I came across an interesting article on http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/. I have to admit that I’ve never looked into the online savings account since I always wanted to be able to just walk-into my local bank and deal with a customer service agent face to face, but after reading several articles on the web, I have realized how much money I was actually losing by keeping my savings in one of the traditional banks’ savings accounts.
Here is quick summary of the best rates available on the market right now:
All of these accounts are FDIC insured.
- Countrywide Bank offers a variable rate, from 4.00% to 5.40% APY, can link to other bank accounts. $1,000 minimum to open.
- AmTrust Direct offers 5.36% APY, “no monthly service fee or minimum balance fees”, can link to other bank accounts. $1000 minimum. This is a money market account.
- WT Direct offers 5.26% APY, no fees, can link to other bank accounts. No minimum to open, but your interest rate drops if you don’t have a $10,000 balance after 60 days.
- E-Loan offers 5.25% APY, no fees, “industry’s strictest privacy policy”. $5,000 minimum.
- Presidential Online Bank offers 5.25% APY, no fees, ATM access, web interface. $5,000 minimum to open.
- Emigrant Direct offers 5.05% APY, no fees, can link to other bank accounts, web interface. No minimum.
- E*Trade offers 5.05% APY, no fees, an automatic savings plan, can link to other bank accounts. $1 minimum to open.
- HSBC Direct offers 5.05% APY (with a temporary 6.00% APY promotion), no fees, can link to other bank accounts, web interface. $1 minimum to open. The HSBC web site is a busy mess.
- Capitol One offers 5.00% APY, no fees, free checks and ATM card, an automatic savings plan, can link to other bank accounts. $1 minimum to open. This is a money market account.
- Citibank Direct offers 4.65% APY, no fees, $25 sign-up bonus. No minimum.
- ING Direct offers 4.50% APY, no fees, an automatic savings plan, web interface. No minimum.
For a detailed discussion on this topic, please read the comments on the getrichslowly blog, it contains some great reviews from their readers.
This is a great website, howrealtorshelp.ca it is a very smart design, they use Flash and video technology that helps consumers answer some of the questions they might have when facing one of the biggest financial transactions in their lives. The site is comprehensive, easy to navigate and very personal, almost feels customized for each visitor. You almost get the sense that the Realtor is in the room with me answering my questions.
This Program offers leading commercial real estate software and other resources to college and university programs across the nation, free of charge.
Leo Software, a provider of business intelligence systems for commercial real estate, today launched Leo Goes to College, a program offering Leo Software to commercial real estate undergraduate and graduate programs across the country, as well as to professionals during their first year in commercial real estate.
“I’ve been amazed at how quickly students and recent graduates learn the commercial real estate business when you provide them with a tool like Leo. We want to help them hit the ground running, get jobs and make immediate contributions to the industry,” said Paul Muessig, president, Leo Software. “We’re also focused on helping employers attract talented young people to the industry and fill the void of the lost generation from the early 1990s.”
In addition to offering complementary Leo Software licenses, Leo Software is also making its in-house property and asset management and other commercial real estate expertise available for guest lectures on a case by case basis. The Leo Software user network spans some of the largest and most well respected organizations within commercial real estate, and in some cases, Muessig also plans to tap Leo Software’s user group to find practicing property managers, asset managers and other professionals to participate in the Leo Software guest lecture program.
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, recently invited Muessig to address a class of commercial real estate students. The program is a leader in advocating the early adoption and application of emerging commercial real estate technology to position its students for efficiency and success in the workplace.
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From http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com
Let’s see… Our customers are leaving us in a steady march. They’ve found an alternative that is easier to use, more convenient, overall just a better fit to their lives — and to top it all off, it’s much cheaper than our product.
What should we do?
Here’s an idea. Our customers are telling us in no uncertain terms what they want: More! Newer! Better! Faster! Cheaper! So let’s do the same things we’ve been doing all along, only less!
Click here for the rest of the article
Thad Wong, one of the @properties brokerage founders, has pointed out this article to us today. The article was posted on www.thestreet.com by Peter Slatin.
“Any report on the condo development market routinely lists cities such as Miami and Las Vegas as the touchstones of a market gone mad. It’s just as easy to point to Chicago, where conversion of disused and historic office buildings has fueled a resurgent and, some say, overbuilt urban center.
But unlike those other places, Chicago’s developers can’t rely on tourists, snowbirds or fun-seekers to fill their new residential buildings.
That relatively steady market has its benefits, says Gail Lissner, a vice president at Appraisal Research Corp., a local real estate marketing and research firm. “We don’t have peaks and valleys, the craziness that you see in Vegas and on the coasts,” she says.
That said, prices for Chicago condominiums have been holding firm, although sales volume dropped off at least 10% in 2006 from a record year in 2005. With more projects still in the pipeline, construction costs rising and lenders beginning to tighten the reins, high-quality Chicago developments offer some good values relative to other markets. And steady appreciation in prices, plus renewed growth in the area’s economy, mean that for those who want big-city living at an attractive multiple, Chicago represents good value.
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vFlyer, the classified listings service, released a new widget service to its members today that allow you to take your v-Flyer-hosted listings with you anywhere, including your blog.
vFlyer’s widget editor lets you customize either horizontal or vertical galleries, or if you have lots of listings you can create a scrolling display of images. You can choose to create either Flash or JavaScript widgets and vFlyer churns out the necessary HTML code to let you post it on your own website, a blog, social networks or online marketplaces.
vFlyer currently lets you post up to 10 active flyers for free. Premium plan start at $19.95/month after that.
This is a great tool for anyone that would like to transform their blog into a real estate portal or a social networking solution.
Trulia announced two days that it has closed a deal with Realogy Corporation, the parent company of Century 21, Coldwell Banker and ERA, to upload more than 500,000 of its affiliates’ listings to its database. Realogy also has inked a similar deal with Google Base.
Consumers will now be able to easily search and find their dream home on Trulia.com from top brokerage brands including Coldwell Banker®, ERA©, CENTURY 21® and NRT Inc. (a Realogy subsidiary), and then be directed to the complete property information on their respective Web sites. Realogy brands are involved in every third residential transaction in the U.S.
Realogy’s decision to work with Trulia is another positive sign that real estate franchisors and brokerages are embracing the opportunity to reach home buyers where they are searching online, offering scalable marketing solutions like Trulia.com where they receive the benefit of free traffic with no effort on the part of their franchisees or agents.
Nearly 80 percent of home buyers start their search on the Internet - soon they’ll have more to look at.
On its Web site, the Peninsula on Indian River Bay development in Delaware has begun using high-quality, television news-style presentation to sell homes. On the site, viewers take interactive tours of the property, led by two on-line hosts, through different site “channels.”
According to Roland Varesko, president of Ecendent Interactive, the production company that put together Peninsula’s site, nobody is doing this on as grand a scale as the Peninsula. “It’s like having your own TV show,” he says.
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