Search results for housing
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Posted
Sep 26 2007, 05:24 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When U.S. News & World Report listed the top places to retire, cost was not the only factor. But some affordable gems can be found on a list that includes Bozeman, Mont. (median home price, $279,300) and San Francisco ($765,000). The median home price in Fayetteville, Ark.? Just $163,000. There's also Lawrence, Kan. ($142,928) and Smyrna, Tenn. ($145,000).
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Posted
Oct 22 2007, 07:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last week we noted a blogger's musings about the upside of living in a small house: less space to maintain, furnish and heat, for starters. How about having no house at all, or a home that's a hole in the ground? Boston Gal's Open Wallet was inspired to research the cheapest of accommodations by a brief conversation she'd had about the concept of "going Thoreau." She read about guys who lived underground , another who lived in a commercial building's attic equipped with cable and flat-screen TVs, and a group of artists who built a secret room, complete with video games, in a mall parking garage. "Maybe living for free is not so crazy after all, if 'going Thoreau' means I can still have luxuries like a PlayStation," Boston Gal writes.
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Posted
Oct 26 2007, 10:13 AM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Countrywide Financial may have lost $1.2 billion during its third quarter, but as we all know, Wall Street is always looking to the future. So what's in the cards for Countrywide going forward? According to Countrywide's President, profitability. He said that after swallowing its first quarterly loss in the past 25 years, Countrywide expects to be back in the black next quarter.
Investors are going bananas over the projection for next quarter, and as of this writing the stock is up almost 17% on the day.
Players on The Motley Fool's CAPS don't seem quite as convinced. At one star, the stock is at the bottom of the barrel as far as CAPS ratings go. The projections for next quarter didn't seem to help much -- 34 of the 47 new players to rate Countrywide today were bearish on the stock. One CAPS player, devoish, warned that he "[believes] there is more bad news coming beyond just today's layoffs and writedowns."
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Posted
Oct 31 2007, 04:51 PM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
KB Home is down 51% from its high for the year. And it's not alone.
Beazer Homes: down 77%
Levitt Corp: down 88%
TOUSA: off 94%
I could continue.
Are there any homebuilders out there that are still worth the paper that their stock certificates are printed on? On The Motley Fool's CAPS service, blogger floridabuilder -- an insider in the industry -- suggests that there are a handful that will be winners if we avoid a full-on recession.
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Posted
Nov 15 2007, 08:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Linsey Knerl at partner blog Wise Bread . My family has lived in the same house for two years, but we neither rent it nor own it. It is part of a family farming corporation with an uncertain future. We don’t know if we will be here another 10 years, or if we will need to move next spring. It seems silly to invest too much in it without it being a permanent home, but, at the same time, we really want to make it our own. It seems easy to hold your breath and wait for situations in life to become clear, determined and permanent. But what will you be missing in the meantime? Here are five steps that can help you live life while waiting to see just where it may go. Know that you are not alone. How many other honorable professions and lifestyles are temporary, nomadic , or without careful material plans? Plenty. Just ask any missionary family, military spouse, or theater troupe how it feels never to know what the next move may hold for them. Time spent at a single location
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Posted
Nov 16 2007, 01:26 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A new meme has spread through the personal-finance world, asking bloggers to complete this sentence: " I commit publicly to .... " You fill in the blank with a private goal you're now willing to declare to the world, creating more than a bit of pressure to make good on the commitment. Blogger AskDong said he understands the importance of public declarations : "I remember back in middle school I would tell my friends who I planned on asking to dance, so I couldn't just chicken out and not ask that person." Some bloggers pledged to spend less or save more, but several had other goals. SF Money Musings shared a secret that only her sister had known: She has struggled most of her life with binge eating and publicly promised to stop it . Million Dollar Journey committed to becoming more handy around the house . Canadian Dream: Free at 45 plans to develop a good filing system and "discuss all of this with my wife so the entire project doesn't fail." Quest for Four Pillars promised to lose weight
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Posted
Nov 29 2007, 04:54 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The stock market may open cheerfully on Friday, courtesy of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Speaking in Charllotte, N.C., on Thursday night, the Fed boss told his audience that "the current stresses in financial markets make the uncertainty surrounding the outlook even greater than usual." And he added, "We at the Federal Reserve will have to remain exceptionally alert and flexible as we continue to assess how best to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability in the United States."
Already, financial commentators see those words, specially words like "alert" and "flexible" as strong suggestions that the central bank will be cutting rates again.
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You can read the Bernanke speech here. The pertinent parts are, conveniently, at the beginning of the speech.
Most of the players in the financial markets are absolutely convinced that the central bank will cut its key federal funds rate its Dec. 11 meeting. In fact, they see the fed funds rate, the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans, falling from 4.5% now to less than 4.2% by January. The futures markets suggest the rate will drop to 3.5% by May.
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Posted
Nov 30 2007, 08:55 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
A tenant knocked last Saturday to tell me she'd broken off her key in the door. If this ever happens to you, try doing what I did: Insert a spare key until it touches the broken piece, then turn very gently.
After a few tries, the lock opened. Since I couldn't pry out the broken piece, I installed a replacement deadbolt. Just another day in the life of Super Resident Manager, saving the building owners an expensive weekend locksmith call.
My point? This was not a tough fix. Lock replacement is one of many repairs that can be done by the most amateur of handyfolks.
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Posted
Dec 03 2007, 05:33 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. How much electricity does your computer use? Your refrigerator? Your washer and dryer? Do you know how to save money on water-heating costs? Michael Bluejay's Web-based guide to saving electricity answers these questions and more. Bluejay calls himself "Mr. Electricity," and the title is apt. He writes:
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Posted
Dec 03 2007, 06:46 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It takes courage to live your financial life in the open. That's why Boston Gal's Open Wallet likes MSN Money and New York Times columnist MP Dunleavey. What Boston Gal doesn't like is the decision by Dunleavey and her husband to buy their dream home at a much higher price than they had calculated they could afford. Dunleavey, leader of the Women in Red at MSN Money, wrote about her possible buyer's remorse in The New York Times. "You would think that someone who writes about money for a living would know how to draw a clear line between what’s affordable and what’s not. And I do," MP wrote. "The trouble is that I’m also capable of staring at that line for so long, in this light or that one, that the distinctions start to blur."
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