Someday is Today (Posted December 26, 2016)

I’m not exactly sure why the new year is what prompts so many of us to draw up a list of “resolutions” that might include losing 15 lbs., being nicer to the dog, and beating out Brad Pitt and George Clooney on the “Sexiest Man Alive” list, but this time of year seems to be when we look at our lives and think, “We need to make some changes.” On the plus side, such an exercise sort of forces us to take those things we want to do “someday” and give them a timeline. Well, ladies and gentlemen, someday is TODAY. Take a look at this:

If you’ve been waiting for things to “settle down” before you purchase a house, the graphic above should settle things for you. Interest rates aren’t going to skyrocket tomorrow, and they don’t need to in order to keep you from being able to afford the house you want – they just need to creep up by a half or full point, and you could be out of the game. When they increase by half a point, your ability to pay a mortgage drops by $25,000 – another half point, and you’re down almost $50,000. The Fed has signaled that they’re going to raise rates probably three times in the coming year.

When you have your eye on that perfect house – and so do three other people – are you going to have that extra $25,000 wiggle room to knock out the competition? Don’t let someday sideline you.

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The Naked Truth About Home Buying

It’s highly likely I’ve already written about this, but I’ll try to make it entertaining at least. There’s a guy who works in ou r office who suffers from kidney stones – and from what he’s described, “suffers” might even be a little too tame a word for it. As an aside, though, when you ask him how painful the experience is, he gets an odd smile and says, “It’s the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced, but it’s hard to describe. I’ve heard a lot of people compare it to the pain a woman experiences while giving birth. To that, I must say, those people are big, fat liars! I’ve been in the presence of a woman giving birth, twice, and her pain has to be 100 times worse. They’re passing the equivalent of a Buick. I’m passing a pumpkin seed.” He’s always been a colorful fellow. He’s had this wonderful condition for over a decade now, and the stones make their appearance about every 18 months or so. Up until recently, ...

Saving Money is Music to Your Ears (Posted January 9, 2017)

For all the “old” people out there, you’ll instantly know the name Daryl Hall. For those of you who are still on your original set of adult teeth (perhaps because you got your braces off fairly recently), Daryl Hall is a musician (the blonde half of the duo Hall & Oates – the one who DIDN’T have a mustache that looked like it was straight out of an ’ 80s adult film) with a number of albums (albums a re these big, black 12-inch vinyl “platters” that look like a pregnant CD) that have been certified as gold/platinum and hit songs to his credit, some of which he recorded himself and some he wrote for others. Going back to 2007, he started a show on the internet called Live from Daryl’s House ; in 2011, he took it to cable where it currently airs. The concept is relatively simple: he has musicians from all genres and eras come to his house to jam with him and his band. In between songs, they talk about music and memories, and they usually end up eatin...

Showcase Showdown (Posted October 17, 2016)

The game show “The Price is Right” – the show where 95% of what they give away is total garbage (fireproof bathmats in the shape of Ecuador, really?) – is probably each child’s first exercise in trying to guess how much something costs. Admit it, you sat glued to the TV set either screaming at the screen so the contestant could hear you or you were sending out vibes telepathically – either way, you KNEW you were the BEST price guesser in the world . . . until the very moment the model would reveal the real price of $732 for a set of salad tongs made of Lucite and cubic zirconia (your bid was $17, and you thought THAT was probably a little high). But that didn’t stop you because here comes that toaster oven that doubles as a brief case – how could anyone put a price on THAT? A recent study published in the Journal of Housing Research (just let the sheer coolness of that name wash over you for a few moments) concerning pricing was interesting. The r...

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