Have your checked your bank account interest rates?

October 25, 2007 on 1:37 pm | In General/Non Real Estate | No Comments

I have talked about saving money and I was looking around for the best place to save and have a checking account that paid interest also. I wanted to keep my money in fluid accounts as my needs for the moment vary.

I looked at the Banks and they fell to the bottom of my list. I had a Credit Union account but when comparing rates they were close but not the best. If you are looking, I suggest you start by looking at Hughes Federal Credit Union and compare to them. Their rates as of  1 October 07 were:

Free Checking (no Min)

0.5% paid monthly

Share Account ($50 Min)

1.5% paid quarterly

High yield account ($1000 Min)

3.45% paid quarterly

Rates were higher the month before on checking and shares, but things change. I consolidated all my direct deposits and closed my Bank checking account. Hughes does not have as many branches but they do cooperate with some of the other Credit Unions for deposits and check cashing. Their on-line banking is easy to use also.

You can withdraw from the High Yield account in amounts of $500 or more. I think they now allow smaller deposits than $500. Check that out.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

September 2007 Tucson Real Estate Statistics

October 22, 2007 on 12:51 pm | In Home Buyer, Home Seller, Statistics | No Comments
May June July August Sept.
Average Sales Price
$280,589
$298,477
$268,983
$273,932
$279,025
Median Sales Price
$223,500
$229,000
$218,750
$220,000
$215,000
Total Units Sold
1313
1226
1098
1019
683
Active Listings
9721
8665
8692
8954
9190
Days On Market
61
64
65
69
73
Listings Under Contract
1191
2053
1777
1024
989

Well the month of September really shows a slow down. This was expected and not surprising news. What is surprising is some of the things that I am reading. Number one is we won’t come out of this market until 2010. The next was all the foreclosures were caused by greedy mortgage representatives. Well I have to say that we all had a hand in what we are seeing today. Sellers saw the great money they could make. Lenders loosened their guidelines. Buyers were willing to pay more and agents just followed the market. The appraisers used the last sale to provide the required appraisal. Were there some things
overstated by buyers and lenders overstating information? YES there was, but it was not the norm. Are there people that are going to get caught?  YES. But will they get prosecuted? Not many. 

It almost reminds me of my Stock Market days. The unfortunate thing is we are having a slow crash. The crash for Tucson can end sooner if more is done to slow the foreclosures. This will take action from the lenders, big banks and our Federal government. It also means we need to be careful about our spending and start saving.

Tucson has always been a place to move to and will continue to be that way. We just need to get through this time and hope that fixes come to get the economy moving forward again. Lets see what the Federal reserve does next week. The economy is OK but moving in a negative direction and could get much worse if action is not taken by the three entities I mentioned above.

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