1.  Conclude that selling your business is the right step to take.

Selling a business is one of the greatest challenges and potentially, one of the greatest rewards any business owner will ever realize. Like marriage, career changes, and other major endeavors, it is not something that should be taken lightly. Serious contemplation of the risk vs. reward must be well thought out.

If there are business partners, their concurrence and support are, no doubt, essential. If you have family members directly involved in the business, their welfare and ongoing contributions must also be evaluated and taken into account. Selling your agency is certainly a decision that requires careful deliberation and potentially, collaboration among close associates, family members, and partners.

One of the biggest questions that you will face is whether the time to do so is right. Many dynamics dictate whether the timing is appropriate. Generally, the goal is to sell when the business is peaking on its trend of revenues and earnings. The old adage of selling high certainly applies here. Another adage to remember is that pigs get fed and hogs get slaughtered. The trick, more often than not, is staying ahead of the market curve, timing everything just right so that you can sell out just at the peak of the trend. Selling a business usually takes between four and twelve months, assuming everything falls into place. The risk to the agency owner, quite frankly, is that the acquiring entities are so tuned into industry trends that by the time the market begins signaling price compression, the acquirers are packing their bags, or at the very least, lowering their multiples. The valuation methodologies run concurrently with demand. If product demand or rate of return on revenue declines through market softening, the value of the distribution channel certainly will decline by relative proportions.

Sometimes the sale of a business is used as a succession-planning vehicle where the owner can easily liquidate his ownership interests in the business without disrupting the ongoing viability of the operations. This requires a careful fit between the buyer and the existing business. Most often, timing and market conditions are not as important; rather, it is up to the owner’s discretion as to whether it is right.

Often, agency owners face limited growth opportunities for their business due to the lack of capital. The desire to grow bigger is there but the capital is tied up in the business. By selling the agency interests to a larger, national company, this can release the liquidity from the company and allow the business owner to continue to manage it as a platform. Often times this represents a new opportunity for entrepreneurs to flourish. Being part of a larger organization brings new challenges; a change of business objective, and handsome rewards should the entrepreneur make a marked change in his new employer’s company.

All this being said, market conditions, personal and financial objectives all have to be carefully evaluated prior to making the commitment to sell.

2.  Consult with a business advisor and M & A lawyer.

This can be an important, often overlooked, consideration. Once you are determined to sell your business, it may be worthwhile to should seek the guidance of a business advisor and an attorney who is specializes in mergers and acquisitions. Many times, business owners depend on their local CPA and corporate attorneys. While these people are highly important and may have created value for the organization in the past, it may be better to have experienced specialists who can navigate through the acquisition process. The acquisition process encompasses many components and requires the understanding of the sequential events that generally occur during the process. These events consist of the business valuation, assessment of seller’s market opportunities, preparation of offering memorandums, review of the tax implications of a potentially complex transaction, and legal and financial due diligence. Additionally, there is much drafting, review and negotiation required for the definitive, employment, non-compete and option agreements. Arming yourself with these professionals will most likely provide you greater consideration, which will outweigh their costs by reasonable proportions.

3.  Clearly recognize the value of your business.

A business advisor can guide you here. Although this is not rocket science, it is important to be well armed with a clear understanding of the value parameters of your business. Acquirers will sometimes reduce their valuations to an “art form” and will not specifically disclose how they appraise your business. Establish benchmarks for an acceptable selling price that you are willing to tolerate. It is not an expensive to obtain a valuation, and well worth the investment when it comes to comparing it with a buyer’s offer.

4.  Avoid reactive selling.

It is highly recommended that you take the initiative and go to market under your own volition. Typically, this will provide a much greater chance of optimizing your sales proceeds. Being reactive and allowing the buyer to initially approach often puts the buyer on the defensive where you are subject to buyer timelines and pricing methodologies. They have you right where they want you; you are in their pipeline and they maintain control over the process. Do not hesitate to take the offensive and find the buyers before they find you. There is an overwhelming abundance of buyers in the marketplace; therefore, consider shopping among multiple suitors. A business advisor will prove to be extremely helpful here. Depend on your advisor to maintain control of the selling process while diligently and vigorously representing your interests.

5.  Present your company properly.

Typically, a business advisor will recommend putting an offering memorandum together after you conclude that selling your business is the right direction for you. An offering memorandum includes historical financial performance; business and market trends, ownership interests and pertinent tax information; forward projections; a narrative overview; and other historical information on the business. Additionally, it includes certain key metric information that is key to the business. The biggest mistake made by entrepreneurs is that they open their books and immediately provide an internally generated, cash basis, financial statement to a prospective buyer. The primary goal of any small to mid-sized business owner always should be to minimize their tax liability while maximizing their personal cash flow out of the business. Often, this skews the presentation of the business from a GAAP accounting basis, which really should be the means in which an agency is valued on. A business owner should carefully evaluate and quantify all personal expenses charged to the business and treat these as “add backs”, which ultimately increases the book income of the agency. Add backs are adjustments that a purchaser usually makes in “normalizing” the income of a business. More often than not, many add backs are over looked. If a buyer pays a multiple of earnings, the seller faces the prospect of leaving significant sales proceeds on the table.

Did you ever think about how other financial dynamics may misrepresent the performance of your agency? Remember taking Accounting 101 and learning about the matching principle? This states that in order to fairly present your financial statements, costs should be proportionately matched with revenue as it is earned. Insurance agencies are inherently put at odds with this principal when they present cash-basis financials. Think in terms of where the preponderance of expense is generated in an agency…creating a sale or placing business. Yet, when an insured elects to defer payments to monthly, quarterly, or even semi-annual mode, the agency commission income will follow the same payment cycle. The agency has expended a large amount of resource placing the business, yet they may have received only as little as 1/12th of the actual annual commission due. In order to clearly “match” costs with revenues, numerous adjustments such as accounting for deferred commission revenues, or alternatively, deferred acquisition costs, need to be taken into account to properly present the true earnings of the business. Remember, every buyer will value your business based on earnings. It is extremely important that you include all details that will assist in optimizing your agency’s earnings. One final and equally critical component of the offering memorandum is its ability to accentuate value creation for the buyer. In other words, to bring to the surface certain intangibles or revenue components that can and may create exceptional value for a prospective buyer. Recurring revenue is something that makes all buyers salivate. If the selling agency has a seasoned book of business with a robust renewal stream, this is a primary example of economic value creation. This may help to significantly increase the profit margins of the buyer. Examples of intangibles that may create value are the professional credentials or industry presence of the agency owner(s). If a buyer is looking to create a platform or to have the buyers business play a key role in their operating scheme, the intangible value of a mature, well respected, management team is an intangible that will receive higher consideration.

6.  Evaluate all aspects of the offer in detail.

If you elect to subscribe to the recommendations set forth thus far, the next step is to send the offering memorandum out to prospective buyers. Generally, buyers will need to perform preliminary due diligence prior to formally presenting an offer. This will occur after receipt of the offering memorandum and prior to the offer. Offers generally are presented in a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) and are generally time sensitive requiring the agency owner’s acknowledgement and acceptance of the offer in writing. The best way to characterize this stage is to compare it to getting engaged. There is intent for the two businesses to formally proceed, but either party can terminate it at any time prior to closing. A LOI is always contingent upon the buyer’s satisfactory completion of legal and financial due diligence. Is the LOI negotiable? Absolutely. Again, the value of a business advisor can be enormous during this phase. They can draw upon their experiences and recommend items which should be negotiated. There are numerous components included in a LOI that go well beyond the price offered for the sale of your agency. All of these components are critical and need to be carefully evaluated. Some examples are the long-term value of stock options, employment agreements, non-compete covenants, deferred purchase consideration, hold-back provisions, base compensation and benefits, contingent bonuses or performance incentives, and the tax treatment of the transaction. Examine how deep the acquiring entity goes in your business to make offers of incentives, employment agreements, stock options, etc. It is important that you evaluate these matters carefully. Remember the importance of your key people in the day-to-day operations of the business and be mindful of how their continued contributions are key to your ongoing success.

A business advisor can guide you through the technical aspects of the proposed offer(s). Often, a key-determining factor behind selecting to sell to a specific buyer is the reputation of the organization in the market. Take not only the economic elements of the offer into consideration, but give considerable weight to the reputation of the buyer.

7.  Negotiate!

If you have made your decision and are about to sign the LOI, do so without any material concessions. An advisor can help you negotiate for higher consideration such as splitting synergy, which is the revenue or expense benefit gained by the buyer through the combination of the two businesses. Do not be afraid to counter-propose. It is extremely important to remove any obstacles from an impending transaction before the commencement of legal and financial due diligence. If there are any issues that make you uncomfortable, raise them now. This will save you time and money in the long run. Whether the concern is your compensation, consideration, or transaction structure, these issues really must be addressed and presented in a revised LOI. Don’t be afraid of the buyer closing down the deal. Rarely will a buyer walk if you are within a 10 percent tolerance on offering price. They have opportunity cost tied up in you and do not want to lose the deal.

8.  Get your house in order.

Be prepared for a convergence on your internal business operations. While the next steps of a transaction are usually smooth and relatively painless, it requires probably the greatest amount of hands-on effort. Once you sign the LOI, the buyer will schedule a formal legal and financial due diligence visit to your operation. The primary goal of the buyer is to completely validate everything that has been represented about your company. This almost always requires a several day site visit for the buyer’s team to review systems, contracts, accounting records, articles of incorporation, employment files, payroll records, bank statements, etc. Not only do they want to validate the financial statement representations, but also to do risk assessments such as production concentration, personal production levels, any threatening or pending litigation, etc. Another drill that the buyer will perform is an overall assessment of personnel and their related skill sets. This is primarily directed toward the management of the business, but is seen as a critical element of the review. The buyers team must come away with an affirmative view of the management’s depth of knowledge; experience level; technical skills; work ethic; stability, and commitment to the business. The due diligence review lists are generally pretty exhaustive and can range from having you prepare information on as few as 40, up to 150 individual categories. The best tactic to adopt here is to be proactive and to solicit due diligence check lists a few weeks prior to the scheduled visit. This gives your staff appropriate time to pull all of the materials together. Once you sign the LOI, the first call you should make is either to the legal counsel or senior finance representative of the acquiring entity to ask them to provide you with the list. If you don’t call them, more than likely, they will be the ones calling you to schedule the due diligence visit. A few things to remember are to provide ample time to compile all the requested materials for due diligence; communicate with key office staff of the impending events to allow them to get prepared; and to coordinate the due diligence activities with the schedules your lawyer, business advisor and accountant. While it may not be critical to have them on site for the entire visit, they must be accessible in the event that they are needed. In general, the formal legal and financial site visits last two to three days. The salient matter is to be prepared and have all permanent file information readily available. Most buyers are sensitive enough to conduct most of the activities at a neutral location if you are uncomfortable with announcing the visit to general employee population.

9.  Perform your own due diligence on the acquiring entity.

If you are going to be directly involved in the acquiring entity, post-transaction, this is a must. While they are kicking your tires, you should be reciprocating. Do not allow the transaction process to go by without satisfying yourself that the buyer’s operating model is conducive to you and your business’ culture. You should visit the buyer’s headquarters, meet their key people, and ask about their plans for integration. Be certain to ask about any employee casualties that may be a result of any integration activities and be absolutely sure that the buyer has a track record of handling these situations with class and dignity. (Be certain that there will be a grand fathering of tenure for severance purposes) Additionally, look at their benefit plans, evaluate their communication methods, and review their complete operating cycle. Ask to talk to other former business owner’s whom they have acquired. It is recommended that you obtain the buyer’s permission to speak to these people before hunting them down. Speak to at least two former business owners in a one on one format and you will learn more about your prospective employer’s culture than any brochure could ever convey.

10.  Take it slow.

It is the best and only way to conduct a serious transaction. Haste never benefited anyone. Carefully evaluate every aspect of the deal along the way. Generally, companies who acquire on a frequent basis will put the offer out for a few days, or weeks or threaten to walk if there isn’t a quick decision. Put this into perspective, they are asking you to make one of the biggest commitments of your life in the matter of days? This is typically a tactic used to keep the deal momentum going in hopes that there is no seller remorse or slow down for further contemplation. They own the momentum and you, the seller, really should be the one synchronized with the schedules, not being drug along without an understanding of what is next in the sequence of events. This puts sellers in an unfair disadvantage. The secondary reason why things are generally rushed is because of the fear of other parties coming into the mix with offers, which could potentially raise the stakes. Take it slow, rely on experienced advisors who can bring intermediary experience to your side, and evaluate every single aspect of the transaction, at your own pace.

Selling your agency can and should be a very rewarding experience. Trust your instincts and stand firm on your convictions. This is a life-changing endeavor and should be dealt with very cautiously. If you are uncertain of which direction to take, stand still and seek the guidance of a professional to make recommendations to you.

Selling your home and getting the right kind of value is the most important factor to consider before taking this step. The main reasons for selling your house in a quick manner is to get the best deal in a falling real estate market, getting rid of vacant house, or other factors that might be preventing you from utilizing your house in an effective manner. There are numerous agents who offer services related to buying or leasing of the house. They will take care of the necessary paperwork and help in quick sale of the house.

The main thing to consider while putting your house for sale is to get it into shape. It is important to perform the necessary maintenance activities to make sure that your house becomes attractive to the buyer. Another factor towards selling of the house quickly can be linked to foreclosure. However, hasty selling without the right sort of projection of the house will only lead to a situation where either the buyer will loose interest in the investment or work out a deal that will not meet the necessary expectations.

Through a proper deal with the real estate investment  agent, it is possible to sell the house and ensure that you can maintain the right kind of credit rating. The only thing to keep in mind is that instead of going through a lengthy selling process it might be a good idea to allow the agent to work out a better deal for you in quick time. The main reason being that these agents have a strong client base interested in purchasing property in that region. Therefore, it becomes easier for them to sell the house while providing the necessary monetary assistance to the buyer if required. Thus, the seller can get hold of the sale amount quickly.

An extremely popular internet home business right now is anything to do with blogging. Blogging is hot and for a very good reason. Here are 7 reasons blogging is a good way to make money at home with any type of product.

1. Blogging is basically you putting your thoughts online for everyone to see. If you can write and type you can blog. An internet home business is very easy to start if you choose a blog as your home base. If you do not like to write you can hire a content writer for as little as $5 for 200 word articles.

2. One example of an easy blog to start is Blogger.com where you set up a blog in 3 easy steps. Blogger is owned by Google which is the world’s largest search engine. They offer very nice features that are easy to use.

3. If you can not build a web page you will love blogging. All of your pages are built and maintained for you. All you do is provide the content.

4. Many business owners start with a website that an employee builds for them. When that employee leaves or is fired their website sits dormant because no one knows what to do with it. Not so when you use your blog as a website.

5. Blogging can give your business a competitive advantage. Blogs are interactive. Customers can post comments and ideas for you to consider. By listening to them and replying to what they are saying you show that you care and value their opinion.

6. Blogs are a great place to offer specials. Any internet business needs to run promotions at different times. Blogging is a very easy way to get a promotion online in no time.

7. You can monetize your blog with products and programs that you sell. People can buy online from you and you make money when they do. Affiliate products are easy to add to your blog and blog posts. Information products are great to sell and a quick way to make your internet home business profitable.

Blogging has developed a lot in the past few years. It used to be a way for people to express their opinions. Today many successful internet home businesses use them to make money and communicate with their customers. Blogging is a hot internet home business for sure right now and will probably be around for a long time.

You are ready to buy a home, or are you? Most likely you will need a mortgage to purchase your next home and you will need to qualify for that mortgage. There are 3 things you should not do before you buy a home.

These three things will make it eaiser for you to qualify for that mortgage and get the best interest rate you can.

1.Don’t Open any New Lines of Credit

When you apply for a mortgage, the mortgage broker will pull your credit report. They are going to look through it in detail to see how you have handled credit in the past. They will also look at your credit report to see your recent activity. If you have opened up new lines of credit, they may view this as a negative since you are looking for sources of credit. They may see this as your inability to pay for your current expenses and you are using credit to pay your expense.

When you are looking to buy a house, hold off opening up any new lines of credit, regardless of the type, until after you own your home.

2.No Major Purchases of Any Kind

If you have a large purchase in the last couple of months, this could hinder your ability to qualify for a mortgage. If they see that you just purchased a car or a boat, the mortgage broker knows that you have a new monthly payment and you don’t have a history of showing that you can make the payments on that new purchase.

It will also impact your debt-to-income ratio, a very important ratio that determines the amount of the mortgage you can qualify for.

3.Don’t Move around Money

The lenders like to see that you have had the money in your bank account for at least a couple of months. If they see new deposits of a large chunk of cash into your bank account, they will ask you where it came from. If it came from someone else, they will want an explanation from you. If a family member is going to give you the down payment for your new home, that’s OK, the lender just wants to know where it came from. Lenders view money that you receive as income different from money you receive as a gift. Don’t try to hide the source of the money, if they don’t trust you they won’t make you the loan. Just let them know where the money came from and show them the paper trail if they ask for it.

The best thing you can do is be consistent in the months leading up to the purchase of your home. Don’t make any new purchases, open any new lines of credit, or move money around just before buying your home. You want to make sure you qualify for the mortgage first since this is the biggest loan you will be asking for.

After you own the home, then you can go out and buy the new car.

1. Objective of Internet Marketing Plan:

What do you want to accomplish by using Internet marketing? To find new clients? Provide services and info to existing clients? Sell services or products? Educate your target market or your staff about your product or service? Create an online community for your target market? How much money to have to spend each month on this Internet marketing plan? Having a goal and budget in mind will make your marketing more effective.

2. Marketing Funnel:

The most successful online business owners have a marketing funnel (think of it as an upside down triangle) through which they “funnel” clients. The process begins from the wide top of the funnel, representing low-cost products or free give-aways, and moving clients down through the funnel to the narrower portions which represent gradually increasing investments from the clients from your higher-priced products and services. What products and services do you currently offer? Are they at varied price points that would create a funnel effect? What plans do you have to increase your product or service line? Will those new offerings plug gaps in your marketing funnel?

3. Your Competition:

Knowing and understanding where you stand among your competitors can you help you strengthen your marketing message. Do a keyword search for the terms someone might use to find your business online. Write down the URL’s of your top 5 competitors. How popular and relevant are their sites? You can check their traffic ranking with Alexa, http://www.alexa.com/#traffic, as well as see what other sites link to them. Does your competition offer something unique? Where are the gaps in the service or product offerings?

4. Target Market:

Instead of trying to marketing to everyone (the shotgun marketing approach), find a clearly definable target market that you can easily describe and locate. Are they male or female? What age group? What industry? What socio-economic group? Where do they hang out on- and off-line? What do they read? To what groups and associations (real and virtual, personal and professional) do they belong? How much money do they make? Can they easily afford your product or service? What keywords are they using to search for businesses like yours online? (Note–you can do keyword research with free downloadable software, http://www.GoodKeywords.com).

5. Solution to a Problem:

The reason that someone will buy your product or hire to you to provide a service is to solve a particular problem that they have. What problems and issues plague your target market? How does your product or service solve that problem? How does your solution differ from that of your competitors? What makes you uniquely qualified to provide the solution to their problem?

6. Branding Your Business:

Your domain name can either help you be memorable or cast you into a sea of “brandless” solutions. At a minimum, you’ll want to buy both your personal name as well as the name of your business in the .com version, if it’s available. Then buy the .com versions of your product names and program names. If you use a full-featured domain registrar, you’ll be able to point and mask these domains to internal pages of your web site, or use them as stand-alone sales letter pages.

You may also think of problems faced by your target market or solutions that you provide and buy domain names in the .com version of those as well. Internet marketer Dean Jackson brands his ebook on how to stop a divorce by owning the domain name, StopYourDivorce.com, This is a compelling solution to his target market — men who have been ignoring their wives’ complaints of marital dissatisfaction and come home one day to an empty house and a note telling him that she’s filing for divorce.

7. Assess your website.

Your web site should be visually appealing, with one primary font for the text and a simple primary color scheme, along with an easy-to-navigate layout, and readily identifiable buttons to link to other pages in the site. Your content should focus on and address the problems of your visitors and how your product or service can help solve their problems. Rather than listing the features of your product or service, detail the benefits they’ll gain from purchasing your product or service. People rarely buy features — they buy benefits. Don’t depend on your web site designer to write your content — that is best done by you, as you know your business and your target market better than anyone.

Present a clear call to action that is clearly shown on every page of your site. In an online business, your primary call to action should be getting the visitor’s name and primary email address by asking him subscribe to your ezine or by giving him access to a free ecourse, special report, audio recording, or ebook. Lastly, provide an abundace of readily available information to demonstrate your expertise (articles, blog posts, free downloads, giveaways, contests). Your visitor is always asking WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) — make your web site about your visitor, not about you.

8. Online Business Management Technology:

Do you have access to the appropriate services and technology that will help you sell your product or service online? At a minimum you’ll need a merchant account (permits you to take credit card payments) that includes a virtual gateway (enables you to process transactions online) and a full-featured shopping cart that will permit you to sell both physical and electronic products and create a series of autoresponders to follow up with buyers and non-buyers alike. Depending on your marketing plan, you may also want to investigate email newsletter distribution services, online appointment setting services, stand-alone autoresponders, blogging software, article submission sites, online press release distribution services, website content management services, and links exchange management services and software.

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Imagine how much more beautiful your house would look or how much more habitable space you could have if you changed things a bit (or more). It is customary for householders to fantasize about fixing up their living spaces. But before you embark on an overhaul, take some suggestions from ValueMax, an original consumer savings program, and pull together the pieces of your project carefully.

Whether you are planning an immense remodeling project or a minor upgrade, start by collecting information about what you fancy and what alterations you would like to see in your current home. Create a list of how you will use the new space. Create a “favorites” folder, and if you encounter something that you are fond of in a magazine or on the Internet, clip it out or print it, and add it to your folder. As you do your research, ValueMax suggests noticing the prices of various products and penning them down so that you can decide how much to spend for your project.

Estimating the cost of your remodeling project is a task that you need to tackle before you start implementation. Be truthful about your budget, and learn whether the new room will boost the value of your home, especially if selling your house in the near future is a consideration. According to ValueMax, there are tools online that can provide you with an estimate of what to anticipate in terms of additional value when you make various home improvements.

Do you plan to do the designing and manual work by yourself, or are you willing to pay professionals for the work? ValueMax knows the worth of seeking solid advice on the fundamentals of construction, particularly structural and design topics. You might need to comply with local building codes, also. It is also a good idea to hire licensed employees for electrical and plumbing installations, especially if you have never done this sort of project before.

While it seems exciting to browse through model homes or the tile areas of home improvement shops, ValueMax encourages you to observe that there is a huge difference between beautifying and remodeling. Renovation, repairs and retrofitting are not exciting, but they are crucial to an efficient remodeling project.

The bottom line from ValueMax is that the effort you spend preparing for your home improvement project will come back your way in terms of less stress and a decrease in unexpected hiccups. The more you prepare and know what you want to accomplish within a set budget and time frame, the more pleased you will be with the process — and the results.

Over the last year foreclosures have been much more prevalent. New foreclosures are listed every day in Minnesota. You are wondering about their property values and the effect they have sitting vacant next to your house. Its no secret property value has decreased in the last year. Properties/Homes owned by banks typically have lost the most value. If the bank financed or bought a house on Red Sand Lake for $200,000 and now have foreclosed on it, they aren’t good position. Even if that house was being lived in (rented) and in pristine condition. It’s just not worth what it was before.

When the property becomes a foreclosure they are worth less money. No one’s going to pay market value for them. The bank owned homes sell for less than homes sold by the traditional seller. Buyers won’t buy them until the prices hit bottom.

All Brainerd Lakes real estate, in Crow Wing and Cass county are affected by the foreclosure market. Sometimes there are homes, one could be in a new development in Baxter and the other, identical in every way except it is a foreclosure. Sometimes what happens is the bank will lower the price for a quicker sale and does make an impact. A traditional home owner will have a harder time selling. The bank has to lower the cost of the house because buyers won’t pay as much for a foreclosure.

A person looks for a home in Brainerd Lakes Area, they shop around, compare prices, it’s all part of the process. One of the first thing you will notice during the search is the local crow wing county and cass county foreclosures. When people look for homes they go shopping ,comparing prices, select a real estate agent, its part of that process. If your anything like me once you see that home foreclosure listed on a website, like lakehome for the cheap price. It’s hard to not expect that value on the other homes as well.

When an appraiser or a Realtor looks at the market value of a house in, say in East Gull Lake, they look for three comparable homes that are nearby in East Gull Lake and have sold in the last year. Usually, they don’t use any bank owned houses or houses that were owned by the bank in the comparison. Simply because that will not give them an accurate market value. Private/Personal owned homes sell more than bank owned homes.

If you live at 555 Excelsior Dr in Baxter and 556 Excelsior Dr Baxter, MN and you have a foreclosure on each side of you, it doesn’t necessarily mean your property value will drop. In the some Brainerd and Baxter areas hardest hit by the foreclosures the prices seem to have hit bottom and average sale prices are now higher than average list prices.

Foreclosed homes sitting empty have a slight impact on the value of the homes nearby, it a normal market the value of your home is a lot more sensitive to foreclosures, with the REO prevalence today almost everyone is living near a foreclosure. Buyers are interested in buying the bank owned homes but no one wants one as a neighbor.

Foreclosure Next Door – Original Article

My Real Estate Blog

http://blog.lakehome.com/?p=76

With the housing market in a downturn and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes going into foreclosure, people are beginning to talk more about and pursue foreclosure investing. But, what is it and how does it work? Well, for answers to your questions on foreclosure investing, keep reading.

What is foreclosure?

Foreclosure is a process that is initiated when a homeowner is not able to pay the mortgage on their property or sell the home quickly or efficiently enough. The financial burden is no longer manageable and the house then becomes the property of the lender or bank. Typically, the property is later sold at a below-market prices in order to settle the outstanding debt.

So, what is foreclosure investing?

The term “foreclosure investing” refers to the practice of buying houses that have gone into or are about to go into foreclosure and then selling them on the traditional real estate market. Typically, these homes are sold at auction or at a reduced price, meaning investors can purchase homes for less than their normal value and then – after doing some repairs and sprucing up – resell the homes for a profit.

What is pre-foreclosure investing?

Pre-foreclosure investing is the practice of buying a property before it’s actually foreclosed on, but after the homeowner has gone delinquent on their payments. In this case, the home is purchased from the owner who can at least make enough on the sale to cover a lot of the owed mortgage debt.

The appeal of pre-foreclosure investing is that the homeowner does not have to go through the process of foreclosure, and the buyer or investor is typically able to obtain the property for less than market value since the seller is highly motivated.

Is foreclosure investing legal?

Yes, foreclosure investing is legal and done by many reputable investors and real estate professionals. Unfortunately, there are some unethical individuals and businesses who prey on homeowners in trouble, claiming they can save them from foreclosure while simultaneously stealing their homes. This practice, however, is considered fraud and is illegal.

Does foreclosure investing work?

That depends on what kind of profitable returns you’re looking for and how fast you want to turn your property around to sell it. Typically, the longer a property appreciates, the greater your return will be. On the other hand, the longer a property appreciates, the greater your carrying costs will be. By carrying costs, we mean the expenses associated with ongoing mortgage payments, taxes, and maintenance.

Also, depending on the location you’re purchasing in and the current real estate market in the area, you may have a hard time selling or making the kind of profit you might otherwise anticipate.

I’ve heard about foreclosure investing clubs – are they a good idea?

Think long and hard before you hand over your money to a stranger, or even a club of strangers. Foreclosure investment clubs can work, but there are also a number of scams out there that prey on potential investors. If you find one that is of interest, investigate them and their practices thoroughly before committing any money.

The world economy has just experienced one of the biggest jumps in to recession ever seen, the UK has suffered huge job losses, the country has no idea what’s going to happen next with regard to the economy and you find yourself in the lucky position where you need to try and find a marketing job. Do you give up? Throw the towel in? Or just put your head in the sand? No, follow these 10 tips on what to do when searching for a marketing job and you may find yourself saying hello to your new boss, before you know it!

1) Research the market.

With numerous degrees available in marketing and business, an old or rookie perspective job hunter needs to know what qualifications, desired experience or skills are required by employers. For those already in marketing positions, you more than any should know that the world of business changes quickly, really quickly. Don’t make yourself look like you don’t know what you are doing by sending out CVs that have no updated training, skills or education from the time you joined your current company, ask to go on courses, check to see if your qualifications are still appropriate for the companies you would like to work in and research who it is that attracts you as an employer. Research salaries, there is no point in jumping from a position you want to leave in to a position that is going to create more difficulties for you financially even though you are in “marketing”. If you are new to marketing, research exactly what it is someone does who works in marketing. If you are seasoned marketing professional investigate what other avenues of marketing interest you if you want to have a change of professional scenery.

2) Be up to date with what’s going on in the world of marketing

It is important to be on top of your game, whatever your profession. Be aware of current marketing topics, what’s happening in the world of marketing, innovations, figureheads and leading companies.

3) Network.

Whether you are new to marketing or not, networking can never be thought of as a waste of time. It’s a skill and exercise in used in the business day that allows relationships to be built outside of the pressurized sales pitch or interview.

4)Pay very close attention to your CV and have others proof read it.

There are few jobs that have a greater emphasis on the CV of their prospective candidates than marketing. Make sure your CV has been read, re read and checked for every minute detail. Remember, the CV is often your only way in to a company, so make it good. Other people often see blatant errors that we don’t in a document we are familiar with or may indeed, pick up on a writing style or tone used in you CV that doesn’t portray the real you or doesn’t do you any favors. Be prepared to take constructive feedback.

5) Prepare to door knock.

Job hunting, whether it be in marketing or not, is all about numbers. The more CVs you send out, companies you contact, interviews you go on the greater the chance of your being hired in the marketing job you want. Send speculative CVs, make speculative calls and be your very own agent, after all, who better to sell you than you.

6)Ask for referrals.

If companies are not currently not hiring and tell you so when you cont.ct them, ask them about other marketing roles they are aware of that have come up recently, or good recruitment agencies that specialize in marketing roles.

7) Make sure you are ready at short notice.

Interviews often come up at short notice. Once you send your CV, application form or make a phone call to a company and they show interest in you, be sure to make yourself available for interview. The longer the window period from the discussion of the interview, to the time of interview allows for other developments to occur that don’t include yourself, in what could be your perfect job.

Consider temping.

If you are new to marketing and have the ability to work on long term or short term temporary marketing jobs, then this can be a great way to get on the ladder and try out the whole concept of marketing for you as a your new profession. People are often hired on to permanent contracts when they have been temps within a company and at the very least you are gaining valuable experience and knowledge that makes you look even more like a marketing professional on paper.

9) Practice your interview skills.

While you are busy networking, talking to perspective employers and recruitment consultants, you can use this time to rehearse your interview technique and how you come across to others in a professional setting. For new graduates this can be invaluable and for the more seasoned business person, just watching other people’s reactions to how you interact with them can be a great way to hone in on areas that you can improve on.

10) Preparation.

Whether making a phone call, going to visit a recruitment consultant or having a job interview, know the company you are meeting before you get there. Google them, look at company web sites, ask about them through networking, do this all in advance and you will not only come across as someone who is astute, but you will feel more confident in your abilities and your interview.

Grieving is an act of love. It begins when someone or something you love is lost, and the stronger the love the greater the grief. The act of grieving honors you and the significance of your loss.

The longer you live the more loss you experience. In order to grieve in healthy ways, you need to understand the stages of the grief process itself.

Shock. This is the body/mind’s way of saving you from the devastating pain of the loss, at least initially. It is a blessing at best, but at worst can become a long-term numbness to feelings that resembles a sort of living death. It will pass naturally as long as the other components of the grief process are honored.

Denial. This is your mind’s attempt to protect you from the reality of the loss. You may lie to yourself and think about the person as if they were still alive. A certain period of denial is normal but if prolonged, it can keep you stuck and prevent resolution. There are many forms of denial, as varied as people are different from each other.

Anger. When you lose someone you love, it is natural to be angry for a period of time. You may be angry with the person for leaving you, angry with yourself for what you did not do to save them or angry with God for taking them away. You may just be angry at the unfairness and injustice of life. Healthy Anger Management techniques may be essential here.

Guilt. There seems to be a human tendency to blame yourself when something happens to a loved one. In loving someone, you automatically take some degree of responsibility for her or his welfare. It is only natural to question yourself for a period of time after your loved ones die. This is a normal part of the grief process, but it is extremely important that you move through it and don’t get stuck in this stage.

Pain And Sorrow. These feelings often exist throughout the entire grief process, and are the core feelings of grief. In the early stages, however, you are often distracted from your sorrow by denial, anger, guilt and the resulting confusion. Fear can also be a tremendous barrier to the experience of sorrow, triggering all of the defense mechanisms. To truly face and experience the pain and sorrow is necessary and healthy however, and it moves you forward in the grief process. Working with love is the key for moving through this phase, because only love has the power to move us to the depths of our being where the greatest loss is registered.

Release And Resolution. This stage of the grief process is accompanied by a sense of acceptance of the reality of the loss, a sense of “letting go.” There may also be a degree of forgiveness that occurs in this phase. The denial, guilt and anger stages are over, and the pain and sorrow is not as intense as it was before. Many people ask, “How long does it take?” The answer is different according to the severity of the loss and the health of the individual who is grieving. Grieving moves in cycles, and it may seem as if we are through for a substantial period of time. A birthday, anniversary or another loss can bring back many of the same feelings that were there when our loved one died. Any loss or low emotional period can bring back the feelings of loss, particularly if you have not reached resolution. When the release finally occurs, your entire body will feel it. I have watched many people go through emotional release in their grieving, and I am convinced that it is as much a physical, non-verbal process as it is verbal and conscious.

Return To the Willingness To Love. This is the final stage of the grieving process. Healing has occurred, and the grieving person is able to laugh again and to get involved in life. Fear can slow you down or even stop you at this point, because new love means the risk of new loss. By honoring and completing all aspects of the grief process, however, you will overcome your fear and move forward. This occurs through an appreciation for yourself and the life you are left to live. Nurturing your inner child is an excellent tool to use to help you through the entire grief process, and particularly as you move back out “into the world” after a period of grieving. Part of the return to love also includes remembering the love you felt for the one you lost. The love lives on and the anger, guilt, pain and sorrow fade away.

This final stage of the grief process is ultimately a spiritual one. It is a fact that all of us on this planet will die. You need to have some way of living, laughing and loving with this reality. That’s where spirituality comes in. True security cannot be found in another person or in any external circumstances. You have to turn within, to your own concept of the infinite, to ultimately find peace and security in a life that is only temporary in its tangible form.