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	<title>Real Estate Investing</title>
	<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate</link>
	<description>Find up-to-date real estate investing news and tips on the Banks.com Real Estate Investing Blog.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:45:50 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>A Study in Modern Public Assistance (and Foreclosures)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Remember my friend Mary?  Desperate to save her house, she&#8217;s been applying and interviewing for jobs.  Today she was offered one at a hospital in her town paying $10.50 per hour.  Overall, much better than minimum wage and she thought it would possibly be just to make a house payment.
However, as Mary crunched numbers, they just [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/08/a-study-in-modern-public-assistance-and-foreclosures/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Case of Mobile Home Living</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend Mark is looking for a house.  He&#8217;s a first-time buyer who is very concerned about his monthly budget - especially since there&#8217;s no end in sight for climbing gas prices.  To this end, we&#8217;ve been quite conservative in our search for his new home.
We went yesterday afternoon to a very popular town nearby.  The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/07/the-case-of-mobile-home-living/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Happy July 4th!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by representatives of 13 British colonies in the new land, the Continental Congress.  These brave men included Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and others.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/04/happy-july-4th/</link>
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		<title>Evictions Up Close and Personal</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my best friends is facing foreclosure.  There&#8230;  I said it.  *Mary&#8217;s husband had surgery and his recovery took longer than expected.  When he returned to his job, he was forced to quit.  Now they struggle.   
Mary has been looking for a new job and had a second interview today.  She said the benefits would [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/03/evictions-up-close-and-personal/</link>
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		<title>Home Ownership Bonus: Vegetable Gardens</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I could pop open a can of peaches any time - day or night - and devour every last bite of the succulent fruit.  There&#8217;s only one thing better than canned peaches and that&#8217;s fresh peaches.  An agent brought in a bag of newly harvested peaches this afternoon and I now blame him for my sticky keyboard.
Although [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/02/home-ownership-bonus-vegetable-gardens/</link>
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		<title>Buying Forclosures Has Some Caveats</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve shown many homes listed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that have been foreclosed for non-payment of mortgage.  HUD homes in good shape are the rare birds and usually go quickly. 
If you&#8217;re thinking about buying a foreclosure, you might note that you may not be buying a complete home.  People tend [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/07/01/buying-forclosures-has-some-caveats/</link>
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		<title>Challenging A Tax Assessment</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s great to deduct the interest of your mortgage payment at tax time!  At other times, it&#8217;s pretty hard to swallow what the tax assessor says your home is worth.  I&#8217;ve listened to buyers complain that their tax assessment is too high, &#8220;What do you mean I have to pay city AND county taxes?&#8221; and &#8220;This [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/06/30/challenging-a-tax-assessment/</link>
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		<title>Top 10 Signs You&#8217;re Working with a Bad Lender</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I want to preface this by saying that I have worked with many really fabulous lenders in the five years I&#8217;ve been in real estate.  My favorites are the ones who are no-nonsense.  If they can qualify someone, they do.  If they can&#8217;t, they say that they can not up front without any pain and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/06/26/top-10-signs-youre-working-with-a-bad-lender/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Auctioning Homes on eBay</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In a class this morning, Mimi from our auction team was asked by another agent about how to conduct an eBay auction for a house.  Mimi&#8217;s answer was very eye opening, &#8220;You don&#8217;t.&#8221;
Her colleague Dale further explained that unless you&#8217;re the actual owner of a house, real estate agents can not auction homes on eBay [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/06/25/auctioning-homes-on-ebay/</link>
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		<title>Real or Myth: Urban Affordable Homes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I live in a major metropolitan area - not big like New York or San Francisco or Chicago, but the metropolitan area is at 1.5 million.  I&#8217;ve recently been on a quest to find a buyer a home and we&#8217;ve definitely been on a roller-coaster ride.  I don&#8217;t like roller-coasters because they make me think my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.banks.com/blogs/realestate/2008/06/24/real-or-myth-urban-affordable-homes/</link>
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