AIA Chiangmai

1. If you have your haircut every 3 weeks, try
going 4 or 5 weeks in between haircuts. If you
pay $10 for a haircut, you could save $70 a year
by having a cut every 5 weeks instead of 3.

2. Buy only generic basic types of cold cereal,
if your family must have it. With fall and cooler
weather coming, it’s a good idea to introduce hot
cereal. It’s usually the best buy and by using
the microwave oven to prepare, it is almost as
quick to fix as cold cereal.

3. If you have a cell phone, don’t buy the
accessories at the “cell phone store”. Check out
prices at local discount stores first.

4. Quit smoking. Need we say more?

5. In some states, children’s immunizations are
offered free at local health clinics. Call the
local health department to inquire.

6. Wash, wax and detail your own vehicle instead
of paying someone else to do it.

7. Put a little money aside every month in order
to pay your car and homeowners insurance annually.
Most insurers charge a fee (sometimes hefty!) for
paying monthly. You’ll also avoid those mid-year
increases.

8. When making instant pudding from a box, add
an extra cup of milk. The pudding “sets up” the
same and tastes the same, but you have one more
cup. You might want to experiment with adding a
little more. And of course, another money-saver
is to use reconstituted dry milk.

9. Meat prices are soaring, so plan to have a
meat-less meal at least twice a week. Substitute
an egg or pasta dish. Or maybe canned tuna or
salmon.

10. If you love magazines, try sharing with a
friend. Each of you subscribe to a different
magazine, when you’re finished reading, swap.

“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a
great ship.” –Benjamin Franklin

Helping you live the good life…on a budget!
Cyndi Roberts is the editor of the “1 Frugal Friend 2 Another”
bi-weekly e-newsletter and founder of the website of the same name.
Visit http://www.cynroberts.com to find creative tips, articles, and a free e-cooking book. Subscribe to the e-newsletter and receive the free e-course “Taming the Monster Grocery Bill”.

Tags: buy, free, Money, prices, savebuy, free, Money, prices, save

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Happy New Year,
Make it a better world. “Pay it Forward” as in the movie. If you haven’t seen it, do!

Welcome,

Basically, almost everyone wants to buy a house and honestly everyone of legal age and competent mind can if they have the will and knowledge. Sure you can buy all the get rich schemes on the web and off the high intensity infomercials but do they really work for everyone? Or do most of them end up on a shelf? Check Ebay when you get done here. It is unbelievable that people pay hundreds of dollars for these so called courses with dreams of making fortunes and then auction them off for 30-40 dollars. That was a terrible investment. They would have fared much better by taking legitimate courses or at least not spending their money.

You may ask, how does one buy a house without money and good or any credit? No joking around Donald Trump does it every time, using other people’s money. If you try hard enough you can find someone to sell you their property with owner financing. You just make arrangements with them for the sale price, the interest rate and term. You and they may prefer a short term loan, say ballooning it in five years. This means you make the regular payments for 60 months. This should be adequate time to get stable income and credit, even if you have filed bankruptcy. Of course there are many more ways of acquiring real estate.

Would you consider selling your own property, or does it scare you to death. It really isn’t that big a deal or a lot of dumb agents wouldn’t be doing so well. Do I sound disgusted with some agents? I am. As an appraiser and broker I have seen a lot of corruption and it enrages me. That’s one reason we decided to do this. But, if you are working with an agent, hopefully you spent some time selecting a good one with an impeccable record. In today’s market contracts are received within minutes of placing a sign in the yard. Contracts are available on-line, at the office stores and in the library. The average real estate sales commission is 6%, which most people don’t know is negotiable. By law there is not supposed to be a set amount across the board. Many times companies offer lower commissions and then some agents won’t show the property and are even bold enough to say so. They will show new construction which is typically 5% but nothing else.

If you choose to sell your property here are some starter points. Make it look good from the street. Decisions begin right there. Many times a purchaser will take one look and say no. Make your schedule very flexible so when they want to see it they can, or they’ll move on. Clean the clutter and dust. Have some coffee brewing or some bread baking. Let the people freely browse the house with you. Don’t lead them. Many times your familiarity with the house causes you to just rush through, but they need time!

Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and certified residential appraiser with 20 years of experience who hopes to improve the industry one step at a time.

http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews/.

Tags: buy, FSBO, gov, government owned, home, house, insurance, Money, mortgage, real estate, sell, trumpbuy, FSBO, gov, government owned, home, house, insurance, Money, mortgage, real estate, sell, trump

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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.

Gil Strachan is a professional home inspector, representing Electrospec Home Inspection Services in east-central Ontario, Canada since 1994. For more information about home inspections, visit http://www.allaroundthehouse.com.

Tags: buy, fire code, inspection, insurance, liability, real estate, safety, sell, wood heating, woodstovebuy, fire code, inspection, insurance, liability, real estate, safety, sell, wood heating, woodstove

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