Blogs

Having spent several years “doing time”  in large law firms I can tell you that the whole concept of lawyer billing and compensation  inside law firms leave much to be desired for clients.   Everybody suspects it.   And here’s the truth…Partners who bring in the work get credit for that and their compensation is largely based on it.  But for everyone else compensation is based on billed hours and at least 10 a day is expected.

2012 Property Taxes Are Due March 31, 2013 or they become delinquent April 1st and any active Property Tax Appeal is automatically denied!

Pursuant to Section 194.014, Florida Statutes, at least 75% of the ad valorem taxes and 100% of the non-ad valorem taxes must be paid by March 31st, 2013 or the VAB tax appeal petition will automatically be dismissed.

Shari Olefson is an attorney-mediator and author of Financial Fresh Start: Your Five-Step Plan for Adapting and Prospering in the New Economy. Her quotes/comments can be found in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and USA Today, and she makes appearances on CNN, CNBC, Fox, PBS, MSNBC, and CBS.

New home construction indicators released this morning are showing us that permits, starts, completions and sales are all on the upswing.   This translates to recovering numbers, but still only about half way to what we would normally consider to be a healthy new home market.  New homes peaked at 2.07 million in 2005 and then tanked at 588,000 in 2010.   780,000 new homes were started in 2012.  2013 is on track for over 915,000 new homes  (while this is significantly less than existing home sales – see below - its importance lies in the fact that each new home constructed and sold  also ac

Lisa Prevost’s “Saving Money on Title Insurance” highlights the perspective of most home buyers when it comes to paying for title insurance at a real estate closing.   No doubt, title insurance is among the higher costs associated with purchasing real estate and for good reason.   Unlike other types of insurance which are generally paid annually and are subject to increase over time, the title insurance premium is only paid one time yet provides coverage for the entire time a home is owned.   The amount of work and risks assumed by title insurance agents in completing the due diligence req

Try calling the White House visitor tours  - here's the historic message you'll hear; Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration we regret to inform you that White House tours will be cancelled effective Saturday March 9 2013 until further notice...Unfortunately we will not be able to reschedule affected tours. We very much regret having to take this action particularly during the popular spring touring season." 

How do you rank the handling of this particular decision on a scale of 1 (bad move ;-(. )  to 10 (way to go!)

The assumption that kids and their parents can just continue to absorb rising college costs is proven to be wrong.  This is one act we gotta get together! 

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Pope to Cardinals: lets try this sequester thing. You guys pick a pope or its gonna be Howard stern. 

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