At UtahLuxury.com we understand that people want to see beautiful homes. If it isn't luxurious then it doesn't belong here. So we put together a list of what features a luxury home in Utah should have. 1. Location - The obvious real estate law will never go away. Every home that has ever sold is a direct result of where the home is located. When people look to purchase a home the two most commonly used formulas are price and location. In the high-end world, prices are already assessed so location is everything. 2. Curb Appeal - Whether online or actually driving by the home, nothing gets people into the home faster than the excitement about the outside of the home. What do buyers see when looking at the home? Here is a quick run-down of what they will see. 1. Style of Home 2. Landscaping 3. Driveway style (this is actually very important) 4. Accessibility (How many steps to the front door? Do you have to take the groceries upstairs from the garage?) 5. Garages (How many? How Tall?) 3. Entryway - Nothing says wow more than entering a home and instantly seeing something amazing. In Southern Utah it is becoming more common to see homes where the back of the home is a wall of windows. This allows the visitor to see straight out to the backyard from the entryway. In Park City, many homes enter into the family room where soaring vaulted ceilings are lined with beautiful cut timbers. Make a statement fast in your entryway. 4. Kitchens - This has become the North American gathering place. Please focus a lot of attention in the room that sees the most people. Kitchens of late have become so advanced that you can match the style of it to your car, your furniture, the Jetsons and even a pirate ship (just saw one the other day). Spend some time creating a masterpiece that will entertain. 5. The Master Bedroom - The people that are going to purchase your home are also the ones living in it. Make sure that this room has ample space to fit all the latest necessities. What views are from this room? Is this going to be a dream come true for the buyer? If you yourself have any doubts about the design of this room... stop before you start. I have seen countless people walk away from beautiful homes because they couldn't see themselves in this very important room. 6. The Backyard - This is a two part answer because Utah two separate climates. In northern Utah, people expect a luxury home to have open space. Please don't build a million+ dollar home that backs right up to another home. The backyards in Park City are normally open and allow for wildlife. In Salt Lake and Utah Counties, buyers expect to see 3 areas. 1. An entertaining area (outdoor barbecues, room for dining tables) 2. An area for kids to run and play and 3. A place to escape to. (This may be where the hot tub is). In Southern Utah it is becoming very common to see luxury homes with extravagant swimming pools. You will also find custom outdoor fireplaces and firepits. 7. The Theater - In Utah, every new high-end is designed with a theater. It is hotly debated over whether to place the theater under the garage in a secluded quiet spot or to make a theater out of a family room where people can freely hang out. You make the call on this one but see to it that your home has one and make it a good one. 8. The Garage - This area of the home seems to get overlooked... a lot. First of all, how hard is it to get into the garage? Will you have to make a 30 point turn to get in? How many cars can you fit? Is there room for a boat? An RV? Tools? Motorcycles? I recently toured several, (more affordable) homes that visibly only had 2-3 car garages. Once inside these behemoth garages you would find that you could store 4-5 cars, motorcycles, toys, lawn equipment... the works. I was in awe! 9. The Master Closet and Bathroom - Ok, going back to the master, these areas have become more and more luxurious as new homes have been built. The master closet is now either the size of a room on its own, or is split into two very large size closets. The master bath is hard to call because it depends on the style and design of the house. But know this, people will perceive whether or not the home has a good common theme or design based on what goes into this room. 10. The Common Areas - Believe it or not, this feature is more important to many people than the size or number of bedrooms in a home. Why? This is what the guest will see. If your guest comes to visit, where do they go? The family room. If the guest needs to use the restroom, a designer half bath will make an impact. Wide hallways will make the home feel bigger. A grand staircase will make a grand statement. P.S. In an effort to help create a greener world, always keep in mind how to do these things in a way that will not only make your world better but those in the generations to come.

By Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD Can the Federal Reserve stop a recession or prevent inflation by its actions? On Tuesday, August 5, the Federal Reserve voted to keep the interest rate for banks unchanged at 2 percent. Although I am by no means an expert on the economy and the role of the Federal Reserve, the actions of the Federal Reserve often remind me of that old cartoon about the conversation between Bob and Joe under the streetlight. Bob sees Joe looking at the sidewalk under the streetlight and asks: Bob: "What are you looking for?" Joe: "My keys." Bob: "Did you lose them here?" Joe: "No, I dropped them over there." Bob: "Why are you looking for them here, when you dropped them over there? Joe: "There's no light over there." The goal of the Fed is to control the money supply to prevent both inflation and recession. It's easy to think of the Federal Reserve as a giant puppet master in Washington, able to pull the strings of the economy when it goes off track. As powerful as it is, the Federal Reserve is really a one-trick pony, with one major tool. It can raise or lower the interest rates that it charges banks for money. The Fed's problem is that its main policy tool----setting interest rates for the banks----can only address one problem at a time. To get back to Bob and Joe, the real problem is "over there, but the Fed can't fix that problem, so it stands under the streetlight, looking for a solution in the wrong place. The two big threats facing the economy right now are inflation and recession. What can the Fed do when inflation is not the result of interest rates but the cost of oil? What can the Fed do when recession is not the result of interest rates but a result of the housing, mortgage, and credit crises? What effect does the Fed's decision to hold the banks' prime lending rate at 2 percent have on inflation when the primary cause of inflation is oil prices? Consider what happened in the 1970s, when oil prices shot through the roof and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. The result was "stagflation," an era of both inflation and stagnant growth in the economy. Once again, we have rising inflation, triggered mostly by oil prices, and either the imminent threat or reality of recession as a result of the housing, credit, and mortgage debacles. What is the Federal Reserve doing in response? The decision on August 5, to keep the prime lending rate unchanged, is not so much smart strategy as recognition that the Federal Reserve can't do much to prevent inflation or control recession. So, will the Fed's decision help the economy? Will it either prevent recession or inflation? Wall Street responded favorably to the Fed's decision to keep interest rates unchanged, but it is important to note that Wall Street was already responding favorably because oil prices have fallen. Taken as a whole, the economy is affected by many forces. Many of these forces are far beyond the control of elected officials and the actions of any agency, such as the Federal Reserve. Although the actions of the Federal Reserve are powerful, they are not all-powerful. And so, the Fed makes its decisions under the streetlight, and keeps its fingers crossed, hoping that keeping interest rates for banks unchanged for now will buy time for other economic forces to work. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Author: Ed Lathrop Probably the longest commitment we ever make in our lifetimes is the 30 years we commit to a mortgage. There isn't too much we can count on having after 30 years, but unless we sell our houses or hit the lottery, we can be sure we will be paying off our mortgages for a long time! Imagine how nice it would be to be mortgage free! It would, in many cases be like getting a $1,800 a month raise. It doesn't seem possible anyone would have any kind of financial difficulty if he didn't have a mortgage hanging around his neck. You could buy just about anything and go just about anywhere without needing to prepare your budget around that monthly mortgage payment. In this article, we will explain how to pay off your mortgage in double, triple and even faster time! Oh, it won't necessarily be easy, but it can be done. It has been said a person can do anything with motivation and a plan. So, here's the plan. Check your interest rate If you are paying over the market rate on interest it may behoove you to refinance to the lowest rate you can get. Here's why: A $250,000 mortgage at 8% for 30 years comes with a monthly payment due of $1,834.41. Looking at an amortization schedule for this mortgage we find on the first payment, the principal being paid is $167.74. A $250,000 mortgage at 6% for 30 years comes with a monthly payment of $1.498.88. Its amortization schedule shows the first payment's principal portion is $248.88. Why is this important? Because you want to pay off as much principal as possible while paying as little interest as possible. The early months are the most important ones With the 8% mortgage, as we have noted the first monthly principal payment is $167.74. The principal portion of the payment increases slightly with each payment. So, for payment number 6, the principal paid is $173.41. If we add the principal payments for payments 2 through 6 together we get $855.64, and if we add this amount to our first payment, we will have paid the first 6 payments of our mortgage. If we keep adding $850 to $1,000 to our payment every month for the next 6 months, we would have paid off the first 6 years already! As you can see, the early months are important in getting a good start to paying off a mortgage early. This is because in these months, the interest, which is time value, is expensive. So, by not using that time we save a lot of money. Double time and then some Now let's see what would happen if we doubled the payment every month. The payment due monthly is $1,843.41. If we paid $3,646.81 monthly, we would be paid in full in 7 years and 7 months. Now that's quick! Here's why it's important to get as low an interest rate as you can. If you had a 6% interest rate on the same amount for 30 years, the monthly payment would be $1,498.88. With this loan, if we paid a total of $3,646.81 monthly, we would be paid in full in exactly 7 years. So, we would save an extra 7 times $1,498.88 or $10,492.16. Who's got that kind of money? Of course, coming up with an extra $2,000 a month is a bit much, but this is the kind of money it takes to pay off a mortgage in a lightning quick mode. So, to get a more realistic goal, here's what to do. Look at the mortgage's amortization table and scan down to the halfway point. This would be payment number 180 on a 30-year mortgage. Take note of the principal portion of this payment. On the 6% mortgage we have been talking about, it is $607.73. If you pay this amount in addition to each of your monthly payments, you will have paid off the mortgage in full in exactly 15 years. Again, sometimes coming up with additional payments is difficult, but this method gives you an idea of how making relatively small additional payments can help you pay off your mortgage way ahead of schedule. Article Source: Article Base

By Lew Corcoran Whether you're renting a house, apartment, condominium, townhouse or even a mobile home, other than affording you shelter, your rent payment is like throwing money out the window every month. There are many reasons owning your own home is significantly more beneficial than renting, though you will seldom hear about or see the concepts presented in this report. Aside from the obvious benefits of owning a piece of the American Dream, you: 1) get a place of your own to do with as you wish; 2) achieve equity in real estate with the eventual goal to own it free and clear; and 3) never have a landlord deciding when you need to vacate the premises. Also, owning a home can have tremendous financial advantages that renting can never accomplish. Real estate is the single best route to getting rich in this country. And, owning a home is the first step to becoming a millionaire. Your home mortgage is a marvelous tool to assist in creating wealth for yourself, and the right mortgage strategy is as important as anything. Let's take a quick look at some financial benefits of owning a home before we delve into a more complicated - but effective - strategy of using a mortgage as a key financial tool in your wealth building strategy. Here are some major benefits you'll enjoy when paying your mortgage versus a rent payment: • Mortgage Interest Tax Deductibility; • Historically consistent payments; • Appreciation in your largest investment; • Ability to tap into the home's equity and accessing large sums of cash when needed; and • Tax-free gains on primary residences upon sale (talk to your CPA or tax advisor for specifics). Let's use an illustration to give a better demonstration of what a mortgage can do for you. For this scenario, we're assuming that we're renting a townhome for $1200 per month and the rental payment increases at 5% per year. We're going to compare this against the purchase of a $250,000 home using 100% financing at an interest rate of 6.875% fixed for 30 years. For our example, we're comparing the true mortgage payment versus the true rental payment excluding property taxes so as to have an accurate "apples to apples" comparison. With our mortgage of $250,000, we'll have a before tax payment of $1642. If you're in the 28% tax bracket, your true interest rate is no longer 6.875%. It's really 4.95% because of the tax deductibility of mortgage interest. Your monthly mortgage payment is now really $1182 - technically less than the rent payment! Out of your total monthly payment of $1642, $210 is actually going toward the principal of your loan (i.e. creating equity for you), leaving the $1432 as tax deductible mortgage interest. (Bear in mind that over time, more of your payment gets applied to principal and less toward interest). With mortgage interest totaling approximately $17,184 per year, and with your 28% tax bracket deduction, Uncle Sam will give you back over $4800 on your taxes!! Try getting some of your rent payment back each year! This tax deduction is about $400 per month of real money. Now, here's where the strategic part comes in: While many people will use their mortgage tax refund as a forced savings plan and consume that money yearly on vacations, new clothes, jet skis or other money draining expenditures, you should think about reinvesting that money back into your mortgage. Taking your yearly mortgage tax refund and applying it to your mortgage is the same as sending in about $400 extra dollars each month toward your mortgage principal. However, because the amount of principal that gets paid versus interest increases over time, you'll get less and less of a tax write-off over the years. Though the benefits are still huge and the concept here still works, and because your refund will decrease over time, we'll assume you were able to only send in $3960 per year ($330 per month) (even though if your income increases you may find yourself in a higher tax bracket.) By applying an extra $3960 each year towards your $250,000 mortgage, you will have it paid off in just 18 years!! Now you no longer have a mortgage or rental payment, and you own your home free and clear! Another way to look at it this: Uncle Sam paid for 12 years of your original 30 year mortgage. Talk about a tremendous benefit! Ok, so now what? You were already making a monthly mortgage payment of $1642 to the mortgage company, and even though your house is paid off, you're going to continue to make that payment - but this time to yourself. If you were able to earn a modest return of 6% per year by investing that money in that last 12 years, you would accumulate a nest egg of approximately $333,000. Conversely, by year 18, the renter is no closer to owing his home than he was when he started, and his rent payment has reached about $3000 per month! Your $250,000 home has been earning a very modest 3.5% appreciation per year, is now worth over $701,000 by the end of year 30. This figure, plus your investment account nest egg of $333,000, gives you a net worth of about $1,034,000!! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com