Owner: Financial Ambition URL:http://www.financialambition.com Join Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:04:03 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The purpose of this blog is to provide essential real estate and financial guidance to Bay Area homeowner’s whose ambitions are to live in the home that is right for their family while at the same time fully funding their retirement, their children’s coll Site statistics:Click here
New conforming loan limits – estimating the benefit 2008-02-13 11:52:11 As part of the now-signed-into-law Stimulus Package, the raising of conforming loan limits is a welcome change for many home owners, buyers and sellers in the San Francisco Bay Area. But there are clearly some limitations of what the benefit
will be, who will benefit and if/how/when it will all come together.
Tuck Reed, Executive VP of [...]
212 Movie. Top 1% Performance? 2008-02-01 12:50:41 I was sent this You Tube video from a friend. I found it interesting in the context of top 1% performance. It is especially interesting if you couple it with Curt Van Emon’s recent post Interesting Commentary on the Top 1%. This Thomas Sowell article stated, “At the highest income levels, people are especially likely [...] Read more:Performance
The Fed Cut Rates? Let’s Refi! Not Necessarily… 2008-01-31 13:57:41 At the conclusion of their meeting this week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reduced the overnight borrowing rate for US banks by another ½%. This was on the heals of a similar move the Fed last week with a reduction of ¾%. For most consumers they will benefit with a reduction to the prime [...] Read more:Rates
ROOF Gives $80,000 to Local Non-Profits in 2007. 2008-01-30 14:28:33 In 1985, the owners and agents of Red Oak Realty formed a non-profit charitable foundation in order to give back a portion of their earnings to the local community. Since the beginning, the Red Oak Opportunity Foundation (ROOF) has given over $550,000 to East Bay non-profit organizations. This year ROOF raised and distributed $83,000.
R.O.O.F has no [...] Read more:Local
Conforming Loan Limit Increasing to $625,500 - What does it mean? 2008-01-25 11:34:47 It means easier mortgage qualifying, lower interest rates relative to current jumbo rates and more buyers able to qualify for larger loans. Although the White House and congress appear to have agreed upon the economic stimulus package that includes the increase in conforming loan limits through the end of 2008, it still has to be [...] Read more:Limit
, Increasing
What’s Your Number? 2008-03-13 07:25:33 As financial service companies compete to manage the retirement assets of boomers, they are marketing from different angles. ING’s angle will be to help you figure out your number. The financial rule for withdrawals at retirement is 4% of your asset value. This means that to support your current standard of living, [...] Read more:Number
Susan McHan’s Mortgage Market Explanation – 20+ year of experience 2008-03-19 14:57:48 Susan McHan, CEO & President of Opes Advisors, a Bay Area wealth management company specializing in mortgage banking and investment advising, was recently interviewed on ABC7’s The View From The Bay on the current mortgage & real estate environment.
This is a great take on where we are in the real estate and mortgage markets (locally, [...] Read more:Susan
, Mortgage
, Market
, experience
Umbrella Insurance 2008-03-18 18:07:28 Umbrella Insurance
(New York Times article)
This type of insurance is often overlooked but shouldn’t be. My insurance agent put it this way. If you are in an accident and become involved in a lawsuit, the purpose of umbrella insurance is to have a big insurance company on your side fighting your case because it [...]
Real Estate Games: Dueling Digs 2008-03-22 12:27:18 Looks like Zillow has now entered the real estate game market. They recently released a game that is the hot or not of homes. Dueling
Digs is a fairly boring game, but worth a look. Read more:Estate
, Games
, Real Estate
A Different Perspective on the Question… Is Now a Good Time to Buy? 2008-03-21 14:07:27 I just read an interesting perspective on the currently most asked question of 2008. So, Is now a good time to buy? We have written many different posts stating why it’s an excellent time to buy in the Bay Area. The main reason is that we are seeing negotiating opportunities for our buyer clients while [...] Read more:Perspective
, Question
, Good Time
Resist the Impulse to Panic 2008-03-24 07:29:05 The press is filled with bad economic news. If you’re nervous, this article might help. Or you can call your financial advisor. Hopefully you’ve been wise enough to choose an advisor who has gone through several of these cycles so they can be helpful to you and not in panic themselves.
Resist the Urge to Panic
Who are the service providers in my neighborhood? 2008-03-26 17:18:01 I often get the question of what movers, Storage, utilities, phone, internet and TV offers are available on a specific home. I came across a great new free service that will not only tell you what services and products are available, but what it will cost and if there are any special deals from a specific company. The [...]
The value of your 401(k) is dependent on the tax rates when you make withdrawals 2008-03-28 08:24:04 The value of your 401(k) is dependent on the tax rates when you withdraw money from it. Some think this will place restrictions on politicians in the future who want to raise taxes as all those owners of 401(k)’s will see the value drop with higher tax rates. Others are sure tax rates [...]
Congratulations Boomer 411 2008-03-27 18:29:54 Boomer 411 made PC Magazine’s top 10 baby boomer web sites. Below is an excerpt from PC Magazine’s commentary.
This news-aggregating site is like Digg for the older set. With Boomer411, you can bookmark and share your favorite content, as well as submit content to be voted on by other users. Topics range from jobs and [...] Read more:Congratulations
, Boomer
Get a Graphical Picture of the Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis 2008-04-06 12:14:09 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has put together a great National interactive heat map that overlays the residential loan data of sub-prime
mortgage holders. I am bringing this to the attention of our readers as I just witnessed a home in inner Berkeley that received 14 offers. I also just read a [...] Read more:Graphical
, Picture
, Mortgage
, Crisis
Decisions, decisions 2008-04-14 07:48:08 Throughout the history of this blog, I have posted about the tremendous shortfall that people have in their retirement funding. Around 90% of the baby boomers do not have enough saved for their retirement; most are woefully short. Can you imagine trying to live for 30 years with $25,000 in savings, no pension [...]
Volatility Creates Interesting Moods And Opportunities 2008-04-16 22:42:28 Thanks mj*laflaca for this photo
Big ups and big downs create interim situations that can favor the bulls and the bears. I always liked the Warren Buffet’s quote, “When the tide goes out we get to see who is not wearing a bathing suit!” I can just visualize Warren selling a surprised naked swimmer a pair [...] Read more:Volatility
, Creates
, Moods
, Opportunities
Is $1M enough? Uhhhh….not by a long shot 2008-04-18 05:32:33 Readers of this blog will surely not be satisfied with $1M at retirement. They’ll likely want to have 10 times that amount, maybe more. That may be a difficult number for most people to confront but then again, most people haven’t done the math to see how much they need. If you [...]
Dilbert is Funny Because It Is Truthful 2008-04-21 19:58:23 There is a great post on Dilbert
’s blog, called Time Management. Below is an excerpt for your enjoyment. It is a great illustration of all the commitments we must address or face the consequences. Enjoy, it sure hit close to home for me.
One time management strategy is to be independently wealthy, freeing up eight hours [...] Read more:Funny
Our Doctor Friends Will Want to Read This 2008-04-29 15:31:50 As Doctor
s Get a Life, Strains Show
Quest for Free Time
Reshapes Medicine;
A Team Approach
By JACOB GOLDSTEIN
April 29, 2008; Page A1
U.S. medicine is in the middle of a cultural revolution, as young physicians intent on balancing work and family challenge the assumption that a doctor should be available to treat patients around the clock.
Walter Cheng, 32 years old, is [...] Read more:Friends
Discounted Real Estate Brokerage Means Discounted Service 2008-05-12 12:06:29 I just read an article posted on The Real Estate
Bloggers stating that Zip Realty an online discount real estate firm based in Emeryville, California just had a first quarter 2008 loss of 7.2 million dollars. It does not surprise me.
Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the real estate firms that are using new technological [...] Read more:Discounted
, Brokerage
, Means
, Service
the Retirement Drumb Beat Gets Louder 2008-05-20 17:20:09
Thanks Joshua Davis for this photo
I just read this article in the San Francisco Chronicle called Retirement Money Wories Mount for Workers. I am finding it interesting that the media is finnaly picking up on the fact that the average American does not save enough money for thier retirement needs. The United States Department of [...]
The Liquidity Crisis: In-depth Commentary From This American Life 2008-05-22 14:43:17 A good friend and past client just sent me this National Public Radio podcast that explains how the LiquidityCrisis
was born. I had listened to this on the radio the other day. It gives a real ground level, human perspective of how we ended up where we are today.
You can download the pod cast for $.95 [...] Read more:American
Congratulations to Boomer 411 2008-05-22 12:24:39 Boomer 411 has just released a new version of their site. Beyond the nice new color scheme, The new site has some great new features such as a questions and answers section and the ability to increase the font size of the articles for those that like reading larger print.
Many people have asked me why [...] Read more:Congratulations
, Boomer
Are You A Demographics Nut? Take A Look At Policy Map. 2008-05-23 11:03:00 I just took a test drive of a fantastic mapping application called Policy
Map. It tracks real estate (my favorite), neighborhood conditions, mortgage orientations, education, money and income, demographics, owners and renters, jobs, energy and even presidential election data. Just enter you area and click on the statistic you desire. You will receive a heat [...]
Clues for the Clueless 2008-05-27 18:38:27 This link is to a terrific Newsweek article discussing one benefit coming out of the mortgage crash & crunch – financial literacy. I think this commentary points to the necessity of each of us acting financially responsible and seeking help where needed. I thought you would enjoy reading the piece:
Clues for the Clueless
- The [...]
Interesting & Fun New Search Tool From Trulia 2008-05-29 18:56:51 Tulia has an interesting new real estate search tool that places photos of either the most expensive, least expensive, newest listings or oldest listings on a Google map. This makes for an interesting new way to look at real estate with in a specific city. Check out Trulia Snapshot. Read more:Search
The Great Seduction 2008-06-12 11:28:54 Too much debt takes away people’s autonomy. They lose their freedom to work where they want and with whom they want, they lose freedom to change jobs or careers because they need the next paycheck. I worked with client’s personal financial situations for 7+ years and the biggest problem I saw was that [...] Read more:Great
No, You Take the House! 2008-06-11 20:04:47 Divorce, or variations on that theme, is starting to look almost as certain as death and taxes… the national average seems to be holding with about 1 out of 2 marriages ending in divorce. Among my friends, family and clients, it seems the number of couples around me calling it quits has escalated over the [...] Read more:House
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