Archive View (April 2008)

Today I want to make investors aware of a well known tax break offered up by the IRS that allows them to depreciate their properties as they would any other fixed asset as a business owner. While it’s not a new concept, not all investors are aware of this and with the influx of new investors into the market, it’s important to bring this into light. The government, in its attempt at fair taxation, realizes that just like any other piece of capital equipment used in a business, a piece of investment property will wear out over time. They currently allow you to depreciate more...

Not that long ago, the leaders of AT&T announced that they were going to return 5,000 customer service jobs to the United States that they had outsourced to India. But now, two years later, the head of that top U.S. phone company says it’s having trouble finding enough skilled American workers to fill those positions. So far, not even one-third of the jobs have been returned to the United States out of the 5,000. The company still hopes to fill all those jobs here but it hasn’t been easy. In some U.S. communities, for example, the high school dropout rates is as high as more...

As an owner of an investment property, the question arises as to whether or not you should hire a property manager to help you. It’s an important decision and the answer can vary on a case-by-case basis for several reasons. I recommend that most “first-timers” go ahead and enlist the help of a property manager in the beginning so they can get a feel of what to expect from the monthly processes that encompass the task. You can learn a lot of ways to efficiently handle the marketing, leasing, billing & collections, repairs and most importantly of all, what rights you have in your more...

What do you think is more important: investing money in technology to solve the country’s energy problems or investing money in research to cure cancer and other diseases? That’s a tough one, isn’t it? If you’re like the majority of Americans, you think it’s more important to raise energy efficiency than it is to cure cancer. I’m not sure I agree with them. Of course, the results of this nationwide survey come as gas prices are well over $3 a gallon and continue to rocket to new highs, so it makes sense that breakthroughs in the development of alternative fuels would be high more...

Have you noticed the ridiculous price of diesel fuel lately? It’s more than $4/ gallon at my gas station and I am frankly baffled as to why. It is cheaper to manufacture than any of the other grades of auto gasoline and I am predicting additional potentially severe macroeconomic effects this will have on the goods we buy.  At first glance you may not pay attention to the price tag but I assure you, it is affecting you more than you realize. The reason is because of how our goods are distributed. We know all those big trucks carry the vital consumer commodities necessary to sustain more...

I never like to assume that consumers know the best strategies when it comes to structuring their real estate holdings, so when publishing a generic blog article I will assume that my readers have no knowledge. It’s no news flash that one can itemize expenses associated with owning a second home such as interest, taxes, PMI etc.  There are a few gray areas, however, that the IRS wants to be sure you are clear of before filing that return. Are you perfectly clear on what is considered a second home and what is an investment property? If you have tenants renting this property for a more...

One thing that has come from the economic downturn of late is the need for viable housing options for those consumers with damaged credit and who may have recently lost their homes to foreclosure. In my market area, I see plenty of this and have been unfortunately declining many loan applications due to credit and lack of available loan programs for these types of customers.    As a real estate investor, I think this is a wonderful recipe for success. Where are all of the people going to live who were formerly candidates to buy and now are forced to continue to lease for another more...

Have you ever been fired? No one likes to think about it but, unfortunately, with today’s economy and faltering job market, it certainly can be a strong possibility for anyone in any field. I’m not sure why - I guess it’s because they always see me firing people on “The Apprentice” - but people often ask my advice about what they should do if they lose their job. I say look at it as an opportunity. When you lose a job, it’s a great time to reevaluate your career and decide if you really were doing what you loved in the first place. If more...

I recently read a “special report” published by the Tax Association boastfully declaring April 23rd as the official date that most will have earned enough income to pay their share of all necessary federal, state and local taxes. The study shows that due to the expected impacts of the economic stimulus package, this date has been moved up by three days after having moved later each of the last four years.  Well isn’t that profound?  Who would have thought that the government returning billions of dollars to its rightful owners would shorten the number of days that tax-payers would need to work to contribute? While more...

Even with the bad economy and weak job growth, there are still several fields that will survive - and possibly even thrive - during hard times. The analysts at CareerBuilder.com say that at least five industries keep expanding their hiring so if you’re looking for a job, here are some that are relatively recession-proof. First is education. No matter what happens to the economy, schools will always need great skilled teachers and administrators. The energy industry will also continue to grow. There will be plenty of jobs related to alternative and renewable energy, as well as oil, gas, and even nuclear energy. With so many more...

I consider myself an extreme advocate for the first time homebuyer. After all in my businesses, they are the ones who need the most representation. While a nice chunk of my business comes from repeat customers and high-end clients, I always take the time to help out the first-timer because I have an affinity for educating consumers. When I get the phone call, it usually goes like this....”I know you usually work with much bigger deals than mine, but I heard you could help me or at least refer me to someone who works with first time buyers.”  My response to this is “I really more...

So many people complain about what we’re doing to the environment. Well, here’s at least one chance where people - specifically car manufacturers -- can get paid to do something about it. The Automotive X Prize is a $10 million contest aimed at promoting the creation of cars that get somewhere around 100 miles per gallon while also meeting good standards for low greenhouse-gas emissions, safety, and affordability. In other words, these cars have to be super-efficient and people have to be able to afford them. The contest organizers point out that years and years ago the Ford Model T got 25 miles more...

It’s a well known fact that most Americans invest their money in American-based companies and securities rather than looking to do so abroad.  In part, this is due to a lack of knowledge about how to go about doing so and what the risk/rewards are. The purpose of this writing is to bring about awareness to a strategy being used successfully by many US investors (but not nearly enough). This type of investing can act as a nice insurance policy against the falling value of the US dollar and provide a quality return-on-investment with very little risk.  In buying foreign bonds, you are investing in more...

With the current state of the market, everyone keeps asking me what to do with their money. My biggest advice is to do nothing if you can. If you don’t need money from your investments over the next couple of years, then don’t sell anything right now. Sit tight and wait it out. If you leave every time things get bad, you miss the point of owning stocks in the first place. The market goes up and it goes down. Right now it’s not looking very pretty, but it’ll get better. The point is to ride out the bad times so you more...

Ever notice how when you turn on the news, you usually get the bad news first. They first have to tell you all about the murders, burglaries and tornadoes. Then, if there is time, they will throw in a “feel good” story at the end to try to leave you with a positive taste in your mouth.  The same can be said about how the media is portraying the current real estate investing markets across the country. You can’t turn on a television or pick up a newspaper without being inundated with the reports about how terrible the market is. I believe this is occurring because more...

I know way too many people who spend way too much time with email. And I know that too many businesses lose money when employees waste time sending and responding to email. In addition, when people spend so much time and energy communicating via email, they lose the personal connection of face-to-face communication. That’s why a company in metro Atlanta has introduced “no e-mail Fridays.” The CEO of PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services wrote this business plan because he thought that an overdependence on email was hurting productivity and even sales. Some employees receive at least 250 emails each day. There was a lot of more...

Today I got to hear Fed Reserve chairman Bernanke tell Congress the hard truth about our economy and the direction things could be heading. With GNP being virtually flat and consumer confidence at tremendously low levels, that lovely 3 syllable word called “recession” was uttered as a distinct possibility as to what could be in store. The definition of a recession is two or more consecutive quarters of zero to negative economic growth and I think we just banked the first one.  Bernanke further explained that until the effects of the economic stimulus package could be felt and measured, we could possibly have a more...

So you are one of the millions of people in America who has real estate for sale and you haven’t yet found an agent with any fresh ideas to help get your property sold. Keep looking because there is more to selling a home than posting the home on the local real estate association’s website and sticking a sign in the yard. You have to be different...STAND OUT in the crowd given just about every economist is skating around saying we are already in a recession.  Sure, there are more databases you can list with, expensive ads you can run and commission bonuses you more...