20 Ways to Cut Construction Costs : For Pros When housing starts are in the doldrums, homebuilders need to make every dollar count by cutting construction costs while still providing top value. Easier said than done? Charles C. Shinn Jr., president of the Lee Evans Group/Shinn Consulting in Littleton, Colo., says there are myriad ways to do it. "If you can reduce construction costs by only $10 per cost code, you will significantly increase your profits," he says. Cutting direct construction costs is the most effective way to boost profits, Shinn says. Create target construction-cost budgets. Craig A.
PriceGrabber.com - Smart Shopping Anytime, Anywhere How To Calculate Cash on Cash Return - Real estate investors often turn to the cash on cash return when considering a real estate investment property. So let’s take a look. 1. The property’s expected cash flow during the first year 2. Cash flow during the first year is simply the amount of money expected to flow in less the amount of money expected to flow out. . The initial investment comprises what the investor invests to make the purchase. . Cash Flow / Initial Investment = Cash on Cash Return (CoC) $5,000 / 100,000 = 5.0% (CoC) Viola! James Kobzeff is the developer of ProAPOD – a leading real estate investment software provider since 2000. Bookmark & Share New Cars Pricing and Comparisons Local, Regional and National Car Price Reports at TrueCar
Secrets to creating a house that's easy to sell Everyone wants a unique home that fits the way they live. Everyone wants their house to sell easily and quickly - someday. Are those two statements contradictory? You might think so, if you listen to some of the conventional wisdom from the real estate and homebuilding industries. If you're selling houses, you're obviously interested in ones that will appeal to the widest audience possible. Houses similar in size and style, and with similar floor plans. Theoretically, that should lead to greater exposure and a greater chance of a quick sale. If you're buying a house, however, you want something much more personal - a home that has all of the things you need to support your unique daily life. If you have lots of kids, you need bathrooms and casual space. If you're an empty-nester, you probably want more living and entertaining space, and less maintenance. [Ready to tailor your home to fit your needs? Things like decent-sized laundry rooms and mudrooms. And maybe in a big way.
The 20 best money Web sites - 1. Do I need to save more for retirement? (1) - Money Magazine Best Site:Basic.esplanner.com With the markets bouncing around so much, you may have checked some online calculators to see if you need to shovel in more cash. But many of those tools are flawed, argues Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, the brain behind ESPlanner. ESPlannerBASIC skips such imponderables. Caveat: ESPlannerBASIC saves your data for only 24 hours. Try this too: For a quick review of how you're doing, go to CNNmoney.com/tools and "Check Your Financial Health." By Lisa Gibbs, Joe Light and Ismat Sarah Mangla NEXT: 2.
7 questions I've learned to ask contractors before hiring for a home build Choosing a contractor can be a difficult and nerve-wracking decision. I've had the opportunity to work with contractors to build my family's dream home and to later add an addition to our home. We learned some tough lessons during the home build, and later had a very successful experience with the addition. Aside from the basics like getting multiple bids and asking for references, my husband and I learned that the questions we asked at the beginning of the process had a tremendous impact on the outcome of the project. We ultimately got our dream home and addition through a construction process that was painless to our family of five. [Click here to find an expert home contractor in your area.] Here are some of the most important questions that we asked (or wished we had asked) when interviewing contractors. How many projects do you currently work on? Have you done similar work? Do you plan to subcontract the job? [Click to find the right home contractor now.] Home & Garden
Credit Card Basics, Ch. 2: Understanding credit scores Ever wonder why you can go online and be approved for credit within 60 seconds? Or get pre-qualified for a car without anyone even asking you how much money you make? Or why you get one interest rate on loans, while your neighbor gets another? The answer is credit scoring. Your credit score is a number generated by a mathematical algorithm -- a formula -- based on information in your credit report, compared to information on tens of millions of other people. If it sounds arcane and unimportant, you couldn't be more wrong. Scoring categories The scale runs from 300 to 850. American public's credit scores break out along these lines: What's the big deal? Your credit score will determine if you get credit at all, and the interest rate on that credit, says Ed Ojdana, president of Experian Consumer Direct, part of Experian, the largest of the three major credit-reporting agencies. Powerful little number Buying a car?