Archive for December, 2008

ING Direct Says Merry Christmas As It Pays January Mortgage Payment For 500

This is a heartwarming story of a company that get’s it.
No Christmas parties at ING Direct for the staff is allowing the company to pay January’s mortgage payment for 500 customers who participated in a contest by the bank.

ING Direct forgave $861,513.25 in January mortgage payments — or an average $1,700 per household — [...]

25Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Merry Christmas

Here are some great decorated Christmas Homes for you to enjoy.

And do not forget the Griswald’s House…

And this classic from the Miller Lite Commercial

25Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Another Headache For New Jersey Real Estate

“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” – John Steinbeck

Poor New Jersey.

The citizens of the good state are fighting the same fight to preserve property values as we all are, yet the government is obviously conspiring [...]

24Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Top 10 Cities With Highest Rate Of Non-Smokers

Hate smoking? These 10 cities are for you. They have the highest levels of nonsmokers as a percentage of the population. Many of the cities are not surprising led by Provo, Utah.
But one really jumps out at me. The 5th highest city with nonsmokers in the United States in Durham, North Carolina. In the heart [...]

24Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

Burning Down The House… And It Is Not Arson

The firefighters in Supply, North Carolina are not thrilled this week. They had to respond to a home fire that was intentionally set and put it out. And so far they have not found anything to charge the person who set the fire with.
You would figure that burning down a house would get an arson [...]

24Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Where Are The Home Buyers?

Remember the big college football programs in the 1980’s. They would have 11 players on the field and 100 on the sidelines.
That is where the buyers are right now, sitting on the sidelines waiting for the game to be decided. Of course, that is brutal for those trying to sell a home today. Earlier [...]

24Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Top 10 Cities With Highest Rate of Smokers

Are you a smoker and do not want to be a pariah. Well, you are in luck. These ten cities have the highest rate of smokers in the population.
Outside of Casper, Wyoming and Tulsa, Oklahoma, the cities are in the southeast. This is not a surprise as the states are tobacco growing states and more accommodating [...]

23Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 2 comments | Continued

What Are The Most Dangerous Places to Live in America For Natural Disaster

Last week we covered the most dangerous places to live in the United States in terms of crime, today I figured to keep up the happy trend and cover the areas where you could most likely die in a natural disaster.
Yep, I can hear it now, great Christmas spirit Tom.
Yet I bet you are [...]

23Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Top 10 Fastest Growing States in the United States 2007-2008

Do you want to live in a state that is growing rapidly? Then head to the Mountain West where six of the top 10 fastest growing states are located or the Southeast where 3 are located.
Texas led the way in pure numbers with nearly half a million people moving there in the past year. Utah [...]

22Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

Now Developers Need A Bailout As Loans Come Due

This falls in the “if you can’t beat them, join them” game.
Developers facing huge balloon payments are ready to ask Congress and the Executive Branch for a bailout. As their commercial loans come due they are fearful that banks are not going to be willing to refinance the projects.
The developers business plans are predicated [...]

22Dec2008 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued