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Silicon Valley

Financial Freedom At Last!

July 1, 2009 by justinnarin · Leave a Comment 

Freedom Debt Relief Review

Founded in 2002 by two Stanford Business School graduates, Freedom Debt Relief, a member of the Freedom Financial Network, has helped thousands of customers attain financial freedom through its innovative and industry-leading service. Committed to getting customers out of debt quickly and responsibly, Freedom Debt Relief implements customized debt resolution solutions that have helped customers become completely debt free in as few as 12-36 months. The reason for Freedom Debt Relief’s considerable success is the company’s unique “Debt Reduction Program.” To date, Freedom Debt Relief has served over 57,000 people nationwide, and has saved the company’s client $171 million.

An alternative to other debt relief programs, such as bankruptcy, debt consolidation, or credit counseling, Freedom Debt Relief’s “Debt Reduction Program” represents a uniquely aggressive and customer-centered approach to debt relief. Focused on minimizing harassment from collectors, Freedom Debt Relief works aggressively to negotiate a settlement between its customers and their creditors. Once an amicable arrangement has been reached, customers are notified and in many cases, a customer’s debt is settled for as little as 50% of their current balance*, amounting to thousands of dollars in savings. With less to pay, a typical Freedom Debt Relief client can become totally debt free in as little as 12-36 months through an affordable monthly payment.

With over 500 highly-trained employees in the United States, Freedom Debt Relief provides high-level service and industry expertise that has earned the company recognition in the pages of the San Francisco Business Times, the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as on the web at CNNMoney.com, MSNBC.com, and Entrepreneur.com.

Community Involvement

Freedom Debt Relief’s deep commitment to consumers is not exclusive to its “Debt Reduction Program.” Committed to top-down corporate responsibility, Freedom Debt Relief is a pioneering member of The Association of Settlement Companies (TASC), the foremost regulatory agency in the debt settlement industry and its debt consultants are IAPDA certified.

Freedom Debt Relief management and employees are also highly active in supporting local charities, including Second Harvest Food Bank, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, Samaritan House, Glow Foundation, Family Giving Tree and Best Buddies International.

Awards

* Freedom Debt Relief named “Best Places to Work 2009″ by the San Francisco Business Times & San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal.
* Freedom Debt Relief named “Best Places to Work 2008″ by the San Francisco Business Times & San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal.
* Freedom Debt Relief named “Best Places to Work 2008″ by the Phoenix Business Journal.
* Freedom Debt Relied ranked 3rd in Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2008 100 Hot Companies.
* Freedom Debt Relief named to Inc. 500’s “Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.”
* Freedom Debt Relief co-founders named 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for the Northern California. (Past recipients include Google, eBay & Shutterfly.)

Locations

Freedom Debt Relief is headquarter in San Mateo, CA (part of San Francisco/Silicon Valley metropolitan area), with additional offices in Sacramento, CA and Phoenix, AZ.

Silicon Valley

Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Peninsula

May 23, 2009 by marcitz · Leave a Comment 

With a good run on the stock market and even some good news about housing sales I think its time for an example before anyone gets too cozy that the worst is behind us.

To play it safe you need to think about where we are in the economic cycle the same way as an important scene in the movie Titanic.  This is the scene where the ship, which has been slowly sinking for about an hour, suddenly levels off when the submerged part of the boat (partially) breaks away.  Everyone is relieved that they are floating level when all of a sudden they get pulled down in a rush to the bottom.  The sinking part of the housing market just (partially) broke away and everyone is giving that sign of relief.  Strike up the band!
 
 
Here is why we are in for that second more hellish ride straight to the bottom.  In the short term the credit markets will get a swift kick when we finally have a large bank failure come to light. Give it 3-6 months and my FDIC insured money is on Bank of America (eventhough they passed their “stress” test). There goes the financing revival. Second of all housing will get another kick in the pants in two years when interest rates have to start going up again (to combat eventual inflation).  We have seen the recent good news being the result of lower interest rates so what happens when those interest rates go up? 
 

Also as any real estate agent will tell you “location, location, location”.  Well while prices have begun to level in the outskirts like Vallejo they haven’t really begun their fall in Silicon Valley and the Peninsula.  Right now people here think “whew that wasn’t so bad” (only a 10% drop in value) but in reality what these market movements (dramatically falling median home prices) presage is a large fall coming to the Peninsula this year.  Yes everyone is buying homes in the cheaper areas of the “bay area” which is what is driving down the median.  That means less buyers on the Peninsula (in which you can’t find any homes close to the current depressed median).  Its only a matter of time before it finally hits here.

My prediction (or is that a “sinking feeling”) is that this summer will feel “soft” on the peninsula and that will prick the confidence bubble leading to the same panic here that happened last year in the suburbs.  This is when 30-40% price drops (peak-to-trough) become a reality in Palo Alto by summer 2010.  Additionally the bank efforts to artificially restricted supply of foreclosures will finally give way as all banks decide they need to get out before its too late.
 
Impossible you say?  Remember it was once said that the housing market could not possible crash the same way the NASDAQ did during our last bubble.  Really??  Have a look at this graph which offsets the NASDAQ peak to correspond with the peak in Bay Area housing prices.

housing-vs-nasdaq1

Oh and lets not forget that the housing market is permeated by many myths that are proving to be quite untrue (and therefore won’t be there to save this market).  For a detailed analysis of these myths please point your browser here.

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