Search results

I think they know that the price of gas and food is acting as a brake on the economy. People are curtailing their spending. Also think that with the housing market sputtering, they'd rather err on the side of a faster economy because they can always kill the economy if they want to, but it...

How about this little snippet? Reality Trac's numbers are crap and they are in the business of selling foreclosures... http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=85462 Colorado's top housing officials this week released a report disputing RealtyTrac's Colorado statistics, saying the company's...

Check this out too; http://www.cnbc.com/id/19206921

Does anyone know how the current foreclosure rate compares to the historical rate, rather than the end of a boom? http://www.cnbc.com/id/19190681/site/14081545/

I had an idea of trying to figure out what the true inflation rate is by figuring out some goods that I'd actually buy and tracking that. Like, every week: 10 gallons of gas 1 gallon of milk 1 loaf of bread 1.2 of 1% of the price of a new computer 25% of the average monthly rent or...

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p925/ar02.html#d0e252

Thanks for the information. I researched it. In a way, we are both right. As you correctly stated, even losses stemming from active participation in a real estate venture (i.e., Joe Schmo Landlord) is considered under the non-passive income/loss provisions. However, I found this little...

Huh? Can you expound on this? Sounds like you're saying that if my expenses on a unit are $10,000 a year, and the depreciation is $3,000 a year, then I can only take the depreciation if my revenue (rents collected) are at least $13,001 a year. That doesn't sound right since depreciation is a...

You are allowed to depreciate the value of the building (but not the land) over a period of 27.5 years by straight line depreciation on houses, townhouses, etc. I don't think that Condos are different (but check and see). So for a simple-numbers hypothetical case, suppose you wanted to buy...

Yes. Property taxes, interest, and about 3.63% of the value of the structure every year. The tax advantage is really good. SM

Love that story. And to complicate matters, the more she helps her roommate, the more her roommate can slack off. Eventually, the roommate will expect those extra GPA points to come rolling in. Perhaps one day, she'll have children and the kids who have seen those GPA points roll in time and...

Who says they are mutually exclusive? I'd rather be a rich man with integrity who gives my successors opportunities that I never had....wealth that will endure for generations as the middle class slowly erodes away... SM

Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Ok, the guy is very pro-real estate. Forget about that, if you like. But the underlying philosophy that you'll never get rich working for someone else is totally correct. Yeah...someone will probably say that it depends on how you define "rich" and that some Doctors...

I think its simple economics. When the economy is sucking wind, people buy more hotdogs than steaks. When the economy improves, people buy more steaks. In my neck of the woods, things seem to be perking up a little economically...people hiring again and whatnot. They've been bunkering down...

Be sure and also look at whether the house PAYMENTS will increase or decrease. If the house prices go down a little, but interest rates go up a bunch, you could be looking at higher payments. Do a sensitivity analysis. SM

I agree. If you're a day trader, it shouldn't matter. If you work too, well...I've been offered more $$$ to move to big cities but I won't do it...doesn't seem to compensate me for the commute. I guess it really boils down to how much you "need" a big city, and its attractions. I prefer a...

Yes. If you move a lot, the numbers don't make sense because you can't recoup your closing costs. But as for the commute, you can look at condos. Nobody says you can't own a place in the city. SM

Well, this is a thread on owning vs. renting a house and its in the economics section. It isn't about real estate investing, except on a personal level. And last time I checked, the accumulation of wealth comes from the difference between what you make and what you spend. Most know that...

Well, that Smart Money doesn't understand leverage. This one does. I know that a 5% down payment leveraged at 1 to 20 will give a return of 80%. While I understand that renting is cheaper and you can invest the difference, I also know that rents will increase about 4% a year, whereas payments...

Some might laugh at my use of the word "perfecting", but I think that in the 70's and 80's they were still perfecting the tools needed to regulate the economy. Just like we figured out how to put people on the moon, I think we figured out a lot about how to regulate our economy. Rates spiked...