High school seniors financial literacy scores have gone from bad to worse as announced by the Jump$tart Coalition last week. High school seniors from across the United States took the Jump$tart Coalition survey and the mean score was 48%, a decrease from 52% in 2006. Rhode Island students received a mean score of 48% in 2008, a slight decrease from 49 percent in 2006. More Rhode Island students (29%) received a passing grade than the national average (26%).

At the press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said, Today, only eight states across the U.S. require personal finance before middle or high school graduation. I believe more states should consider making personal finance a requirement for all students who seek a high school diploma.

Rather than be discouraged by this news, Jim Hedemark, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition and I talked about the great programs they have to help improve the personal financial literacy of Rhode Island’s youth. Activities to occur in Rhode Island during Financial Literacy Month include:

• The Rhode Island State Champion LifeSmarts team from North Providence High School to compete in the national LifeSmarts competition in Minneapolis, MN on April 12 through 15.
• A meeting on April 15th, of the Special Legislative Commission to Study Youth Financial Education in Rhode Island Middle and High Schools
• The Rhode Island Jump$tart Coaltion annual Financial Literacy Leaders Luncheon to occur on April 22. This event is by invitation only due to space limitations. For further information, please inquire to Jim Hedemark at 401.385.9411.
• Late April through mid May, President Bush’s Financial Literacy Advisory Council’s endorsed high school financial literacy challenge that can be joined by high school teachers by visiting http://flc.treas.gov/

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

How do you expect to buy a house if you can’t even balance a checkbook? According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, as little as 10 hours of financial education can influence the practices and financial knowledge of young people.

Listen to the Podcast:

Listen to the entire show with guest Jim T. Hedemark.

 

 Real Estate Insight: 4/6/2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Spring is here in Rhode Island and everything is starting to come alive again, including the market! We actually got some positive economic news this week.  Existing homes sales rose 2.8 percent for single family homes and 3.7 percent for condominiums last month, adding to the speculation that the housing cycle may finally be bottoming out. These gains marked a 8.2 % decline in the median price of homes sold, but it is these more realistic prices that are pulling buyers off the sidelines. While the median sales price fell for most parts of the country, the Northeast showed an increase of almost $16,000 (3.12%) to an average $270,000. The strongest segment of the market here has been for low-end, first-time buyers, and the high end. Homes correctly priced over 1 million dollars are seeing plenty of offers.

Spring is  busy because families needing to move will start looking now so that they can time their move with the school year. Combine that with the fact that  New England never looks better than in the spring when everything is blooming, you have the greatest chance of selling your home in the spring.
To hedge your bet all year round, I spoke with landscape architect Kate Field this week, and she gave me some great ideas for a landscaping plan that  provides visual interest for each of the four seasons. The goal is to have flowering trees throughout spring and summer, fall foliage in autumn and good structure in winter:

• Hardscapes: Make sure the bones are in place, driveways, fences, walls, and decks form the framework for your yard, and provide year round interest.
• Immediate Curb Appeal: Create a great first impression or no one will even want to go inside. Clean it up to make it appealing to a prospective buyer,
• Low to no cost improvements: Make it neat and tidy, re-seed bare spots , prune the vines, Power wash your front walk, polish your door nob, put up shiny new house numbers, crisply edge the lawn , add dark brown mulch.
• Pansies add great color, either in pots or along the base.
• Flowering trees add great impact, Dogwoods, Cherry trees, Magnolias, and Crabapples have great impact in the Spring.
• Plant tall grasses or bushes around above ground pools to make them more appealing.
• Add a water fountain to mask noise, great for homes located close to busy roads.

This week’s Real Estate Insight:

First impressions are not only important for buyers, but for appraisers too. The Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers says a mature tree can have an appraised value of $1,000 to $10,000