2007 Residential Real Estate Forecast

In many ways 2006 was the non-year for real estate. The National Association of Realtors(R) reported that sales will be down in 2006 about 9 percent from 2005, a record setting year.Many markets waited for spring market which was disappointing. Markets then believed buyers would re-group in summer,and buyers were a no-show. Fall and last market hopes were dashed when fall came and went, with plenty of traffic at open houses, but few contracts.

Pent-up demand from a lackluster 2006 should drive buyers back to market. But, these savvy buyers will be on the lookout for realistic prices and seller give-backs. Most buyers will tell you point-blank that their income gains in the last five years have not matched rises in home home prices. Real estate markets won't bounce back until home sellers realize as prices go up, the pool of buyers shrinks proportionately. Buyers with a home to sell will include a home-sale contingency, so sellers should be prepared to accept one.

Inventory levels will remain in the six to seven moth range. Listing leftover's from 2006, will roll into 2007. The leftovers are either un-realistic sellers whose pricing is from the froth years or thier homes haven't been updated to keep up with the stiff competition and time-starved buyers.

Mortgage rates will remain in the 5.5% to 7% range. Historically low, but low rates by themselves haven't motivated buyers to write real estate contracts in 2006.

Foreclosures will rise. Risky loans such as Interest-Only, Option ARM's and 100% financing will tap out buyers whose used these appreciation-oriented mortgages.

Prices will drop 4-10% before leveling off in the majority of non-seller's markets. Homes that are priced right and are in good condition which offer features and finishes that buyers demand, will sell close to list price in moderate market times. Flat or negative appreciation.

Florida, Arizona, California and Washington D.C., will have unstable markets. Until sellers get a reality-oriented wake-up call markets in these locales will sputter and hiccup.

Ten states posted solid sales gains in the second quarter of 2006 versus 2005. Reported the National Association of Realtors(R). The gains ranged from an impressive 48% in Alaska to a low of 5.3 percent in Georgia. The other eight states included Arkansas, Texas, North and South Carolina, Vermont, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Residential real estate will return to being viewed as shelter and housing and trend away from being viewed as a speculative investment.

What about 2008? Stable, pre-frenzy market with appreciation at 1% annually.

Mark Nash, is a residential real estate author, broker, columnist and writer based in Chicago. His fourth book 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home received eighteen five star reviews on Amazon.com. His latest book; Real Estate A-Z for Buying & Selling a Home will be published in December 2006. Mark publishes a free monthly ezine for real estate professionals. Agent to Agent features ten articles that offer free reprints for agents, home buyers and sellers through EzineArticles.com . Real estate news and book reviews, Celebrity Homestyles, Home selling and buying tips and advice, Joke-of-the-Month, Help this Agent, and agent marketing tips. Over 5000 subscribers in the U.S. & Canada. Subscribe at: http://www.1001realestatetips.com/forrealestateagents.html

How to Pick a Baby Car Seat

Because of our lifestyle today, it is very common for us to bring our baby to places such as the shopping mall, the hospital etc. Anywhere you bring your baby, you're likely to drive the car; thus, it is extremely important for the baby to have a good car seat for safety. However, buying a good car seat may be quite difficult, and there are many different aspects you will need to consider before making a purchase.

Where it's facing, and shape

Make sure the baby seat you're purchasing is facing the rear or can face the rear. This help prevents a lot more unhappy endings. Not only should it be facing the rear, the baby car seat should be tilted backwards a bit; thus, they're more looking relaxed when in the seat rather than sitting straight up.

After the baby is around 20 pounds are so, they will need to be moved to a car seat which faces the front. These seats are much more uptight, but there are still some models which can provide a more relaxed seat. Make sure that before moving your baby to a car seat facing the front, your baby can sit up on their own.

Light and easy to carry

Babies love to sleep! It is very common for babies to sleep in the car while in the car seat. If you were to remove them from their comfortable car seat, it would surely awaken them. Thus, look for a car seat which is also light and easy to carry, so you don't have to disturb when they're sleeping. It becomes a lot more convenient to carry your baby from the car to the house.

Brand new

Ok, so maybe we're in to recycling and reusing as so forth now; however, you don't know the history of the car seat when purchasing it. Used car seats may have damages on them that are naked to the visual eye, and would create a greater impact on your baby if anything was to happen.

Back seats

Just a reminder, always put the car seats at the back. As much as you would love to stare at your baby when the traffic light turns red, and as convenient as it is to have your baby beside you, it is dangerous for your baby to be in the passenger seat. Always put them in the back seats as the impacts are not as huge.

History Of The Great Ford Mustang

 



History Of The Great Ford MustangSubmitted By: ClassicMustangs   

As far as the consumer is concerned, the history of the great Ford Mustang began when it was shown to the public at New York?s World Exhibition. The prototypes had been in existence since 1962, with the Mustang 1 (T-5) being first introduced to the motor racing world at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix where Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney drove it for a few laps each as a demo.

In the early 1960s, Ford desperately needed a new car to compete with the sporty Chevrolet Corsair Monza, and its first attempt, the Falcon Future, failed to compete. A brand new car was needed, and the idea for the Mustang was born. It was sporty and quick and a four seater. It was appealing to youngsters, and the prototype was well received when shown at the motor racing circuits.

It went in production in 1964, and was an instant hit. Its launch on 17th April, 1964 was the beginning of what was to be the most popular car ever in American history, and it sold half a million in its first year. Its customers included every age and it was equally popular to men and women.

Many of its parts were taken from the failed Falcon, and its immediate success had as much to do with the almost perfect advertising campaign as it had to do with looks and speed. The advertising power of the three major television networks was used extensively, and with its distinctive mane and tail galloping across the red, white and blue of America the ?Pony Car? was the phenomenon of its age, representing the flavor of the 1960s more perfectly than its designers could ever have dreamt possible.

It was a car of its day that arrived with perfect timing. Later to be called the 1964?, the original Mustang was available as a convertible and as a coupe, both with chrome wrap-around fenders, the distinctive chrome grill with running pony, and a lengthened hood. Although it claimed to have four seats, the back seat was a bit small and it also sported three tails lights on each side. It has sold a million by 1966, although before that the GT and fastback model had been introduced.

The car continued to progress, and by the end of the 60s had become longer by four inches, and a lot heavier than the original, much of this in response to the development of Chevrolet?s Firebird and Pontiac. It was the Corvette, however, that brought the Mustang into the road racing arena. The Mustang was so popular, especially with the young, that Ford were desperate to race it against the Corvette. However, only production two seaters were allowed to race, and to enable them to do this at least 100 two seaters had be produced by January 1965.

This was achieved with the help of Mustang fan and racer, Carol Shelby, who modified 100 of the 2+2 models into GT 350 models, in the process re-equipping them to render them more suitable for racing. The suspension, wheel and brakes were all modified, and the cars were to become the basis of many future models that are even now are much sought after.

During the early 1970s the Mustang lost its way a bit and became a bit too big and unwieldy. The original grace and ?lan that so attracted early admirers was lost, and it became just another car. Part of this was due to emissions regulations, but sales dropped so much that Ford had to rethink its design strategy with the Mustang.

The Mustang II was introduced in 1974, and although it was small and vastly underpowered, it takes its place in the history of the car because it brought to a halt the drop in sales. It sold because of economy in fuel, and the 1973 OPEC fuel embargo. People were afraid that a gas guzzler would hurt their pockets, and so temporarily went for the smaller car. However, this did not last long, and 1975 brought back the V8 engine to the Mustang. However, although it had a 5 liter engine, the carburetor was too small and the catalytic converter combined with that to render it lifeless.

Then came a period of relative stability although there were a few trim changes. Fans must have seen the end coming because the late 1970s saw a slight increase in sales, rather than the drop that model now deserved. The Cobra II and King Cobra versions did little to spark a return to the glory days for the 1960s, and Ford made a last ditch attempt to rewrite the Mustang in 1979. The new Mustang was available as a coup? or fastback with a bit more room inside than the either the original or the ill fated Mustang II.

However, the running horse had gone, and the rear lights lost their distinctive three segments: this expanded to six, while the side scallop also disappeared. It no longer resembled a Mustang! Alterations continued to be made, and the California Highway Patrol found a use for a special coupe model as a high speed pursuit vehicle. With its 157 HP V8 engine, this car was used by a number of law enforcement agent up until 1993, when Ford killed them off.

The fans were wrong, however, and development continued as the Mustang conformed with the coming of fuel injection, air bags and other essential improvements, though the original concept had completely disappeared. In 2005 Ford finally ditched the ancient Fox platform and introduced that now used for the Lincoln and the Thunderbird. The newest Mustang has reverted to some of the original features, and it is a miracle that the car has survived so long.

Nobody involved in 1962 development team would have believed that the great Ford Mustang would still be around 45 years later.

Article Tags: car, ford, mustang

Rules Of Backgammon

When you find something really good, there's no need to improve upon it. Take the game of backgammon for instance. It's been around for a long, long time, but the game of backgammon has not changed. No one has created a version with blinking lights, or made it more extreme. That's because backgammon is easy to learn, fun to play and you can finish a game in just a few minutes. How can you improve on that?

The main objective in backgammon is to move all of your game pieces from one side of the playing board to the other, eventually removing your pieces from the board. If you are the first player to move all of your pieces off the board, congratulations--you are the winner.

On alternate turns, each player rolls two dice. The numbers rolled will determine how many spaces the game pieces can be moved. The individual number on each dice represents each of two different moves. For example, if you roll a 4 and a 3, then you can move one game piece four spaces and the other piece three spaces. You also have the option of moving one game piece seven spaces.

Whenever possible, it is essential that the active player use both of the numbers rolled. When only one number can be used, the player must play that number. If neither of the numbers can be used, play moves on to the opponent. If they roll two many numbers, then the player can move as many spaces as there are available. On each move, a game piece can be moved on to an open point, a point protected by you, or a point with only one of your opponent's pieces on in.

If you roll a double, you are able to play twice the number shown on the dice. For example, if you roll two threes, then you can move four pieces each three spaces, or you can move one piece twelve spaces.

The game is finished when one player removes all of his or her playing pieces by counting off. The loser then determines how many points are lost. If the loser has removed at least one game piece, he or she loses only the value showing on the doubling cube. If, however, no pieces have yet been removed, the losing player is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. Backgammon occurs when the losing player has not yet taken pieces from the board AND still has pieces in play in the vertical area of the board. In this case, that player loses triple the value of the doubling cube dice.

Backgammon rules can seem confusing at first, but it really is a very easy game to learn and to play. The best way to learn is to play with someone who understands the game, and keep a copy of your backgammon rules close at hand.

About the Author:

Nancy Anderson contributes articles to several popular Internet magazines, on hobbies and sports and travel and hobbies topics.

Realtors Predict Falling Home Prices

According to the National Association of Realtors, home prices will probably fall temporarily as the housing market corrects itself.

Prices are expected to bounce higher in a few months as the market works through a build in housing inventory, said David Lereah, chief economist for the NAR.

Median home prices are expected to increase 2.8% this year, with 2007 seeing an increase of 2.2%. Median new home prices are expect to rise only 0.2% in 2006, but are said to increase by 2.4% in 2007.

After inflation adjustments, the realtors project that median home prices will be lower at the end of 2007 than they are now.

Existing home prices have been rising at an average of 9.6% a year for the past four years, ahead of the inflation rate. New home prices were up 13.3% in 2004 and 9% in 2005.

This year sales are slowing, home are plentiful and sellers are negotiating, Lereah explained. Under these conditions, we'll probably see prices dip temporarily below year-ago levels as the market works through a build up in housing inventory.

The real estate group is forecasting existing home sales to fall 7.6% in 2006 and an additional 1.7% in 2007. New home sales are predicted to fall 16.1% in 2006 and 7.1% in 2007. Housing starts are expected to be down by 9.6% this year.

Martin Lukac represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate and mortgage rates. We specialize in daily updates, mortgage news, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!

YuGiOh! The King Of Games

Why Real Estate Remains A Great Investment

One of the things that I noticed as I started learning about money and investments is that most great, lasting wealth seemed to have been made through real estate investing. Where real estate wasn?t the great driver, such as the Internet and telecommunications booms of the early 90?s, the smartest people redirected cash earned into real estate holdings.

It is still a good idea to use this approach today. No matter what you do for a living, I encourage you to consider getting involved in real estate investing. There are a lot of ways to do it, and we will cover some of them in future articles. For now, let?s examine some of the reasons why real estate works so well for those looking to build long-term wealth.

1.Income. Real estate investing offers you the chance to earn both active and passive income. Unlike your job, where you trade your hours and effort for cash, many real estate investments allow you to leverage capital. Your money makes you more money. Your earnings can actively involve your time and energy (such as managing rental properties) or you can trust others to manage your holdings (REIT?s and some limited partnership structures). Your choice should reflect your goals and lifestyle preferences.

2.Tremendous Tax Benefits. The benefits of owning property can have to do with the write-offs against the rental income. Your costs in marketing your property, cleaning and maintaining it, insuring it, screening tenants, etc. can be deductible. Other deductions typically include insurance payments, taxes, depreciation and interest expenses on any mortgages used to secure the property. While you can?t write off the principal payments on your mortgage, these payments can be figured into your depreciation calculations and benefit you thereby.

3.Asset Appreciation. Another great feature of real property is asset appreciation. That is, the underlying asset that is actively generating income and tax savings for you is also increasing in value and building your net worth. This should work two ways: the principal portion of your payments is reducing your debt and the marketplace is raising the value of the property. For example, market values of homes in my town increased by 9% last year. Some markets routinely see double-digit increases. On average, Houston real estate appreciates by 3-5% annually.

4.Stability. Investing in real assets can shield you from some of the fluctuations that exist in the stock and bond markets. While real estate does have cycles (just like any other asset class), demand for single-family housing - whether for rental or purchase - is fairly consistent. Relative to other investments, its fluctuations aren't as broad. While it may not hit the high highs of tech stocks, for example, it typically doesn't bottom out as dramatically either. This feature can be tremendous in a well-balanced portfolio.

5.Involvement. This is the fun part. Investing in real estate offers you a chance to ?kick the tires? more than virtually any other investment. This can make it a lot of fun. But, it?s not just fun; it?s protection. No one will be closer to the performance of your money than you. And that?s a good thing.

If you need help evaluating opportunities or financing your projects, contact me today. I have a free ?Deal Evaluator? in Microsoft Excel format that I will send you free when you e-mail me. Many real estate investors have found it helpful.

I wish you great success.

Mark Anthony McCray, author of the upcoming books, ?The 31 Rules for Succeeding as a Mortgage Broker? and ?The 31 Rules for Prospering Financially? (http://www.the31rules.com), is the Founder and CEO of Houston, TX based First Capital Mortgage Company (http://www.dealsdone.net). First Capital is a commercial mortgage banking and brokerage firm that has helped its clients leverage millions of dollars in financing for their real estate acquisitions, developments and investments over the years. Write to Mark at mark@dealsdone.net or call 713-267-4040 for more information about the author or First Capital?s services.