What the Number of Vacant Homes Means for the Real Estate Market

Real estate agents will tell you that it's harder to sell a vacant house than one that is currently lived in.

One problem is that buyers know if a house isn't being lived in, the owner is probably fairly desperate to sell or rent the property in order to cover costs.

Right now, there is a record number of vacant homes for sale – the national homeowner vacancy rate is nearly 3 percent – the highest it has ever been. and sellers are desperate to unload these money-gulping investments.

Economists believe that many of these vacant homes are investment properties that were purchased over the past couple of years. Now, investors are finding they can't rent these properties, so they're vacant – and for sale.

If investors start dropping the prices on these homes, homeowners who want to sell their primary residences may be forced to drop their prices in order to compete. And more steam will come out of the real estate market.

Your IRA and Roth IRA Options for 2006 and 2007

As we march closer to April 17th, now is the time to think about whether opening up an IRA or a Roth IRA -- or contributing to the accounts you have -- makes sense in your world.

Anyone can open up an IRA and put in $4,000, or up to $5,000 if you're 50 and older. The cash you put into your IRA is tax-deductible, tax-deferred if you don't have a retirement account at work, or, if you do have a work retirement plan, your household income is less than $75,000 for a family or less than $50,000 for an individual.

You can stash away the same amount of cash into a Roth IRA, which is an after-tax retirement option. In other words, the cash comes out of your checkbook, not your paycheck. You're eligible for a Roth IRA if your adjusted gross income for a family $160,000 or less or if you earned $110,000 or less as an individual.

Thinking About Traveling With Your Family this summer? Check out Orbitz's new Family Travel Store

According to Orbitz, the top five cities for family travel are Orlando, New York City, Washington DC, San Diego, and Oahu.

I would have guessed Orlando and DC, and even San Diego isn't much of a stretch, thanks to Shamu. But I was a little surprised that so many families are schlepping their kids all the way to Hawaii and New York City.

I learned these facts at the new Orbitz Family Travel Store, which debuted last week. They've hired Emily Kaufman, the Travel Mom, to blog about her experiences of traveling with her kids and to answer your questions about taking the tykes along.

But there's also a neat way to search for family-friendly hotels and things to do with kids.

To help kick things off, Orbitz is offering up to $150 off a family travel package purchased on the site to these destinations, plus Anaheim, Chicago or San Juan.

For details, click on Fun Family Getaways and follow the links.

Appraisers feel pressure to pump up valuations. Why this isn't good for home buyers or sellers

If there is a weak link in the residential real estate market – aside from lenders who inappropriately push exotic mortgages onto folks who can't afford them – it's appraisers.

Appraisers get hired by lenders to figure out whether the property you're buying is actually worth the money you've agreed to pay. It's supposed to be an independent review of market data.

Unfortunately, a new survey of appraisers reports that 90 percent feel mortgage brokers, real estate agents, lenders and even consumers regularly pressure them to raise property valuations so that deals can go through.

Loan brokers will call ask an appraiser if a property would appraise out in value. If the appraiser refuses to commit before seeing the property, the lender simply calls another appraiser.

The vast majority of appraisers report losing business and not getting paid for their work if they refuse to come in with the right number.

Consumers beware: If your property isn't worth what the appraiser says it is, you'll be left holding the bag.

Day Trading Isn't the Way to Get Rich

I got an email from a listener who spent last weekend in a seminar where someone told him that investing in managed mutual funds wouldn't make him rich. He was also advised not to bother investing in no-load or index funds. Those wouldn't make him rich either.

What's the answer? Day trading. That's the only way to get rich. And to help out as our listener is getting started in this incredibly lucrative line of work, the seminar leader offered to sell him a day-trading kit for $2,000.

Sounds like selling day-trading kits is a great way to get rich.

But what's in it for you? Here's the truth: Some folks will get rich day trading. Some will have skill or superior knowledge. Others will get lucky. Most will lose their shirts.

As for me, I'm sticking with spending less than I earn and salting away the difference in a diversified portfolio of no-load and index funds.