tax tips- February 27, 2008 Here are a few things I didn't know about tax preparation.Numbers 4 and 8 were really surprising.From SmartMoney: 10 Things Your Tax Preparer Won't Tell You by Janet PaskinThursday, February 21, 2008provided by 1. "A big name doesn't always mean better service." Roughly 135 million Americans file tax returns, and of those, two-thirds pay for help. While solo acts like CPAs and so-called enrolled agents have plenty of clients, almost 20% of taxpayers go through a big franchise like...http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/27/tax-tips.aspx?ref=rss Allegro- February 22, 2008 I had a preconstruction deal at the Allegro condominium under construction next to DC-USA in Columbia Heights.When I put my deposit down at the height of the real estate bubble I was thinking I would move in for a year and then sell and make a tidy profit - they weren't scheduled to be completed until 2009.With the real estate market in decline the developer has decided to convert the building to apartments and has refunded the investors' deposits. I just cashed mine this morning. This will...http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/22/allegro.aspx?ref=rss Infomercial- February 21, 2008 Here's a technique I don't recommend.http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/21/infomercial.aspx?ref=rss playing my trump card- February 19, 2008 I finally decided to take the plunge.I attended a real estate seminar this afternoon and bought their 3 day training program.The price is normally 3 grand but, if you 'act now' you can get it half off. So that's what I did.To make this a no money down deal I paid for the training with credit cards.If the training is as good as they claim within 30 days my first deal should cover the cost.Pay off the cards and make a tidy profit all with no money out of pocket.You may know this company. I won't..http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/19/playing-my-trump-card.aspx?ref=rss Charles Barkley- February 18, 2008 This is not a political blog but, I just couldn't believe someone actually said this out loud! cnn interviewhttp://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/18/charles-barkley.aspx?ref=rss Better News- February 9, 2008 I had a phone interview yesterday so hopefully something will come of that.Also, I received a call from my agent. It seems that when the appraiser went to look at the property I'm buying in Atlanta he walked in on some thieves in the process of causinghundreds of dollars worth of damage.I may be able to turn this to my advantage. My agent believes since the appraiser called the bankabout this as soon as it happened, that we may be able to talk them into including a repair escrowto pay for the...http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/09/better-news.aspx?ref=rss Bad News- February 5, 2008 It looks like I'll have lot of time to blog; I got laid off yesterday.The timing for these things are never good but, this one is really bad.If the bank finds out I don't have a job they'll most likely turn down my loan application.So that will be another deal that falls through although, I will save money.It's probably better to use the money that would have gone to down payments and repairsto put food on the table until I get a new gig. I certainly can't count on my Adsense just yet.This is...http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/05/bad-news.aspx?ref=rss Faxing- February 4, 2008 This morning I faxed over my documents to a mortgage broker for a loan that is supposed to close on the 14th.We'll see if they can do it. If the loan goes through this deal should cash flow; we've already got a lease-option tenant lined up.The place needs a few grand in repairs and I'll try to put most of it on credit cards and pay them off ifwhen our tenant buys the property. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep you posted.http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/04/faxing.aspx?ref=rss New Map- February 1, 2008 Just added a new map to the main site...Enjoy!http://blog.chromial.com/2008/02/01/new-map.aspx?ref=rss |