. Its data
research offering is unique in its depth and breadth. BankRate continually
surveys approximately 4,800 financial institutions in all 50 states in order to
provide clear, objective, and unbiased rates to consumers.
Bankrate.com provides free rate information to consumers on more than 300
financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used automobile
loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees,
home equity loans and online banking fees.
read more...
Fast, Free and Easy Health Quotes
Zillow
Real Estate Guide, Search Estimated Values of over 80,000,000 Homes by Address.
See satellite views of a home from all directions. Find homes for sale, home
recently sold, and MakeMeMove by Owner.
read more...
Google
Maps
Find a location by address, or by business. Get and print directions.
Try Street View: street-level imagery is available for about 1,500 U.S. cities.
Try Traffic view, which give real time traffic information for most of the U.S.
cities.
read more...
Valuable property information can be obtained from the county’s Appraisal
District. Most counties have searchable online databases with the county’s
properties. Valuable property information can be obtained from the county’s
Appraisal District. Search the Internet for your county’s Appraisal District
site.
Simple tips can help moves go smoothly
by Bank of America
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Moms suddenly finding themselves moving across town or across the country can make the change easier with a little bit of planning. More than 20 million American households, or at least 16 percent of the population, move every year. Taking a little time to prepare can go a long way to helping the process.
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read more...
Moving 101
Seven critical but easy-to-follow tips: Deciding when to move, deciding what to take, packing it all up, choosing a moving company, utility transfer and address changes, important papers, relocating with children.
To find a free of chard HUD certified counseling agency in your area visit HUD
and click on your state under “local information".
read more...
The listing of or omission of an institution, organization or corporation on this Web site does not refer to programmatic capability nor does it confer any official status, approval, or endorsement of the institution, organization or corporation itself. This listing does not purport to be a listing of all organizations & corporations that are providing relief in the affected area. Additionally, there may be organizations providing relief in the affected area that are not accepting donations at this time. It is not the purpose of this Web site to make, or enable to be made, any representation to the public concerning the organizations listed. This listing is for informational purposes only. Any contributions or submissions you choose to make from links on this Web site are at your sole discretion.
• Join the SingleMom.com forums. Share your tips, resources and experience with other single moms
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9 Cash-Saving Tips That Pay Big Bucks
complaintsboard.com
The expression "a penny saved is a penny earned" doesn't cut it these days. But saving a few dollars here and there can add up...
read
more...
Try out these Thanksgiving recipes from tasteofhome
You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options
How Life Works
If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.
read more...
Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis
OPRAH.com
Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you
devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...
read more...
Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study
followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of
obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
read
more...
The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip
By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman
... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it
surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.
read
more...
Finding last-minute tuition money
There's still time to find funds for this semester's college tuition. But you'll have to move quickly.
By Gerri Willis
It's only a couple of weeks or even days until school begins. And if you don't think you'll be able to get a handle on your college
tuition bill, here with your guide to last minute money.
read more...
Short-term Payday Loans
econ4u.org
...Which are more expensive, late fees or short-term loans?...
A short-term payday loan can be a better option than overdraft fees, reconnect fees, late payment fees or a damaged credit rating when
the loan is repaid promptly. However, these loans are not suited for longer repayment periods...
Being realistic about budgeting can help avoid the need for short-term borrowing.
read more...
Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan
by RealSimple
Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do
you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with
the extra set of keys to your house?
read
more...
How to save $10,000 in 2009
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry. The reality is that
$10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as:
Housing, Transportation, Food.
read
more...
The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget
by Renee Rayles
A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has
little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and
then.
32 and Counting? Finding Your Happily Ever After Today
by Gi Gi
The author talks about the struggles a single mom goes through and the discovery that you can have HEAT (Happily Ever After Today) just
as you are, being single, taking care of your kids...
read more...
Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors
Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They
nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another
equally-invested adult.
read more...
Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity
20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.
read more...
TheOnlineMom.com offers parents and consumers a guide to the top-rated, age-appropriate, kid-tested and parent-approved tech toys and gifts.
read more...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...
read more...
10 ways to avoid moving scams
Horror stories about sketchy moving companies abound. Don't let one take you for a ride. Here's expert advice to help.
by Fred Minnick, Bankrate.com
You've heard the stories. Movers load up your stuff one day and hold it hostage the next, demanding more money and threatening to dump your precious treasures if you don't pay.
You believe you've agreed upon a price, only to find out it's going to cost you a lot more than that.
...some of these outfits give the impression that "you are dealing with a moving company, but you're really dealing with an online broker who passes the job off to some local moving company in some region for a commission. So you're not even dealing with the end user. You have no control over who ends up in your home."
read more...
18 easy ways to save on your move
Many people overlook obvious ways to lower the cost of schlepping stuff to a new place, but you can save hundreds of dollars.
by Christopher Solomon
If you're among the millions of people pulling up stakes this year and resettling in a new home, getting your goods to a new location means digging deep into your wallet, right? Not so fast.
Moving can be expensive ... steps that can save them hundreds or even thousands of dollars, moving experts say.
We've done some of the, ahem, heavy lifting for you already, by assembling these 18 tips:
read more...
Get Matched to an Online School
2008 MSN Real Estate best bargain markets
Why live in an expensive city when there are some great, affordable treasures out there? Here's MSN Real Estate's list of the nine best, livable cities where you won't need to trade the good life for the boring.
by Melinda Fulmer
Minimalism is the cutting edge now. My decorator calls it Dorm Chic. Wait, you'll see, everyone will have this look in a year or two. And then maybe I'll go out and get myself some overstuffed chairs." ...
read more
Your 5-minute guide to home buying
Home shopping is a high-stakes, stressful venture. Here are 24 tips to help you through the biggest purchase of your life.
Seriously consider this question: Are you really ready to buy a home?
It's an expensive, long-term commitment. If you change jobs or the neighborhood declines, you can't quickly get up and go. Selling a house can take months and cost lots -- likely 10% of a home's value -- in agent fees, closing costs and moving expenses.
read more...
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