Gurada

Woodstoves and inserts are more efficient than open fireplaces and, if properly installed, can be quite adequate. However many difficulties have been experienced, especially with poor connections between fireplace inserts and original chimney flues.

Liability (in the context of this article) is the state of being legally responsible to compensate someone for property damage or injury. Almost anyone involved in a real estate transaction could be open to potential liability. Here is an example which illustrates the issue of liability…

A home is sold with a wood burning space heater. If a house fire occurs because of an inadequate installation, who is to blame? The vendor? The Realtor? What about the home inspector? What if the home inspector was able to inspect only part of the total system? What if the type of system required more tools for dismantling and testing, and considerably more time than available?

The key issue here is what the purchaser thinks he or she is getting from the parties involved.

Protect yourself, and avoid potential liability – the easy way.

A complete inspection of any wood burning appliance involves an evaluation of every part of the heating system, from the floor pad to the chimney cap. All of these parts are covered in the codes, so compliance can only be determined if every part is inspected.

The chimney is usually the most difficult part of the system to inspect properly. Chimneys which run up through the house are often inaccessible at critical points, such as ceiling and attic penetrations. In some cases, even though you can see sections of the chimney, they cannot be reached with a tape measure to confirm their clearance to combustible building materials. Flue liners are subject to cracking inside masonry chimneys, or buckling and corrosion in the case of metal chimneys. It is difficult to inspect a chimney liner unless it has just been cleaned.

Why not have a certified wood heating technician perform a thorough cleaning and inspection, before the house is listed for sale?

Most state and provincial fire codes, as well as most household insurers, require homeowners to maintain the safety of their chimneys and inspect them at least once a year. Consulting a certified chimney sweep will ensure the present and future owners’ safety, and help relieve the liability issues for all parties involved.

A certified technician or chimney sweep will prepare a detailed, written report and have the homeowner sign it. He or she will make sure the homeowner understands the report, especially those areas where problems are found.

A Simple Solution:

Aside from the safety and liability issues, if a wood burning installation is disassembled, thoroughly cleaned and inspected prior to the house being listed, all parties will be aware of the physical condition of the system before an offer to purchase is presented.

There will be no surprises after the fact. Deals will not fall through because of defects discovered, or concerns raised as a result of a subsequent home inspection. Inspection by a certified professional prior to listing can streamline and simplify the process of purchase and sale.

Even though the Internet has been around for a long time and many people are “educated” about the Internet, most have little knowledge about what a web site is and what can it do for their business.

A web site is anything and everything you want it to be. Let me elaborate on that.

If you have a business and want to expand your markets, you build a web site.

If you have a business and want to improve customer satisfaction, you build a web site.

If you have a business and want to take advantage of technology while remaining fairly unbiased in technology at a basic level, you build a web site.

If you want to market to customers outside of your geographical boundaries, you build a web site.

If you want your friends and family to view pictures, communicate with you, you build a web site.

If you are just starting in your business and need a way to inform potential customers about you and your business, you build a web site.

As you can see, a web site has many uses. It wasn’t uncommon in the early days (6-7 years back) of the Internet to see “This is me and my dog” web sites. However, the trend has changed today and business sites have taken over.

One thing I like about the web and the Internet over traditional (print) media is the fact that changes and updates can be made (almost) instantly. Try that in print.

As well, a web site can be made truly dynamic and flexible; almost making it totally customizable to each user, giving them a unique and personal touch.

In my business, I come across tons of questions on what really is a web site and what do I need to do to build a web site for my business.

I will list below some of the key criteria you will need to get started with a web site. Remember, these are my thoughts and opinions. If you are confused, send me an email at epicardo@netmedian.com.

1. Your domain name: Your domain name identifies you and gives you a unique identity across the Internet. Domain names come with an extension. In the earlier days .com was the most popular domain name. It largely is today as well, although many other extensions (.net, .biz, .tv) are gaining popularity as well. Shop around before you buy a domain keeping in mind that the cheapest may not necessarily be the best.

2. A web host: Your web site needs to reside on a computer (typically called the web host) that runs special programs (typically web server among other things) and is connected to the Internet. It is through this computer that your information can be seen by prospects/customers around the world.

3. A web site: This is simply a collection of pages, images and information that reflects you and your business. Creation of web sites are an entirely different subject altogether and I will address this in separate posts. If you need to know right now, email me or visit my site and view the Web Design page.

4. Web content: Can you imaging reading teh newspaper everyday with the same headlines and information? You would stop reading it, right? Well, the web is the same way. New and fresh content keeps your site alive and the search engines happy. Content that is relevant to your business always brings back visitors. In fact, if your content is really good, others may start linking to it or promoting it, giving you added links and visitors.

5. Visitors: Build It and they will come? Sadly, this isn’t true with the Internet. Once a web site has been built, there are quite some other activities that need to be done in order to get your visitors to visit your site (also called hits, in a general way). This opens up the topic of Internet Marketing, another of my favorites. However, I will address this in a series of posts later on as it can be fairly exhaustive. You can visit my web site section on Internet Marketing to get a sneak peek.

6. Other useful and needed stuff: Besides the points mentioned above, you also need good sales copy (stuff that people/prospects read) to convert visitors into buyers, you need to develop a good mailing list so you can harvest that list by offering complementing and relevant products to your buyers. you also need to automate some of the backend processes so you do not waste time processing each and every transaction, query or enquiry from your visitors/buyers.

Can this be done for a small- or medium-sized company? Definitely.
Is it too expensive to get started? Certainly not.
Does it take too long to get a basic web site built? I would say approximately two to three weeks.

The web is a very interesting medium to disseminate information about you, your business and your products. People have made careers by specializing in areas like Web Design and Internet Marketing. In my opinion, the Internet has truly leveled the business playing field. My advice: don’t get caught behind.

Elvin Picardo
Delivering Net Results to Small Business
Author of numerous articles on Web Development and Internet Marketing
10723 159th St, Surrey, BC V4N 3J1 Canada
http://www.netmedian.com
epicardo@netmedian.com Contact me

Many people think appraisals and assessments are the same thing or at least that they should be for the same amount. The truth is they can vary greatly. Let’s look at each of them.

Appraisals

An appraisal is an estimate of market value. An appraiser can use many methods for coming up with this estimate. For income producing property, the appraiser may capitalize the value of the income stream. (It would take “x” dollars of capital invested at a “y” rate of return to produce an income equal to the rental income generated by this property.) For other properties, an appraiser may use “replacement value.” (It would cost “x” dollars to build this structure if it were being built today.)

Appraisers usually use “comparable sales” when evaluating the market value of a home. They look at nearby properties with similar characteristics, which have sold in the recent past to see at what price they sold. They typically give the most weight to the property they deem to be most like the property they are appraising.

Buyers and sellers generally encounter appraisals when the buyer’s lender has an appraiser make an evaluation of the market value of the property being sold. The lender wants to be sure of the value of the collateral for the loan. An interesting feature that comes into play in this situation is that one indication of value is at what price two unrelated parties will agree to buy and sell the same property. In other words, what is the contract price the seller and buyer of this property agreed on (if they are not relatives).

Assessments

An assessment is the value your local government puts on your property for the purpose of taxing it. How this value is derived varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some communities say the value is the same as market value. Some say the value is a percentage of market value. Some appear to actually do what they say they do, and some do not.

I was once a partner in an investment property that we were offering for sale at the time the county re-assessed it. Imagine my annoyance when the assessment came in at one hundred and forty percent of the offer price. We weren’t dummies. The partners were real estate professionals. I appealed the re-assessment, but my appeal was turned down. I offered to sell the property at the assessed price to the appraiser the county had hired to handle the appeals when he was telling me why he could not reduce our assessment. He did not take me up on my offer. Our property sold at the listed price months later. We had paid six months’ taxes on the property at a higher than market value.

On another occasion I helped some elderly people sell a farm they’d lived in all their adult lives. The farm sold for a price a great deal higher than the value at which it had been assessed.

I believe the two examples are fairly typical. Many jurisdictions will “puff up” assessments for businesses and investors and “low ball” assessments for people who have lived in their homes for a long time. Sometimes there are formulas for doing this. “Land use” is one such concept, i.e., the property is taxed at its value as a farm and the fact that it is ripe for dense residential and commercial development is ignored or deferred. Sometimes there are no formulas. It is just done.

For these reasons, it is usually not a good idea to put too much credence in the assessed value of a property when you are trying to figure out market value. They may be the same. They may be vastly different.

Do strangers scare or intimidate you? If you’re planning to try to sell your home yourself, you’ll have to get used to it. You’ll also be opening yourself up to potentially dangerous situations and legal liabilities. That’s why even many experienced real estate agents will hire another agent to list their own home.

Even so, the lure of saving the usual six percent sales commission is hard to ignore, because it can add up to a significant portion of your equity. But if you’re going to try to sell your home yourself, you’ll need to become an expert in a number of areas. First, you must understand local and national real estate laws and become adept at sales techniques. Visiting open houses in your market area can help you to learn the methods used by successful real estate agents.

Once you feel comfortable with real estate law and the sales process, you can begin working toward earning the sales commission yourself. Don’t think of it as saving money, because you’ll soon discover that selling a home can be hard work, so you might as well pay yourself the commission.

Like any other job, selling a home requires knowledge and skills for success. Besides reading books, newspaper articles, and doing Internet research, you can seek help from escrow officers and mortgage lenders. You’ll find them quite helpful, because they hope you’ll use their professional services if you succeed in selling your home. Therefore, it pays to make friends with an escrow officer and a lender long, even before you’ve located an actual buyer.

Whether you use a real estate agent or not, a mortgage broker will be happy to provide free financial flyers to potential buyers. Offering zero or low-down financing, and being willing to help with closing costs could be just the incentive necessary to a entice a buyer into choosing your home.

Research your sales price carefully

- Check www.realtor.com and your local MLS listings to price your competition

- Request a property profile of your home from your local title office

Experiment with your sales price by running a small ad. If you get a sizeable number of calls, you’ll know you’re in the right ball park. If no one calls, either your ad isn’t effective or you’ve priced your home too high. On the other hand, if your phone never stops ringing, you’ve probably underpriced your home.

Pricing too high will cost you time, extra mortgage payments, advertising costs, and credibility. If your home’s been on the market a long time, you’ll hear comments like this from prospective buyers when you talk to them on the phone: “Oh, you mean it’s that house that’s been on the market forever? No, thanks, there must be something wrong with it.”

Selling a home isn’t easy, even for a real estate professional, but you can sell your home yourself, if you’re willing do your homework and then earn your commission, through hard work and a great deal time.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

Because of the wide variety of mortgage lenders offering home loans to people with low FICO scores, it is very possible to secure mortgage financing with bad credit. After a foreclosure, few people are in a hurry to buy a new home. While waiting has its advantages, this is not a requirement. Here are a few tips to help buyers find a mortgage following a foreclosure.

What is a Foreclosure?

If you own a home, you are likely familiar with how foreclosures work. When a buyer purchases a home, they are required to make monthly payments to a lender. Unfortunately, situations arise which makes it difficult for some homeowners to maintain regular payments.

For the most part, lenders will not foreclosure if payments are a few days late. Moreover, foreclosures rarely occur for one missed payment. Some mortgage lenders are willing to assist borrowers who experience financial hardships. Yet, if payments stop altogether, or the mortgage is at least 90 days past due, lender can proceed with a foreclosure.

Bouncing Back after Foreclosure

Having a home foreclosed will have a negative effect on your credit. Nonetheless, there are ways to recover. If your goal is to purchase a home in the near future, there are specific steps that should be followed.

For starters, be patient and allow time to rebuild your credit. Even though several people are able to secure financing shortly after having a home foreclosed, these home loans carry high interest rates. In some instances, this may increase mortgage payments by as much as $200.

If possible, wait at least 12 to 24 months before applying for a new home loan. During this recovery period, obtain new lines of credit or maintain a good standing with current creditors.

Search for Sub Prime Lenders

If you are able to achieve a credit score of 680 or higher, it may be possible to receive a prime loan. If not, apply with a sub prime lender. These lenders service a multitude of loans for all credit types. Thus, if you have a bankruptcy, foreclosure, collection accounts, or too much debt, sub prime lenders can help. Here is a list of recommended Subprime Mortgage Lenders online. It’s important to use a reputable lender online to make sure your personal information is secure.

Below are ten categories of real estate, and different ways to invest in them. The best one for you is something only you can decide, according to your particular needs. To help you do that, I list a couple good points and bad points for each type.

1. Renting single family homes. Good points: An easier way to get started, and good long term return on investment. Bad points: Being a landlord isn’t much fun, and you typically wait a long time for the big pay-off. You also lose all your income when a house is vacant.

2. Fixer-uppers. Good points: Fast return on your investment, and it can be more creative work. Bad points: More risk (many unpredictables), and you get taxed heavily on the gain.

3. Low income housing. Good points: Similar to any other rentals, but with higher cash flow. Bad points: Similar to any other rentals, but with more repairs and tenant problems.

4. Selling rent-to-own houses. Good points: If you buy, then sell on a rent-to-own arrangement, you get higher rent, and the buyer is usually responsible for maintenance. Bad points: Bookkeeping can be tricky, and most tenants don’t complete the purchase (this can be an advantage too, but it does mean more work for you).

5. Commercial properties. Good points: Multi-year triple-net leases mean little management and high returns. Bad points: A tough market to break into, and you can lose income on vacant storefronts for a year at a time.

6. Land, split and resold. Good points: Simpler than some real estate investments, with the possibility of great profits. Bad points: It can be a slow process, and you have expenses, but no cash flow while you wait.

7. Boarding houses. Good points: You’ll generate more cash flow renting a house by the room, especially in a college town. Bad points: You’ll generate more headaches renting a house by the room, especially in a college town.

8. Invest cash, sell with terms. Good points: A high rate of return is possible by paying cash to get a good price, and selling on easy terms to get a high price AND high interest. Bad points: You need a lot of cash, and you tie up your capital for a long time.

9. Invest, live in it, sell it. Good points: The tax law lets you fix it up, and sell it for a big tax-free profit after two years (if you live in it), then start the process again. Bad points: You may become attached to your investment, and you’ll have to move a lot.

10. Pure speculation. Good points: You can make large profits buying in the path of growth and holding until values rise, and it is a low-management investment. Bad points: Growth in value isn’t always predictable, you have expenses with no income while you’re waiting, and transaction costs can eat much of the profits.

There are many ways to invest in real estate. These ten are just to get you thinking about what is possible, and what type of investing suits your personality. Once you figure that out, you may want to look into other categories of real estate investment.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

It is believed by some health experts that a diet high in alkaline foods is the way to manage chronic disease.

Whether you are dealing with Arthritis, chronic headaches, fatigue or sinus, a high alkaline diet may be your ticket to long term relief of a variety of symptoms. The foundation of this lifestyle of eating is to keep a healthy alkaline level of 7.4. Keeping your pH level balanced is a major contributor in the production of good yeast in the body. Still a ratio of acidic food is necessary for optimum benefits of alkaline foods.

You will find a variety of foods included and encouraged in daily consumptions. Menu planning will help keep you on track as most food is allowed in moderation. Your fruit choices include dried figs, apricots, oranges, apples, bananas, blackberries, pineapple, raisins, cantaloupe, watermelon and dates. Your vegetables are also plentiful. Choose from beet greens, cabbage, dandelion greens, bake potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, eggplant, Swiss chard, mushrooms, squash and turnips. Remember to include a small portion of acid producing food to balance the alkaline foods. Acidic foods aid in digestion so include meat, as in chicken or turkey, veggies as in Brussels sprouts, asparagus. Cheese is also a great choice. Nuts are acidic as well as plums.

Meet with your doctor to rule out any health issues that might make this lifestyle change not a good choice for you but once you gain his approval than really dig in and learn all you can! You may find an additional bonus to this way of eating and this is losing weight. It’s a gradual process as the body is restored to health. Don’t forget your grains! These alkaline foods include brown rice, sprouted grain bread, tortillas, barely and buckwheat. Enjoy and be well!

Now eProvided is assisting consumers worldwide by allowing for instant downloads of the clients’ data online. eProvided.com founder Bruce Cullen states “We can now deliver in hand recovered customer data and lost images in 24 hours or less to anywhere on the planet”. If you are on vacation and have lost your photos or data and need them retrieved this is an impressive solution. Company expansion to Eastern and Western Europe are also being discussed at this time.

eProvided has also launched new services especially aimed to target nationwide chains such as Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s & Best Buy. Many consumers are not aware of digital image recovery services and many times assume they have lost their photos or data for good. An impressive 95% of cases eProvided has handled to date have ended in successful retrieval of consumer images and/or data.

Image Recovery – DVD Data Recovery – CD Recovery – Digital Photo Recovery – All Types, All Devices

eProvided is now the fastest growing digital camera & data recovery company. The company’s Quality Assurance Technical Manager, Bruce Cullen, and his team have a wealth of experience in file recovery. eProvided has experienced an incredible 7000% increase in web activity since inception.

The Image-Recover© process salvages lost images and data from a wide variety of corrupt, deleted, or damaged media formats:

SmartMedia | CompactFlash | Memory Stick | MMC-SD | MiniSD | PCMCIA | Microdrive | SD or PC Card devices | USB Devices – USB Jump Drives | Hard Drives – USB Hard Drives | CD/DVD/CD-RW/CD-R/DVD-RW/DVD-R | iPod Devices – iStick | xD Card | and all others.

eProvided was recently commended by AeroVironment for the retrieval of critical data that is vital to NASA’s Helios flights from the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Digital Photo Recovery – Compact Flash Data Recovery – Digital Photo Recovery – All types

eProvided’s President is interested in working with card makers to support consumers recovery needs; “It’s a win win for both the buyers of the memory stick devices and the memory card manufacturers; consumers would have access to recovery options from media makers customer support centers, referring eProvided digital image recovery services directly”

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Visit the Digital Photo Recovery Main Site – http://www.eProvided.Com

eProvided is hiring for data recovery jobs, if you are looking for a data recovery position contact eProvided.com via e-mail at contact@eprovided.com

Contact Information Bruce Cullen eProvided Email eProvided 714-225-9700

Divorce is hard, there’s no question about it. Not only has your marriage ended but, most likely, your lifestyle is undergoing some drastic changes also. This is especially true if you are forced to leave the place that was home to you and your family.

Depending on your particular situation, you may find that moving into an apartment is your only option. Many times it’s hard to think of an apartment as home after you’ve been accustomed to living in a house surrounded by family. But, if you choose your apartment wisely, you may find it’ll become a cozy, comfortable haven.

Take some time to select your apartment.

Remember, this is going to be your new home. Don’t rush the selection process. Decide how much you can afford to spend for rent and look at as many apartments in that range as you can. Location should be one of your prime considerations. Your life is complicated enough right now, don’t make it worse by choosing an inconvenient location where commuting becomes a problem.

If your children will be visiting regularly be sure your apartment is large enough to let them feel at home. If possible, select an apartment with a room just for them. Let them have a hand in decorating it so they’ll feel a part of it. If you have joint custody of the children and they will be living with you while attending school, you’ll also want to choose an apartment that is convenient to their schools and recreation areas.

The type of apartment you choose will be important to how well you adapt to living in it. Like a house, choose one that fits your personality. If you like puttering in the yard, make sure there is some private space where you can do that ~ even if it’s just planting flower boxes on your patio. If you enjoy cooking, make sure the kitchen meets your requirements.

You also need to consider the atmosphere of your apartment complex. If you’re going to have children living with you part time, most likely a singles community would not be the best choice. Neither would you probably want to choose an apartment in a building that is filled with senior citizens. If there are pets involved, make sure rules don’t prohibit them.

Turn your apartment into a home.

Don’t consider your apartment a place of exile! It’s your new home and if you want to be happy there, you must give it your attention. Unpack the boxes and arrange your furniture in a way that’s pleasing to you. Hang pictures or other art work on the walls and stamp your new home with your own personality. If you take pride in decorating it according to your own tastes, you’ll find it becomes a welcoming and comfortable place to be. Remember you no longer have to consider anyone else’s preferences ~ this is all yours to do with as you please!

The more you’re apartment reflects you and your interests, the more it will seem like home.

Enjoy it!

About the Author:

Kyle Thomas Haley has been helping people relocate on the Internet since 1999 with Apartment and Relocation Websites:

The Apartment Net and Relocation and Moving Guide

Copyright 1999 – 2005 STANZEEKAY Inc. You have permission to publish this article, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included and none of the links or content are removed or changed.

There is no denying it power walking techniques is a fantastic way to get into shape and then continue to keep fit. As I’m sure you can imagine you will not be moving at the speed that you would normally be attaining if you were running but it can still have significant advantages to your overall health and fitness.

One of the most advantageous benefits to power walking is that the amount of impact is greatly reduced as opposed to the amount that your joints can receive while running. Although running is a good exercise this amount of impact can damage your joints over an extended period of time. Power walking however does not have any significant level of impact by comparison. Because the feet are never both lifted from the ground of the same time your body weight is never brought down with the same level of force that it is while running and this can be a great benefit to the health of your joints.

Of course as with everything else you have to learn how to do it properly and acquiring a good knowledge of the correct power walking techniques is an ideal way to start. Power walking techniques are significantly different from normal walking and are designed to get the maximum forward momentum and give you as much speed as possible and thus the best exercise experience.

By using the correct power walking techniques you can actually achieve a speed far greater than many people can get to by running. Indeed you could actually, when a little bit more experienced and familiar with the techniques, find yourself overtaking many of the recreational runners in the park! Power walking is an extremely efficient way of exercising and allows you to make better use of your energy while lessening the possibility of an injury. It also does efficiently burn off a great many calories so if you are doing exercise to lose weight this is an ideal solution.

Power walking techniques are best applied by keeping your head up and level and not looking down, but ahead to where you are going so that you head does not drop at any time during the exercise motion. Your arms do need to be bent as you walking but do not be tempted to swing them wildly around in an attempt to gain further momentum. Instead, just move them gently and in a way that is comfortable and fits in with your walking. Your walking movement should come initially from the hip area so that it swings forward with the leg following and then straightening out. As you move forward you should apply energy to the back foot so that your forward momentum is maintained. Try your best not to take extra long steps, just use a stride that is natural to both the motion and the speed that you are going.

Of course it is not possible to really describe power walking techniques accurately and it is always better to learn by watching somebody do it and having them show you the correct technique. There is no great mystery to power walking techniques it is really just a question of practicing until it feels right to you.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Treadmill-Solutions.com. He provides more treadmill ratings, recommendations and information on what are the best treadmills that you can research in your pajamas on his website.