Top Ten Least Afordable Places To Live

According to a new report, greater Los Angeles ranks as the least affordable metro area in the country.

In fact, the report by the California Building Industry Association found that nineteen of the top twenty least affordable metropolitan areas are located in California.

The report is sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank. Called the Housing Opportunity Index, the report calculates the percentage of homes sold in an area during a three-month period that were affordable to a family earning the median income for the region.

Greater Los Angeles, which includes Long Beach and Glendale, was the least affordable area studied, with only a 1.9% affordability.

Greater Orange County was second, with every single spot in the top 10 located in California.

Metropolitan New York City was the only non-California city, ranking at number 11.

Only 57% of Californians own their own homes. The national average for home ownership is 70%.

Nationwide, the affordability index stands at 40.6%. This means that only 40.6% of households with median incomes are able to afford the median home in the area.

The top ten least affordable metro areas in the US in the second quarter of 2006 were:

Los Angeles/Long Beach/Glendale -- 1.9

Santa Ana/Anaheim/Irvine -- 3.2

Salinas -- 3.5

Merced -- 3.6

Modesto -- 4.1

San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos -- 4.6

Santa Cruz/Watsonville -- 4.8

Santa Barbara/Santa Maria -- 5.3

Napa -- 5.4

San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles -- 5.9

Martin Lukac represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate and mortgage rates. We specialize in daily updates, mortgage news, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!

How to Help a Buyer Feel They Already Own Your House

Want to sell your home fast for top dollar? Let the Big Time Life Coaches Help You Sell Your House.

You have probably heard of Lifestyle coaches like Anthony Robbins and John Kehoe. They have helped tens of thousands of people reach their goals, and they all stress one major Key Point; when you want something, you have to act within the psychological law that in order to obtain something you have first to believe that you have it (you really own it in your subconscious) and act as though you have it. This is recognized as 'the mind game that works' and the lifestyle gurus are in total agreement that, ultimately, this is the ONLY strategy that works.

So how do we apply this law to selling your house?

Firstly, of course, you accept into your own mind that the house is sold. Not 'on the market'. Not 'will soon sell'. Not 'will sell next week'. SOLD. One way we do this is to take a picture of our house and put a big, bold 'SOLD' sign across it. We let the SOLD idea permeate our thoughts.

But how can we apply this same psychological law to your prospective buyer? Can you get a stranger who walks into your home to start imagining that they live there? If you can, you stand a way-above-average chance if selling your home fast for top dollar.

You can start by putting yourself in the buyer's shoes.

What does your house look like from the nearest kerbside? Will the buyer really want to walk up to your front door? Would more flowers help to draw them? Does the front porch and door look attractive, cared for and welcoming?

Now, (s)he is at the front door. Assuming an appointment has been made, the door will be open, and you will be hovering. You welcome him/her/them by name as you GO OUT OF THE DOOR. If this house belonged to them, they would not expect someone else to precede them through the door, so you get out of the way and let them go first. (If you are selling through an agent, make it clear that this procedure is to be followed. Many agents are not the experts they would have you believe.) In fact, the more time the buyer can safely spend on their own in the house, the better. As they go through the front door, their first, crucial decision is made. If that decision is 'yes' then it is so much easier for the following decisions to match the pattern.

You will have gathered by now that you are not going about this process in the same way that an agent would, so if you are using one you may need to give them a little re-education. And because it is so different from the way they are used to doing things, they could get huffy and start telling you that you should just leave it to their expertise. Be strong!

You are aiming to keep these potential buyers in their new house much longer than an agent would spend, and you will use every effort to make sure they do. Give them plenty of time to look around the property on their own, but when you get the opportunity get them chatting. Find out exactly what they are looking for and point out those parts of the house that match their needs. Ask questions, especially those that will get a 'yes' answer! (Did you know you can set up a habit of 'yes' if you go about it in this way?

That can be very useful when you get to that final 'YES'!) Ask about family; do you need to put more emphasis on the kindergarten or the retirement village where their mother is going to be living? More on the football stadium or the library? Golf course or movie theater? Offer coffee. Offer cookies (the baked kind, not the computer sort!) to the kids.

You already know that your home should be totally uncluttered. (If you haven't read my dedicated article on decluttering, read it without fail (http://EzineArticles.com/?id=258606) but it is useful if you can set up a conversation piece in each room - something that could catch the buyers' attention and hold them there for that extra minute.

If you can make your buyers feel comfortable for as long as fifteen minutes, and if you can build a fantasy in their minds that this is a comfortable haven and a great place to feel at home, they will want to live there, and the signature is virtually in the bag. Sign 'em up!

Len Taylor is the Managing Director of KeyPoint Services Ltd, a company set up to help people buy and sell property to their best advantage. http://www.keypointservices.co.nz

Tucson Commercial Real Estate

There are thousands of Tucson commercial real estate properties, and you will surely find the right office or retail space, or commercial land you are looking for if you know where and when to look. Here are some pointers.

Online Tucson commercial property finders

There are a lot of helpful web resources that allow you to search by specific area, and allow you to specify whether you are looking to lease or buy, the number of square feet you need, the price range you can afford, and even your reason for buying. Most sites are owned by Tucson real estate agencies and brokerage companies, and they usually provide this service free of charge. Some sites require you to at least register before letting you access the property finder portals, though. The registration forms are fairly short - it will probably take you less than 30 seconds to complete them. Be careful about giving your email address though, because the site may start sending you unsolicited Tucson real estate news.

Perfect timing

The most optimum time for purchasing commercial property in Tucson is when the prices are low. This usually happens the properties listed outnumber the buyers. Expect that you will be able to haggle during such periods. Given the booming commercial real estate industry in Tucson, though, you may not get the lowest prices. Most sellers - especially those who bought the properties as investments - mark up about 20 percent or more.

How do you get the commercial property you want without breaking the bank? Find a good Tucson real estate agent. The key is not just to find the cheap deals - more importantly, you need to find it fast, ahead of other aggressive buyers. Choose a real estate agent that get you do the latest listings earlier and you already have a clear advantage.

To save on money, you can also look into for sale by owner Tucson commercial properties. This lets you are the seller cut through the middleman and negotiate your own terms. This arrangement can potentially save you thousands of dollars, but it can also cost you more if you have no background in real estate. The property may turn out to be overpriced, and without a qualified Tucson real estate agent who is well-versed in Tucson zoning and current commercial estate market rates, you will never know this until you have already paid.

Tucson Real Estate provides detailed information on Tucson Real Estate, Tucson Real Estate Agents, Tucson Residential Real Estate, Tucson Commercial Real Estate and more. Tucson Real Estate is affiliated with Scottsdale Arizona Real Estate Agent.

Real Estate Investing: No Lawyers No Debt No Plungers

Real Estate investing is not nearly as legally complicated, financially burdensome, or time consuming as you might think. In fact, it is easy to add raw land, shopping centers, apartment complexes, and private homes to your portfolio without Brokers, Bankers, Attorneys, and a Rolodex full of maintenance professionals' phone numbers. Even better, you can blend your Real Estate investments into your security portfolio for ease of management, income monitoring, diversification analysis, etc. Without having mega millions to work with, or a line of credit that goes around the block, you can have positions in various forms of Real Estate (Commercial, Industrial, Residential) at the same time, and focus either on Growth Opportunities, Income Production, or a combination of the two.

If you thought that Real Estate was out of your investment reach because of limited funds, or minimal personal experience, you were selling yourself short. All of the basic types of Real Estate Investing are available through CEFs (Closed End Funds) and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), and both can be purchased in the same manner as any common stock. And for me, this has always been their (CEFs and REITs) single most attractive feature! You can own a piece of the action without the big commitment of time and resources. You can take advantage of changes in the Real Estate Market Cycle in precisely the same manner as you can deal with the volatility and fluctuations in the Stock and Fixed Income Markets.

Real Estate CEFs and REITs are obviously safer investments than outright purchases of Shopping Centers and Apartment Complexes. They are also somewhat less risky than owning the common stock of individual Real Estate companies. The size of the numbers may be less exciting, but the net income and capital gains potential are comparable and the turnover rate much more impressive. Both methods (of participation in the Real Estate market) should be considered as you add to your investment portfolio? but to which Asset Allocation bucket? I've always included REITs and Real Estate CEFs in the Fixed Income bucket while the common stock of a plain vanilla Real Estate Company would properly fit within the Equity portion. When adding Equities of any kind to your portfolio, you should avoid the standard Mob Popularity and Greed model and select only S & P, B+ or better, rated stocks that pay dividends (regardless of size) and that are priced at least 20% below their 52 week high. After a huge rally in any market, I would be even more selective than that from a percentage standpoint, and I would buy about one-half the normal position to facilitate average cost reduction later. You must establish a reasonable profit-taking target on any investment. Real Estate is no exception. No matter what the investment, Virginia, the longer and stronger the rally, the steeper and faster the correction is likely to be.

On the Income side of the portfolio, make sure that you look at a lot of REITs and even more CEFs of various kinds to get a feel for the levels of income they produce. REITs must pay out a certain percentage of their earnings, but CEFs may not have the same restriction. I believe that either can be leveraged, which simply means that management may choose to borrow some of the money that they invest. Leverage is not a four-letter word when used properly, and (in my opinion) it is more likely to help your results than it is to hurt them. It's always a good practice to stay within the normal income range, assuming that there is either a risk or a management reason for the highest and lowest yields, respectively. Be careful not to create a poorly diversified income portfolio. Bonds, Preferred Stocks, Mortgages, etc. deserve your attention as well and should be represented. Monthly income is available and more attractive than any other.

The major distinction between the two types of investing needs some re-emphasis. When purchasing stock in a Real Estate company (or any other company), your main objective should be to sell the stock for a reasonable profit as quickly as possible. You will then select some other stock and repeat the process. It is likely that you will return to the same companies over and over again, and you are the manager? any dividend income is gravy. When purchasing a REIT or a Real Estate CEF, you are depending on the managers of these entities to generate income and capital gains and to pass it on to you every month, recognizing that the actual amount may vary slightly over time. You have the bonus capability either of selling the REIT or CEF shares when they rise to an acceptable profit level (more gravy), or of buying more shares to increase your income level. The distinctions (benefits?) of this form of Real Estate Investing vs. ownership of the properties themselves should be clear as well. No attorneys; no debt; no maintenance; no problem.

Steve Selengut
http://www.sancoservices.com
http://www.valuestockbuylistprogram.com
Professional Portfolio Management since 1979
Author of: The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read, and A Millionaire's Secret Investment Strategy