What To Know About Real Estate

By Ivan Elsterdamster

The person who performs this real estate appraisal exercise is called the real estate appraiser or property valuation surveyor. The value as determined by real estate appraisal is the fair market value.

The real estate agents work by linking together the two interested parties and charging a commission for their services. For sales, they charge commission only to the seller but for rentals (i.e. agent managed rentals) the commission is charged to both parties involved in the transaction.

However, the value assigned as a result of real estate appraisal might not be the value that a real estate investor would consider when evaluating the property for investment. In fact, a real estate investor might completely ignore the value that comes out of real estate appraisal process.

The other interested party (i.e. the buyer/tenant), gets access to this information by contacting the real estate agent. Thats how the real estate agents become a hub of information.

A property seller can possibly get a few thousands more for his/her property by using the advice received from a good real estate agent.

This, in fact, works in the favor of real estate agent in two ways. Firstly, if the real estate agent is able to sell the house they get their commission and secondly, if they make the buyer happy too they earn a good reputation (and hence more business).

A real estate investor will generally base his investment decision on this real estate appraisal that he does by himself (or gets done through someone). So, can we then term real estate appraisal as a really real real estate appraisal?

However, not everyone is tech-savvy and there are a lot of people who still take the approach of putting up an ad in the local newspapers. So look for real estate for sale in the local newspapers. In fact, there are some newspapers that are dedicated to just that i.e. real estate for sale. You could even go ahead and put up a wanted ad in these newspapers. Sometimes, looking up for real estate for sale in old newspapers (like 1-2 months old) can help you get a good deal (in case the property owner has not been able to sale the property and has become a bit more motivated to sell it).

Open houses are another good way of getting the best out of time. You can get to see dozens of real estate for sale properties in a very short period of time. And you never know when you might come across a property that is real gold. - 23210

About the Author:

I like to write about real estate and mortgage information. I am also the webmaster of a Dutch site hypotheekrente, it is about hypotheekofferte

Forex Trading Hours - When To Trade?

By Steve Maenshel

Forex trading hours are the hours when the foreign currency exchange market is open. Even though it may seem that Forex market is always open (it's true in a way), some hours are better for trades, while other hours may actually do more harm than good. Forex trading hours are 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, except for the national holidays. Forex trading hours vary from country to country, according to the hours when main financial institutions of that particular country start and end their business day.

Basically, there are four major zones with various Forex trading hours: Europe, USA, Australia and Asia. Forex opens in Tokyo at 23.00 GMT on Sunday and then in 5 days it closes on Friday at 10 PM in Chicago, thus ending the so-called Forex trading week.

Forex market is open at the time of major holidays just as well. However, of course, it's not open in the country where the holiday is celebrated. For example, at the time of a major Christian holiday you can still get foreign currency quotes from the banks of Asian and Muslim countries, and the other way around. Thus, if you feel like trading, you will not have to wait for the holiday to pass in your country; you would just trade with others. It never happens that one holiday would happen in all of the countries all over the world at the same time.

Small volume of traded currencies (often referred to as thin) also occurs at the Forex market on the weekends, but the weekends spent trading at the Forex market, may not result in anything profitable, since it is very difficult to find a good contractor on the weekends, and it's even harder to find a good price.

Forex trading hours vary all over the world, making Forex market a colorful mixture of countries and currencies, including US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, Euro, Yens, Pounds etc. Thus you will be able to trade with any currency at the foreign exchange market.

Forex trading hours were established in order to give employees time for Forex transactions, which is not achievable at the time of active trades, as well as probably to give traders some time to "rest and relax".

Some countries actually get the Forex trading hours falling particularly in the time of the late evening and night. However, in other countries Forex trading hours perfectly fit within the regular business day.

Four main time-zones of Forex trading hours around the globe:

Forex trading hours overlap and make up 24 hours of every day, 5 days a week. Trades are also carried out on the weekends. However they are much less active. Below you can take a look at the Forex trading hours in the 4 major time zones, in accordance with Eastern Standard Time:

Tokyo, Trading Hours: 19.00 to 04.00 EST

New York Trading Hours: 08.00 to 17.00

London, Trading Hours: 03.00 to 12.00 (noon) EST

Sydney: 17.00 to 02.00 EST

A trader should get familiar with Forex trading hours, since Forex trading hours are often important to know, in order to gain reliable profits in transactions, rather than getting stuck in thin trades. - 23210

About the Author:

Author Steve Maenshel can help you understand forex trading hours. For more forex trading information, visit his forex resource center.

How to Have Someone Else Add Thousands to Your Retirement Fund

By Julie Broad

I have two younger brothers. And as their older sister, I cannot help but worry about them and their future. It's my job as the older sister. And lately, I have been worrying about my brother that is closest to me in age.

My brother is very gifted at things that require the use of his hands, a lot of patience, and great attention to detail. He's been a carpenter, a chef, and has also rebuilt cars. He's amazing at all of it. However, he is not so skilled when it comes to managing his finances.

He's only in his 30s, so he foresees that there's lots of time left for him to continue working and saving for retirement. He makes up for the fact that he practically has nothing saved by using his age as an excuse. That's why I worry- the government isn't going to take care of us in our old age and pensions are mostly a thing of the past. If he doesn't save something for his retirement, he won't ever have enough to retire.

So, I decided to make a plan for him. There are probably a lot of ways he could save money, but the big thing I focused in on was the fact that he owns three cars! One of the cars has to go, and with it gone, he will be able to save about $500/month, plus he can add the proceeds of the sale to his savings.

He can also take on side jobs. People are always asking for help with building fences or kitchen renovations. He doesn't have to work every weekend, and in a year he could have enough saved to put 10% down on a beat up house could be bought for around $200,000.

If he lives in the house while he's fixing it up, he can save even more money. Once it's all fixed, he can rent it out for about $1,400 per month. It's at this point he would buy a primary residence where he will live.

Now, keeping this really simple, lets look at what my brother has when he retires in 25 years:

If his repairs add $25,000 in value and the house appreciates by 4% every year, then in 25 years it'll be worth approximately $576,743. That means that his original investment has almost tripled in 25 years! Imagine- $1,900 a month of someone else's money going toward his retirement ($576,000 divided by 25 years divided by 12 months)!

"But wait", you may be thinking, "property doesn't always increase by 4% per year". While that might be true, historically the average appreciation of property has been 4% per year. Regardless, after 25 years the mortgage will be paid off by his tenants and the rent he continues to collect can go toward his retirement. Rents and expenses normally increase by 4% each year as well, so in 25 years he could see a positive cashflow from the property of around $2,350 each month.

Also- in 25 years he will have the home where he lives paid off as well. The two properties should give him over $1 million in equity. That's a nice number for retirement- especially nice when the majority of the retirement savings was contributed by his tenants over the years!

When I told my brother my plan, he got excited and sold one of his three cars. With the money he's making by helping us with one of our properties, he's been able to start saving for a down payment for a house. - 23210

About the Author:

Learn How to Retire with Real Estate with Julie's free Real Estate Investing Starter Tips Guide. Learn how to create financial freedom, positive cashflow and massive wealth with tips like: How to find quality rental properties, finding and keeping great tenants, and easy ways to make more money with real estate.

Bull Market Or Bear Market - Basics You Need To Know

By Mike Swanson

The terminology Bull market and bear markets are generally used to describe the direction of the market either up or down. Stock prices up and down both during a trading day, and from one day to the next. But terms such as bull and bear describe the trend over the long term. Many analysts use a minimum analysis period of two years to determine if a change is a trend or just a change. They also feel the market needs to move at least 20%.

A bull market describes a market where prices are generally on the increase. A bull market often starts when market confidence is at its lowest. At this time investor confidence starts to increase and there is an expectation gains will be made on rising stock prices. This is happening now in the gold stocks market.

A bear market on the other hand is one where there is a constant decline in stock prices.

Probably the most well known bear market was the decline after the 1929 stock market crash. Following this 90% of share values were wiped in less than five years.

Most bear markets work with the pattern where there is a large initial decrease in values which eliminates many of the speculators from the market. Then there may be a short period when prices rise and investors think the worst is over. This is then followed by a period when there is simply a sustained decline.

But with any cycle after the decreases of the bear market come the rises of the bull market. It is well known that to make money on stocks you try to buy low and sell high. However no one knows where a market will head and knowing when to buy or sell is not easy.

For many people the idea that markets have cycle is forgotten. One can make money in both a bear and a bull market. - 23210

About the Author:

For more articles from Mike Swanson sign up to his stock trading newsletter.

Forex Made Easy - The Simplest and Most Profitable Trading System

By Bart Icles

Many have the wrong impression that today's many millionaires to be highly intelligent and complex individuals - a few maybe but not all. What made them successful may be due to the fact that they've have come across a simple and better way to doing business than others, and used it repeatedly over time. In simple terms, millionaires are millionaires because they learned how to effectively generate a profit with a method and stuck to it patiently.

Forex traders may or may not know of this fact, but the bottom line is that of those who have achieved success in Forex, have followed and applied the same method and principle to their trading activities. What they've done is to do research on the past successful methods and used these as basis for their actions when entering or exiting the market. Forex made easy is the easiest method that generates positive results that can meet any ones demands in trading the market.

This is the reason why many professional traders have become so successful by adhering strictly to this simplified form of strategy. The initial step is to do trading with just a few selected currencies and be involved with it to the point of saturation to make you learn everything there is needed to know about it, and to make you concentrate on these and what correct actions each one requires when decision-making time comes.

The second step is to step into the market when it is really active, since at its most liquid state makes entering or exiting the market and the entire process of trading fairly easy to do. Also, at this point, the market is less volatile and with more consistent trends, and your mind is suitably concentrated enough to arrive at more favorable decisions.

The third part is to make use of the markets simple to understand and implement trading schemes that has a solid and battle-tested foundation that have produced more gains than losses.

Forex made easy methods are the best trading techniques today that offers users the most rewards, and uses up the least effort and time on your part. If you plan to make more lucrative deals, you will have to establish a trading strategy that you can use often with a low risk factor. You can also get additional from the market some effective software programs and educational courses to aid you in your trading, and learning to refine it to match your trading nature. - 23210

About the Author:

Succeeding as a forex market maker takes a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. Furthermore the currency forex market take dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.