Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Getting your home ready to sell is sometimes a much more complicated job than people realize. Not only do you need to find a good company to assess the house, a good contractor to fix any defects, and a good Realtor to put your house on the market, but you will also have people constantly walking through the house, trying to decide if they want to buy it. Does this sound daunting? Well, it can be, but not if you follow a few simple steps to make your home feel fresh, clean, and inviting.
Clean the house.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you have no idea how many people invite a new Realtor or even potential buyers over to look at their house thinking that they will want to see how the house “normally looks.” Buyers are not dumb; they know that houses are normally pretty messy, especially if you have children. What they want to see is your house’s potential, which can only be brought out by a good scrub.
Clean the carpets.
Those of you with hardwood floors will need to get out the polish. However, those with carpets and rugs should probably call the professionals. While renting a steam cleaner at the local grocery store might work for upkeep, heavy duty stain removal solutions and deep cleaning systems are required if you want to keep the interest of potential buyers. Remember, you want your carpets looking new and pristine for the “new owners” so they will not try to use “needs new carpet” as a condition of purchase.
Paint the walls. Now, if you have just painted the house, you might get to skip this step. However, if you have just painted your house pink with sponge-painted stars on the ceiling, you will need to paint again.
The color of the paint should be neutral in most places, brighter in the kitchen, and professional looking in the office. Also, if you have accent walls in your home, consider painting over them. While they might look nice to you, you don’t want to restrict your buyers.
For instance, if you have an Asian theme complete with a dark red accent wall in the living room, some buyers might say, “not my style,” and move on without seeing the room’s potential. A good rule of thumb is to make the house as “buyer friendly” as possible.
Clear out the clutter. Speaking of “buyer friendly,” new buyers don’t want to see all of “your stuff” in “your house.” Typically, buyers want to picture “their stuff” in “their new house.” So, get boxes and get to work. Remove all knick-knacks, toys, family photos, and air looms from the shelves, bookcases, and cabinets.
You will also need to take most of the books out of the bookshelves.
This will create space for their minds to picture their furniture and shelf stuff fitting into the house with ease.
Stage the house. Leave a few collector’s editions or nice looking books in the bookshelves, a few candles and some nice hand towels on the bathroom counter, a few magazines in a fan pattern on the coffee table, and fresh flowers that match the kitchen décor on the dining room table. Remove any pieces of furniture that don’t really match or that take away from the assumed value of the home.
For instance, the old beat-up sailor’s trunk that your grandfather gave you from his days in the Navy doesn’t necessarily have to go in the family room.
The idea is to make each room of your home look like an inviting place of comfort and quality.
Bake cookies. If you don’t know how to make cookies, buy pre-made dough at the store and throw them in the oven at least 20 minutes prior to any showing. This will give the cookies enough time to bake and cool, and it will give you enough time to leave the house before the potential buyers arrive. Why bake cookies? Because the smell of fresh baked cookies (combined with the look of fresh paint, clean carpets, and staged rooms) will help any house feel like a welcoming environment and a happy home.

Short Pay Versus Short Sale In Foreclosure

There is often confusion about what is a short sale and a short pay with a lender in foreclosure. A short sale is where the lender is willing to discount the existing mortgage(s) and sell to an investor for a "cash" transaction or an end buyer who does financing. Rarely the lender will finance a buyer if he has excellent credit and qualifies for another loan, and the lender believes the buyer will be living in the property.
The only reason this wouldn't happen is because of the lender's internal policies or additional existing liens on the property.
A strict policy of lenders is that the homeowner may not receive any proceeds from the sale of the property if the lender agrees to the short sale. However, a short pay is when the lender discounts the mortgage just like a short sale, except they are willing to sell the property back to the homeowner.
The motive for this "change-of-heart" with regard to the homeowner is purely economical. The lender believes it is in their best interest to get rid of the property and they will be receiving the same amount in the final analysis.
Let's look at a situation where the lender might sell the home back to the current owner.
If there are liens (IRS or tax liens) or judgments that will not be extinguished at the foreclosure auction the lender will have to assume these liens to sell the property. But by selling the mortgage to the homeowner, the homeowner has the problem with extinguishing these liens and the lender will net more money even with taking a discount on the mortgage.
One thing that immediately comes to mind is "Where will the homeowner get the money to buy the mortgage?" The lender doesn't care and the homeowner needs to start finding an investor, private lender, or relative who has the money to buy the mortgage or who can get financing to get the mortgage purchased from the lender. Remember the new mortgage is going to be at 80% or less of the old amount which is "instant equity" to the homeowner since he is still on the deed. If someone else puts up the money for the purchase of the mortgage, isn't this just a short sale in sheep's clothing? No, because the lender is allowing the homeowner to retain title to the property unlike what happens in a typical short sale where the homeowner loses title immediately at the time of closing.
The huge advantage of a short pay is the homeowner retains title and possession of the property which is the wish of 85%+ of homeowners in foreclosure.
The downside is the challenge of raising the money necessary to purchase the mortgage.
The homeowner is potentially in competition with an investor who he may not know, but who is also looking to get his property and offers the lender more money to buy the mortgage.
If there is any way the homeowner can raise the money to buy the mortgage, he should do it only after asking the lender if he will do a short sale and then approach a trusted comrade to buy the mortgage until the homeowner can get refinanced in a couple of years.

Fair Housing Act Applies to Everyone

Implemented in 1968 by Congress, the Fair Housing Act was altered in 1988 and protects home buyers and renters alike from all types of discrimination.

Under the Fair Housing Act, sellers and property owners are not allowed to deny a sale or reject a rental application because of race, color, religion, nationality, gender, disabilities or family status.
A seller stands in violation of the Fair Housing Act if he or she refuses your bid on a house or rental application based on any of the qualities listed above.

This includes a sudden increase in price to make it cost prohibitive for parties they deem "undesirable."
Although the Fair Housing Act first was drafted in 1968, it was significantly revised in 1988 to increase the ways in which the act thwarts discrimination. The object of the act is to halt discrimination in the area of real estate.

A home buyer or renter is safe under the act against discrimination based on their race, color, religion, nationality, gender, family status, or whether or not they have a disability.

The Fair Housing Act promises that as a renter or buyer, a landlord or property owner cannot discriminate against you under the aforementioned attributes.
Increasing the cost of a property or the rental price based on any of the circumstances listed above violates the law under the Fair Housing Act.

A seller that refuses to sell or lease the home based on one of these qualities also stands in noncompliance of the law.
The Fair Housing Act really has assisted minorities and other marginalized sections of society gain access to better real estate. Before this legislation was enacted, these groups could be barred from purchase in the best districts through threats or intimidation.

The Fair Housing Act really has established changes in this aspect of real estate. Now, a seller simply cannot refuse to sell you a home based on race, religion, family status, gender, nationality, color, disabilities.

The law applies to renting a home or apartment as well.

The landlord is simply not allowed to discriminate against you because of a disability or because your family includes kids. Besides refusing to rent or sell the home to you, it is also illegal for there to be any coercion or threatening words or gestures during the sale or rental process.
The Fair Housing Act does come with a few areas that are not covered in the legislation. Communities are authorized to mandate that they are a retirement community or nursing home that only accepts residents over the age of fifty-five.

Although this is an exemption, a community could not reject to rent or sell to married couples or single people.
If you believe that your housing rights have been violated, you can file an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the governmental office that enforces the Fair Housing Act. HUD will then conduct a fair investigation of your position.
If HUD determines that your claims are authenticated, you may be entitled to acquire compensatory damage or punitive damage settlements, or the accused person or persons might be required to make immediate changes to his or her policies.

If the case was related to the design and construction of a dwelling, HUD might also enforce remedies that include making changes the house to comply with the Fair Housing Act's requirements.
The Fair Housing Act also allows for federal lawsuits by the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as private party lawsuits filed in federal or state courts.

The enforcement authority given under the Act is broad, so most state and local fair housing agencies can also look into violations and bring enforcement actions.

Homeowners Face the Reality of Upside Down Mortgages

The idea of being upside down on a vehicle is not that new.

This commonly occurs when a consumer makes the decision to purchase a new vehicle before they have paid off their existing vehicle. As a result, the balance of the loan on the existing vehicle is added to the note for the new vehicle.

The result is that the consumer owes more on the new vehicle than it is actually worth.
Today, many consumers are finding they are now upside down on their mortgages. Unfortunately, this did not occur because they bought a new house and added in the cost of their old home to the new mortgage.

This situation occurred in many cases because of the rapid rise of home values in many areas followed by the real estate market crash that sent home values subsequently spiraling downward.
In many markets, especially in California, the majority of homeowners are now actually upside down on their mortgages and that number is increasing rapidly.

A large number of these homeowners are consumers who purchased their homes at the peak of the boom. During that time home values doubled and even tripled within a short period of time in many areas.

This situation leaves many homeowners wondering what they should do. Options are often based on whether or not the homeowner is able to continue making their monthly mortgage payments. While some are able to pay their monthly mortgages, especially if they have a fixed rate mortgage, that is not the case with others who took out adjustable rate mortgages.
Homeowners who can still afford their monthly mortgage payments and who are not feeling the pressure to sell due to employment reasons may find they are better off by riding out the market decline.

There is a wide belief that once the market bottoms out it will begin to rebound. If that occurs, these homeowners could still be poised to make a profit on their home once the market does rebound.
Most other homeowners are not so lucky. In some cases, homeowners quite simply have no option but to move immediately rather than wait - usually due to relocation or job loss. Homeowners who secured adjustable rate mortgages may also find they are no longer able to afford their monthly mortgage payments as they increase with increasing interest rates.

These homeowners are facing the acerbic reality of house foreclosures when they are not able to cover their debts or refinance with home mortgages because of stricter loan restrictions.
Homeowners are also facing the reality that their options are reduced because they have little if any equity in their homes.

The amount of equity that a homeowner has in their home is often determined by the amount of their down payment. During the housing boom it was quite common for many buyers to purchase homes with very little, if any, down payment.

At the time it seemed like a good deal; however, today it is causing significant problems as housing values continue to decline.
This situation is causing more problems for homeowners who need to take out home equity loans to make needed home improvements or to consolidate higher interest debts. Even they are are amoung the handful of homeowners who have equity in their house, they are seeing lenders increasingly wary of handing out home equity loans. Just as the default rate on primary home mortgage loans are on the rise, so has the default rate on home equity loans.

Quite simply, banks and lenders are no longer willing to face an increased risk when they are already holding an increasing number of defaulted loans.
The ability to refinance homes has also dwindled in many locations. Not only are loan guidelines becoming stricter but most homeowners who are upside down are frequently finding the lower value of their home makes it nearly impossible to qualify for a new loan. In essence these homeowners now have negative equity and lenders are simply not willing to take on additional bank foreclosures.

History of Infomercials

It all began in the 1980’s. Ronald Regan was president and one of the many controversial things he did in that office was to deregulate the TV industry. Why did he do it? Well, as a conservative Republican he lived and breathed by the “free market rule,” which stated that the government didn’t belong in business, and businesses should live and die by the success or failure of their own practices and market forces.
At the same time, cable TV was just starting its expansion into the American television marketplace, and that opened up a huge broadcast venue which simply didn’t exist beforehand. Anybody with any experience in the broadcast industry was starting his own channel and pretty soon cable channels were commonplace.

The most successful channels at the time were religious based channels which were basically used for fundraising purposes.

There were literally hundreds of them, from local, small time reverends and ministers with dubious backgrounds, to nationally broadcast spiritual and religious shows, utilizing well-known religious figures.
At this point, two things happened. For one, many of the young, fledgling channels and networks who counted on ad revenue to keep themselves afloat attracted less than stellar ratings and starting going under.

And at the same time, the religious channels started to realize that their fundraising efforts were failing miserably in the late evening and wee hours of the morning.
Cheap broadcast space was born! And enterprising businessmen, more like vultures than saviors, swooped down and began to chew on the dying carcasses of the young cable industry, buying up blocks of cheap, late night, off peak broadcast time and running 30 minute or 60 minute, inexpensively produced commercials refashioned as entertainment programs.
Pretty soon there were infomercial superstars. Celebrities, as well as a cast of unknowns, found fame and fortune in the newly created infomercial industry.

There was Jane Fonda who captured lightening in a bottle with her exercise tapes simultaneously boosting the video business along with the infomercial business.

There was Ron Popeil, who marketed every gadget and device people didn’t even know they needed and made the switch from printed contact to electronic contact so successfully he’s still doing it today.

And there was Kenny Kingston who made the Psychic Hotline into one of the largest businesses in the world without even having anything to sell! Only in America and only in infomercials could such overwhelming success happen so quickly.
Soon, everybody with an idea was trying to come up with the next big thing. As is always the case with any new industry, immediately following the initial success there comes a huge wave of imitators and innovators trying to cash in.

And as always happens – most fail. There was such a huge crush of wannabes flooding into the business that production rates skyrocketed and broadcast time became more and more expensive and less and less available.

Almost overnight, the infomercial industry went from nothing to today’s enviable haul of billions of dollars annually. And that’s just in America. Successful infomercials, like Hollywood movies are translated into foreign languages and played all around the globe especially when they are celebrity driven.
The newly created infomercial industry was the precursor to the Home Shopping Network and QVC which are essentially 24 hour mini infomercials, product driven, price driven and celebrity driven. And now we have The Infomercial Channel – 24 hours a day of infomercials. Gone are the days of loud mouthed hucksters, snake oil salesmen yelling into the camera, hawking the latest “it slices! it dices!” home improvement device. Today, infomercials are slick, expensive and if they work, highly profitable. by: Richard Romando

What Goes Around Comes Around

I’ve spent a lifetime committed to helping others. It’s what gives me the greatest joy, fulfillment and satisfaction in life. I’m also a true believer in the old adage - “What goes around comes around.”
This is reinforced on many occasions when I encounter an old co-worker, friend or acquaintance who reminds me of how I inspired them, gave them guidance or helped them through a difficult time. These kinds of experiences always motivate me to keep putting good things out into the world.
We never know in advance what good may come from the gestures we put out there. Maybe it will inspire, encourage, educate, motivate or actually change someone’s life.

In any event, people will always come away knowing that they matter to you.
In business, as in life, it all comes down to people. People are your customers, co-workers, employees, leaders, managers, investors and vendors. Success in your business depends on the people you encounter. How you treat those people will have a significant impact on your bottom line.
Here are some ways to help people in your business and show them that they matter:
1. Deliver incredible customer service.
2. Give a single parent the afternoon off.
3. Pay someone more than you need to.
4. Send a hand-written note to an employee acknowledging a job well done.
5. Loan a subordinate a book that you’ve found to be helpful.
6. Tell someone struggling “I want to help you succeed,” and mean it.
7. Stop by and talk, without an agenda.
8. Share a resource that you’ve found useful.
9. Create a safe space for openness and honesty.
10. Let people tell you how they feel, and listen without interrupting.
I encourage you to think about the people that you impact, the lives that you touch and the positive changes that you can make. These are the true signs of leadership and in my opinion are more important than the money that you make, the position that you hold or the size of your office.
You can do good while you’re doing well. It may require you to think of new ways to do it, but when you focus on helping others, you’ll succeed in ways beyond measure.

How to Become a Motivational Speaker

Quite simply, the only way to become a motivational speaker is to train with someone. To begin with you have to decide what market you want to target.
You must choose from a field that includes but is not limited to finance, real estate, investing, religion, teen speakers, sales techniques and many more subjects of interest to companies and groups of people around the globe.
Pick your area of expertise or at least the subject you would like to speak to others about. Then seek out and pursue the best motivational speakers in that arena. Go and hear what they have to say and how they go about getting their message across.
Are they keynote speakers or just the warm up guys beforehand? You won’t start out as a keynote speaker until you have some sort of following, some type of record behind you.
But if you are gifted and you study and work heard, learn the basics, you have a chance to go to the top as quickly as anybody else does.
Leading motivational speakers often offer classes as well as books and other teaching aides to create new motivational speakers.
This may sound strange.
Why would a person at the top of his profession offer instruction on how to be a competitor? For the simple reason that the more people who are out there in the world, speaking about his teaching methods and using his motivational speaker training techniques, the more you work the more in demand he will become as a keynote speaker.
You have to start somewhere and taking your training as a student of the guys at the top is the quickest way to get yourself hired to speak at someone’s convention.
When a simple seminar or evening of lectures is not enough to achieve desired results, some companies hire extreme motivational speakers to come in and deliver a heavier blow. These people concentrate on one thing and one thing only – making businesses more profitable from the minute the speaker is done speaking.
Like all motivational speakers, the extreme speakers also offer extreme motivational speaker training designed to make you one of the foot soldiers who can go out and espouse his methods of generating more sales, or collecting those receivables, or capturing a bigger market share or whatever his particular slant is, to a number of businesses.
The market is almost limitless for extreme motivational speakers, the more the merrier, and a good student always help to make a teacher look even better.by: Ross Bainbridge