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Economic growth at a standstill

By Lou Barnes, Thursday, May 27, 2004.

Mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in a month, down to 6.25 percent from the 6.5 percent peak.

The largest element in the decline has been the causeless relaxation common to market retracements after hysterical intervals. Wall Street operators often use the term "correction" in order to comfort a client's suddenly shirtless condition, but this bond-market bounce-back was legit.  more...

Real estate mastery an exclusive club Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Thursday, May 27, 2004.

(Part 3 of a four-part series. See Parts 1, 2 and 4.)

Not everyone is cut out for a career in real estate sales. Do you have the "right stuff?"

The last two columns looked at what it takes to run a successful real estate business, as well as how to organize your business.  more...

Major lenders help 'down and out' buy real estate

By Robert Bruss, Thursday, May 27, 2004.

Are you less than perfect about paying your bills on time? Or maybe you pay your rent, utilities and other bills with cash or money orders so you have no credit record.

If that's your problem, you can still buy a house or condo.

Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.

Thanks to innovative outreach home mortgage programs from Fannie Mae and other major home loan lenders, if you have a reliable source of income you can probably buy a home.  more...

Proper masking essential to quality paint job

By Paul Bianchina, Thursday, May 27, 2004.

As any experienced painter will tell you, good painting is not about how to get the paint onto the surface – it's about how to keep it off everything else! A good masking job is every bit as important as a good paint job, and happily the proper tools and materials are inexpensive and easy to come by, and the techniques are easy to learn.

WHAT YOU NEED  more...

Real estate fashion sense hits a mental wall

By Arrol Gellner, Thursday, May 27, 2004.

We all know that nothing looks more dated than last year's red-hot style.

What's not so obvious is why consumer styles–whether clothes, curtains or cars–come and go with such cyclical certainty. More often than not, the seeds of new design trends are carefully nurtured by their respective industries to spur sales, and then disseminated via design magazines, television shows and the like. Clever marketing encourages consumers to believe that they're the ones driving these trends, when in fact it's more often the other way around.  more...