Category Archives: Financial Planning

Time To Buy Single Family Homes

By Empower | Published: March 6, 2012

Warren Buffet, consistently ranked as one of the world’s wealthiest people and one of the most successful investors in the world, shared insight this week addressing the economic forecast, and unveiling his personal strategy: Single Family Homes. His advice? Buy em. Buy a lot of them, and finance or refinance them with 30 year mortgages. [...]

Also posted in Financial Market Place, Housing Market, Investor, Rates, Real Estate | Tagged 15 year fixed, 30 year fixed, Empower, HARP 2.0, mortgage rates, Real Estate, single family homes, wall street journal, Warren Buffett, zillow.com | Leave a comment

Tax Tips: Keeping records organized reduces stress at tax time!

By empower | Published: February 10, 2011

If you haven’t already, it’s time to start thinking about your tax return right now. Maintaining good records now can make filing your return a lot easier and it will help you remember transactions you made during the year. Gather your information early – a few days prior to visiting your trusted CPA, be sure to spend a few minutes putting things in order. This will allow time to ensure you have the documentation you need. The more prepared, the faster your refund, and the less stress you will have! http://empower.ws

Also posted in Business, Entrepreneurs, Healthy Living, News, Personal Credit, Relaxing, Retirement, Tax | Tagged 2010, 2011, accountant, accounting, accounting tips, april 15th, CPA, Empower, filing, financial, Frances E. Schram, home loans, organized, Real Estate, Schram & Associates, stress free taxes, Tax, tax filing, tax tips, tips, www.empower.ws, www.empowerhomeloans.com | Leave a comment

History & Looking Forward – what the rear view mirror can teach us.

By empower | Published: January 11, 2011

Gerry Stewart, a veteran real estate broker from Salem, OR, reflects on over 30 years in the Real Estate industry. He comments on how we can use yesteryears experience in todays life. The key ingredient? Embrace change… http://empower.ws http://empowerhomeloans.com

Also posted in Business, Entrepreneurs, Financial Market Place, First Time Home Buyer, Home Loans, Housing Market, Mortgage, News, Personal Credit | Tagged agent, broker, credit, Empower, Empower Financial, Empower Funding, Empower Home Loans, Empower Real Estate, face2face, financial, financial planning, firm, Gerry Stewart, History, Investment, Looking Forward, planning, predictions, Real Estate Brokerage, Salem Chamber, senior, transaction, vision, www.empower.ws | Leave a comment

Sales of existing homes continues upward path.

By empower | Published: December 28, 2010

Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday… http://empowerhomeloans.com

Also posted in Credit, Financial Market Place, First Time Home Buyer, Fix and Flip, Foreclosure, Funding, Home Loans, Housing Market, Mortgage, News, Rate, Rates, Refinance | Tagged distressed homes, economics, Empower, Empower Financial, Empower Funding, Empower Home Loans, Empower Real Estate, financial, financial marketplace, financing, first time home buyer, group, home buyer, home sales, investing, median, mortgage, Real Estate, realtor | Leave a comment

Good Credit More Important Than Ever.

By empower | Published: December 27, 2010

You probably already know how important it is to have a good credit score. A high score can help you qualify for loans with the lowest interest rates, nab auto insurance at the lowest premiums, and even beat out your competitors for that dream job. However, having a good credit score is even more important today. [...]

Also posted in Credit, Entrepreneurs, Home Loans, Housing Market, Investor, Mortgage, News, Personal Credit, Rate, Rates, Refinance | Tagged credit, credit card, credit score, Empower, Empower Financial, Empower Funding, Empower Home Loans, Empower Mortgage, Empower Real Estate, financial, group, home loan, mortgage, personal credit, personal finance, www.empower.ws | Leave a comment

Home Prices on the way up. Race to 2012.

By empower | Published: December 1, 2010

Kiplinger Jan. 2011 issue: Property values are still drifting down, but look for relief at the end of 2011. The lowest mortgage interest rates in almost 60 years, plus affordable homes in cities where buyers had been priced out for years, should be turning the housing market around. But the market also labors under some heavy burdens: a glut of foreclosures that are dragging down home prices, high unemployment and tight credit. Sales fell off a cliff after the home-buyer tax credit expired. And “foreclosure-gate” — legal squabbling about the process used to repossess many homes — postponed the sale of many foreclosed properties and struck yet another body blow to confidence in the housing market… http://empower.ws

Also posted in Financial Market Place, Fix and Flip, Foreclosure, Home Loans, Housing Market, Mortgage, News | Tagged Empower, empower banking, Empower Financial, Empower Home Loans, Empower Real Estate, financial, firm, foreclosure, group, Home Prices, home value, invest now, Investment, mortgage, mortgage market, property value, Real Estate, values, www.empower.ws | Leave a comment

Irony: Bernanke – No housing bubble to pop.

By empower | Published: November 20, 2010

…Rather, he has argued for many years that the Fed should respond to rising or falling prices for stocks, real estate or other assets only if they are affecting inflation or economic growth in an undesirable way. Thus, he would advocate cutting interest rates if a reversal in the housing market sharply dampened consumer spending, triggering job losses or a fall in inflation to very low levels. Bernanke believes “the Fed’s job is to protect the economy, not to protect individual asset prices,” said William Dudley, chief economist for Goldman Sachs U.S. Economics Research… http://empower.ws

Also posted in Business, Financial Market Place, First Time Home Buyer, Fix and Flip, Foreclosure, Fund Management, Home Loans, Housing Market, Investment, Investor, Mortgage, News, Personal Credit, Retirement | Tagged 2011, 2012, agent, bank owned, Ben Bernanke, economist, economy, Empower, Empower Financial, Empower Home Loans, Empower Real Estate, fed, financial, firm, foreclosure, goldman sachs, greenspan, group, housing bubble, Housing Market, invest now, Investment, loan officer, loan originator, low interest rates, low rates, Market Outlook, mortgage banker, mortgage banking, property, Real Estate, realtor, REO, seattle hard money, Seattle Mortgage, Senate Banking, staging, www.empower.ws | Leave a comment

what we can learn from Apple

By empower | Published: June 21, 2010

Any way you slice it, Apple is leading the way in more ways than one. Apple is not just an alternative to Windows and PC’s, but is taking more and more of the computing and retail ‘gadget’ marketplace. The products are extremely intuitive, the engineering and construction outstanding, and the proprietary software has much fewer problems than its competitors. For business owners – I should say, for forward thinking business owners, the Apple model is an incredible model to follow. Business in the 21st century is much different than business in the 20th century. Now more than ever, businesses must have 4 clearly defined principles at its core: (iPhone 4, iPad, iMac, etc.) www.empoweryourbest.com www.apple.com

Also posted in Business, Entrepreneurs, Fund Management, Investment, Investor, News, Retirement | Tagged apple, Business, Business Consulting, business lessons, Business Management, business operations, ceo, coo, development, Empower, Empower Financial, Entrepreneurs, financial, group, growth, iAds, iMac, Investment, iOS 4, iOS 4 software upgrade, iPhone 4, iPhone 4 launch today, mantra, mentor, mission, model, planning, Retirement, software upgrade, success, vision, wealth management | 12 Comments

Watch what happens when you tell your business where to go

By empower | Published: June 2, 2010

Every day is a hustle. Busy busy busy. Sometimes you feel that you are simply existing, and are stuck in a grind. It’s hard to decipher what’s important, from what’s urgent. Need to refocus? Need to get back on course? Here’s how. clarity From time to time, we all need to revisit our compass, and alter our [...]

Also posted in Business, Entrepreneurs, Investor, News, Personal Credit, Retirement | Tagged Business, Business Consulting, Business Management, ceo, coo, corporate consulting, Empower, Empower Financial, financial, group, growth, Investment, Investor, planning, wealth management | 1 Comment

why you want to learn more about private investing

By empower | Published: April 19, 2010

Common investing methods – such as investing into the stock market – is generally a passive method. Meaning, it is defensive in nature. Typical investment advisors make choices for their clients based on what a stock is doing, or what the market is doing. Their software tells them that changes have occurred and they need to buy, sell, hold, or plan to make a move based on certain theoretical indicators… http://empoweryourbest.com/