The Word on the Street is Brazilian Property in Fortaleza

International property investors are right now researching
Brazilian property and many are finding the area of
Fortaleza, Brazil an attractive place to invest. Cheap land
prices a stable economy and low cost of living Brazil is a
strong contender for the hottest overseas property location
in the world.

Fortaleza is situated on the far northeast coast in one of
the driest and sunniest parts of the country. This city of
2.1 million inhabitants is the capital of the state of
Ceara and sits along the spectacular Atlantic coastline.
Fortaleza is known for its sunny days and active nights

There is something for everyone in this city, from beaches
and bars to culture and shopping. Iracema Beach is a
popular, eclectic beach that has many all night bars for
tourists and locals alike to enjoy. Other popular beaches
include the Praio de Futuro, Meireles, Volta da Jurema and
Mucuripe. The last three of these beaches are connected to
each other by the Avenida Beira-Mar, a three mile long road
with just about anything anyone could want. The largest
water park in Brazil is at Porto das Dunas, about 20
minutes south of the city.

Fortaleza has many existing properties for sale that are
available at very reasonable properties. For those looking
for a place to retire, this is a hard place to beat with
existing costs so low. It is also beginning to see some
major developments spring up, particularly along the coast
outside of the city. Taibai Beach Gardens is a new
development about 60 minutes outside the city and The
Fountains, Praia das Fontes, about 50 minutes south of the
city are two popular new developments. These and other
developments have many off-plan units for sale, and the
values are only expected to rise in the coming years.

Development and investment is slowly moving up the
Brazilian coast and now is a great time to get into this
area. Over the next few years, there will be much greater
activity in these areas, and the investments and values of
all properties will rise.

With the recent opening of its new international airport
terminal, getting to Fortaleza is becoming easier. Pinto
Martins International Airport (FOR) opened its terminal in
1998 and is just 15 minutes from downtown. Because of its
location it is the closest major Brazilian city to Europe
and there are an increasing number of charters that fly
directly into Fortaleza. There is connecting service from
Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo.

Brazil is already making investors money house prices are
picking up and the currency is getting stronger no wonder
the word on the investment street is Fortaleza Brazil

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Nicholas Marr is clearly an observer of life and front row
spectator of the events in the overseas property market. A
lifetime property investor his UK based company Marr
International owns one of the fastest growing overseas
property websites in Europe at http://www.homesgofast.com
and Brazilian property website at

http://www.brazilian-homes.com/

Commercial Real Estate Investing - Searching For The Holy Grail

Tips on How to Get Started

If you like to play Monopoly for fun, imagine how fun it
would be to play Monopoly for real. For many real estate
investors, scouting for a profitable commercial real estate
property is very much like the board game. And to many,
building wealth by investing in commercial real estate is
often deemed the holy grail of investing. However, scouting
and buying these types of properties is not as easy as
1-2-3, no matter what anyone tells you. But if you do your
homework and surround yourself with people who can help
you, you are well on your way to building a profitable
commercial real estate portfolio! Below are three steps on
how you can get started:

Step One: Educate Yourself

You can start by educating yourself. This includes reading
books and publications, talking to experienced commercial
real estate investors, attending classes and seminars, and
joining a trade association. A really easy and inexpensive
way to learn is to join a commercial real estate investor
network. These networking groups connect you to not only
the people you need to know (or should know) in the
business, but also to educational tools and resources to
help you become well versed in the practice.

Step Two: Surround Yourself With People Who Can Help You

Next, surround yourself with people who can help you build
your portfolio. In order to be successful in commercial
real estate investing, you must align yourself with a team
of professionals who are "smarter" than you. These
professionals include financing brokers, lenders, realtors,
attorneys, contractors, property inspectors, market
appraisers, title companies, accountants, engineers, and
many other industry service providers. In building your
team, make sure they know commercial real estate. For
example, an attorney who is well versed in closing a
residential deal may not know anything about closing a
commercial deal.

Step Three: Know How A Commercial Property is Financed

The third step to getting started is to learn how a
commercial property is financed. Many savvy residential
real estate investors have a wake up call when they try to
finance their first commercial property. Find out how
commercial properties are financed before you even start
scouting for one. The reason why this is so important is
because commercial properties are not financed based on the
purchase price, which is common in the residential
industry. Commercial properties are financed by evaluating
the cash flow of the property, which determines the
ultimate value of the property, not the actual
purchase/sales price. The difference between these two
values could be the difference between a dead deal and a
viable deal.

In summary, investing in commercial real estate can be a
wonderful way to build wealth for entrepreneurs and
investors alike. The more you immerse yourself in the field
of commercial real estate and the more people you meet, the
faster you can learn the tricks of the trade. Best of luck
to you and may you always find success in your ventures.

----------------------------------------------------
Contributed by VEC Financial Group. The VEC Financial Group
(VEC) is dedicated to providing commercial mortgage and
business financing to property owners and entrepreneurs
across the country. VEC Financial provides these services
by connecting the right broker with the right borrower, who
ultimately finances with the right lender.
http://www.vecfinancial.com

Financial Companies are Embracing RSS Feeds

Financial institutions are reaching out to clients using
RSS feeds. While banks and financial institutions are
usually slow to adopt new technology, that is not the case
with RSS adoption. More and more professionals are using
RSS in innovative ways, to stay ahead of their competition.

1. Bank Rate Changes

Bankers are using RSS to communicate bank rate changes.
Feeds are updated regularly to reflect changes to
adjustable rate mortgages or the interest rate for CDs.

example: Federal Reserve
http://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/

2. Stock Monitoring

Stock analysts monitor stock market changes using RSS
feeds. As specific stocks and bonds rise and fall RSS feeds
are updated. Many of the tools allow you to customize RSS
feeds selecting the stocks or mutual funds that you wish to
monitor.

example: Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/rss/

3. Mortgage Rates

Customers seeking housing can monitor mortgage rates
through a variety of lenders using RSS feeds. Rate changes
appear in the RSS feeds as the new rates are announced.

example: Long and Foster -
http://homes.longandfoster.com/RSS/RSS.aspx

4. Employment Opportunities

Members of the finance industry can monitor job
opportunities using RSS. As new jobs in the financial
industry become available the job listings appear in the
RSS feed.

Example: 4 Finance Jobs -
http://www.4financejobs.com/show_content.php?id=1144527197

5. Currency Exchange Rates

Banks, financial institutions and economists can monitor
currency exchange rates using RSS feeds. As the changes the
new rates appear in the RSS feed.

examples: Currency Source -
http://www.currencysource.com/rss_currencyexchangerates.html
. New York Federal Reserve - http://www.newyorkfed.org/rss/

6. Foreclosures

Banks are using RSS feeds to publicize properties that are
available via foreclosures.

Example: Foreclosure Listings -
http://www.foreclosurelistings.com

7. Auction Opportunities

Estate auctions are publicized and announced using RSS
feeds.

Example: Auction RSS Feed -
http://auctionrssfeed.com/feeds/auctionboard.php

8. Financial Industry News

Financial analysts can now monitor the latest financial
industry news by subscribing to RSS feeds.

Example: Money Central -
http://moneycentral.msn.com/community/rss/MoneyFeeds.aspx

9. Venture Investment Monitoring

Venture funding capital investors interested in watching
trends in venture funding can subscribe to RSS feeds to
determine where the venture capital funding is going.

Example: Almeida Capital -
http://www.altassets.com/rss/rss_index.php

10. Personal Finance Tips

Blogs containing personal finance tips are common place.
Some of the best personal finance blogs have RSS feeds
available.

Example: This is Money -
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/rss#rssFullList

11. Credit/Debt Consolidation Information

Tips on debt management and credit consolidation are a
common feed topic.

Example: TRX Credit - http://www.trxcredit.com/rss/

12. Tax Laws

Accountants are using RSS to stay current on the latest
income and sales tax laws.

Example: Australian Taxation Office -
http://www.ato.gov.au/rss.asp

13. Investment Properties

Real estate investors can now watch for investment
properties using RSS. As new properties become available
feeds are updated.

Example: Property RSS - http://www.propertyrss.com/

14. Continuing Education

Accountants and those in the financial industry can stay
current on tax laws or brush up on investing by listening
to podcast lectures.

Example: Educational Feeds -
http://www.educational-feeds.com/

15. Monitor Real Estate Sales

The temperature of the housing market is of significant
interest to many in the financial industry. Investors can
monitor property sales by creating a zip code specific feed
or by subscribing to feeds the cover a specific location.

Example: Realty Feeds - http://www.realty-feeds.net

16. Investment Advice and News

Investors are using blogs and RSS feeds to provide a
smattering of investment advice to attract clients.

Example: Security Exchange Commissions -
http://www.sec.gov/rss/news/press.xml

17. Bankruptcy Announcements

RSS feeds to watch for bankruptcy filings of individuals
and companies that have entered bankruptcy protection.

Example: US Courts - http://www.wiw.uscourts.gov/bankruptcy/

18. Corporate News

Financial companies must stay current on corporations, and
there are often press announcements, new product
announcements or legal actions. Monitoring corporate feeds
will keep analysts up to date on the latest information.

Example: Agilent -
http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/rss/

19. Loan Rates

Monitor lending rates for student loans, car loans or home
equity lines by subscribing to RSS feeds.

Example: Student Loans Rates-
http://www.studentloannetwork.com/resources/rss-feeds.php

20. Tax News

Stay current on tax laws and changes using RSS feeds.

Example: Tax News- http://www.tax-news.com/asp/rss.asp

Financial companies can stay ahead of their competition and
maximize their time by using RSS to stay up to date on
relevant industry news.

More great examples of Financial Feeds: Finance Investing
RSS Directory - http://www.finance-investing.com Michael
Page -
http://www.michaelpage.com.au/rss/page/7187/met/1.html

----------------------------------------------------
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing
software.

Five Steps To Finding The Right Bad Credit Credit Card

It used to be that getting a bad credit credit card meant
paying ridiculous interest rates and high annual fees.
Nowadays, that's just not the case. There are many bad
credit credit cards on the market that have low interest
rates and reasonable fees. It's just a matter of knowing
what to look for and what you should expect.

1. Understand What Type of Bad Credit Credit Card You
Qualify For

Before applying for a bad credit credit card, you need to
understand the differences between them. There are two main
types of bad credit credit cards on the market -- secured
and unsecured. A secured bad credit credit card will have
more lenient credit qualifications than an unsecured one.

Most unsecured bad credit credit cards require that you
don't have any late payments or delinquent accounts for a
period of six months before you can qualify. If your credit
problems have been more recent, you're going to want to
look into secured cards rather than the unsecured variety.

2. Review The Interest Rates

When it comes to carrying a bad credit credit card, you
should expect to pay a higher interest rate than you would
if you had good credit. After all, the lender is assuming a
bit of a risk by extending credit to you. They are
compensated for this in the form of a higher interest rate.

That being said, it is important to understand that even if
you do have bad credit, a bad credit credit card should not
hang you out to dry in terms of the interest rate charged.
Some bad credit credit cards charge as little as 9.99
percent while others try to charge interest in excess of 20
percent.

I personally would never advise paying more than 16 percent
interest on a bad credit credit card -- preferably less.
Even if your credit is horrible, a secured card is
guaranteed by your security deposit. Because of this, your
interest rate should be lower than it would had you
qualified for an unsecured credit card.

3. Watch Those Fees

Some of the companies that offer a bad credit credit card
will extend an unsecured line of credit with a reasonable
interest rate, but will charge ridiculously high fees.
Because of this, it's very important to understand all of
the costs associated with any bad credit credit card.

Some credit card companies will charge application fees and
processing fees in addition to an annual fee and a monthly
maintenance fee. This is all on top of the interest you
will pay if you don't pay your balances off in full each
month.

When looking for a bad credit credit card, never apply for
one that charges an application fee. Processing fees are
acceptable, as long as they are kept under $70 and are not
charged in addition to an annual fee. If an annual fee is
charged, make sure monthly maintenance fees are not.

4. Read The Fine Print

While it's not common, every once in a while you will run
into a bad credit credit card that doesn't have the best
interests of the consumer in mind. Make sure you read the
fine print and the entire terms and conditions of any
credit card you apply for. While it can be time consuming,
it's definitely worth it if you want to avoid any
unpleasant surprises.

5. Use It Like a Loaded Weapon

It sounds drastic, I know. However, if you're in need of a
bad credit credit card, then something bad happened to your
credit that got you here in the first place. If you want to
avoid future mistakes, you need to be very careful with how
you use the card.

While looking for the right bad credit credit card can be
time consuming and even frustrating to a degree, knowing
exactly what you should expect and the key things to look
for will make it much easier. Keep the above tips in mind
and finding the right bad credit credit card can be much
easier than you may think.

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For more tips on bad credit credit cards, saving money and
avoiding getting taken, check out CreditCardTipsEtc.com, a
website that specializes in providing credit card tips,
advice and resources.
http://www.creditcardtipsetc.com/bad_credit_credit_cards