Thursday, December 14, 2023

 GOOD NEWS ! Get Your Home Ready for Sale!


A new forecast by Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is predicting the sale of 4.71 million existing homes during 2024.

Speaking before NAR’s fifth annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit: The Year Ahead,

Yun predicted 2024 home sales will rise 13.5% year-over-year while the median home price will reach $389,500, a 0.9% uptick from this year.

Yes, Mr. Yun is very smart!

The Simple Beauty of the Moon touching the Ocean


 

Friday, December 8, 2023

Most visited websites. How many are on your list?

 Most visited websites in the US in November 2023:

1. google. com 2. youtube. com 3. facebook. com 4. amazon. com 5. yahoo. com 6. twitter. com 7. instagram. com 8. max. com 9. wikipedia. org 10. reddit. com ~ 11. discord. com 12. xvideos. com 13. pornhub. com 14. office. com 16. xnxx. com 23. bing. com 27. netflix. com 29. tiktok. com 37. zoom. us 38. roblox. com 49. openai. com 50. xhamster. com

Monday, November 27, 2023

Interesting Graph on US Driving














  • Vehicle miles traveled fell by 11% in 2020 to 2.9 trillion, down from 3.26 trillion a year prior. By 2022, miles had climbed to 3.17 trillion.


  • Rhode Island, Texas, North Dakota, and California had the largest increases in vehicle traffic from August 2022 to August 2023.


  • Over the first eight months of 2023, the nation’s city streets were some of the busiest, with nearly 1.48 trillion vehicle miles traveled. People traveled rural interstates the least: 179.3 billion miles.

Thursday, November 2, 2023

50-30-20 Rule for Living

This is the 50-30-20 Theory: 


50% of what you make after taxes is the money that goes in your bank account for your essentials -- Roof, Utility bills, Grocery bills and transportation to and from work.


30% is for your lifestyle -- Shopping, Going out to eat, etc.


20% goes to the future -- Savings, 401 K and emergency savings.


AND THAT, is Living within your means. 

Monday, October 30, 2023

Friday, July 28, 2023

Good Life Advice from Grandma

 


From a syndicated personal finance columnist:

The best advice I received was from my Grandmother. 

When I was 14 and got my first job as a tutor, she told me to save something from that paycheck--and every time I got paid.

So, all my working life, I have saved part of my payday. Every. Single. Paycheck. She made me a lifelong saver in good times and bad.

My husband and I put our children through college with no debt, largely because of our saving habits.

Lots of people look for a quick way to get rich. 

But my Grandma was right: Save a little something from every paycheck and patiently grow your wealth.

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

The Magic number to set your AC Temp

 

78 degrees Fahrenheit - the magic number

According to Energy Star, a program of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy, 78 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature for air conditioners in the summer.

This setting helps you stay cool while simultaneously saving money because it strikes the perfect mix between comfort and energy economy. 

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Monday, April 17, 2023

Real Estate Market Update

 The Real estate Market in Illinois AND Indiana is still good, due to a shortage of Listings.

There are still buyers out there, despite interest rates being around 6.6%.


Another measure we use to determine market activity is called Absorption rate.

AB rates: less than 5 (months) indicate a Sellers market.

AB rates 5-7, indicate a balanced market.

AB rates greater than 7, indicate a buyers market.


NW Indiana, including Cedar Lake, Munster, Dyer, Highland, Schererville, St. John and Crown Point, is currently at 1.8.

If you are a seller, this is still great news. Listing inventory is low.

If you are a buyer, this is still good, because there are fewer buyers and less competition. Fewer multiple contracts.

In the Southern Cook county Illinois suburbs of Lansing, Thornton, South Holland and Lynwood, the AB rate is 2.6.  Yes, a Sellers market with the same reasons as Indiana.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Do you have to pay capital gain on the profit from your home?

 You can sell your primary residence and be exempt from capital gains on the first $250,000 if you are single and $500,000 if married filing jointly. All you have to do is live in the house at least 2 of the last 5 years. Exemption is only available once every 2 years.

Plus, you can add your cost basis and costs of any improvements that you made to the home to the $250,000/$500.000 amounts.

Example: A married couple, purchased a home for $500,000 in 2015. The neighborhood experienced tremendous growth, and home values increased significantly. Seeing an opportunity to reap the rewards of this surge in home prices, they sold their home in 2022 for $1.2 million. The capital gains from the sale were $700,000. As a married couple filing jointly, they were able to exclude $500,000 of the capital gains, leaving $200,000 subject to capital gains tax. If they had sold for $1.0 million, there would be no capital gains tax. $1.0 million sales price - $500,000 original purchase price = $500,000, which would be exempt from taxes.

Always consult a tax professional, as a double check and because of the mention of cost basis and improvements mentioned earlier.

This is an excellent incentive to invest in real estate, as up to a $500,000 gain is not taxable.

And as Mark Twain once said: 
A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it."

Except in selling your home!

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Is This 2008 Again? (No)

 Question: Do you see the real estate market collapsing like it did in 2008? So many people we knew lost their homes.


Answer: Although no one can predict the future, we don’t see this happening, nor does the National Association of Realtors chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. There are several key indicators of how this market differs.
For one, In the last major housing downturn, there were 8 million job losses in a single year. Now there are virtually none. Though layoffs in the technology and mortgage industries are occurring, they haven’t accumulated enough to form a net job loss, Yun noted. A strong job market bodes well for housing’s future.

The subprime loans that were prevalent during the 2008 housing bust are basically nonexistent today.

Home inventory is less than half of what it was then. This means more of a demand for homes.

About 10% of all mortgage borrowers were delinquent on their loans in the previous housing bust. The mortgage delinquency rate is now at 3.6%, holding at historical lows.
Homes in foreclosure reached a rate of 4.6% during the last housing crash as homeowners who saw their property values plunge walked away from their loans. Today, the percentage of homes in foreclosure is 0.6%—also at historical lows, Yun said. He predicted foreclosures to remain at historical lows in 2023.

Overall, the fundamentals don’t point to a housing market that is operating similarly to the 2008 cycle, Yun said. While home sales are slowing, prices remain good. Also, inventory remains low, which will keep home prices elevated, Yun said. “The chance of a price crash is very small due to the lack of supply.”

We feel Real estate is still a very good long term investment. The economy has its ups and downs, investments have their highs and lows. Hopefully, inflation will come down, making housing more affordable to everyone!

Budget


 

Friday, March 3, 2023


NO...
 
There are no market similarities now compared to 2008.

Lawrence Yun is the chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors.

Overall, the fundamentals don’t point to a housing market that is operating similarly to the 2008 cycle, Yun said. While home sales are slowing, prices remain good. Also, inventory remains low, which will keep home prices elevated, Yun said. “The chance of a price crash is very small due to the lack of supply.”

We feel Real estate is still a very good long term investment. The economy has its ups and downs, investments have their highs and lows. Hopefully, inflation will come down, making housing more affordable to everyone!


Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Factoid

 An average of 3000 wind turbines were installed every year across the US since 2005. It’s now the nation’s leading renewable electricity source. How much US electricity comes from wind power?

Thursday, January 5, 2023

A Couple Computer helpful tricks

 A Couple Windows Tricks:


1. Hit Windows button and R at same time. This will open your Virus scan.

    Type MRT. Hit OK. Hit Yes. Choose the type of scan you want to check your computer files.


2. Hit Windows button and R. Type: %temp%                                       (Removes unwanted temp files)

    Click the choose all files box.

    Click delete.