Buy Home

Best Buy " ');}else {document.write('');}//-- Entire Site Electronics Cameras & Camcorders Computers Home Appliances Phones & Communications Office Products Music -Album Title -Artist -Song Movies -Title -Person Games Software Resources empty Digital Cameras MP3 Players Flat-Panel TVs Notebook Computers Satellite Radio Video Gaming Shopping Made Easy In-store Pickup Store Locator Pricing Guarantee Weekly Ad Gift Cards Safe and Secure Holiday Shipping Info Holiday Returns More Benefits En espaol » THIS WEEK This Week's Specials Free Shipping Events Weekly Ad Hot Deals Wednesday Outlet Store Gift Ideas Privacy Reminder Computers » Desktops Notebooks Printers Software Accessories » See all Music, Movies & Games » Movies Music Video Games Toys » See all Electronics » Televisions DVD Players MP3 Players Home Theater Systems » See all Cameras & Camcorders » Digital Cameras Camcorders Camera Media » See all Home & Appliances » Refrigerators Laundry Care Heaters Vacuums » See all Phones & Communications » Telephones Cellular Cell Phone Accessories Two-Way Radios » See all Office Products » Office Equipment Office Furniture Networking » See all Services Store » High-Speed Internet Music Downloads Satellite Radio » See all See all categories » Shop by Brand » Canon Sony Toshiba Pioneer Intel Samsung » See all Great Deals on Intel® Centrino™ Notebooks This week, save up to $400 on select notebooks featuring Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology — and with your purchase, get a notebook case and USB 2.0 mobile hub free, plus free shipping on all three items! Find out how. Online only offer. Free Insignia Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with Qualifying Refrigerator Purchase! Get a free Insignia™ 9" Widescreen Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with car adapter and remote with your purchase of any Refrigerator, $999 and up. Find out how. Online only offer. Xbox 360 Console, Games and Accessories HD output, amazing graphical power, wireless connectivity and DVD playback are just some of the features that make the Xbox 360 so much more than just a gaming platform. Check it out today. NEW at Best Buy: Magnolia™ Home Theater Inside select Best Buy stores, Magnolia Home Theater offers premier brands, expert consultants and state-of-the art demo rooms for an experience that exceeds your every expectation. Magnolia's in-home design and installation services make dreams real. Learn more . Get More with Best Buy From personal shopping assistants and Geek Squad to Magnolia Home Theater, Test Drive and Best Buy for Business, there's more going on at Best Buy. Computer Problems? Call in Geek Squad®! Bring in your PC for repair to a Geek Squad precinct in a Best Buy store or have a Geek Squad Agent come directly to your home or office. Plus, their Computer Support Task Force is available by phone 24/7. Learn more. Design It Online, Using Our New Kitchen & Laundry Design Center! Our online tools let you design your new kitchen, laundry room or wet bar, creating custom layouts that include your appliance selections, color scheme and floor plan. It's easy and it's free. 4" x 6" Prints Just 19 Each at Best Buy™ imagelab Having great digital prints is easy with Best Buy imagelab photo processing. 4" x 6" prints are only 19 each! Guide to Television Features Best Buy's Guide to Speakers 'Secrets' of the Audio Elite Shoot and Digitize Photos from Film 10 Virus Detection and Prevention Tips More topics About Us News Center Careers For Our Investors Business to Business Community Relations Store Pickup Returns & Exchanges Store Locator Weekly Ad Financing Offers Buy Gift Cards Check Gift Card Balance Best Buy Credit Card Affiliates Program Offer Sign-Up Rebates Warranties Service Plans PC Upgrades Repairs Replacement Parts Software End User License Agreement Car Home Entertainment Satellite Appliances Welcome . Please create an account or Sign in . Your Cart Contains 0 items Subtotal: $0.00 View Cart | Checkout Your Account Best Buy Credit Order Status Wish List Gift Cards TV, Home Theater & Audio Accessories Computer Accessories Camera & Camcorder Accessories Appliance Accessories Game Accessories Visit our Accessories Store Order Status Shipping Rates Returns Rebates Store Pickup Site Map Performance Plans Your California Privacy Rights Conditions of Use | Legal Policies | Privacy Policy Online prices and selection generally match our retail stores, but may vary. Prices and offers are subject to change. © 2003-2005 Best Buy. All rights reserved. Best Buy, BestBuy.com and the tag design are trademarks of Best Buy. For personal, noncommercial use only.

House Rent

Renting a House RENTING A HOUSE If you rent a house, rather than an apartment, you'll have some additionalconcerns: Lawn care and snow removal will probably be your responsibility. City codes require that lawns be mowed. If you think the landlord is providing either of these services, make sure your lease says so. Garbage hauling is not a municipal service in Champaign-Urbana. Unless your lease says that the landlord provides and pays for hauling, you'll have to call a private hauler and arrange service. Look in the yellow pages under "garbage." (Note: references in your lease to sanitary fees are for the sewer system, not for garbage hauling). Don't assume the garage comes with the house; make sure the lease says you are renting the "house and garage." If the house has no garage but you plan to park in the driveway, make sure the lease says Lessee may park in the driveway at no extra cost. Be sure the lease states the number of bedrooms in the house, especially if any bedrooms are in the basement or attic. If any area containing bedrooms becomes unfit for habitation while the rest of the house is still habitable, you'll be in a better bargaining position with your landlord if you can prove that the uninhabitable space was leased to you for living and sleeping purposes. Zoning laws prohibit more than four unrelated adults from living together in a single family home. The tenants, as well as the landlords, can be held liable by the city for violating the law. Enforcement is complaint-driven. If you live in Urbana near the U of I campus, or if you live anywhere and annoy your neighbors with noise or illegally parking cars on the lawn, you are a likely target for enforcement. See section of this handbook on " Zoning ." Be especially careful about including in your lease a list of all appliances that the landlord will "provide and maintain." Don't assume the washer and dryer in the basement will be repaired by the landlord if one breaks down. They may have just been left in the house by previous tenants. Protecting your deposit is a bigger job with a house. Many tenants report being charged at the end of the lease for leaving trash in the yard, damage to a porch, lawn care, cleaning out the basement, etc. Both when you move in and when you move out, you should take photographs of the basement, attic, front and back yards and the porch , in addition to photographs of walls, floors, insides of oven, fridge and cabinets and all fixtures. Damage deposit refund law does not cover houses (except in the City of Urbana). If the house is in Champaign, Savoy or anyplace other than Urbana, be sure your lease states the time period for refund of the deposit and requires the landlord to provide you with an itemized statement of damages within a certain time period. A sample clause appears in the section of this handbook on signing a lease. Return to Home Page Return to Table of Contents

Real Estate Loan

Find Your Home Value, House Values and Prices on Yahoo! Real Estate Find Your Home Value, House Values and Prices Choose Location Home Homes for Sale Apartments for Rent Home Loans Moving & Insurance Tools My Real Estate Real Estate > Resources & Tools > Home Values and Prices Features Classifieds • Sell Your Home • Rent Your Apartment Home Search • Find Homes for Sale • Find Properties for Rent REALTORS • Find & Compare REALTORS Mortgages & Financing • Find a Lender • Today's Mortgage Rates • Loan Calculators • Credit Reports • Refinance Loans Resources • Moving Services • Foreclosure Center Neighborhood Research • What's My Home Worth? • School Profiles • Neighborhood Profiles Specialty Property • Foreclosures • New Homes • Commercial Real Estate • List Commercial Real Estate Home Improvement & Services • Home Services • Home Improvement Library • House Facts Get Home Values and Prices Sponsored by Get Home Values and Prices Access millions of public real estate records instantly! This comparable sales data helps you analyze the value of your home or other homes in seconds. Results include price, square footage, bedrooms, and year built (where available). You can also get a custom home valuation from a top-performing local REALTOR! Street Address: City & State or Zip: Sponsored Links Refinance Your Mortgage and Save! Refinance your current mortgage at today's extremely low rates. Get quotes from lenders offering the lowest refinancing rates available. Links. networklender.com Refinance Calculator Omni One Mortgage is committed to building one relationship at a time. We can service any type of loan, stated income, no doc, fixed, interest only, less than perfect credit no problem. www.omnionemortgage.com Refinance Calculator Considering refinancing? Get free quotes from multiple lenders. Takes only 2 minutes. Refinance with or without a perfect Credit. Find great low rates today. c.azjmp.com Refinance Calculator at Homestore.com Calculate home loan payments and check out our free mortgage lender directory. We've got all the information you need to find the loan that's right for you. homestore.com (Become a Sponsor) Homes For Sale - Apartments For Rent - Current Mortgage Rates - Real Estate Agents - Local - Yellow Pages

Real Estate Investing

Bob Bruss Real Estate Center An Audio Message from Bob Bruss Subscribe to Bob's Weekly e-mail update and get this Free Report: 2005 Realty Tax Tips: 8 Chapters of Tax Savings for Homeowners and Investors First Name: Primary E-mail Address: >> Order Bob’s Special Real Estate Reports only $4.95 each! >> Ask Bob a Real Estate Question >> Subscribe to Bob’s Newsletters NEW REPORT! “Foreclosure and Distress Property Profit Secrets” >> Order Why pay upwards of $300 per hour for real estate legal, tax or investment advice? Bob Bruss, America’s most trusted real estate expert, offers Special Reports on a wide range of real estate topics for less than $5.00 each! Bob’s columns appear in over 150 newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Bob draws on more than 25 years of real estate writing, teaching and investing to bring you unbiased information that will help you make smart real estate decisions. Click above & get a free 6-month newsletter subscription! Bob's Notebook SIX KEY REAL ESTATE NEGOTIATION TIPS FOR BUYERS, SELLERS Determining other party's motivation paramount to success The year 2005 has been very good for most property owners and realty sales agents. Home sales prices appreciated handsomely in most communities and the sales volume of new and resale homes were near-record. But 2006 promises to be more "normal" as mortgage interest rates slowly rise, resulting in a modest new home construction volume decline with a corresponding residence market value appreciation and sales volume slowing. Having been through many real estate market ups and downs over almost four decades, both as an investor, sales broker, and realty writer, I've learned that success in a slowing real estate market requires paying greater attention to negotiation skills. NEGOTIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT TO NEGOTIATE . As a lifelong student of real estate negotiation techniques, because there is always more to learn, I've discovered it usually is a waste of time to attempt to negotiate with people who are not highly motivated to make a change. Most experienced real estate agents hate the situation when a home seller lists their desirable property for sale with a top price but they really don't have a good motivation for selling. These sellers often have the attitude "If we can get our price, we'll sell. Otherwise, we won't sell." Their homes often take "forever" to sell. But in 2005, many homes sold for above their asking prices because buyers wanted to purchase more than sellers wanted to sell. A strong motivation for many buyers was to beat the long-predicted rise in home mortgage interest rates. The result was a "seller's market" in many communities with more qualified buyers than motivated sellers. However, as the number of residence listings for sale has risen recently and is expected to continue rising in early 2006, especially after the customary holiday 2005 year-end lull in home sales, many real estate economists are predicting a more normal balance of motivated sellers and buyers. The result should put a premium on negotiation skills for home buyers and sellers, as well as their realty agents, to conclude successful sales. HOW TO ACHIEVE A SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATION . Whatever your role in a home sale, as buyer, seller or realty agent, you can't ask too many questions. Of course, the best negotiators inquire in a friendly manner interjected with compliments. Here are the six key questions to get answered for a successful home sale negotiation: 1. WHY IS THE SELLER SELLING THIS LOVELY HOME? One way or another, successful home buyers and their realty agents need the answer to this key question so the buyer can make a purchase offer which meets the seller's needs (of course, buyers should leave out the word "lovely" if the place is a dump!). As a long-time investor in rental houses, and my personal residences, I always try to tailor my purchase offers to meet the seller's needs (and mine too). For example, several years ago I bought a house from an elderly lady who was retiring. So I offered her 10 percent cash down payment and a 90 percent seller carryback mortgage to provide for her retirement income. When she saw my offer and how much she would receive from my payment each month, she accepted (although the listing agent previously told me she wouldn't carry back any mortgage financing). Another time a listing agent told me the retired sellers of an "el dumpo" house were living in a boarding house and needed cash. As a result, I figured they wanted an all-cash sale so I arranged 100 percent financing at a community bank. The sellers immediately accepted my low purchase price offer for cash. 2. WHAT WAS THE HOME SELLER'S PURCHASE PRICE? Buyers who don't find out the answer to this key question, either from the listing agent or their buyer's agent, are at a severe negotiation disadvantage. Here's why: If the seller purchased the home many years ago for a low purchase price compared to today's market value, that seller has lots of negotiation room. However, if the home seller bought within the last few years for a price not far from today's market value, there isn't much negotiation flexibility. Of course, if the seller has a high-motivation reason for selling, as disclosed by the answer to the first question, even a recent home buyer is often willing to sell in a quick sale for close to the seller's purchase price. Such a situation is an ideal candidate for the buyer to take over payments on the current mortgage with the lender's permission. 3. DOES THE OTHER PARTY HAVE A TIME DEADLINE? This is a question both home buyer and seller should ask of their realty agent. To illustrate, if one party has a job transfer, then purchase or sale of the home can be very important. But if the seller is moving to a retirement residence, time usually isn't so critical. However, if the seller already bought another home and needs to sell the current home to produce the down payment, then closing time is ultra-important. As experienced real estate agents know, the worst home buyers and sellers are those without any time deadlines. Those folks can take forever to make decisions. 4. HAS THE SELLER OBTAINED A PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION REPORT? Today's smartest real estate agents suggest their sellers obtain a professional inspection report at the time of listing the home for sale. Then the seller is fully aware of most home defects and can either have the defect repaired or fully disclose it to prospective buyers, thus averting future lawsuits. Sharp home purchasers, and their buyer's agents, understand this trend. When a buyer is seriously interested in a house, always ask if the seller has already obtained a professional inspection the buyer can review before making a purchase offer. Even if the seller has obtained customary professional inspection reports, smart buyers should always include in their purchase offers a contingency clause for the buyer's approval of their own inspection report obtained at the buyer's expense. Most states now have some form of required seller disclosure statement revealing known home defects. However, many sellers are not aware of all their home's defects, or they might "forget" to disclose a defect. The old days of "caveat emptor" (let the buyer beware) have disappeared. Today, the new rule seems to be "let the home seller beware of the buyer and his lawyer." 5. WHAT IS THE BUYER'S MOTIVATION TO PURCHASE MY HOME? Just as home buyers need to know the seller's reason for selling, to create a harmonious negotiation situation, home sellers should ask why the buyer wants to purchase. Of course, there are many home purchase reasons. However, if the buyer has indicated a key reason why that particular house is under consideration, such as its great condition, outstanding school district, or need to move in quickly, the seller can use that information to enhance their negotiation position. 6. ASK AN OPEN-ENDED QUESTION, SUCH AS WHAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SHOULD I KNOW BEFORE MAKING A DECISION? There are many variations of this question home sellers and buyers can ask, especially of their real estate agents. To illustrate, a home buyer might ask their buyer's agent "What else should I know about this house?" Or the seller might ask their listing agent "If you were in my situation, would you accept or counteroffer the buyer's purchase offer?" SUMMARY : When negotiating a home sale, sellers and buyers can't ask too many questions to enhance their negotiation position. The prime reason is to determine how motivated the other party is to buy or sell. If there is weak motivation, you aren't in a strong negotiation situation. However, if the other party is highly motivated, then you are in a strong circumstance to negotiate your strongest price and terms. More details are in my special report, "How to Become a Super-Successful Real Estate Negotiator," available for $5 from Robert Bruss, 251 Park Road, Burlingame, CA 94010 or by credit card at 1-800-736-1736 or instant Internet PDF delivery at www.bobbruss.com . Back to top © 2005 Inman News Home | Real Estate Reports | Real Estate Newsletter | About Bob Bruss | Site Map

Home Loan Bank of

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas W e are a cooperatively owned wholesale bank that supports housing and economic development in the communities served by our member institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. Our credit products and other financial services help members deliver financial products to fund housing, small business, rural development and agriculture. Specialized community investment and affordable housing loan and grant programs help finance community redevelopment and expand affordable housing opportunities. Members include commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. In The News • Community Investment Program Update • Bulletin 2005-14 Dividend for Fourth Quarter 2005 • Disaster Relief Advances for Texas Counties Affected By Fire • Advisory Council Appointments • Disaster Relief Grant Program • Disaster Relief Advances Available for Louisiana, New Mexico, Mississippi and Texas Quick Links • Investor Relations • Guides & Forms Send comments, questions, and suggestions to fhlb@fhlb.com . © 2005 Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. All Rights Reserved. FHLB Dallas website information disclaimer . The material on this site is for informational purposes only. By moving to the next screen, all viewers acknowledge that the presentation of this material (i) does not represent investment advice, (ii) does not constitute an offer to extend credit, a grant or subsidy, and (iii) does not constitute investment solicitation or an offer to buy securities. It is the sole responsibility of the user to check the accuracy of assumptions or other information contained on this site. VIEW FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF DALLAS - World Wide Web (www.fhlb.com) PRIVACY and SECURITY DOCTRINE