finance Archives - Page 2 of 5

September 17, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Avoid Commission and Sell a Home Yourself

Whether you’re straight out of college and ready to move out of the house, or simply looking to relocate yourself, house hunting can be a stressful and lengthy process. Just when you thought you’ve found the perfect home for the perfect price, commission fees are taken out, leaving you with significantly less spending money than before. There is a way to avoid this though.

In recent years, people have begun creating their own prices, marketing their own property, and selling their own homes. While this may seem to be even more stressful than the initial process, becoming your own realtor is actually a pretty manageable operation thanks to the real estate companies that have allowed it to be.

When you really look at it, all a realtor does is:

List your home through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
Market it through advertisements
Host and schedule showings
Help with negotiations

Of the four items listed, the only thing that may strike you as most unachievable is the MLS listing. Not too long ago, though, some real estate firms have started offering a service that allows you to do this yourself.

With all these resources so easily available to you, why would you ever risk losing out on that extra commission cash again?

How exactly do I start the process?

1. Determining a Price

After making the wise decision of undergoing house sales yourself, you must settle on a listing price. This price can be determined based upon a variety of factors, including:

The supply and demand of houses at the time that which you sell it
The status of the economy
Interest rates
Demographics of the neighboring communities
Overall location in regard to entertainment, restaurants, and public facilities

2. List it on the MLS

Following the determination of the houses worth, it must be listed through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

The MLS is a suite of about 700 regional databases, each with their own listings. This is the place where which agents pay to be able to catalog homes on the market. If you’re looking to sell your home yourself, you’ll have to pay the flat fee to have access to it.

3. It’s All About the Advertisements

Once you’ve listed it, word of a sale will need to make it out into the world. This can be done via the internet, signs, or even brochures. As more people gain notice of your home and its great surrounding features, you’ll want to begin hosting open houses.

An open house is simply a viewing of the interior of a house being sold. They can be kept plain and simple, or spiced up with some snacks and refreshments.

In order for an open house to go well, you must really be aware of your property’s strong points. This will enable you to verbally highlight and emphasize why someone should buy your home. 4

4. Prepare and Perform Open Houses

The open house is one of the most crucial parts of the whole process. The main idea is allowing the image of your home to develop as the perfect place to live in the mind of those who come to view it. You want them to see themselves living and growing their lives there.

In order to do this, a thorough deep cleaning and decluttering must be done. You should strip your furniture and decorations down to the bare minimum so that viewers are able to imagine their own belongings instead.

5. Begin Negotiating (legally of course)

Negotiations will take place in the form of contracts that are sent to sellers, who can either accept, reject, or revise the offered amount. Contracts will keep being administered and altered until both sides agree.

If you’re unsure as to whether an offer is good or not, you should consult an attorney or real estate agent that won’t require anything other than a flat fee.

6. Finalization

Through each of these steps, all the way up until the end of negotiations, it is imperative that ensure all actions made are completely legal, not only in the U.S but also in your state specifically.

If you do decide to have things reviewed by an attorney or real estate agent, they will likely let you know of any misconduct that could have occurred. For your own safety and well being, check out your state Real Estate laws before conducting any step in the process.

August 22, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Tips On Saving and Investing Money For Your Retirement

The formula for accumulating enough wealth to retire comfortably is fairly simple: Learn how to earn more, spend less, save consistently, and invest wisely.

But just because something is simple, it doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Even those who have learned how to earn more struggle to control their spending. Then, only the few who manage to control their spending can begin to save. And, finally, it’s only those who have sufficient savings who have enough capital to invest in commodities like gold bullion.

Since the road to wealth consists of navigating across four roads—earning, spending, saving, and investing—let’s take a closer look at what toll price you have to pay for each road.

Earning More

The way to earn more is to learn more. When you know your job better, when you understand its breadth and scope, its pitfalls and potentials, you can add more value.

If you work for someone, your learning adds more value to your employer. As a result, you are likely to be promoted and advance in your company. If you work for yourself, then you add more value to your business. As a result, you are likely to get more customers and make more sales.

Learning more can be done in a number of different ways. You can learn on the job, noticing what works and what doesn’t work, then decreasing what doesn’t work and increasing what does work.

You can also learn through formal and informal ways. Formal learning consists of taking professional classes. Informal learning consists of self-study.

Spending Less and Saving Consistently

Spending less and saving more usually work together. There is no point in spending less if you’re not going to open up a savings account. Spending less starts with noticing where your money goes and finding free or cheap ways to achieve the same goals. The next step, of course, is to control your spending by budgeting. This, you should be warned, is not easy. With the ever-increasing cost of living, it’s always difficult to live below your means.

Still, with effort and persistence, it’s possible to finally figure out how to create a realistic budget, which is one that works most of the time. Of course, your success with spending less will automatically leave you with surplus money, which you can then start socking away into a saving’s account.

Investing Wisely

At a certain point, you will have enough saved to begin investing. This, the last mile of your wealth-building journey, is usually the hardest.

Here are four major difficulties you will encounter:

Deciding what type of investments to specialize in. For instance, should you buy commodities or American gold eagles? There are numerous ways to invest and it can be a little bewildering figuring out where to start.
Let’s say you decide to learn how to trade in the equities market, then the next question to ask is where you can learn how to trade. While some stock market training courses will be taught by people with a genuine interest in sharing their knowledge, others will be taught by charlatans. How do you avoid getting scammed? It may be difficult to decide who is telling you the truth.
Yet even after you’ve found an honest teacher and become good at paper trading, you’re not entirely out of the woods. You now have to figure out what brokerage to trust. Again, you’ll find some fair and honest people and others who are just pretending to be interested in your success.
You have one last obstacle—your own emotions. It doesn’t matter how much you know about trading, you will still have to deal with strong and conflicting emotions. One emotion is the desire to avoid the pain of loss while the other is the desire to rush toward pleasure. Over time, you must gain sufficient emotional intelligence in investingto make increasingly better decisions.

In conclusion, think of wealth as a journey. Navigate each sector of the road well to get to your final destination. The toll you have to pay along the way will be worth it.

July 28, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Barry Bulakites on How to Find The Right Accountant

So you have made the decision to get an account for your small business, but how do you go about getting the right fit for your needs? Not all accounts are the same, some will do a better job, others will mesh better with you, and of course, some are more expensive than others. We spoke to financial wizard and high level accountant Barry Bulakites, on what you need to ask yourself ahead of looking for an accountant. As Barry says, only once you understand what you are looking for, can you begin the process of getting the right person for the job.

Is Location Important ?

The first thing to think about is how important it is to you that the accountant lives or works nearby. We live in a world now where our financial reports can be stored and access from a cloud-based system, we can hold meetings through Skype or other video calling options, and we can constantly stay in touch through messenger services and emails. There are some businesses however who may need to see the accountant physically, or some owners who simply prefer this option, consider this first.

What Are You Looking For?

Some accountants can be a Jack of all trades, others may focus on individual aspects of the company accounts, you need to think about what exactly you are looking for in an accountant. For example many people simply want to use an accountant to clean up their books and add al little more organization to proceedings, others may seek out an accountant to offer financial advice on growth and investments, and some will want their money to work harder for them. Once you understand exactly what it is that you are looking for, the process becomes far easier.

Tax

At the very least you need to be looking for an accountant who completely understands the work do taxation. Even if everything is above board with your taxes, it makes sense to have an accountant who, regardless of their speciality, can help you and the company to stay in line with its taxes, and ensure that you are paying the right amount, and saving where possible.

Is Reputation Important?

The strength of an accountant’s reputation will directly relate with the amount that they are charging per hour, and you need to decide whether or not you need the very best, or would you be prepared to take a chance on a rookie. This is not to say that a rookie is unqualified to do the job, it simply means that they can’t call on a long track record of success. Everyone has to start somewhere and there is no issue with looking for someone who is a little less experienced. Alternately if you really want to place your trust and your money in someone, perhaps an experienced accountant may be the better option.

Answer these questions and then go get that accountant for your business.

July 26, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Patrick Dwyer Financial Advisor on 2018 Miami Football

Miami continues to be a fun, sophisticated city — boasting the sort of infrastructure, commerce, and amenities you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the nation, except unless we’re talking New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles.

Patrick Dwyer Financial Advisor sees the long-term potential of both Miami football and the city of Miami itself. As the sun continues to shine on Miami’s athletic teams as well as its real estate, so will it continue to shine on Miami’s citizens who are focused on building their wealth and value.

oday, however, we’re here to talk about one of the most storied college football programs in the country (and in NCAA history, for that matter) — The Miami Hurricanes, a team focused on continuing to build their value and prowess in the NCAA.

Ranked 4th on the all-time list according to Associated Press National Poll Championships, “The U” is tied with both USC and Ohio State — all of which nipping at the heels of other storied names like Alabama, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma.

Miami football in particular distinguishes itself by holding numerous NFL Draft records — most notably holding the record for most first-round selections in a single draft, as well as holding the record for most consecutive drafts with one or more first-round selections. Beyond this, there are 2 Hurricanes who have won the holy grail of personal achievements in NCAA football — the Heisman Trophy (one in 1986 – Vinny Testaverde at quarterback, and one in 1992 – Gino Torretta at quarterback). Also, 9 Miami players currently grace the College Football Hall of Fame.

Miami is also known for generating great linebackers, names like Jonathan Vilma, DJ Williams, and Ray Lewis — just to name a few, many of which serve as mentors for Miami’s current and incoming players.

The Hurricane linebacker legacy spans decades, reaching all the way back to the 70s, culminating in The Bermuda Triangle (Michael Barrow, Darrin Smith and Jessie Armstead), capturing multiple national titles before heading off to NFL stardom.

What Miami should be very excited about for the coming season is this year’s possibilities for their secondary.

Many are fixated on what many consider will be the strength of this team: defense. Miami knocking at the door of all the elite defensive units in the country with a cornerback group that brings a unique blend of talent to the table.

Miami’s secondary is both made up of veteran experience as well as youthful optimism, highlighted by All-ACC cornerback Michael Jackson. This exciting senior has a legitimate claim to distinguishing himself as the best cornerback — not only in the the state of Florida, but also the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Only time will tell as the season commences and runs its course. One thing is for sure: the future is bright on all counts in Miami.

July 8, 2018 by Greg Underwood

7 Tricks for Quickly Paying off Your Debt This 2018

Debt is a horrible thing that anyone can easily fall into. If you don’t quickly get it under control, you could find yourself dealing with a lifelong problem that you never actually escape. Regardless how bad your debt situation currently is, you can take advantage of the following tricks to significantly put a dent in your debt and pay it off sooner.

Create a budget and prioritise spending

By creating a budget for the month, you can prioritise your spending and minimise your expenses. By cutting your monthly expenses, you will have more money that you can put into gradually repaying your debt. You can use mobile apps such as B to effectively monitor your monthly income and expenses. Simply put, no more unnecessary spending.

Pay off worst debts first

The worst debts aren’t necessarily the biggest ones. In fact, the worst debts and the ones you should try to get rid of first are the ones with the highest interest rates. The sooner you can get rid of your high interest rate debts, the sooner you can stop falling into worst debt.

Pay more than the minimum balance

Debt repayment arrangements often offer the option of you paying a minimum balance per month. Paying only the minimum will slow down your debt recovery process. To get out of debt as fast as you can, pay as much as you can afford when due.

Ignore your credit card

Even if your credit card comes with low interest rates, just put it aside until you are done with settling your debts. This is because each time you use your credit you are only accumulating more debt. So don’t take your credit cards with you when you go shopping, and if you want to be drastic, destroy your credit cards. You can start using credit cards again when you are in the green and have your finances under control.

Put work bonuses or other cash windfalls toward debt.

If you suddenly receive a cash windfall or get a bonus at work, be wise with it and spend it on something like settling your debt. Don’t take the cheque out to celebrate or splurge because there’s nothing to actually celebrate till you are out of debt. Sudden financial windfalls can help you put a serious dent in your debt and move closer towards being clear

Delete credit card information from online stores.

Clear your credit card information from online stores. Stored credit card information can be used to charge you for services you don’t necessarily need. Instead, shop with a debit card.

Sell unwanted gifts and household items.

If you have gifts or other items that you don’t actually need or can do without, sell them off to raise extra cash that you can put towards settling your debt. You can sell your items conveniently via eBay or Craigslist. Remember that the faster you clear your debts, the better.

So that’s our list of tricks to help you settle your debts faster this year. But bear in mind that even if you apply these tricks diligently but fail to change your spending habits and how you view money, it won’t make much of a difference. You need to make changes by learning how to cut back on expenses without necessarily compromising the quality of lifestyle you prefer.

July 2, 2018 by Greg Underwood

SEO Tips For Companies Of All Sizes

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Whether you’re the social media and marketing manager for a massive international corporation or you’re a one man show in a brand new startup business in your own kitchen or garage, one thing is for certain: you can’t underestimate the value of having good SEO on your websites, product pages, about pages and more. SEO (search engine optimisation) can sound daunting and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some great tips to make SEO not just work well for you but also help it maximise your reach and views by potential customers, which will in turn help your business grow.

Do Your Research

Knowing the kind of businesses or individuals you’re up against will help you tackle your SEO like a pro. Have a look online at businesses similar to yours and what keywords they use sprinkled throughout their website and content in order to identify what works and what doesn’t. Also knowing other pieces of information about the competition can set you up for a successful business – how long they have been running, their products compared to yours, what their pricing is like, even things like their suppliers if any.

Target The Right Audience

If you provide a local service such as hauling, snow removal, plumbing or the like it makes no sense to use keywords or target audiences who live outside of your immediate area. This is why researching similar businesses will help give you an idea of what works well and what doesn’t. If you’re still confused, you can hire a professional SEO team such as Click Consult to do all the legwork for you and make sure your site is as SEO strong as possible to create the highest conversions from visitors to customers.

Become (Or Hire) A Content Master

Having killer content is one of the best ways to make sure your SEO is top notch. How does this help? Having lengthy, meaningful content helps attract readers and potential customers and can help you rank higher in search engines. Simply copying and pasting huge swathes of content from other places online is not only rude and boring for readers, but it will hurt your SEO rankings and make you rank lower in search results and no one really wants that right when you’re trying to boost your ranking! If you and your colleagues struggle to create awesome content, consider hiring someone purely for this role. Many small businesses hire out freelancers – people who work on a case by case basis to provide content specific to you and your needs. You can hire a whole host of great freelance writers from the likes of ELance, People per Hour or Fiverr.

So if you’ve been looking for easy ways to begin getting higher rankings on search engines, consider some of the tips above. There are a number of other great ways to boost your SEO as well and there’s no one right or wrong way to do so, but just remember there are a couple of rules to follow.

June 26, 2018 by Greg Underwood

5 Ways to Save Tax under Section 80C

Filing income taxes can pose a problem for people who do not understand exemptions. First time employees may find the income tax rules pretty complex. However, if the income tax filing exercise is once undertaken then the format becomes clearer and changes in rates and slabs just fall into place. Income tax filers should not definitely miss out on the exemptions under section 80 C.

Under section 80 C Income tax payers (individuals and HUF) can claim a tax exemption up to Rs 1.5 lakh and an additional Rs 50 K exemption under section 80 CCD (1 B) is available for tax payers who invest in government notified pension plans which include the National Pension Scheme and Atal Pension Yojna at present.

It is recommended that maximum exemption should be availed against those items which have direct bearing on the income tax payer benefit and this could differ. For example a person who wants to purchase a home would most benefit from exemption on home loan principal amount whereas a person who wants to build a retirement corpus would most benefit from investing in long term savings scheme and pension plans. An individual may have more than one tax saving preferences. For a complete list of exempted items under section 80 C tax payers can refer IT department website. Let us see the five major exemptions which tax payers can avail from section C of the IT Act.

Exemption on Home Loan (Principal Amount)

Having one’s own home is perhaps the foremost among other aspirations in an individual’s life time. Individuals can claim exemption on the principal component of home loan under section 80 C of the Income Tax act. This exemption can only be claimed for a house or flat for which the completion of construction certificate has been issued. Any repayment of principal amount before completion of construction is not eligible for exemption. Also it is important to note here that tax payer needs to hold the house property atleast for five years after gaining possession as otherwise the claimed deductions on principal payment will be reversed.

Exemption on Life Insurance Premium

Taking a life insurance plan is the best way to secure the lives of family members even if one is not there for them. Income tax act section 80 C allows exemption on taxes for premiums paid for life insurance policy. Income tax payers can claim deduction on life insurance premium paid during the financial year for self, spouse and children but not for parents or in laws. HUF can claim tax exemption on life insurance premium paid during FY for all the covered members. All life insurance schemes authorized by IRDA are eligible for tax exemptions under section 80 C including LIC and life insurance plans by other insurers.

Exemption on PF and PPF

The portion of salary deducted for PF as well as the employer’s contribution to PF is exempt from taxation under section 80 C. However if employer contribution is over 12 % then the over portion is taxable at source by employer and if interest on PF is over 9.5 % then the over portion is taxable while filing of IT returns by employee.

Individuals who do not have PF account may choose to put some money into PPF account which offers the same tax benefits as the PF account.

Exemption on Tuition Fees of Children

IT act section 80 C also provides exemptions for tuition fees paid by parents for their children’s school education during the financial year. Only tuition fees paid in Indian schools, colleges, institutions and universities are eligible for exemption under section 80 C.

It is important to note here that section 80 C exempts only the tuition fees component of your child’s school or college fees. Admission, transport, annual and other fees are not eligible. For claiming exemption on tuition fees procure fees payment receipt from school accounts section and ensure that the fees payment breakup is clearly mentioned. It is better to get a receipt for the whole year. While filing IT returns for the FY upload the receipt online or attach it with your IT filing form if you are filing your returns physically. In the ITR form, claim deduction under applicable column.

Exemption on Savings and Investment Schemes

Section 80 C also provides for tax exemptions for money invested in various savings and investment schemes. These include the pension schemes, senior citizen savings scheme, Sukannya Samriddhi scheme for the girl child, ELSS or equity linked savings schemes, Five year term deposits or fixed deposits in banks and post offices, National Savings Scheme, Tax saving mutual fund schemes, ULIP or unit linked plans and other notified government schemes. It is important to note here that notified government schemes eligible for exemption may change and tax payers need to keep themselves updated on the yearly changes announced by the government in tax regimen as a part of the budget.

June 5, 2018 by Greg Underwood

6 Ways That Your Credit Scores Impact Your Personal Finances

Your credit score shows your past interactions with credit and it tends to follow you over the years. To a lender, it serves as the point of reference that tells them how you handle credit and therefore predict your behavior if they do business with you.

Basically, a higher credit score means that you are attractive to most lenders and they will have no problem working with you. On the other side, people with low credit scores go through a difficult time when searching for financial products. However, credit scores don’t just affect your borrowing ability but also other areas of life that are critical to your personal finances.

Credit scores can influence your ability to save

When you decide to acquire a home or an automobile, your credit score will play a huge role in the deal you will get. The truth is that almost every lender relies on your current credit scores to determine your overall trustworthiness.

As such, you really need a good score if you are to get a favorable deal with creditors and insurance agencies. On the flip side, a poor credit score serves as a warning to service providers and it represents you as a risky client. As a result, you are likely to be charged a higher fee to access the services on offer.

People without credit history aren’t safe either. Generally, creditors don’t like going into business blindly and without a credit history, a creditor doesn’t know how you will handle the debt. Therefore, the only thing they can do to safeguard their business is charging you higher interest rates.

When you are paying more than ideal fees on these services, it can lower your propensity to save since you’ll be spending the cash you’d have stashed away.

The score can have an impact on your career

Today, prospective employers are conducting credit checks on job applicants. To them, this is a way of understanding your trustworthiness and discipline with money. This practice is most prevalent in high job positions that involve top-notch responsibility or where you’ll be handling huge amounts of cash.

However, it has a lot of influence on how an employer perceives you irrespective of the position you are seeking. There is an ongoing debate on the fairness of this practice that has become the norm with employers. The fact that it’s happening means that you can be disqualified from a lucrative job position if your credit scores show you’ve struggled with debts.

It affects your insurance premiums

Vehicle and home insurance service providers tend to rely on your insurance scores when making a decision. Basically, this is a scoring system that relates the credit scores of a prospective customer to the risk presented to the insurance company.

While a low credit score won’t prevent you from accessing insurance services, you will definitely be paying higher premiums. On the other hand, having an impressive credit score can help you get an insurance deal with low premiums.

Utility companies will be concerned

Today, most utility companies providing gas, phone, and electricity tend to review your credit profile in order to determine if you will be a reliable client or not.

If your credit scores are suffering, it doesn’t mean that a utility company will lock you out of their service. Nevertheless, it’s highly likely that you will be asked to give some deposit before being allowed to use their services. The total amount required will be determined by your scores. As such, the lower the score, the higher the deposit amount you’ll have to pay.

Refinancing options depend on credit scores

Having a home is a dream held dear by many people. But at times, you don’t get the house at favorable rates or something can happen in future and you realize that you need to refinance the mortgage.

Whether you’ve been diligent in making the mortgage payments or not, as long as your credit scores are below average, getting a refinancing deal can be daunting. In consequence, you might end up paying lots of money over the years. On the other hand, stellar credit scores will help you get a great refinance deal which can reduce the cost of your fastest nation 21 loans.

Your personal relationships could suffer

When you have a low credit score, there is a high possibility that your relationships will feel the pinch. In order to have a fulfilling life, maintaining good relationships with people close to you is quite important.

Basically, people will be wary of lending you money given your previous behavior with credit. Most importantly, it can prevent you from going into partnerships with critical individuals who would have helped you generate tons of wealth. Lastly, having domestic conflicts resulting from financial issues can curtail your ability to pursue your future goals.

Final words

At the end of the day, a credit profile is part and parcel of your everyday life. While different people have unique situations, you should make a decision to improve your scores as soon as possible. The more you postpone the goal, the longer you will continue getting deals that are less than ideal.

May 30, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Mack Prioleau on the Career of a Financial Analyst

Today’s job market is absolutely fascinating. One of the most in demand positions is that of a financial analyst such as Mack Prioleau. Anyone who is able to meet the financial expectations of modern employers is likely to be able to have a job for life. Let’s take a look at this fascinating career.

What People Like Mack Prioleau Do

Financial analyst or business analysts are professionals who monitor the way a company moves financially. Their main task is to determine what the financial risk of the company is and using that to draught forecasts. By working together with these types of professionals, businesses are able to ensure the financial Decisions of Sound, put in place debt strategies, monitor cash flow, and maintain budgets.

Where Financial Analysts Work

Financial analysts are in high demand in a range of industries. In fact, anywhere where complex finances are found, analysts may be required. This includes:

The auditing and accounting services industry.
The defence and aerospace industry.
The banking industry.
The pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industry.
The business services industry.
The computer hardware and software industry.
The education industry.
The consumer goods industry.
The construction industry.
Electronics.
Utilities and energy.
Engineering.
Government.

Job Duties of a Financial Analyst

A financial analyst has a variety of tasks. Mainly however, they are responsible for evaluating the financial risk of their organization, reporting on this through financial forecasts and helping to create strategies. They also ensure the company’s budget is appropriate by looking at the costs of operations. They determine what the business’ current financial status is by looking at projections and actual results. They also make sure that the correct financial policies and procedures are in place and ensure they devise solutions to improve. Often, they also maintain database systems, ensuring the data is accurate. Indeed, some even develop accounting applications to improve this. They maintain the highest level of confidentiality and they work across all levels of the organization.

Becoming a Financial Analyst

In order for someone to become a financial analyst, they will usually be expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree in finance or a related subject such as administration, statistic, economics, or management. Some become Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs), for which they require further education with most actually holding a master’s degree. Completing certifications and internships tend to place someone in higher demand.

Through education, a financial analyst demonstrates that they have excellent oral and written communication skills come out the ability to understand business operations, superior organizational and analytical skills, the ability to make financial forecasts, project management skills, the ability to work on the minimum levels of supervision, the ability to multitask, an in-depth understanding of quantitative and financial Concepts, and excellent IT skills.

Considering the high level of education that these professionals have and a tremendous responsibility they carry in their role, it should come as no surprise that they also attract very interesting salaries. While it is generally not the main motivator for someone to take on this position, it certainly helps.

May 30, 2018 by Greg Underwood

Houston Real Estate Attracts Many Buyers According to Al Hartman

Houston is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Indeed, according to the US census Bureau, it ranks in the top 10, just behind some metro regions such as Atlanta, GA. According to Al Hartman, who has worked in Houston real estate most of his life, there are a number of particular things that make the city so appealing.Indeed, it is because of those things that professionals like him have faith in the idea that Houston will continue to grow even if there is an economic downturn.

Al Hartman on the Attraction of Houston

There are a number of things that make this city so attractive. Those include:

Its economy. Even during the last economic crisis, the metro region around Houston continued to thrive. The reason for this is because there are so many different industries that operate within the commerce of the city, including manufacturing, shipping, computers, energy, and aerospace. Additionally, the city is known to aggressively attract new employers and new industries. This is why the unemployment rate is almost always low here.
The cost of living. Texas does not have state income tax and Houston does not have local income tax. Additionally, prices are much lower than in various other national metro areas. The result is that a lot of people are interested in the proposition of living here. It is quite possible to enjoy a comfortable life even on a budget. Compared to other metro regions, housing costs are also surprisingly low, with some very nice properties costing less than $200,000, something that almost no other region can replicate.
The weather. Houston is pleasantly warm all year long. It does have its own seasons with slightly colder winters, but compared to areas further in the north, even the winters are mild.
The opportunities period last but not least, Houston and its metropolitan area is incredibly diverse, expensive, and vast. No matter what someone likes to do, they know they can find it here. People can enjoy the great outdoors, take part in notable educational experiences, watch professional sports, immerse themselves in the arts, and more.

It is clear to see why Houston is such a fast growing city. Anyone interested in relocating to Somewhere new and interesting should really take it into consideration. That said, it is important to do so sooner rather than later, as there are always opportunities to be missed as they are being taken up by others. Real estate prices are affordable, jobs are available, educational places are still free, but how long this will continue is anybody’s guess.

I’ll heartburn at faith in the fact that people will continue to come to his favourite City. Indeed, it has done very well throughout various Economic downturns and there is no reason to suspect the next one will be any different. Additionally, opportunities exist both for established professionals and for entrepreneurs who want to look at start-up businesses. The time to come to Houston is now!