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| Getting Kids Involved In Garage/Yard Sales by Jona E. Kessans Spring is coming and now is the time to make preparations for having a yard or garage sale. And, yes…this includes the kids too.For me spring always meant upcoming garage/yards sales to go to with my mom; but more importantly, those garage/yard sales I had with my mom. From these early experiences, I learned many valuable lessons that I use to this day. These include the necessity of de-cluttering, finance, how to make change, how to price an item, how to organize and display items, and customer service. Thanks to my mom’s help, I was able to engage in an entrepreneurial endeavor at the tender age of eight. I have fond memories of my many mini-business endeavors and feel that these ventures contributed to my desire and successes in owning my own business now. Here are some pointers to get your child involved in having a garage or yard sale of his or her own when you have one. For Children 8 and above:Gather Goods to SellHave your children go through their items to determine what they are ready to sell, part with, or outgrown. You as a parent have veto power, but quite often children will not even think of parting with something they still use. As a matter of fact you may have to “assist” them in this step since it is likely they will want to keep just about everything they own. Be ready to ask them these questions: When was the last time the item was played with or used? 1)Why do they wish to keep it?2)What does it mean to them? Having children answer these questions helps them to determine what items they wish to keep and those that have little value or use to them. This step teaches children the importance of letting go of stuff they won’t use again and really don’t value. Having children de-clutter their lives this way is a valuable skill that will serve them well throughout life and keep them from falling into the “packrat trap.”Prepare Goods for Sale Have children prepare items for sale by cleaning dirty items and boxing items into separate boxes labeled “(Name)’s Garage Sale Items. This way, when it is time to set up for the big garage sale day, your children will be able to find their “stock” easily.Assist your child with pricing the items to sell. Go through each item one-by-one and ask your child the following questions to help them determine an acceptable price. 1)How much do you think this is worth?2)How did you determine that price?3)Do you think someone will pay your price for this item?4)Should we ask ____ amount for this?By asking your child these questions, it helps them to critically think about the value of items and their worth. By making pricing suggestions, it assists them with setting realistic prices. This step helps children learn the relative value or worth of items and gets them to think about how much the buying public would pay. Asking the question, “Should we ask ____ amount for this?” is a way of helping your child set a realistic price for the item.Preparing for the Grand OpeningSet up an individual table for each child next to where you will be collecting money from customers. This way you can monitor and assist each child with customer transactions if need be and protect them from unscrupulous “buyers.”Have children set up their displays themselves. By completing this step, with your help and suggestions, children learn how to display items in a visually pleasing way that will attract customers.Day of the Grand OpeningProvide each child with a change apron (available at most dollar stores) and with a small amount of change such as 2 $1.00 bills, 6 quarters, 10 dimes, and 10 nickels; i.e., $5.00 in change. This way they can collect payment for their items and if necessary, make change for customers. Children are able to reinforce their counting skills and learn how to interact with customers. Most importantly, allow your children to keep the proceeds from their sale, having them put half of the “profits” into their savings accounts. When children are allowed to keep the proceeds from the sale of their items, they are eager participants.For Children 7 and Below:Younger children who also wish to participate in the garage sale can by selling sodas. Set up a small table with a cooler full of various cans of sodas and ice. Place a simple Soda for Sale sign on the front of the table. Allow your younger children to sell sodas, helping them with change counting or selling as needed. This way, they still get the experience and knowledge gained by running their own “small business.” As a child I truly enjoyed having my “own” garage sale and making money in the process. These small business ventures taught me what went into running a small business from the selection of goods to be sold to the final transaction with the customer. These life skills teach children the basics of money and customer service: skills that are sure to come in handy throughout their lives. About the Author Jona is an instructional designer, web and graphic designer, and technical and business writer. When she isn’t working on client projects, she can be found updating her personal project, www.simpleandfrugal.com, a website dedicated to those seeking to simplify their lives. Jona has practiced simple living/voluntary simplicity for over 10 years and is available for speaking engagements. She can be contacted at simplefrugal@fuse.net. |
| Buying New Construction...How Do I Begin by Sheldon Salnick Buying New Construction...How Do I Begin Sheldon Salnick The prospect of shopping for a new construction residence can be quite daunting, but the rewards of owning a brand new home out-weight the disadvantages if you know the potential pitfalls. The following are important considerations: Overall Dollar Budget, Location, Cost Per Square Foot, Finishes, Upgrades, Parking and Delivery Date. Overall Dollar Budget To establish a budget for purchasing a home, you should speak with a mortgage professional prior to looking for property. In terms of your budget, keep in mind that parking is usually not included in the purchase price that is quoted by the developer. In addition, in todays market the list price of the unit is typically not negotiable. The best way to establish a budget is to determine how much money you will need as a down payment and how much money you will need as a down payment and how much you feel comfortable spending, based on your gross income, for monthly payments. Remember that the real estate taxes are generally included in your monthly mortgage payment and should be calculated at a minimum of 2% of the purchase price. If your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price, your lender will require that you purchase private mortgage insurance PMI – this charge will also be included in your monthly payment. Also factored into your monthly expenses are your assessments, both for the unit itself and a separate assessment for parking. And finally, add your monthly mortgage payment. Location Generally speaking, the higher the density of the area, the more costly the condominium or townhouse will be. Then checking out locations, you may want to consider less developed areas of the city. Such areas are typically less expensive than those in more developed areas. Note, that as density increases with new development, it is highly likely that your property will gain in value, resulting in a higher return on your investment. Cost Per Square Foot When purchasing new construction, the favored method of comparing value is cost per square foot. This is the method used by developers to initially price their developments. With the cost per square foot in mind, you will be able to compare different properties on an equal basis and determine whether you are purchasing at a favorable price. Also to be considered when looking at the cost per square foot price is whether the developer has included such items as granite counter tops, marble bathrooms, and black or stainless appliances as standard features. In Chicago, prices per square foot range from $225 to as much as $1000 per square foot in the Gold Coast. Finishes You will need to carefully examine which finishes and appliances the developer has included in the base price versus which are considered upgrades. Note that the more expensive finishes such as granite and marble are not usually included in the base price of a one-bedroom unit. Be sure to get a detailed list of specifications in writing from the developer, indicating the brand and model number of each appliance. Dont be confused by the finishes and appliances that are shown in the models you see- they may not be the same as those included in the quoted price. Models are typically finished with granite and marble, undermount sinks and hardwood floor laid diagonally but such features may not be considered standard, particularly in smaller or less expensive units. Upgrades As you can imagine, the cost of upgrades can vary considerably. Developers commonly charge their cost plus a 20% mark-up for upgrades; others may charge even more. Try to determine the costs when you and your realtor are writing up the initial offer. By determining all costs during the contract period you reduce the chance that upgrade costs will exceed your budget. If you keep in mind that many new construction units are not ready for occupancy for a year or two, you will understand the importance of having all upgrade costs in writing as part of the initial contract – at todays prices rather than at costs calculated at inflated prices one or two years later. Parking One of the essential elements of resale value is parking. In a loft conversion or a high-rise building, parking can vary from approximately $25,000 to as much as $60,000 depending upon the level of luxury of the building and the availability of parking in the area. Since parking spaces have dramatically increased in value, you should seriously consider purchasing a space whether or not you currently own a car. Without parking, the later sale of a unit may be more difficult than that of a comparable unit for which parking is included in the price. Delivery Date Although your contract will specify a delivery date, provisions in the contract will often allow the developer to deliver your unit much later than the specified date without penalty. If this is an important issue to you, you should keep in constant contact with your Realtor during the construction process as delivery dates can be delayed for as long as a year and, in rare occasions, even beyond that. You should also speak with your attorney and incorporate terms into the contract so that your interests are protected in the event this should occur. Working With A Realtor Purchasing a new construction residence can be a rewarding experience and a wise investment. But there are definitely nuances involved in purchasing new construction, including the track record of the developer, the number of "flippers" purchasing in the project, and the percentage of sold units. You will be best served by using a Realtor who is familiar with new construction market, the various developers and their product. With your Realtor at hand to answer all your questions, your interests will be represented and protected in all communication with the developer. If you rely on a real estate professional, you will spare yourself a great deal of the aggrevation associated with purchasing a new construction home and, best of all, this representation will be at no cost to you - the developer pays your Realtors commission.
About The Author Sheldon Salnick is a Realtor with Rubloff Residential Properties. He has worked with new construction buyers for the last 13 years and has represented over $200 million in new construction. For more information or guidance in the purchase of a new construction home, townhome or condominium, he can be reached him at SSalnick@Rubloff.com or www.SheldonChicago.com. |
| Mission Impossible - Construction of a Backcountry Ski Lodge by Lachlan Brown Mission Impossible - Construction of a Backcountry Ski Lodge Lachlan Brown How can a 9200sq.ft. ski lodge be built in just six months when it took over three months to finish your downstairs bathroom Now, place the project at the 5250 ft elevation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, 90 km from the nearest paved road, and it’s easy to think, “Mission Impossible” In July 2002, the four owners of Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges faced a plot of cleared land and a pile of almost 300 green spruce logs, 100 of them having been peeled by hand. By the end of December 2002, the owners were welcoming 24 clients to their new lodge. The beds were made, the larder was full, the bar was stocked and the hot tub was steaming. Vertebrae Lodge was open for business! Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges is a snowcat skiing and snowboarding tour operator based in Golden, British Columbia. Chatter Creek offers full-service backcountry skiing experiences for powder snow skiers and snowboarders. Intermediate and advanced skiing groups are expertly guided throughout the 130 sq. km operating area. Guests ride in comfortable heated snowcats to experience skiing and riding on a high glacier, through open alpine bowls and down gladed tree runs. For two years, Chatter Creek hosted groups of 12 clients in their original Spruce Lodge. Guests enjoyed dormitory style accommodation, outdoor plumbing and a very close relationship with one another and with staff. The “Spruce Goose” became a special place to many guests who fondly remember their early cat skiing days at Chatter Creek. The new Vertebrae Lodge, named after a spectacular nearby ridge, accommodates 24 guests in 12 comfortable bedrooms, each with private bathroom. The lodge boasts well-furnished sitting areas, and a large dining hall with a vaulted ceiling. It has a well-equipped commercial kitchen, a large drying room for boots and outside clothes, a massage room, a games room with a pool table, a well-stocked bar and an outdoor hot tub, complete with bar service. Quite a step up from Spruce Lodge! The Chatter Creek building site posed a challenge. The only building material within easy reach was green spruce from the surrounding forest. There was no sand, no gravel, no cement and certainly no neighborhood lumberyard. The nearest town is Golden, a 120 km drive to the south. The nearest paved road is 90km away, at Donald. Access from Donald is first by logging road and then by a rough, boggy summer road that climbs the last 17 km. to the lodge. Four wheel drive pickup trucks can make the trip in summer, when the access road has dried out but, in the spring, only tracked vehicles can get through, unassisted. The owners, all ex-loggers, were prepared for the challenge. They had already brought a small Alaska-style sawmill to the site, to build Spruce Lodge. The “Spruce Goose” had been completed following a two-year part-time effort. It was built of 5in. x 10in. square-sawn spruce beams. The new lodge would be built of round logs, with much longer and higher walls than any in Spruce Lodge, and with a much, much larger roof. The Chatter Creek cat skiing business had proven so popular and guests were so enthusiastic that the partners knew that they could expand to 24 clients. Certainly, they had the terrain for it: 50 sq miles of glaciers, alpine slopes and bowls, and huge forested ridges. They already had a good network of winter roads for their snowcats, a good basis for an expanded operation. These roads extended from below the lodge site, about the 4900-ft elevation, to the top of Vertebrae Glacier at just under 10,000 ft. They traversed both sides of the Chatter Creek watershed and the numerous ridges that provided thousands of acres of prime tree skiing. The challenge was to build the new lodge in one short summer. This was not just to be a scaled up Spruce Lodge, but a large comfortable building with a reliable water system, multiple sets of plumbing, a commercial kitchen, fire suppression and a septic system that would meet all the environmental codes. Could they do it in one summer Financial constraints required it. All through the early spring, partners Dale and Dan selectively logged the trees they would need, using snowcats to skid them to the lodge site. Friends were brought in to help hand-peel logs with drawknives and peeling spuds. These logs would form the major walls. The remaining logs would be milled to provide beams and dimensional lumber for inside framing and the massive roof structure. Meanwhile, partner Dave buried himself in plans and cost estimates and fretted about environmental and health and building codes, and lined up suppliers for the mechanical systems. The planning seemed to take forever. There were so many questions! It was clear from the beginning that some new equipment would be required to assist the construction. The building would have two floors topped by a large attic space. A crane was needed to lift the heavy logs into place. Other techniques were far too slow. Also, the existing mill was far too small and too slow for the job. A much bigger more accurate mill was needed. A brand new computer-controlled Wood-Mizer sawmill was purchased. Its 45’ deck would handle the big logs and the cutting rate would provide the needed throughput. For the heavy lifting, a used 20 ton ex-army mobile crane was found. With a 90 ft boom, it would give plenty of clearance for the roof. Getting this equipment to the site in late spring was a challenge. The road was still wet and boggy in many places. The sawmill was loaded onto a Ford F450 that was towed by the bulldozer. With it’s 6ft. diameter tires it was hoped that the four wheel drive crane could travel on it’s own. An excavator stood by to help. It took three days to go just 14km. The crane got stuck time and again. The excavator repaired the road and dug out the crane when its great wheels sunk in the mud. It also offered the odd tow, pulling the crane along as it struggled through the deep mud. The long line of equipment inched its way up the road to the Chatter Creek building site. Getting the equipment to the site was one challenge, keeping it running would be another. The project relied on continuous operation of the crane, the mill and the venerable excavator. The sawmill was brand new and very reliable. However, the mobile crane was an unknown with limited parts available and the excavator was a doddering geriatric having had constant use for many years. The partners could rely on no one but themselves to keep these machines in operation. By the second week of July the site was clear and level and the logs were ready. The foundations could be set. No other materials were at hand, so the largest available spruce butts were used, set upright in pits. By mid-July, the walls were started and the outline of the lodge could be seen. There would be two bays, a 40ft x 40ft bay for two floors of bedrooms and baths and a 40ft x 50ft bay for the common space. The common space includes a large drying room and a games room and bar on the first floor and a kitchen, dining hall and sitting area on the second floor. A flat ceiling spans the kitchen to create a mezzanine sitting area overlooking the dining hall. The large attic space over the guest bedrooms provides massage and staff rooms with entry from the mezzanine. An open cathedral ceiling spans the entire second floor dining and sitting area. The walls would require seven logs per floor. There would be seven long log walls. This meant at least 100 logs to peel by hand. Backbreaking work! Well over twice that number of logs would be needed for milling the interior lumber. The construction crew included the four owners, two of their “significant others”, and old school friends from nearby Golden. The women worked along side the men operating chain saws, falling trees and running the sawmill. Milling went on continuously, day after day. Posts and beams, 2x6’s, floor joists, and decking materials were all needed in large quantities. Although none of the crew was yet 30, their skill with equipment and their construction knowledge was remarkable. They had developed their log-building skills the prior summer on a small bathhouse and a staff bunkhouse and now they were facing an immensely larger challenge with tight time constraints. The progression of the construction is far too much to report here, but the Chatter Creek Web site contains many photographs taken throughout the construction period. In addition, the "Chatter News" photo journal contains a detailed description of the construction process. The work advanced through the summer and became a race against the weather. Could the roof be completed before the first snow It was a close finish, but nature won and the first snow came just days before the roof was completed. Valuable days were then spent shoveling snow and chipping ice from the floor of the dining hall. Late September, and the roof was on at last. Finishing the interior became the next race against time. There were 14 bathrooms and a kitchen to plumb, electrical systems to install and the entire septic system had to be installed. Rooms had to be framed and wallboard installed. Windows had to be put in and ceilings insulated. The building had to be equipped and made livable and endless details awaited attention. The first clients were to arrive on December 27, in just three short months. Nearly everything had to be done by the same small crew of about 12 workers. For the first year or so, wallboard would remain unfinished and only plastic vapour barrier would cover insulation. Wood paneling for ceilings and roof gables would have to wait. Except for the kitchen range, there would be no open fire within the building. Also, no chimneys were to pierce the roof of the building. Heating would be provided by an external European-style hahsa, a freestanding, self-contained, external wood-burning furnace. Heat is transferred to the building by a 200ft underground glycol loop. Heat exchangers create hot water for bathing, cooking and the hot tub and hot air for convection heating. A 1,000 gallon hot water tank buried in the crawl space acts as a heat sink. This maintains an even building temperature as the hahsa fire burns high or low. Small electric heaters in the bedrooms, along with opening casement windows allow guests good control over bedroom temperature. The finishing phase brought new diversions. Large quantities of materials now had to be brought from Golden. Limited local supply meant many trips to Calgary in search of furnishings and special materials. Four valuable hours lost each way! The tight budget required tireless shopping for bargains. Everything had to be brought to the site by road. Helicopters were far too expensive. Using a four-wheel drive farm tractor and a 22ft highway trailer, Dale spent many autumn weeks bringing materials to the site. Rising very early each frosty morning in Golden, Dale would tow the loaded trailer the 100 km. north to the base of the Chatter Creek road, hook the trailer to the tractor and crawl the last 17 km to the site. Arrival by noon was critical. The uphill trip could only be made with the road still frozen and hard. If he got stuck, the excavator would have to stop work and crawl off down the road to provide a tow. Hours of work would be lost. As Dale hove into sight, all hands would appear to unload the trailer and Dale would head off, down the road and back to Golden to assemble the next day’s delivery. Almost 30 loads were delivered in this weather dependent operation. In the end, the impossible was done. On December 27, 2002 the last sawdust was swept up, the dishes were washed, the last bed was assembled and made, the bathrooms were stocked and the bar was made ready. The first guest helicopter arrived at Vertebrae lodge at 3:30pm. By 4:30pm, 24 admiring guests were roaming the lodge in awe. A photo journal of the construction of Vertebrae Lodge can be found at: http://mountain-lodge.blogspot.com/ Chatter Creek President, Dale McKnight, was heard to comment, “Thank goodness we never really understood at the start just how big and how difficult this project was going to be. We probably would never have started. But we did, and now it’s done!” Others in the team had thoughts of their own. Jevan recalled the time he sunk the D4 bulldozer in the mud while working on the road. “Right up to the seat. It took the excavator to dig it out.” Lori and Isabelle remembered the bugs. “There were ‘mossies’ around the building and bugs and beetles around the sawmill. We went through boxes of ‘Croc-bloc’, but we were still being bitten.” Vertebrae Lodge stands as a testimony to the hard work, perseverance and ability of the Chatter Creek partners and their crew. It’s a magnificent structure that was built under difficult conditions and in a very short time. It represents not only a feat of construction, but also a feat of coaxing some very tired equipment into steady operation. The excavator, in particular, was in constant use feeding logs to the sawmill, leveling ground, digging pits and trenches, burying tanks and piping, clearing the septic field, moving heavy loads, towing stuck vehicles up the access road and building winter roads for the snowcats. Both the excavator and the crane had had their cranky moments but, under Dan’s tender care, both these mechanical relics stood the course and, with the sawmill, continue to be used to this day.
About The Author Lockie Brown lives in Vancouver, Canada and skis on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. He organizes annual cat skiing tours for groups of friends. He prefers to take his powder-hounds to Chatter Creek. Please visit their Web site at http://backcountrywintervacations.com/ A new photo journal about skiing and log construction at Chatter Creek can be found at http://powder-skiing.blogspot.com/ |
| Pre Construction Condos for Sale by Art McCarty Pre construction condos for saleMany families have great memories of owning their own piece of real estate where their vacation villa has provided days of relaxation and pleasure. If you think hard enough, I’m sure you too can hear those distant voices from the past, lost in the delight of regular family connections made possible through a family member’s purchase of Pre construction condos . Laughter, shared memories of quirky family members, of visits to attractions and the beach, whatever it may be or whatever you wish it could be, those memories are something precious, an intangible that you would never trade.Is it possible for you to own a Pre construction condos?It may not be possible for everyone, but don’t discount the possibility either until you do a little of your own investigative research into Pre construction condos.The first thing you will need to consider is budget followed by location. Prices of Pre construction condos for sale can vary vastly depending on, well, you guessed it, location, location, location. Pre construction condos for sale in the most desirable and well-traveled areas will be the most expensive. Highly desirable areas include high density tourist locales and beachside resorts. Accommodations around an area of family tourist attractions may or may not be expensive, depending on the availability of real estate.Is the area already built up, or are there vast quantities of untapped land? These are all things to consider when searching for Pre construction condos.The Advantages of Owning Pre construction condos for saleProvided your budget can handle owning Pre construction condos, there are many advantages that will accompany your purchase.Think back to those planned vacations.Do you remember with pleasure the process of planning your last trip? Many times booking reservations at the resort of your choice can turn into quite an ordeal.In looking for that perfect accommodation, have you experienced the frustration of searching for last minute lodging, only to find the price wasn’t really what you thought or the person just before you purchased the last room at the advertised discount lowest price.Or, have you had great success booking your dream reservations and getting great deals, only to discover upon checking in that the resort didn’t look quite like you had anticipated? You can avoid all this and more besides by purchasing Pre construction condos.You will be in control of the availability, even during the peak holiday season. By owning Pre construction condos, you and the kids will never be disappointed by the quality of your accommodations.Location of Pre construction condos for saleSo, you may be convinced that the advantages of owning Pre construction condos for sale are well worth taking the plunge in expenditure. Your next question will probably be where should I purchase Pre construction condos? One of the foremost holiday destinations in the world is Orlando Florida. Why? Maybe you have only to look outside your window today to provide an answer to that query. If you reside in one of those fine states who have received an early share of that very cold white stuff, you may be ready for the beauty and temperate climate of the Central Florida area. Central Florida places you within easy access of some of the state’s most beautiful beaches along with placing you close to the major theme parks and attractions. Owning Pre construction condos for sale in Central Florida gives you easy access to Walt Disney World, Sea World, and Universal theme parks, and places you within easy driving distance of Busch Gardens in Tampa and the Kennedy Space Center, at Cape Canaveral. No wonder the Orlando area has become the third ranking US destination for overseas travelers. Villas in Orlando, FloridaYou may be saying, hold on! I can’t afford owning a villa. That’s OK too. There are plenty of options for you to rent villas in Orlando, Florida. The options range from cheap, low cost, to an expensive luxury villa. Searching for the best price may lead you to an internet search which will likely turn up specials you may not be able to find elsewhere.A helpful website for your search is www.orlandotouristinformationbureau.com. You will find a large listing of villas in Orlando, Florida.Some moderate priced villas in Orlando lodging include the Amerisuites Orlando Airport Northeast and Northwest. Two hotels both offer beautifully appointed suites with bedrooms that are separate from the living room/kitchen areas.Microwaves, fridges, cable TV, in-room data ports and a pool and gym are just some of the amenities offered for between $80 and $100.Other villas in Orlando, Florida include the Courtyard by Marriott. This hotel places you within walking distance of Lake Eola and any spot downtown. Prices range from $80 to $140. Another option for your stay at villas in Orlando, Florida would be the Amerisuites Orlando/Universal. Your stay here gives you quick and easy access to Universal which is just across the street. A pool, health club, laundry services, microwaves, refrigerators and cable TV and the fact that it’s near Universal makes it well worth it’s price of between $80 to $100. A lodging option not many are aware of is the ability to stay as a guest at a time share. At www.redweek.com there are postings of time shares for nightly rental. A good choice for resort living at hotel prices.Things to Do Near Villas in Orlando, FloridaHave you or are you about to miss out on the incredible variety of things to do near villas in Orlando, Florida? Consider Disneyworld just the tip of the iceberg of attractions in the Orlando area. For starters, there’s Sea World. This natural entertainment venue near villas in Orlando, Florida has a calming effect on visitors and is a delight for children of all ages. Here you will encounter sea creatures that love a crowd and enjoy strutting their stuff. Be amazed at the killer whale show, the Clyde and Seamore show (featuring comical sea lions) and the Pets Ahoy show featuring household pets rescued from the local animal shelter. Then there’s Universal Studios. With it’s two theme parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), CityWalk entertainment area and three hotels, it’s a city unto itself. Rides at the theme parks are sure to thrill your teens who normally prefer edgier rides. Villas in Orlando, Florida and Surrounding AreasLooking for the closet accommodation location to Disney World?Kissimmee, Florida is just a stone’s throw away from Disney. Kissimmee is also home to a variety of nighttime and daytime family attractions. Not far from Disney, but a world away from the hustle and bustle of the hectic tourist pace is the quiet town of Davenport, Florida.Lodging here in Davenport is about 7 miles from Disney. Some great choices are the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites and Ramada Inn Southgate.Another great choice is the Island Hideaway Resort.More than just a hotel room with limited amenities, this resort boasts a bar and grill, billiard room, tennis courts, basketball court, fitness center, video game room and volleyball court. A large range of room sizes are available from economy, sleeping 2 plus persons to a 5 bedroom 3 bath villa. Prices are unbelievably affordable.For information on monthly specials and discounts see www.islandhideaway.net Whatever your choice in lodging you and your family will never regret the decision to choose the Orlando area.After all, the kids (and you) aren’t getting any younger!http://www.biminibayresortinvestment.com About the Author Pre Construction Condos for Sale Expert |
| Mission Impossible - Construction of a backcountry ski lodge by Lockie Brown How can a 9300sq.ft. ski lodge be built in just six months when it took over three months to finish your downstairs bathroom? Now, place the project at the 5250 ft elevation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, 90 km from the nearest paved road, and it’s easy to think, “Mission Impossible” In July 2002, the four owners of Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges faced a plot of cleared land and a pile of almost 300 green spruce logs, 100 of them having been peeled by hand. By the end of December 2002, the owners had welcomed 24 clients to their new lodge. The beds were made, the larder was full, the bar was stocked and the hot tub was steaming. Vertebrae Lodge was open for business! Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges is a snowcat skiing and snowboarding tour operator based in Golden, British Columbia. Chatter Creek offers full-service backcountry skiing experiences for powder snow skiers and snowboarders. Intermediate and advanced skiing groups are expertly guided throughout the 130 sq. km operating area. Guests ride in comfortable heated snowcats to experience skiing and riding on a high glacier, in open alpine bowls and through forest glades. For two years, Chatter Creek hosted groups of 12 clients in their original Spruce Lodge. Guests enjoyed dormitory style accommodation, outdoor plumbing and a close relationship with one another and with staff. The “Spruce Goose” became a special place to many guests who fondly remember their early cat skiing days at Chatter Creek.The new Vertebrae Lodge, named after a spectacular nearby ridge, accommodates 24 guests in 12 comfortable bedrooms, each with private bathroom. The lodge boasts well-furnished sitting areas, and a large dining hall with a vaulted ceiling. It has a well-equipped commercial kitchen, a large drying room for boots and outside clothes, massage rooms, a games room with a pool table, a well-stocked bar and an outdoor hot tub, complete with bar service. Quite a step up from Spruce Lodge!The Chatter Creek building site posed a challenge. The only building material within reach was green spruce from the surrounding forest. There was no sand, no gravel, no cement and certainly no neighborhood lumberyard.The nearest town is Golden, a 120 km drive to the south. The nearest paved road is 90km away, at Donald. Access from Donald is first by logging road and then by a rough, boggy summer road that climbs the last 17 km. to the lodge. Four wheel drive pickup trucks can make the trip in summer, when the access road is dry but, in the spring, only tracked vehicles can get through, unassisted. The owners, all ex-loggers, were prepared for the challenge. They had already brought a small Alaska-style sawmill to the site, to build Spruce Lodge. The “Spruce Goose” had been completed following a two-year part-time effort. It was built of 5in. x 10in. square-sawn spruce beams. The new lodge would be built of round logs, with much longer and higher walls than any in Spruce Lodge, and with a much, much larger roof.The Chatter Creek cat skiing business was so popular and guests were so enthusiastic that the partners knew that they could expand to 24 clients. Certainly, they had the terrain for it: 50 sq miles of glaciers, alpine slopes and bowls, and huge forested ridges. They already had a good network of winter roads for their snowcats, a good basis for an expanded operation. These roads extended from below the lodge site, at about the 4900-ft elevation, to the top of Vertebrae Glacier at just under 10,000 ft. They traversed both sides of the Chatter Creek watershed and the numerous ridges that provided thousands of acres of prime tree skiing. The challenge was to build the new lodge in one short summer. This would not be just a scaled up Spruce Lodge, but a large comfortable building with a reliable water system, extensive plumbing, a commercial kitchen, fire suppression and a septic system that would meet all the environmental codes. Could they do it in one summer? Financial constraints required it. All through the early spring, partners Dale and Dan selectively logged the trees they would need, using snowcats to skid them to the lodge site. Friends were brought in to help hand-peel logs with drawknives and peeling spuds. These logs would form the major walls. The remaining logs would be milled to provide beams and dimensional lumber for inside framing and the massive roof. Meanwhile, partner Dave buried himself in plans and cost estimates and fretted about environmental and health and building codes, and lined up suppliers for the mechanical systems. The planning seemed to take forever. There were so many questions!It was clear that some new equipment would be required to assist the construction. The building would have two floors topped by a large attic space. A crane was needed to lift the heavy logs into place. Other techniques were far too slow. Also, the existing mill was far too small and too slow for the job. A much bigger and more accurate mill was needed.A brand new computer-controlled Wood-Mizer sawmill was purchased. Its 45’ deck would handle the big logs and the cutting rate would provide the needed throughput. For the heavy lifting, a used 20 ton ex-army mobile crane was found. With a 90 ft boom, it would clear the high roof.Getting this equipment to the site in late spring was a challenge. The road was still wet and boggy in many places. The sawmill was loaded onto a Ford F450 that was towed by the bulldozer. With it’s 6ft. diameter tires it was hoped that the four wheel drive crane could travel on it’s own. An excavator stood by to help. It took three days to go just 14km. The crane got stuck time and again. The excavator repaired the road and dug out the crane when its great wheels sunk in the mud. It pushed and it towed, pulling the crane along as it struggled through the deep mud. The long line of equipment inched its way up the road to the Chatter Creek building site. Getting the equipment to the site was one challenge, keeping it running would be another. The project relied on continuous operation of the crane, the mill and the venerable excavator. The sawmill was brand new and very reliable. However, the mobile crane was an unknown with limited parts available and the excavator was a doddering geriatric having had constant use for many years. The partners could rely on no one but themselves to keep these machines in operation. By the second week of July the site was clear and level and the logs were ready. The foundations could be set. No other materials were at hand, so the largest available spruce butts were used, set upright in pits.By mid-July, the walls were started and the outline of the lodge could be seen. There would be two bays, a 40ft x 40ft bay for two floors of bedrooms and baths and a 40ft x 50ft bay for the common space. The common space includes a large drying room and a games room and bar on the first floor and a kitchen, dining hall and sitting area on the second floor. A flat ceiling spans the kitchen to create a mezzanine sitting area overlooking the dining hall. The large attic space over the guest bedrooms provides massage and staff rooms with entry from the mezzanine. An open cathedral ceiling spans the entire second floor dining and sitting area.The walls would require seven logs per floor. There would be seven long log walls. This meant at least 100 logs to peel by hand. Backbreaking work! Well over twice that number of logs would be needed for milling the interior lumber.The construction crew included the four owners, two of their “significant others”, and old school friends from nearby Golden. The women worked along side the men operating chain saws, falling trees and running the sawmill. Milling went on continuously, day after day. Posts and beams, 2x6’s, floor joists, and decking materials were all needed in large quantities.Although none of the crew was yet 30, their skill with equipment and their construction knowledge was remarkable. They had developed their log-building skills the prior summer on a small bathhouse and a staff bunkhouse and now they were facing an immensely larger challenge with tight time constraints.The "Mountain Lodge Construction" photo journal contains a detailed description of the construction process at http://mountain-lodge.blogspot.com.The work advanced through the summer and became a race against the weather. Could the roof be completed before the first snow? It was a close finish, but nature won and the first snow came just days before the roof was completed. Valuable days were lost shoveling snow and chipping ice from the floor of the dining hall. Late September, and the roof was on at last. Finishing the interior became the next race against time. There were 14 bathrooms and a kitchen to plumb, electrical systems to install and the entire septic system had to be built. Rooms had to be framed and wallboard installed. Windows had to be put in and ceilings insulated. The building had to be equipped and made livable and endless details awaited attention. The first clients were to arrive on December 27, in just three short months. Nearly everything had to be done by the same small crew of about 12 workers.For the first year or so, wallboard would remain unfinished and only plastic vapour barrier would cover insulation. Wood paneling for ceilings and roof gables would have to wait.Except for the kitchen range, there would be no open fire within the building. Also, no chimneys were to pierce the roof. Heating would be provided by a freestanding, wood-burning outdoor furnace. Heat is transferred to the building by a 200ft underground glycol loop. Heat exchangers create hot water for bathing, cooking and the hot tub and hot air for convection heating. A 1,000 gallon hot water tank buried in the crawl space acts as a heat sink. This maintains an even building temperature as the furnace burns high or low. Small electric heaters in the bedrooms, along with opening casement windows allow guests good control over bedroom temperature.The finishing phase brought new diversions. Large quantities of materials now had to be brought from Golden. Limited local supply meant many trips to Calgary in search of furnishings and special materials. Four valuable hours lost each way! The tight budget required tireless shopping for bargains.Everything had to be brought to the site by road. Helicopters were far too expensive. Using a four-wheel drive farm tractor and a 22ft highway trailer, Dale spent many autumn weeks bringing materials to the site. Rising very early each frosty morning in Golden, Dale would tow the loaded trailer the 100 km. north to the base of the Chatter Creek road, hook the trailer to the tractor and crawl the last 17 km to the site. Arrival by noon was critical. The uphill trip could only be made with the road still frozen and hard. If he got stuck, the excavator would have to stop work and crawl off down the road to provide a tow. Hours of work would be lost. As Dale hove into sight, all hands would appear to unload the trailer and Dale would head off, down the road and back to Golden to assemble the next day’s delivery. Almost 30 loads were delivered in this weather dependent operation. In the end, the impossible was done. On December 27, 2002 the last sawdust was swept up, the dishes were washed, the last bed was assembled and made, the bathrooms were stocked and the bar was made ready. The first guest helicopter arrived at Vertebrae lodge at 3:30pm. By 4:30pm, 24 admiring guests were roaming the lodge in awe. Chatter Creek President, Dale McKnight, was heard to comment, “Thank goodness we never really understood at the start just how big and how difficult this project was going to be. We probably would never have started. But we did, and now it’s done!” Others in the team had thoughts of their own. Jevan recalled the time he sunk the D4 bulldozer in the mud while working on the road. “Right up to the seat. It took the excavator hours to dig it out.” Lori and Isabelle remembered the bugs. “There were ‘mossies’ around the building and bugs and beetles around the sawmill. We went through boxes of ‘Croc-bloc’, but we were still being bitten.” Vertebrae Lodge stands as a testimony to the hard work, perseverance and ability of the Chatter Creek partners and their crew. It’s a magnificent structure that was built under difficult conditions and in a very short time. It represents not only a feat of construction, but also a feat of coaxing some very tired equipment into steady operation. The excavator, in particular, was in constant use feeding logs to the sawmill, leveling ground, digging pits and trenches, burying tanks and piping, clearing the septic field, moving heavy loads, towing stuck vehicles up the access road and building winter roads for the snowcats. Both the excavator and the crane had had their cranky moments but, under Dan’s tender care, both these mechanical relics stood the course and, with the sawmill, continue to be used to this day.Footnote: In the summer of 2002, the partners built a 9500 sq. ft. bedroom annex to Vertebrae Lodge. Solitude Lodge provides 6 more double-occupancy guest bedrooms, staff accommodation and a large new drying room. The added space has allowed the bar and games room in Vertebrae Lodge to be doubled in size. About the Author Lockie Brown organizes cat skiing trips for friends to Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges, near Golden, in the Canadian Rockies. For info, refer to: www.chattercreekcatskiing.com. Also, the Chatter News photo journal at http://powder-skiing.blogspot.com/ has many terrain and ski photos. |
| Dramatic Profits From Preconstruction Real Estate Investing by Chris Anderson, PhD The preconstruction process is an innovative real estate investment opportunity in which you buy tomorrow's property at today's price. Preconstruction investing is a boon for the investor or buyer as well as the developer or builder. The biggest advantage of preconstruction process is that you can reserve your buy at discounted prices without investing a fortune. You simply have to make a small investment that is as low as 5% of the total cost to reserve a unit and pay the balance on achievement of different milestones. For the buyer, preconstruction process provides an opportunity to seal a property deal with little margin money and achieve sizable discounts over the tentative price of the finished condos. For the developer it is an opportunity to presale the entire property even without laying a single brick and to procure a construction lending with relative ease. In the the preconstruction process, property developers place the building plans of a proposed real estate venture for pre-selling. Only thing made available to the buyer are architectural rendering and floor plans of the condominium, town house, or single family residence. The good news is that preconstruction prices are normally at an attractive discount of the proposed sale price of complete units. In theory, the buyer gets the discount because they displays the grit and tenacity to invest on mere paper and "air". However, in reality, they are getting discounts because the are a crucial piece of the puzzle for the developer because pre-selling of a particular percentage of the total units is a need for getting a prospective lender to fund the construction process. If you are interested in investing in preconstruction property, you can check out the list of preconstruction offers available in your locality in the newspapers, on the Internet or with your real estate consultant; that is if you have those types of projects in your locale. When you have the list, you can shortlist the offers that are suitable according to your budget and needs. After that you must run a thorough check on the property and the developer on many issues. Certain key reasons are, the going and expected cost of the similar units in that locality; demand supply factors; whether the units are assignable and uniqueness of the property. You must also check for the future or proposed development plans in the vicinity to protect your view. This aspect is important because you might choose to buy an apartment in a preconstruction process at a premium due to the prefect view of lake or waterfront. However, after some time you may find out that another developer is building a project, which may blind your view. After you have satisfied yourself with the suitability and pricing of the condominium, you can proceed for the reservation. Most preconstruction properties have a nominal reservation amount, which is normally 5-10% of the total cost and can go as low as $1,000. The reservation process has a simple "Intent to Purchase Agreement" in which you hold the right to first refusal. In this phase, you are safe because your money is in escrow account and you can terminate the agreement without any obligation. Of course, the developer is not really bound to any prices yet at this stage either so both sides are in a loose arrangement. Once the developer gets the needed licenses and permissions and has the legal authority to sell the units, you can enter into a hard contract. At the time of signing the hard contract, you have to make balance up-front payment. Usually, the upfront payment is 20% of the total cost of completed unit but can be more or less. You can pay by a direct deposit with the builder or through a letter of credit. After signing the contract and making an up-front payment, you do not have to make any other payment until the unit is ready and you close the deal and take possession. However, before signing a hard contract you must be careful because by signing it, you are entering into a binding commitment to purchase the unit, failing which the builder can forfeit your deposit. In some states like Florida, you have a 15-day rescission period during which you can withdraw from the hard-contract without any obligations. Before signing the hard contract, you should check to see if you have the rights to assign the property to a qualified intermediary. If you would like to play safe, take a professional opinion on the terms and conditions of hard-contract for preconstruction purchase. The construction phase normally lasts for 6 months to 2 years (depending on project type) and you have an expiration date on the hard-contract. If the builder fails to complete the construction and handover the possession, you can claim for refunds and will have no legal obligation to buy the unit. During the construction period as the building would move towards completion, there is typically several price increases but of course, you cannot absolutely count on that happening. If you are able to find a suitable buyer prior to closing, you can resell the unit and claim your profits on closing of the deal. If you have not assigned the contract until the completion, you will have to close the unit. Closing in preconstruction process is similar to all real estate deals and you have to make the balance payment with additional payments like the association fee as disclosed in the "Good Faith Estimate". There are a lot of things to consider when entering into a preconstruction investment and we strongly encourage you to learn all the do's and don'ts. Hopefully this article has given you an overview of the process. About the Author Chris Anderson is a leading authority on preconstruction real estate investing. Get his 4 day e-mail course and a 33 minute video free today! Visit http://www.GetPreconstructionProfits.com |
| Mission Impossible - Construction of a Backcountry Ski Lodge by Lachlan Brown How can a 9200sq.ft. ski lodge be built in just six months when it took over three months to finish your downstairs bathroom? Now, place the project at the 5250 ft elevation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, 90 km from the nearest paved road, and it’s easy to think, “Mission Impossible” In July 2002, the four owners of Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges faced a plot of cleared land and a pile of almost 300 green spruce logs, 100 of them having been peeled by hand. By the end of December 2002, the owners were welcoming 24 clients to their new lodge. The beds were made, the larder was full, the bar was stocked and the hot tub was steaming. Vertebrae Lodge was open for business! Chatter Creek Mountain Lodges is a snowcat skiing and snowboarding tour operator based in Golden, British Columbia. Chatter Creek offers full-service backcountry skiing experiences for powder snow skiers and snowboarders. Intermediate and advanced skiing groups are expertly guided throughout the 130 sq. km operating area. Guests ride in comfortable heated snowcats to experience skiing and riding on a high glacier, through open alpine bowls and down gladed tree runs. For two years, Chatter Creek hosted groups of 12 clients in their original Spruce Lodge. Guests enjoyed dormitory style accommodation, outdoor plumbing and a very close relationship with one another and with staff. The “Spruce Goose” became a special place to many guests who fondly remember their early cat skiing days at Chatter Creek. The new Vertebrae Lodge, named after a spectacular nearby ridge, accommodates 24 guests in 12 comfortable bedrooms, each with private bathroom. The lodge boasts well-furnished sitting areas, and a large dining hall with a vaulted ceiling. It has a well-equipped commercial kitchen, a large drying room for boots and outside clothes, a massage room, a games room with a pool table, a well-stocked bar and an outdoor hot tub, complete with bar service. Quite a step up from Spruce Lodge! The Chatter Creek building site posed a challenge. The only building material within easy reach was green spruce from the surrounding forest. There was no sand, no gravel, no cement and certainly no neighborhood lumberyard. The nearest town is Golden, a 120 km drive to the south. The nearest paved road is 90km away, at Donald. Access from Donald is first by logging road and then by a rough, boggy summer road that climbs the last 17 km. to the lodge. Four wheel drive pickup trucks can make the trip in summer, when the access road has dried out but, in the spring, only tracked vehicles can get through, unassisted. The owners, all ex-loggers, were prepared for the challenge. They had already brought a small Alaska-style sawmill to the site, to build Spruce Lodge. The “Spruce Goose” had been completed following a two-year part-time effort. It was built of 5in. x 10in. square-sawn spruce beams. The new lodge would be built of round logs, with much longer and higher walls than any in Spruce Lodge, and with a much, much larger roof. The Chatter Creek cat skiing business had proven so popular and guests were so enthusiastic that the partners knew that they could expand to 24 clients. Certainly, they had the terrain for it: 50 sq miles of glaciers, alpine slopes and bowls, and huge forested ridges. They already had a good network of winter roads for their snowcats, a good basis for an expanded operation. These roads extended from below the lodge site, about the 4900-ft elevation, to the top of Vertebrae Glacier at just under 10,000 ft. They traversed both sides of the Chatter Creek watershed and the numerous ridges that provided thousands of acres of prime tree skiing. The challenge was to build the new lodge in one short summer. This was not just to be a scaled up Spruce Lodge, but a large comfortable building with a reliable water system, multiple sets of plumbing, a commercial kitchen, fire suppression and a septic system that would meet all the environmental codes. Could they do it in one summer? Financial constraints required it. All through the early spring, partners Dale and Dan selectively logged the trees they would need, using snowcats to skid them to the lodge site. Friends were brought in to help hand-peel logs with drawknives and peeling spuds. These logs would form the major walls. The remaining logs would be milled to provide beams and dimensional lumber for inside framing and the massive roof structure. Meanwhile, partner Dave buried himself in plans and cost estimates and fretted about environmental and health and building codes, and lined up suppliers for the mechanical systems. The planning seemed to take forever. There were so many questions! It was clear from the beginning that some new equipment would be required to assist the construction. The building would have two floors topped by a large attic space. A crane was needed to lift the heavy logs into place. Other techniques were far too slow. Also, the existing mill was far too small and too slow for the job. A much bigger more accurate mill was needed. A brand new computer-controlled Wood-Mizer sawmill was purchased. Its 45’ deck would handle the big logs and the cutting rate would provide the needed throughput. For the heavy lifting, a used 20 ton ex-army mobile crane was found. With a 90 ft boom, it would give plenty of clearance for the roof. Getting this equipment to the site in late spring was a challenge. The road was still wet and boggy in many places. The sawmill was loaded onto a Ford F450 that was towed by the bulldozer. With it’s 6ft. diameter tires it was hoped that the four wheel drive crane could travel on it’s own. An excavator stood by to help. It took three days to go just 14km. The crane got stuck time and again. The excavator repaired the road and dug out the crane when its great wheels sunk in the mud. It also offered the odd tow, pulling the crane along as it struggled through the deep mud. The long line of equipment inched its way up the road to the Chatter Creek building site. Getting the equipment to the site was one challenge, keeping it running would be another. The project relied on continuous operation of the crane, the mill and the venerable excavator. The sawmill was brand new and very reliable. However, the mobile crane was an unknown with limited parts available and the excavator was a doddering geriatric having had constant use for many years. The partners could rely on no one but themselves to keep these machines in operation. By the second week of July the site was clear and level and the logs were ready. The foundations could be set. No other materials were at hand, so the largest available spruce butts were used, set upright in pits. By mid-July, the walls were started and the outline of the lodge could be seen. There would be two bays, a 40ft x 40ft bay for two floors of bedrooms and baths and a 40ft x 50ft bay for the common space. The common space includes a large drying room and a games room and bar on the first floor and a kitchen, dining hall and sitting area on the second floor. A flat ceiling spans the kitchen to create a mezzanine sitting area overlooking the dining hall. The large attic space over the guest bedrooms provides massage and staff rooms with entry from the mezzanine. An open cathedral ceiling spans the entire second floor dining and sitting area. The walls would require seven logs per floor. There would be seven long log walls. This meant at least 100 logs to peel by hand. Backbreaking work! Well over twice that number of logs would be needed for milling the interior lumber. The construction crew included the four owners, two of their “significant others”, and old school friends from nearby Golden. The women worked along side the men operating chain saws, falling trees and running the sawmill. Milling went on continuously, day after day. Posts and beams, 2x6’s, floor joists, and decking materials were all needed in large quantities. Although none of the crew was yet 30, their skill with equipment and their construction knowledge was remarkable. They had developed their log-building skills the prior summer on a small bathhouse and a staff bunkhouse and now they were facing an immensely larger challenge with tight time constraints. The progression of the construction is far too much to report here, but the Chatter Creek Web site contains many photographs taken throughout the construction period. In addition, the "Chatter News" photo journal contains a detailed description of the construction process. The work advanced through the summer and became a race against the weather. Could the roof be completed before the first snow? It was a close finish, but nature won and the first snow came just days before the roof was completed. Valuable days were then spent shoveling snow and chipping ice from the floor of the dining hall. Late September, and the roof was on at last. Finishing the interior became the next race against time. There were 14 bathrooms and a kitchen to plumb, electrical systems to install and the entire septic system had to be installed. Rooms had to be framed and wallboard installed. Windows had to be put in and ceilings insulated. The building had to be equipped and made livable and endless details awaited attention. The first clients were to arrive on December 27, in just three short months. Nearly everything had to be done by the same small crew of about 12 workers. For the first year or so, wallboard would remain unfinished and only plastic vapour barrier would cover insulation. Wood paneling for ceilings and roof gables would have to wait. Except for the kitchen range, there would be no open fire within the building. Also, no chimneys were to pierce the roof of the building. Heating would be provided by an external European-style hahsa, a freestanding, self-contained, external wood-burning furnace. Heat is transferred to the building by a 200ft underground glycol loop. Heat exchangers create hot water for bathing, cooking and the hot tub and hot air for convection heating. A 1,000 gallon hot water tank buried in the crawl space acts as a heat sink. This maintains an even building temperature as the hahsa fire burns high or low. Small electric heaters in the bedrooms, along with opening casement windows allow guests good control over bedroom temperature. The finishing phase brought new diversions. Large quantities of materials now had to be brought from Golden. Limited local supply meant many trips to Calgary in search of furnishings and special materials. Four valuable hours lost each way! The tight budget required tireless shopping for bargains. Everything had to be brought to the site by road. Helicopters were far too expensive. Using a four-wheel drive farm tractor and a 22ft highway trailer, Dale spent many autumn weeks bringing materials to the site. Rising very early each frosty morning in Golden, Dale would tow the loaded trailer the 100 km. north to the base of the Chatter Creek road, hook the trailer to the tractor and crawl the last 17 km to the site. Arrival by noon was critical. The uphill trip could only be made with the road still frozen and hard. If he got stuck, the excavator would have to stop work and crawl off down the road to provide a tow. Hours of work would be lost. As Dale hove into sight, all hands would appear to unload the trailer and Dale would head off, down the road and back to Golden to assemble the next day’s delivery. Almost 30 loads were delivered in this weather dependent operation. In the end, the impossible was done. On December 27, 2002 the last sawdust was swept up, the dishes were washed, the last bed was assembled and made, the bathrooms were stocked and the bar was made ready. The first guest helicopter arrived at Vertebrae lodge at 3:30pm. By 4:30pm, 24 admiring guests were roaming the lodge in awe. A photo journal of the construction of Vertebrae Lodge can be found at: http://mountain-lodge.blogspot.com/ Chatter Creek President, Dale McKnight, was heard to comment, “Thank goodness we never really understood at the start just how big and how difficult this project was going to be. We probably would never have started. But we did, and now it’s done!” Others in the team had thoughts of their own. Jevan recalled the time he sunk the D4 bulldozer in the mud while working on the road. “Right up to the seat. It took the excavator to dig it out.” Lori and Isabelle remembered the bugs. “There were ‘mossies’ around the building and bugs and beetles around the sawmill. We went through boxes of ‘Croc-bloc’, but we were still being bitten.” Vertebrae Lodge stands as a testimony to the hard work, perseverance and ability of the Chatter Creek partners and their crew. It’s a magnificent structure that was built under difficult conditions and in a very short time. It represents not only a feat of construction, but also a feat of coaxing some very tired equipment into steady operation. The excavator, in particular, was in constant use feeding logs to the sawmill, leveling ground, digging pits and trenches, burying tanks and piping, clearing the septic field, moving heavy loads, towing stuck vehicles up the access road and building winter roads for the snowcats. Both the excavator and the crane had had their cranky moments but, under Dan’s tender care, both these mechanical relics stood the course and, with the sawmill, continue to be used to this day.
Lockie Brown lives in Vancouver, Canada and skis on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains. He organizes annual cat skiing tours for groups of friends. He prefers to take his powder-hounds to Chatter Creek. Please visit their Web site at http://backcountrywintervacations.com/ A new photo journal about skiing and log construction at Chatter Creek can be found at http://powder-skiing.blogspot.com/
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| In Focus: Construction Accident Lawyers by Mart Gil Abareta Accidents happen unexpectedly in our lives. They usually occur in our homes, in the office, in the streets, and in almost all places where we go. No matter how careful we are in what we do, these incidents are actually unavoidable especially when we overlook some necessary precautions for our safety. These accidents are really disturbing and destructive. Same is the case in construction accidents.The effects of serious construction accidents are really hard to bear. And if you’ve been bothered by intense physical pain, emotional suffering, and huge amounts of financial responsibilities, you can be entitled to compensation due to what you’ve endured. However, it will be hard for you to determine the right amount that you deserve to receive just by yourself. You need somebody to help you get through this problem by winning your construction accident settlement. I am referring to a competent construction accident lawyer.Construction accident attorneys know how it feels to be a victim of construction accidents. As legal specialists, they will only want to support you in going through your painful experience. In choosing one, you must look for a proficient and experienced lawyer who will be at your side all throughout the legal process. You have to consider the professional background of your lawyer and his geographic region. By doing so, you’ll be able to bring your legal concerns to a top professional who basically knows everything about this area of law.In addition, you have to keep in mind that the law is very complex. Even though it exists to serve us and protect our rights, the legal process especially for construction accident cases can be truly threatening. And because of this fact, only skilled and knowledgeable personal injury lawyers must be with you every step of the way. With them, you will be able to discover every option to pursue strength and happiness. Nevertheless, you only deserve the best legal help possible from these lawyers.Indeed, being injured in a construction accident is stressful. Basically, your construction accident lawyer knows and understands this fact, and your lawsuit will surely be treated with proper care and sensitivity. He will focus on identifying the best possible approach towards the success of your construction accident case. After all, your attorney only wants you to continue with your life peacefully after fully recovering from a construction accident. About the Author This composition was provided by a very reliable Ask Accident Lawyers Company. This article was composed to serve the interests of Los Angeles Accident Lawyers, Attorneys and Law Firms who are looking for reviews, suggestions, tips and more in the industry. |
| (New construction windows or replacement windows? Which is right for you?) by John Rocco (New construction windows or replacement windows? Which is right for you?) Hello, my name is John Rocco.I grew up around the window and door business. My father owned a glass shopthat dealt in every aspect of residential and commercial glass.Naturally, when it came time to choose a profession, i wound up in thewindow and door business. I have been in the business for about 27 years, and i have been self employed for 20.One of the thingsthat seperated my company from my competitors was my willingness to show my customers how to replace their windows themselves.Whenever i would encounter a customer with a curiosity or willingness to learn how to install their own windows,i would offer to sellthem the labor on one window,using them as my helper.Then,they would install the rest of the windows using the knowledge gainedfrom helping me install one.Most window companies would never do this because there is so much money made on the labor.But iwas always so busy,i never felt like it was costing me money.Eventually, i made an installation video for those homeowners whowanted to do their own windows.While the video is for sale on my website, i decided to take excerpts from the video and write an articleonce a week covering some part of the window replacement project.This article is going to cover the difference between windowframes used in new construction homes, and the window frames that are used to replace existing aluminum or wood windows. When a new home is being built,the windows are nailed to the wood studs that make up the house frame.In orderto accomplish this, new construction windows have a fin around all four sides of the frame that rests against the outside of the stud,and nails are driven into the studs through the nailing fin. After that,flashing paper is applied to prevent water leaks, then the exterior,material is applied. That material can be stucco, brick, siding, etc.Now, imagine 10 or 20 years later when you want to replace thosewindows. If you were going to install your replacement windows the same way the original windows were installed, you would have toremove the exterior material around each window in order to get to those nails holding the frame in there. You can see how this pro-ceedure could cause many problems, not to mention all the labor involved. I have seen homes in california with stucco exteriors wherethe homeowner had the stucco cut out in order to remove the old windows.The problem was they were unable to match the stucco colorsafter patching. Its just not a very efficient way to replace windows. So the replacement frame was designed. In most parts of the countryit's simply a new construction window frame with the nail fin removed. In the west,where stucco is a common home exterior,a retrofitframe was designed. If you're going to be replacing the exterior material on your home, then you might want to consider going with thenew construction window since the nailing fins will be exposed anyway. Also, chances are that a contractor will be doing your exteriorreplacement,and it would be wise to let the contractor install the windows as well.Since my installation videos deal with window replace-ment only, these articles will focus on replacement frames and retrofit frames. Using these two frame styles,a do it yourselfer canreplace their old windows without any damage to existing interior and exterior surfaces.And the job can be done using common toolssuch as a drill,tape measure, and caulking gun. In next weeks article,we will discuss the replacement of wood sash windows.John Rocco has been installingreplacement windows since 1978To learn more, visit How To Install Windows ABOUT THE AUTHOR I have been replacing residential windows since 1978. I now sell vinyl windows and doors as well as instructional videos through my website:http://www.how-to-install-windows.com |
| Choosing a Home Construction or Remodeling Contractor by George Stevens Choosing the right Contractor is the most important aspect of any home construction project. You must take your time and do your research to find a good qualified contractor if you want excellent quality at a fair price. When we built our new home we spent many hours finding the best contractors for each aspect of building our new home. We developed a method that served us well and it is as follows:Determine exactly what you want done and write it down. This may sound a little basic at first blush, but it is so important. Remember what is not well defined is easily manipulated. If it is not in writing, it can be disputed. You do two things when you define your project in detail, and in writing. You find any missing aspects that you may have overlooked and you have good definition and expectations for your contractor.Get three (3) bids for each trade that you will hire. Never rely on one bid, and always meet the contractor face to face at the site where the work is to be done. If you are uncomfortable with the contractor when they are bidding the job how is it going to be when the two of you have to work out the details of your project. Remember cheaper is not always better!Ask each contractor for references and make sure they are bonded and insured. Check their references and call the BBB (Better Business Bureau) in your area to see if they have any outstanding complaints. Make sure they don’t sub the work out to a contractor that is not insured or bonded. It is very common for a contract company to sub out work to contractors that are not insured and bonded. Another danger of the contractor subbing work out is if they don’t pay their sub, the sub can put a mechanics lien on your house and you will have to pay even if you have already paid the contractor.Set a definite timeframe for the work to begin and for completion and get it in writing. Nothing is worse than to have a project drag on not knowing when they are going to show up and finish.Never, ever pay for the entire project in advance. If you do the contractor has no incentive to finish or even start. When you no longer have the money you are no longer in control! It is customary with most contractors that you pay a portion up front. On a large project hold back as much money as you can until the end. The incentive to finish must be motivated by the cash at the end of the project.For more information on finding and qualifying contractors visit www.Build-YourOwn-Home.com About the Author George Stevens is the popular author of the Website www.Build-YourOwn-Home.com teaching you how to build your own home. |
| Construction Fall Protection by Howard Watkins Personal fall protection in the construction industry. A brief history. First we called them sissy belts. Each tool trailer had a couple of safety belts but we used them more often as tools rather than safety devices. Our cowboy attitude discouraged us from ever becoming dependant on them. Any display of fear or hesitation aloft would certainly bring criticism, mistrust, harassment and possibly even termination. After all how could you get anything done? Prior to the debut of OSHA the cost of construction projects were estimated in terms of dollars and lives. The general rule of thumb was a life for each million dollars. Falls were by far the most common cause of fatal accidents. During the early seventies the advent of OSHA and the rising cost of litigation caused construction companies to begin changing their attitude about personal fall protection. In the early days of OSHA we were required to wear safety belts but most of us were negligent about properly securing them to avoid falls. Some of us were downright stubborn. A far too familiar sight was a worker lying broken on the ground with the lanyard of his safety belt tied into a knot neatly out of his way. After all how could we get anything done? While making surprise inspections OSHA began to levy heavy fines on the contractor and employee as well. Agents commonly gathered evidence from offsite positions with the use of telescopic photo lenses. Insurance companies put heavy pressure on their client construction companies. By the end of the seventies most of us were accustomed to using safety belts and were encouraged to use them properly. The eighties brought about the concept of 100 % tie off. A worker was than required to have two lanyards attached to his safety belt. If used properly the worker would be secured by at least one lanyard 100% of the time. No longer could he walk a beam or even move around freely. Moving from one place to another turned into a monotonous chore of fastening and unfastening the safety lanyards. How could we ever get anything done? By the nineties the risk management bean counters began to take a closer look at injuries caused by safety belts. The safety belt could most certainly save a life but at the same time could cause serious back injuries. While safety experts instructed us to wear the lanyard in the back to avoid back injury the state of the art belt had “D” rings on each side slightly in front. This design made the belt handy to sit in like a work belt though in most cases it was not approved for that purpose. The next evolution in personal fall protection was the full body safety harness with a shock resistant lanyard attachment. By the end of the nineties the full body safety harness was in use almost universally around the construction industry. Today if a worker is injured from a fall it can almost certainly be proven that he violated a safety rule. The harness is a most restrictive and uncomfortable device. About 12 to 15 lbs of weight is added to the already heavy load of equipment and tools. It effectively covers all the pockets. It does not easily fit over or under cold weather gear. In a tight spot it snags on every thing like Velcro. It does not easily accommodate the wearing of a tool belt or a bolt bag. Walking in it creates the look of a duck waddle. To this date no one has ever invented a safe lanyard clasp that can be easily manipulated with one gloved hand. Uncomfortable and restrictive though it may be we are still getting things done. Only now we are getting things done much safer. Without criticism we can now protect ourselves for a long career and our corporate benefactors are reaping a better bottom line. Howard Watkins About the Author Howard Watkins is a retired Master Electrician and presently the Webmaster and editor of http://brassmein.com A construction industry information Website. |
| Construction Jobs - Finding a Subcontractor by John R Dawson At ServiceMagic, many times our contractors receive more projects than they can perform during a given time period. When this occurs, they are forced to make a decision. There are basically three options: 1. Turn down the project 2. Work extremely long days in hopes of completing the projects simultaneously 3. Hire a subcontractor to complete the additional projectWe recommend the latter, and here’s why. Of course, no contractor ever wants to turn down a project. By doing so, you are not only losing the consumer for the moment, but for any future projects. Every successful project is another notch in your belt, and will ultimately prove to be one of your greatest forms of advertising. As far as working exceptionally long days, this could be the worst option of all. Not only will your health suffer, but your business as well. When the 15th hour of work rolls around during a day, you are not performing as well as you were during the 1st or even the 8th hour. Your workmanship cannot be its best at this point, and it’s without a doubt that you always want to do your best. If you’re performing at 75%, which may still be stellar, the consumer will assume that this is your top quality work. When he tells his friends at work about his thousand dollar project, you don’t want him to refer to your 75% effort, but only your absolute best effort.Which brings us to the third option: hiring a subcontractor. We feel this is by far the best option of the three. You will not only be able to accept the project, and receive a certain amount of money for it, but you will also be associated with the competition of the project. Your subcontractor’s success will become your success. Since you were the first contact on the project, when the consumer relays this information to his friends and neighbors, you will be the name he passes on.Of course, since this is the case, you must absolutely guarantee that your potential subcontractor can not only complete the project, but do it to your 100% standards. Just as his success is your success, his failure is yours as well. But how can you guarantee his work qualifications if you’ve never seen any of his projects? The same way your consumers are finding you, through ServiceMagic. Just as your consumers look at your qualifications, and previous work ratings, so should you for your potential subcontractor. Find someone who is licensed and insured for the potential project, and see if he can perform the work. Remind him that his work is tied into a rating system, just as yours is. By this method, you are sure to be able to complete all the work you need. About the Author John is a subcontractor who works with ServiceMagic.com to find construction jobs. |
| CONSTRUCTION LOAN BASICS by Mercedes Hayes It might not be too big of an exaggeration to say that the construction loan is one of the more daunting aspects of building your custom home. Before we started our project, I had nightmares about trying to pay two full mortgages at the same time (our existing mortgage and the construction loan), and I didn't see how it was at all possible. However, the reality ended up much more reasonable than I dared hope.COLLATERAL: Many – but not all – mortgage companies require you to own your land first before you apply for the construction loan. That way, if the borrower defaults, the bank has a way to recoup their investment. Some banks will let you roll in the land purchase with the construction loan, but you may have to pay a premium.TIMING: Your standard construction loan will be based on the one year plan. It's perfectly reasonable to expect to finish within a year, unless you are building a handcrafted log home. The good news is that you aren't obligated for the full construction loan amount from day one. You only have to pay interest for the amount of money you actually borrow from each draw. So you won't really be carrying the full mortgage until the end of construction, at which point you will roll the construction loan over to a conventional mortgage.BUDGETING: Before you apply for the construction loan, you must get all your quotes in order. Banks are not happy about increasing the amount of money you ask for. Be sure to account for all the sub-contractors (plumbers, masons, electricians, excavators, landscapers), the well and septic, the windows and roof, the painters, and even the grass seed. Your mortgage representative will expect you to have a handle on all your financial needs (see my article BREAKING DOWN THE BUDGET OF YOUR LOG HOME for more specifics). If some of these expenses will be out of pocket, it wouldn't hurt to include them in your construction loan request anyway, so you have a cost overrun buffer. And get more than one quote if possible, then use the highest quote in the construction loan request. If you go with the lower quoted job, you'll have another buffer in your favor.Before the mortgage company agrees on the loan, they will require a copy of the floor plan, permits, and survey. Then they will send out an appraiser who will inspect your property and determine whether your project will appraise for the amount of money they are committing to. Luckily, more and more banks are giving log homes a fair appraisal, but it helps to choose a company that specializes in log homes or your market value may come in too low.DRAWS: When you've itemized your anticipated expenses, you can share this with your mortgage rep., who will then ask you how you would like to break down the disbursements (or "draws" as we commonly know them). This will be your decision (with a little hand-holding). At first, you might want to schedule a couple dozen draws, until you realize that there is a service charge attached to every draw. For instance, every time the bank releases a draw, you have to notify them a few days in advance. The bank sends out an inspector to verify that the promised work was performed. Then they order a Title Search to verify that you haven't had any liens put on your property since the last draw (this costs about $125 each time). This leads us to the next issue that pertains especially to building a log home. Normally, banks release a draw after the work has been completed. However, log home manufacturers require COD when the logs are delivered (or ideally the day before). Historically this had been a bone of contention between the banks and manufacturers, until certain banks took the lead and set up accounts directly with the log home companies. This expedited the whole process. These direct deposits become draws on your construction loan. EXAMPLE: In our case, we ordered a total of 11 draws. On settlement of the construction loan, the bank started us with about $38,000 for misc. expenses. We used much of this to bridge the gap between draws (the contractors want to get paid regularly). There was a draw for the Log Kit deposit. There was a draw for our Superior Walls precast foundation (another direct deposit). Another draw paid for the COD log delivery; another draw paid for the window delivery. Then things got more tricky, because the next draw covered the well and septic, which had to be completed first. Once the log walls were raised another draw came, another when the "weathered-in shell" was complete, and another draw when the mechanicals were installed. The last draw came at the end of the project, but the bank wouldn't release the money until we had stained the house and planted grass seed. They wanted to make sure the house was ready for sale. With luck, you won't be delayed by weather or on-site errors, which could derail your whole plan. However, if you don't have some extra money set aside, your contractors might quit working until they get paid, knowing full well that you won't get paid until the work is finished. Coffee and donuts help to keep relations smooth, but nothing works like cash.And remember: if by some miracle you don't use all the money you requested in the construction loan, you can always give the rest back. So don't cut corners. Estimate high, spend less, and you just might have enough left over for that luxury item you always wanted. About the Author About the author: Mercedes Hayes is a Hiawatha Log Home dealer and also a Realtor in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She designed her own log home which was featured in the 2004 Floor Plan Guide of Log Home Living magazine. You can learn more about log homes by visiting www.JerseyLogHomes.com. |
| Dramatic Profits From Preconstruction Real Estate Investing by Chris Anderson, PhD The preconstruction process is an innovative real estate investment opportunity in which you buy tomorrow's property at today's price. Preconstruction investing is a boon for the investor or buyer as well as the developer or builder. The biggest advantage of preconstruction process is that you can reserve your buy at discounted prices without investing a fortune. You simply have to make a small investment that is as low as 5% of the total cost to reserve a unit and pay the balance on achievement of different milestones. For the buyer, preconstruction process provides an opportunity to seal a property deal with little margin money and achieve sizable discounts over the tentative price of the finished condos. For the developer it is an opportunity to presale the entire property even without laying a single brick and to procure a construction lending with relative ease. In the the preconstruction process, property developers place the building plans of a proposed real estate venture for pre-selling. Only thing made available to the buyer are architectural rendering and floor plans of the condominium, town house, or single family residence. The good news is that preconstruction prices are normally at an attractive discount of the proposed sale price of complete units. In theory, the buyer gets the discount because they displays the grit and tenacity to invest on mere paper and "air". However, in reality, they are getting discounts because the are a crucial piece of the puzzle for the developer because pre-selling of a particular percentage of the total units is a need for getting a prospective lender to fund the construction process. If you are interested in investing in preconstruction property, you can check out the list of preconstruction offers available in your locality in the newspapers, on the Internet or with your real estate consultant; that is if you have those types of projects in your locale. When you have the list, you can shortlist the offers that are suitable according to your budget and needs. After that you must run a thorough check on the property and the developer on many issues. Certain key reasons are, the going and expected cost of the similar units in that locality; demand supply factors; whether the units are assignable and uniqueness of the property. You must also check for the future or proposed development plans in the vicinity to protect your view. This aspect is important because you might choose to buy an apartment in a preconstruction process at a premium due to the prefect view of lake or waterfront. However, after some time you may find out that another developer is building a project, which may blind your view. After you have satisfied yourself with the suitability and pricing of the condominium, you can proceed for the reservation. Most preconstruction properties have a nominal reservation amount, which is normally 5-10% of the total cost and can go as low as $1,000. The reservation process has a simple "Intent to Purchase Agreement" in which you hold the right to first refusal. In this phase, you are safe because your money is in escrow account and you can terminate the agreement without any obligation. Of course, the developer is not really bound to any prices yet at this stage either so both sides are in a loose arrangement. Once the developer gets the needed licenses and permissions and has the legal authority to sell the units, you can enter into a hard contract. At the time of signing the hard contract, you have to make balance up-front payment. Usually, the upfront payment is 20% of the total cost of completed unit but can be more or less. You can pay by a direct deposit with the builder or through a letter of credit. After signing the contract and making an up-front payment, you do not have to make any other payment until the unit is ready and you close the deal and take possession. However, before signing a hard contract you must be careful because by signing it, you are entering into a binding commitment to purchase the unit, failing which the builder can forfeit your deposit. In some states like Florida, you have a 15-day rescission period during which you can withdraw from the hard-contract without any obligations. Before signing the hard contract, you should check to see if you have the rights to assign the property to a qualified intermediary. If you would like to play safe, take a professional opinion on the terms and conditions of hard-contract for preconstruction purchase. The construction phase normally lasts for 6 months to 2 years (depending on project type) and you have an expiration date on the hard-contract. If the builder fails to complete the construction and handover the possession, you can claim for refunds and will have no legal obligation to buy the unit. During the construction period as the building would move towards completion, there is typically several price increases but of course, you cannot absolutely count on that happening. If you are able to find a suitable buyer prior to closing, you can resell the unit and claim your profits on closing of the deal. If you have not assigned the contract until the completion, you will have to close the unit. Closing in preconstruction process is similar to all real estate deals and you have to make the balance payment with additional payments like the association fee as disclosed in the "Good Faith Estimate". There are a lot of things to consider when entering into a preconstruction investment and we strongly encourage you to learn all the do's and don'ts. Hopefully this article has given you an overview of the process. About the Author: Chris Anderson is a leading authority on preconstruction real estate investing. Get his 4 day e-mail course and a 33 minute video free today! Visit http://www.GetPreconstructionProfits.com & http://www.GetPreconstructionDeals.com. In addition, Dr. Anderson is the on-line training coordinator at the Van Tharp Institute, a group that provides world class training for investors and traders. Source: www.isnare.com |
| Get a Jump on Next Summer’s Backyard Entertaining by Starting Deck Construction Now by ARA (ARA) - Autumn may signal the end of summer to some, but to others it’s just an early start to the next summer season. The kids are back in school, the chaise lounges have been stored away, and the garden flowers are losing their petals -- it’s time to strap on the tool belt and fire up the table saw. According to deck builders across North America, there are several reasons fall is an ideal time to build, repair or expand a deck: * The grilling, sunbathing and outdoor entertaining activities of the summer season have passed, so deck construction is less likely to disrupt the family’s routine. * An impressive new deck deserves an equally impressive landscape. By completing the deck in fall, landscaping can be done in spring when weather conditions are ideal for planting, and a wider variety of plants are available. * A soggy or harsh winter can do extensive damage to already decaying deck boards. Repairing rotting decks in autumn prevents such hazardous damage from occurring. Western Red Cedar products from CedarOne are excellent products to use for a deck as Cedar is naturally resistant to decay and harsh weather, so your deck can last up to two times longer than with other materials. Another option against decay is to build with alternative decking materials such as wood composites made from wood fibers and recycled plastics. Ultra-modern engineered materials like ChoiceDek from Weyerhaeuser are nearly impervious to harsh conditions. ChoiceDek has been extensively tested by independent laboratories under hostile accelerated aging conditions, and carries a 20-year limited warranty against rot, decay and termites. * Moderate fall weather gives new, green lumber ample time to cure. “Summer heat and sun can damage new lumber by rapidly pulling moisture out of the wood,” explains Barry Klemons, owner of Archadeck of Charlotte, N.C., one of the nation’s largest deck builders. Klemons notes that improper curing can cause wood to warp and create hairline cracks, known in the industry as ‘checking.’ * With the kids back in school, saws and electrical tools pose less of a safety hazard for young ones. * New wood decks need time to cure before the application of sealers, paints and stains. Building in the fall ensures ample time between construction and staining, as there are generally less social engagements to hurry the project along. Homeowners who build with engineered decking materials, however, will enjoy a low-maintenance deck free from curing times, sealing, staining or painting. “ChoiceDek provides a low-maintenance, long-lasting, attractive deck, and is the deck of choice for my own back yard,” says deck builder David Nystrom, owner of Abracadabra Construction in Eugene, Ore. * In balmy areas of the United States, the outdoor entertaining season extends through the end of fall. According to Chris Myers, owner of Alternative Decking Systems in Coronado, Calif., “In some areas, like Florida and Arizona, it may even be too hot to build decks in summer. By building in fall, homeowners in warm weather climates can still get a few months of outdoor entertaining in before the weather becomes too chilly.” * Perhaps your old deck is still in good shape, but needs a new railing? Why not consider a state-of-the-art decorative railing system made of composite materials. These railing systems offer the same low maintenance option as the decking planks. It is hard to distinguish the difference between many of the composite railing systems, but one difference is pre-grooved railing in the ChoiceDek product, which saves time and money. You can run wires inside the handrail or bottom rail to enjoy beautiful outdoor lights or audio systems. * Because fall is typically a slower season for contractors, homeowners may be able to save time and money. “In April, May and June, many contractors have a backlog of two or three months,” says Bruce Henzmann, owner of Carmel-Fishers-Geist (CFG) Fence and Deck of Indianapolis, Ind. “By having a deck built in the slower fall months, people can avoid lag time, and may even be able to get a price break.” So peruse your favorite building and remodeling magazines, invest in a deck-design software program or hire a contractor. Whatever you do, be sure to get outside and take advantage of autumn’s window of opportunity for deck building or repair. For more information, visit www.cedarone.com and www.choicedek.com. Courtesy of ARA Content About the author: Courtesy of ARA Content
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| Mahogany's Beauty and Durability Makes it Ideal for Deck Construction by Mark Donovan A couple of years ago I had the chance to tour several newly constructed Adirondack homes. One of the areas that particularly stood out for me while touring these homes were the decks. All used Mahogany lumber for both the decking and the railing systems. The red color and the general beauty of the Mahogany wood was unique to anything I had ever seen before in decking material.After completing my home tours I went out and researched Mahogany further. First, there are several species and colors of Mahogany, supplied by various countries around the world. Not all are the same, however. It is the species known as American Mahogany that has the rich red color that I had observed. American Mahogany comes from the West Indies, Mexico, and Central and South America. It is generally viewed as a harder wood that is extremely durable and resistance to moisture and insects. Also, because it is a hard wood it has a tendancy to not split, twist or check. So be sure to ask about the species, prior to buying Mahogany. Note however, Mahogany is a little more expensive than pressure treated decking and railing systems, however it is well worth it in terms of quality, looks and durabilty.Since discovering and researching Mahogany, I have built two deck systems using this material. As I had indicated earlier, it is a hard material that as a result, requires a little more effort in its installation.Fastening the MaterialFirst, use stainless steel nails or screws on both the decking and railing systems, as other types will not penetrate this material very well. My preference was the stainless steel nails, however pre-drilling holes is mandatory if not using a nail gun. Even with stainless steel nails, they will bend trying to simply nail them into the wood. I found that with the stainless steel hex head screws that they chewed the wood going in and left somewhat of a ragged finish on the surface of the wood.Second, when installing the decking material, I found it aesthetically most attractive to create a frame on the outside perimeter of the deck surface using long Mahogany boards. Once the outer frame is installed, the main Mahogany decking boards can be simply installed within this outer framework. The result is a cleaner line when viewed from a distance or standing on the deck itself.Regarding the Railing system, screws and bolts should be used exclusively as the material use in this part of the deck is typically thicker and requires more rigidity.Painting, Staining or SealingMahogany takes paint and stain well, however I have preferred to apply a clear sealer. The clear sealer enables the natural red color of the Mahogany to shine through, while still providing a layer of protection from the environement. Typically I re-apply the clear sealer every year to continue to preserve the color. If you do not, the Mahogany will bleach out. About the Author Me_Donovan@comcast.netwww.homeadditionplus.comOver the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and home additions. Mr. Donovan's formal education & profession have been as an Electrical Engineer & Marketing Manager. |
| (New construction windows or replacement windows? Which is right for you?) by John Rocco (New construction windows or replacement windows? Which is right for you?) Hello, my name is John Rocco.I grew up around the window and door business. My father owned a glass shopthat dealt in every aspect of residential and commercial glass.Naturally, when it came time to choose a profession, i wound up in thewindow and door business. I have been in the business for about 27 years, and i have been self employed for 20.One of the thingsthat seperated my company from my competitors was my willingness to show my customers how to replace their windows themselves.Whenever i would encounter a customer with a curiosity or willingness to learn how to install their own windows,i would offer to sellthem the labor on one window,using them as my helper.Then,they would install the rest of the windows using the knowledge gainedfrom helping me install one.Most window companies would never do this because there is so much money made on the labor.But iwas always so busy,i never felt like it was costing me money.Eventually, i made an installation video for those homeowners whowanted to do their own windows.While the video is for sale on my website, i decided to take excerpts from the video and write an articleonce a week covering some part of the window replacement project.This article is going to cover the difference between windowframes used in new construction homes, and the window frames that are used to replace existing aluminum or wood windows. When a new home is being built,the windows are nailed to the wood studs that make up the house frame.In orderto accomplish this, new construction windows have a fin around all four sides of the frame that rests against the outside of the stud,and nails are driven into the studs through the nailing fin. After that,flashing paper is applied to prevent water leaks, then the exterior,material is applied. That material can be stucco, brick, siding, etc.Now, imagine 10 or 20 years later when you want to replace thosewindows. If you were going to install your replacement windows the same way the original windows were installed, you would have toremove the exterior material around each window in order to get to those nails holding the frame in there. You can see how this pro-ceedure could cause many problems, not to mention all the labor involved. I have seen homes in california with stucco exteriors wherethe homeowner had the stucco cut out in order to remove the old windows.The problem was they were unable to match the stucco colorsafter patching. Its just not a very efficient way to replace windows. So the replacement frame was designed. In most parts of the countryit's simply a new construction window frame with the nail fin removed. In the west,where stucco is a common home exterior,a retrofitframe was designed. If you're going to be replacing the exterior material on your home, then you might want to consider going with thenew construction window since the nailing fins will be exposed anyway. Also, chances are that a contractor will be doing your exteriorreplacement,and it would be wise to let the contractor install the windows as well.Since my installation videos deal with window replace-ment only, these articles will focus on replacement frames and retrofit frames. Using these two frame styles,a do it yourselfer canreplace their old windows without any damage to existing interior and exterior surfaces.And the job can be done using common toolssuch as a drill,tape measure, and caulking gun. In next weeks article,we will discuss the replacement of wood sash windows.John Rocco has been installingreplacement windows since 1978To learn more, visit How To Install Windows About the Author I have been replacing residential windows since 1978. I now sell vinyl windows and doors as well as instructional videos through my website:http://www.how-to-install-windows.com |
| Real estate construction revolution – Epilogue by Cameron Lindblom Despite numerous advantages of eco-houses along with vast research experience and positive attitude of physicians and ecologists, they can hardly take their firm place in our life. The reason for it may be in the fact that the value of the natural materials (like straw) is too low. A building constructed of straw assembly units can be about five times cheaper than that of conventional brick. It’s easy to make a simple conclusion that massive building of such houses may radically change the market situation leading to recession of construction companies’ and developers’ incomes. They don’t have it on the agenda right now for sure. At the same time, the wealthiest people really care about what inheritance they hand down to their descendants. That’s why they are usually concerned with the environmental conditions, apart from all the financial matters that are on their list of important things. You can never buy new health, can you? Thus, care about health is no longer an individual matter, but social in general. Every single person is responsible here. Therefore, the first and the main important duty of eco-houses is to minimize negative impact on the environment and utilize wastes with minimal damages. That’s what the whole reasonable world must learn. Read more about articles within “Eco-houses” series below Eco-house concept: pro and con Mega firmament in real estate Straw as real estate building material About the Author Cameron G. Lindblom is a Sweden-born businessman who's built his success in real estate. Apart from running his business, he is the Editorial Board Manager at RealEstateGates Ltd (http://www.realestategates.com). One of his outstanding works is called 'Drugs and Society', 1998. "Wrong choice goes from ignorance of the better", Cameron often says to people and this seems to be his lifetime motto.Eric Svein |
| Buying New Construction...How Do I Begin? by Sheldon Salnick The prospect of shopping for a new construction residence can be quite daunting, but the rewards of owning a brand new home out-weight the disadvantages if you know the potential pitfalls. The following are important considerations: Overall Dollar Budget, Location, Cost Per Square Foot, Finishes, Upgrades, Parking and Delivery Date. Overall Dollar Budget To establish a budget for purchasing a home, you should speak with a mortgage professional prior to looking for property. In terms of your budget, keep in mind that parking is usually not included in the purchase price that is quoted by the developer. In addition, in today's market the list price of the unit is typically not negotiable. The best way to establish a budget is to determine how much money you will need as a down payment and how much money you will need as a down payment and how much you feel comfortable spending, based on your gross income, for monthly payments. Remember that the real estate taxes are generally included in your monthly mortgage payment and should be calculated at a minimum of 2% of the purchase price. If your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price, your lender will require that you purchase private mortgage insurance (PMI) – this charge will also be included in your monthly payment. Also factored into your monthly expenses are your assessments, both for the unit itself and a separate assessment for parking. And finally, add your monthly mortgage payment. Location Generally speaking, the higher the density of the area, the more costly the condominium or townhouse will be. Then checking out locations, you may want to consider less developed areas of the city. Such areas are typically less expensive than those in more developed areas. Note, that as density increases with new development, it is highly likely that your property will gain in value, resulting in a higher return on your investment. Cost Per Square Foot When purchasing new construction, the favored method of comparing value is cost per square foot. This is the method used by developers to initially price their developments. With the cost per square foot in mind, you will be able to compare different properties on an equal basis and determine whether you are purchasing at a favorable price. Also to be considered when looking at the cost per square foot price is whether the developer has included such items as granite counter tops, marble bathrooms, and black or stainless appliances as standard features. In Chicago, prices per square foot range from $225 to as much as $1000 per square foot in the Gold Coast. Finishes You will need to carefully examine which finishes and appliances the developer has included in the base price versus which are considered upgrades. Note that the more expensive finishes such as granite and marble are not usually included in the base price of a one-bedroom unit. Be sure to get a detailed list of specifications in writing from the developer, indicating the brand and model number of each appliance. Don't be confused by the finishes and appliances that are shown in the models you see- they may not be the same as those included in the quoted price. Models are typically finished with granite and marble, undermount sinks and hardwood floor laid diagonally but such features may not be considered standard, particularly in smaller or less expensive units. Upgrades As you can imagine, the cost of upgrades can vary considerably. Developers commonly charge their cost plus a 20% mark-up for upgrades; others may charge even more. Try to determine the costs when you and your realtor are writing up the initial offer. By determining all costs during the contract period you reduce the chance that upgrade costs will exceed your budget. If you keep in mind that many new construction units are not ready for occupancy for a year or two, you will understand the importance of having all upgrade costs in writing as part of the initial contract – at today's prices rather than at costs calculated at inflated prices one or two years later. Parking One of the essential elements of resale value is parking. In a loft conversion or a high-rise building, parking can vary from approximately $25,000 to as much as $60,000 depending upon the level of luxury of the building and the availability of parking in the area. Since parking spaces have dramatically increased in value, you should seriously consider purchasing a space whether or not you currently own a car. Without parking, the later sale of a unit may be more difficult than that of a comparable unit for which parking is included in the price. Delivery Date Although your contract will specify a delivery date, provisions in the contract will often allow the developer to deliver your unit much later than the specified date without penalty. If this is an important issue to you, you should keep in constant contact with your Realtor during the construction process as delivery dates can be delayed for as long as a year and, in rare occasions, even beyond that. You should also speak with your attorney and incorporate terms into the contract so that your interests are protected in the event this should occur. Working With A Realtor Purchasing a new construction residence can be a rewarding experience and a wise investment. But there are definitely nuances involved in purchasing new construction, including the track record of the developer, the number of "flippers" purchasing in the project, and the percentage of sold units. You will be best served by using a Realtor who is familiar with new construction market, the various developers and their product. With your Realtor at hand to answer all your questions, your interests will be represented and protected in all communication with the developer. If you rely on a real estate professional, you will spare yourself a great deal of the aggrevation associated with purchasing a new construction home and, best of all, this representation will be at no cost to you - the developer pays your Realtor's commission.
About The Author Sheldon Salnick is a Realtor with Rubloff Residential Properties. He has worked with new construction buyers for the last 13 years and has represented over $200 million in new construction. For more information or guidance in the purchase of a new construction home, townhome or condominium, he can be reached him at SSalnick@Rubloff.com or www.SheldonChicago.com.
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| Home Construction Loans by Kevin Adelsberg You've found the perfect piece of land for your dream home. Now, you've got to find a way to get your plans off the ground. Because of the risks involved in letting a builder finance home construction, many financial planners recommend taking out a special home construction loan. You can maximize your savings by shopping for a lender that can provide you with a combination loan. The combination loan starts as a construction loan. During this phase, your lender cuts checks to your builder and their subcontractors as they successfully reach significant steps in the building process. Once your home nears completion, your lender activates a traditional mortgage. The new loan pays off your construction loan and rolls the remainder into the assessed value of the new property. The first way a combination loan can save you money is by eliminating a second set of closing costs. By handling both deals simultaneously, you save yourself and your lenders considerable time and money, savings that lenders are happy to pass along in the form of preferred rates. Many banks let the commercial side of their business handle construction loans, while the consumer division oversees the mortgages. Therefore, the best place for you to start your hunt for the best deal is with the branch manager of the banks with offices in your area. Unlike traditional mortgages that can be handled over the phone or the Internet, construction loans require significant local oversight. Fortunately, commercial lenders enjoy the opportunity to plant more roots in their communities. In fact, the commercial banker handling your quote for the construction loan may be able to pull strings to get you a more competitive quote for your eventual mortgage. When shopping for construction loans, understand that the commercial lender will charge a much larger administration fee to compensate for the step-by-step management of your building process. Sometimes, you can expect to pay three, four, or five points (percentage points of your home's value) as a fee to the bank. Considering the amount of work involved in communicating with builders and subcontractors, most administration fees actually pay for themselves by freeing up your own valuable time. As an incentive to keep all of your business under the same roof, many banks will actually rebate much of your commercial loan's administration fee when the time comes to roll it over into the mortgage. You may receive a personal mortgage with no points, or you may even receive rebate points that you can apply to the principal. Throughout your planning process, involve local banking professionals and ask your builder about positive experiences they have enjoyed on past projects with your contender lenders. About the author: Kevin Adelsberg is a writer for FDLoans.com For additional articles and an extensive resource for everything about loans, please visit us at: http://www.FDLoans.com |
| How To Get Started In Preconstruction Investing? by Chris Anderson, PhD Through our website, GetPreConstructionDeals.com, the mostcommon question that we receive is “How do I get rapidly startedin preconstruction investing”. Realistically, you only need totake three steps on your path from being a “beginner”preconstruction investor to one that is extremely savvy. MECHANICS OF PRECONSTRUCTION INVESTING Before you even begininvesting, you need a working knowledge of exactly what is meantby “preconstruction” investing, why has preconstructioninvesting generated returns in excess of 100% per year for manyinvestors, what is the terminology used in preconstruction realestate investing, etc. The good news is this is your easieststep to take.As an example, in this stage you will learn terms likereservation, hard contract, assignment of contract, letter ofcredit, to name a few. Even if you are new to investing, don’tlet that intimidate you. Whenever I teach a class on this topic,it only takes about 30 to 60 minutes to get everybody up tospeed on this.So how do you learn the mechanics of being a preconstructionreal estate investor? My suggestion is to take advantage of thefree resources available on the internet. For example, atGetPreConstructionDeals.com we give a way a 30-page ebook aboutpreconstruction investing that will walk you through this basicterminology and will give you some real world preconstructionreal estate project examples. Also, if you conduct an internetsearch on “preconstruction” “preconstruction investing”“preconstruction condo”, etc., you will find tons of websiteswith this type of information readily available. Give yourselfan evening or two and you should be a master. Unfortunately,over 80% of new investors stop after Step 1 and immediately wantto look for “deals”. In my opinion, this is a big mistakebecause they are lacking what separates the beginning investorfrom the street-seasoned preconstruction investor; themethodology to RAPIDLY pick “smart investments” FINDING PRECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS If you did an internet searchin Step 1 above, did you notice how many real estate web sitesyou found with preconstruction investments on them? If not,simply put in the term “Miami preconstruction” in any internetsearch engine and you will see the number of results. Here is atest for you. From the internet searches done above, can yourapidly look at those projects and choose which ones might beworthy of further investigation? Most people become overwhelmedat this point whereas most savvy investors could sort throughmost of these in a matter of minutes.Over the years, in both the stock and the real estate markets, Ihave had the opportunity to work with some truly outstandinginvestors and I have also seen many, many beginners. When abeginner looks at a preconstruction investment, they ask thereal estate person “How much will I likely make on thisinvestment and should I buy it?” When an experienced investorlooks at the same investment, they first ask THEMSELVES “Is thisinvestment really low risk and if so, how much money is reallyat risk?” Then they ask THEMSELVES “How much money am I likelyto make if this investment works?” In their mind, they aretrying to determine the amount of reward, relative to the risk.They know that the person marketing this project is UNLIKELY tothink this way but they know how to ask the right questions toquickly decide if this project has an acceptable reward-to-riskratio for THEMSELVES.If you are reasonably new to investing, or have always countedon others to make investment decisions for you, how do youperform Step 2? Simple. You must learn how a savvy investorthinks, how they calculate risk, what back-up plans they have inplace in case the investment does not work, how they calculatereward, etc. None of this is rocket science or even difficult todo. If you’re new to preconstruction investing and are trying todo all this on your own, it can be a daunting task, however. Ifind that truly savvy investors are always talking to others,getting their opinions, learning anything they can to make THEIROWN decision. They know that every little tidbit they can learncan literally mean several 10’s of thousands of dollars intotheir own pockets. Practically, you need somebody to mentor you that has “been tothe dance” many times before. If you know somebody in thatcategory, buy them lunch, dinner, movie tickets, whatever andask if they would look over your shoulder. If you know severalpeople in this category, better yet. Your lunch bills will bepricey but your education gained will be priceless. In addition, learning to think like a savvy preconstructioninvestor is the reason that we created our original home studycourse as well as our more complete live teleseminar course.Many people don’t have someone to turn to other than maybe thereal estate person bringing them the project. I personally findthat most real estate agents/brokers are fantastic resources forinformation, however most do not analyze the investment like Iwould. If you ever find yourself asking your agent orsalesperson if “they really think you should buy this,” thenthat is probably a good indication that you are ill prepared. No matter how you accomplish it, learn to think like a savvyinvestor for YOURSELF; it just is not that hard to do. GROWING YOUR PORTFOLIO Once you think like a pro in Step 2, youwill have just created a problem for yourself: you will probablyfind that few preconstruction projects will fit your objectives.New investors tend to think this is like the stock market…..When they are ready to invest, you should just be able to plunkdown your money and move forward. Realistically, in the stockmarket and the preconstruction market, TRUE OPPORTUNITIES appearwhen they are good and ready. When that occurs, and only at thattime, then the savvy investor will pounce with lightning speed.Remember, for many people, a couple of good investments PER YEARis plenty and may then more investment returns than they everdreamed possible.While this may be hard to imagine right now, after Step 2 youshould have a clear understanding of the type of investmentsthat you would consider. As an example, suppose you end upconcluding that you really like condo/town home projects, not onthe beach, and in the southeast. In addition, you want theseinvestments in some emerging markets but not necessarily thosethat have been explosive for a long time. Great! Now startgetting on lists of brokers/developers that bring out thoseprojects. If you can work with a group of like minded people,all the better because you can share the workload and also haveadditional clout because of a higher potential buying power thanjust one individual.I will caution you however that when you think like a savvyinvestor, you are going to want a lot more information than istypically provided by these types of sources. You will want atrue assessment of the local market (other than “boy has thisbeen hot”), you will want a true assessment of the amount ofsimilar projects that have been or are going to be offered, andyou are going to want to know a lot about who is buying theseprojects and why. Because we like a lot of detail and because we know we have tomove very quickly for good investments, we have always found itbetter to operate as a group, rather than one lone person tryingto sort this out after work. In addition, we have found that bypooling together the buying power of a group we can get muchbetter access to really good investments. It is for these reasons that we at GetPreConstructionDeals.comhave created our “Mastermind Group.” I hope this has given youan understanding of the 3 steps needed to become a truepreconstruction investor. Some people will look at this and saythat it is too hard, or too time consuming. Yes it will takesome time and some effort. The question that I always ask themis then “How many hours in your regular job would it take you tomake some of the large $75,000+ returns that somepreconstruction investors are making?” About the Author Dr. Chris Anderson is a co-founder of http://www.GetPreconstructionDeals.com and is referenced in many venues including the New York Times and USA Today. Download his free, 30+ page preconstruction investing ebook today at Get Preconstruction e-Book |
| New Homes Construction and Renovations Showing Nostalgia for Old World Flooring by Neil Street As the home construction and remodeling season gets underway, architects, builders, and realtors see a booming demand from discerning homeowners, who are seeking the warmth and luxury of old-world wood floors in their new homes and remodeling projects. Whether it’s a floor made of old-growth eastern pine, or wide plank flooring of oak, cherry, heart pine, or other hardwoods, today’s homeowners are seeking this enduring look in record numbers. Take a stroll through the showroom of Kellogg Hardwood Lumber located in the picturesque New England town of Bethel, CT., and you will see an assortment of hardwoods, lumber and wide plank flooring that will satisfy anyone seeking the old-world look and feel of an antique, wide plank floor. Business is good these days at Kellogg Hardwoods, and at similar top tier lumber yards around the country, that specialize in both hardwood flooring and wide plank flooring. Some industry analysts point to a yearning for nostalgia in a post 9-11 world; others note that the trend has been growing since the 1970s. Whatever the cause, there is no doubt that the traditional wide plank floor is more in demand than ever.Wide plank flooring can give a new home or remodeling project a look that is timeless, warm, and nostalgic, all at the same time. It comes in almost infinite variety, in a wide range of species, including oak, maple, cherry, birch, hickory, eastern pine, walnut, heart pine, and more. Each wood is prized for its individual look, feel, durability and coloration. Homeowners are specifying these kinds of floors both in new construction and in remodeling projects, for the unique and classic look, durability, and charm.Wide plank hardwoods come from both antique and new lumber, and both varieties fill an important niche is this booming industry. Lumber such as the old-growth eastern pine at Kellogg Hardwoods is from trees more than 100 years old. Today, this old-growth wood may be reclaimed from sources as diverse as old barns, old houses, country lumber yards, or can be replicated from old growth trees. At Kellogg, planks of eastern pine can be found in widths of 12 – 20”, allowing the homeowner to literally recreate a stunning floor from the past. With antique lumber in diminishing supply and high demand, it is not surprising that a viable industry has emerged that supplies wide plank flooring that is harvested from new, and specially-planted forests. These ecologically-friendly, sustainable forests, provide a steady and varied supply of wide plank flooring which, while not “antique” in the literal sense of the word, offer a beautiful and readily-available alternative to actual reclaimed wood. And the new-growth wide plank flooring offers the same antique look, rich feel, and lasting charm of its older counterpart. For today’s homeowner or architect, both types of wood provide a wide array of choices, to match any architecture, building detail, or interior design. Once installed, a wide plank floor will provide a look and feel that cannot be duplicated by any other material.For more information about wide plank flooring, or any hardwood flooring questions, visit Kellogg Hardwoods website. Kellogg Hardwoods is located in Bethel, CT., just over an hour from New York City. They can arrange shipment of flooring to any U.S. destination.Telephone: Toll Free 877-721 WOOD (9663). About the Author Neil Street is co-founder of Small Business Online, an internet marketing and web design company, based in Norwalk, CT. Email Neil at Small Business Online or call him at 203.299.0889 |
| Pre Construction Condominiums by Art McCarty Pre Construction Condominiums in Florida – Vacation HavenNo wonder more than 35 million people visit the Orlando, Florida area each year. Blessed with great weather with temperatures ranging from an average high of 82 in July to a low of 60 in January, it’s a welcome respite for millions of people seeking refuge from the harsh winter temperatures of the north. Along with the benefit of comfortable weather year-round, there are a plethora of things to do for kids of all ages. Renting or Purchasing any of the Pre Construction Condominiums in Florida gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the many attractions Central Florida has to offer. Along with the well-known Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal theme parks, many other wonders await you. Pre Construction Condominiums near Disney World place you in the vicinity of Kissimmee, Florida where an abundance of Pre Construction Condominiums abound. Families first vacation in Florida list a three bedroom vacation villa with two baths, washer and dryer and kitchen with fridge and microwave available for rent. Other amenities include a pool, fitness room and game room. Many Pre Construction Condominiums in Florida offer fully furnished condos with full kitchens, two or more bathrooms and a community pool and spa. These Florida Pre Construction Condominiums are in the Kissimmee area, near Disney.Luxury Pre Construction Condominiums in FloridaThinking you will have to spend a fortune on luxury Pre Construction Condominiums in the Orlando area? Low cost family accommodations specials close to Disney are listed at Windsor Palms where you will find luxury two and three bedroom Condominiums in Florida to rent only 5 minutes from Disneyworld and offering discount prices which can be cheaper than a hotel room. Each resort vacation villa comes with two bathrooms and a screened lanai with access to a community pool. Booking lodging reservations in the Kissimmee area near Disney in a condo as opposed to a motel/hotel room is a smart choice, especially if the kids are accompanying you. Many Pre Construction Condos offer more spacious accommodations, a boon for everyone after a long day of sight-seeing. Pre Construction Condominiums often also provide other distractions for the kids. Some provide VCR’s and video games and staying in Pre Construction Condominiums in Florida can also give the advantage of other diversions such as a fitness room and game room. Finest Vacation Villas offer Condominiums in Florida to rent directly through the owners. Vacations in Florida Condominiums booked through the owner has distinct advantages. Usually they are in gated resort communities for added privacy and security. Dealing directly with the owner could result in cheap prices and the owner may be able to offer you special deals on a resort villa you couldn’t bargain for when working with a company. Don’t be afraid to ask for their lowest price when requesting information. Last minute deals, if available, may also be your ticket to a cheap condo vacation. Searching for time share deals for rent will also turn up deals.Disney Holiday Activities close to Pre Construction Condominiums in FloridaPlanning on spending the Christmas season in the Central Florida area? You are in for a real treat! The Orlando area pulls out all the stops when it comes to celebrating the Christmas season. Booking your reservations for Condominiums in Florida around this time of year will not disappoint you or your family. Disneyworld’s seasonal celebrations include Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade during selected dates at the end of November and throughout December. Spending a day at the Magic Kingdom during these dates will provide your family with hours of the festive party atmosphere. Light displays, caroling and storytelling are featured throughout the park. Holidays around the World is Epcot’s seasonal celebration which highlights the costumes and holiday traditions of various countries around the world. Your stay in area Florida Condominiums will also allow you to enjoy the Osborne Family Spectacle of Light where millions of lights create a magical spectacle at the back lot of cityscape. Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade will be certain to delight the kids at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Downtown Disney stages Festivals of the Season November 26 through December 24 where shopping, good cheer and a festive atmosphere permeate the stores and restaurants. Universal Seasonal Activities near Florida Condominiums Florida Condominiums accommodations near Universal Studios will give you front seat access to their unique holiday attractions. The highlight of this season is the Macy’s Holiday Parade at Universal Studios. Authentic balloons and floats transported from the Macy’s Day Parade in New York City are used in this exquisite parade celebration. All your favorite characters will be there plus marching bands from around the country along with delightful clown antics. Islands of Adventure features their best-known Christmas character, the Grinch. Kids can search for him in his hidden mountain lair and get their picture taken next to him. Don’t miss the Whoville musical and the Seussian tree lighting, all unique seasonal events included in the cost of admission. Christmas in the City will be featured at Universal City Walk where the finest decorations and amazing celebrations will delight you. Enjoy the carriage ride, the sing-along choir and nightly snowfall. Need we mention the amazing shopping experience also!Central Florida Holiday Events near Florida CondominiumsAccommodation close to Sea World will allow you to enjoy the Christmas decorations, live Christmas music and nightly snowfall. The highlight of Sea World’s seasonal celebrations includes Shamu’s Christmas: A Child’s Wish featuring live choral music orchestrated to the dance of killer whales. The Nutcracker ballet will be presented at the Bob Carr Center for the Performing Arts various dates throughout the month of December. Silver Springs salutes the holiday season with their Festival of Lights, includes strolling carolers, a lighted boat parade, local carolers and of course, a visit from Santa. For information about these and other Orlando events, visit www.orlandoinfo.com. For the sports lover two games will be staged in Central Florida during December and January. The 2004 Champs Sports Bowl, known formerly as the Tangerine Bowl will be held at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium December 21 at 7:45 pm. Teams from the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences will battle it out at the stadium. January 1 at 1pm also at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, teams from the Big 10 and SEC will be pitted against each other. Check out www.fscports.com for further information. Florida Condominiums near Holiday AttractionWhen searching for Florida Condominiums, don’t neglect the city of Davenport, Florida near Kissimmee. Searching for the best price on Florida Pre Construction Condominiums or Florida Condominiums will probably turn up condos in the Davenport. Davenport is located just 5 miles southwest of Disney. Its great location makes it a perfect base from which to explore Central Florida. The unique attraction of Davenport is the peacefulness of a smaller town nestled close to orange groves. Davenport is near Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios, less than 30 minutes away. A super Wal-Mart and a new Publix Supermarket are close to this quaint Florida town. Lodging is abundant here and includes a Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, Red Carpet Inn, Ramada Inn Southgate and Villas at Polo Park, among others. A unique place to stay is Island Hideaway, offering everything from economy rooms with kitchenette to five bedroom three bath vacation villas. Units come fully stocked and other resort amenities include a full size pool with kiddie pool, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, a massage room fitness room and convenience store on the premises. This may be the ticket if looking for a discount condo. Check them out at www.islandhideaway.net. Enjoy your fabulous fun-filled vacation! Art McCarty http://www.biminibayresortinvestment.com About the Author Pre Construction Condominiums Expert |
| Beware of Disreputable Construction Staffing Companies by Howard Watkins Beware of Disreputable Construction Staffing CompaniesRecently I have heard several horror stories about construction staffing companies. From the employers point staffing companies can save valuable time in recruiting for shut down or fast track projects. It also alleviates the problem of added payroll and personnel task for temporaty employees. On the other hand a less than reputable staffing company may do you more harm than good. Many of them are poorly qualified and understaffed to properly screen employees. Their screening skills are limited to recognizing a few buzzwords and the names of popular companies. Many of them intentionally deceive potential employees and misrepresent your intent. If the employees are disgruntled with the staffing company they may not give their best performance or even stay thru to the completion of your project. It could result in a bad reflection on your company from your clients experience and may even make it difficult for you to recruit good employees in the future. For the employee a reputable staffing company can save a lot of precious time and resources in the constant quest for rewarding projects. One thing you must remember is that these companies represent the employer and see you as only a resource. They are not your personal agent. Before signing onboard with any of the staffing companies you should ask a lot of questions and get firm commitments. A lot of problems come from misunderstandings and blatant deceit. Common problems are late or misplaced checks, faulty accommodations, misunderstanding about project duration, work hours, per-diem travel pay, front money and salary. There are also numerous reports of unexpected deductions and overcharges for lodging. Beware of any recruiter who recommends a third party to spruce up your resume. This is always a scam. Many construction staffing companies do not have the necessary capital or client base to do the best job for you on either end of the deal. Too many of them are just one or two person operations. Some seem to only have a handful of clients. Others seem to just read the same help wanted ads that we read. Some staffing companies advertise for jobs that do not exist for the purpose of gathering data. From your resume they find out exactly whom you worked for and how much you were paid. They can now add your former employer to their list of companies to canvas using the information gleaned from your resume. They get sales leads You get zip. Before going out on a limb with any staffing company be sure to investigate thoroughly. Get recommendations from acquaintances that have had good experiences with them. If possablec Contact the client to get the real lowdown about the project. A good company will have no secrets in this respect. Last but not least spread the word about the GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY About the Author Howard Watkins is a retired Master Electrician and presently the Webmaster and editor of http://brassmein.com A consruction industry information website. |
| How To Get Started In Preconstruction Investing? by Chris Anderson, PhD Through our website, GetPreConstructionDeals.com, the most common question that we receive is “How do I get rapidly started in preconstruction investing”. Realistically, you only need to take three steps on your path from being a “beginner” preconstruction investor to one that is extremely savvy. MECHANICS OF PRECONSTRUCTION INVESTING Before you even begin investing, you need a working knowledge of exactly what is meant by “preconstruction” investing, why has preconstruction investing generated returns in excess of 100% per year for many investors, what is the terminology used in preconstruction real estate investing, etc. The good news is this is your easiest step to take. As an example, in this stage you will learn terms like reservation, hard contract, assignment of contract, letter of credit, to name a few. Even if you are new to investing, don’t let that intimidate you. Whenever I teach a class on this topic, it only takes about 30 to 60 minutes to get everybody up to speed on this. So how do you learn the mechanics of being a preconstruction real estate investor? My suggestion is to take advantage of the free resources available on the internet. For example, at GetPreConstructionDeals.com we give a way a 30-page ebook about preconstruction investing that will walk you through this basic terminology and will give you some real world preconstruction real estate project examples. Also, if you conduct an internet search on “preconstruction” “preconstruction investing” “preconstruction condo”, etc., you will find tons of websites with this type of information readily available. Give yourself an evening or two and you should be a master. Unfortunately, over 80% of new investors stop after Step 1 and immediately want to look for “deals”. In my opinion, this is a big mistake because they are lacking what separates the beginning investor from the street-seasoned preconstruction investor; the methodology to RAPIDLY pick “smart investments” FINDING PRECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS If you did an internet search in Step 1 above, did you notice how many real estate web sites you found with preconstruction investments on them? If not, simply put in the term “Miami preconstruction” in any internet search engine and you will see the number of results. Here is a test for you. From the internet searches done above, can you rapidly look at those projects and choose which ones might be worthy of further investigation? Most people become overwhelmed at this point whereas most savvy investors could sort through most of these in a matter of minutes. Over the years, in both the stock and the real estate markets, I have had the opportunity to work with some truly outstanding investors and I have also seen many, many beginners. When a beginner looks at a preconstruction investment, they ask the real estate person “How much will I likely make on this investment and should I buy it?” When an experienced investor looks at the same investment, they first ask THEMSELVES “Is this investment really low risk and if so, how much money is really at risk?” Then they ask THEMSELVES “How much money am I likely to make if this investment works?” In their mind, they are trying to determine the amount of reward, relative to the risk. They know that the person marketing this project is UNLIKELY to think this way but they know how to ask the right questions to quickly decide if this project has an acceptable reward-to-risk ratio for THEMSELVES. If you are reasonably new to investing, or have always counted on others to make investment decisions for you, how do you perform Step 2? Simple. You must learn how a savvy investor thinks, how they calculate risk, what back-up plans they have in place in case the investment does not work, how they calculate reward, etc. None of this is rocket science or even difficult to do. If you’re new to preconstruction investing and are trying to do all this on your own, it can be a daunting task, however. I find that truly savvy investors are always talking to others, getting their opinions, learning anything they can to make THEIR OWN decision. They know that every little tidbit they can learn can literally mean several 10’s of thousands of dollars into their own pockets. Practically, you need somebody to mentor you that has “been to the dance” many times before. If you know somebody in that category, buy them lunch, dinner, movie tickets, whatever and ask if they would look over your shoulder. If you know several people in this category, better yet. Your lunch bills will be pricey but your education gained will be priceless. In addition, learning to think like a savvy preconstruction investor is the reason that we created our original home study course as well as our more complete live teleseminar course. Many people don’t have someone to turn to other than maybe the real estate person bringing them the project. I personally find that most real estate agents/brokers are fantastic resources for information, however most do not analyze the investment like I would. If you ever find yourself asking your agent or salesperson if “they really think you should buy this,” then that is probably a good indication that you are ill prepared. No matter how you accomplish it, learn to think like a savvy investor for YOURSELF; it just is not that hard to do. GROWING YOUR PORTFOLIO Once you think like a pro in Step 2, you will have just created a problem for yourself: you will probably find that few preconstruction projects will fit your objectives. New investors tend to think this is like the stock market….. When they are ready to invest, you should just be able to plunk down your money and move forward. Realistically, in the stock market and the preconstruction market, TRUE OPPORTUNITIES appear when they are good and ready. When that occurs, and only at that time, then the savvy investor will pounce with lightning speed. Remember, for many people, a couple of good investments PER YEAR is plenty and may then more investment returns than they ever dreamed possible. While this may be hard to imagine right now, after Step 2 you should have a clear understanding of the type of investments that you would consider. As an example, suppose you end up concluding that you really like condo/town home projects, not on the beach, and in the southeast. In addition, you want these investments in some emerging markets but not necessarily those that have been explosive for a long time. Great! Now start getting on lists of brokers/developers that bring out those projects. If you can work with a group of like minded people, all the better because you can share the workload and also have additional clout because of a higher potential buying power than just one individual. I will caution you however that when you think like a savvy investor, you are going to want a lot more information than is typically provided by these types of sources. You will want a true assessment of the local market (other than “boy has this been hot”), you will want a true assessment of the amount of similar projects that have been or are going to be offered, and you are going to want to know a lot about who is buying these projects and why. Because we like a lot of detail and because we know we have to move very quickly for good investments, we have always found it better to operate as a group, rather than one lone person trying to sort this out after work. In addition, we have found that by pooling together the buying power of a group we can get much better access to really good investments. It is for these reasons that we at GetPreConstructionDeals.com have created our “Mastermind Group.” I hope this has given you an understanding of the 3 steps needed to become a true preconstruction investor. Some people will look at this and say that it is too hard, or too time consuming. Yes it will take some time and some effort. The question that I always ask them is then “How many hours in your regular job would it take you to make some of the large $75,000+ returns that some preconstruction investors are making?” About the author: Dr. Chris Anderson is a co-founder of http://www.GetPreconstructionDeals.comand is referenced in many venues including the New York Times and USA Today. Download his free, 30+ page preconstruction investing ebook today at Get Preconstruction e-Book |
| The Top 3 Tricks Horse Owners Can Use To Unspoil A Barn Spoiled Horse by Andy Curry It’s been weeks since you went riding. Now you have time to ride this afternoon and there ain’t no one gonna stop you. Excited, you saddle up your horse and get on him. You get about 50 feet from the barn and your horse turns around and goes back – and you can’t stop him. Why? You have a barn spoiled horse. This is a common scenario for novice horse owners. Here are the top three tricks to solve the barn sour problem. Teach your horse that you have control over him. Once your horse gets it in his mind that you can make him do what you want him to do, you have control over him and can thus make him leave the barn. One way to get control over him is to use a training technique called doubling. When you double your horse you teach him you can control him. It doesn’t take long before your horse will know you can control him. Be careful when doubling though. If you do it too much at a time you can over do it. Your horse could get so sensitive to you doing it that he may try to anticipate it. If he sees your hands making the slightest movement that looks like you’re about to double him, he may double himself. Thus, just double him four to six times a day on both sides. He’ll quickly learn you have control. The next thing you can try is this: Make it dang hard to do the wrong thing – and make it real easy to do the right thing. Here’s what I mean. A while back my horse didn’t want to leave her buddies or the barn. We’d get about 100 feet away and she’d turn around and bolt back. She’d stop in front of the barn expecting me to get off, remove the saddle and tack, and put her back into the corrals. By my barn is two hay stacks. There is a space between them big enough to go through and do figure eights around the hay stacks. So every time she’d go back I would make her work, and work, and work at running figure eights around those hay stacks. Then I would test her to see if she had enough and would leave the area. The first seven times she ran back. Each time we came back to the barn we’d run more laps around the hay stacks. I could tell she was getting tired. But the eighth time I walked her away from the hay stacks I noticed she went quite a ways before turning to go back. When we went back again we ran more figure eights. Only this time I could tell we didn’t have to do too many. I walked her out and away from doing the figure eights and I suddenly had a horse who decided that it was sooo much nicer going for a walk away from the barn rather than doing a bunch of crummy ol’ figure eights. We had a nice ride that day and she was in no hurry to get home. The last thing to do is this: Ride. Ride a lot. Don’t wait for weeks or months in between riding. Try to ride at least once per week for three or four hours. Preferably, try to ride at least twice a week for a few hours at a time. (Ideally, you should ride everyday. But that’s hard to do with today’s time constraints) Doing that your horse will get in his brain that you’re going to ride and he’s going to leave the barn and there will be no argument. In fact, if you want to have a great horse the biggest secret is this: Ride the heck out him! So if your horse is barn spoiled you can try doubling him to show you are in control. The next thing you can try is making the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. Make it dang hard for him to go the wrong thing and very pleasant to do the right thing. And lastly, ride your horse often. Two to three times a week if possible.
About The Author Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery's horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm. |
| BROTHER BILL'S BARN by Irvin L. Rozier This poem was written for Rev. Bill Choate, a preacher for many years.Come down to Brother Bill's auction barnDrink some coffee, listen to a yarnPull up a chair, have a seatBrother Bill will give you something to eatHe'll give you a word from the good bookWalk around his place and take a lookFrom tractors to golf carts to a tom turkeyHe has everything, even Irvie's special jerkyBrother Bill has been preaching for many yearsLed many to Jesus who calmed their fearsNo retirement for this preacher manThis is part of the Master's planWalkin2e Copyright 2004 Irvin L. Rozier ABOUT THE AUTHOR preacher, author, retired military |
| How To Make Money With Garage Sales by Marilyn Pokorney How To Make Money With Garage Sales Marilyn Pokorney Drive through almost any neighborhood in any city or town on a weekend, and youre sure to see garage sales scattered throughout. These homeowners are spending their weekend time off making money. The average profit is $600 for a one-weekend garage sale. Its time to get your share of the pie. Organization is the key. Step one: Check with the local officials to see what the local laws and regulations are on operating garage sales in your area. Step two: Spend a few weekends going to garage sales in your area. See what is selling, what people are buying, how the items are priced, how the sellers advertise. Observe how the sellers display their items. Take notes. Step three: Clean house and take stock of what you have and what its time to get rid of. Be sure to pick out at least one interesting and unusual item to call attention to your sale; some large ticket item you can set up in front of your home during your sale. If you find older items such as dishes, a painting, an old flower urn etc. that you feel its time to dispose of have it appraised. You dont want to sell something for 50 cents only to find out later it was an antique valued at $500.00. You can be sure there are garage sale shoppers who are on the lookout for just this kind of treasure. Step four: Pick a date for your sale. The best time to have a garage sale is twice a year in May or September. People will be out shopping for summer items in May and winter items in September. Never pick a holiday weekend such as Mothers Day or Labor Day. Holiday festivities will get the attention of most people. The best days for your garage sale are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Step five: Advertise, advertise and advertise some more. Place ads in the local newspaper, shopper guides, on bulletin boards and even online. Place signs all over the neighborhood with brightly colored letters, attached balloons, etc. Step six: Organize your sale. Put price stickers on your items. Have a wide variety of clothing and jewelry and arrange them in a rainbow of colors. Make sure jewelry and appliances sparkle! Hang clothing on racks arranged in sizes. Imagine that you are opening a retail store and copy what the stores do. If you have items that are hard to price and you think they will not sell, put them in a penny box. And be sure to mark the box "Penny Box" or "All items just 1 cent each". Step seven: Timing. Consider starting at 7:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 or 9:00. And close no later than 6:00 p.m. And positively NEVER shut down for the noon hour! There are people who work on weekends and will stop on their way to or from work and shop during their lunch breaks. As most customers will have come and gone by 1:00, noon hour being the most active, you can start lowering prices after 1:00 p.m. On items you think will not sell at all, put them in a box marked "Free". And lastly, what doesnt sell take to the local Good Will or other organization of your choice. -- REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publish this article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter, ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright and author information Resource Box at the end. You may not use this article in any unsolicited commercial email spam. You may retrieve this article by: Autoresponder: garagesale@getresponse.com Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/garage.txt Please leave the resource box intact with an active link, and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which the article appears to: marilynp@nctc.net
About The Author Marilyn Pokorney Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment. Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading. Website: http://www.apluswriting.net marilynp@nctc.net |
| A Guide to Garage Door Openers by Richard Romando Garage doors are no longer the regular roll-top ones, which have to be pushed up by hand. These days, garage door openers are provided with various accessories to make opening easier. No matter how heavy the garage door, it can be fitted with the right kind of opener. These openers ensure utmost safety and security for garages under any conditions. They are also provided with several options and in various designs to suit the exact requirements of the user. The best thing is, they can be installed within 3-5 hours (even do-it-yourself ones). A professional can install a garage door opener in 1 hour!Garage door openers are of two kinds depending on the use: residential and commercial. In the commercial range of garage door openers, the main models are: Trolley, Jackshift, Hoist and the Slide models. While Trolley openers are used for standard lifting on sectional doors, Jackshift is used for grilles, rolling doors and shutters. Hoist operators are similar to Jackshifts but they are also suitable for heavy duty industrial doors. The slide door openers are meant for single and bi-parting slide doors and also for fire doors.The main step in purchasing a garage door opener is to determine the actual drive system. Garage door openers are of three kinds depending on the drive system: belt driven, chain driven and direct drive. The most important points to be considered in a garage opener system are the kind of motor and the horsepower. Garage door openers differ in speed also. The average speed is 7 inches lift/drop per second. There are openers that operate at even double this speed.Garage door openers are provided with different kinds of warranties. Safety is another important aspect while choosing the right garage door opener. It is mandatory that all automatic door openers should be equipped with a non-contact invisible beam system that can sense the approach of a person and make the door to reverse back to the open position. Other mandatory features of garage openers are: automatic lights, a timed reversing feature, a manual emergency release cord and a force adjustment feature.Garage door openers are usually noisy but some advanced models are being designed to be really quiet. Proper maintenance and lubrication would also lessen the noise made by garage door openers. On the whole, garage door openers should be weather resistant, safe, and should have the least wire exposure for long life.Garage doors can also be operated by a remote control. This is especially useful for people who have homes with multiple garages. However, it is better to have a rolling radio signal code for the control as it is easy for thieves to capture the code from thin air. Garage door openers can also have an automatic light, remote control and a wall operator, as well as the option of single/two/three button transmitters. About the Author Garage Door Openers Info provides detailed information about best garage door openers, as well as garage door opener parts and repair Garage Door Openers Info is affiliated with Business Plans by Growthink. |
| A Guide To Garage Door Openers by Richard Romando Garage doors are no longer the regular roll-top ones, which have to be pushed up by hand. These days, garage door openers are provided with various accessories to make opening easier. No matter how heavy the garage door, it can be fitted with the right kind of opener. These openers ensure utmost safety and security for garages under any conditions. They are also provided with several options and in various designs to suit the exact requirements of the user. The best thing is, they can be installed within 3-5 hours (even do-it-yourself ones). A professional can install a garage door opener in 1 hour! Garage door openers are of two kinds depending on the use: residential and commercial. In the commercial range of garage door openers, the main models are: Trolley, Jackshift, Hoist and the Slide models. While Trolley openers are used for standard lifting on sectional doors, Jackshift is used for grilles, rolling doors and shutters. Hoist operators are similar to Jackshifts but they are also suitable for heavy duty industrial doors. The slide door openers are meant for single and bi-parting slide doors and also for fire doors. The main step in purchasing a garage door opener is to determine the actual drive system. Garage door openers are of three kinds depending on the drive system: belt driven, chain driven and direct drive. The most important points to be considered in a garage opener system are the kind of motor and the horsepower. Garage door openers differ in speed also. The average speed is 7 inches lift/drop per second. There are openers that operate at even double this speed. Garage door openers are provided with different kinds of warranties. Safety is another important aspect while choosing the right garage door opener. It is mandatory that all automatic door openers should be equipped with a non-contact invisible beam system that can sense the approach of a person and make the door to reverse back to the open position. Other mandatory features of garage openers are: automatic lights, a timed reversing feature, a manual emergency release cord and a force adjustment feature. Garage door openers are usually noisy but some advanced models are being designed to be really quiet. Proper maintenance and lubrication would also lessen the noise made by garage door openers. On the whole, garage door openers should be weather resistant, safe, and should have the least wire exposure for long life. Garage doors can also be operated by a remote control. This is especially useful for people who have homes with multiple garages. However, it is better to have a rolling radio signal code for the control as it is easy for thieves to capture the code from thin air. Garage door openers can also have an automatic light, remote control and a wall operator, as well as the option of single/two/three button transmitters. About the Author: Garage Door Openers provides detailed information about best garage door openers, as well as garage door opener parts and repair For more information go to http://www.e-garagedooropeners.com and/or visit our affiliate site at http://www.growthink.com. Source: www.isnare.com |
| Fall is the Perfect Time to Organize Your Garage by ARA (ARA) - As days grow shorter and temperatures become cooler, it means the inevitable is just around the corner: everything that came out of your garage this spring needs to go back in before winter rolls around. That means you need to find room for the gardening supplies, the patio furniture, the sandbox toys and more. Not to mention corralling all the tools that you’ve used throughout the summer to tune up the bikes, fix the swing set and put together the new picnic table. If you’re wondering where it’s all going to go, maybe it’s time to spend part of the weekend creating some order in all that chaos. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Divide and conquer Start by separating the clutter in your garage into piles. For example, all snow shoveling equipment (shovel, ice scraper, salt) should be together, all sports paraphernalia goes in another pile, lawn care items in yet another pile … you get the picture. This will give you an idea of what you’re dealing with in terms of organizing. Be sure to have a “throw it out” pile and a “donate it” pile. Throw away broken toys, almost empty cans of paint, and rusty garden tools. Donate sports equipment your kids have outgrown or that extra lawn edger. A place for everything Now you know what you need to store. Home improvement stores are a good place to start. Look for storage systems that match your needs. If your family owns bikes, consider hooks designed to hang them from the ceiling or a vertical bike rack to get the bikes off the floor and create more space. A tall storage cabinet provides a place to put out-of-season toys and tools. Shelving units or wall-mounted cabinets supply a convenient spot for sporting equipment. Take care of your tools For many homeowners, the garage doubles as a work area. If your tools have become scattered over the summer, or if they’re in a pile on your workbench, now’s the time to corral them. A pegboard and a good tool chest will help keep tools safe and handy. Waterloo Industries, the world’s largest manufacturer of tool storage products for professionals and do-it-yourselfers, has a variety of high-quality options. “Our Shop Series is perfect for use in the garage or workroom,” says Mark Ryan, senior product manager at Waterloo. The line includes tool chests, tool cabinets, and tool centers in varying sizes and drawer configurations to fit any need. “These types of products are popular with the ‘weekend warriors,” those individuals who love getting their hands dirty once Saturday rolls around.” There are units that offer a bulk storage area for those large items or power tools. Many chests offer split drawers for all your small hand tools as well as a roomy top tray. If you’ve found that your tools have multiplied over the summer, and you’ve outgrown the storage in your current chest and cabinet, why not consider adding an intermediate chest to expand your tool storage capacity? Intermediates are available in most categories and stack in between your chest and cabinet to help organize your tool clutter. Start with a clean sweep Before you start putting all your organized stuff back into the garage, take the time to sweep the floor and hose it down to get rid of accumulated dirt and dust. If your car has been leaking oil, use a product made for this problem to get it cleaned up as well. With a little time and compartmentalizing, it will be easier than ever to find what you’re looking for, your garage will seem roomier and it will be a more pleasant place to work. You’ll find a wide array of tool boxes and other tool storage ideas at hardware and home improvement stores such as Sears, Menard’s and other retail outlets. Web sites such as www.waterlooindustries.com are also a good source of information. Courtesy of ARA Content About the author: Courtesy of ARA Content
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| Garage Doors by Matthew Anthony You may think choosing garage doors is straight forward, however there are many things to consider, such as whether your garage is adjoining your property, is it a single or a double garage, how much clearance inside and out is needed and so on. Also, the appearance of the garage door can influence what material you use. There are four basic types of garage door and three different materials commonly used to construct these doors. We take a brief look at the four types of garage door which are sectional, roller, side hung and finally the common up and over garage door. The first type of garage door we look are sectional garage doors. These doors open vertically and so are perfect where space in front of the garage is at a premium. They are a versatile solution for a new garage door with the added bonus of aesthetic appeal, which is obviously very important as most garages are located at the front of the house. A sectional garage door has a series of hinged horizontal panels that lift up and lie parallel with the ceiling of the garage when the door is opened. There is no overhang or canopy and it is possible to park a car right up next to the door as there is no protrusion at any point of the operation of opening the door. Roller garage doors are very similar to sectional garage doors. The major difference is the need for a certain amount of headroom inside the garage above the door opening. This is because the door rolls up inside a drum above the opening of the garage door. Like a sectional door there is no need to allow any room inside or out to operate the door. Also, roller doors are often automatic. If it is traditional look that is required for a garage door then side hung garage doors are the usual solution. For those people for whom image is important, a timber side-hung door is essential. Also, for period properties, this type of garage door will be much more in keeping with the appearance of the property rather than a newer steel or GRP style of door. Side hung doors can be fitted directly onto brick or onto a wooden frame. The final type of door we consider is the most common variety which is the up and over garage door. There are still the most popular type and are extremely versatile. They are manufactured from all three of the common materials used in garage door construction, which are timber, steel and GRP. The up and over garage doors can be either automatically or manually operated which gives even more choice. Importantly, they are relatively easy to install and operate. About the Author Matthew Anthony is a regular contributor to home improvement sites such as garage doors. |
| Garage Sale Checklist - a Guide To Hassle-Free Sales by George Grubetic Garage sales should be fun and hassle-free, with your goal to make some good money and off-load your unwanted items – our garage sale checklist is your hassle-free, step-by-step organiser for achieving this. 2-3 weeks before the sale -Start sorting through your household for unwanted items have the mindset that almost anything will sell if it is a bargain - Price your items price items about 25-35% of what they cost new (clothes are exceptions - 5-15% here) - Pick a date and time for your sale weekends are the best; avoid public holidays or special events - Write your ad give the address and hours of the sale; mention items that are of particular interest - Place your ad in local newspapers and using free garage sale adversting sites put up flyers on local community boards; inform neighbours as they might want to have a joint sale 1 week before the sale - Make sure items are cleaned and repaired the better condition it is in, the higher price you will get - Determine where signs will go in and around your neighbourhood is best; one in front of your house is smart too - Make your signs use arrows, print the address, start and end times, use big letters 1-2 days before the sale - Set up your sale area use tables to lay items out, display clothing hung up; you want to create an area so people can browse and shop in comfort - Get checkout area ready have plenty of change; spare bags; calculator; newspaper (to wrap fragile items); paper & pens Night before the sale - Put up signs - Make some refreshments and have a radio ready to play some soft background music Morning of sale - Make sure your house is locked up and fully secure don't want to give buyers the opportunity to snoop around - Open the gates/door to your sale greet all customers with a freindly smile and "hello!"; be prepared to bargain with buyers Right after sale - Take signs down not only is this courteous to the environment, but you might incur a fine or penalty if you don't - Count your money and rejoice!
About The Author Copyright George Grubetic. An avid garage sale enthusiast, he is the webmaster of www.egaragesales.com.au, a website offering tips, hints and resources on how to have successful garage sales, including free listings across Australia. admin@egaragesales.com.au |
| Have you inspected your Garage Door lately? by Richard Aquino The garage door is typically the largest moving part in your home and is probably used every day. With normal use, parts can wear out and break, creating potential safety problems. There are a few light maintenance duties and inspections a mechanically inclined person can perform to ensure maximum safety and increase the life of their door. Check the rollers, hinges and safety devices to be sure they are fastened securely and in proper working order. Check the balance of the door by lifting it a few feet off the ground and releasing. The door should not travel more than a couple of inches in either direction. If the door drops to the ground then your springs either need adjusting or replacing. When operated manually a garage door should go up and down smoothly. In the event of spring failure extension springs can cause severe damage if they are not contained. If the door’s springs don’t already have safety cables installed, now would be a good time to get them installed. Remember even the highest quality springs eventually wear and break. Replace springs if they show signs of wear such as uneven gaps between the coils, bent or damaged ends. Inspect the cables for fray. Replace frayed cables immediately. Check the pulleys for nicks or excessive wear that can cause damage to the cable. Replace worn pulleys if necessary. Verify that the tracks are level and plumb. Tracks should line up parallel to the door sections without binding. Ensure that the lag screws securing the track brackets to the jambs are secure. Replace bent, missing or rusted lags immediately. Tighten all hinge and bracket screws, bear in mind that garage door bottom brackets are under extreme tension when the door is closed and can cause serious injury if accidentally or deliberately loosened or removed. Replace bent or broken hinges. Check the door’s rollers for excessive wobble and replace as necessary. All garage door openers manufactured and installed after 1991 are required by law to have a reversing mechanism. Garage door openers manufactured and installed after 1993 are required to have photo eyes connected at the bottom of the track to trigger the reverse mechanism when an infrared beam is broken. A defective or improperly adjusted reversing mechanism on your garage door opener could cause damage, injury and possibly death. Check your door opener regularly to be sure that the reversing mechanism is in proper working order. Lubricate rollers, hinge pivots, pulleys, torsion spring coils, bearings and the electric opener chain and sprockets. With periodic inspections and maintenance the average garage door can safely provide many years of trouble free performance. About the Author Richard Aquino has been selling and installing replacement garage door parts since 1982. Visit Bargain Enterprises at http://www.garage-door-hardware.com for residential, commercial and industrial garage door and electic opener parts and accessories. |
| How To Make Money With Garage Sales by Marilyn Pokorney Drive through almost any neighborhood in any city or town on a weekend, and you're sure to see garage sales scattered throughout. These homeowners are spending their weekend time off making money. The average profit is $600 for a one-weekend garage sale. It's time to get your share of the pie. Organization is the key. Step one: Check with the local officials to see what the local laws and regulations are on operating garage sales in your area. Step two: Spend a few weekends going to garage sales in your area. See what is selling, what people are buying, how the items are priced, how the sellers advertise. Observe how the sellers display their items. Take notes. Step three: Clean house and take stock of what you have and what it's time to get rid of. Be sure to pick out at least one interesting and unusual item to call attention to your sale; some large ticket item you can set up in front of your home during your sale. If you find older items such as dishes, a painting, an old flower urn etc. that you feel it's time to dispose of have it appraised. You don't want to sell something for 50 cents only to find out later it was an antique valued at $500.00. You can be sure there are garage sale shoppers who are on the lookout for just this kind of treasure. Step four: Pick a date for your sale. The best time to have a garage sale is twice a year in May or September. People will be out shopping for summer items in May and winter items in September. Never pick a holiday weekend such as Mother's Day or Labor Day. Holiday festivities will get the attention of most people. The best days for your garage sale are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Step five: Advertise, advertise and advertise some more. Place ads in the local newspaper, shopper guides, on bulletin boards and even online. Place signs all over the neighborhood with brightly colored letters, attached balloons, etc. Step six: Organize your sale. Put price stickers on your items. Have a wide variety of clothing and jewelry and arrange them in a rainbow of colors. Make sure jewelry and appliances sparkle! Hang clothing on racks arranged in sizes. Imagine that you are opening a retail store and copy what the stores do. If you have items that are hard to price and you think they will not sell, put them in a penny box. And be sure to mark the box "Penny Box" or "All items just 1 cent each". Step seven: Timing. Consider starting at 7:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 or 9:00. And close no later than 6:00 p.m. And positively NEVER shut down for the noon hour! There are people who work on weekends and will stop on their way to or from work and shop during their lunch breaks. As most customers will have come and gone by 1:00, noon hour being the most active, you can start lowering prices after 1:00 p.m. On items you think will not sell at all, put them in a box marked "Free". And lastly, what doesn't sell take to the local Good Will or other organization of your choice. -- REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publish this article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter, ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright and author information (Resource Box) at the end. You may not use this article in any unsolicited commercial email (spam). You may retrieve this article by: Autoresponder: garagesale@getresponse.com Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/garage.txt Please leave the resource box intact with an active link, and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which the article appears to: marilynp@nctc.net
Marilyn Pokorney Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment. Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading. Website: http://www.apluswriting.net marilynp@nctc.net
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| Garage Sales Aren't For Wimps by Alyice Edrich This month I learned a very valuable lesson about myself. I do not like to host garage sales, but I love the money that comes from getting rid of my “junk.” Yep! You heard me say it, “JUNK!” By definition junk means to me: used stuff, in good condition, that one person no longer wants but another person has been looking for at a good price. I’ve always been an avid believer in donating my used stuff to a charitable establishment that could put the money to good use. Since I had gotten my fair use out of the objects, I saw no reason to try to sell them in hopes of reclaiming some of the money I spent. So when my friend asked me to host a multi-family garage sale with her I very strongly said, “No thank you. It’s not worth my time.” But she wasn’t about to give up that easily. Her reasoning: “Your husband is unemployed and you are traveling across four states to start a new life and hopefully find him employment. You need every bit of cash you can muster up!” Two weeks later, as I was once again explaining how my junk was going to help a needy family somewhere, my two children turned to me and said, “Mom, right now we’re needy. Daddy needs a job and we need the money to help us move.” “Okay, Okay,” I reluctantly said. “We’ll have a garage sale. But I don’t have to like it.” We scoured the house for large ticket items that we didn’t want to lug to our new home. We scoured the house for items that we “just had to have” but never put to use. And we scoured the house for items that we used so much we couldn’t stand to look at them again. Five car loads later, we were having our very first Wisconsin garage sale. And you know what happened? I priced the items, pulled up a chair next to my junk, and people watched. Four hours later, I hadn’t sold one single thing. That’s when my friend came up to me and said, “You’re scaring the customers. Notice how I keep busy pricing and organizing? Notice how I don’t watch the customers but am available to answer questions and take money? You need to move your chairs over there and stop staring at them as they walk in the yard.” “I’m so not cut out for this,” I thought to myself. But I did as she requested and two hours later I had actually sold a few big ticketed items. After 8 hours we still had lots of stuff left, so we decided to host another garage sale the following week. Except this time, we would hold it on the busiest garage sale day of the week—Thursday. We put up signs at every bulletin board in town, we posted signs on street corners, and we placed an ad in the local paper. We even bribed the kids. We would give them a $5 commission on each item sold at ticketed price! You know what happened? Eight hours later we sold all our big ticketed items and donated the small ticketed items to charity. When I counted the money, I ecstatically said to my husband, “We made $160 today!” To which he replied, “So what’s that? Less than 1/8 of what we paid for the stuff?” I just had to chuckle because I knew he was right.
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About The Author Alyice Edrich is a freelance writer specializing in helping small businesses succeed—on the web. Visit her at http://thedabblingmum.com for free business-related articles and information on how she can help you succeed, today. Don't forget to join her free e-zine! dabblingmum@yahoo.com |
