Sunday, April 25, 2010 11:15am PDT
Teen sailor Abby Sunderland abandons nonstop around-the-world quest
By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com
Abby Sunderland, one of two 16-year-old girls on different quests to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted, has announced she will head to Cape Town, South Africa, to repair a faulty autopilot system.
The high-school junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif., stressed on her blog that she will continue her journey after making repairs and seek to become simply the youngest person to solo-circumnavigate the planet in a sailboat.
Jessica Watson, Sunderland's Australian counterpart, is expected to complete her nonstop circumnavigation attempt in late May. Watson is enduring severe weather aboard her 34-foot pink sailboat as she travels beneath Australia en route to her finish point at Sydney Harbor. Watson, who is five months older than Sunderland, left Sydney last October.
Sunderland, who departed from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in early February aboard a 40-foot vessel, has been experiencing trouble with her autopilot system for the past several weeks, including during a precarious passage around treacherous Cape Horn at South America's tip.
Autopilots are supposed to hold a sailor's course but Sunderland's primary and backup units have been faulty. At one point recently, in rough seas and freezing temperatures, the intrepid mariner had to hand-steer from the stern deck for 24 consecutive hours.
She stated on her blog that it'd be "foolish and irresponsible" to transition from the South Atlantic to a long and potentially rollicking Indian Ocean stretch without fully operational equipment.
"I gave it my best shot and made it almost halfway around the world," she said. "I will definitely keep going, and whether or not I will make any more stops after this I don't know."
Read the full article here: http://su.pr/24Dg3X
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Revealed…FICO Scoring Logic Specifics
Information from Fair Isaac on 'score penalties'
While everyone in the mortgage business is painfully aware of the importance of credit scores and are familiar with them, the depth of understanding and knowledge about them is, for most, fair at best. If you fall into this group (and you probably do) don’t despair: 1) you’re in good company, and 2) there is intentional mystery built into credit scoring models to uphold their proprietary value.
Surprisingly and recently, though, the “black box” of credit scoring was opened a tiny bit offering increased specifics into the FICO score. Fair Issac revealed insights and provided example score “penalties” for common credit missteps.
Read the rest of the article here: http://su.pr/2NLTEA
Post by Kathy Fontana & Marlene Arimura-Mortimer
While everyone in the mortgage business is painfully aware of the importance of credit scores and are familiar with them, the depth of understanding and knowledge about them is, for most, fair at best. If you fall into this group (and you probably do) don’t despair: 1) you’re in good company, and 2) there is intentional mystery built into credit scoring models to uphold their proprietary value.
Surprisingly and recently, though, the “black box” of credit scoring was opened a tiny bit offering increased specifics into the FICO score. Fair Issac revealed insights and provided example score “penalties” for common credit missteps.
Read the rest of the article here: http://su.pr/2NLTEA
Post by Kathy Fontana & Marlene Arimura-Mortimer
Friday, April 16, 2010
Some home buyers get new state tax credit
Cash-starved California just came up with $200 million more to throw at the housing market.
On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger enthusiastically signed a bill that will award an estimated $200 million in state income tax credits to people who buy a home starting May 1. The credit is worth up to $10,000, spread evenly over three years. The credit is available to anyone who buys a newly built home or to first-time home buyers who buy a newly built or existing home.
Knowing that many buyers won't save the full $10,000, the state is awarding more than $200 million in credits, hoping that the actual cost to the general fund will come in right around $200 million. The actual cost won't be known for more than three years.
The new bill will cost the state more than twice as much as last year's home buyer credit.
Early last year, the Legislature approved $100 million in state tax credits for people who bought a newly built home starting March 1, 2009.
Last year's credit was also worth up to $10,000 spread over three years but applied only to new homes, not existing ones. The credits, which were allocated on a first come, first served basis, ran out in less than four months, and the Franchise Tax Board stopped awarding them July 2.
The tax board estimated that last year's credit will cost about $70 million in lost tax revenues, $30 million less than the sum allocated, because many buyers won't use their entire credit.
To save $10,000, a homeowner must owe at least $3,333 in state income tax in each of the three years. A homeowner who owed only $2,000 in one year would lose $1,333 in tax savings that year. The unused credit cannot be used to reduce taxes owed in past or future years.
The new credit
The bill the governor signed last week, AB183, provides $100 million in credits for the purchase of existing homes and $100 million in credits for the purchase of new homes.
To make sure that credits are not left on the table, the bill lets the Franchise Tax Board award credits to at least 17,544 buyers of existing homes and at least 14,286 new-home buyers. If each of those buyers saved the full $10,000, the state would lose more than $300 million in tax revenues. Because they won't, the tax board estimates that the actual cost should be roughly $200 million - but it could be more or less.
Read the rest of the article here
By Kathleen Pender
On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger enthusiastically signed a bill that will award an estimated $200 million in state income tax credits to people who buy a home starting May 1. The credit is worth up to $10,000, spread evenly over three years. The credit is available to anyone who buys a newly built home or to first-time home buyers who buy a newly built or existing home.
Knowing that many buyers won't save the full $10,000, the state is awarding more than $200 million in credits, hoping that the actual cost to the general fund will come in right around $200 million. The actual cost won't be known for more than three years.
The new bill will cost the state more than twice as much as last year's home buyer credit.
Early last year, the Legislature approved $100 million in state tax credits for people who bought a newly built home starting March 1, 2009.
Last year's credit was also worth up to $10,000 spread over three years but applied only to new homes, not existing ones. The credits, which were allocated on a first come, first served basis, ran out in less than four months, and the Franchise Tax Board stopped awarding them July 2.
The tax board estimated that last year's credit will cost about $70 million in lost tax revenues, $30 million less than the sum allocated, because many buyers won't use their entire credit.
To save $10,000, a homeowner must owe at least $3,333 in state income tax in each of the three years. A homeowner who owed only $2,000 in one year would lose $1,333 in tax savings that year. The unused credit cannot be used to reduce taxes owed in past or future years.
The new credit
The bill the governor signed last week, AB183, provides $100 million in credits for the purchase of existing homes and $100 million in credits for the purchase of new homes.
To make sure that credits are not left on the table, the bill lets the Franchise Tax Board award credits to at least 17,544 buyers of existing homes and at least 14,286 new-home buyers. If each of those buyers saved the full $10,000, the state would lose more than $300 million in tax revenues. Because they won't, the tax board estimates that the actual cost should be roughly $200 million - but it could be more or less.
Read the rest of the article here
By Kathleen Pender
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Realty Times - Real Estate Outlook: Reading the Numbers
That's just not the way it's playing out.
When it comes to the current housing recovery, never assume the path leads straight up.
As the economic and real estate numbers this week suggest, it's more like two steps forward, one step back, one step sideways.
The new quarterly home price numbers released last week by Standard & Poor's Case Shiller index show we're headed toward gradual improvement on a national basis -- and a lot better than that in key metropolitan markets.
Read the rest of the article here:
Realty Times - Real Estate Outlook: Reading the Numbers
When it comes to the current housing recovery, never assume the path leads straight up.
As the economic and real estate numbers this week suggest, it's more like two steps forward, one step back, one step sideways.
The new quarterly home price numbers released last week by Standard & Poor's Case Shiller index show we're headed toward gradual improvement on a national basis -- and a lot better than that in key metropolitan markets.
Read the rest of the article here:
Realty Times - Real Estate Outlook: Reading the Numbers
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
