| First, build a down payment
Dear Liz: I'd like to buy my first house soon, but real estate is expensive where I live and condominiums seem more affordable. What is your take on owning a condo versus a house? Because I will have to do 100% financing, I will have to pay $250 a month in private mortgage insurance, which will result in a payment of about $2,450 a month for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, which seems like a lot. I was advised that I could decrease my tax withholding, because the mortgage interest will be deductible, and that will make the payment seem less huge.
Answer: Wait a bit and build a down payment.
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January 2008
Paul's online supporters helped him raise almost $20 million last quarter, most of it online. But it looks like there might be a new champ in town. Or maybe he's just reclaiming his title. TechPresident reports that in the past two weeks, the Barack Obama campaign (which has had a great track record online since Obama announced his candidacy last February) says it has raised money from more than 100,000 donors via the Internet. The report is based on an e-mail sent out by the Obama campaign Wednesday afternoon. "After the New Hampshire primary last week, we set a goal of 100,000 online donors in 2008 - a goal we hoped to reach before the Nevada caucuses on Saturday. Last night we got there five days early. Think about that: 100,000 donors in 15 days." As TechPresident notes, that is a huge number of supporters.
The times they are a changin
Before this summer of political change, few voters could name most of the opposition parties now vying for their votes, let alone name their chiefs. Come September 7, voters will not only need to know their names, but will have probably had to have looked into their electoral platforms to see whether they offer more than reviving the tradition of the tarboush or the building of an Arab Nuclear City. More importantly, theyll have to decide which candidates seem capable of turning their promises into realities. .
Local business helps seniors change scenery
Matt Nachtrieb/Staff Photo (L to R) CarolAnne Crossan and Jacki Finley, with A Changing Season, move furniture and other belongings for a client from Sterling House in Denton to Lewisville. This photo is available at www.scntx.com. production/flowermound/datedfolder/01-19/front .
Changes hit higher education
In an organizing election held in May 2007 voters approved of the new college and elected a board of trustees.The community college still has to be approved by the Legislature after it receives a recommendation by the commissioner of higher learning.A new community college moving toward reality raised some questions, and regents decided it was time to take a look at two-year education in the state, said Arlene Parisot, director of two-year education in the commissioner's office.At a meeting in Helena on Jan. 10, regents began talking about a strategic planning process for two-year education, a discussion that will continue at the regents' meeting in March.Montana has three types of two-year post-secondary institutions:• Three community colleges in Miles City, Glendive and Kalispell.• Five colleges of technology in Billings, Butte, Missoula, Great Falls and Helena.• Seven tribal colleges at Crow Agency, Lame Deer, Box Elder, Harlem, Poplar, Pablo and Browning.Each set of two-year campuses is governed and funded differently from the others.Colleges of Technology receive funding from the state and from tuition and fees.
Scott Boras starts to gets a clue - sort of
Lisa, may I add that Red Sox fans don't want to see ARod in a Red Sox uniform either next year....way too much has happenend for that to go over well. Last week's announcement was just the icing on the cake for the guy. It has and is and always will be about him, nothing more. Pretty sad. Wouldn't it be funny if no one was buying Boras' line of BS about ARod and no one gave him the 350+ million he is seeking for ARod. Then what? .
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