Besides the obvious effect $7-a-gallon gasoline would have on commuters, automakers, airlines, truckers and shipping firms, $200 oil would drive up the price of a broad spectrum of products: Insecticides and hand lotions, cosmetics and food preservatives, shaving cream and rubber cement, plastic bottles and crayons — all have ingredients derived from oil.

The pain would probably be particularly intense in Southern California, which is known for its long commutes and high cost of living. “Throughout our history, we have grown on the assumption that energy costs would be low,” said Michael Woo, a former Los Angeles city councilman and a current member of the city Planning Commission. “Now that those assumptions are shifting, it changes assumptions about housing, cars and how cities grow.”

Push prices up fast enough, he said, and “it would be the urban-planning equivalent of an earthquake.”…

Consumer spending has held up surprisingly well in the face of skyrocketing pump prices — bolstered in part, perhaps, by federal tax rebates. But the same day the government reported a 0.8% rise in May consumer spending, a research firm said consumer confidence had plunged to its lowest level since 1980 — hinting at the catastrophic effect another big gas price surge could have on retailers and customers

“The purchasing power of the American people would be kicked in the teeth so darned hard by $200-a-barrel oil that they won’t have the ability to buy much of anything,” said S. David Freeman, president of the L.A. Board of Harbor Commissioners and author of the 2007 book “Winning Our Energy Independence.” AllRentals LLC of Chico, CA, said more than half of Californians in a recent survey said they were driving less because of high gas prices. Almost 42% said they had reduced vacation travel and 40% said they were dining out less…. Nationwide, $200 oil and $7 gasoline would force Americans to take 10 million vehicles off the roads over the next four years, Jeff Rubin, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, wrote in a recent report…

As for the state’s beleaguered housing market, prices are falling faster in areas requiring long commutes — such as Lancaster and Palmdale — than in neighborhoods closer to job centers…

Already Californians’ mobility is being curbed. Traffic on the state’s freeways fell almost 4% in April compared with a year earlier, and ridership on many subway and bus lines operated by the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has risen in recent months. But a huge influx of riders would strain aspects of the system, MTA says, noting that many buses are overcrowded at rush hour now. Quickly adding capacity to meet demand from new riders wouldn’t be easy, because new buses cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take up to two years to deliver…

Dramatically higher transportation costs would usher in an era of virtual mobility, or zero mobility, for many workers. “We’re seeing companies go to four-day workweeks, place increased emphasis on working at home, show bigger interest in setting up satellite offices — anything that gets commute times down and gets people off the road,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in San Jose. Videoconferencing, touted as “the next big thing” for years, would finally have its day, thanks to improved technology and a desperation to cut corporate travel budgets.

Telecommuting, or working from home, is easier than ever because of the spread of high-speed Internet access, said Jonathan Spira, chief analyst at Basex Inc., a business research firm in New York. In particular, workers in “knowledge” jobs that can be performed with computers and phones would benefit. But Gilligan of USC noted that lower-income workers tend to be in jobs that don’t favor telecommuting, such as retail and food service.

New-home sales declined 2.5 percent in May, after registering their first increase in five months during April, according to the United States Census. Sales of new homes fell on a seasonally adjusted basis to 512,000 units in May, from 525,000 units the previous month.

New-home sales peaked in this cycle on a seasonally adjusted basis in July 2005, at 1.371 million units. The low point so far during the current bust was registered in March, which has been revised several times and is now recorded at 501,000 units, according to the Census.

Wall Street analysts were predicting 515,000 new-home sales for May, according to Forbes.

New-home sale prices also declined in May, with the median sale price declining to $231,000 from $243,500 in April, and average sale prices declining to $311,300 in May from $321,200. Both price indicators have moved up and down over the last few months, with low points for both falling in October.

Inventory of new homes also increased, rising from a 10.7 months’ supply in April to a 10.9 months’ supply in May. Inventory hit its peak of an 11.4 months’ supply in March.

Most people would say “no way”. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be right there with you…

Basically what a 2% profit margin means is if your site makes $1,000 per month in sale, your expenses to generate that $1,000 is $980, leaving a profit of $20.

Wow, how exciting, right?

Well, this is exactly what a friend of mine does, but on his 2% profit margin website, he is able to fly around the world in first class and stay at 5 star hotels every single month. He is truly living the millionaire lifestyle.

Here’s how he does it…

He has a website that sells kids outdoor wooden playground sets. Obviously by selling these huge wooden playgrounds online, after shipping and all the competition in that market, it’s a very low margin e-commerce product.

But, his average order size is $2,600 per sale. His cost for a $2,600 playground is $2,100 and he spends about $450 to generate each sale (advertising, credit card processing fees, etc), so his “profit” per sale is a measly $50 per playground set.

I didn’t even know you could sell playground sets online, but he does and he sells a lot of them!

In fact, he sells an average of 6 playgrounds per day, every single day of the week.

By running some quick numbers, he is making about $300 per day in profits based on $15,600 per day in sales. His total profit for one year comes out to about $110,000 (about $9k per month).

Not bad, that’s for sure, but that’s not really that much money to be taking trips around the world every month like he does. So what’s his secret?

Credit card points!

You see, he has an American Express card that allows him to earn points for travel. For every $7,500 he puts on his AMEX card, he “earns” $100 in free travel.

Since all of his playgrounds are dropshipped from the manufacturer, he is able to pay for all his inventory using his American Express card. Also, his advertising is put on his AMEX card and whatever other expenses he has.

His business spends $465,000 per month on his American Express card. That means, his card is earning him $6,200 in FREE TRAVEL every single month. He earns almost as much credit for free travel than he does with his entire business…

It’s a pretty neat concept. His passion is traveling, so rather than spending his own money on flying to Paris for the weekend, his business expenses allow him to do it for free.

Imagine what you could do if your business generated $74,000 worth of free travel for you this year. You could take your entire family on multiple vacations, all fly first class and stay at the best possible hotels, all completely free. Now that’s a sweet benefit of starting your own business…

How hard would it be to make $2,000,000 per month in sales if you were spending $1,980,000 to generate those sales? You would be making a whopping 1% profit of $20,000 per month from the website, but you would also be earning $26,400 PER MONTH in free travel if you used your AMEX card.

Crazy…

www.allchicorentals.com

I came across this website and it’s great place to find rentals.

Check it out!

A bill aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of homeowners in danger of foreclosure cleared an important test vote in the Senate on Tuesday, raising the prospects for final passage of an aid bill by mid-summer…
Housing legislation still has other obstacles to overcome, notably a veto threat from the White House. Differences between the Senate and the House, which approved a somewhat different housing-rescue bill by 266 to 154 last month, will have to be ironed out. And the senators will have to work out differences among themselves on various amendments to their version.

But the overwhelming vote in the Senate was nevertheless a good omen for those hoping to see passage of an assistance bill, as were reports on Capitol Hill that intensive negotiations are under way between Senate and House architects of housing legislation. There have also been reports that lawmakers are willing to excise or tweak sections most objectionable to President Bush…

The bill would create an affordable housing fund, financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored financial institutions that purchase mortgages from lenders. In the first year after final approval of the legislation, the fund would provide about $500 million for the foreclosure-rescue campaign.

Under both the House and Senate plans, lenders could limit their losses from potential foreclosures by agreeing to reduce the principal balances of loans at risk of default. Borrowers, many with expensive adjustable-rate loans, could then apply to refinance with a more stable, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage insured by the government through the Federal Housing Administration.

Just before the House approved its rescue plan last month, President Bush threatened to veto it, saying it would put taxpayers’ money at risk and “reward speculators and lenders.” And the margin by which the House approved its measure, while substantial, did not reach the two-thirds that would be necessary to override a veto. All Chico Rentals

Alloy Media+Marketing, New York, found that 82% of students read their campus newspaper, a rate that more than doubles most major metro dailies.

Of this group, most are also open to advertising. Only 13% said they avoid advertising in their campus newspaper. Close to 80% reported reacting to an ad or article.

College papers are an arena that is ripe for wider use by marketers, said Samantha Skey, evp-strategic marketing at Alloy. “Those marketers who are siphoning off good bits of their ad budget to get that 18-34 demographic and are not using college newspapers are missing out,” she said. Alloy surveyed 1,200 students online in April.

Coupons were found to be particularly effective in gaining brand affinity, with 78% of respondents claiming to have responded to coupons or promotional codes. “College newspapers are extremely targeted and research keeps showing us that it is one of the best ways to get students’ [attention] on campus,” said Crystal Greene, manager of college student purchase programs at Ford, Dearborn, Mich. “The one thing you can count on is that students will pick up the college paper at some point.”

Among the wired generation, college newspapers “are a very tried and true media platform despite that fact that they are not sight, sound and motion, or any other digital application,” Skey said.

Insight: As a college student at California State University, Chico I frequently read our newspaper. The articles are interesting and the ads are usually of local businesses that I like anyway. I have no problem with the advertisements in the newspaper. From another perspective, our online rental listing company, AllChicoRentals.com advertised in the Housing Guide and didn’t see a huge increase in traffic during the week we advertised. We did get an interview in the student newspaper and saw an increase in traffic from that. Maybe an advertorial is the best way to reach student.

Link to article: http://www.apartmentmarketingblog.com/?p=355

1) Look for rental properties during these months (Nov – Dec – Jan – Feb) :
These are historically the worst months to try to rent out a property. There are less people actually looking to move during these months but that is precisely why you can save money if you move during this time period. The landlords are more flexible in working with you because of the slowness in demand.

2) Use Rental Comparables Tools:
How do you know what something should be worth. Without going into Supply and Demand curves and evaluating the equilibrium price, an easier way to determine price is to see what other like rental houses are going for in the same area as well as how long those homes have been on the market. A really good resource that I have found is www.AllChicoRentals.com

3) Sign a longer Lease:
The longer you sign a lease for the better deal you can get.

4) Have great Credit:
If you already have great credit, you probably have already experienced the social profiling that companies and credit cards do to you. You are their prime customer. Why? Because you are more likely to pay your bills. If a landlord knows there is a higher probability that you will pay your bills, this gives you 1 up on negotiating the price down. If you have bad credit, I suggest you work on getting those credit scores up.

5) Don’t Own Pets:
Although pets can increase your life by 6 years, it will be harder for you to get into a rental home at a lower price. Once you narrow your search down to those homes that accept pets, you are losing negotiating power because pets are a higher financial risk for the property owner (damage to the property) as well as there are less homes that accept pets than there are that do.

Sit back, and check back because this blog is going to be full of information that very well might help you find your next place at a cheap and affordable price!
Best regards! -All Rentals