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The Christmas break is a great time to look back on the previous year, work out what you did well, what could have been better and reset your goals for 2009.

It is the ideal time to review your personal goals, property goals and any other business goals. And crucially make sure you write them down! This will make a significant difference in how you do overall this year. Like many property investors I have seen some values drop, and some properties cause more issues than others, but have also seen big positives with such dramatic drops in borrowing rates. I also think, more than ever, the last 4 months of 2008 made me even more glad I invest in property rather than

a) Not invest in anything or
b) Invest in the stock market or a traditional pension.

While some of the property headlines are pretty negative this is understandable but it is all relative. Compared to the FTSE top 500 companies which saw drops of 33% over the last 12 months ie most pension funds saw a drop in value by a third, the UK property market dropping by an average of 12% over the last 12 months is a significant difference.

Within that average as always the most affordable parts of the UK did better eg Scotland dropped by just 2%, and areas such as Hull, Hartlepool and Cumbria all dropped by less than 5% as an average over 12 months.

But also remember if people didn’t need to move they generally didn’t move – the majority of people selling in the last 6-9 months were those who were “distressed” sellers or had to take a low offers – which was always going to have dramatic knock on effect on average prices – but this doesn’t clearly tell us the full story on affordability – and until probably later this year it is hard to say what true values are in many areas.

What is for sure, as soon as more credit comes back in, and there are clear indications this is continuing to improve, then low offers will be less likely to be accepted.

No one forecast such large credit restrictions in 2008 and the knock on effect in certain property markets, and it is hard to be sure what will happen in 2009 but one thing is clear – affordability and attractive rental yields are at the best they have been in the UK for the last 3-4 years.

Gross rental yields, which were at around 5-6% a year ago, are now at 6.5-8% due to prices dropping and rents rising in many areas.

Prices may have dropped by around 12% as an average across the UK, but if you have a varied portfolio say spread across the UK and a couple of emerging markets, your overall yield should have risen with borrowing rates dropping and rents rising. Compare this to owning shares in large companies, where it is unlikely dividends will have risen as they will often be cash poor with cashflow issues.

This makes buy to let more attractive than ever in the UK and markets such as Czech Republic!

So how long will these opportunities last?

Six months? 12 Months?

Already borrowing rates are improving, with libor rate down to under 3%, and several lenders are close to increasing the LTV they will lend, as long as rental coverage is there. It is great to be able to find deals again where you can invest for very little funds and make over £100 net a month!

I have spoken to 1-2 investors who have said they are looking to wait 6-9 months when they think prices will be lower.

Most people saying this have no real reason for saying this, apart from the fact they have read this may happen in the newspapers – and have no real way of measuring this as are not too close to the actual numbers – but it allows them to put off making a decision for a while – bit like saying I ll get fit in the New Year! Often people who would say this would not understand what is good value and what is not – and you won’t learn this in the newspapers! You should have your own clear idea on what is good value based on rental return and local affordability.

The main reason it is daft to wait is if you can buy an investment property now, for 20% below today’s market value ie perhaps as much as 30% less than last years value, tie up very little money in the process and have positive cashflow why risk waiting?!

When the bottom of the market is called it will probably be 2-3 months after the actual bottom of the market has occurred and if everyone suddenly realises the value of their property in these high yielding areas, and mortgages are more available, then you won’t be able to negotiate a 25% discount any longer that’s for sure!

Actually as soon as 85% mortgages are back, vendors will be under less pressure to give big discounts.

Read full article: Property Investment in the UK

  

The Growth of the Real Estate in India and How you can profit from it.

Indian realty is growing at 30%, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities. The $15 b realty market is expected to reach $ 90 b within the next 8 years. If you have proper info, you can profit from this bullish market.

The rise of the middle class ( 500 million ), Non Resident Indians investing in Indian realty, Foreign Direct Investment entering the market, expansion of MNCs and Indian multinationals, proliferation of eduational instistutions, growth of IT, BPO, food processing & health care - all these are the factors responsible for the growth of Indian realty.

Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Vizag, Coimbatore, Kochi, Jaipur, Nagpur are some Tier II cities witnessing unprecedented boom.

Real estate prices are now not affordable to the common man. IT parks are proliferating and more and more MNCs are entering India. NRIs, traders, well settled doctors, lawyers, engineers are ready to spend crores for their dream lands. After purchasing these lands, they are spending 50/60 lakhs on construction. How can the common man, bereft of the much needed capital, afford houses or flats in India ? Trading is one of the reasons for the rise in prices, as a high potential nation industrialises slowly and steadily .

Many builders have stepped in the realty sector and they are buying old houses, renovating them and selling them off at a huge profit.
Across the length and breadth of India, real estate prices are skyrocketing, as NRIs and foreign firms fuel the demand of residential space and business. Whether you buy in South, North, West or East India, the chances of your capital appreciation is immense.

The Indian GDP is growing at 9.1% and India has already opened up the Realty, Agri and Retail sectors. Research has it that realty can give an average return of 8%. Realty prices are doubling in some TIer I cities like Bombay, Chennai, Bangalore etc. Residential prices have gone over Rs 5000 per sq feet and commercial prices are over Rs 10000 in Tier I cities. Goldman Sachs has predicted that the top six economies of the world in 2050 will be China, USA, India, Japan, Brazil and Russia! The demand for IT space is estimated at 66 million sq feet and commercial space 15 million sq feet.

There are three main types, flipping, speculating and investing.

Speculating

Read full article: Growth Of The Real Estate In Indian

From the rewas.start4all.com website

  

We all are thinking about it and some of us are actually taking action and getting their hands on real estate investment properties. The longer the NY Stock Exchanges doesn’t produce desirable returns the more people are starting with real estate invesments.

For most of us the obvious choice of properties are single family homes. Although you can invest in real estate without owning a home, most people follow the experience they made while purchasing their own home. This is familiar ground and the learning curve for doing a real estate deal of this type is pretty slim.

Of course there’s a drawback with this approach. The competition is fierce and there are markets where investors are artificially driving up the cost of the properties while completely discouraging first time home buyers. If this is the case, the burst of the real estate bubble is just a matter of time.

How do you avoid these situations and still successfully invest in real estate? How do you get ahead of the competition and be prepared for bad times in real estate investments as well? The only answer I have is commercial real estate.

Why commercial real estate you might ask? Commercial real estate is a solid invetment in good and bad times of the local real estate market. The commercial real estate I’m referring to are multi unit apartment buildings.

Yes you will become a landlord and No you don’t have to do the work by yourself. You are the owner and not the manager of the apartment building. The cost of owning and managing the building is part of your expenses and will be covered by the rent income.

Apartment buildings are considered commercial real estate if there are 5 or more units. To make the numbers work you should consider to either own multiple small apartment buildings or you should opt for bigger buildings. This will keep the expense to income ratio at a positive cash flow. Owning rental
properties is all about positive cash flow.

With investing in single family homes it is easy to achieve positive cash flow. Even if your rent income doesn’t cover your expenses 100%, the appreciation of the house will contribute to the positive cash flow. With commercial real estate the rules are different.

Read full article: Beat the Crowd when Investing in Real Estate

From the chocola.freehostia.com weblog

  

The most important thing to keep in mind while decorating a dinner table is to create a romantic and cozy feeling. The table setting should be arranged for two people as the day is celebrated as couples. Fill the air with love by decorating an intimate dinner table. To get started, place to chairs in the opposite ends of the table. A card table will be a perfect choice because it is small and the distance between the lovers will be minimal. The person should be able to reach to the other end of the table. Use a smooth and crisp tablecloth that is white or red, you can find it in a linen closet. The main motive behind the cloth is that it should cover the whole table and must touch the floor.

The next thing to do for building a valentine table is to fix the table with the best and finest china dishes. If you don’t have any, then use whatever is available. Mixing the dishes that have matching patterns is a good option. Place some plates on top of the other and make a pair of goblets and wine glass. Use forks, spoon and knives that is silver and those which are matching while decorating the table.

The centerpiece should be very simple and has to be romantic. If you decide to put flowers as centerpiece then use some fresh flowers with long stem and place it in a glass vase which is small and crystal clear. Flowers like rose and carnations with pastel colour are very romantic and are great centerpieces. You can also use a potted plant with flowers; tie a red ribbon around the flower pot. The next step is to find some napkins. Napkins can be of any colour but keep in mind that all the napkins match. The napkins should be folded into thirds and laid on the top of the plates. There are different ways to fold a napkin. Every napkin should be tied up with ribbons and it should form a bow. Under each ribbon a flower can be placed. Buy some rose petals and spread them all over the dining table. This will help in giving a pleasant scent around the table.

A bottle of wine should be placed on the table along with a box of fancy chocolates. Finally light a candle near the centerpiece and play a romantic song.

Permanent link: http://blog.homecaredesign.info/2009/01/decorating-your-dinner-table-for-valentines-day/

From the allnews.net46.net blog

  

Did you know that real estate investing has created more millionaires that ALL other industries combined? The question, then, is why are more people not invested in real estate? Even with the increased awareness in real estate investing, more people are still familiar with other forms of investing such as stocks and mutual funds.

In this article, I will discuss 7 myths that about real estate investing that are costing you tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars). These myths persist because most people invest in real estate using conventional financing, which often requires 5% or more as a down payment. Assuming that $150,000 is average price of a house in your area (in most cities, it’s significantly more than that), you would need $7,500 as a down payment (and this doesn’t even include other fees such closing costs). The purpose of this article is to share techniques of creative real estate investing that debunk these common myths about real estate investing.

1. Myth #1: To create wealth, you have to invest stocks and mutual funds.

Fact: Real estate investing has created more millionaires that ALL other industries combined incluing Internet marketing, stock investing and mutual fund investing. In fact, according to the CEO of FNMA, in the hottest bull market in history, more people ended up creating wealth through home ownership than through stock ownership.

2. Myth #2: Real estate investing requires a lot of money.

Fact: Once you learn how to buy undervalued properties, you can find all types of people who will lend you their cash. You can find these people at your local real estate investor association or by contacting us. Additionally, you can use an option (typically $10 to $100 for the option fee) to control the property and not even need to raise any capital.

3. Myth #3: Real estate investing requires good credit.

Fact: This is related to Myth #1. Again, once you learn how to find undervalued properties, you can find all types of people who will lend you their credit, especially if the property has significant equity.
Read full article - 7 Myths About Real Estate Investing That Are Costing You Tens of Thousands of Dollars

  

If you’ve touch about dieting at least once any time in the past couple of years, there’s a good chance that the diet you went on was one of the many low carb diets that are ready now days. Although the very first of these low carb diets, the Atkins diet program has been about for at least 30 years, the craze for low carb diets has only infatuated off very recently.

This can probably be by specific broadcasting propaganda along with a number of genuine success stories. And when you bounce jilt in a personality
or two into the mix, you’ve the makings of a latest fashion. Every one then leaps on the bandwagon which in this case turned out to be low carb diets.

What you want to ask is if you’re thinking of taking a crack at one of these low carb diets as if the Atkins diet is so trendy at the present, and really gives brook to help you in minimising your weight, why didn’t it increase in popularity long before this?

After all it has been around for as long as 30 years. That’s a long-drawn-out time for a diet to be around without anybody noticing it until the later stages of those 30 years. And if these low carb diets are as movables for you as all these books and practitioners of the diets will tell you, then why is there so much disapproval to these diets from health specialists and medical sources?

After all it has been around for as prolonged as thirty years. That’s a extended time for a diet to be around without any person noticing it until the later stages of those 30 years. And if these low carb diets are as complimentary for you as all these books and practitioners of the diets will tell you, then why is there so much disapproval to these diets from health specialists and medical areas?

Read this full article: Low Carb Diets Revealed

From the Low Carb Diets article

  

Bottom line - renting an executive suite can be more costly in terms of money out of your pocket than working from home. For new businesses or existing businesses that are struggling, these extra dollars can be critical. However, the costs in lack of productivity and distractions can be significantly more than the direct costs of rent.

Often it’s hard to measure these types of costs and or to really realize them. One quick and easy way to do this is simply add up all of your monthly costs (both business and personal) and divide them by 30 days. By doing this you’ll know your daily “burn rate”. When you start realizing that every day you’re going through cash, regardless of how tight you are with your money, and or if you work from home or from an office space, you realize you have to be productive or you’ll go out of business.

The real problem of working from home is the distractions; fifteen minute here to help bring in the groceries, 10 minute there to let in the dog, 20 minutes to discuss your relationship with your significant other, etc. Also, the lack of total focus by being at home can cut into your time as well. All of this just adds up to a lot of wasted working time and you may come to the conclusion that it is much more costly than paying rent for an executive suite.

Additional benefits include have a secretary answer your phone, which gives a tremendous professional feel for a small business that might not be able to afford a full time receptionist. Other little things like having the trash taken out, or having a reliable copy and fax machine can be such a relief and time saver so you can focus on your bigger, more important issues like calling your clients to bring in more revenue.

Permanent link to this post: http://blog.theestateinfo.info/2009/01/executive-office-suites-rent-or-stay-at-home/

From the ivapip blogs

  

Three vintage cars with a combined value of more than $106,000 were stolen early Thursday morning from a classic car lot in Loudon County, authorities said.

The break-in at Smoky Mountain Traders, 11840 U.S. Highway 321, took place about 5 a.m. when a group of thieves disabled the gate and drove the vehicles off the lot, according to Loudon County Sheriff’s Office Detective Charlie Cosner.

“It took about a minute or less,” Cosner said.

The cars were described as an orange and white 1972 Pontiac GTO Judge convertible, a red and black 1971 Chevelle Super Sport convertible, and a red and white 1972 Super Sport Chevelle, said business owner Keith Bledsoe.

“I’m sure they loaded them into an enclosed car trailer after they drove them off,” Bledsoe said. “I’m hoping that someone was on U.S. 321 (Thursday) morning and saw something.”

Bledsoe said he used to build houses for a living but decided to open the car lot in May when the construction industry slowed. “I put my life savings into these old cars,” he said.

Bledsoe said he was able to determine the time of the break-in using a security camera but it was too early to say whether the camera’s images will be useful in identifying the three suspects.

He is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the cars and the convictions of those responsible for the thefts.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to the Sheriff’s Office at 865-986-4823 or the business at 865-988-8088.

J.J. Stambaugh may be reached at 865-342-6307.
Permanent link to this post: http://blog.automoton.info/2009/01/classic-cars-worth-106000-stolen-in-loudon-county/

From the gotoread.freehostia.com blogs

  

The parking lot encircling the hotel was packed, despite it being a weekday. Among a sea of rental fleet specials, a leviathan tractor trailer was parked, taking up four parking slots and the adjacent lane. The Ducati Corse livery, bright rosso paint and the anticipation of what lay within, triggered salivation like a Kobe steakhouse. The Ducati reps greeted us and promptly started offloading the bikes – the new Monster 696, a Hypermotard S and a beautiful, red 848. Wait…no, it’s a 1098, followed by an 848, in yellow. No, that one’s a 1098 also. Which one is the 848? More importantly, which one is mine? My uncertainty is easily apparent, as the Ducati rep catches me peering around the bikes for the side decals; the only way I can discern my ‘middleweight superbike’ from the 1098.

Confusion picking the 848 apart from its larger sibling is understandable and represents both the main point of criticism and praise of it; the 848 is identical to the 1098 in its outer beauty. The 1098/848 are perhaps the most gushed-over bikes to come out of Bologna since the 916. Since the controversy over the love-it-or-hate-it, ‘design exercise’ styling of the 999/749, the somewhat more conventional clothing of the current siblings have that mass appeal that even a non-motorcycle aficionado can appreciate. Whether in red or unconventional white, the 848 is not for introverts: heads will turn and eyes will cast jealous stares in the direction of this Italian stunner.

Criticism of the 848 tends to focus on the fact that it’s essentially a 1098 with a few cheaper components and a smaller engine. Those critics clearly side with the ‘tank is half empty’ argument. Sure, the 848 lacks the traditional dry clutch of its predecessors and its bigger brother, but the wet clutch setup makes for easy modulation and greater durability, as well as a decent weight savings. The ‘lesser’ Brembo calipers may not be as beefy as those on the 1098, but the initial bite is far tamer. To state that the 848 is simply a smaller displacement 1098 is like saying Prada is simply a lesser brand compared to Vuitton. Despite the fewer cc’s. the 848 features an all-new Testastretta Evoluzione powerplant churning out more power than the 749 while shedding weight faster than a supermodel prior to a Vogue photoshoot. In spite of the displacement reduction, the engine is incredibly smooth in its linear power delivery and certainly doesn’t leave its rider in want of more power; if anything, the 1098 chassis feels better suited with the smaller twin for street riding.

The ergonomics of the bike are somewhat misleading. The steeply raked nose and long, narrow tank make the handlebars appear far out of reach of the seating position; combined with the wafer-thin seat and ultra-narrow profile, the Ducati 848 looks about as comfortable to mount as a Philippe Starck recliner. But it’s really not that bad.

Upon straddling the bike, I wasn’t as stretched out as the long profile suggested, and the seat had substantially more give than it appeared. My only complaints stem from certain design elements; the fairing along the trellis frame ahead of one’s knees has a tendency to rub the fairing screws into the tender part of a rider’s shins, and the raked angle of the fairing stay becomes an issue with low speed maneuverings, whereupon fingers are easily pinched between the clip-ons and cowl. The lack of an indicated redline on the otherwise fantastic MotoGP-derived instrument pack induces hooliganism simply to see how high the Testastretta twin will sing.

Permanent link to this post: http://blog.automoton.info/2009/01/ducati-848-as-prada-to-vuitton/

From the allnews.net46.net blogs

  

In order to lose 60 pounds in 3 months you will need to shock your body into losing a lot of weight fast. Just so you know, to lose 60 pounds in 3 months isn’t the easiest thing in the world and will require you to commit to this process heart and soul. However, with the right will and determination, it can be done.

In order to lose 60 pounds in 3 months, I suggest that you begin by cleansing your body. What this does is get rid of a lot of undigested pounds which have accumulated inside your body and which are weighing it down and damaging your health. Each person carries around some undigested weight. By using a detox diet, you can quickly flush out of your system all those pounds, lose a lot of weight fast and be ready for the next step of the process. This detox phase takes 10 days tops and you will see a great reduction in your weight. I suggest using the Master Cleanse detox diet (I provide a link to a review of this diet at the end of this article so read the whole thing through).

After you finish with the detox diet, you should take a few days to a week off any dieting and eat regularly (but healthy). Then the next phase of your process to lose 60 lbs in 3 months will commence. In this phase you will choose one of 2 courses:

1. Follow a Calorie Shifting diet (namely the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet)
2. Follow a fitness oriented fat loss program (I suggest the Turbulence Training program)

Again, I provide a link to a review of all these 3 programs at the end of the article so you can read more about each of them.

You should follow either of these 2 programs for 2 months. These will provide a slower weight loss rate than the Master Cleanse, but they’re more healthy to use for a long time straight. They should bring you closer to achieving your goal of losing 60 pounds in 3 months.

About 10 days before your 3 months are over, you should go on the Master Cleanse again to give your body the final push it needs to shed the last of those 60 pounds. If you do everything right, you have a good chance to lose 60 pounds in 3 months.
Read full article: How To Lose 60 Pounds in 3 Months

From the gotoread.freehostia.com blogs