After a long absence I am glad to say that I have finally returned to blogging and Smarter Spend. The finally touches of my move to Arizona were finally completed and I will be posting regularly.

I have read some quality articles from around the blogosphere and my favorite financial bloggers to get back on track on what’s going on in cyberspace, the financial world, and more. I also got a new subscription to the Wall Street Journal so I can find some exciting content to write about.

Upcoming articles will include a special World Cup financial article, a summer US real estate article, and more.

Finally, I am proud to say that with the help of my readers, I have been nominated and received an award (in absentia, but nonetheless, a great result).

Check out the Badge here and other great websites that won awards. They have some great reads.

See you guys around!

First of all…. Happy Memorial Day! I have been receiving a few e-mails a day asking me if I had disappeared and if my site had gone inactive. The answer is no. I just wanted to let everyone know that I am moving (from CA to AZ) and have been up to my neck in work, remodeling, and getting everything together. Buying, fixing, and furnishing a new house took a lot of effort. The new house doesn’t even have Internet yet

I do have some great articles lined up for when I will start writing again (next Friday or Saturday). SmarterSpend readers please hang in there for a few more days during this important period of my life. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me! I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Have a great long weekend,

Kevin

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that I am starting Pharmacy School in June in Phoenix, Arizona (actually Glendale, a suburb of the Phoenix). The process of moving out has led me to purchasing a foreclosed house 3 miles from my school. I am currently in escrow and the house will be mine on May 25th.

The process of searching for homes, interacting with real estate agents on both sides, and the entire process has allowed me to gain valuable experience that I can share with you.

1. Don’t Limit Your Options, Stay Flexible about What you want.

When I started house hunting, I had limited myself to a small radius around the university. When I told real estate agents to find me a house, I told them I wanted a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house over 1,500 square feet and a lot over 7,000. The semi-experienced real estate agent found a few houses that fit my requirements, but none in my price range or condition.

It was not until I accidentally saw a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom house during one of my house visits that I considered the possibility of getting a larger 2 bedroom house. The next day, my agent found another 5 or 6 houses that fit my description. The last one we saw was the house I purchased- a gorgeous 2 bed 2 bathroom larger than most 3 bedrooms and in better condition than anything I had seen before.

I probably wouldn’t have found a house if I had kept my conditions limited. My agent, who probably isn’t that great, never gave me the idea to decrease my requirements and consider other options.

2. The Banks might be huge corporations, but they will negotiate with you.

The house I purchased was a foreclosure- which a lot of homes nowadays are. There are tens of thousands of foreclosures per bank and its a buyers market- if you have the cash. If you’re buying one of these bank owned properties, you will be dealing directly with the bank’s agents. They might try to coerce you into buying the house for the listed house and above, saying things like, “We are getting lots of offers on this house” or “The bank never budges on its price.”

Always remember that these agents make commission from selling you the house and the more you pay, the more cash they get. Banks are always negotiable. If the house your buying is listed at $200,000, make an offer for $175,000. If they think your offer is reasonable, they will counteroffer, something like $192,000. You can either accept (save $8k) or try to budge the price further.

An honest agent will tell you how much is a reasonable price, so your initial offer doesn’t get refused.

3. Do your OWN research, check Redfin, Trulia, Movoto, Zillow.

The last thing you want to do is overpay, buy the wrong house, or buy a house in a deteriorating neighborhood.

The Internet is full of tons of resources that can help you make your own decisions. Check price trends in the neighborhood your buying your house, similar sales, price per square foot, online appraisals, and anything else you can find.

Don’t let real estate agents trick you into overpaying or quickly closing a deal. Make an informed decision by comparing your findings with their words.

4. Ask for a Preliminary Title Report

All real estate agencies have access to preliminary title reports for any house on the market. These title reports have lien information regarding your house. If you aren’t given one, make sure you find another house or another agent.

If your property has a lien against it, you might be caught with your pockets empty. A lot of houses have mechanic liens- which means the previous owner didn’t pay the mechanic for work done on the house. Mechanic liens are a type of senior liens that don’t get removed with the change of ownership (bank loans do).

Guess who has to pay in this case? You. If you want a clean title.

5. Hire your own inspector, don’t rely on an inspector referred by your real estate agent.

This might not be that obvious, considering that your real estate agent might know the best inspectors, but finding an inspector on your own is not that hard.

An inspector referred by your agent might have some kind of partnership going on with the agency. This means they could overlook some house flaws in order to sell the house to you. The agent will pay off the inspector or give them more commission/leads with the condition that they try to make the property seem better than it is.

You might be buying a great house- but be certain that’s what it is before you spend all your money.

These are a few of the things I learned in my recent home buying experience. Have you recently bought a house? Do you have any experience you want to share?

Join the discussion! Comment below.

—————————————————————————-

Most Rich People Share a Few Common Traits

There are several qualities that are shared by almost everyone who has “succeeded” in their career or hobby. Most of these skills can be acquired by everyone and must be closely followed. If you have ever wondered about the answer to the following questions, this article is for you:

What makes rich people “rich”?

What separated winners from losers?

1. Passion

You gotta love what you do! If you don’t enjoy and derive passion from what you do, the chances are you are not going to do a good job at it. So when you pick a profession or a job, think of what you love to do and not how much money you’re gonna make by doing it. Think of how fun it is to get paid for something you already love doing.

2. Creativity
Use your passion and think of new and unique ideas.

Before you even start thinking of any ideas, put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. No matter what it is that you are trying to create, always remember to ask yourself the question “What is it that I wish I could buy, read, watch, etc. ?”

3. Follow your instincts
Your instincts almost never lie to you. They are given to people, in order to guide them in decision making. So if your instinct tells you that buying a piece of real estate is a good idea, the chances are that it is. So believe in your basic instincts.

Sometimes, people have great ideas but are scared of the risk. Successful people always take good risks, while others always think about what they could have done. Never put yourself in that situation.

4. Risk Factor
Everyone has a gut feeling or an instinct that tells them what to do, but whether they listen to their instincts and go along with it, is called “risk taking.”

Risk taking is a critical factor in succeeding. There are many people who have great ideas but very few of them act upon those ideas. And almost no one has ever reached the top without taking some sort of a risk. Think of Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. They put their passions above the normal lifestyle, above education, and became the richest in the world.

5. Create your own luck
Some people are just born luckier than others. It is not fair, but that’s the way of life. However, a lot of the unlucky people who were born into poverty and encountered many obstacles, still managed to succeed and make it big in this unfair world. The reason why these people succeeded is because they didn’t let their luck decide their destiny. They worked extra hard and went after their dreams.

6. Persistence
Don’t let anything or anyone get in the way of your goals. 99.9% of all rich people have failed at one point of their career. You must always remember that failing is part of the learning process. When your fail, use that to your advantage and learn from it, to make sure you never repeat that mistake again.

And Finally….

7) BELIEVE in Yourself

The most important step to success is learning how to love and believe in “you”. If you have ever paid attention during any game, people who let the opponent know about their confidence regarding that game, it always betters their chances of winning. There are many psychological reasons to why this happens, but the fact is that it does happen and it also happens in real life.

So no matter what your goals are, you have to believe that you are going to get on top of your game. You need to get rid of all of your insecurities, you have to stop caring about what other people think and most importantly let people know how much you value yourself.

Let’s face it guys – the economy is not really recovering. Sure, Dow Jones was up for like 9 straight weeks (before yesterday’s selling Bonanza) and some economic indicators were pointing to recovery, but has there really been a change in consumer spending, unemployment and easing of credit? The answer is a loud no.

In this article, I will prove to you that no matter what you hear – we are still in a recession and have not started to recover. Usual economic graphs would have a bottom. In this case, our bottom is a plateau. The same is true around the world. There is way too much uncertainty, risk factors, and negative reports to leave any hope of recovering from the worldwide economic downturn.

Here are my 4 real reasons that the economy sucks and won’t begin to show improvement until 2011 (at the minimum):

1) One word: Europe

By now, most countries in Europe are plagued with high unemployment, national debt, and budget deficits. Problems in Greece combined with the possibility of Greek like problems drove the Dow Jones to record drops today. Investors fear that the bailout won’t help Greece and that other countries – namely Portugal, Spain, and Ireland might face similar problems in the very near future. Credit downgrades have already made it hard for these countries to find much needed cash.

Look at this Newsweek image for an economic outlook in Europe:

Why Europe is In Trouble

Clearly, something is going on with the continent. Individual countries besides the UK, France, and Germany simply do not have the extensive GDP’s and purchasing power to bailout themselves similarly to the USA and China, relying on help from international organizations. However, if there is a domino effect of defaulting countries, we might be in for a double dip recession or even, a worldwide depression

2) Unemployment has remained stagnant worldwide and employers are not hiring.

One of the last stats I read really proved to me that employers are uncertain about hiring and workers are still out of jobs:

“80% of people unemployed in Summer 2009 still have not found a job.”

Unemployment is still hovering around 9.2-9.4% and underemployment around 16.5%.

3) Consumer spending is barely up, if at all.

Every month or quarter, I read a report that consumer spending is up by a small single digit percentage compared to this time last year. At first glance, this is great news and investors often buy up tons of stocks in a frenzy (especially in the consumer goods sector) when this news is released. This is all great, except for one thing: consumer spending was at record low levels in 2008 and 2009 – why are we delighted at single digit increases? It’s kinda like jumping in joy that the government of Bhutan recorded a 22% increase in 2008. With such low comparisons, double digit increases must be the only sign of recovery.

Add it up - are we still anywhere near 2007 levels? Not at all.

4) The Stock Market is in Shambles and the Feds might make big changes to how trading is done.

After 9 great weeks, one of the largest selloffs took place this week, capping off on Thursday with the Dow Jones dropping by over 1,000 points (~10%) one and a half hours before closing. Fortunately, some gains were made after that point and the Dow Jones closed losing only 347.80 points (3%) in the worst day since February 2009.

Now, why would there be a day so bad if the economy was really recovering? Surely, this didn’t happen in other recovery periods. One reason: the economy is not recovering. We are very volatile and won’t maintain steady growth for another 6 months. All signs point to volatility. For example, Ford, one of the companies that I invest in, reported all kinds of positive signs (less debt, more profit, more sales, etc) this past month, but shares fell rapidly.

What I’m trying to say with this post is simple: be careful with your money. We are still in a recession and your hard earned dollars should be kept in close and trustworthy investment options. Don’t squander away your earnings.

Last week, two highly publicized events occurred in the United States that could shake the foundations of the limping economy. The first one, the passage of the Arizona immigration bill, has already led to boycotts and broken agreements. The second, an oil spill of epic proportions in the Gulf of Mexico by the huge British Petroleum oil corporation, is becoming one of the worst man made environmental disasters of all time.

We will skip all the political and environmental ramifications and concentrate on the effects on the economy.

I. The Effects of the Immigration Law on the Economy are Exaggerated.

Most people know that there have already been attempts to start boycotts against Arizona because of the passage of the immigration law. Furthermore, the Mexican government and many NGO’s have told travelers to stay away from Arizona – a state that attracts 15 million tourists a year. Also, people have begun boycotting Arizona Diamondback (a baseball team) games because one of the board members of the team supports the law, which I think is foolish, because the entire team is placed in limbo because of the individual actions of one man.

However, the two most significant actions that have yet to be realized are a possible breakup of business contracts by the city of Los Angeles (which does over $10 million in business with Arizona a year) and a similar action by California. I feel like the media has emphasized this a lot because it can really leave a crater in Arizona – which is home to one of the highest percentage of foreclosed homes in the nation.

Now, I feel like the threats from Los Angeles/ California will never be realized for one simple reason. LA’s budget deficit is very high and its already becoming hard for the city to accept loans due to its bad credit rating. The same story holds for California, which can’t afford to lose business to anyone. Will a Republican governor ever endorse a bill that means losses for businesses and contractors? Never.

There might be some pockets of boycotting against Arizona, but its going to be very hard (and probably unconstitutional) to end state contracts due a legal clause. It will get even harder if the Supreme Court upholds the legality of the law in the coming months. Will this be enough to affect Arizona? Maybe… but only because anything can effect Arizona at the moment.

II. How about the Oil Spill off the Gulf of Mexico in previously pristine waters?

The British Petroleum Oil Spill is a nightmare for everyone and could lead to a huge uproar against both the private and federal emergency efforts. As of today, the spill has a land area the size of Puerto Rico, in an area of the country where the fishing industry dominates the economy.

In the short term, crude oil prices have been hovering at a recent high of $86 per barrel because of investor fear of the ramifications that BP will have to face in the coming months as the publicized disaster chips away at the hearts of conservationists and environmentalists.

In the long term, the fishing industry is going to take a long time to recover. It might be a year or two before all the oil is cleared away and the fish begun to return to damaged areas. Fisherman, who pay a lot of taxes in the Gulf Coastal area, are going to be jobless and will stop being productive consumers and taxpayers until they can find new jobs or return to fishing. All in all, the carelessness of a giant company is not only going to hurt the marine ecology, but the economy of the country it relies on for off shore drilling.

Hopefully, the beauty of the coastal regions and wetlands can be restored.

Buying a house means that you might be risking years and years of hard earned money and possibly putting yourself into debt that could take decades to pay off. There are lots of factors to take into consideration before you make your purchase in order to ensure you have a pleasant experience and come out financially healthy.

The rules are different if you are buying a house as an investment property than if you’re buying to live in it. In this article I will share some of the important things to consider about the property in question before you sign the contract and change your financial future.

1. How much was the home last sold for- Was it sold before the recession? I’ve noticed that nowadays, most houses at their 2001- 2002 price levels. If the house you are looking to purchase has not been reduced substantially (25 – 30%) from its 2005 – 2006 levels, you could be overpaying.

2. Identify the conservative estimates on the home value – Fortunately, you don’t have to hire an appraiser to do this. Zillow and eAppraisal are great websites which take into tons of factors to give you a price range. Don’t look at their estimate, but rather the lowest value possible in order to stay on the safe side.

3. How much are you paying for square foot of living space? The price per square foot is one of the most important factors you must consider when purchasing a house. You can easily find the average price per sq. foot in the same zip code or for similar houses in the area on Redfin and Trulia. Always aim to be on the lower end, especially if there is work to do on the house.

4. Are you buying a flipper? A “flipper” is a home purchased by an investment company or an individual with the sole purpose of making a profit on it. These houses are purchased as a foreclosure or a short sale, slightly renovated, and sold for a much higher price. Flippers are easy to identify – they almost always have fresh paint and new carpets, two of the cheapest ways to breath cosmetic life into a house. Also common in flippers are large mirrors, painted counter tops, painted doors. Remember, investment companies try to make the house look as new as possible while spending the least amount of money. Stay away from these because you don’t really know whats on the inside.

5. Leaky roof? Squeaky floors? Be sure to hire someone to check for mold. – You can always place an offer on a house without knowing the mold situation as almost all contracts allow you to rescind offers if it fails an inspection. Mold is a problem that can cause you to go under on your house and even presents itself as a health problem. Be sure to hire a sound environmental inspector to detect mold.

6. Sure, the house looked nice during the day – but have you checked the neighborhood at night? When buying a house, check the area during the day and during the night time. Sometimes, gangs and criminals tend to walk around at night. Also, do people walk around the house? Is it lit with street lights? Are their gang signs tagged on the walls of houses, markets, or street signs?

7. Is the plumbing in good shape? There are a few ways to run a quick check on the plumbing before submitting an offer. Go to one of the bathrooms and turn on the shower water, the faucet, and flush the toilet. See if the water drains properly. If not, you could have a problem at your hands.

8. Does the house have “curb appeal?” Although not a financial term, curb appeal describes the attractiveness of the house in terms of how people who might buy it from you later see it. Some houses are stunning on the inside, but look horrible from the outside – so much that they might be looked over for a less stellar house thats more attractive. If you’re buying real estate, its good to check how other people perceive it.

9. How much money do you have to spend out of pocket to bring your house to your standards? Besides the down payment, there are closing costs for a loan, furniture, renovation (paints, carpets, counters) and other small out of pocket expenses. Make sure you keep this in mind when putting down any sort of money.

10. Are you buying a corner house or a house in a busy street? Corner houses are priced much lower than houses in the middle of the street because they are often victims of car lights being shone into the house and more traffic. The same applies for houses in the middle of a busy street. Make sure when buying a house, you aim to be as far from the street traffic as possible.

In the past couple of years, people have been concocting innovative techniques in order to save money while enjoying their vacations. This has led to the rise in popularity of staycations, local trips, and more emphasis on the quality of time spent rather than the city with great things like road trips, family picnics, and nature journeys.

However, there are still great places to vacation at a fraction of the cost. In this article, I will include some national and international vacation spots that will offer you the most luxurious and enjoyable vacation memories without leaving you with a hole in your pocket. To help you further,

1. Atlanta, Georgia

Home of large cultural institutions and affordable hotels, Atlanta was given the highest ranking on the Travel Value Index. It is full of entertainment and discounts and should be considered for any vacation.

Destinations:

• The World of Coca-Cola Tour (Free to $15)
• CNN Studio Tour, a tour of the news service ($8 to $12)
• Centennial Olympic Park, a magnificent park where the 1996 Olympic Games were held (Free)

2. Huntington Beach, CA

Located just minutes from Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, downtown LA, and the Sunset Strip, Huntington Beach is one of the most popular surfer destinations in California and boasts affordable hotel rates.

Destinations:

• Museums
• Main Street Shopping
• Boat and Kayak in Huntington Harbor

3. Halifax, Nova Scotia

An outdoor escape, Halifax is an affordable destination because most of the tourist spots are natural outdoor areas. Only a 90 minute plane trip from Eastern United States, Halifax has become one of the popular American destination spots in recent years.

Destinations:

• Peggy Cove’s Lighthouse (Most photographed in the world)
• Saturday Brewery Market with arts and crafts.
• Point Pleasant Park (Free forest adventure)

4. Solomon’s Island, Maryland

Solomons Island is a beautiful Gardens of Eden tucked away next to Maryland. People enjoy the peaceful wilderness in the islands, including lush and dense forests. Tourists enjoy numerous outdoor activities, including kayaking and swimming.

Destinations:

• Calvert’s Art Museum ($7)
• St. Mary’s City
• Calvert Cliffs State Park

5. Riga, Latvia

A historic city in Eastern Europe, this former Soviet Union country has modernized its historic centers but kept its beautiful folk traditions. The country has lowered the value of its currency in hopes of joining the Euro. Rated one of the best values for traveling in Europe.

Destinations:

• Majori or Dzintari sea side escapes
• Architecture of Independence
• Jugenstil

6. Buenos Aires, Argentina

Considered the most European of the South American travel destinations, Buenos Aires is a crown jewel for tourists. It has beautiful cultural events, with large Italian, German, Jewish and Armenian populations, a flourishing night life, and the exciting outdoor excursions.

Destinations:

• Tens of inexpensive museums in different parts of town.
• Japanese Gardens
• Buenos Aires Fisheries

7. Panama City, Panama

Panama City is a very affordable travel spot that is getting more attention as drug wars in Mexico scare away tourists. With an economy very much used to American dollars and American tourists, more and more people are visiting during their Spring and Summer holidays.  Airfare is under $100 from some cities in the country, which already saves thousands for a small family.

Destinations:

• Old Town – Mi Puebliti
• Metropolitan National Park – protected rain forest.
• Colonial Panama Cultural Sites

There are many other great spots for vacationing. Everyone should take some time and do some research – there will always be a beautiful spot to fit your budget.

I’ve been reading some great career related advice from fellow personal finance bloggers and want to share some of these great reads with you. These articles were just written and contain a plethora of information.

1) Over the Hill at 40 – Financial Samurai

Excerpt: “Everything generally makes sense except for one rule that I once read: “One shall not discriminate against someone over 40.”

2) Career Advice from Conan O’Brien – Couple Money

Excerpt: “Take some additional classes to keep you one step ahead of your competition”

3) 3 Ways to Cut the Costs of a Job Hunt with a Little Online Ingenuity- Budgets are Sexy

Excerpt: “If you were taking a traditional approach to looking for a new position, a whole stack of expenses would be adding up:”

4) Did Your Raise Suck this Year? Mine Kinda Did. – Darwin’s Finance

Excerpt:  “Compensation is all about supply and demand and retaining your top talent.”

5) Are You in a Dead End Job? – Fivecentnickel

Excerpt:  ”If you are unhappy, dissatisfied, or restless in your current position, it may be time to re-evaluate…”

Personal finances can be very hard to manage without the use of spreadsheets for simplification, organization, and error reduction. However, designing a spreadsheet takes a lot of time and often requires the expert hand of an accountant. This is true especially for business spreadsheets, which take into account lots of expenses and income.

I have selected the finest spreadsheets from around the Internet for your use. Enjoy!

1) 401K Planner

Take into account all the variables of your 401k saving to see your retirement amount. Change the amount saved per check or the age of retirement and even the expected annual return. Comes with a cool graph to visualize your earnings.

2) Personal Monthly Budget Planner

Includes incomes and a wide variety of expenses – including financial obligations such as loan repayments, subscriptions, entertainment, groceries, and more. A wonderful spreadsheet!

3) General & Administrative Expense Budget

A G+A Budget planner for your business. It includes all the major categories any business will spend money on per month, with a designated budget, and calculates the difference from the actual designated number.

4) Business Expense Report

The business expense report is a great spreadsheet for people spending money out of their own pocket knowing that they will be reimbursed by their business. It has a beautiful mileage based expense calculator, room for lodging, food, other expenses and more. Very useful.

5) Personal Wealth Analysis

This spreadsheet is very useful in helping you calculate your net worth. You can include your assets, debts and financial obligations, liabilities, and even your net worth as a goal. If you have a goal you would like to achieve, this is the best thing you can do.

6) Retirement Budget Calculator

Want to know how much money you need at retirement based on your expenses? This excellent retirement budget calculator spreadsheet is for you. Includes housing, living expenses, medical expenses and personal income.

7) Debt Reduction Spreadsheet

Are you stuck in a lot of debt? Want to calculate how you can reduce your debts and get your finances back in track? This free spreadsheet is for you.