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3 Ways Spring Cleaning Saves You Money 03/24/2015 07:00am • If you haven't done so already, now is the time to roll up your sleeves and clean your house. It may be a lot of work, and call me crazy, but warmer weather inspires me to clean and get organized. The only problem is that the cleaning supplies aren't cheap. Seemingly innocent trips to buy them often How to Avoid a Real Estate Scam 03/23/2015 08:00pm • You'd be foolish to think you couldn't be fooled in a real estate transaction. While the majority of sellers, buyers and renters are presumably honest, there can be additional players with skin in the game, from landlords and real estate agents to title agency workers and bankers. As Sacramento rea Thinking of Buying a Home? Start Saving Now 03/23/2015 08:00pm • They say your home is your castle. If you've been renting your castle and dreaming of owning a home, you aren't alone. Homeownership rates have tumbled to a 20-year low -- 63.9 percent in the wake of the Great Recession -- as financial issues including unemployment, underemployment, student loan deb The Homeowner's Guide to Vacation Rentals 03/23/2015 08:00pm • As the summer travel season approaches, homeowners with a spare room or a vacant beach home may be considering cashing in on the popularity of vacation rental websites. A 2015 Barclays report estimates that home rental platform Airbnb books around 37 million night stays, which could increase to as m This Top Caribbean Spot is Now Expat-Ready 03/23/2015 08:00pm • Stretches of the Dominican Republic's sandy coast, including in Puerto Plata and Punta Cana, for example, have been catering to tourists for a decade and longer, and it shows. These resort towns could be Cancun or any other resort town in any other country. That's one face of the Dominican Republi Own Your Home? Don't Forget These Tax Breaks 03/16/2015 08:00pm • For many Americans, owning a home is a large investment -- in money, in time and in a community. Fortunately, those investments can pay off at tax time, with several deductions that can help minimize the burden. Many homeowners are familiar with the home mortgage interest deduction, but a few othe Study finds affordable private housing in D.C. all but gone 03/12/2015 04:04pm • WASHINGTON (AP) - A new study has concluded that affordable rental housing has all but disappeared from the private market in the nation's capital. The report issued Thursday by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute found that the number of apartments with a monthly rent of $800 or lower shrunk from a A Wealth Building Plan for You: Young Professional Edition 03/09/2015 08:00pm • Investing can be such a confusing, scary proposition sometimes. You're never really sure if the information you find is exactly right for you (in the case of some online publications), if the data is relevant (in certain financial studies) or if the advice is credible (such as when you receive a st How to Take Advantage of the Irish Property Boom 03/09/2015 08:00pm • The Irish property market collapsed in 2008, and then proceeded to spiral downward for the next six years. About half the value of the average home was wiped out, and some properties were sold through distress auctions at 80 and 90 percent discounts. Then, finally, this market not only hit bottom 5 Ways to Spend Less on a Prom Dress 03/08/2015 08:00pm • Prom is a rite of passage for young ladies and gents, but it also can be a nightmare for your wallet. Formal dresses can range anywhere from $30 to $1,000, and it's really easy (and tempting) to choose a dress that costs more than you can afford.I've been to a fair share of high school formals and a How to Begin Investing in Real Estate 03/04/2015 07:00pm • An unusually long and harsh winter is delaying the start of the spring housing market, but for the investment-minded, continued low interest rates and high demand for rentals appear to outline an opportunity. Institutional investors and their buckets of cash have dominated many markets for the pas 10 Ways Millennials Are Changing Homebuying 03/02/2015 07:00pm • A new generation of homebuyersAs the millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, takes a greater role in the housing market, young people's preferences are starting to shape the way real estate business is done. The real estate portal Zillow predicts that millennials will overtake baby boomer 6 Steps to Get the Best Mortgage Rates This Spring 03/02/2015 07:00pm • If you've got the itch to ditch your landlord and take the leap to homeownership, mortgage rates are still low by historical standards. But beware because they are expected to begin creeping higher throughout the year. "The cost of renting is really high right now. Rents have been rising and risin How Millennials are Transforming the Homebuying Process 03/02/2015 06:30am • For decades, the telephone has been the real estate agent's tool of the trade. But a new wave of younger homebuyers is changing the way agents use those phones. Millennials, those born between 1980 and the late '90s don't want to talk. They want texts. "We're on our phones all the time, and this Real Estate Notes: A Smart Investment Alternative 03/01/2015 07:00pm • After three decades of working in different areas of the real estate business, including owning a number of rental properties, the three T's of landlording, tenants, toilets and trash, were wearing thin on Don DeMarco. The Silver Spring, Maryland-based real estate entrepreneur has seen a lot, makin