makingthisup asked:


I see many very young Indians (who I assume are contractors working in America) and I always wonder…What would it feel like to be so young and so far away from home? Do you like America? Do you wish you could go home? What does it feel like to be so far from home working in America? Do you like America and Americans?

Claude

Home Stager asked:


Hi there!  Lorraine here from HOUSEDRESSINGS Ltd AUCKLAND.

www.housedressings.co.nz

Here are some vital tips for presenting your home for sale.

1. De-clutter your living spaces. Start first on the kitchen area. Clear all clutter on bench tops,window sills and clean all surfaces. All papers,bills,debris, file neatly away.

MOTTO: When in doubt - chuck it out!  Or at least store it away!

2. Re-arrange living room for a good spacial flow & layout. Any pictures on walls should be placed at eye level and curb all the personal pics and effects scattered throughout.

Minimalism is best as most potential buyers can’t imagine themselves living in that space with your accumulated clutter.

3. Add some bright funky cushions to your existing sofas to modernize and enhance the setting and place a nice rug under the coffee table (maybe shagpile or something contemporary ) to complete and define the living area.

Lighting is paramount for ambiance, so include a modern standard lamp or side table and lamp.

Accessories and modern art play a huge role in creating the ‘wow’ factor and clever use of colour is most important.

These are the important factors which brings it all together.

4. Beds should be dressed up  with modern duvets/plump pillows/valances/ cushions/bedside cabinets and stylish lamps. These don’t have to be expensive-go for style.

5.Bathroom: Add soap pumps/quality towels and choose colours to co-ordinate the existing.theme.

6. Don’t forget the entrance area. This is the first introduction to your home. Add a hall table with a floral arrangement or maybe a candleabra with canvas artwork above. (Abstracts work well in most settings.)

When having an open  home - make sure you have some music playing in the background. Light jazz works well or easy listening classics. This helps curb the awkward silences and helps people to linger longer to create a ‘connection’ with prospective buyers.

If you feel you are out of your comfort zone in acheiving this, then call a Home Staging Professional.

HOUSEDRESSINGS Ltd   are experienced in putting it all together, taking into account the style of home, existing colour scheme, best spacial layout. and your budget .

Staging can be : Partial - just a living area and a bedroom to full staging of  your home, complete with outdoor furniture.

We can also pack and store your existing furniture while your home is on sale.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Visit our website and leave a message on our contact page.

www.housdressings.co.nz

Email: lorraine@housedressings.co.nz

Kindest regards,

Lorraine Wilson (director)



Travis

Kristin Abouelata - Home Loans asked:


We encourage our kids to plan for their future, but we seldom include buying a first home sooner than average as a path to building that future. Let them know buying a home is easier than they think.

Most of the people who read this column are not first time homebuyers. The fact of the matter is many of you that are first time homebuyers and reading this article are relatively mature individuals who are fighting off your commitment fears of being tied to a mortgage. But there is a huge segment of the population that could buy their first home, yet it doesn’t occur to them to do so. Who are these people? Well, it’s your 24 year old son or daughter, new to the work force, and is throwing away money on rent somewhere. Encouraging your children to buy a home when they are young is some of the soundest financial advice you can give them. Equity in a home is an easy way to grow one’s portfolio with very little investment. But the fact of the matter is it doesn’t occur to most of us to encourage the younger generation to buy early in their lives. And trust me, it rarely occurs to our kids themselves to consider buying a home in the early twenties. They are more concerned with buying a new Halo 3 for their Xbox.

Why do so many people miss the boat on this opportunity? It could be they plan to be in the area for only a short time because they will job hop to advance their career, thus viewing a mortgage as “too permanent.” I counter to simply sell the house when you move. Or maybe they expect their income to double or triple over the next three years. I say buy a home now, then upgrade to a new home; sell or rent the old house. Investing in real estate is a proven, safe and solid return on investment. And with the right combination of credit history (or a history of paying utilities, cable and your cell phone on time) and no money down, you or someone you care about can start investing in the future.

When Junior starts his new job at the company and 401(K) is available, he’s been informed by his folks, boss or peers to enroll and contribute at least a little something to it with every paycheck. Yet, he is rarely counseled quit renting that apartment for $750 a month and buy a $75,000 house. Where will he come up with the money to do it? There are multiple options for first time buyers that allow for 100% financing. Get the seller to kick in closing costs (up to 6% of sales price with some products), and one can close on a loan and bring no funds to the table. If your home value appreciates 4% in the next year, that’s a nice return on a no cash investment.

For some time, I’ve considered writing this series for first time buyers to let them know buying a home is easier than they think. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the advice I would offer would most likely not reach my target audience. So parents, it is up to you to supply your kids with this last little bit of advice and help to set them free to further establish their independence in this world. Clip this article out and tape it to their iPOD or the steering wheel of their car - someplace it will get noticed.

I think for most of us who have been through the experience, our first home buy was a very daunting experience. There are so many choices and unknowns - it can be overwhelming. In this series, I will try to break it down the process into small logical steps and make it easier understand the steps involved in financing your first home. Where do you start? That is perhaps the easiest part. Our newly established worker should first make a list of all his or her debt obligations such as student loans (unless deferred), car payments, credit card debt, etc. Hopefully at this age, this will be a small list. Then add what you think amount you could afford for a mortgage. Take that amount and divide it by your gross monthly income. If you come in at 43% or less, you’re in business. If you have something in your savings or checking - great. If not, don’t let it deter you. You have options.

Contact a mortgage specialist to drill out the details and find a good realtor who knows your market for housing you can afford. What next? Get ready to tell your landlord “Adios!.”



Jonathan

Abigail Franks asked:


Starting any business is rich with excitement and anxiety. This is especially true when stepping into a home based business. All the questions about doing everything right and if I’ll be successful are in every business owners mind when first starting up. The big difference between a home based business startup and a regular or more “formal” business startup is the comfort level in your own home can work against you getting anything actually done.

Going into a store or an office focuses attention on the things that need done that day. Many typically have those “to-do” lists that outline the goals and objectives of the day. In a home based business however, it’s easy to fall into the trap of not separating the business or work part of your life and the home and family part. The sofa or chair where you watch television is right in the other room, almost calling for you to take yet another break. Then there’s the refrigerator and snack cabinet.

Running a home based business, especially a startup one demands a certain discipline that works best if you compartmentalize your day. Work during times when you’ve decided to work and be “home” when you’ve decided to be home. If you set up a schedule that has you working in your home office from 8 am to noon, be at your desk working during those hours.

Don’t fall into the temptation to visit with the family or walk the dog during business or work time. Stay focused. One of the biggest problems with any home based business or working from home is having the flexibility to make changes in your work schedule. When first starting out in your own home business, stay as formal as possible. Keep business hours, or at least stay as close to the schedule you’ve set as possible. The reason for this is to set pattens in your own personal behavior that allow for the maximum potential for the business success. Later, you can relax a bit and add a little flexibility to the schedule.

The key to a successful business no matter if it’s a retail store, a technology related business, home based or office / retail based, is always the same. WORK! Home based businesses don’t mean that there’s less work. It means the business can be operated out of your home. The WORK part still is critical to your success. We’re almost all seen how the corporate world wastes time in endless meetings. In a small business, we too can fall into patterns that keep us from doing the most important thing to assure success, and that’s work.

In any home based business, stay focused, develop a schedule, and stay on track to a bright future in your own business!



Tonya

My Dream Home Registry asked:


Getting in shape is on the minds of many individuals these days. Some choose to obtain gym memberships whereas others would like to have the convenience of working out at home. For the latter group of individuals, creating a home gym might be the perfect option to bringing the optimal exercise atmosphere home to you. If you are interested in creating a home gym and making working out as convenient as can be, the following will provide some tips on how to make your dream of a home gym reality.

Figure Out Where the Home Gym Will Go

The first step to creating a home gym is to figure out where it will be placed within the home. If you have a separate room which you can set aside as your workout location, this is ideal. However, for those who have limited space within the home, it is completely possible to create a home gym in a room which is used for other purposes as well. Take a good look around the home and determine which area would be most suitable for your home gym location.

Determine How Much Space Is Available

When creating a home gym you also want to determine how much space you will have available. Doing so in the beginning will help you to decide what type of workout equipment you want to buy for your home gym. Before making any equipment purchases, take down some measurements of the available space as this will prove helpful when shopping for workout products.

Peruse Different Types of Gym Equipment

Some individuals will know exactly what types of gym equipment they want to buy for their home gym whereas others may need to peruse the options before deciding on particular types thereof. Try searching various equipment options online and in fitness magazines to see which ones peak your interest. Also, if you are interested in working out specific portions of the body try searching for equipment which will work out those areas in particular.

Shop for the Home Gym Equipment and Furnishings

Once you have a good idea as to what type of home gym equipment and furnishings you wish to buy, the next step is to make the desired purchases. Buying items at sporting good stores and fitness retailers will often provide one with the most options. Try visiting your local sporting good stores so that you can view the equipment in person and even try it out. Later, if you figure out what brand equipment you want and have tested it out in the stores, look online for the items as these may yield the best prices. However, just be sure that the online retailers ship for free as these products are often quite heavy which can make for extremely expensive shipping costs.

In addition to the fitness equipment, you may also want certain furnishings in your home gym. Items such as a chair, towel rack and even a television for viewing while working out may be good purchases. Consider what extra niceties might fit perfectly within your new home gym and check out options with regard to those as well.

Time to Set up the Home Gym

Once everything has been decided upon, purchased and received, the final step is to set up your new home gym. Prior to setting the equipment up you should already know where everything is going to go as it will be difficult to move things around too often due to the weight of a lot of exercise equipment pieces. Since most equipment will need to be assembled, try to do so in the home gym room as this will make for an easier time getting everything set up and ready to go. Once you have it all set up, you are ready to get started working out in the convenience of your own home.

Need help paying for your home gym? Check out www.MyDreamHomeRegistry.com and make your dream a reality.



Wanda

Christan K asked:


I really **** my job and would love working from home any suggestions?

Lewis

Michelle asked:


I was taken ill 7 wks ago with voice loss. Signed off from work initially for 2 wks. Unfortunately i didnt recover so my Doctor told me that I couldnt go to work. He relented and allowed me to work from home providing I didnt speak.
When I asked for a sick note I was told that either I was working from home and not counted as sick or if I was given a sick note then I wouldnt be allowed to do any work. So it was agreed with my boss that I would work from home until recovered. Now a 2nd Dr. has signed me off work to rest for 1 wk - no work! Boss today told me that company sick pay is 12 wks which they will be backdating it to 1st Feb & whch gives me a further 7 wks in which to recover before I have to go onto statatory sick pay. It seems unfair that they can backdate the sick pay and void all the work I have done and in effect take away 5 wks worth of sick pay that I might need. Can they do this?

Allen

Home Income Team asked:


Owning, running and maintaining an home based internet business or a site needs articles. Plain and simple, every who has a site knows this. Even those who don’t have sites but are frequent internet users knows this as well. Articles quench the thirst for information and knowledge of the people. Plus, the articles provides many other benefits for the site.

The benefits that articles provide are putting a site high in the ranking in search results of keywords and keyword phrases that pertains or are relevant to his or her site. They also provide attraction to website visitors when they are appreciated and is linked to your site from another site or newsletter. Articles provide for the increase of the confidence and trust levels of customers to your site and company.

Many articles are also beneficial to both company and its traffic. When the readers like the articles, they would tell more of their friends, family and peers and recommend your site to them, providing for a larger volume of traffic. You get bigger sales if your traffic trusts and believes in you. Your product or services would be much easier to sell when they know you know what you are doing and talking about.

We have established that articles are very important to a site and to business. Articles are crucial and to keep ahead in the game, a site must have an article, it is imperative. There is one dilemma though, not many people like writing articles.

Many website owners would rather spend their time on something else, and unless you’re a big time company, you don’t have the necessary resources to use on a pool of article writers. Plagiarism or copying of other articles is frowned upon and could easily get you into trouble, worst case scenario; a hefty fine and jail time.

So what are the other options?

Well, for starters if you **** writing articles and you can’t afford to hire people to write for you then don’t. Get free articles. The first place to look at for free articles is the public domain. Here you won’t have problems with copyright infringement and the following penalties and fines if you get caught for plagiarism.

Public domain articles are articles freely given to the public for public use. You can do whatever you want with it. You can place it on your site, name it as yours, put it in a newsletter its you decision. Always remember though that you will have to choose articles that is very relevant to your site.

The downside to public domain articles is that since it is free for everybody, many of your competitors may have access to them as well. Since every site needs to be original and unique even though you have the same niche, this could be a predicament. You may also have to edit them a bit to place more keywords and keyword phrases to make them better.

Another way to get free articles is to allow other sites which has the same subject or topic as yours to submit articles to your site.

This would be only to augment your existing content or else all your articles would be leading to other sites since these articles would have resource boxes with them that could link or direct the readers to their site. That’s why it is important to have your own articles; you cold use them to link your site to other sites as well.

But, to truly feel the impact of what a good article to you, go for original ones. There are many article writers who do part time and freelance article writing jobs that charges only minimal fees. You can get good articles that have all the keywords and keyword phrases you need and people are looking for.

The investment you made for these articles would be worthwhile because you could use them for all the benefits you could offer.

You hold copyrights to them and you will be able to use them anyway you want. As your articles help you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont be having second thoughts about articles.



Raymond

Ron’s wife asked:


I am a pt dental assistant and a mom. I am interested in working pt from home doing billing for dental offices. How can I go about finding an employer?

Michael

SAD SALLY asked:


I am looking for a part time job working from home. Ever web site seems to have a start up fee associated with it.

Is there and FREE legitimate ones out there?

Lauren