More competition for affordable places to rent

Apartments are Getting Scarce and Rents are Rising

It’s no secret that many underwater homeowners are losing their homes. At that point, they are renting apartments.

How big is the demand? In the 1980s, about 28 million people in the United States were living in rented apartments. By the 2010s, that number had risen to about 42 million.
It’s good news for apartment owners, who are seeing the values of their properties rise. Apartment values are also rising because the market is healthy, which makes financing cheaper.

It isn’t good news for renters. Rents are rising and vacancies are falling in some areas. For example, studio apartment rents in Chicago are increasing from an average of $720 to $765 a month.

Mainly because of foreclosures, the nation’s home-ownership rate fell by 2 percent between 2004 and 2010, according to the Census Bureau. Each 1 percent represents one million households moving into rentals.

Home are the most affordable in nearly 40-years!

Houses are More Affordable Now Than In The Last 35 Years

Statistically speaking, this is the best time to buy a home since your parents took the plunge 35 years ago, according to the housing affordability index.

But maybe you’re tired of hearing about statistical matters and just want to know how this affects your pocketbook.

If your parents bought a home in 1963, it probably cost them 43 percent of your dad’s income to finance it. If they were buying that same home right now, it would take only about 22 percent of their monthly income to finance it.

The National Association of Realtors today recommends an average of 25 percent of an individual or family pretax income. That means no more than 25 percent can be spent on mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and utilities.

Because the affordability index is now 22 percent, a home buyer would be in a better position than the association recommends.

Still, people who need a home may be confused about whether this is a good time to buy. They wonder if it will cost even less to buy a home in the future.

That isn’t likely to happen, because interest rates and inflation have a big impact on the true cost of buying a home. And both are going up.

The chief economist at Moody’s Analytics says, “Based on incomes, this is as affordable as it gets. If you can get a loan, these are pretty good times to buy.”

For renters, that is especially true. Those who are renting a nice apartment or home for $1,000 a month, for example, will typically experience a 3 percent rise in their rent per year.
At that rate, over the next 10 years, they would pay a total of $137,567 in rents.

why re-cycle ??

Six Unobvious Reasons to Recycle

1. Protect your home from hazardous waste. The average American home accumulates up to 20 pounds of hazardous waste each year. Even more frightening, usually 100 pounds of waste is stored in cabinets, the garage, closets, basements, and other storage spaces in the average home.



2. Help the community and local job options by donating to the Goodwill, which collects electronics as well as most other things, to recycle or sell. They use the profits to help fund job training and employment opportunties in the local community.

3. You can hold a recycling event as a fundraiser for one of your favorite causes (a local school, sports league, church, etc.) with the help of http://www.recyclingforcharities.com/

4. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, American households own an average of 24 electronic products that could be potentially donated or recycled. 85% of them end up in landfills instead.

5. Recycling is less expensive than sending trash to a landfill. According to http://www.ecocycle.org/, recycling instead of landfilling saves $55 per ton, saving you money, along with the environmental benefits.

6. Stimulate the economy by creating jobs. Eco-Cycle states that “or every one job at a landfill, there are ten jobs in recycling processing and 25 jobs in recycling-based manufacturers. The recycling industry employees more workers than the auto industry.”

read this let's help our soldiers

Cell Phones for Soldiers Donation Drive

Princeton Capital is holding a donation drive to collect old cell phones for our troops overseas. Drop off your used cell phone to any Princeton Capital Loan Officer, or at our corporate office located at 16780 Lark Avenue in Los Gatos.

“Over the past few years, we have been amazed by the generosity of others. But, we have also seen the need to support our troops continue.” says Brittany Bergquist, Cell Phones for Soldiers co-founder.
“It is easy for Americans to make a small sacrifice of support by donating their unused cell phones, and providing families with a much-needed connection to their loved ones overseas.”
More than 150,000 troops are serving overseas. Cell Phones for Soldiers is calling on all Americans to support the troops by donating old cell phones. The organization hopes to collect over 1 Million cell phones this year to help keep troops connected with their families.

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has raised millions of dollars in donations and distributed millions of prepaid calling cards to troops serving overseas.

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $10 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones and prepaid service to allow troops abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

The donated phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each phone – the money is used to purchase prepaid calling cards which are sent to troops.

Proceeds from this donation drive will be used to purchase calling cards for our troops so they can stay connected with their families. Call 408-355-2000 for more information about how and where to donate.

Creative ways to retire

Creative Ways to Retire Without Savings

Like many baby-boomers today, you may be faced with an upcoming retirement and a lack of a retirement savings account due to the rough economic times of the past few years.
A recent CBS MoneyWatch article tackles this problem by suggesting resourceful ways to make retirement work for you.

One bold idea is to pair up with another married, retiring couple, pooling together Social Security income for a manageable budget. Social Security income at age 66 will be $2,000 per month, with an additional $1,000 per month for the spouse, resulting in a $36,000 per year income.

If you find a like minded couple, consider moving into a three bedroom house together, making the combined household income $72,000. This is higher than the 2009 national average income.

Another tactic is to delay retirement until age 70, in which case your monthly Social Security income will increase to $2,640 per month. In this situation, your spouse would  not need to delay past age 66 to receive the $1,000 per month. “You’d want to file and suspend your Social Security income at age 66, so your spouse can start the $1,000 monthly spousal benefit income at age 66,” advised the article.
At age 70, your combined income would be $43,680 per year following this plan. If you were to pair up with another married couple, that Social Security income would increase to $87,360 per year.
Your circumstances may not be right for such an arrangement, but this is just one example of creative and resourceful ways to head into retirement in this economic climate.

QBQ Reward understanding what do you think??

Rewarding Outstanding!
by John G. Miller
The QBQ! Guy
Twitter: QBQGUY
Facebook
LinkedIN
 
Karen and I—and a bunch of kids, all ours—lugged a couple weeks' worth of groceries into the house, plopped them onto the kitchen floor, and immediately did ... nothing. Feeling a tad weary from a morning of shopping, Karen disappeared into her office while I turned on the ball game. And for the next short while, the groceries sat.

Or so we thought.
A half hour later, Tasha, our 12-year-old, came to me saying she'd put all the groceries away. All of them. All by herself. All without being asked or told.
I was pleasantly surprised, of course, and after thanking her, I said, "Tasha, you've just earned 3 QBQ! Points!" She smiled.

Since the QBQ!, Flipping the Switch, and Outstanding! books are all about avoiding blame, whining, victim thinking, complaining, and procrastination, we've created a family system of rewarding the kids with QBQ! Points when they practice personal accountability and do outstanding things. The system has some loose rules:

• Points are granted only if they're earned. No entitlement or government give-away program here.
• Points are given out randomly, that is, not every time accountability is demonstrated.
• Points are given out only by Mom and Dad.
• Points actually count for something.

Regarding that last guideline, once a child has earned 25 QBQ! Points, we take them to Barnes & Noble or Borders to buy them a book. Or we swing through the Dairy Queen drive-thru. (Of course, since they're too young to drive, the behind-the-wheel parent always gets a treat, too!)

Since 1983, when Miller Child Numero Uno, Kristin, was born, we have been building children. Seven total. And we've tried lots of ways to reward them. Charts with stickers, cash commissions, and verbal praise. All worthy. But I like QBQ! Points because not only does the system teach values such as accountability and work ethic, but more often than not the kids seem surprised when they get them. This means they're learning that personal accountability can simply be part of one's life; a better way of living; the right thing to do.

And here's the real value:
When kids learn to be outstanding through personal accountability today, they become the hardworking, productive, non-entitled adults organizations need tomorrow. And their reward will be a deep personal satisfaction that comes from serving humankind and contributing to the lives of others.
And maybe a $20 gift card.

Here's a quick story from Dan, in State College, Pennsylvania, that we might say is all about winning "QBQ! Points" in the workplace:

John, Ted McDowell, regional president of AmeriServ Financial Bank, recently told me about a program they execute. Here's how it works:

Ted purchases a supply of $20 gift cards from Sheetz, an Altoona, Pennsylvania based chain with hundreds of convenience store locations. He then arms his bank account reps with the cards. As each rep calls on their business clients, if they witness a display of outstanding customer service anywhere, they can approach the person who delivered the “above and beyond service” to give them a Sheetz gift card—compliments of AmeriServ Bank. During the gift-giving encounter, the AmeriServ rep asks the person for the name of their boss. Ted then sends a letter of recognition to the card recipient's manager informing him or her of the employee's outstanding action. It's a way for Ted's firm to recognize and encourage outstanding customer service and it speaks to AmeriServ’s belief that customer service matters.
------------
What a simple example of how one organization has decided to "reward outstanding" in the marketplace. Though we don't practice personal accountability and outstanding service to be rewarded, rewarding people is certainly an excellent thing to do. Whether it's with our children at home or adults in the marketplace, let's each see what we can do in this arena by asking The Question Behind the Question (QBQ!):

"What can I do today to reward outstanding behavior in others?"

Affordability on the rise read about condo affordability let me know what you think

Condo Ownership Sensible in SF, San Jose and Oakland

by admin on May 4, 2011

The San Jose Mercury reported that data shows that buying condos, versus renting, makes financial sense in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland in this current market.

A study done by Trulia of the nation’s fifty largest cities focusing on rent-versus-buy price analysis revealed that these Bay Area cities, especially San Jose, ownership is less expensive.
They calculated a rent-to-buy ratio of cost, and any city with a rent-to-buy ratio of 15 or below means that it is less expensive to buy. San Jose’s ratio is 12-1.

Oakland and San Francisco, where renting is cheaper, can make more financial sense to buy depending on the situation. Oakland has a ratio of 16, and San Francisco 19.

To read more about the math behind the study, read the San Jose Mercury article here, or you can take a look at Trulia’s entire report of the fifty biggest cities in the country here.

Tagged as: California, home ownership, renting, statistics

I want my dream home how do I look??

5 Things to Think About When Looking for Your Dream Home

While on the hunt for a perfect home, it can be immensely helpful to create a wish list of sorts. This can help you and your real estate agent obtain a clear picture of what type of home would best suit you.
Some things to consider:

1. Move-in ready or fixer-upper?
Making a home “your own” can make fixer-uppers an attractive option, along with the lower cost. Making a mark on your new home via renovations. Take some time to think about what homeownership means to you, and whether you are interested in renovation.

2. Upgrades
Certain upgrades in a home, such as marble or granite counters, are often coveted by buyers. Consider what type of upgrades are important to you – energy-efficiency, professional grade appliances, luxury tiling? Make a list and show your Realtor.

3. The Yard
What type of backyard are you looking for, and how important is it to you? Think about low versus high maintenance yards, the amount of space you’d like, and what kind of yard would best suit your lifestyle.

4. Swimming Pools
For some homebuyers, having a swimming pool can be a dealbreaker. If this is something that you really desire in your dream home, make that clear to your real estate agent so that they can narrow the search for you.

5. Schools in the Area
Last but certainly not least, the quality of the schools in the area of a dream home should be an important thing to research. Ask your Realtor for information about schools in the area of your search, and comparisons between them. This information is easily obtained, and real estate agents will be more than happy to show you school scores and more. Also consider private schools, if that is an option for your family.

Thank you John Miller author of QBQ

Aligning Actions with Values
by John G. Miller
The QBQ! Guy
Twitter: QBQGUY
Facebook
LinkedIN
Ever seen this message? I saw it at a business once.
WE OFFER OUR CUSTOMERS QUALITY, SPEED, PRICE. CHOOSE TWO.
So, your three options are:

• Fast and really good, but it'll cost you.
• Terrific price and really good, but it'll take forever.
• In your hands fast at a terrific price, but it'll be junk.

Nothing like defining and declaring your values in a clear fashion!

Actually, most organizations state their core or guiding values. It used to be done on lobby walls (and maybe it still is, I don't get out much), but one can find just about any organization's values on their website.
Like this one:  http://sawandknife.com/

As you can see, we're not talking about a Fortune 500 firm here, but rather—overused or not, I'll say it—the "backbone of America." A small business that gives 43 people a place to go each day to employ their talents, be productive, and make a living. And if you poke around the website of Union Saw & Knife, Inc. of Union Grove, North Carolina, you won't find a "Values" page, but those values are there, represented by words like "quality," "efficiency," "reliable," "timeliness," and "long-term relationships."

Of course, those are just words and we all know that words can ring hollow. As we say in the Outstanding! book, the goal is to "get actions in line with stated values."
Ed Bissell, founder and owner of Union Saw & Knife, has been receiving our QuickNotes for years. Recently, he sent us this note:

John, I frequently re-read all of your books and find new tidbits each time that help me in our business of manufacturing and servicing cutting tools for the wood, plastic, and metal industry. We've worked hard to set benchmarks for the quality and performance of the tools we provide our clients. We've always sought long-term customer relationships and have worked hard to serve each one well.
Not long ago, when I visited a customer operation—one we've served for several years by managing their tooling and equipment, reaping a major reduction in their tooling costs—I was asked a question I never expected to hear. Our customer stated that he wanted to keep working with us to do his tooling because he feels we're the best, but went on to say that ...

... he was not sure he needed the best and could we do not as good a job for them and charge less?!

I honestly wasn't sure if I'd heard him right. After working all these years to avoid making bad business moves or doing a disservice to our customers, here was one asking us to do just that! Truly, to purposely lower our quality of product and service would cost us and them more money in the long run. After some discussion, we politely held our ground and still have them as a customer. Our plan is to continue on the path we set for our company many years ago:

The best possible job at the fairest possible price in the shortest amount of time possible.
That's what we believe in and that's what we're going to keep doing for our clients.
-----------------
Ed, thanks for not telling your client to "choose two"! Congratulations on having standards that you refuse to bend, and for keeping your actions in line with your stated values. I bet some Fortune 500 firms could learn from your team.
Ed Bissell and his outstanding organization are definitely "backbone of America" material.

Now, if you represent one small department inside a division of some huge organization and think this story doesn't apply—please think again. Or if the thought came to mind that this message should be forwarded to politicians everywhere, remember this: Practicing espoused values begins with you and me.

So let's each ask The Question Behind the Question (QBQ!):
"What action will I take today that is in line with my organization's declared values?"
Now that's PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

What to watch this week

This Week’s Market Commentary

There are only four relevant economic reports scheduled for release this week, but two of them are considered to be highly important to the financial and mortgage markets. Unlike many Mondays, the week kicks off with important data being posted today. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will post their manufacturing index for April late this morning.
This is one of the first important economic reports released each month and gives us an indication of manufacturer sentiment. A reading above 50 means that more surveyed trade executives felt business improved during the month than those who felt it had worsened. This points toward more manufacturing activity and could hurt bond prices, pushing mortgage rates higher. Analysts are expecting to see a reading of 59.7, which would be a decline from March’s level of sentiment. The lower the reading, the better the news for bonds and mortgage rates.

March’s Factory Orders data is Tuesday’s only relatively important data. It will be released at 10:00AM, giving us a measure of manufacturing sector strength. It is similar to last week’s Durable Goods Orders, except this report includes non-durable goods such as food and clothing. Generally, the market is more concerned with the durable goods orders like refrigerators and electronics than items such as cigarettes and toothpaste. This is why the Durable Goods report usually has more of an impact on the financial markets than the Factory Orders report does. Still, a noticeably smaller increase than the 1.9% that is expected could push mortgage rates slightly lower. But, a much larger increase in new orders could lead to slightly higher mortgage pricing Tuesday.
There are no relevant government reports or events scheduled for Wednesday, meaning non-economic factors such as stock prices will probably have the biggest influence on bond trading and mortgage rates that day. Generally speaking, a stock rally pulls funds from bonds, leading to bond selling and higher mortgage rates. However, stock selling makes bonds more appealing to investors. When the funds are shifted into bonds to escape the volatility in stocks, we often see mortgage rates move lower. If the major stock indexes remain calm Wednesday, mortgage rates should follow suit.

The Labor Department will release its 1st Quarter Productivity and Costs data early Thursday morning. This information helps us measure employee productivity in the workplace. High levels of productivity help allow low-inflationary economic growth. If employee productivity is rapidly rising, the bond market should react favorably. However, a decrease could cause bond prices to drop and mortgage rates to rise Thursday morning. It is expected to show a 1.0% increase in productivity.

Friday brings us the release of the almighty monthly Employment report, giving us April’s employment statistics. This is where we may see a huge rally or major sell-off in the bond market and potentially large changes in mortgage rates. The ideal situation for the bond and mortgage markets would be an increase in the unemployment rate and a much smaller number of payrolls added to the economy during the month than was expected.

Just how much of an improvement or worsening in rates depends on how much variance there is between forecasts and actual readings. This could turn out to be a wonderful day in the mortgage market, but it also carries risks of seeing mortgage rates move higher if the Labor Department posts stronger than expected readings. Current forecasts are calling for the unemployment rate to remain at 8.8% and that approximately 183,000 jobs were added during the month.

Overall, I believe Friday will be the most important day of the week with the employment data being posted. It can easily erase the week’s accumulated gains or losses in mortgage rates if it shows any surprises. We may actually see a noticeable change in rates tomorrow also if the ISM index shows favorable or unfavorable results. The middle part of the week will likely be the calmest, but I still suggest proceeding cautiously if still floating an interest rate. This would be a good week to maintain contact with your mortgage professional if you have not locked a rate yet.