Archive for January, 2006
How Minnesota stacks up as place to work
General Mills ranks 98th in Fortune’s Best Places to Work, with a subsidized child care center, and the ability to do your laundry on site. The Mayo Clinic located in Rochester, about an hour south of the Twin Cities, ranks 89th.
General Mills also placed 19th in Computerworld’s 2004 best places to work in IT, while Minnesota Life Insurance Co. ranked 8th and West Publishing ranked 47th. Read the rest of this entry »
Adjustable rates falling out of fashion
Adjustable-rate mortgages aren’t as common as they used to be, accounting for 28.8% of all mortgage applications, down from the peak of 36.6% in March 2005. This hopefully means:
- Buyers are starting to buy houses they can afford, instead of over-extending themselves and hoping that the appreciation will make up the difference
- Home prices are leveling off while wages rise, making homes more affordable to more people
Perhaps the most obvious reason for this though, is that according to Bankrate.com, the average interest rate of a fixed-rate 30 year mortgage is 6.15%, while a 5-year ARM’s average interest rate is 5.71%, a narrower gap than it used to be.
West Saint Paul has been described as an “up-and-coming” neighborhood by some real estate agents lately, and for good reason. Located in between South Saint Paul and Mendota Heights, directly south of Saint Paul, West Saint Paul features a small-town feel close to downtown.
Robert Street cuts a north-south swath of recent economic development to this quickly revitalizing area. Featuring a recently opened Starbucks and Wal-Mart, a recently remodeled Target SuperCenter and Menards, Robert Street will play host to many new businesses in the near future. The Rainbow Foods is in the process of being remodeled, and a Lowe’s, Franks Nursery and Crafts, and there are talks in the works of a Kohl’s location as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Making the leap to home ownership and trying to get the best mortgage rate available usually involves a flurry of activity. You may be scrimping and saving pennies to save money and pay off accounts. It is important to manage your credit wisely before you purchase.
Although I am no expert on credit, here are some of the suggestions I can provide. Read the rest of this entry »
