Investing
You'll know your foreclosures by the poop
Sarah Gilbert
Feb 6th 2010 at 3:00PM
Filed under: Debt, Real Estate, Investing
The house sits behind an upholstery shop on the corner, and while I'm too young to know for sure, I'll bet the upholstery shop has thrived since the streetcar ran down Gladstone Street in the 1950s. The house, like mine, was built in the first few decades of the 20th century. An old grande dame, she is, brilliant with leaded glass windows and gingerbread detailing and a formal dining room and built-ins that must have had the real estate agents in a tizzy four years ago when the market was so hot she was flipped twice in a season, sold last for $417,000 -- nearly three times what we'd paid for our house, a block away, in 2002.When she was first for sale my husband, who's worked for a few of the city's top residential real estate agents, called his old friends, dreaming of an investment -- he loves how enormous and elegant she is. I told him it was a foreclosure waiting to happen: even pre-crash I could see it couldn't work. The numbers just didn't make sense; the house had been a rental for many years and, despite its great "bones," there were problems that would prevent even the slummiest of landlords from breaking even.
Do these two housewives have the balls to attract the Sharks' quick money?
Jason Cochran
Feb 6th 2010 at 1:00AM
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Extracurriculars, Shopping, Investing, Video, As Seen on TV
In their taped introduction, they confessed they were doing so well, they couldn't keep up anymore. "We are slammed with orders. We need the Sharks and we need them now," said one of them. (Which one? We needed more time to distinguish them.) A problem like that -- too much guaranteed income -- is the sweet smell of chum to such finely tuned noses as our Sharks'.
They wanted $86,000 for 20% of their biz, and right away, they explained what they would do with the cash: They wanted to buy their own manufacture equipment so they wouldn't have to pay to outsource anymore. One of the sisters (the one whose name starts with M) said they would put their new equipment in "our little place in Chicago."
Precious Moments figurines now worth precious little
Zac Bissonnette
Feb 1st 2010 at 11:00AM
Filed under: Investing
Last week, WalletPOP looked at the tanking market for Hummel figurines. But there's at least one brand of kitschy, once-collectible figurines that has fared even worse: Precious Moments. Enesco, a once-leading giftware company, began selling the figurines in the late 1970s, based on the drawings of Sam Butcher, who had been marketing a line of Precious Moments cards and posters for several years. The figurines caught fire because of their inspirational messages and Christian themes, and a hot secondary market quickly developed, with retired early figurines routinely selling for several times their original prices.
Now, thanks to rampant over-supply on the Internet, changing tastes, and the recession, the market has tanked.
LipStix ReMix, the '$100 million' cosmetics invention (plus a special Aol offer)
Jason Cochran
Jan 30th 2010 at 1:00AM
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Home, Health, Investing, Video, Economizer, As Seen on TV
Although the pitch ended in a fantastic six-figure deal, its inventor made a simple negotiating mistake that could end up costing her an untold fortune. Jason Cochran found out what it was in WalletPop's exclusive AfterShark interview. (Make sure you stay tuned for the end of the interview, when Quillin offers an exclusive two-for-one deal exclusively for WalletPop readers.)
High cap rates and low interest rates make now a great time to buy
Zac Bissonnette
Jan 27th 2010 at 4:30PM
Filed under: Home, Real Estate, Investing
With all the hype about how home ownership is dead and real estate is no longer a good investment, it's useful to look at some numbers.Instead of all the headlines and hysteria, numbers can tell us -- with some objectivity -- whether real estate is attractively priced.
Today's Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "The average cap rate for office properties in central business districts jumped to 8.8% in December from 8.56% in November. The December number was the highest rate for that category since May 2003. Meanwhile, average cap rates for apartment buildings was 7.36% in December, up from 7.09% in November."
A cautionary tale of real estate fraud: Buyer beware!
Charles Feldman
Jan 15th 2010 at 8:00AM
Filed under: Real Estate, Fraud, Recession, Investing
There was the tip off. Right in front of my face. How , I wondered, did the victims of this massive real estate fraud not recognize larceny as it stared them right in the face?But there it was in the article I was reading as it came into full view on my laptop: Said the New York Times, "Mr. Puff drew investors by advertising guaranteed annual returns of 15% to 20% from his business of buying, renovating and reselling real estate."
Really! 15% to 20% annual returns!
That should have been the tip off right then and there. But it wasn't for more than 1,200 investors who, in total, handed over more than $123 million dollars to Wayne Puff's Ponzi scheme .... the investors ended up losing $55 million.
Record 2009 foreclosure rate is mixed bag of news
Charles Feldman
Jan 14th 2010 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Real Estate, Recession, Investing, Mortgages
There are two ways of looking at the foreclosure news I'm about to tell you: One is that it is devastating! Proof that our economy may be working better now for Chase and Bank of America and some other "too big to fail" type institutions, but not so for the vast majority of the rest of us. The other way to look at the news I am about to tell you is, for potential home buyers, the year ahead will be a virtual flowing fountain of bargains and opportunities.
Barbara Corcoran: Kevin O'Leary stiffed me with the check at dinner
Jason Cochran
Jan 8th 2010 at 2:30PM
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Wealth, Investing, Video, As Seen on TV
While he was visiting Corcoran to get the dish on the upcoming season of the popular ABC show (click here for that video), WalletPop's Jason Cochran got the dish on her rival Sharks who try to horn in on her deals. Maybe she's a little sore from being back-stabbed too many times, because she has a choice anecdote about the time Kevin O'Leary asked her to dinner -- and then stiffed her with the check. "That guy's got billions. I've got millions. Is that fair? No."
Jason also asked her what makes for a successful salesperson. If you want to succeed, do you have to be a born salesperson? Do you have to do months of expensive market research and have every I dotted and every T crossed? Or does it take something else? Corcoran lays it out there: You don't have to be buttoned-up to make money. But you do need something else.
Take her advice and next season, you could be standing in front of her on Shark Tank.
'Shark Tank' returns tonight! A sneak peek from Barbara Corcoran's office
Jason Cochran
Jan 8th 2010 at 1:00PM
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Extracurriculars, Career, Wealth, Investing, Celebs & Money, Video, As Seen on TV
Since Shark Tank is back helping people make money fast, so is AfterShark. WalletPop's Jason Cochran was invited to Barbara Corcoran's offices in Manhattan to find out what's been happening with her big investments from the last batch of episodes. Corcoran tells which product landed a big deal at CVS, who's selling on Whole Food shelves, and who got enough money to mass produce thanks to Shark Tank bucks.
She also hints, with a trace of venom, at some nasty backstabbing between the Sharks in the episodes to come -- could it be that she's about to get sliced out of some juicy deals?
Jason also got some extra advice from Corcoran about what makes for a successful entrepreneur. Click here for Part Two of our video interview with the Lipstick Shark, in which she dishes about the other Sharks and their sneaky methods.
H&R Block pays millions to settle complaints about 'Express IRA' offer
Mitch Lipka
Jan 4th 2010 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Tax, Fraud, Investing, Consumer Ally
H&R Block agreed to refund up to $19.4 million in fees to settle charges the tax preparation giant steered hundreds of thousands of customers to put money into its "Express IRA" program knowing it was virtually guaranteed to lose money, the New York Attorney General's Office said.Low interest rates and an array of fees prevented the accounts from benefiting the investors, primarily lower and middle income families, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said in a written statement.
Economic indicators to watch in 2010
Gina Roberts-Grey
Dec 24th 2009 at 8:00AM
Filed under: Real Estate, Wealth, Investing
When it comes to the economy, there's no silver bullet. However, if you're trying to formulate a plan to bring your personal finances out of a recession, experts say you've got to do some number crunching. Tracking certain economic indicators can help you decide the most opportune time to buy or sell a home, expect a raise, or how to distribute your 401(k). With hundreds of indicators fighting to garner your attention it can be confusing to know which ones mean the most to you.
Fine print in mortgage modification forms contain booby trap
Charles Feldman
Dec 19th 2009 at 9:00AM
Filed under: Banks, Home, Investing, Mortgages
Signer beware! Turns out the forms homeowners fill out to apply for lower monthly mortgage payments for three months while waiting for more permanent relief contain a potentially lethal booby trap courtesy of the U.S. Treasury Department.
According to a report in the Miami Herald, the forms require borrowers to "waive important notification rights."
The result, says the paper, is that more and more homeowners who thought their enrollment in the trial modification period would lead to a more long lasting roof over their heads, find, instead, the rug pulled out from under them by lenders who at the last minute sell the property without even bothering to notify the homeowner.
Ask the Dolans: What are the best places to invest now?
Ken and Daria Dolan
Dec 18th 2009 at 9:30AM
Filed under: The Dolans, Wealth, Investing, Video
Ken and Daria Dolan, America's first family of personal finance, answer your questions every Friday.
Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.
Every Friday, Ken and Daria answer a question from a WalletPop reader. This week, they tackle a question that has come from dozens of WalletPoppers: Where is the best place to invest my money now? If you're wondering what's ahead for the market and your investments in the new year, you'll want to watch today's video!
You can get Ken and Daria's personal finance advice every day at Dolans.com or follow them on Facebook.
Saving money, the Ron Howard way
Ron Dicker
Dec 14th 2009 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Saving Money, Investing
Bryce Dallas Howard has a film career that includes roles in the megahit "Spider-Man 3" and the upcoming "Twilight: Eclipse." Her father, Ron Howard, has won an Oscar and directed worldwide blockbusters.But it seems even Hollywood royalty can feel the economic pinch. Bryce said she and her husband, Seth Gabel, have had to readjust their lifestyle.
"We're needing to be significantly more responsible than before," Bryce told WalletPop in an interview to promote her new movie, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond,"opening Dec. 30.
The 28-year-old actor said she had a recent conversation with her father in which he described his philosophy of personal finance. She listened. Bryce said she has no trust fund and has been financially independent from her family since leaving New York University in 2003.
Future cities more urban, less suburban
Amy Pyle
Dec 2nd 2009 at 4:30PM
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Home, Real Estate, Transportation, Career, Investing, Mortgages
Instead, Monti -- a Plainview, NY, developer -- has seen the future and it looks more like a city than a suburb.
Monti is taking his vision for revitalized, livable and walkable downtowns in smaller cities to America's biggest downtown next week, to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange where he'll speak at a Wharton School of Business forum titled "The Road To Recovery: Investing in the Global Real Estate Rebound." He will be joined by Christopher Leinberger of The Brooking Institution.
The concept taps into the now familiar desire of empty nester boomers and young professionals for more urban lifestyles. Monti and Leinberger call them the "creative class:" 12% of the workforce in 1980, 33% today and an estimated 50% in a decade. Quite a potential market.
