New York state and its localities will owe almost $250 billion in payments for retired workers’ healthcare over the next several decades, an “outsized chunk” of the $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion owed by all states and their municipalities, according to a report.

The estimates by the Empire Center for New York Policy, a think tank, were calculated as of 2010. Many states use a 30-year time frame.

New York has a massive liability because of its generous plans and large public sector, according to the report, which was issued on Wednesday.

The price tag for New York City alone was $84 billion in 2011. That exceeds the latest estimate of the liability for the state of California, which in 2010 was estimated at $78 billion, the report said.

The estimate for New York state is slightly lower than California, at $73 billion.

Many states, counties, cities and towns around the nation are struggling to pay the pension and health benefits they have promised their workforce. This issue has tipped a handful of municipalities over into bankruptcy, and sparked a national debate over whether public unions should be restrained and these kinds of benefits curtailed.

The Empire Center’s report said only 28 percent of firms in the United States with more than 200 workers and 3 percent of smaller enterprises offered their retirees health care coverage.

Unlike pension benefits, the report said that retiree health care is not guaranteed by the New York State Constitution. “Elected officials can still change course on retiree health care by restructuring benefits for both current retirees and active employees,” it said.

The remedies the report suggested included having employees pay more for health insurance and creating a medical trust to cover health care for all new hires and for workers with less than 10 years of service. The trusts would be run by unions, and funded by their members’ contributions.

Unless the benefits are cut back, some of New York’s counties face exceptionally large burdens, including Nassau County, at $4.6 billion, Suffolk County at $4.4 billion, and Westchester County at $2.4 billion.

The price tag for Harrison, located in Westchester County just north of New York City, works out to $20,000 per household, the report said. That amount “far exceeds the norm for all cities, towns or villages in New York state,” it said.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York City’s buses, subways, commuter rail roads and some major bridges and tunnels, will spend $17.8 billion on retiree health care, the report said.

• Employment has been steadily growing over the last year and a half, an important trend for the housing market as employment growth builds confidence as well as the financial means for would-be buyers to make a home purchase.
• Only 15 of the 164 markets tracked by NAR Research with labor market data available showed an increase in their unemployment rate from June of 2011 to June of 2012. However, of the top ten markets with the largest increase in their unemployment rate, eight saw an increase in employment as well.
• This ostensive contradiction came about because the increase in hiring attracted more job seekers to the market. Thus, the pool of job seekers expanded faster than the pool of employed workers; this trend was common in New York State where five markets experience such a pattern.
• For the latest Local Market Reports from NAR Research, click here.

As reported in the latest REALTORS® Confidence Index report (RCI), approximately 27 percent of REALTORS® reported making cash sales in July, slightly dowm from 29 percent in June. The percentage of cash payments fluctuates from month to month, currently being towards the upper end. The high preponderance of all-cash sales appears to be due to stricter mortgage/underwriting standards, and purchases by investors and second home buyers, who frequently pay cash, possibly edging out buyers needing to secure a mortgage.

We all know about the current historic low mortgage rates.  Today’s report from Freddie Mac survey indicated a 3.55 percent average on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.  Sometimes it is worth reviewing past data, particularly for the younger generation, to check just how low the rates are today.

This is the rate one would lock-in for the next 30 years.  It is not inconceivable to think that the price of a Big Mac may rise to $8 in about 10 years.  It’s possible gasoline will rise to $10 a gallon, or a typical two-bedroom rental in San Francisco could cost $5,000 per month.  But the monthly mortgage payment would not be rising over the life of the mortgage.

The following graph shows the amount of money needed to buy a typical home in the U.S.  On average a recent homebuyer’s mortgage payment would be about $700 per month, not too different from the amount required to buy a home 30 years ago even though home values have nearly tripled over that time span.

The only problem is there are indeed many people who want to lock-in the current generational low interest rates, but the banks are too darn stingy to lend (or regulators have made it difficult, or there are too many lawsuits thrown at the banks, or there are too many new uncertain and burdensome regulations on financial industry).  Real estate investors with cash are well aware of this mortgage difficulty trend for many would-be first-time homebuyers.  Real estate investors also know of the housing shortage possibility (from low housing starts levels) and the rising rent trend.  No surprise then, the real estate investors are therefore on the field taking advantage of the current market conditions while first-time would-be homebuyers are forced to sit on the bench and watch the opportunity pass by.

The recent Existing Home Sales release published showed a 5th consecutive month of home prices higher than a year ago. What does this mean for affordability? The answer may surprise you.

The July Existing Home Sales release published in late August showed a strong rise in home prices from a year ago – 9.4 percent for the median priced existing home sold. This news is reassuring for owners who can expect the wealth they have accumulated in their property to maintain or increase, but at first glance this seems to be troubling news for potential buyers who have not purchased a home yet. Have they missed the best time to buy?

The Housing Affordability Index offers some reassurance for these would-be buyers. As it turns out, the Housing Affordability Index suggests that the national median priced home was actually slightly more affordable for the median income family in July 2012 than it was in July 2011 even though home prices are up.

How is this possible? While prices are up compared to one year ago, mortgage rates are nearly a percentage point lower and incomes are up, though only modestly. Since the Housing Affordability Index factors in the effect of house prices AND income and mortgage rates, it is the case that nationally, the median priced home is slightly more affordable to the median income family than it was a year ago. At 182.0 compared to 178.0, the Housing Affordability Index shows that the median income family earns 82 percent more than the income needed to qualify to purchase the typical home that was sold in July. Regionally, affordability is improved over one year ago in every area except the West where the more than 20 percent year-over-year price gain offset increased income and the benefit of lower mortgage rates. Still, even in the West, the median income family earns at least 40 percent more than is needed to qualify to purchase the median priced existing home. Check out the data release

There are a few different reasons that your business might benefit from Pinterest. They are:

Demographics

Pinterest users have a unique demographic profile. Unlike virtually every other social media network, Pinterest users are mostly women. Overwhelmingly so. Specifically, Pinterest users tend to be middle class partnered mothers with kids, aged 25-34. You can see a more specific demographic breakdown here.
This is key demographic for many industries. It is also a demographic that, in the world of social media, is virtually unique to Pinterest.

Content format

Pinterest is a photo board. People post photos. Some get popular, some don’t. As such, it is a great place for businesses that turn out a lot of interesting visual media. Specifically, businesses that do well on Pinterest have visual media that is not only interesting in and of itself, but also that works to increase brand awareness.
Fashion and clothes do particularly well on Pinterest, because the entire sales pitch is visual. Food brands also do very well. This is due to a known psychological tendency for people to prefer pictures of people and food to pictures of almost anything else.

Good Brand Image

Like all social marketing sites, people share companies’ content partially because they think it looks good to be associated with that company. While your company is selling itself to users, users are using your company image to sell themselves to their friend networks. As a result, socially-conscious, cool, or rebellious brand images help businesses on Pinterest to gain followers.

Online retailers

Pinterest has a smaller user base than Facebook. Users are spread farther apart and are less likely to be in your company’s immediate vicinity. It is also more challenging to target specific geographic areas than it is on Facebook, though not impossible. All these factors make Pinterest less appealing to businesses that only operate out of one or two storefronts.

In contrast, large national or multinational brands do very well on Pinterest. They are able to market thousands of storefronts from the same follow page.

However, there is also opportunity on Pinterest for online retailers to do well. Pinterest content has a higher click-through rate than Facebook content. Exposure on Pinterest means more. Coupled with a strong landing page and a good online product, Pinterest can return very high sales for your dollar.

Businesses with interactive ad campaigns

Interactive games, contests, and apps hit a peak a while back in Facebook. There were just so many clogging up news feeds that Facebook was forced to start punishing it with the EdgeRank algorithm.
However, that point has not yet passed with Pinterest. Contests and games spread like wildfire, and are not nearly common enough to be seen as boring or spammy.

Not too long ago a reader asked me how to use Instagram hashtags within a social strategy. Well even before she asked me that question I was thinking of a bigger question: In which ways can a marketer use Instagram in social media marketing?

Here are 9 key points in marketing with Instagram. Since marketing is not holistic for any company, product, or situation, I encourage you to read these points and comment below if you want to expand on any ideas raised, or especially if you disagree. I am open to anyone’s thoughts and questions and will always respond quickly, with a value of One Billion dollars and 80 million users Instagram can’t be ignored.

Nine Points on Marketing with Instagram:

1: Don’t rely just on Instagram

When forming your social media strategy Instagram is a great mobile marketing tool, but it is not the only tool. By design Instagram works best in conjunction with other sites. Especially visual friendly content sites like Pinterest, Tumblr, and Facebook, as these sites also offer the best viral impact for sharing and discussing photos.

2: Involve your Community

As with any social media campaign not only should you reply on your own pictures, you should reach out liking and commenting on their photos too, especially if they mention your product or brand. As we have seen before customer service through social media can be a great way to retain a customer who is having a problem.

Create contests, scavenger hunts, and other promotions that encourage your community to display your brand on their photo feed and on their other connected social media networks.

3: Let Your Community See Behind the Curtain

Often examples of companies and people doing great jobs marketing with Instagram have a few things in common. They’re active, they post interesting pictures, they engage their base, and they show people the world beyond the faces at the counter.

Personally my favorite examples of this are:

• @BarackObama which shows many pictures not only of President Obama at political rallies, but also more to my point the faces of the volunteers that make campaigns like his possible.
• @Starbucks is also a great example and has been referenced by many marketers for their use of Instagram. Often their pictures range from their brand to the fields in which the coffee beans are grown.

71   homes for sale

$650,000  median ask price

$79,000   low price

$24,900,000  high price

3286  average size

$432  average ask per foot

161  average dom

$1,959,721  average ask price

75   homes for sale

$629,000   median ask price

$239,000   low price

$5,900,000   high price

2852   average size

$293  average ask per foot

204  average days on market

$838,128   average ask price