That's right! Starting April 5th, Money Smart Week begins. Money Smart Week is a week long event focused on educating consumers on how to more effectively manage their money. We like to say teaching consumers how to keep more of what they make!

At Four Legacies Mortgage, we're huge advocates of financial literacy. This is why we have decided to sponsor this exciting week of financial education. As always, we'll be offering a jam packed week of free classes/seminars and we hope you can make it to one! Here is our personal schedule of activities for next week:

Monday, April 7^th at 7pm-8pm - Improving Your Credit Score - With everything that credit score influences now its more important than ever to understand how it is calculated and how you can take control of it. We promise to teach you how to improve inaccurate records, manage your debt so your credit score is at its peak and lead you to save thousands of dollars in unnecessary interest over your lifetime.

Tuesday, April 8^th at 4:30-5:30pm -How to Get Debt Free and Stay Debt Free Forever - With a national savings rate of -2% we think its more important than ever to know how to be debt free. We promise to show you how to pay off debt quickly and put you on track for an abundant life that you deserve.

Thursday, April 10^th at 7pm-8pm -Building Wealth Through Real Estate - Whether you're a seasoned homeowner or looking to buy your first home it is extremely important to own real estate right. We will show you how to let your money work for you and build wealth over time through the ownership of real estate.

Friday, April 11th at 4:30pm-5:30pm - How to Plan and Pay for College - With the average college education cost being $50,000 its more important now than ever to plan for college expenses. Whether there is a need 18 years from now or right around the corner - we will show you strategies that will fund your child's education.

If you can't make our activities, there are still a long list of activities to get involved in. Please get in touch with me if you've got anything I can help you out with!

All of our free classes are held at 939 Office Park Rd. in West Des Moines, Iowa. If you'd like to come out, we'd love to have you. Please RSVP if you're planning on coming out. We love to have a seat warmed up for you and a beverage ready for your arrival.

We hope to see you soon!

In case you missed it - Forbes published the 10 Best Cities for Business and Careers. Des Moines ended up being ranked #4 in the nation for best metros!

It's not that surprising when you consider the numbers. We've had huge job growth (26,000 in the last five years), a low unemployment rate of 3.4% and our business costs are 10% below the national average! Take these numbers and an extremely low cost of living and you have one hot place for businesses to grow.

1. Raleigh NC
2. Boise ID
3. Fort Collins CO
4. Des Moines IA
5. Lexington KY
6. Atlanta GA
7. Richmond VA
8. Olympia WA
9. Spokane WA
10. Knoxville TN

Iowa continues to be a highly competitive place to raise a family and grow a business. If you're considering the move, you should get in touch with me!

**Click Here for the Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

**Click Here to See The Original Post on WealthWithMortagage.com!**

Have you wondered what home prices in Iowa have been doing? I know as a homeowner, I have.

I was getting my car washed on Saturday, and picked up the Des Moines Register business section and found an interesting article that included median prices across the state in 2007 and their change since 2006. Here's a quick Tyler Osby summary of the chart I'm talking about...you can tell by the fuzziness. (I have to do this since the Des Moines Register isn't cool enough to put it on their 'online article')

Again, these numbers are based on median home prices. Statistics can be manipulated to look super sexy in one scenario and not so sexy in another. Take into consideration if there are many more higher priced homes (say the handful of homes in Des Moines worth over 1 Million) sell in 2006 and not in 2007 it could really hammer those numbers (at least for 'median home prices').

If you want to see some specific statistics ran, just let me know. I know plenty of people in the real estate business that like crunching numbers as much as I do.

I have to call the Register out on being a few weeks late with the article I based this chart on. The article was titled 'Down Payment Cost May Grow for Borrowers'. If you subscribe to my blog, you saw this coming weeks ago. Paula Lavigne, you're on notice (a little Stephen Colbert humor). If Paula does happen to find this though - I really enjoyed her story and it was well written and researched. Keep up the great work. I'd be happy to help keep you up on how the mortgage market is effecting Iowans. The easiest way is to just subscribe.

Here's the original article from The Des Moines Register.

**Click Here to See The Original Post on WealthWithMortagage.com!**

**Click Here to See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Each week, I receive a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week. The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with her permission of course). Here is her brief market commentary this week:

"Over the past couple of weeks we have seen many more people list their homes as we move into the spring season. We are right where we were a year ago as far as listings, however things aren't selling like they were a year ago. If you or any of your clients are looking to purchase a home, now is actually a great time to do so. Selection is high and the cost of ownership is low right now and will only be increasing over the next year."

(Click to hugify)

I hope you enjoy the statistics as much as I do!

**Click Here to See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

**Click Here to See the Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Each week, I receive a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week. The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with her permission of course). Here is her brief market commentary this week:

"There was a jump in new listings again this week which increased our overall inventory above the 2 month running average. We are still trending down from where we were last year, but as we move into spring our sales numbers should increase from where they are now."

(Click On Picture To Hugify)

I hope you enjoy these updates as much as I do!

**Click Here to See the Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

**Click Here to See the Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Announced earlier last week, 'Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline' will assist Iowan homeowners that are currently struggling with their house payments. Recently funded by an additional $1.5 million dollar grant, the capacity will be increased on the foreclosure hotline.

"We want Iowans to call the mortgage help hotline if they are currently struggling or as soon as they think they may be headed toward financial difficulty. Our counselors have more resources available to help people who are in the early stages of mortgage delinquency. Ideally, we'd like to talk with Iowans before they miss a mortgage payment." Bret Mills, IFA Executive Director

The goal of Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline is to help 7,000 Iowans before the end of 2008. This program has been heavily promoted by Bret Mills of Iowa Finance Authority and Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller.

Statistically speaking, nearly 50% of people who are unable to pay their mortgage never contact their lender or seek assistance from a trained counselor. Since it was established in September of 2007, the helpline has received about 8,000 calls and is presently handling about 700 cases.

If you personally would like to get help, please contact the Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline at:
1-877-622-4866 or online at http://www.iowamortgagehelp.com/.

**Click Here to See the Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

**Click Here to See the Original Post on http://www.wealthwithmortgage.com/2008/02/des-moines-iowa.html!**

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Each week, I receive a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week. The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with her permission of course). Here is her brief market commentary this week:

"Below is a snapshot of how the market performed last week in comparison to the previous week and the weekly average for January. As you can see the number of active listings in the Greater Des Moines Area is 6,480. This number has been on a steady decline since reaching it peak for 2007 at 6,980 listings in September. Of these 6,480 listings 2,083 of them are new construction, 271 are proposed construction, and the other 4,127 are resales. Average days on market has also been on the rise the past few months. If you are looking to sell a home make sure to understand how pricing it correctly in this market can help you avoid sitting on the market for an extended period of time."

(Click Picture to HUGIFY)

I hope you continue to enjoy these updates as much as I do!

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**Click Here to See the Original Post on http://www.wealthwithmortgage.com/2008/02/des-moines-iowa.html!**

**Click Here To See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Numbers are always extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Each week, I recieve a weekly market watch update providing the breakdown of the activity from last week. The report is provided by Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with her permission of course). Here is her breif market commentary this week:

"Below is a snapshot of how the market performed last week measured against the previous week and the average year to date numbers. In looking at the numbers over the last 3 months compared to the number of active listings today it looks as though there is just over a 9 month supply of homes in the Des Moines Metro. Six months' supply is considered a balanced market - when the number of listings roughly equals the number of buyers. Numbers over six represent a buyers' market and those below a sellers' market. We definitely have more inventory than we would all like, however active listings are slowly declining and we are moving into a busy time for real estate sales."

(Click Picture to Hugify)

I hope you continue to enjoy these brief updates as much as I do!

Email this • Technorati Links • Add to del.icio.us • Stumble It! • Subscribe to this feed

**Click Here To See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

**Click Here To See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Numbers are extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Imagine what it would be like if there was simply a national weather forecast. Crazy thought huh? (Especially since it was 6 below on my drive into work today) It is also tough to have a comprehensive national real estate market report (although some folks get caught up in national statistics). This is exactly why I appreciate getting the Des Moines Market Update from Heather Barglof at Peoples Company. As I continue to get them, I will continue to post them (with her permission of course). Here is her breif market commentary this week:

Below is how the residential market in the Des Moines area performed last week. You can compare last week's new listings, pendings, sales, etc, to those of the prior week and the weekly running average for Jan 2008 as well as Jan 2007. Sales have picked up from a month or so ago, but things are still moving slower than many of us would like to see. 2007 ended with sales seeing a 7% decline over 2006. On the positive side our inventory continues to decline. The National Association of Realtors expects that existing home sales will hold steady the next few months and then continue to improve in 2009.

(Click to Hugify)

I hope you continue to enjoy these brief updates. I know I do!

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**Click Here To See The Original Post on WealthWithMortgage.com!**

Des Moines Market Watch 1/7/08 - 1/13/08

Numbers are extremely important to consider when buying, selling and financing a home. Each week I receive a summary of the market activity in my email and I find these statistics very valuable. Even though I cannot personally sell or help you purchase a home (I'm a money guy.. not a house guy). I can assist you in finding the right person for the job!

Below is last week's market summary. Looks like home sales were up last week!

(Click to Biggie Size It!)

Sorry for the photo quality. I will get that corrected next week.

The weekly market watch content is courtesy of Heather Barglof. Statistics are compiled from DMAAR.

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