Buying And Selling: 200 Miles And Runnin'

200 entries later, and we're still chugging along. Thank you to all the readers, commenters, sellers, buyers, prognosticators, analysts, bulls, bears, pundits, and so on that make this a blog worth writing. No thanks to the flippers and speculators, of course. :)

I find I really enjoy the WSJ's Real Estate Journal for its simple, no frills, no-bull$&!t advice about buying and selling real estate. Today they have some useful advice for selling your home in a slow market. I don't agree with all of it, particularly the part of commuting four hours a day just to own a house that has more value. If I spent that much time driving back and forth to work, I'd forget what my kids looked like, let alone how much my house is worth. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Credit bureau TransUnion is developing a rental screening database to keep better track of deadbeats and the like. Stuff like this is going to become much more prevalent in the next few months, since rental prices are rising as people evacuate the housing market. Take it from me--one missed rental payment will haunt you as bad as any late mortgage payment...sometimes even worse. And let's not even get into the concept of these folks hoarding data on you without your consent.

On a happier note, the Consumer Federation of America has a great downloadable brochure (in PDF form) on how to determine what kind of investment package is right for you. It used to be that you could trust your broker, lender, agent, etc. to handle this for you, but in the "ownership society," you're expected to not only manage your own current finances, but your entire portfolio up till retirement and beyond. I'm all for consumer empowerment, but let's be real--just as there are people who simply should not be owning houses, there are people who can't manage their money without help or advice. Stuff like this is a great way to teach you what you need to know so that you can invest and buy without the fear of having the sheep shears come out for the fleecing.

Posted at June 15, 2006 11:25 AM

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200 entries later, and we're still chugging along. Thank you to all the readers, commenters, sellers, buyers, prognosticators, analysts, bulls, bears, pundits, and so on that make this a blog worth writing. No thanks to the flippers and speculators, of course. :) I find I really enjoy the WSJ's Real Estate Journal for its simple, no frills, no-bull$&!t advice about buying and selling real estate. Today they have some useful advice for selling your home in a slow market. I don't agree with all of it, particularly the part of commuting four hours a day just to own a house that has more value. If I spent that much time driving back and forth to work, I'd forget what my kids looked like, let alone how much my house is worth. Your mileage, as they say, may vary. Credit bureau TransUnion is developing a rental screening database to keep better track of deadbeats and the like. Stuff like this is going to become much more prevalent in the next few months, since rental prices are rising as people evacuate the housing market. Take it from me--one missed rental payment will haunt you as bad as any late mortgage payment...sometimes even worse. And let's not even get into the concept of these folks hoarding data on you without your consent. On a happier note, the Consumer Federation of America has a great downloadable brochure (in PDF form) on how to determine what kind of investment package is right for you. It used to be that you could trust your broker, lender, agent, etc. to handle this for you, but in the "ownership society," you're expected to not only manage your own current finances, but your entire portfolio up till retirement and beyond. I'm all for consumer empowerment, but let's be real--just as there are people who simply should not be owning houses, there are people who can't manage their money without help or advice. Stuff like this is a great way to teach you what you need to know so that you can invest and buy without the fear of having the sheep shears come out for the fleecing.