The tax man cometh, and it seems like he wants more every year. Fortunately, there is an easy way to pay less taxes this year than you paid last year — file a property tax appeal. According to the National Taxpayers Association, approximately 60% of taxable property in the U.S. is over-assessed. That’s the majority, […]

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State Street Corporation, the country’s largest money manager for institutions, is in hot water with its investors. More than 200 retirement plans have brought suit against the money giant. Bloomberg has reported that the damages are expected to exceed the $625 million originally set aside for that purpose. The Bloomberg story sources place the damages […]

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There was a lot of talk a while back about how the 2005 American personal savings rate fell into negative territory for the first time since the Great Depression. Journalists cried, “We’re spending more than we make!” To make matters worse, the 2006 personal savings rate was also negative.
What is the “personal savings rate,” anyway? […]

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More and more people are paying their credit cards instead of their mortgages. Capital One says that 2/3 of their customers who are 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgages are still current on their credit cards. This is a major paradigm shift. For the first time in American history, consumers are defaulting […]

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I wanted to respond to a recent post by a popular real estate blogger, Shailesh Ghimire. The article is entitled “Blogging Begets Referral Sources,” and Mr. Ghimire is a big fan of blogging. He likes blogging, and he thinks you should blog too. I believe in blogging myself, but I also stand firm that […]

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If you’re reading this blog, you most likely read other blogs and articles on a regular basis. If you’re like me, when you come across something that you want to save for later reference, you probably bookmark it in your browser. Despite my best efforts, my bookmarks had gotten out of control. Something had to […]

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When Todd first announced the Zillow Marketplace, I was ready to give it a go. I’m not usually so quick to change my opinion, but after thinking about it, I believe I’ll pass. At first I planned on giving it a try because I am all for technology. The idea that borrowers can rate me […]

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