| In this issue: |
• Protect Your Identity
• August Round-up
• Deals on Appliances
• Become a BBB Agent
• Buyer Workshop
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| Interest Rate Watch |
Selected Rates as of
September 1, 2005:
• 30 yr fixed: 5.71%
• 15 yr. fixed: 5.32%
• 1 yr. adj: 4.48%
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| Free Buyer Workshop! |
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Every Thursday
Get a guided tour through the real estate buying process, learn about new and historic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Daytona, and other Floriday cities, plus have financing questions answered by industry professionals.
Call:
904-358-3955 for Jacksonville information
877-693-4068 for
Daytona information
or use the links below: |
Register via e-mail
Learn more | |
| About the Weekly: |
The Real Estate Weekly is a free weekly bulletin published to keep clients and associates informed of happenings in the real estate market. If you would like to unsubscribe from the Weekly, please use the button at the bottom of the page.
The R.E.W. is published by:
Bo Bridgeport Brokers, Inc.
Located at:
1654 N Pearl Street
Jacksonville, FL 32206
Phone: 904.358.3955
and
127 Arlington Way
Ormond Beach, FL 32176
Phone: 877.693.4068 |
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| » How To Protect Your Identity -- For Little Or No Cost |
There are reams of easily accessible, free information to teach you how to protect your private, personal identifying information from identity theft. The information is available from independent, reliable sources you can trust -- consumer advocacy groups, government agencies, and social and community organizations -- but it's up to you to obtain it and put it to use.
Here's a primer on the basic steps necessary to put you on the path to identity protection. Additional help is available from the same resources included here, should someone steal your identity or if, unfortunately, that has already occurred. The resources can help you put the "you" back in your identity and prevent further incursions.
While some of the basic advice on preventing ID-theft may sound drastic, keep in mind, some 33.4 million Americans say they have been victims of ID-theft or fraud since 1990.
Drastic steps are often necessary to keep identity thieves out of your life.
Measure Your Vulnerability
On one level, you may need to change your behavior to lower you profile as a potential ID-theft victim, but you need to first learn what habits to change.
Take the "Identity Theft Resource Center's" test to help determine your vulnerability to ID-theft. It will check your level of risk behavior and determine how prone you may be to an attack by identity thieves. The test will also help you correct risky behavior.
Read the rest of this article HERE.
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» August Roundup: Rates Slip Again; Price Boom Continues; Record Building Permits |
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Whew!
Taking some of the jitters out of the housing market, average mortgage interest rates fell for the second brow-wiping week in a row, nearly wiping out four weeks of increases.
After two slips in as many weeks, the average interest rate returned to levels that last existed a month ago, and earlier at the start of the year, giving buyers and home owners looking to refinance a second wind -- again.
Freddie Mac reported fixed interest rates on 30-year, conforming mortgages averaged 5.77 percent the week ending Aug. 25, down from 5.8 percent the week before and 5.89 percent on Aug. 11 when rates last stopped rising.
Rates last began to rise after June 30 when they hit the year's lowest level at 5.53 percent.
But that's not the first time rates see-sawed this year, signaling rate setters aren't going down without a fight.
The first rate report of the year put the average rate at 5.77 percent. By Feb. 10, that had fallen to 5.57 percent, only to turn up to the year's high point of 6.04 by March 31.
By June, the average was down to 5.53 percent.
Read the rest of this article HERE.
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» How (and When) To Find Appliance Bargains |
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If rising energy costs find you beating the bushes for more energy efficient appliances or if you are simply looking to replace aging models, you can save some money knowing when and where to purchase what.
But first, a caveat to shopping for bargains for the who -- you.
Certain appliances (and a host of other household items) typically go on sale at certain of the year, but unless you do your home work, you won't know if it's really a sale or you are just being taken by a retailer who marks up to mark down.
As a home owner who will eventually have to replace major appliances it's a good idea to comparison shop prices of identical models of a given item, at as many stores as possible, from time to time, before you need to actually buy the item.
If you know the going price of an item when the retailer announces a sale you'll really know a bargain when you see one.
This brings us to one more caveat.
Comparison shopping for appliances can get dicey, because manufacturers frequently change models. You'll have to begin your comparison shopping as near as possible to your actual buy time, but before the sale.
Read the rest of this article HERE. | |
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Want a Career in Real Estate? Then WE want YOU!
Bo Bridgeport Brokers is looking for motivated, ambitious people to join our growing team. Join our team and receive comprehensive training from successful agents while working in a positive workplace. Becoming a real estate professional is easier than you think!
Click Here for more information or call 904-358-3955. | | |