The Smart Pounder

When assessing the value of a property, many investors and other commercial property buyers look at comparable sales to determine the true current market value of a property. The comparable sales can show you exactly what properties are selling for, not just the asking price. If you know three or four properties of similar characteristics sold for about the same amount, then you can determine what the value of your property is. Don’t ever just look at the asking price, as it can be as far off as the owner wishes. He or she may be dreaming in regards to what the property is really worth!

Comparable sales, or comps, are the properties that have sold around the subject property that are zoned identically, and are about the same amount of acreage. It also helps if the comparable sales are from properties that have similar uses.

Comparable sales may not always be the most accurate for your specific property. They could be from many years ago, may not be of similar use, many not have the same characteristics such as the availability of utilities, or may not have a comparable amount of road frontage, or could be a considerable distance from the subject property.

In order to get around this problem, you must use the closest properties that you can. You simply adjust the price according to the changes in the market or property characteristics.

For example, if a comparable sale was from 2001, and the current year is 2006, then you can adjust the price according to the appreciation the overall commercial market has experienced in a specific area.

Or, if the subject property has a total road frontage of 200 feet, and the comparable sale property has frontage of 1000 feet, you can adjust the price or value appropriately.

As you can see, finding the true current market value of a property can take some investigation and adjustment in relation to the properties that have sold in the past. The more recent and similar the comparable sale is, the easier and more accurately you can assess the true value of the property.

It is a good idea to collect as many comparable sales as possible and take inventory of each. What are the characteristics? What are the uses? Assess each one individually and then group them together to determine an overall consensus. You should be able to determine the current market value at this point. The more properties you have to pool from, the more accurate a number you will have.

Very often brokers or agents supply you with comps from the area of interest as part of the service of selling the subject property. If you are not familiar with the area, you must be leery of the comps that they send you.

I have received comps of properties in the most affluent areas for a subject property that was positioned in a lower to medium class area which completely misrepresented the true market value of the property. Unless I had investigated further and asked many questions, I could have easily taken this property as a true comparable sale, and would have expected a far greater return than what I really would have experienced.

Unfortunately, as much as you want to trust the information that you are given by a source, you must always perform your very own investigation because brokers and agents are there to sell their properties. Many of them are honest and will do the best they can to give you the most accurate information. However, there are those who will dupe a buyer in order to sell the property and receive their commission. It is important to be aware of these tactics. Although we don’t like to admit that they happen, they most certainly do.

Comparable sales are really the only way you can determine the true value of a property. It may take a comparable from another city, or even county of identical characteristics to determine the most accurate value. If necessary, ask a trustworthy broker or agent for assistance, as they will know their market inside and out, and be able to point you in the right direction as to what the property is really worth. Get two or three opinions in order to validate any information you might receive.

Many people want to start a mobile car wash business and want to do it as cheap as possible. Have you ever considered; starting a Mobile Car Wash Business? Perhaps you have but you want to do it for as little money as possible. Well you can do it inexpensively if you are very careful. You may have seen mobile car washers in your city operating on a shoestring budget; many are even illegal aliens, which are doing the work. Who do not follow the rules, have business licenses, driver’s licenses or even remove their waste water.

The start up costs for a mobile washing system depends entirely on how you go about it. You could put the unit on a trailer, buy a plastic Agricultural water tank. Then buy a pressure washer from Home Depot that will cost about $2,000. There are some rules too that require that you do not let the water go into a storm drain so you will need some equipment to prevent that potential eventuality as well.

So, buy some storm drain blockers and an extra water tank, along with some garden hose and a vacuum, which sucks water from Wal-Mart and be ready to go for about which should cost you another $1,000 or a grand total of about $3,000 I suppose? Mobile car washing can be a rewarding business indeed and if you work hard you will even lose some weight. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Are you ready for a picture of the preparation of cows and chickens before they make it to your dinner table?

The calves are born to mothers who have pesticide tags stuck in their ears for flies. They eat grass from land that has toxic fertilizers and is probably sprayed with herbicides to kill the weeds. (If the soil was healthy and fertile, you wouldn’t have weeds). The calves are supplemented with grains from fields without trace minerals and exposed to herbicides, pesticides and fungicides – unhealthy plants.

They are weaned from their mothers and put into a feed lot. There they have steroids and/or hormones injected into their ears, are fed a very concentrated grain diet with a little fiber, and ingest antibiotics which are added to the food to prevent disease because they stand around without exercise putting excrement on each other.

They have chemical wormers sprayed on from their heads to their tails to prevent parasites. Their feed also has to be sprayed with Arm and Hammer (TM) baking soda to prevent gas (from the grain diet) that can kill them. Because of the super-acid stomach, they produce E-coli in their guts that if leaked into the meat can kill us. I need to add here that because of the grain diet these animals have no essential beneficial fatty acids – the good stuff for our health.

Now, measure chickens against beef. Chickens have been bred to grow and mature quickly. With their diet (50% chemicals and grains grown with toxic chemicals) they mature in 6 weeks. They have to be harvested at 6 weeks because if they go to 8 weeks, they will die of heart attacks (the heart does not grow at the same speed as their bodies).

They also have part of their beaks removed so they don’t kill each other. They are confined in houses (usually 100 feet by 40 feet wide), and walk on manure and shavings from previous lots.

One of my favorite things about their diets is the arsenic (a heavy metal) put into their feed to make them eat more. They stop feeding the arsenic 5 days before slaughter, and want you to believe that there is no residual in their bodies – NOT TRUE!

Also, if you read on the label that store bought chicken is Free Range, don’t believe it. The latest deception is that they build a little sun room on the side of the industrial chicken house so the chickens can go into this room – hence Free Range. Real Free Range chickens are allowed to graze on grass, eating bugs, and allowing their manure to fertilize the land as nature would normally allow.

The next issue of Health Builder will discuss soy beans and some toxic chemicals that affect our health. Stay tuned!

Dr. Robert Bard OD is a licensed optometrist and has been for many years. For the past 20 years, he has been researching the effects of toxic chemicals on the environment, animals and people. He has become an avid reporter and speaker covering topics on toxic chemicals as they relate to food, disease, medicine, water and land. Along with his wife Judy, he raises miniature Hereford and Lowline cattle, as well as goats that are grass fed without drugs or chemicals. He also restores hay meadows and pastures with organic fertilizers. For more information, visit Dr. Bob’s site at http://www.drbobthehealthbuilder.com and sign up for his free weekly newsletter.

Ondeck Sailing School are 1 of the premier sailing & yachting schools in the country at the moment, with over 8 years of sailing understanding under their hats they have merited that title. The sailing and yachting business itself wasn’t set up till 2004 where they then became branded as the Ondeck Sailing Group. The opening thought was to grow the charter part to individuals, teams and businesses. The venture they chose to make in buying Dehler 39s yachts has definitely paid off for them, they have built on what they previously had & merely extended on it. They incorporate a complete range of sailing & yachting classes on board their performance boats and at this time supply skippered charters, corporate sailing race charters, mile building opportunities, cruising, adventure sailing trips, ocean passages and also Caribbean charter.

1 supply Corporate & Team sailing options to all of their potential clients. Ondeck Sailing Group aims to aid all its clientele to forge stronger more skilled teams & commercially durable client relationships via a unique assortment of corporate sailing and yachting day activities which are difficult but are also entertaining and there is something for one and all. Have an experience of a lifetime with one of Ondeck’s Corporate Sailing Day.

The Corporate Sailing events are offered to anyone with a party scaled from 6 to six hundred & the options of what can be offered to you are continuous, in fact it does depend on what type of event you want. It is important to remember that corporate yachting is for each person and it is not constantly about watching and racing at all of the main regattas in the yachting timetable, they also supply for any festivities, networking and team or leadership developments that your organisation may possibly wish to apart off.

Combine man’s main pursuits and what you’ve got is a phenomenon we term a sportsbook wagers location. And really, what could be more ingenious… If you envisage a clique of sports dudes cheering to support a local club, and almost always stakes are guaranteed to be fixed adding to the racket. So keen to catch a bit of the delights, on-lookers habitually try to divine who is the likeliest to prevail in the coming meetup. At the end of the day, this boils down to a nice and friendly meetup named sportsbook wagers location.

Granted that it admittedly can sound addiction prone, but in point of fact sportsbook gambling is, in reality, simply an entertainment and of forging bonds with one’s fellow sports fans. Here, you can wager a a slight budget of dinero and regardless have a excellent time. See below for some prompts to get you started sportsbook gambling.

In order to place a bet, I would advise you search for a sportsbook wagers location, i.e. a place that offers sportsbook wagers location. In the USA, you can find four states to do sportsbook gambling absolutely legally, but informally you can go for it anyplace provided you can discover a bookie and you happen to be legally an adult. Amongst the sports competitions you’ll be able to bet on are pro next to college football & basketball, pro hockey, pro hockey, next to betting on both horse and dog racing. You can bet money on the entire tally of a fight or game, when exactly the contestant will be defeated, and even whether a coin toss in a fight or game lands either heads or tails.

The odds maker establishment bank on number crunching to aid you judge which club you feel is the likeliest to prevail. First of all, there is the distribution, meaning leverage in points allocated to the weaker team assumed to go down by a given number points. Evidently, this comprises the bookie outfit’s time-honored fashion of organizing wagers for a sportsbook. By way of an example, we could choose to risk money on a contestor assumed to go down and and regardless profit from the bet provided the team takes a licking by a given number of points.

People can go for a lot of different types of lays, the straight bets being the most typical in sportsbook gambling.

Why don’t you take a stab at it, and enjoy yourself at one fell swoop… Just safeguard you won’t get too carried away and blow your total pension plan on a vagary… After all, you’ll probably catch yourself full of lament till the end of your days…

Love sports bet usa ? Sign up for the web’s best sites here.

Not getting the amount of subscribers as you were used to getting? Thinking that it is the quality of your ezine or a bad promotion campaign?? No, that’s not the reason…

Your email is bouncing and not reaching your readers. Due to new spam filters installed on ISP servers and web host servers, something as simple as using the word “Free” in the subject of your email may cause it to be blocked.

When an address bounces, you can’t just automatically chalk it off as a bad address and then remove it.

First you need to know the differences between a hard bounce and a soft bounce.

HARD BOUNCES are messages that can never be delivered because either the account is not valid or there is a spam filter blocking your message.

SOFT BOUNCES are when the mail sever is having some type of problem getting the message through. They may be flooded with a lot of mail at once and when things like that happen, the server tries to send the mail a few times but eventually gives up and returns the email back to you.

A lot goes on when you hit that Send button..

As a subscriber, have you noticed lately that you are not receiving all the ezines and other email that you are subscribed
to?

There are various reasons why your email may not make it to it’s destination, such as:

>> THE EMAIL MESSAGE MAY BE TOO LARGE

This can happen especially when sharing large files between people. If you have a website, it’s best to let them download it directly from the site instead of sending it as an attachment.

Think about this the next time one of your friends or family members sends you a large .gif, or .jpeg picture file.

I once had a friend send me a program that was 26mb large, without realizing the consequences of this. Every time the server tried to download it into my computer it would freeze up and therefore any other mail going to that address was blocked as well. So that was my first lesson in the world of sending emails.

>> THE RECIPIENTS’ MAILBOX IS FULL

When you don’t check your email for a period of days or weeks, your inbox capacity will fill up very quickly and depending on the size allotted from your ISP or web host, once it’s full, that’s it. Until you go and clear out the messages, no other mail is going through. You ever wonder why publishers always say to please clear out your inbox. This is why.

>> THE RECIPIENT’S ADDRESS IS NOT VALID

Self explanatory. The address is either not in a correct format ( name@domain.com ) or the user name doesn’t exist with that domain. This can be because this was an address used by Spammers, or just people who just enter any address to sign up to receive any type of freebies and doesn’t care about anything else.

Or maybe the person just entered the address information incorrectly.

You see when it comes to determining who is valid from who isn’t, it’s not all black and white. There are many gray areas in determining when to remove a subscriber from your list and when to keep them.

You see more and more companies are tired of dealing with spam messages clogging up their servers and using excessive amounts of bandwidth so now they are cracking down.

This is a good thing except now we are all suffering. It is getting harder and harder for the legitimate publishers to get their message out.

So what can you do about it?

Give the bouncers a chance..

Huh, what if they are Spammers??

What I mean is most publishers wait for the same email message to bounce at least twice before removing the address, plus here is something else to consider..

Ever change web hosts?? We all know how much of a hassle that can be to set up everything again and no matter how much you prepare, your email is going to be down at least a few hours while mail is still going through and getting bounced back.

Try explaining that to the hundreds of ezines you are subscribed to?

Now should you be penalized because your email was down while waiting for the DNS change on your domain??

Cut them some slack. We are all trying to adjust..

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Only a small fraction of this population, when compared to the sighted community, have Internet access.

This month Anthony Loeff nonprofit volunteer is writing about software applications for visually impaired Screen reader choice is contentious: differing priorities and strong preferences are common. Recent versions of Microsoft Windows come with the rather basic Narrator. This interpretation is then represented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a braille output. The latter developed in part by Knopper who has a visual impairment. While Apple Mac OS X includes VoiceOver, a more feature-rich screen reader. Later versions of Microsoft Windows include an Accessibility Wizard and Magnifier for those with partial vision, and Microsoft Narrator, a simple screen reader. The console-based Oralux Linux distribution ships with three screen-reading environments: Emacspeak, Yasr and Speakup. Linux distributions for the blind include Oralux and Adriane Knoppix. Indeed functionality remains limited compared to equivalent desktop applications, the major benefit is to increase the accessibility of said websites. The movement towards greater web accessibility is opening a far wider number of websites to adaptive technology, making the web a more inviting place for visually impaired surfers.

The open source GNOME desktop environment long included Gnopernicus and now includes Orca. More and more, screen readers are being bundled with operating system distributions. The Macintosh OS also comes with a built-in screen reader, called VoiceOver. Access technology such as screen readers and Screen magnifiers enable the blind to use mainstream computer applications. Almost 18 percent of those deemed legally blind, by any measure, have no vision. Experimental approaches in sensory substitution are beginning to provide access to arbitrary live views from a camera.

A persons choice of screen reader is dictated by many factors, including platform and the role of organizations like charities, schools, and employers.

Web browsers, word processors, icons and windows and email programs are just some of the applications used successfully by screen reader users. The rest have some vision, from light perception alone to relatively good acuity. Further, using a screen reader is, according to some users, considerably more difficult than using a GUI and many applications have specific problems resulting from the nature of the application. Most legally blind people 73 percent do not use computers. Screen readers are a form of assistive technology potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, or learning disabled, often in combination with other AT such as screen magnifiers.

The primary audience for such applications is those who have difficulty reading because of learning disabilities or language barriers. Screen readers can be assumed to be able to access all display content that is not intrinsically inaccessible.

There are also open source screen readers, such as the Linux Screen Reader for GNOME and NonVisual Desktop Access for Windows.

A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen.

Remodeling your kitchen or thinking of selling you house and looking for ways to update the kitchen? Check out these quick and easy tips.

1. Log onto sites like ebay.com. You can find 10% and 20% off Home Depot coupons. Buy as many as you need, but check the seller’s feedback first.

2. If you are looking for contractors, try looking in your local listings for craigslist.org; you can also post a job listing and get quotes.

3. Having trouble removing old wallpaper in your kitchen? Get a tool called a Paper Tiger that scores the paper, making tiny holes all over. Don’t press too hard with it, though, or you’ll score the wallboard underneath, too. Then spray on a mixture of 3 parts water to 1 part fabric softener on the walls. Let it soak for a few minutes then just peel the paper off. Repeat as required.

4. When picking a colour for your Corian or Granite countertops, avoid darker solid colours. Dust, food crumbs fingerprints, grease stains, water stains, will all show up more prominently and make frequent cleaning mandatory. Lighter colours, while less dramatic, are more practical.

5. A good flooring material for the kitchen is porcelain tile with non-slip texturing. You’ll want to use a darker grout colour, which will show less dirt build-up. Porcelain tile holds up well over the years and cleans up easy.

6. For lighting, you should locate the brightest lights directly over the main countertop area and/or kitchen island. The reason for this is to prevent any shadows on you kitchen work surfaces. Show off those countertops to highlight their beauty. Accent lights can be located under cabinets, against walls, or other areas. Additional lighting can be added in larger kitchen spaces with wall sconces.

7. If you want to freshen up your kitchen look to help in selling your home, a quick way to upgrade your old Formica countertops is to install granite tile over them. Couple this with some new matching cabinet hardware and drawer pulls. You’ll be surprised at the bang for the buck you get with this combo.

Carlo Morelli writes for OnlineTips.org, where you can read more tips on cleaning ceramic tile grout and granite countertops.

Everyone who buys or sells a house, apartment or condo is going to use a home inspector at one time or another and even though you pretty much know what they do, many of you might have more appreciation for them once you learn more details of there chosen profession. Home inspectors have been around for a long time and they will be here for a lot longer, preparing reports, giving advice and recommendations and to some, a peace of mind. Because this is a big subject and there is a lot to say, right know I will focus on roof inspection and also give a little class on roof construction.

First the basics – Pitched Roofs

The basic structure of a typical pitched roof is: the framework, a deck and a weather resistant covering. The purpose of the deck is to serve as a base for supporting the roof covering, which is what protects the roof. (Pretty simple so far, right?) A pitched roof has a series of parallel beams (joists) joined at the top at angles, like tepees with a supporting overlay (the deck), usually plywood or similar material that serves as a base for supporting the roof covering (shingles), which has the purpose of shedding the water away from the roof either into gutters or just falling off the roofline. The deck is not waterproof so the shingles must be intact and able to withstand all types of weather, (except tornadoes and meteoroids) be it snow, hail, or rain.

I can’t speak for all home inspectors because they have there own techniques and working procedures. Like most people I had a couple of them look over my house, so from my experience they generally do a outside visual of roofs that entails walking around the house, sometimes with the aid of binoculars for close-up viewing or use a ladder for ranch type houses, if practical. They generally don’t want to walk up there for liability issues (fear of there foot going through the roof), but I feel that is the best way to check for roof structural integrity and they need to do it anyway for flat roofs. Needless to say they would be responsible for any damages they do in the course inspection!

A typical roof inspection will include checking for:
Uneven shingles – poor installation of a second layer over an old one. This might be ok but will be prone to water damage. When making an attic inspection the deck should be checked for damage and signs of leakage.

Sagging roof – probably deck damage, but may be a structural problem like a damaged ridge beam (A beam placed on end at the top of the roof and fastened to the rafters) or a roof deck that may not have adequate bracing or spacing of wood-frame support members. This is better left for a structural engineer for evaluation.

Roof ventilation – in a way roofs have to breathe too, that’s why there are roof vents on the roof and in the soffit (a horizontal board nailed to a roof overhang). Warm air must have an escape in attic space or there will be moisture buildup and the wood will rot. This can also cause streaks on interior walls and peeling paint. An inspection should be made of vent placement and count to evaluate if there is adequate ventilation.

Shingles- If the roof is pitched it will most likely have overlapping shingles to shed water away and down the roof. The south and southwest sides of the roof gets most of the sun that makes brittle and age faster, thereby causing deterioration. If there is any cracking, pealing or breakage of these ’tiles’ they will need repair or replacement because it will not protect the roof.

Flat Roofs
Even if a roof has a slight pitch it is considered a flat roof. As with the pitched roof this is the first thing inspected. Sometimes an interior wall that has signs of water damage could be traced back to the roof. Since this type of roof can’t be seen from the ground inspection must be made at top of the house. On a two story or more building access to the roof has to be made from inside, a stairwell, ladder, or an access hole in the ceiling of a room, probably a bedroom closet or pantry. As with any type of roof ventilation is key so checking for air vents is a must. A ventilation opening can be a pipe coming from the roof top or an open space on the side of the roofline right below the roof. A flat roof differs from a pitched one in that it is water tight, not just shedding water like a pitched one. At one time standing water was considered a good thing because it would cool the roof a bit during the summer months. There should be no ponds of standing water because this could be a breeding ground for insects and more importantly plants, where the roots can break through the asphalt covering. Special attention should me made when inspecting flat roofs because even small cracks between the roofs drain and the roof covering could become serious.

There are many types of flat roofs like single-ply membrane, roll roofing, metal roofs, hot tar covered or built-up roofs an inspecting them is similar in every case. The inspector will look for any visible cracking, blisters, weak spots or any kind of corrosion that will compromise the structural integrity of the roof. The cause of a leak on an interior wall or ceiling may be hard to find because it may have started on the roof, then zig-zagged its way down, but several feet away from the area you saw it.

These are some of the things home inspectors look for and report on when checking roofs. They not only go in 120F attics but also crawl under houses, and look in chimney stacks, but do with a great of courtesy and professionalism!