I'm Baaack

My Blog is back! Im so excited! I have been accumulating posts in my head!! Uh oh...Now I have to see if I can find them so I can post them!

So much (I'm sure?) has gone on since my last post! I just dont know where to begin! ***three days have now gone by since I started this post. That tells me my life is busy and busy = good!***

Well, I thought I was back~n~blogging, I peeked out my home office window and my contractor was pulling into my driveway! Screeeech...........halt.........Call him and tell him he is unexpected and I need to get out of my jammies!

Moving right along.....I
I'm SO Exicted to be Tweeting with so many new folks today!
Kids have left for work, now I start my (house) work...
and prep for Dad's Birthday dinner later! 75 yrs young TODAY! Happy Birthday Dad! We Love You...

Weichert $8000 Tax Credit Countdown

Rising Mortgage Rates Mean..........................

BREAKING NEW JERSEY NEWS

Housings analysts say rising mortgage rates mean potential N.J. buyers missed best deals - NJ.com Call Me if you know of anyone looking to purchase real estate in central NJ

Housings analysts say rising mortgage rates mean potential N.J. buyers missed best deals


Though New Jersey home prices are expected to continue falling for a few months, a recent spike in mortgage rates may wipe out any savings buyers manage to wrangle from sellers. Economists say the time to buy may have been, well, yesterday.

Mortgage rates are rising, and a federal tax credit for some buyers will no longer be available after November.

Full Star-Ledger coverage of Business News

"For those that are still waiting, they've already missed that perfect moment when prices were low and interest rates were also low," said Jeffrey Otteau, whose East Brunswick company, Otteau Valuation Group, tracks New Jersey real estate data.

Average rates jumped last week to 5.59 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for borrowers with good credit, according to mortgage company Freddie Mac's weekly survey. That's nearly three-quarters of a percentage point above the low rate of 4.78 in late April.

"For people that are first-time homebuyers or don't have good credit ratings, it's not good news," said Brian Bethune, an economist with IHS Global Insight, an economic analysis and forecasting company in Massachusetts.

The 0.75 percent rise makes a big difference -- roughly 6.75 percent of the purchase price, Otteau noted. Plus, it affects the monthly payment, around which a family budget is built. The monthly payment on a $300,000 mortgage at 4.75 percent would be $1,565. At 5.5 percent, the monthly payment tops $1,700.

30-year mortgage rates from from Aug. 7, 2008 to June 11

Real estate agents say they have seen an uptick in activity over a couple of weeks as the deadline for the tax credit approaches and mortgage rates rise.

Tara Sheng, an agent with Weichert Realtors in Mountain Lakes, said that over the weekend prospective buyers were anxious to get into houses. She held an open house and also took three couples around to see homes.

"I would say I was busier this weekend than any weekend in a long time," she said. "I slept late today. I was still recovering."

At the same time, Sheng worries that the run-up in interest rates is forcing some would-be buyers to retreat. "I hear people who are frustrated and are taking a break," she said.

Why are rates moving this fast? Experts say it has little, if anything, to do directly with housing markets. Mortgage rates are driven by the rates on the 10-year Treasury bills issued by the U.S. government. They touched 4 percent last week, double from December.

Fair or not, a buyer's monthly mortgage payment is affected by inflation, rising oil prices and the security of government debt relative to other types of investments, economists say. Those are the factors international investors consider when buying the 10-year bills, Bethune said.

If mortgage rates continue upward, experts fear it will stave off a housing recovery, because people will not be able to afford what they thought they could.

"Rising mortgage rates could be very harmful if they keep going to the overall housing market," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. "It was the one bright spot that we had."

There is some disagreement over where mortgage rates will go over the next months -- whether the markets are overheated by speculation or not. But most do not expect rates to dip below 5 percent again.

Otteau bumped up the time frame in which he thinks house prices here will stop falling from September to August.

"Consensus is starting to build that the recession may be ending soon," he said. "It looks like the perfect time was yesterday, but today is still better than tomorrow."

Lois Pagano, 57, got on the boat before it left the dock. She closed on her house in Summit in April and got an interest rate below 5 percent.

"I feel very blessed," she said.

Pagano was also able to take advantage of a tax credit of up to $8,000 for people who meet the income requirements and haven't owned a home in three years.

Shorthand, it's called the first-time homebuyer tax credit. It is set to expire Nov. 30, but that doesn't mean a buyer can walk into a home Nov. 29 -- or even Oct. 29 -- and make an offer. Buyers must close on their deal by the deadline, and agents say closing has been taking two to three months, longer than before.

Agents also are saying they are seeing multiple offers on the same houses, so buyers waiting for prices to drop could get pushed out by others willing to sign a contract.

"It happens all the time," said Robert Northfield, a broker with Burgdorff Realtors ERA of Maplewood.

Sandra Moore, 43, who is searching for a house in Monmouth County, knows the longer she waits, the more money it will cost.

"There's a lot of pressure," she said. "If I wait another week, another day, I'm subject to looking at the rate increases, and I don't want that."

Moore, a divorced mother of two grown sons, said she's itching to close, not just so she can get the first-time homebuyer tax credit, but so she can move out of the hotel she's been staying in since her house in Freehold was sold in April.

"I don't really have a lot of time," Moore said. "I just want to be in my home."


*reprint* original can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=91007199471&h=DFux3&u=AK-wn&ref=mf
by Lisa Fleisher/Star-Ledger
Monday June 15, 2009, 5:46 PM

National Lobster Day! Wish I was in Maine....

Celebrate National Lobster Day

Celebrate National Lobster Day
By Brian Schwartz

A lobster is a fine treat for any occasion, but celebrating National Lobster Day gives you a special reason to enjoy these crustacean delights. National Lobster Day celebrated on the 15th of June each year may not be an official holiday as far as work is concerned but you can make merry all the same with a groovy lobster concoction.

So, where do you get your live lobster on National Lobster Day? Do you just hop down to your local supermarket and buy one that's been struggling for survival in a tank or do you go online and get a fresh live lobster straight off the coast of Maine? If you're really keen on getting the perfect lobster to grace your dinner table forget about the supermarket. The poor creature at your store has probably lost most of its meat in its scuffle to stay alive. Instead, go online and pick a meaty lobster that will get to your doorstep alive and kicking. What's more, you can choose one with all the trimmings like lobster bibs, clams, steamers, little necks, napkins and forks to name a few.

Now that you know where to get fresh live lobsters, you probably need help whipping up a delicious lobster delight to commemorate the occasion. There are several ways to cook lobsters. You can boil them, steam them, grill or bake them. But no matter which way you decide to go, the result is always spectacular.

Here are some tips to cook that perfect lobster on National Lobster Day.

Boiling is the easiest and most popular way of cooking live lobsters. All you have to do is fill a large pot with three quarters of water and proceed to boil this water. Dip the lobsters in headfirst and submerge them completely. Cover the pot and cool the lobsters for 15-20 minutes. You can tell if the lobster is cooked when it turns red and you can pull out its antennae easily. Serve warm with hot melted butter.

If you intend steaming your lobster on National Lobster Day, here's how you go about it. Fill a large kettle with about two inches of salted water and bring to a boil. Dip in the live lobster and cover the kettle. Steam for about 13-20 minutes depending on how much the lobster weighs. Serve with exotic dips and fresh lemons.

To grill a lobster, fill a kettle half full with salted water. Dip the live lobsters and boil for a few minutes only. Remove the lobsters and drain them. Crack the claws and use a knife to split the tails near the ribs. Put them on a grill for about 10 minutes and flip them so that both sides get grilled nicely. Garnish with juicy lemons and serve hot.

If you intend baking a lobster, you'll have to kill it first. Split the lobster lengthwise and remove the yellowish sac from the sides of the head. Heat the oven to about 200 degrees centigrade. Detach the claws, place them on a baking pan and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Remove the baking pan from the oven and add the halves of the lobster with their fleshy sides up. You could also dab them with melted butter and lemon juice and bake them for another ten minutes.

National Lobster Day may not be as important as Christmas, Thanksgiving or a wedding. But nevertheless if you love eating lobsters, it gives you another excuse to celebrate and savor this wonderful specimen.

Celebrate, anytime of the year, anywhere in the country, with the finest live lobster from http://www.LongLiveLobster.com
Happy Cracking!

© 2008 Long Live Lobster

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Schwartz
http://EzineArticles.com/?Celebrate-National-Lobster-Day&id=1197942

Are Trolls Ruining Social Media?

Are Trolls Ruining Social Media?

Shared via AddThis

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June 11th, 2009
Are Tweets and Facebook updates telling burglars when to strike?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=19632

Texting Kills...... Links to Share with Your Kids

Its an epidemic and it kills. Cars are weapons. You can text 5,000,000,000 times and the 5,000,000,001 might be the time you get into an accident and someone loses their life, even worse, many lives are lost. Its happening over and over again, but there is really no conclusive documentation to support just how often. Most folks dont walk into hospital emergency room rooms for injuries (minor) and tell the administration that they were texting when they hit the parked car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXQwP4BfBUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssbqp2bQjtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDlYSPVro0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJyU3h0dNT0&feature=related


Admit it, It's a Digital Life!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JyGlqZN5EE&feature=channel


You can Find State By State Cell Phone Laws here:
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

And a post isnt a post without some current real estate information for you.

Existing-Home Sales Rise in April. See it Here:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1465406675?bctid=24520709001

Four out of every 10 recent home sales were to first-time buyers....
http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/06/30_under_30