Author : Ki GrayYes, it is a buyers market these days, but a recession can make finding a home and getting a loan a little trickier Home inventories are down, but so are prices and mortgage rates Navigating the perks and pitfalls of buying a home in these financially uncertain times can take a little finesse

While nationwide the median home price is down 16 percent over the last year, that is certainly not the case in Austin Prices are down a few percentage points from where they were a year ago and houses do sit a little longer on the market Historically low mortgage rates and other incentives, like the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, make this an optimal time to buy a home

A good place to start is to get your financial house in order, so to speak How much house can you afford? To be more direct: How much of a monthly mortgage payment can you reasonably afford on your current household income? Determining the price range of a house needs to include how much money you have available for a down payment An applicant with good credit and cash available for a down payment can get an excellent mortgage rate It is important to shop around for mortgage rates and lenders Getting pre-approval for a home loan means a prospective buyer can start the house hunt with knowledge of their limits and confidence about getting a mortgage

Now it’s time to make a list of requirements for a new home Two stories or one? How many bedrooms? Is a new kitchen important or is a certain school area a must? It’s important to have list of basic requirements for a new home Knowing the price range and having a general area of interest helps to narrow the focus when searching for a new home

A good place to start the house hunt is looking on the computer Using the Yahoo! real estate section can help you figure out what’s on the market in your price range, and it can also be a preliminary step in finding a realtor Computer research is a terrific tool for house hunting, but keep in mind seeing a house in person might be a different experience

The next step is finding a real estate agent Asking friends and family for recommendations is a good place to start Doing research on the computer and looking at newspaper real estate ads are also good sources to begin with Don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t feel pressured to settle on the first agent you meet It is important that you feel comfortable with your real estate agent and feel that he or she is really going to listen to you

A recession means there are fewer homes on the market, but it also means that sellers are serious about making a sale Choosing an experienced real estate agent will help you make the most out of your search Be prepared to spend some time and don’t get discouraged if the house of your dreams doesn’t materialize on your first day of looking Keep a notebook handy to jot down notes, keep your list of requirements in mind and be willing to be flexible But most of all, be assured that you are buying a house at a great time Ki maintains a website, which works as a clearinghouse of information on Austin Texas real estate. There, future homeowners can search available Austin homes. Ki also writes a blog about Austin real estate.

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Author : Samantha GilmartinWith the incredible rise of the internet, traditional news bulletins on TV, radio and in newspapers have had to dramatically alter the way they engage with their audiences With a new emphasis on comment, celebrity stories and shock tactics, we look at how traditional news organisations are fighting the broadband revolution

Last Sunday, reality TV star Jade Goody, 27, died of cervical cancer As tragic as the loss of the young mother undoubtedly is, many people commented on the level of coverage that the BBC devoted to the story The broadcaster received 69 official complaints regarding the ‘excessive’ nature of coverage, many of the remarks focusing on the fact that her death was used as the lead story on the current affairs programme The Andrew Marr Show

Peter Horrocks, the head of the BBC’s newsroom, insisted that the level of exposure that the story was given reflected the public interest in the piece However, many commentators have remarked on how this demonstrates the trend for traditional broadcasters to resort to sensationalist or celebrity-driven stories to bolster audience figures

Of course, the level of publicity the BBC gave to Goody’s death pales in comparison to the immense amount of coverage Jade’s life was given in the tabloid newspapers and celebrity magazines Following her career as a reality TV star, her fall from grace due to the allegedly racist remarks she made on Celebrity Big Brother, the discovery of her illness and her marriage to Jack Tweed, Jade’s life was exposed on an almost daily basis Though Jade certainly courted the publicity, many arms of the traditional media used her life, and tragic death, to sell their product

It is not just celebrity-driven stories that the news is accused of using to accrue audience figures Perhaps most damagingly, many have observed that news broadcasts often revert to simplification and shock-tactics to hype up their bulletins

A criticism levelled at America’s Fox News Network for many years, the trend to sensationalise news stories has started to affect Sky News and ITV amongst others Sky’s latest advert for its news station is daubed with images of Madeline McCann superimposed into the reflection seen in a teardrop

Elsewhere, ITV have been criticised for their coverage of the current financial downturn In simplifying the global situation by hoisting one or two less-scruplous bankers as scapegoats, they have created a mob mentality that has resulted in the recent vandalism of ex-RBS boss Fred Goodwin’s house and property

The prominence that news broadcasters in both Britain and the States have placed on the misdemeanours carried out by former bankers is seen by many as the driving force behind vicious threats made to former AIG workers in America

Other tactics that traditional news media broadcasters have been criticised for employing is the tendency to emphasis bad news stories over good The old adage in US press rooms of “If it bleeds, it leads”, is certainly more true today than ever before TV commentator Charlie Brooker recently highlighted in his BBC4 programme Newswipe how newsrooms recently publicised the story of Tim Kretschmer’s shooting spree in Germany over the many thousand of peace protesters that marched in Northern Ireland to denounce the recent upsurge in violence in the region

Comprised of both Unionists and Republicans, the silent protests in Belfast, Londonderry, Lisburn, Newry and Downpatrick, marked a distinctive turning point in the history of Northern Ireland However, because this was ‘good’ news, both the BBC and ITV ran the story as a subsidiary to the bloody shootings in Germany What’s more, the newscasters lavished attention on the Kretschmer shootings despite advice from psychoanalysts which condemned over-exposure of such cases as a direct cause for further attacks

Whatever the justification in feeding public interest, traditional news broadcasters have to admit their preoccupation with chasing audience figures In the increasingly fragmented avenues of the media however, perhaps colouring news stories in ever-more vivid and provocative colours is the only way to keep interest in television, radio and print news reports The only question is how far the public is willing to accept this as an erosion of integrity

It certainly isn’t pretty; but it’s the news Samantha is an expert Research and family breaks consultant. She is currently writing for Play and Stay and is very excited about the upcoming British summer

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Author : stephan clingmanIn today’s economic environment, you only have to look around to see just how bad things really are Everyday now it seems, we are constantly bombarded with tons of negative information that has to make you wonder how deep this will go

Job loss is widening across the entire nation Banks that are still standing are still at real risk of failing The government bailing out all of their big corporate buddies, yet leaving us to fend for ourselves and putting all of the burden of this economic mess on we the taxpayers

AIG, need I say more as an example of this corporate greed that will not just cost you and I, but will cost generations to come untold misery due to the enormous amount of bad debt this giant has incurred leaving us to foot the bill while the big whigs get to carve up huge bonuses and take the family on exotic vacations at our expense

What each and every one of us needs is a solid back up plan, an economic stimulus package of our own if we are to survive this madness Its already getting worse and one only needs to look to the past and see that history is indeed repeating itself

Welcome Great Depression 2, as some label it Who knows how deep this will go Who knows how you and your family will fair during all of this Who knows if you will even survive? Do you really think that your job is secure? After all, there is a recession on, and foreign labor is cheap & getting cheaper as this all unfolds

You need to ask yourself just how prepared are you?
What would you do if you lost your job tomorrow? Do you have six months worth of living expenses put away so you can feed your family and keep a roof over your head?

We were all warned by a few experts more than a year ago that this was coming, though most refused to take it seriously as they thought that things just couldn’t get any worse Well, what have you done? Now its worse
Better yet, what are you going to do? Are you just going to sit around and hope for the best? Hoping that all of the bad will just somehow pass you by leaving you unscathed?

I could almost guarantee that it will affect you in some way, though I do not really know your personal situation What we need is a plan A really good plan, to ensure that we have a fighting chance to survive the financial turmoil

Facts:

* Large Financial Institutions have failed and more will follow
* The government is trying to bail them out and it will be up to us to repay the debt
* Unemployment is at an all time high and rising
* Your job is not as secure as you would like to believe ( how many jobless people do you think would be willing to do what you do for less money)
* Unless You take control of your financial destiny no one else will
* There is still money to be made in any economic environment

Until you take control, you are at real risk of losing everything you have worked so hard for Why would you want to live like that? Why would you want to live with the uneasiness of waking up every morning wondering if you still have a way to provide for yourself and for your family?

It doesn’t have to be this way You can make an effort to preserve what you already have by creating your own economy If nothing else it might provide extra money to make life a little easier or it could provide a way for complete financial independence How? What am I talking about?

No matter what is going on, people want to know things
How to better their lives How to make more money How to make life a little easier People crave information All kinds of information And you know what? Just like the old saying goes, information sells

Information products are a multi-billion dollar a year industry, and though there are a lot of information product companies, there is still unlimited room in this market and its this market that could be your ticket to freedom Who doesn’t want freedom I mean real freedom

If this is at all going over your head, don’t just turn a blind eye to the idea There are many ways to get started even if you have zero writing skills, zero computer knowledge, zero web design skills, zero marketing skills All of this can be learned and there are plenty of resources to help get you started Just do your research Its not difficult at all, and as a matter of fact, its so easy your grandmother could do this information marketing thing

Probably the most valuable tools and resources you can have is PLR (private label rights) products There is a trick that you must employ to use them properly, but they are very valuable and save huge amounts of time
If you don’t have the technical skills to put up a website right away, though I highly recommend you learn how to, there are plenty of free blogging services out there like wordpress and google’s blogger platforms to get started

An easy way to make extra money is by having a review blog and giving solid reviews of the affiliate programs products that you are promoting
Affiliate programs are easy to find and an easy and free way to get started
Examples of affiliate resources are:
*Amazon com
*clickbank net
*google com
and there are tons more

Just research the subject of affiliate marketing
As far as marketing goes, there are paid ways like google’s adword’s, yahoos paid advertising as well as Msn’s and of course email marketing That’s a different subject in itself, but very effective

There are also many different ways to market products for free
*Blog posts from your free blog
*Write and submit articles to article directories like I do
*Leave comments on blogs & forums that are related to the product you are trying to promote leaving a link in your signature
*Use the social networks to promote your products

All of these examples can produce huge volumes of relevant traffic for you Free!
See, with a little ingenuity and minimal effort, there are ways to generate huge sums of money from the internet for years to come
Your imagination is the only thing that can set the limits of your success Stephan C.
Web designer, author, all around information junkie.

Recession Proof Yourself & Make a Fortune Doing It…

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Author : Amy NuttThere are many foreign items that can cause harm to people, animals, and the environment if permitted to enter a country Government agencies have had to mandate rules and regulations regarding the types of items that can come in and leave their country Many shipping companies keep a list of items that are not acceptable for shipment in order to comply with the regulations of the airlines, Customs, and agriculture and other government agencies

There are a number of factors that may cause an item to be rejected from entering a country It may be a violation of airline dangerous goods regulations, government regulations, biosecurity regulations, security regulations, and dangerous goods regulations The shipment may also be missing the appropriate documentation

Most companies state that it is the shipper’s responsibility to ensure their items are allowed into another country While prohibited items may appear harmless, under certain circumstances they can easily become dangerous For instance, air pressure and temperature fluctuations could cause a prohibited item to leak, ignite, or explode Before shipping an item, you should make sure it is not prohibited from entering a country

The following is a list of items that will most likely be detained by customs agents:

Explosives: ammunition, fireworks, igniters, flares

Human and animal parts: cultures, biological products; human or animal skin, bone grafts, and other anatomical parts prepared for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes which can cause disease in humans or animals Ivory is another prohibited item

Cultures: biological products capable of causing infection including viruses, fungi, bacteria, and serums

Gases: aerosol cans, cigarette lighters, camping gas tanks, propane tanks, fire extinguishers

Flammable liquids and flammable solids: paint, alcohol, perfume, matches, petrol, kerosene, aftershave, turpentine, solvents, cleaning fluids, nitrate products

Oxidizing substances and organic peroxides: hair dye, disinfectants

Toxic and infectious substances: pesticides

Counterfeit or pirated goods or material

Precious metals

Radioactive materials

Corrosives: mercury thermometers, bleach, nail polish and remover, nitric acids, battery fluids

Cannabis utensils: bongs, hash pipes, and certain roach clips

Building materials: wood items, lumber

Firewood or raw wood products

Dirt: soil, clay and sand

Drugs and medication

Animal drugs and medication

Controlled drugs: cocaine, cannabis

Tobacco: chewing and smoking tobacco

Money: coins, cash, currency, paper money and negotiable documents such as endorsed stocks, bonds, and cash letters

Food items: foods that can spoil, chocolate, meat and meat products, fish

Dead animals: dead animal carcasses or parts This includes taxidermy and animals or animal parts prepared for mounting or display Bird feathers

Livestock: cattle, sheep, pigs Equipment used with animals or soil

Birds, Bees, and insects

Live plants and plant seeds, cut flowers: Severed portion of plants in a fresh state without soil, including the flower or bloom

Precious Stones: Stones of remarkable value such as diamonds, industrial diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls

Pornography

Alcohol: wine, beer, etc

Dairy products: milk, cheese, etc

Religious statues, religious ornaments

Postage stamps

Polymerizable items: asbestos, dry ice, wet-cell batteries

Fur: pelts, samples, clothing, anything made of fur such as linings or trims, and furs of endangered species

Refrigerators, freezers and other goods that contain ozone depleting substances

Medical Waste: used hypodermic needles, syringes, or other medical waste

Maintaining a list of prohibited items helps governments keep their countries safe All shipments are subject to inspection by custom officials To ensure that your shipment will pass inspection and arrive safely, you should be aware of the items that are likely to be rejected Providing domestic and international shipping freight, and overnight delivery.

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Author : Jill BlackImagine the American real estate market has just sustained a level five hurricane and is currently in grave danger of being washed away, leaving behind carnage and debris The floods waters are rising, but there is hope that help is on the horizon Is it enough just to pluck the survivors from the rooftops as the water laps at their feet? Or is there a way to actually put the housing market back on dry land?

Dallas has been fortunate that foreclosures have not overwhelmed the housing market and for now prices are holding steady But it is a widely held belief that the economy went down with the real estate market and it won’t make a comeback until housing can be stabilized As the nation waits to hear President Obama’s plan to help struggling homeowners, many analysts have differing ideas of just how that should be done

A Los Angeles Times column this month focused on the role U S Bankruptcy Courts could play in the solution Chapter 13 is a bankruptcy avenue for people who have fallen behind on their debts, allowing them to work out new terms on things like cars However, Chapter 13 does not apply to mortgages on primary residences “The absurdity of this rule should be self-evident Loans on things that are comparatively expendable — your boat, your vacation cabin, your Ford Taurus (or your Lamborghini) — can be modified by a judge to help you hold on to the asset But your home? Forget it This makes sense only if you think you may need to keep the car so if you’re thrown out of your house you can move into the back seat,” said columnist Michael Hiltzik

The problem with this solution is that mortgages would be perceived as a greater risk to the banks While it has the potential to save thousands of homes–100,000 homes last year could have been saved through Chapter 13 by one estimate–it could also drive up mortgage rates The current historically low mortgage rates are the one bright spot in this bleak housing market

As of last week, many banks have agreed to a temporary moratorium on foreclosures while the Obama administration works out their plan This is largely seen as a nice gesture, only delaying the inevitable The number of foreclosures across the nation is estimated to have quadrupled in the last eighteen months By some estimates, there could be as many as five million homeowners hovering on the brink of foreclosure in the coming year

According to CNNMoney, Treasury and federal housing officials met last Wednesday so that the administration could listen to proposals for how to address the mortgage meltdown The need for a standard model for mortgage modifications was stressed, with the suggestion being made that bailout money be used to help delinquent borrowers Both Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and President Obama have said that $50 billion of the original bailout money would be used to help struggling homeowners

Another solution offered by a national homeownership program, NeighborWorks America, is to reduce mortgage payments to be a certain percentage of a borrower’s income, capped at around 30 percent Yet other analysts think adjusting mortgage rates or forgiving principle is the solution

But the grimmer sentiment held by many is that there is no fast fix to stop the flood The water keeps rising because the problem is complicated The real problem cannot be solved by banks, because the banks no longer actually hold these mortgages The mortgages were long ago broken into pieces and then bundled into complicated investment vehicles that zoomed around the world While people feel frustrated from Main Street to Capital Hill that the solution is not coming fast enough, the soggy reality may be there is no dry land is sight Inside Dallas is a small company that operates a website that covers Dallas real estate. They also have a blog with monthly updates on the Dallas real estate market.

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Author : Jill BlackIn an economy that is steadily slipping, people are trying to get a grip on their finances and look for jobs that are recession proof

1 Sales Representative Median salary: $65,000-$75,000 Talented sales force is needed in these economic times to help companies grow by finding customers and businesses

2 Software Design and Development Median salary: $85,000-$95,000 Software designers write programs for computers and develop programs for companies This career is projected to be among the fastest growing jobs through 2016, according to the Department of Labor

3 Nursing Median salary: $35,000-$45,000 There is a real shortage in this field; and not only in nursing The medical field seems to be a very recession proof career There are also options in the medical field that enable you to work from home Medical coding and billing and medical transcriptionist are two careers that allow you to do so People are always going to need medical care, no matter what profession they are in

4 Accounting Executive Median salary: $65,000-$75,000 These positions are in high demand Just as the medical field, accounting
Continues, regardless of the economy

5 Accounting Staff Median salary: $45,000-$55,000 Big companies are turning to their own accounting staff to figure out how to cut costs and operate in a less costly manner Tougher regulations in accounting and auditing have also sparked the need for accountants

6 Network and Systems Administration Median salary: $65,000-$75,000 They are expected to maintain companies communication systems, network computers, web-site teleconferencing and social networking These companies depend on network operators to increase business

7 Administrative Assistant Median salary: $35,000-$45,000 Administrative assistants are in high demand It is hard for families to live making less than $50,000 and many of these jobs remain open for long periods of time

8 Business Analysis, Software Implantation Median salary:
$85,000-$95,000 They work with companies to find out what software is best for that particular company and train employees how to install and use it properly

9 Business Analysis, Research Median salary: $65,000-$75,000
This person does not write the program, but works on the business side and must figure out how the program should work

10 Finance Staff Median salary: $65,000-$75,000 This includes
anyone who can make a business run more smoothly and efficiently Those who have expertise in Sarbanes-Oxley are even more valuable

Many people may find themselves going back to school to train in a field that is recession proof If you are one of these people, make sure you are comfortable with your new career Research your decision There are many courses that range from a few months; which will give you a certificate, to two years, which is an associate’s degree, all the way up to four years, which is a bachelor’s degree

If money is a problem, many schools offer student loans, grants and other tuition options Check with the school’s financial aid for options Jill has a site that covers the Houston Texas real estate market. The site has statistics and info on its Houston real estate blog.

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