An Easy Savings Account to Make More Money

3.5% APY Savings Account

I thought that I would let you all know that I just "stumbled" upon a savings account called Dollar Savings Direct, a division on Emigrant Direct Bank who I have banked with for years. Dollar Savings Direct offers a savings rate of 3.5% APY which is pretty dang good in this economy. Compare that with your current savings account and I bet that you're beating it's rate by about 3% on average.

The only requirement is that you keep a $1,000 minimum in the account in order to receive the 3.5% rate. If you're account goes below $1,000 then you will only earn 1% on your money until it is back above $1,000.
Don't forget that Emigrant Direct Bank is still a great place to earn 2.4% APY on your savings with no minimum balance requirement. Both banks allow you to link your savings account to your checking account and both are FDIC insured. You can take a look at both of their sites for more information. Save away!

Account Highlights

• Open your account online. It's quick and easy.
• No Fees. $1,000 account balance minimum.
• No need to change your checking account. Your Dollar Savings Account™ will be linked to your current checking account.
• Access your account 24/7 at DollarSavingsDirect.com.

Home Sales Increase in West

The western U.S. region, including Colorado, was the only area of the country to have an increase in sales of existing homes — nearly 18 percent — from November 2007 to the same month this year, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday.

Median selling price of homes in the West, though, had the biggest regional decrease — nearly 26 percent — supporting Colorado real estate experts’ contention that homes in the state finally are priced to sell.

Nationwide existing-home sales, or those of homes that have been sold at least once before, fell 10.6 percent last month to 4.49 million units from 5.02 million in November 2007. Sales were down 8.6 percent from 4.91 million units in October of this year.

Home sales traditionally drop in the fall and winter months, but pick back up in spring and summer.

Median selling price for homes nationwide decreased 13.2 percent to $181,300 in November from $208,800 for the same month of 2007. Median is the middle price between the highest and lowest selling prices, and is considered a truer price than average because it’s not skewed by the highest and lowest prices.

Types of homes in the NAR study included single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes and co-ops.

By comparison, existing home sales in the West increased 17.9 percent to 1.12 million in November year over year. Sales decreased only 4.3 percent from October of this year.

The median selling price of a home in the West dropped 25.5 percent to $242,500 from the same month last year.

NAR would like to see the federal government help stimulate homebuying by offering first-time buyers tax credits and making the higher loan limits vital in high-cost markets permanent. The trade group also would like to see Congress and the Obama administration help make short sales easier and “unclog the mortgage pipeline.”

“It is imperative to provide incentives for homebuyers to get back into the market,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

Yun also said NAR hopes the impact on home sales from the stock market crash will be short-lived, as in 1987 and 2001.

Denver Business Journal 12/23/08

A Great Website for Financial Information

Check out www.bankrate.com for excellent information on money, finance, and everything that comes with it!

Denver Real Estate In This Economy

You may have asked yourself once or twice about what is happening with the local real estate market? With layoffs and downturn what should I do or plan for? Here are a few things to take into consideration:
1. Create a comfortable financial reserve cushion of 3 to 6 months of living expenses.
2. Things, most likely, will get better from here so improving your home might not be a bad idea if you have the available funds.
3. Consider refinancing your mortgage. Rates are very low right now and Sean at Platte River Mortgage can help you figure out if it makes sense or not. You can reach Sean at 303.433.9902.
4. This may be a shameless plug, but consider buying more real estate. One of my favorite Warren Buffet quotes is, "Be fearful when everyone else is greedy and greedy when everyone else is fearful."
5. You may be suprised to find out that your house is still gaining value despite the struggling economy. It differs from area to area, but I've had a few clients refinance and their appraisals came in decently higher than what they had purchased the home for 6 months to a year earlier.