Jan

10

Links: You’re fired!

Filed Under personal finance, real estate | Leave a Comment

If you’re a loyal reader, you’ve noticed that I post “Links: yada yada yada” more frequently. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I’m a huge NY Jets fan and I visit thejetsblog.com quite a bit. Rather than disseminating all the information contained in each article, Bassett (the main blogger on the Jets Blog) would just post a list of links to various articles. I found it to be very effective and if the one sentence summary made the link either click worthy or not. That being said, here are links to various articles of interest:

  • 25 Rules to Grow Rich by is old (November 2006) by Internet standards but this list includes 5 real estate related rules:
    1. For return on investment, the best home renovation is to upgrade an old bathroom. Kitchens come in second.
    2. It’s worth refinancing your mortgage when you can cut your interest rate by at least one point.
    3. Spend no more than 2½ times your income on a home. For a down payment, it’s best to come up with at least 20%.
    4. Your total housing payments should not exceed 28% of your gross income. Total debt payments should come in under 36%.
    5. Never hire a roofer, driveway paver or chimney sweep who is going door to door.
  • While your at it, CNN Money has another article on how technology especially social networking sites are helping consumers make choices on real estate agents, neighborhoods, and even deciphering what their house is really worth.
  • One of the sites mentioned in the CNN Money article, Homethinking, allows you find and rate real estate agents. One quick glance shows that none of the real estate agents have been rated. Moreover, they allow agents to pay their way to the top of the list via sponsored profiles.
  • Americans are struggling to afford a home. The American dream is getting harder to achieve because buying a home is out of reach. For those of us who grew up near New York City, renting an apartment in the city much less buying a home was always out of reach.
  • Donald Trump has stated that he wants to raise the bar in the lending game. He should start by stop focusing on Rosie and start firing his top mortgage guy.