I was faxing out a document to a lender and looking at that marvelous invention with the realization that less than twelve years ago I didn't own a fax machine. Today one cannot run a business without it. I particularly remembered friends who are travel agents to whom I offered the use of my machine. They stated that they would never need nor purchase one. Oh, how times have changed.
They now know that they would be out of business today, if they maintained that position. So much has happened so quickly. Our lives adapt to what we now have and often forget how it used to be. We are constantly on call through our pagers. Our cellular phones permit us to keep others at our beck and call. Our computers and modems allow us to contact the world almost for free. We have so much information coming at us that a frustration level builds because we don't have the time to digest the information available. I was asked to appear on a radio show last week to discuss real estate and real estate financing. It was a show I appeared on before. Knowing the type of questions asked, I set out to do some research.
Not too many years ago I, as well as many of you, would have consulted newspaper columns, magazine articles and any informational clippings we may have cut for such purposes. What a difference a few years have made in this endeavor. Research today is at our fingertips. I can go online early in the morning Pacific Time and get up to the minute information from departments in Washington, DC. I can update myself on housing starts, housing sales, interest rates, the bond market and other tidbits of information from FannieMae, Freddie Mac or HUD that could affect the homeowning or homebuying public. Information is instantaneous. And the source of the information, as you may have guessed, is the INTERNET. It is a wealth of information available to anyone, even if you do not own a computer.
Not all the information on the Net is reliable. Some is hype. Much can be discarded after due diligence. But what is beneficial, useful and exciting by far outweighs the negatives. It is a tremendous source for education and entertainment. It brings into our businesses and homes the world's libraries. Its research vehicles afford us the opportunity to become better consumers and evaluators of goods and services. With this in mind, I would like to share some sites that I think may be useful in your search for information in the real estate and/or financial world.
How would you like to get the opportunity to see what the Federal Reserve does and why what the Fed Chairman says is so important? Log on to www.bog.frb.fed.us. Get interest rate updates. Check out the minutes from their meetings. The site has some great consumer tips on managing credit cards and shopping for a mortgage. Think this may be a good time to sell your home or move to another area? Then dial up International Real Estate Digest at www.ired.com. You'll have 18,000 links to real estate related web sites in 102 countries. Pull up regional USA listings. Enjoy the articles and books listed.
Have questions about current real estate news, laws, the environment and self-help in real estate? It's here for you. Need help with your investments or planning for retirement then try www.ici.org. This is the site for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) which is the national association for the mutual fund industry. Its site is a great resource for the industry, legislation, and regulation. You will also find information about the U.S. economy, retirement issues and mutual fund companies.
To keep track of what you have or to investigate before you invest, try logging on to www.nyse.com, the site of the New York Stock Exchange. Besides daily stock prices, you'll get information on companies listed on the exchange, as well as a historical overview of the NYSE. You will also have access to a data library that can enhance your knowledge of the companies listed on the Big Board. After you have made big bucks in real estate and/or the stock market try the Internal Revenue Service's site at www.irs.ustreas.gov. It's user friendly, giving you the opportunity to download forms and information dating back to 1992. You'll get tax forms, news and educational information. Hope you can use this to protect those profits.
If you made those big bucks and the IRS says you didn't pay enough for that pleasure, then you may want to log on to www.nolo.com. Nolo Press is a self-help law library. The site has a self-help law section. You can review tax problems, consult a legal dictionary, search for debt and credit information. There is an extensive real estate law library reviewing landlord/tenant relationships, the law regarding the buying and selling of a home and even Home Owners Association (HOA) rights and obligations. It is an excellent site offering the opportunity to formulate questions before you consult an attorney. Use whatever information is available to you. The more information you get and review makes you a better consumer and protector of your assets.
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