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Life, liberty and financial happiness

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, September 1, 2009.
Image courtesy of <a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780143115267,00.html?strSrchSql=Richard+H.+Thaler+and+Cass+R.+Sunstein/Nudge_Richard_H._Thaler" target=blank>Penguin</a>.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- the inalienable rights of every American. Does this mean that Americans view property and the pursuit of happiness as essentially interchangeable? I'll buy that. Why, then, do so many of our consumer decisions -- from what we eat to the mortgage loans we borrow -- result in disease and unhappiness?

In "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness," happiness researchers Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein explore just this question, then provide lots of ways we can all "nudge" each other toward making happiness-creating choices.  more...

State of the nation's homeowners

By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, September 1, 2009.

When will house prices go up again?

That's the question, worded in various ways, that I'm frequently asked by my neighbors, who happen to know that I write about real estate for a living.

My answer, always the same, is: I have no idea, and neither does anyone else.

There are plenty of forecasts of what may happen to house prices. Up. Down. Flat. U-shaped. V-shaped. L-shaped. Even W-shaped. But personally, I don't think any of the forecasts are all that reliable.  more...

How to buy a 'lucky' house

By Bernice Ross, Tuesday, September 1, 2009.

Sellers often stage their houses to make them more attractive to potential buyers. What can you do as a buyer, however, to make sure that you're buying a "lucky house"? The ancient Chinese tradition of feng shui has some interesting answers.

How can you recognize a lucky house vs. one that is unlucky? Here are some of the key principles from feng shui that can assist you in finding your personal "lucky house."  more...

AgentWorld mashes up profiles, posts, ratings Premium Content

By Gahlord Dewald, Tuesday, September 1, 2009.

While attending the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco last month, I took a moment to chat with Tyler Kraemer of AgentWorld, a site that is building a list of real estate agents in the U.S. and internationally (international is in beta). A few things stuck out in my mind as being potentially useful for agents looking for an additional tool for their online marketing -- especially those using profile marketing.

First, a quick rundown of profile marketing: If you sign up for a service and there's a profile page, there's a good chance this profile page will show up in searches for your name. Search engines put up 10 or so links on their first page of search results.  more...