European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 o stars and stripes monday March 262007 your Money being landlord is More than collecting checks by Jeff d Opdyke the Wall Street journal with Home prices retreating from fever pitch highs a new Breed of real estate investor is eclipsing the Speculator the land lord More americans Are hanging out for rent signs some were forced into the business after buy ing investment houses or condos at top Dollar during Boom times that they now cant sell but Many Are discovering their inner land lord on purpose often buying properties Well below prices from a year or two ago it can be lucrative for the first time in several years rents Are Ris ing in part because the subprime ending crisis is making it harder for people with marginal credit records to secure mortgages increasing rental demand shantay Wakefield and Gerald Taggart a couple in Fairview Heights 111 have bought two Rente properties in the past two years the two 30yearolds Fig ured they would be income Gener rating investments though they didst foresee the Pitfalls you find out quickly that this is not easy says Wakefield a High school teacher they expected repairs to one of rentals to take four weeks they took seven months and costs piled up think of it like operating a Small business even if it is just a single Condo Tricky tax Laws obscure local ordinances and other imponderables can turn what looked like a no brainer rental into a Money pit keep in mind that youre buy ing an income Stream not a pretty House says Paul Howard of the Florida landlord network which provides services to landlords in the Sunshine state a House will attract Only so much rent if you overpay you can raise the rent Only so much before your property starts sitting vacant the first step is to assemble a Small team of pros especially a real estate agent knowledgeable about local rental rates and other issues that will affect your Bottom line consider retaining a local property manager who can help you navigate ordinances set a fair rent find tenants arrange Lawn services and handle worst Case scenarios like evictions the Downside managers tend to charge a months rent upfront and about 10 percent of the rent thereafter running a credit Check is a must says George Heim a re tired policeman in Wall town ship no who along with his wife inherited a Home that is now a profitable rental unit land lords can sign up for services from providers such As Fidelity information corp Goff com to get these reports for Small fees insist on references from Previ Ous landlords key questions to ask did the tenant pay on time How much damage was done to the property a typical mistake is to under budget for repairs keep ing the Home in Good condition helps attract Quality tenants its just so silly to scrimp on maintenance says the Florida landlord networks Howard when youre a landlord youre in the retail business not real estate you dont want to lose your Good customers fridays Market summary indexes 52week High Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg 1279593 1068342 521142 413472 50199 38097 946362 770811 217989 180065 253142 201278 146157 u1929 87089 71053 83001 66858 1482876 1224990 nose most Active name last chg Dow Jones industrials 1248101 Dow Jones transportation 497327 Dow Jones utilities 49956 nose composite 933840 amex Index 215021 580 27 Nash a composite 244893 281 11 sap 500 143611 85568 Russell 2000 80951  1455646 Motorola of mag forum gone acc we Stem Pfizer pm cup Nortel ifs Hal Libens Exxon by 574040 438617 424967 332585 303934 294869 277835 246854 227698 225580 1775 6230 789 3582 892 2566 1370 2407 3108 7502 19 13 31 amex most Active name last chg Nash a Spur ishr2knya spongy spend oils vat  Semi her Djina diam Spur Home Oil Sands in 710480 300291 148818 121458 93076 76842 71804 51967 48010 40985 14339 8024 6022 36jo 14700 5277 3436 12469 3470 400 name Yokoo last chg Nash loot Sun Micro a Mai Microsoft Intel amen Oracle Cisco Mclone Sirius 634877 546582 498609 485944 352294 338453 329994 302793 205041 195306 4412 619 220 2802 1927 5802 18j4 2619 3830 335 14 12 25 245 25 18 key defense stocks Valliant Armor computer general general Harris Allied l3 Lockheed North Rockwell Seq a Texas text Ron United key Mutual chg Fidelity invest Fidelity invest Fidelity spartan Putnam funds a Erlna Amer Century inv Fidelity invest Fidelity invest Fidelity invest aim investments a const fms a aim investments a Charta Fidelity advisor t Fidelity advisor Putnam funds a Globe qty fews Scudder Fidelity advisor Dws Scudder cd s corp sinc Putnam funds a gig a get used to Al email ads q unbeknown to us Al has been inserting it bounced that this test will continue As the company j j Saa Strtt Nikac Fri a fat nil tie advertisement messages into our outgoing emails despite the fact that we have a paid account and use Al As our internet provider two sentences promoting Al Are inserted at the Bot Tom of every message we Send continues to add free web browse based email accounts to nonmembers and As it de emphasizes the famous proprietary youve got mail screen display i guess i am so deeply blitzed by All of the Advertis ing on my personal Google and Yahoo accounts that sometimes that gets our messages tagged As tacking an and on the Bottom of messages through my spam at the receiving end i tried contacting Al repeatedly and heard Back from Many different Al techs but All have the same theme throughout their email replies Sony theres really nothing we can do at this time i even went to vols corporate site and sent an email from there a gentle Man from regulatory matters at Al contacted me but he didst sound too hopeful about removing the offending sentences from our email i have contacted my states consumer Protection division about this and i will have to Send All the details in writing i contacted our representatives in do and was put in touch with a helpful Young woman who said she would do some investigating and get Back to me Al did not ask for our approval to add their spam to our emails we pay for their services each month and do not get them for free i consider their adding those sentences to our emails tampering if you have any advice As to How we May be Able to that Little bit of spam i would be very grateful Carolyn Hicks a i Salute you for standing up for the rights of paid up Al customers everywhere is h youve taken the fight to what sounds like just about every conceivable source for satisfaction Short of the Pentagon but asking Al to Stop this annoying and potentially disruptive bit of self promotion heretofore has landed on deaf ears because the company is try ing to get much deeper into the advertising Side of the internet and somewhat less in the internet a Cess provider business Al now gives away email accounts to anyone who asks and they look just like paid up accounts both use the address format i do note a rising level of complaints on various to oriented message boards but Al has an own paid account at Al Doest seem any Akk lint More a bother than the big ugly Blue sign Nan Jishi Reading Bert Weinman Ford on my Auto Mobile so i checked a couple of paid up accounts i hold with Man and hot mail and found that both of those services still Send messages free of advertising you might try getting a Low Cost email account elsewhere meanwhile you have raised an Issue that could be another earthshaker if All email providers started Selling ads tacked on the end of each a message sent by their custom ers with vols initiative the camels nose is securely under the tent Flap so i applaud you Jim Coates again for sounding a warning about what could become yet another intrusion of Adver Tising in our lives q i cannot find the switch to enlarge the win Dows Media player 9 screen when i select the player the screen with the video shows up very Small in the Middle of my pc screen i tried to Load win Dows Media player 10 but it too comes up Small As you can plainly see i am not very Sharp on computers so please help me a the fix i can offer for this common glitch also will show you How to recover from Many other pro Grams when their displays suddenly go crazy As when the Media player turns into a tiny Box or the tool bar vanishes from the web browser windows programs use the familiar tools of file edit and View and windows includes a keyboard shortcut to run these tools when they disappear its the Alt key plus the first letter of the command f for file e for edit or v for for you its Alt plus v As in View or g tapping that pair of keys simultaneously will put you Back in the big picture posthaste Contact Jim Coates via email at or via Snail mail at the Chicago Tribune room 400435 n Michigan ave Chicago in 60611 questions can be answered Only through this column add your Point of View at Chicago Tri Exchange rates military rates japanese yen March South korean won March 26 euro costs March Dollar buys March British Pound March commercial rates Bahrain British pound419614 Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for Japan South Korea Germany the Netherlands and the United kingdom for no local currency Exchange rates in purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing facility commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying currency All figures Are foreign currencies to one Dollar except for the British Pound which is represented in dollars Pound and the euro which is dollars euro precious metals new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime rate825 discount rate625 Federal funds Market rate 525 3month bill506 30year bond480 sources the associated press Bank of America ends and sensibility Money tip of the Day claiming lost Luggage Market watch new York theres Noth ing like lost Luggage to make a vacation or business trip go South 2006 was a particularly bad year for bag Gage complaints were the High est in a decade unfortunately 2007 int going Tobe much bet Ter reports the transportation Security administration despite All the precautions you can take theres no Guaran tee that your Luggage wont be misplaced follow these rules to make sure you do get your bags returned or compensated take pictures of All your be longings when you pack your bags photograph the contents and create an inventory keep All receipts of goods purchased separate from the bag lock your bags but Only with a Tsa approved lock if you use any old lock on your lug Gage the transportation Security administration is allowed to Cut the lock off find approved locks at  or Trauelsen Tryong tag everything put your name and Contact information in Side your bags As Well As out Side that Way if a tag is torn off employees can still identify your Luggage place a copy of your itinerary inside the bag As Well that makes it easier for the airline to track you Down if your bag goes missing file a claim for missing lug Gage immediately if you arrive at your destination and your bags dont do not leave the air port without documenting your complaint says attorney Janet Rubel be polite when handling your complaint if you com Plain in a Nasty manner there not going to Deal with you says Rubel seek delivery ask if the air line will deliver the bags to you free of charge once they arrive at the appropriate Airport file a claim with the Tsa if applicable if the Tsa damages your suitcase and stuff is lost they quietly reimburse you says Rubel