This week the Justice Department reached an antitrust settlement with the National Association of Realtors that is meant to spur competition and bring down the standard 6% commissi
At any port you can probably see hundreds to thousands of empty shipping containers just sitting around waiting to be loaded. In recent times these containers have not only transp
Ever met a rich idiot? I’ve known at least two. Not counting my telephone conversation with self-proclaimed Rich Idiot and multimillionaire Robert Shemin (author of “How come TH
I never knew that cities in America could file for bankruptcy until recently a Northern California city named Vallejo made the news for being on the edge of bankruptcy. So how doe
It seems like, every other week, there is some natural disaster threatening people’s homes. Worrying about that sort of thing has lead me to be a little more prepared than I might
The truth is that rents sometimes do not cover the monthly costs of owning the rental home, so how is it that these real estate gurus make their money? A lot of people think that i
You used to hear the term "land rich, cash poor" for people who owned valuable land but didn't have quite enough money to make ends meet. It's an expression that
With dropping home prices, a long term investment in real estate is looking pretty attractive. Whether you want to buy rental property outright, or renting is your plan B when your
I moved to the United States when I was a child from Yangzhou, China. After sixteen years, I could easily pass as an American because I speak English without an accent, and I am w
Are you stuck on the coast paying a big mortgage on a tiny property? Do your kids spend more time with their daycare provider than with you? Do you worry that they've never see
When you sign for your mortgage, you are offered mortgage life insurance as part of the deal, with liability forms to sign if you decline it. Which is better - mortgage life insura
My goal has always been to work for ten years and then have enough financial freedom to do whatever I want to do. Whenever I tell people this they seem to be rather incredulous an
Since I got married people have been constantly asking me two questions. One is, "are you pregnant yet?", and the other is "are you going to buy a house?" One
The Federal Reserve just cut the interest rate by 0.75% between two official meetings! This is the largest cut since 1982 and it was like an adrenaline shot to the sagging stock ma
Have you seen homes in your neighborhood sell for unreasonable prices and quickly end up in foreclosure? If this is a common occurence then perhaps there is a ring of thieves commi
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave a speech yesterday, talking about the administration's plan to "address the challenges" of the housing market downturn and relat
Because homeowners are also voters, and because the subprime lending crisis threatens the whole economy, the federal government is trying to come up with ways to head off a massive
A reverse mortgage allows a senior citizen homeowner to access the equity in their home without having to sell their house or otherwise uproot themselves unwillingly.
A tip from Eric Fedewa sparked a discussion between Wise Bread bloggers (Andrea Dickson and me). He brought a new financial term (front-loading) to our attention that indicates how
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