DFW Relocation

Cash rebates for clunker vehicles were such a smash hit, the government is at it again - this time offering you cash for your worn-out household appliances. The $300-million federal program - administered through the states - will provide consumers with a cash rebate of up to 15% of the cost of each new Energy Star-rated refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, clothes washer, water heater and room air conditioner. Expect rebates to run from $100 to $250, depending on the cost of the appliance. But wait - there's more. The program also covers central AC/heating systems, providing rebates of up to $1,500 for Energy Star-rated replacement systems plus a federal income tax credit of up to $1,500 on purchases made by the end of this year. Though a few states - Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Rhode Island - have jumped the gun and already have the incentives in play, most other states will launch the program later this month. States' shares of the federal program are based on population. Ca...

Where are the trouble spots in the U.S. ? by Francesca Levy Wednesday, April 28, 2010 provided by In these cities, the housing crisis is expected to worsen. Since the late 1970s casino-rich Atlantic City, N.J., has been a beachfront escape for poker aficionados and Keno-loving retirees from Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey and New York. More from robertjrussell.com : • Real Estate Outlook: Signs of Recovery • Online Radio Show • Join us on Facebook! Today, buying a home in Atlantic City is a gamble. Of 315 cities measured by Local Market Monitor, a Cary, N.C.-based real estate research firm, the Atlantic City metro is expected to experience the largest drop in home value over the next 12 months. A pocket of Northwestern cities where restrictions on building have artificially inflated prices, and smaller metros whose housing markets have benefited from internal migration, join Atlantic City on our list of real estate trouble spots. Like cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Ariz...

RISMEDIA, April 1, 2010-The real estate brokerage industry is in the process of coming out of a significant storm that has wreaked havoc on a large percentage of firms. Some have failed, some are hanging on, and yet others are reinventing themselves for the future. Regardless of your company's situation, it's time to assess where you want to be in the next few years and what it's going to take to get there. Doing nothing is simply not an option. For three years, innovation has been stifled due to the fact brokerages have been in "survival mode" and investments in the future, by necessity, have been largely ignored. Unfortunately, the expectation of agents and consumers has never been higher, thus forcing the industry to now start playing catch-up as the market begins to show signs of life. Some brokerages see the next 24-36 months as a time of unprecedented opportunity to reinvent themselves and consolidate market share. Others, due to age or financial limitation...

A weekly compilation from Aetna of health care-related developments in Washington, D.C. and state legislatures across the country Week of March 22, 2010 Late in the night Sunday, the House of Representatives helped President Obama deliver what no other President has been able to do -- a significant reform of the nation's health care system. The process is complicated by the fact that the House first had to pass the Senate's version of health care reform, and then pass a package of fixes that the Senate will have to take up separately through a "reconciliation" procedure requiring only a simple majority vote. To help figure out what health care reform will look like if the reconciliation bill is adopted, a number of news organizations are offering their own summaries or guides to the changes, including: The New York Times , USA Today , and the Chicago Tribune . Also, you can read online what the Congressional Budget Office had to say about the bill it estimates will ...

Here are the top 10 strongest housing markets in the U.S.: 1. Metro: Boulder (Colo.) Share of homes with increasing values: 59.39% Median value: $347,200 Annual change: 2.12% Quarterly change: 3.86% Boulder, about 35 miles northwest of Denver, has had a relatively stable housing market, in part, because it is home to strong employers, including the University of Colorado, as well as a base of affluent residents. The supply of homes is limited in Boulder by the mountains to the west and its tens of thousands of acres of protected open space. 2. Metro: Spartanburg (S.C.) Share of homes with increasing values: 56.81% Median value: $106,900 Annual change: 1.81% Quarterly change: 2.15% Spartanburg, about 75 miles west of Charlotte, is home to the world headquarters of Denny's restaurant chain and three colleges-Converse College, Spartanburg Methodist College, and Wofford College. It has the state's highest per capita college student population. College towns such as Boulder,...

Companies are mining the social web to build dossiers on you. Information posted publicly on blogs, Facebook , Twitter , forums and other sites is fair game. It is yet another reminder that people need to be aware of what they are posting on social networking sites and to whom they're connected. Jules Polonetsky, director and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum , said online users have no clue that a comment they made on a blog is being added to a database for some unknown use. "I don't think users expect that," he said, and if consumers think idle chatter and casual conversation can be used against them by institutions, it's almost certain to create a backlash, according to Polonetsky. He said the Federal Trade Commission is right now re-examining the current privacy structure in the U.S. But at the same time, he said consumers are always very comfortable with Amazon using data to recommend books they might like. "When users are in control of it, it'...