I am one of the cheapest people you will ever meet. I drive a 1999 Toyota Corolla with 126,000 miles on it (a car is a depreciating asset, why would I spend a lot of money on one?). A few weeks ago when I was at Disney World I carried around the same bottle of water all week and I brought food into the park to eat for lunch everyday (there was no way I was paying $4.00 for a bottle of water and $7....

Here are some mighty strong words: "The subprime lending debacle has caused the greatest loss of wealth to people of color in modern U.S. history." That is the conclusion of the lead author of a new report by United for a Fair Economy, Amaad Rivera, as quoted in an excellent article in the Christian Science Monitor. The report, says the paper, also concludes that "Black/African-American borrowers w...

Buy an Apartment Building Today? In today's turbulent financial markets many investors are looking for ways to grow their money that will offer a steady flow of predictable income and limited market risk. More and more people are buying apartment buildings to help diffuse the effects of inflation on their portfolios. Apartment buildings offer many exceptional advantages over traditional investments...

The Associated Press is reporting today that Wachovia Bank, the nation's fourth largest bank in terms of assets, will be shutting down it's mortgage lending division. "Wachovia Corp. lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, and said Tuesday it was slashing its dividend and cutting 6,350 jobs after losses tied to mortgages soared." In addition, "late Monday, Wachovia announced plans to leave the wh...

In his landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey calls the second habit: Begin With The End In Mind. Nowhere is that more true than in today's real estate market. When investing in real estate, the End in Mind is your exit strategy. Unless you just like to wander aimlessly down a highway, you know where your exit is before you get on the interstate. When entering into...