Links: Seniors moving to yuppieville and Denver home prices tumble

According to the Denver Post, home prices in the area have taken a tumble:

Other articles of interest include:

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Personal Finance Blogs

Personal Finance Blogs are infiltrating the blogosphere at an alarming . When you find one personal finance blog, you’re bound to find links to countless others. One one hand there’s something remarkable about a personal willing to disclose their financial profile on the internet. On the other hand, it’s the internet, so the personal finance bloggers can’t disclose their identities.

As a whole Americans are atrocious when it comes to saving money. These personal finance blogs give you insight on how the Americans that are saving actually do it. Moreover, it’s neat to see the analytical approach they take when it comes to their finances.

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Lets go fry a turkey

turkey_fryer_grand_slam.jpgFrying a turkey has always intrigued me. The people who fry their turkey every year for Thanksgiving swear by them. They say the turkey is juicier and it takes less time to cook. There is the down side that turkey fryers can cause a fire.

This Thanksgiving I got a wild hair and decided to give turkey frying a go. I did some research and found a relatively inexpensive ($60) fryer at Sears. The fryer is made of three components, a base, a connection to propane, and a 30 quart aluminum pot. Moreover, the fryer is made by a company, Masterbuilt, that’s fairly reputable and the was welded together so it seemed fairly stable. I picked up the requisite peanut oil and marinades at the grocery store.

I got off to a late start (3 PM) putting the turkey fryer together. After putting the fryer together, I realized that the propane tank was empty. Off to the gas station I went to get propane. When I returned I realized that there was still a lot to do. It was now 4 PM and the sun was going down fast. I put the oil in the 30 quart pot and started lit the fire. I thought the fire was full bore but halfway through I realized it was only at 50% fire power. It took almost an hour for the oil to hit 350 degrees.

Once the oil was hot enough I finally put the 13 pound turkey into the container and lowered the container into the pot very slowly. The last thing I wanted was a massive fire. The instruction manual says that you should cook the turkey 3 minutes for every pound. I followed the directions and 39 minutes later I pulled out the turkey. One problem. The internal temperature of the turkey measured a paltry 150 degrees. It needs to be 180 degrees for it to be considered cooked. Other than sushi I hate undercooked meat and I’m not a huge fan of beef so I don’t dig rare steaks. I threw the turkey back in the fryer for 10 minutes. When I removed the turkey the second time, it was 168 degrees internally. After 15 minutes of standing time and the internal temperature of the turkey was 177 degrees.

After carving up the turkey, I now know why people fry their turkeys. It’s definitely juicy. It’s definitely flavorful. It’s definitely something I’d do again and I definitely recommend that everyone give it a go.

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Good reasons to refinance

Refinances usually fall under two categories, /term and cash out:

Rate/Term: You’re reducing the interest , the term (length of your ) or both. This was by far the number one reason to .

Cash Out: The next biggest reason to is because people wanted to get cash at closing to pay for something.

There are countless other reasons to refinance. Below are other “good reasons to ” provided in the comments section when potential borrowers filled out my loan request form. They don’t quite fit into the /term or cash out categories.

Getting divorced, not getting the house. Don’t want to pay for it either.

Need to get out of current loan before rates go up or before I go broke whichever happens first.

I don’t want to pay my to this crappy company anymore.

My husband doesn’t think we need to , can you call him and convince him that we need to.

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Weekend Highlights: Altus again in the news

Here’s the latest from this past weekend:

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Links: Southeast Denver Lightrail

Here’s the latest on what’s going on in :

  • TREX is unleashed. ’s mass transit system through Southeast Denver Corridor is launched today.
  • The Post reports that tax liens are being gobbled up at an unprecedented pace.
  • Foreclosure is still a hot topic in .
  • When finding a home improvement contractor, I prefer word of mouth. A href=”http://denver.bizjournals.com//stories/2006/11/13/smallb1.html”>new site is launched to help those that prefer to find the home improvement contractor online.
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Top Five Fridays - James Bond Movies

Casino Royale will opening in movie theaters across the country today. This latest James Bond movie features a virtual unknown, Daniel Craig, as 007. Regardless of who plays James Bond, Ian Fleming, captured our imagination a long time ago with the fictional English super spy. Here are my top five James Bond movies:

007

  1. Gold Finger: “Do you expect me to talk?” “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!” Unraveling Auric Goldfinger’s plot to rob Fort Knox is Bond’s mission.
  2. From Russia With Love: Retrieving the lektor (an encryption device that looks like an Atari 2600) is the basis for this movie. Bond again faces his nemesis, an evil organization called SPECTRE.
  3. Thunderball: The fourth Bond movie and billed as the biggest. Nuclear bombs, underwater escapades, and Tom Jones sings the opening song.
  4. For Your Eyes Only: While I’ve never been a fan of Roger Moore as James Bond, this one was by far his best. I still plan on visiting Greece one day because of this movie.
  5. You Only Live Twice: Bond is off to Japan to stop nuclear war. We’re introduced to Blofeld as the diabolical leader of SPECTRE.
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Mr. and Mrs. Too Much Home Buyer

This video says it all…

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Why you need Title Insurance

I’ve queried several friends, colleagues, and people in my sphere if they’ve ever filed a title insurance claim. No one ever did. Yet everyone pays for title insurance when they buy or a home. Not satisfied with the result of my informal query, I asked a probate attorney I knew and he said that title insurance is not evil and indeed very necessary.

According to wikipedia:

Title insurance is insurance against loss from defects in title to real and from the invalidity or unenforceability of liens. It is available in many countries but it is principally a product developed and sold in the United States. It is meant to protect an owner’s or lender’s financial interest in real against loss due to title defects, liens or other matters. It will defend against a lawsuit attacking the title as it is insured, or reimburse the insured for the actual monetary loss incurred, up to the dollar amount of insurance provided by the policy.

Here are those title defects:

  • Forged deeds, releases, or wills
  • False impersonation of the true owner of the
  • Undisclosed or missing heirs
  • Instruments executed under invalid or expired powers of attorney
  • Misinterpretations of wills, or discovery of a later will after probate of first will
  • Deeds by minors, by persons of unsound mind, or by persons supposedly single but in fact married
  • Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income, or gift taxes
  • Mistakes in recording of legal documents, or deeds recorded but improperly indexed and therefore not found through a title search
  • Disputed release of prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding or ineffective release of prior , as
    fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title
  • Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as a sole heir of a deceased former spouse
  • Deed to or from a “corporation” before incorporation or after loss of corporate charter
  • Claims resulting from the use of “alias” or fictitious names by a predecessor in title

For more on why you need title insurance, check out this bulletin by Land Title.

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The Feds explain high risk mortgages

Back in September, the Feds came out with a press release entitled: Federal financial regulatory agencies issue final guidance on nontraditional mortgage product risks–September 29, 2006. The purpose of this press release was to address the problems our nation has been having with high risk mortgages.

These products, referred to variously as “nontraditional,” “alternative,” or “exotic” mortgage loans (referred to below as nontraditional loans), include “interest-only” mortgages and “payment option” adjustable- mortgages. These products allow borrowers to exchange lower payments during an initial period for higher payments later.

These loans often carry the following layers of risk:

  • Interest Only

    • : Interest only payments do not require principal reduction therefore your loan balance stays the same.

  • Adjustment of

    • : When adjustable mortgages begin their adjustment phase, your loan payments may increase.

  • Negative Amortization

    • : When you only make the minimum payment your principal balance increases every month.

  • Prepayment penalties

    • : If you decide to or sell your home before the penalty expires, you may face severe monetary penalties.

For more on the Feds effort to explain high risk mortgages, check out these addendum’s which explain:

  1. Risks of Non Traditional Mortgages
  2. Key Facts About Interest Only and Payment Option Mortgages

Phil’s take: I take pride in understanding these “high risk” mortgages inside and out. However, it took time to really understand all the nuances. On the other hand, a borrower has a month, maybe less, to really understand what they’re getting themselves into. The above documents are a good start but it won’t deter companies from coming up with even more complex loan programs in the future.

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