Would you give a thief direct access to your checking account?

No? Unfortunately, you may be doing just that by regularly using your debit card. Debit cards may look identical to credit cards, but there’s one key difference. With credit cards, users who spot fraudulent charges on their bill can simply decline the charges and not pay the bill. On the other hand, debit cards draw money directly from your checking account, rather than from an intermediary such as a credit card company.

Because of that, even clear-cut cases of fraud where victims are protected from liability by consumer protection laws can cause significant hardship, says Frank Abagnale, a secure-document consultant in Washington, D.C.

He cites the example of the The TJX Companies Inc.’s T.J. Maxx data breach that exposed the payment information of thousands of customers in 2007. The incident resulted in $150 million in fraud losses, and much of it was pulled directly from customers’ bank accounts. While credit card users got their accounts straightened out and new cards in the mail within a few days, the case created major problems for debit card holders who waited an average of two to three months to get reimbursed, Abagnale says.

While debit card fraud is always a possibility, being careful where you use it can help keep your checking account balance out of the hands of criminals

The idea that outdoor ATMs are among the most dangerous places to use a debit card seems a little bit absurd. But some ATMs present a perfect opportunity for thieves to skim users’ debit cards, says Chris McGoey, a security consultant based in Los Angeles.

Skimming is the practice of capturing a bank customer’s card information by running it through a machine that reads the card’s magnetic strip. Those machines are often placed over the real card slots at ATMs and other card terminals.

“Any transaction you do outdoors at an open ATM is going to be higher risk exposure,” McGoey says. “If the public has access to it, then someone has the ability to add skimming devices to it, position cameras on it and position themselves in a way where they could surveil it.”

He says you’re better off using an ATM inside a retail outlet or other high-trafficked, well-lit place.

Julie McNelley, senior analyst for Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based financial services research firm, says even the card terminals that card users must swipe to get into ATM vestibules are being used as a skimming site by criminals. You can spot ATM skimmers by checking for ATM components that look beat-up or askew, she says.

Gas stations are another danger zone for debit card use.

“You go to a gas station and you stick your debit card in there, and you swipe it through a machine,” Abagnale says. “I’m sitting across the street with a laptop and an antenna. I put a skimmer in there, and I’m picking up all the information. Before you even get home, I’ve debited your account.”

Gas station payment terminals have many of the characteristics card fraudsters love, McNelley says.

“In a gas station where you do have a whole bunch of pay-at-the-pump kinds of things and minimal supervision, it’s pretty easy for a bad guy to put a skimming device on and put a little pinpoint camera there and compromise debit cards that way,” McNelley says. Thieves often use small cameras to capture footage of debit card users entering their PINs so they can have free access to their money.

She says even if the thief doesn’t manage to get your debit card personal identification number, or PIN, from such a device, he still may be able to duplicate the card’s magnetic strip and use it for “sign and swipe” Visa or MasterCard transactions.

With the high potential for fraud in pay-at-the-pump debit transactions, it might make sense to use an alternative such as cash or credit cards the next time you fill up.

Debit cards are a convenient way to buy products online, especially for those who don’t like to use credit cards. Unfortunately, the Web is one of the most dangerous places to make purchases, McNelley says.

“Online is the No. 1 place where consumers should not use their debit cards,” she says. “It’s susceptible at so many points. The consumer could have malware on their computer, so it could be at their endpoint that the data get compromised. It could be a man-in-the-middle attack where somebody is eavesdropping on their communications via the wireless network. And then at the other end, that data goes into a database at the merchant. As we’ve seen with some of the higher-profile breach events over the last year or so, that data is going to be vulnerable if (they’re) not properly cared for.”

Aside from the potential for hacking at many different points in a transaction, Abagnale says a fundamental problem with using debit cards online is it’s impossible to know who is handling your information.

“Buying stuff online, you have to be careful because you have to know who you’re doing business with. When you buy things online, what always kills me about that is people say, ‘This is a safe site,’” Abagnale says. “Who works there?”

“Would you care for a side of debit card fraud with that?”

Restaurant servers don’t ask that question, but they might as well with the standard practice of taking customers’ debit cards to run them behind closed doors.

“Any place where the card is out of hand” can increase the chances of fraud, says McGoey. “The guy comes to your table, takes your card and disappears for a while, so he or she has privacy,” giving the person the opportunity to copy your card information.

Even restaurants without sit-down service can present a threat. McNelley says using debit cards to order delivery can be risky because cashiers tend to keep customer payment information on file. That may make future orders more convenient, but small businesses rarely take the steps necessary to safeguard payment information, she says.

Overall, she says, regardless of whether you use your debit card at a small restaurant or a big-box store, the possibility of fraud is always there. She cites the example of Michaels Stores Inc., which saw its customers’ debit card information stolen in May by debit card terminals doctored by thieves.

“Even if you do exercise caution … there are still the Michaels-type incidents that will happen,” McNelley says.

Read more: Risky Places To Swipe Debit Card | Bankrate.com http://www.bankrate.com/finance/checking/risky-places-swipe-debit-card-1.aspx#ixzz1ibTQHb8Y

Palm Coast, FL – November 17, 2011 – Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose by three points to 20 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for November, released yesterday. The gain builds on a revised three-point increase in October, and brings the confidence gauge to its highest level since May of 2010. 

“While this second solid monthly gain on the builder confidence scale is encouraging, the overall measure remains quite low due to the many challenges that home building continues to face with regard to the high number of foreclosures, the difficulties of obtaining construction financing and accurate appraisals, and the restrictive lending environment that is discouraging potential buyers,” said Bob Nielsen, NAHB Chairman and a home builder from Reno, Nev. “These problems must be addressed so that housing can contribute to economic and job growth the way it has in the past.” 

“This second consecutive gain in the HMI is evidence that well-qualified buyers in select areas are being tempted back into the market by today’s extremely favorable mortgage rates and prices,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “We are anticipating further, gradual gains in the builder confidence gauge heading into 2012 due to these pockets of improving conditions that are slowly spreading.” 

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor. 

Each of the HMI’s three component indexes continued to build on gains registered in the previous month in November. The component gauging current sales conditions rose three points to 20 – its highest level since May 2010 – while the component gauging future sales expectations rose two points to 25 – its highest level since March of 2011.  The component gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose one point to 15, which was its highest point since May of 2010. 

The HMI rose in three out of four regions in November, with a three-point gain to 17 registered in the Northeast, an eight-point gain to 23 registered in the Midwest, and a two-point gain to 21 registered in the South. After posting a big increase in October, the West returned to trend this month with a six-point decline to 15. 

Editor’s Note: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. HMI tables can be found at www.nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at http://www.housingeconomics.com/.

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When the U.S. real estate bubble burst, housing prices plummeted and foreclosures surged. It’s still a buyer’s market, particularly in Arizona and Florida, and Canadians are taking advantage of our strong dollar and shopping for real estate in these sun belt destinations.

A recent Leger Marketing Survey on behalf of BMO found that one in five Canadians would consider purchasing a home in the U.S.

“Canadians of all ages are buying property down south. Some are at retirement age but there is also the 30 to 40 crowd who are buying these houses as investment properties,” said Matt Reid, founder of CanuckAbroad.com, a website helping Canadians relocate outside the country.

But buying your vacation getaway is more complicated than late-night TV commercials make it sound and can be fraught with unforeseen and sometimes expensive problems.

The key to a successful purchase is doing your homework and understanding that real estate is a very different business south of the border.

“The No. 1 mistake Canadians make when buying a vacation property is not having the right group of professionals who know the law for both sides of the border. This industry is not as regulated as in Canada. Here you can become a realtor after nine days of classes,” says Diane Costain, founder of Buy The Sun, based in Phoenix. “Buying a home in this foreign country is not difficult but it does take some research.”

Rhonda Scharf, an Ottawa-based motivational speaker and owner of On the Right Track Training, bought her vacation home in Fort Myers, Fla., after doing extensive research. She paid $104,000 for a three-year old, four-bedroom bungalow. The original selling price was $350,000.

“There are no guarantees,” says Scharf. “You may not get the home right up to the close day. Networking is important. Talk to someone who owns a vacation home. Get support and do your homework. We didn’t see those totally destroyed homes they are showing on TV but we saw a lot of homes that had stopped being loved. The owners knew the bank was coming so they stopped caring.”

Repossessed homes can be sold either as short sales, foreclosures, or real estate owned (REO) property. Short sales means the bank is accepting a discounted selling price knowing the proceeds of the sale are going to fall short of what is owed. While there can be some tantalizing bargains, few short sales get approved by the banks and are extremely complicated to deal with.

Foreclosure sales begin with a minimum bid that is usually more than the value of the property. Since the properties are sold “as is” including any current tenants, foreclosure auctions usually don’t result in a sale. When this happens, the property reverts back to the bank and becomes an REO.

“With foreclosed homes, you don’t know whom you are dealing with. You hire one of the bidding companies and give them $10,000 up front before they will bid for you. You pay the balance the next day. The bid companies don’t need to be licensed,” says Costain. “There are so many good deals, there’s no need for a vacation homebuyer to take the chance of buying foreclosed properties.”

Foreclosed properties are often plagued with problems: tenants refuse to leave, angry owners trash the place or thieves steal the contents or fixtures. Sometimes the owners don’t know their property has been sold until the new owner shows up at the door. This happened to Costain with one of her first properties.

“The owners had no idea their house had been sold. The woman fell to the ground in shock, sobbing. I let them live in the house free for six weeks and gave them $1,000. I decided not to invest in any more foreclosed properties. I can do just as well with short sales and REOs with a lot less emotional turmoil,” she says.

Reid has found that most Canadians are buying REO properties. “REOs are easy to buy since you pay cash upfront and avoid getting a mortgage. It’s a lot more difficult for a Canadian to get a mortgage in the States. You’re not a resident, you don’t have a USA credit rating, so for the banks you don’t have an identity,” says Reid.

“Sometimes REOs can be a bargain, sometimes they are not … Research the home and any potential problems. Don’t go cheap either. Spend that few extra thousand to hire a real estate professional who specializes in these kinds of properties. It’s easy to miss something that may have consequences later on.”

Title insurance is also mandatory due to the robo-signing scandal, where thousand of mortgage documents were processed quickly with questionable electronic signatures. Former homeowners are challenging the foreclosures in court. Title insurance protects your investment and covers any costs or payouts awarded to former owners.

“It’s not the same as buying a home in Canada, so don’t assume you are protected,” Scharf says. Be cautious, take your time and your investment could pay off. “We use our Florida property as a vacation home but we also rent it out year around. It’s been a great investment.”

Information from © 2010 CanadaEast Interactive, Brunswick News Inc. Times and Transcript.

What is closing cost? Closing costs are fees for service, taxes or special interest charges that surround the purchase of a home. They include upfront loan points, title insurance, escrow or closing day charges, document fees, prepaid interest and property taxes. Unless, these charges are rolled into the loan, they must be paid when the home is closed. Some times you will need to pay upfront for the appraisal and home inspections.

Who pays the closing cost? Closing costs are either paid by the home seller, home buyer or both. It often depends on local custom and what the buyer or seller negotiates in the offer.

Home inspections are an important link in the home buying process, especially as home prices and home repair coast  have soared in recent years.  As a seller it makes senses to try and eliminate, to the extent reasonably possible, any impediments to selling. As a buyer,  it is prudent to have a expert look over your prospective new home to see if you have overlooked anything that will likely cost you money, time or your good health in the long haul if left unchecked. Even if you have no plans to sell your home anytime soon. wouldn’t it be a benefit to have your home checked periodically to be sure that it is not declined?  A qualified ethical  and independent home inspector can serve all the homeowner/buyers needs. I strongly encourage all my costumers to get a home inspection. The seller and the realtors may not know of existing property defects. A home inspection is critical to the buyer as it enables a buyer to determined the condition of the property before  close of escrow and  negotiate possible solutions to any problems before electing to go forward with the purchase.

Education & Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying  and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Realtors are education on recent laws and how to find you the best property out there for the best price. Realtors are familiar with the ins and outs of real estate and have a working knowledge of what all happens during a real estate transaction.

Realtors are buffers  

Your realtor will go through all your needs In a  home, listen to what you like in  a new home and filter out properties that won’t work for you. They will work with the other parties to make as smooth transition for you while your buying or selling a property.

Neighborhood knowledge 

Realtor have inside knowledge  or they will find someone who has knowledge of the area your looking to invest in. They will help you find out the facts on schools, crime, and the demographics of the area.

Appraised value is the certified appraiser’s opinion of  a home at a given point in time. Lenders require appraisals as part of  the loan application process, fees range from $300- $500.  Market value is what price the house will bring at a given point in time.  A comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is a informal estimate of market value, based on sales or comparable properties, preformed by a real estate agent of broker.

This list price is the seller’s advertised price, a figure that usually is only a rough estimate of what the seller wants to get. Sellers can price high, low or close to what they hope to get. To judge whether the list price is fair on, be sure to consult comparable sales prices in the area with your Realtor. The sales price is the amount of money you as a buyer would pay for  the property. The appraisal value is a certified appraisers estimate of worth of a property, and is based on comparable sales. The condition of the property and numerous other facts.