Homeowners Must Realistically Price Their Homes To Sell

People come up to me all the time and ask, "How's the real estate market doing?" Although I would really enjoy giving a simple answer to this question, the real answer is far more complex. In certain parts of the country, the housing market has been stronger than in many other areas, although, prices are lower than they were at the peak of the market. However, many homeowners who list their homes have listed them at unrealistically high prices, and then been inflexible in terms of reducing their price. I have observed homeowners list their houses at prices higher than homes sold for at the peak of the market, and then becoming disappointed when their homes don't sell. Some homeowners explain their asking price by explaining how much money they have put into their homes, or how beautiful and exceptional their house is. Often, these same homeowners have owned their houses for many years, and they seem to conveniently forget how little they originally paid for their houses. Yet, the reality is that the price one receives for one's house is not related directly to how much one may have paid, or how much one may have put into the property. In the end, houses generally sell based on what buyers are willing to spend for the house, and that is generally related to the real estate market at that time.

These homeowners are generally hurting their own chances of selling their homes by listing their homes at unrealistically high prices. Houses that are "priced right to sell" from the start have a far better chance of selling than those priced too high. Today's buyers study the internet, and many realize what comparable houses are realistically selling for. A basic reality of real estate is that in most cases, the best offer a homeowner will receive for his house is received in the first few weeks after it goes on the market. New listings are "hot" to potential buyers, while houses that remain unsold often elicit questions from buyers as to what was wrong with the property - why it hasn't sold?

Many owners interested in selling their homes interview several real estate agents and brokers, and ask for recommendations as to pricing, as well as many other questions. Many owners want to believe the agent that tells them their house is worth the highest amount, as if saying it will automatically bring forth a higher price. Instead, owners should demand a professionally prepared Comparative Market Analysis, including pricing and a marketing plan from their realtor. In most cases, a homeowner will do best going with an agent that acts professionally, markets professionally, and justifies both the pricing, and how the marketing plan will work.

In addition, even if a "stranger from another planet" decided to pay an unrealistically high price for a house, most buyers need to get a mortgage to finalize the funding for the purchase. Lending institutions, for a number of reasons including some unwise lending decisions during the height of the real estate "bubble," are doing far more complete and conservative comparative market analysis of their own, and if this comparison (known as "Comps") do not justify the price being offered, the lending institution will deny that amount of funding because it does not "comp out."

Since for most individuals, their home is their most valuable asset, doesn't it make sense to objectively ask the same questions as an owner that potential buyers will ask? The main question should be, "How does this house compare with comparable homes in comparable areas in comparable condition? Owners should also ask, "If I were buying a home, would I pay that much for this house?"

Chemistry on the Web: How Can we Crowdsource Chemistry to Solve Important Problems?

Google Tech Talk April 6, 2010 ABSTRACT Presented by Dr Matthew Todd, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. Open Science: how can we crowdsource chemistry to solve important problems? Science shaped itself in the founding days of learned societies: individuals or teams competed, in secret, with paper-based communication in subscription journals. Why are we all still doing science like this? The internet has had a major impact in our sharing of data by traditional means, but it has not yet radically changed the way we actually perform science. My lab is involved in a new project a government/WHO-funded research project that is completely open, where we are trying to solve a serious problem in public health through basic research in organic chemistry. The project involves a wonder drug used to treat a tropical disease but we need to improve it, and fast: www.nature.com With an eye on the bigger issue, we propose open methods can allow science to happen faster than traditional means, but we do not yet have the tools to make this happen. This talk is about hard science and soft human nature. It is also an appeal for decent tools scientists need to collaborate properly. The over-riding requirement: low barrier to entry.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWnTJw042OM&hl=en

Mentoring In the Academy

Harvard's Office of Faculty Development and Diversity (FD&D) sponsors several faculty development programs. These sessions are designed to provide a forum for interactive discussions of relevant concerns to all Harvard faculty. The title of the development program documented in this video is: Mentoring in the Academy: Establishing and Sustaining Developmental Networks.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WpevffBhR0&hl=en

Learn How to Make Your Investment Club a Successful Investment Club

Investment clubs are composed of people who pool their funds to make joint investments. These groups' members are usually friends, family members, or co-workers whose goal is to create an investment portfolio.

The National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) says that a number of successful investment clubs today are earning big profits. This should give potential investors the go signal to take advantage of the opportunity. Thus, if you and your prospective partners want to form an investment club, it would be best if you study how such an organization works and the essential aspects thereof as these are the keys that should help you succeed in the field of investment.

Education is also a key to a club's success. Joining the NAIC is a good option if you want to be educated about investing. They has been helping investment clubs to progress in their field or create their goals. As a matter of fact, for about 50 years now, the NAIC has been providing important investment information to clubs who are just starting up. This the Association accomplishes by offering educational materials, like brochures and manuals, to newbies in the investment industry.

Having the same objectives also aids the groups' stability and growth. Members should work together to achieve their common missions such as earning more profit and developing their organization. They must unite to learn together the important aspects and details of investing. If club members know how to efficiently work together, then that's the only time when they can succeed.

Communication is also an important factor in making your club successful. Regular meetings must be held because they are needed in assuring that the operations of the club are smooth. During meetings, the members can make decisions about investing on or purchasing stocks. At the same time, a successful investment group will have the opportunity to discuss the firm's gains, losses, as well as other important financial issues and decide on how much they will reinvest. Moreover, the future of investment clubs is tackled as well during meetings because these are the ideal opportunities for creating plans and new goals.

Successful investment clubs also take advantage of the Internet in making investments and keeping records. The Web has become a useful tool in tracking the performance of the market. The said medium also makes communication much easier as these days, club members can literally hold meetings even if they are stationed in various parts of the world, basically through e-mails, instant messaging, or video conferences. Furthermore, investing has also been made more convenient using various software packages. For instance, the NAIC offers a special accounting software that is useful in keeping records and processing accounting transactions.

Financial Credibility for Real Estate Investors

Real estate investors often don't think of themselves this way, but in reality every real estate investor is a 'business owner'. That's because each parcel of real estate you own has its own unique location, tenants, cash flow, maintenance costs, financing and property taxes. And yet, many investors continue to do business in their own names and use their own personal credit to acquire properties. The good news is there's a better way.

PERSONAL CREDIT v. BUSINESS CREDIT.

Real estate investors make 'the deal' with the seller, but they actually buy their properties with either institutional lender financing or seller financing, or some combination of both. When an investor makes a decision, it's the property that has to qualify, not the buyer. But when it comes to financing the deal, it's usually not that way.

In most cases, a personal guaranty is involved. Lenders collect personal financial information before making a decision about your loan. They want information such as your personal balance sheet, income statement and a personal credit profile in order to make a decision about the loan. The higher your debt to personal income ratio, the more of a strain is being put on your personal credit. Many investors step up and sign personal guarantees because they feel they have no other choice. Yet if you use personal credit too often, it can actually hurt your personal credit score.

Your personal credit profile - like it or not - is tied to your social security number and the way in which you have managed your personal finances. The files kept by the consumer credit reporting agencies are separate and distinct from those kept by a business credit reporting agency but most people don't know the difference and don't understand what a powerful impact developing a business credit profile can be - if it's done right.

THE KEY IS BUILDING A SEPARATE CREDIT PROFILE.

No matter what your personal credit score is today, it is possible to build a business credit score that is entirely separate and distinct from your own personal credit. It takes planning and focus, but it can be done. With a disciplined and systematic approach, you can work build a positive business credit score that is not tied to your personal credit and spending habits, and you can do so in a timely manner if you follow a specific approach.

STEP ONE: CREATE A BUSINESS.

Establishing your 'business entity' is the first step. For most real estate investors, the entity of choice is a Limited Liability Company ('LLC'). Today, the national trend in company formation is that more LLCs are being formed throughout the USA each year than corporations. That wasn't always the case, but today with IRS adoption of its check-the-box regulations, as well as with the asset protection and privacy now available in states like Nevada, limited liability companies have become very popular for their flexibility, privacy, protection and simplicity of operation. (See our Special Report on LLCs versus 'S' corporations).

On top of that, in the last 10 years the 'Series LLC' has emerged as the leading edge in the evolution of the LLC in America. It saves you repeated costs (upfront) in legal formation and (at the back-end) tax accounting. The Series LLC essentially acts as a 'mother ship' allowing 'cells' or 'series' to distinguish each of the business enterprises (or properties) from the others, giving each one the ability to have separate business activities, cash flow statements and accounting but still having the ability to consolidate at the end of the year. That can save you thousands by not having to do separate business tax returns. The bottom line is that the more you don't have to spend on lawsuits, taxes and financing costs, the more you have to reinvest in acquiring more real estate.

STEP TWO: HOW TO USE 'BUILDING BLOCKS' FOR SUCCESS.

The next step is to build credibility so that credit grantors as well as business credit reporting agencies will understand why your business should enjoy a favorable business credit score. Many people 'assume' that business and consumer credit bureaus are one and the same, but that is not so. Let's take a look at the major business credit bureaus before moving on into how exactly business credit should be established.

Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, Business Credit USA, Equifax Business,Client Checker, FD Insight together make up the vast majority of the business credit reporting transactions in America today. The 'big boy on the block' of course is Dun and Bradstreet, with approximately 70 million businesses registered. The closest competitor is Experian Business, which has about 14 million businesses registered. Each of the agencies has an army of employees that do nothing but 'verify' certain elements of the business information - and if there are any inconsistencies or questionable entries, these raise 'red flags' as to that business, which immediately result in a less favorable credit rating.

There are some ground rules to understand. First, personal credit scores and business credit scores have two distinct scales on which they are measured. Personal credit scores (which run from 300 to 850) are tied to your social security number as a personal identifier. Business credit is tied to the taxpayer identification number (EIN) of the business entity and runs from 0 to 100. On the business side, a score of 75 or better is considered excellent.

The most frequent mistake of all made by business owners seeking business credit is to register with the business credit bureaus 'too soon'. That is, they sometimes do so before they have all their 'ducks lined up' and verified by an independent third-party. They believe that by simply registering with the major business-related credit bureaus, they can start applying without being red-flagged. That is why taking specific action steps before registering with the business credit bureaus is so important. So the key of course is to have your ducks all in a row before submitting a registration to Dun & Bradstreet. The sequence must be followed meticulously so that every step expected and verified by the business credit bureaus has been pre-coached and pre-verified beforehand. Where personal credit might be 'repaired' if there have been problems in the past, there is no such equivalent in the world of business credit. So it's important to 'do it right the first time'. After all, the goal is acquire a strong business credit score in as short a time as possible, right? Looking at the big picture, the proper steps in the proper order are as follows:

o Formation of a Corporation or better yet, a Limited Liability Company

o Obtain a Employer Identification Number 'EIN'. This is obtained through the Internal Revenue Service ('IRS") and can be done online.

o File a DBA ('doing business as') form if the business is going to do business under a name that is different than the legal or company name. Normally the DBA is publicly filed in the County where the business is going to operate, and in some localities publication in a 'newspaper of general circulation' is required.

o Business License. A business license is require to operate a business in nearly all cities and most counties. A new business may also be required to obtain certain permits depending on the type of business.

o Business Registration with the Department of Taxation. Normally this is a step in order to comply with local requirements for business taxation or sales tax permits.

o Assessor's Office. Depending on your locality, the County Assessor's office may need to issue a clearance so that you are in compliance with any local assessments due to the property use.

o Zoning Ordnances. These may be applicable depending on the type of business. It's best to check with the City and not overlook this so that it doesn't pop up later and create a compliance red flag.

o Address and Phone Number. Make sure that the business address on all paperwork is the same between the state, the county, the city, and the telephone company for your directory assistance listing. The credit bureau will check to see what your directory assistance address is, and whether it is the same as the address shown on your licenses, permits, and mailing address. If it is not, that creates a 'red flag'.

o Prepare a business financial statement and include it with a properly prepared business plan that would make sense if you were loaning money to a third party.

STEP THREE: BUILDING CREDIBILITY.

The final step in building business 'trade credit' is to establish a basis for a favorable rating right up front. Instead of using your individual personal name and social security number, once your business is registered, any credit reporting should be done using the business entity name and its employer identification number ('EIN'), which is the business equivalent to the personal social security number. 'Trade credit' is often underestimated. It is actually the largest source of financial lending in the world today because of the sheer numbers used in real estate development, shipping, freight, construction, etc. Many business owners get frustrated at the seemingly slow pace at which they might garner business credit. Often the reason for the pace they are frustrated by is actually caused by them. That is, they 'start off' the wrong way - and these early mistakes in the basic set-up often cause 'red flags' to be raised by the business credit reporting agency.

After these preliminary steps are complete, your business will be ready to start working on business credit development --- but not until then. In preparing for lines of credit, you want to start proving up a payment history with companies that will report business credit in the name of your business. My advice is that it would be prudent to not register your company with any of the business credit bureaus without first considering the use of a professional coach familiar with this area.

To be honest, a certain amount of 'hand-holding' may be the fastest way to learn from the mistakes that others (ahead of you) have already made. That way, you won't repeat them and you won't waste time brushing off your scraped business knee to start over again. This is where there is no substitute for experience and expertise. That's why working with an experienced business credit coach might be the smartest way to go if you want to do this quickly and efficiently and to achieve the kind of high business credit score you're going to want if you are serious about building wealth through your real estate business enterprise.

I often get requests at workshops and conferences where I speak around the country for more information and referrals to quality providers. If you'd like to get started, send me an e-mail and I will show how to start down that path with reputable and ethical coaching to 'do it right the first time.'

Community Partnering For Greater Retail Success

Walking to my car, I heard loud music. This was not exactly what I expected in Grants Pass, Oregon on a warm Saturday July evening. I had just returned from an exhilarating jet boat excursion to Hellgate Canyon and enjoyed a ranch style dinner on the Rogue River.

It's Getting Louder
The music was getting louder and louder as I approached the parking lot. It was coming from across the street. It was an automobile dealership, Mock's Ford, and it was alive with action. There was a band playing, with folks of all ages dancing to the music, a barbecue filling the area with its popular aroma, and yes, people were buying cars. The excitement and activity drew me like a magnet to metal.

In front of the sales office, a local radio station, Cruisin'-FM, was conducting a live-remote broadcast allowing all in attendance to be involved. I located the dealership president, Don Carr, and during our chat he told me that they had sold almost as many cars so far that weekend as they usually sell in a month. To top it off he said, "We're not giving these cars away." Carr created a weekend partnering alliance with his community and won big.

And Still Making a Profit
How would you like to sell your products at that rate and still make a profit? You might be saying, "That's great for selling cars, but what about me?" The answer is to get involved with your community in a way that serves people and created high-level exposure for your business. You'll need to be creative and develop some fun, helpful, exciting community activities. Remember, being unique is not an absolute necessity, but it's very helpful.

Creativity has always been, and will always be, the retailer's call to battle. Creativity is also one of the key ingredients necessary to create value in the eyes of your customers. The way the national big box category busters (i.e., Wal-Mart, Circuit City, and Office Depot) develop perceived value is through selection and low price, not necessarily service. If you are an independent retailer and you're trying to do battle in their arena, they will clean your clock. But, creativity is not necessarily a word that big boxes, at the local level, understand.

Generations
For years, Baby boomers have been the pig in the python in our economy. They were heavy-duty consumers in the 1980s, buying their first houses and filling them up, buying luxury cars and all the outward trappings of success. In the 1990s they traveled and purchased RVs. Now, with most of the Boomers having grandchildren, they will buy almost anything if they perceive it's a good value. Also, determine what they perceive as value-added in how you run your business and give it to them--they'll reward you with profits through their loyalty. Don't forget about the X and Y Generations. While many were part of the dot com bust, they still seem to spend freely.

Create a unique position for your business in the minds of your customers and your competition in the marketplace is greatly diminished. Remember though, unique means one of a kind, (not just a bit different) and that's what you must be if you plan to survive and prosper throughout this decade and beyond.

Creativity
Earl Nightingale, co-founder of Nightingale-Conant Corp., the worlds largest producer and distributor of audio and video learning systems continually offered this suggestion for creativity: take a yellow pad each morning and spend a quiet hour thinking about the major challenges for the day. He would go to work listing all ideas he could think of--no matter how crazy, impossible, wacky or boring the idea might appear. "Some ideas you'll use and many you'll toss out," he would say. The important thing is to capture the ideas and take action on the ones you believe will assist you in achieving your goals.

So, how does all this creativity and uniqueness talk help you to partner with your community? You can't just copy what others have done and make it work for you. You can, copy the process used but not the results. Your community is uniquely different, your neighbors have special needs, and you must use your creativity to find a winning combination.

Here's how to get started. Head for your chamber of commerce, if you're not a member yet, and join! Ask for their list of clubs and organizations. Do any interest you? I know you don't have time for that kind of stuff. Trust me, you do! It's all in how you choose to participate. There are more ways to participate than just showing-up to their meetings and events, be creative.

[] Volunteer to chair a fundraiser, one that you can have at your location--yearly! The event can be in your store, in your mall or center, on the sidewalk in front of your store or in your parking lot.

[] Flea market or rummage sales are about the easiest to put on and quite profitable, find an interesting twist though. You can arrange to have leftovers picked up by a local charity.

[] Community holiday theme party such as a Halloween costume party. Do this after hours, charge for attendance and give the profit to your organization. During the day offer a discount for those who shop in a costume.

[] If you are on a busy street try a Saturday barbecue; the possibilities are endless.

You might be wondering why you need to have these activities in conjunction with a community organization--for PUBLICITY! In the example I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Carr paid for all the advertising. When you work in conjunction with a local group you get public service announcements (PSA) free of charge and you ALWAYS mention the location (yours) in the news releases.

If you want more help in doing news releases or publicity, head for the public library and go to the non-fiction # 659 section, or just search Google. While you are at the library, stop by the reference desk and ask to look at the Gale Directory of Print & Broadcast Media, you'll find the address and phone number of all the media in your area. They are whom you notify for your up-coming event.

Another idea might be to head a local organization that you care about from your place of business. Be sure it's a high profile organization; this can bring you closer to your community. It will give many potential customers another reason to visit you.

Ultimately, if you find new and creative ways to partner and cross-promote in your community, your community members will reward you with their business.

Higher Education as Service Trade Exporter In South Africa

Introduction

Whilst it is recognized that South Africa is still in a process of transition regarding higher education to address the imbalances of the past, it should also be emphasized that Institutions of Higher Education in large are still underplaying the importance of higher education as commercialized commodity in the global world. This resulted in a low commercial higher education presence in the global world, a limited capability to attract quality students from foreign countries and a national oriented education approach. Even the school law that will soon be introduced in South Africa to address the imbalances of the past may have a negative effect of institutions of higher education to play a significant role in the commercialized educational world. The proposed new law emphasized adherence to the principles of equitability, rectification and representativeness above competence in the appointment of teachers. This may undermine the quality of education firstly, in schools and later in institutions of higher education in South Africa.

This is in sharp contrast with international trends signaling that the international higher education market is becoming more competitive as education competes as export and import commodity. Figures available indicate that higher education export represents on average around 6.6% of total student enrollments in 2000. This figure can still not be matched b South African Institutions 5 years later. In countries like Switzerland, Australia and Austria these figures were above 11% in 2000 making these countries the highest internationalized higher education countries in the world. Similarly, educational services in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America respectively represent the third, fourth and fifth largest service export sectors. This clearly provides evidence that these countries realize the significance of higher education to transfer intellectual capital and enhance the economic competitiveness of nations.

Interventions required

It is important that Institutions of Higher Education in South Africa position themselves as nodes in an increasingly seamless knowledge base in the global world, which could have a greater interface with the knowledge-driven global economy. Therefore, Institutions of higher education in South Africa should given even more attention to integrate with influential international institutions that will enable them to internationalize higher education.

Currently, internationalization of higher education in South Africa happens more by incident rather than through thoroughly planned and organized approaches. If institutions of higher education in South Africa intend to consider higher education as a commercial trade commodity, serious emphasis should be place upon:

· Introducing purposeful policies and strategies that clearly indicate the road forward with regard to internationalization intentions and the specific areas that would need priority attention. However, this should not be developed as separate internationalization strategies, but should e seen as a natural element of the overall strategy of the institute.

· Implementing induction and course programmes that will attract quality foreign students to the institutions.

· Supporting academics to participate in conferences as well as in reputable academic journals to publish research results.

· Ensuring that all course offerings meet international accepted criteria as defined by the leading institutions of higher education in the developed world.

· Creating conducive learning environments equipped with the latest learning technologies.

Internationalization requires that institutions of higher education in South Africa should emphasize a somewhat loosening of the relationship with Government to create new transformational bodies to address the imbalances of the past, but also to broaden this mission to play a more active role in regional economic development. This can be achieved by establishing strong horizontal links with other universities research institutions and industry in the Southern African Development Community. If this can be achieved, the activities of institutions of higher education will no longer be isolated from the marketplace and its outputs could become merchandise products as well. Loosening the relationship with government will not only provide for more freedom to autonomously decide what educational and research outputs to create, but will also increase the pressure on institutions of higher education to perform better as they take up the responsibility to raise funds for projects and salaries.

It is imperative that higher education in South Africa can no longer take the disposition that placed research and development in contrast to one another. Rather, it should take the stand that the outputs of institutions should have a strong:

· Social development and application in which the simultaneous promotion and integration of education, scientific research and production occurs;

· Science and Technology Financial Management Support System in place in order to create a safe and secure research environment for academics; and

· Set of " Key State Laboratories" where research and education of strategic importance to the development and well-being of the country can be carried out.

Conclusion

South Africa institutions of higher education currently rated only among the top 40 of the world's host countries. An urgent need exist to rethink and reformulate the educational thinking models of institutions of higher education in South Africa. Because of the changing political situation accompanied by a changing global economy, many traditional ways in which institutions of higher education were previously governed will change. Unless institutions of higher education in South Africa succeed to internationalize successfully, huge opportunities to earn foreign currencies using higher education as a trade commodity will be lost.