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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 5 Things to Consider Doing When Your Credit Score Hits 740 03/01/2015 07:00pm • It's true: Improving your credit can be a long, difficult process. But if your FICO score has finally hit 740, there's good reason to celebrate. Although every bank sets its own lending standards, 740 is generally considered the crossover point between good and excellent credit. Bravo!Wondering what How to Score End-of-Winter Bargains 03/01/2015 07:00pm • The winter winds are still blowing strong, the average temperature for the 48 contiguous states has dropped below freezing and snow now officially covers nearly 1.5 million miles of our country, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though spring is only a few weeks away Spring clean your way into cash 02/27/2015 09:00am • Depending where you live, it may or may not look like warmer months lie ahead, but the calendar doesn't lie. If you're like a lot of people, you're already thinking about spring cleaning. And, if you're like a lot of people, you're dreading it. But keep in mind that spring cleaning doesn't hav 3 Reasons You Should Freeze Your Credit 02/25/2015 07:00pm • Doesn't it seem like there's a new data breach in the news each week? The reality is sadly much worse. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there was a record-high 783 breaches tracked in 2014, a whopping increase of 27.5 percent from 2013. That's an average of 15 breaches per week. If 3 Reasons You Should Consider a 2-Year Apartment Lease 02/24/2015 07:00pm • One-year leases reign supreme in the world of renting; it's a long enough time period to provide stability to the landlord and short enough to offer flexibility for the renter. Unlike purchasing a home, when you rent a new apartment, you get to take it for a 12-month test drive. Don't like the neig