SINCE JANUARY 2000, THE AVERAGE RETURNS FOR THE FOLLOWING MARKET INDICES HAVE BEEN:
DJIA: +0.894%
NASDAQ: -4.894%
S&P 500: -0.799%
S&P/CASE-SHILLER HOME PRICE INDEX: +7.964%
JUST FYI
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With the wild ride that banking institutions and insurance companies have been on lately, you might wonder how safe is your money? You can check out a bank’s FDIC insurance status by going to the FDIC’s Bank Find tool and typing in the name of the bank. You have a $100,000 FDIC limit for single accounts, $100,000 for your share of joint accounts, and up to $250,000 for certain types of retirement accounts, including IRAs. For example, if you have an individual account, a joint account and an IRA at one bank, you’ll get $100,000 of FDIC coverage for each one of those accounts. You can estimate your coverage limits at the FDIC’s electronic deposit insurance estimator. For more information, see the FDIC’s to to http://www.fdic.gov/index.html . One reason you might not recognize many of the names on the top of the interest-rate list is because many of the banks offering the best money-market rates now are Internet-only banks. They’re often able to offer such high rates because they don’t have the overhead of bank branches. Some have names you’ll recognize, such as huge insurance company MetLife, which now has an Internet-only bank. And ING, whose Orange Account is always near the top of the interest-rate list, is a giant international insurance company. For a list of the top-yielding money-market accounts from the Kiplinger Report that could be available in your area — and top yields on other types of accounts – click here Yields & Rates page.
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Here are the steps to take to get your property taxes reduced on the basis of the decline in market value:1. Search Yahoo! or Google to find the Web site for your county tax assessor’s office or tax collector’s office.2. Go to the Forms section and look for a form with the words “reassessment request” or “decline in market value.” If you can’t find it, give the office a ring and ask them to fax, mail or e-mail the form to you.3. Usually the request will ask you for (a) an estimate of the current market value of your home and (b) a list of recent, comparable sales in your neighborhood supporting that estimate of value. Keep in mind that you are trying to make the case that your property value is significantly lower now than when you bought it — so list legitimate comparable sales that support that argument, or you are wasting your time! In other words, don’t list the cutest, best, highest-priced homes — use homes that are similar and close to yours (within 1/2 mile to 1 mile, if possible) that sold in the lower price range in which you are asking the assessor to reassess your home.4. Sign it and mail it! Allow several weeks, then call and check on the progress of your request. If it’s accepted, you’re golden. If it’s denied, there will be a more formal application and appeals process available to you, and you can decide at that time whether it makes sense to undertake that.
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In the wake of the seemingly endless articles on the “state of our current national credit crisis” and our presently challenged local real estate market, it was refreshing to read some good news this week. The New York Times, the front page of the metro section of the Oregonian (Friday 08/29) and some online sources all seem to have “some folks in the know” willing to predict a turn-around in the real estate market by Spring to mid-2009!!! Then Forbes.com put Portland as #4 of their 10 cities “Where Home Prices are Likely to Rise”!! I know that seems a ways off if you must sell right now, but in the scope of things (especially considering that our local market has never suffered like many markets across the nation) that’s not far away. It might be time to purchase that investment property or 2nd home? Here’s the link to the Forbes article:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/25/housing-prices-rising-forbeslife-cx_mw_0825realestate_slide_3.html?partner=email
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Janeese Jackson
Bill Norris
