Prudential Real Estate

Estate planning can enable you to control your property while you are alive, take care of you and your loved ones if you become disabled, and give what you have to whom you want, the way you want, and when you want, and if you wish, you can save every last tax dollar, professional fee, and court cost possible.

At the end of May, the real estate world was rocked when HUD filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against several major real estate firms and a natural hazard disclosure reporting company alleging RESPA violations in connection with their former joint ventures. Although at the time, the industry speculated this lawsuit marked new ground for HUD in taking companies to court over RESPA violations, HUD has in fact done it once before. And curiously, the issues in that first case bear an uncanny similarity to the issues at the heart of the new case.

Your home is most likely the largest purchase you will ever make in your lifetime, don't take it lightly. It is important to find a Realtor that you trust, that is professional. Think of them as you would when working with a lawyer or a doctor. They are handling the largest purchase of your life, the place where you will live everyday, plus they are looking at your personal financial picture in order to help you get you the best deal possible.

The voluntary Model Green Home Building Guidelines are designed to move environmentally friendly home building concepts further into the mainstream marketplace. Currently, there are approximately thirty communities throughout the U.S. that have green home building programs in place or in development. By developing the set of voluntary national guidelines, NAHB intends to help facilitate the adoption of green home building practices and the formation of additional local programs in the parts of the country not currently served by programs.

There was a lot of negative news affecting banks, mortgage companies and to a lesser extent, investment brokerage firms, such as sub-prime debacle, rising mortgages, rising interest rates, and an excess inventory of real estate. However, in the financial services industry, there has been a group that is somewhat overlooked, life insurance companies. There is obviously some exposure to the sub-prime problems, but not as far banks and mortgage companies. Fortunately, there are about ten life insurance companies to pay dividends of more than 1%.