Ilyce Glink

I was on FOX Chicago this morning talking about the real estate market. We covered short sales, foreclosure, tips for buyers, tips for sellers and more.

I even made a prediction for when people should expect a turnaround in the market.

 

What do you see happening in your neighborhood? When do you think the turnaround is coming?

Let me know what you're thinking Rainers!

The housing market isn't the best, sure, but there are still ways to make your home sell.

These ways take time and patience, but you will get a more fair price for your gorgeous home.

1) Make your house look good enough to be on TV
With shows like Extreme Home Makeover buyers have a more critical eye for homes they are looking at, so make your shine.

Read more. (opens link in a new window)

Linda Rey of Rey Insurance offers some great advice about the insurance every business needs.

Business Insurance: Tell Your Insurance Agent All About Your Business Operations

It's important to give full disclosure of your business operations to your insurance agent so you get the coverage you need.

I met one of our business insurance clients at a networking event. He wasn't sure what coverage he had, so I offered to take a look.

He was a mobile medical equipment supplier, and he conducted most of his business from an extremely expensive custom-built van. It turned out he had a commercial auto policy with increased physical damage in an attempt to cover the van, but the policy wouldn't apply to any of the very expensive equipment installed in the van, on which his business relied.

While he had a general liability policy for an office he wasn't really using, but nothing to over his home office where he did most of his business.

We reconfigured his company's auto policy and the general liability policy to cover what he really needed, using an inland marine policy to cover his mobile equipment. If I had not sat down with him and asked him about his business and the services he provided, he might have continued operating with inadequate coverage.

Insurance can be viewed either as an expense or a way to protect your assets, your career, your business, and your livelihood. It takes money to start a business and maintain a business, but it also takes money to defend a business. Without insurance, a business owner can expect to shell out a lot of cash.

To read about the seven types of business insurance every business needs, check out the full article on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog.

Dan Solin shows that you don't need a financial consultant to introduce you to bonds. Here are some of his tips for bonding with this type of investment.

Bonds Play a Critical Role

You may be surprised to learn that the purpose of bonds is not to help you meet current and future income requirements. Bonds diversify your portfolio and reduce overall risk. Your goal is to increase the value of your total portfolio. If you view bonds as a source of income only, you will be tempted to take risks that could prevent you from reaching your investment goals.

These risks include extending the maturity dates of your bonds and compromising on the quality of bonds in your portfolio. Both are bad ideas. Bonds with longer maturities are subject to the risk of changes in interest rates. Bonds with lower credit ratings (and higher interest) have a greater likelihood of default.

To learn more about safe bond investments, check out the full article on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog.

With real estate prices so low, you might be thinking about buying that cabin on the lake you’ve been renting for the past few years. You’ll use it a little and rent it out to folks like yourself.

Sounds like a plan, except being a successful vacation property owner is more work than it seems.

Christine Karpinski has been renting out her vacation property for more than a decade. In fact, she tells me that 2009 was her most successful rental year yet.

But as author of How to Rent Vacation Properties By Owner and director of Owner Community for HomeAway, Inc., a collection of websites devoted to the business of buying, selling, and renting vacation real estate, she knows how much hard work goes into being a successful vacation property owner.

In her book and online, she’s shared her knowledge and, in the process, helped tens of thousands of owners be more successful in renting their own vacation property.

Read the full article on the
Equifax Personal Finance Blog to find out the nine things you should know about renting your vacation property.