Outer Banks Real Estate

Fed raises rates again

The Fed raised rates again for the 17th time in a row.  Prime is now at 8.25% (up from 4% two years ago) and there is a glimmer of hope that this will be the last increase for a while.  While the Fed Rate does not directly affect the primary mortgage market, it does affect Home Equity Lines of Credit, Auto financing and credit cards.  For those that have Home Equity Lines, it might be a good time to review you debt.

Realtor Marketing Tips for 2006

I found a good article posted on Realtor Marketing on the Internet that prioritized internet marketing for Realtors.  The market has slowed across the country and the internet is playing a larger role in Real Estate transactions - especially in markets like the Outer Banks.   

50 Year Mortgage a bad idea

I found an article about why 50 Year Mortgages are such a bad financial move for most.  There are limited companies that are offering the loans, most are on a 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage based on the LIBOR index.  The monthly savings are very small but the total outlay of cash over the life of the loan is huge. 

I have had quite a few people inquire about the 50 year mortgage in order to have more purchasing power on the Outer Banks.  Once people understand the downside of the long term loan, they are much more likely to pick another option for funding their beach house. 

Blog comics

Hugh Macleod writes Gapinvoid - "bleeding-edge marketing and Web 2.0".  He draws artwork on cards about the size of a business card.  Some of it is NSFW but his sometimes dark humor really makes me laugh. 

He recently did a post about stats and blogging - oh it is so true. 

Web 2.0, blogs and (over)reaction times

Web 2.0 is generally referred to as the next generation of web applications.  Many are open source and free.  Some examples of Web 2.0 applications are Flickr, Pandora, and Google Maps.  The folks over at O'Reilly and  CMP entered into a partnership agreement to offer Web 2.0 Conferences.  The folks at CMP applied for a special mark (a flavor of trademark) for the Web 2.0 Conference.  Another firm it@cork in Ireland wanted to host a half day conference with the words Web 2.0 included. 

A cease and desist letter was issued not to use the phrase Web 2.0 and the blogoshpere reacted quickly and ruthlessly.  The situation grew in a day to be one of the top gaining links on bloglines.

Tim O'Reilly responded to the controversy but it took a few days.  He was actually on vacation with his family with limited media access.  One of the great (and bad) things about a blog is that the message can be delivered quickly.  The firestorm has cooled a bit but it remains to be seen if the phrase Web 2.0 is off limits.