http://www.articlealley.com en-us editorial@articlealley.com My Grandfather lived to be 90 and spent most of his life eating whatever he wanted. He also worked hard even well into his 80’s. He was a tall, lean farmer, about 6’4”, 210 lbs, even when he was older. He was a dedicated carnivore, too. The food... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1232343_23.html 14th November 2009 When looking for a home to buy I always look for the home that is poorly decorated. Why? They are less expensive to buy initially. I can decorate with the best of decorators. And I bargain hard, too. Remodeling can take a lot of money, usually more tha... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1139524_33.html 01st October 2009 Long before air conditioning and forced air heat many homes were built with an eye toward good science. High ceilings were important in the south because heat rises. High ceilings kept the occupants of rooms cooler. Those builders knew a bit about physics... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1093545_27.html 17th September 2009 Did you know that most people who want to buy a home are looking in a specific price range that they can afford and/or finance? Most of them are looking in a low to mid range between $80,000 to $400,000 dollars. The fact is few people can afford more. The... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1092415_33.html 17th September 2009 By now unless you've been living in a cave, you almost certainly know that as a result of the financial meltdown mortgage lending has changed permanently. And unfortunately for most home buyers, the change is not beneficial. And while some changes to mort... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1090917_19.html 16th September 2009 During the Go-Go years of mortgages (and other financial transactions) there were almost as many variations of mortgages as there were prospective borrowers. Included in these mortgage loans were stated income loans, sub-prime loans, 100% loans, no doc ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1090862_19.html 16th September 2009 Working as a case worker I met a number of former truckers who were having health troubles related to long hours driving. Many of these long haul drivers were suffering from low back pain having one of two causes. The first difficulty is low back ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1066899_23.html 04th September 2009 Can you explain how to best structure a private mortgage note if I ever want to sell my note for more money? This is something I hear all the time. And while there is no one way to structure a pri... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1066741_19.html 04th September 2009 During the last few years a lot of private owner financed mortgages have been created in order to sell a house. Anxious property sellers did (and still do) just about anything to sell their home. As a result of the financial disaster, lending standards ha... http://www.articlealley.com/article_1066044_19.html 04th September 2009 As a individual private mortgage buyer, I continue to be surprised at not only the terms of many privately created notes but the pretty loose way they were allowed to be created. And while I ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_992081_33.html 21st July 2009 News coverage of the crash and continued fallout of both the housing and mortgage markets continue to be front-page news. But there is a hugely expanding market for both real estate and mortgages that is virtually ignored by the mainstream media. You need... http://www.articlealley.com/article_992073_33.html 21st July 2009 Don't get all giddy about buying your dream home yet. You will need to prepare for items you may run into during the mortgage application process. Below are steps that could save you many thousands of dollars or even mean the difference in whether you can... http://www.articlealley.com/article_984168_33.html 16th July 2009 Home sellers all want to put their house on the market and sell it without doing anything to it. One might conclude that they are lazy, but the truth is people who work all the time don’t have time for home improvement. Homebuyers, on the other hand... http://www.articlealley.com/article_956369_33.html 29th June 2009 We’ve all had this conversation with our doctors. The physician says, “It would be good if you could lose some weight and get more exercise.” Or we just know we need to do it to improve our overall health. We all know what a healthier lifestyle i... http://www.articlealley.com/article_956358_17.html 29th June 2009 Like many people my age, I was raised to be thrifty. Even when we had money to spend I would often opt for the cheaper alternative. In things like furnishings and clothing and wine, price is a poor measure of quality. Real estate is a great example of ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_956332_24.html 29th June 2009 Let's talk about stuff. You know, all the "things" we just had to have much if which is gathering dust in some corner. Also, are you stressed from trying to pay for all that stuff? FIRST... let me state that I am not advocating that we live like pauper... http://www.articlealley.com/article_956322_24.html 29th June 2009 Many people have created, through design or by just letting things evolve a pretty stressful daily life. Many of the daily stress factors are small but cumulatively they are quite heavy. Let me name just a couple of examples. One would be trying to accomp... http://www.articlealley.com/article_955056_54.html 28th June 2009 Many people are actually refinancing their homes to do the remodels and going into serious debt to pay for the work. They are essentially financing the remodel for significantly longer than most trendy improvements, i.e. granite countertops (yes, granite ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_955019_33.html 28th June 2009 Are you starving? Before you say “No”, think and read on. Do you ever wonder WHY you have food cravings and overeat? We all love to eat. But how much of what we eat is really worth eating? How much is being over weight compromising your health?... http://www.articlealley.com/article_954719_6.html 28th June 2009 Private mortgage note buyers look at five primary elements when evaluating whether to buy a note. They are. 1. The creditworthiness of the mortgagor or homebuyer. Many note buyers want to see a middle (of 3 bureaus) credit score of at least 620 but highe... http://www.articlealley.com/article_948529_19.html 23rd June 2009 Many mortgage note or trust deed holders don’t realize the options they have with their Mortgage Note or Deed of Trust. First of all, you can sell it for all cash. Secondly, you can sell part of the note or trust deed structuring the sale in a manner th... http://www.articlealley.com/article_947472_14.html 22nd June 2009 In today's tough housing market, property owners are having to act as the lender in order to sell their home or investment property, creating an asset they must manage and protect. However, many mortgage note holders aren’t schooled in this process, lea... http://www.articlealley.com/article_946654_33.html 22nd June 2009 Due to the current economic environment, many private mortgage note or trust deed holders are asking themselves this question. And who can blame them with all the bad news we see every day. Ironically, many owner-financed mortgages have been created becau... http://www.articlealley.com/article_946652_33.html 22nd June 2009 Many small businesses struggle with offering group health insurance to their employees due to a perception that the cost is exorbitant. And admittedly without proper front end planning and design, group health insurance can be quite costly. Fortunately ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_942856_6.html 18th June 2009 There are healthier cookies. But they are probably not at your grocery store. Food companies put a lot of things in what they make that extend the “shelf life” of their offerings. And most of these things are not good for you. It’s ironic tha... http://www.articlealley.com/article_932370_26.html 12th June 2009 You see it all the time on TV. People spend outrageous amounts of money to get new kitchens. You can get a new kitchen for a lot less money than your TV would lead you to believe. I once owned a lovely Cape Cod house with an 80’s style melamine an... http://www.articlealley.com/article_932341_27.html 12th June 2009 No! Keep your clothes on, Please! But make your house that you want to sell look clean and uncluttered. An appraiser once told me that the houses he most dreaded having to appraise were houses that had been “professionally decorated”. What t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_930482_33.html 12th June 2009 We always approach home ownership from a business perspective. You know the old “buy low, sell high”. Of course it’s not just a piece of real estate, it's also our home. We want to be comfortable and happy. So we have to have the security an... http://www.articlealley.com/article_929132_33.html 12th June 2009 Sadly, I've seen it all too many times - a business plan for a small business startup ends up sitting on a shelf gathering dust after the businesses gets off the ground. It's really a shame to see this waste of time and effort and it really shouldn't be t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_927661_15.html 11th June 2009 A lot of small businesses struggle to hire top quality talent as well as to retain them. There are a number of areas where small businesses feel they may be at a disadvantage compared to large firms. Some of these are: 1) Less area for career growth, 2) P... http://www.articlealley.com/article_921574_15.html 06th June 2009 I was raised to be thrifty. Even when we have money to spend I often opt for the cheaper alternative. In stuff like furnishings and clothing and wine, price is not the measure of quality. Even real estate will often conform to this rule. You have the o... http://www.articlealley.com/article_875646_27.html 01st May 2009 A lot of people are struggling with weight loss. We all want to look good, but looks are not all there is to getting to a healthy weight. It’s more. It’s about quality of life and feeling well. The fact is many people just eat too much of t... http://www.articlealley.com/article_875636_23.html 01st May 2009 Yesterday on Oprah Winfrey she interviewed a writer who has been studying people who live the longest in the world. He has written a book called the “Blue Zones” about people who live to be 100 years old or more. They generally eat healthy diets made ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_865006_23.html 17th April 2009 Nearly every homebuyer will tell their real estate agent they want a house with a lot of light. It’s one of those instinctive needs that people have. They really do want a lot of light. Home sellers who really want to sell their homes will give them ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_842901_33.html 31st March 2009 As people struggle to maintain a decent lifestyle in the current financial meltdown, we are discovering that it is not great to have a lot of debt. Short of winning the lottery most of us are tied to whatever dead end job we are doing by our debts. Bu... http://www.articlealley.com/article_842846_33.html 31st March 2009 When economic conditions get bad workers have no job security. They are lucky just to have a job, much less a good job. The employment office in our local area routinely tells older workers they have nothing they can even interview for and that they wi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_842814_36.html 31st March 2009 So you have your house for sale. You and your family probably feel like you are under siege. And in a way you are. You no longer have any privacy. Why? Interested potential buyers look at everything, open every door, open every drawer and then hire a ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_758603_33.html 17th January 2009 Recently people have been spending big money for remodeling and using "resale" as an excuse to spend outrageous amounts of money. But if you have to sell your house in today's market it could be a loser's game. Many people are actually refinancing ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_752933_33.html 14th January 2009 In recent years lots of people have been playing the real estate markets thinking there was little risk, even trying to flip houses. An associate of mine told me a story about an MD that committed suicide over multiple investment properties where his prop... http://www.articlealley.com/article_752880_33.html 14th January 2009 Billions of dollars of mortgage notes, trust deeds and land contracts today are held by individuals. And more notes are being created every day due to the crisis in both mortgage lending and the housing market. Property owners are having to act as the len... http://www.articlealley.com/article_752875_19.html 14th January 2009 I think real estate agents on TV have been trying to train us to pay FULL ASKING PRICE or MORE when buying real estate. But Donald Trump said in his first book, “Make your money on the front end…when you buy.” Well, he’s a smart man. You ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_737729_33.html 05th January 2009 When people go out looking for a house they will look for “starter” homes that they plan to live in for a few years and then sell when the family grows or their wants change. But have you ever tried to sell a house with babies or young children? ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_737727_33.html 05th January 2009 As we continue to search for a bottom to this real estate market, many if not most ‘Flippers’ are wondering whether flipping houses is a sucker’s business. Who can blame them with Foreclosure signs popping up in yards everywhere. Gone are th... http://www.articlealley.com/article_737721_33.html 05th January 2009 In recent history, there has only been one time where the real estate market was as tough as it is today. That was the 70s where demand was low and interest rates were in double-digits. At least today, rates are quite low. Now I know that’s not comforti... http://www.articlealley.com/article_737713_33.html 05th January 2009 In today’s volatile economy, many note holders are seriously evaluating whether to sell their mortgage note or not. So what are the advantages and disadvantages? Let’s start with the disadvantages. Disadvantages of Selling a Mortgage Note: 1. Fi... http://www.articlealley.com/article_727311_33.html 19th December 2008 Well a lot of things may help but not bring a full dollar for dollar return, much less make money. But the one single thing that will attract buyers even if your house isn’t officially for sale is that ever elusive “curb appeal” or quintessential... http://www.articlealley.com/article_724620_33.html 17th December 2008 You see it all the time on TV. People refinance their mortgage and draw equity out of their house to remodel a kitchen, bathroom or addition based on the hope that their house is going up in value and will cover the costs of the remodel. You know if yo... http://www.articlealley.com/article_723407_33.html 16th December 2008 We once bought a house in a luxury city suburb that was very traditional on the outside. It was stucco with rock around the front door and beautiful windows trimmed in white. Inside there was lots of fancy trim, also painted white with over-mantels, wide ... http://www.articlealley.com/article_723372_33.html 16th December 2008 What are the right things to do to make your home as marketable as possible? So many sellers just do it wrong. Here are some tips for doing it right in order of importance. 1. Street appeal is really a do or die (sorry for the drama) issue when you are... http://www.articlealley.com/article_701948_33.html 01st December 2008 If a couple has been getting together with some regularity they might begin to think of making a more permanent arrangement. Or maybe you are thinking that way and you want to know if the other person is, too. There are some things that indicate a rela... http://www.articlealley.com/article_610134_35.html 27th August 2008