When people think of the American Dream, they always think about owning a home. That dream has come to a crashing reality over the last year due to the sub-prime mortgage bust. Basically, there has been an abundance of people who bought homes that they couldn’t afford, causing a large number home foreclosures and a crash in the real estate market nationwide. Not too many places have been unaffected by this trouble. But Tulsa is one place where the American Dream may still ring true.

Unlike the rest of the country, Tulsa hasn’t seen a significant decrease in the local housing market. In fact, housing in the area reached a peak in 2006 and has only gone down slightly since then. New home construction and home purchases continue unabated and experts in the area believe that the Tulsa housing market will continue to do fine despite the changes happening elsewhere in the United States.

It’s possible that Tulsa’s ability to escape the widespread housing problem is due to the fact that the city didn’t thrive in this area until well into the time when housing was becoming a problem elsewhere. It wasn’t until 2004 that Tulsa became a hotbed for new home purchases which had already been springing up throughout the rest of the country for several years. The rapid growth in real estate investment throughout the country that was followed by a significant crash just didn’t happen in Tulsa. Investment came to the city more slowly and therefore didn’t have reason to crash. In fact, in 2006 when the rest of the nation was seeing a drop in numbers, Tulsa’s housing market hit its high point.

Tulsa just might be an ideal place for new home buyers. Prices of homes in the area are far below the national average (approximately $165,000 in Tulsa as compared with over $275,000 nationwide). Additionally these prices don’t seem to be going up as quickly in Tulsa as they have elsewhere; they’ve gone up less than 5% annually in Tulsa as compared with nearly 10% annually elsewhere in the nation. And since homes in Tulsa are consistently undervalued, you get more for the money you spend on a home here than you might elsewhere in the country. Learning from the lessons that have happened to others throughout the nation, home buyers and real estate investors in Tulsa can make the most of the great market there while avoiding the problems that have caused the rest of the nation to wonder if the American Dream still exists.

Eric Bramlett is the broker & co-owner of One Source Realty, a Tulsa real estate company. All of One Source’s Tulsa web design is performed by Winston Web.

Myrtle Beach is one of Americans favorite vacation destination spots. During the summer months, nearly 10 million visitors pass through this area. Myrtle Beach is not only known for its beautiful beaches, but also for the great golfing packages available. Myrtle Beach has a variety of attractions that draws people near and far to the beach. The Hard Rock Theme Park is soon to be one of Myrtle Beaches’ newest attractions. The park is expected to open in May of 2008.

The theme park is expected to draw in nearly 30,000 visitors a day. Once the park is finished, nearly 3000 new jobs will have been created. When guest arrive at the park, they can definitely expect more than just rides. The park is sure to please people of all ages and of all backgrounds.

The Hard Rock Theme Park will be built on approximately 140 acres. The theme park is the first of its kind, a park designed after the heart of rock and roll. Hard Rock Theme Park will house over 40 different attractions, a live music amphitheater, a sound system that is state of the art, as well as a children’s area, cafes, restaurants and even some retail stores. The park will also house some extremely unique roller coasters. With such attractions, it is easy to see why Myrtle Beach is a very sought after vacation destination.

Visitors to the Myrtle Beach area are quickly realizing that they can purchase homes or condos cheaper than they can in places such as Florida or New York. Therefore, the housing market is really booming in the area. With the completion of the theme park, the market will only rise higher.

New homes and condos are rapidly going up around the Hard Rock Theme Park. Investors know that if they can get in on the deal before the theme park is completed, they will get a great return on their investment. Visitors will love the easy access and location of such homes and condos, in relation to the new theme park.

Time shares are also booming in the Myrtle Beach area. Owners are looking to purchase the time shares in their pre-construction phase. They realize that once the theme park is complete, the price of the time shares will sky rocket.

Many people choose to buy a home or condo as their vacation home. In order to help cover the cost of the home, the owners will rent or lease out their homes for various weeks of the year. This is a great way for them to enjoy their vacation home when they want, yet make some extra money off of it when they are not using it.

The Hard Rock Theme Park will soon be a favorite attraction in American’s favorite vacation destination. The completion of the theme park is sure to boost the housing market even higher than it currently is. Therefore, purchasing the homes prior to the completion of the park will ensure a great return on your investment.

Randy Zlobec Internet Marketing Director For The Hoffman Group of South Carolina who offers Myrtle Beach Condos For Sale & Preconstruction oceanfront condo investment opportunities. Visit http://www.oceaninvestments.com for more details.

The look of a house really gets changed post home improvements. Hence, a lot of people choose to go in for home improvements in preparation for a major event. It could be a birthday, or festival, or maybe a wedding. In fact, weddings are usually a great excuse to give your house a makeover. While other smaller festivals warrant smaller improvements like maybe changing the curtains or getting new sofas, an occasion as huge as a wedding may be worth much greater improvements. This could range from getting a paint job done to changing the bathroom furnishings to swanking up the kitchen to changing the plumbing.

Home improvements are a great way to alter the look of your home. If you are finally being able to afford the changes that you always wanted to get done, you might want to do up your home according to Feng Shui rules. Apart from having a house which looks wonderful, effecting home improvements could also be adding to your future. Given that most people buy houses because of the investment potential, having home improvements done would help you get a better price on your property, if there arose a need to sell it. So investment-wise also, home improvements are a good idea.

The question that now arises is: How much can you afford? Depending on the amount of savings that you have collected, you could decide to tone down on the renovations that are currently on your list. At the same time, if you have been wishing for full-fledged renovations, you could go in for a home improvement loan. Although these loans are relatively new entrants in the loan market, they have become extremely popular. Thus, more and more people have begun to avail of home improvement loans to pay for their renovation costs in preparation for the wedding day.

There are two basic kinds of such loans. They may be secured homeowner loans or unsecured loans. Most people go in for secured homeowner loans because these loans are a great deal cheaper. Because of the presence of collateral in the deal, lenders are more willing to take a risk by offering borrowers more competitive prices and rates. If you are looking for a cheap loan, it is best to look at the secured variety of home improvement loans.

However, if you are feeling uneasy about placing your property as collateral for the loan, it would be more sensible to seek out some unsecured loans to fund your home improvement needs. The great thing about these loans is that if you are unable to repay a loan, at least you will not be risking your property. The best bargains may be found in the case of secured loans, but this does not mean that all unsecured loans are unnecessarily expensive. Some great deals can be unearthed if you do a lot of shopping.

If you are at sea regarding where you should be looking, you could try the Internet as you start out. You could, in fact, make use of a website that is designed to allow you to make a number of comparisons.

Visit us for unsecured loans, secured personal loans, and
homeowner loans.

In the long-term property prices tend to move in an upward trend with occasional stagnation and downturns along the way. There are times when asking prices are sky high and other times when they are slightly lower. However, what a lot of people don’t realise is this is equally true in a shorter time frame, and there are times of the year that are better than others for buying and selling a home.

Let’s start by looking at the best time of the year to buy a property. Obviously if you’re looking for a potential property, then you obviously want to get the lowest price possible. Therefore the best time of the year to buy is when the market is at it’s most quietest, ie when there are less potential buyers out there looking and competing for properties.

If there are fewer viewers looking at properties then there will obviously be fewer people bidding for them which means you are more likely to be able to get an offer accepted well below the asking price.

So when are the best times to buy?

Well the market is significantly quieter during the winter months, particularly during December and January so this is an excellent time to buy.

There are generally slightly fewer properties on the market at this time, but if you do see a house you like, then you are more likely to be able to pick up a bargain.

Another good time to buy, but to a slightly lesser extent, is during the holiday season, ie late July through to the end of August, when most potential buyers take a rest from looking at properties to concentrate on their holidays. In general though the winter months are the best time to buy.

Now let’s look at the best times of the year to sell a home. Here we are obviously looking to receive the best price possible so we ideally want to put the house on the market when the market is most buoyant, so there are lots of people viewing and competing for properties, which drives the prices higher.

After the lull of the winter months, the market tends to pick up again from March onwards, so this is the time when you should be thinking about putting your house up for sale. In general, the spring and summer months up until the holiday season starts are the best times to sell because this is when the buyers are out in force and competing hard with each other.

This is good news for you as you can often set your asking price a little bit higher than the true market value knowing that there’s a good chance that people will pay a slight premium and pay at or close to a higher asking price in order to fight off any other potential buyers.

The next best time to sell your house is during the autumn months when the kids are back at school and the holiday season is over, but the only problem is that if you don’t sell during this time, you have to try and find a buyer and get a good price in the long winter months when the market is quieter.

So to conclude, if you’re looking to buy then the best time to do so is during the winter months and late summer, and if you’re looking to sell then you should have your home on the market during the spring and summer months if you want to achieve a higher asking price.

James Woolley runs a blog that discusses all aspects of money including shares, property, running your own business, and basically how to build wealth in general.

Buying commercial real estate is much different than buying a single home. Because it is commercial real estate and you are apartment building investing, you can use a due diligence period to get the best deal possible. During the due diligence period, the buyer, at the buyers expense, has the right to enter the property together with anyone they choose in order to inspect the property. Tests such as those for environmental problems, the soil, the air quality, hydrocarbon, toxic chemicals, carbon, asbestos, lead based paint and any other tests the buyer may deem necessary for the commercial real estate property are then conducted. Apartment investing is something that needs to be thoroughly checked out before the sale so there are no surprises that will end with the loss of tenants and money because the structure isn’t habitable.

Due diligence is a way for the commercial real estate investor to be certain there are no hidden problems. The process should be taken full advantage of every time a commercial real estate building is being considered. If you are a wise apartment building investor, you will be prepared for this and have experts to check for problems in the building. When one is found, the selling price may be lowered or you can request that the seller make the corrections prior to the sale.

This is similar to purchasing a used automobile. If you haven’t taken the time to have a mechanic look it over prior to purchase, you may find out too late that there are major problems with it. The same thing can be said for apartment building investing. This due diligence is a time given for just this purpose, and it’s crucial that it be used as such.

There can be many unseen problems when buying commercial real estate. A seemingly small problem such as lead paint can mean that until this paint is removed by professionals who are licensed to handle such a job, no tenants will be allowed to live in the building. This means that investing in a building such as this, unless it’s at a price that reflects the problem, should be considered carefully. The apartment investing situation should be one in which the buyer is aware of all of the problems and can get a price that reflects the need to do the remodeling work on the units. When that is completed, the units can then be rented at a higher rate than previously. A good real estate investor will have had this planned out from the beginning.

Should you bring a professional to inspect something on the commercial real estate property, and they find a problem, there is the option of offering the current owner less, or even to back out of the deal altogether. Depending on the problem, it may cost very little to fix, or it may cost enough that there will be no profit possible from the building. Know which type of building you are getting into by exercising your due diligence.

David Jackson is a real estate investor & author who has found a niche in apartment investing. Find out how you can buy apartments while being broke & with no money of your own at

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