Aaron Layman's Katy Texas Real Estate Forum

Bank Of America To Charge $5/Month For Debit Card Use In Effort To Circumvent Recent Reforms

Bank of America's new $5 per month fee for debit cards provides Bofa customers yet another reason to head for the exits.  Starting next year, Bank of America will charge customers $5 per month for the use of any debit card.  Bofa is simply attempting to skirt recent reforms limiting the amount charged to merchants on debit card transactions.  Banks previously charged merchants 44 cents on average for debit card transactions.  New rules place cap those charges at 21 to 24 cents per transaction.

Consumers should be aware that debit cards are an inferior alternative to credit cards because of the additional protections provided to credit card customers.  In addition, it's puzzling why anyone would want to do business with a financial institution that has caused untold damage to the economy as a result of blatantly obvious mortgage and securities fraud.

If you still have an account with Bank of America, give your local credit union a call.  If you are unfortunate enough to have a mortgage with Bofa, you can refinance at record low interest rates.

Texas A&M's Mays Business School To Open In West Houston CityCentre

Texas A&M has leased roughly 24,000 square feet of space in the new building under construction at West Houston's CityCentre.  The A&M Mays Business School will use the space for its new professional MBA program.  Classes are slated to begin in the fall of 2012.

 

Fed's Rosengren On Housing & The Economy

More proof that this recession is not like those of the past.  Eric Rosengren discusses the weak recovery in residential investment despite record low interest rates.  In the previous three recoveries residential investment grew substantially.  The anemic recovery from this recession (if you can call it a recovery) has been plagued by prolonged unemployment and a continuation of balance sheet de-leveraging.

Case Shiller Reports Small Increase In Home Prices

The Case Shiller Home Prices Indices for July  showed composite indexes were up about 0.9% in July.  Seventeen of the 20 MSAs posted positive monthly increases; however, seasonally adjusted, prices increased in only 9 cities.

Texas real estate has performed much better than the country as a whole.  Prices in Dallas are off roughly 9.5% from the peak, while Las Vegas is down a whopping 59.2%.  As they say, all markets are local!

A Case For Going Solar In Athens - Proposed Property Tax Comes With Threat Of Having Your Electricity Cut Off

The goodies from Greece keep on coming.  Now Germany is pledging renewed help to stave off a Greek default.  After all, a collapse of the European union wouldn't do much for the German trade balance.  In return for aid, Greek cronies are proposing a new property tax which would apply to virtually all electricity-powered buildings.  Nonpayment of the tax would result in having your power cut off.  Needless to say, Greeks are none too happy about the recent austerity proposals.

Dallas DA Sues MERS, Bank Of America For Failure To Pay Recording Fees

Dallas District Attorney, Craig Watkins, has filed suit against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. and Bank of America.  The Dallas DA claims the MERS system violates Texas law, and Dallas County is due "tens of millions in uncollected filing fees".

The banks that created MERS, including Bank of America, Countrywide and others will continue to hide behind a corporate shield, but if more counties across the country start demanding past-due filing fees MERS could be done for good.

When Should You Downsize Your Home?

A number of boomers are coming to grips with the new realities of real estate.  For many, downsizing the family home is a practical solution.  A smaller home can help boost retirement savings by decreasing outlays for typical carrying costs of a larger home.  Some active adult communities can also provide amenities and activities which also help curb transportation expenses.  Moving is rarely an enjoyable experience, but for many empty nesters downsizing is a practical and profitable exercise.

Jeb Corliss Does It Again, This Time Flying Through A Mountain Cave

Launched from a helicopter, Corliss takes his latest wingsuit ride through a cave in China...

Arrow Community Management Shuts Down, Leaves Avalon HOA Searching For Alternatives

Sorry,

This page has moved to my new site...

http://aaronlayman.com/katy-texas-homeowners-associations/

 

Dream Of Homeownership Alive But Wounded

Nice infographic from Trulia on the dream of homeownership in America, courtesy of their Fall 2011 survey.