#the real estate developer must be the big bad of the season right

[whichcouldmeanothing]

You can do whatever you like to me.

Brennan Lee Mulligan as Lord Aleksei Kleinebauer du Flauschwitt Von Beaudulay Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens 2x01 "Princess and the Paramours" ➝ requested by anon

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 17 - Sharp selling masks on thier own website.

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru starting this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san! (*looks intentionally at J*)

J:Yep

K:Tasai san! (*looks intentionally at T*)

T: *nods*

J: Get it right this time, haha.

K: *laughs* Its started to go funny when I say it carelessly.

J: Well, you kinda zone out a bit, don't you, when you're wearing a mask.

T: Yeah.

K: Its slightly difficult to concentrate.

J: It is difficult.

K: ...with your awareness.

J: If we go on like this into the rainy season, it will feel pretty tough to keep wearing a mask.

T: Yeah.

K: Yeah, but there are those things that you can wrap round your face and neck. I've heard those feel a bit cooler.

J: Yeah, I do think wearing a mask in the rainy season will be tough. At the moment, what I am not sure about is whether or not, and to what extent masks are effective. There are different opinions everywhere you look. In the end, you don't know who to believe. Im at the point of thinking I should wear one to avoid any risk just in case, even if its a small risk.

K: Yeah, and what about your eyes?

J: Yeh, your eyes.

Kami: Yes, yes, yes, yes. 

K: Like, Trump wasn't wearing a mask, but he was covering his eyes, right?

J: Yeah, yeah. Oh! Kami? Are you coming in at this point?

Kami: Yes, yes.

J: Okay, go ahead.

Kami: Um, as for masks, when they were tested on mice, apparently they were effective. They had one side infected with corona next to one side that wasn't, and when they added a mask barrier inbewteen the cages, the infection rate reduced a lot.

T: Ehh?

J: Yeah, I've read about that too.

K: It seems like its better to just wear one.

T: Well, this is the news from Tokyo Sports today, but the home appliance company Sharp are making masks, and selling them at 2980yen for 50, with a delivery fee of 660yen. They are limited to one box per person, and you have to register as a member. So with even Sharp making masks, its like..won't Japan end up with a mask surpluss?

K: You see them a lot don't you? Well, you don't know where they come from though.

J: Well, Sharp is a home appliance maker that has been operating for many decades, but this year has apparently been their best year for sales and profits. They've made the leap over to masks as thier big money maker, instead the of home appliances, which they've sold up to now. Thats how much everyone has ???*1

T: Going from making home appliances to making masks is pretty impressive, right?

J: Yeah.Thats the great thing about Japanese technology. I think people are very reassured to see 'Made in Japan', they prefer Japanese made ones over foreign made ones, especially in terms of hygiene. But it must have been tough for them with their web server going down.

T: Yeah

J: I tried to have a look at thier site, but in the end I couldn't connect to it once ...

T: Were you thinking of buying some?

J: Yeh, I was! But while Im doing this, you can still see masks on sale all over town recently.

T: There are real estate agencies selling masks..

J: Yes, thats it! Even a tapioca drink stand was selling masks.

K: Yeah, but a friend of mine has been selling them too ...they come via a route, you can purchase them directly from the factory in China or somewhere, and then disperse them to people here, so you don't really know where they've been.*2

J: Right? They really are being sold by all sorts of people in all sorts of places. Its incredible.

T: Its a mask bubble.

J: Also, a lot of people are wearing hand made masks, or brand name masks...

K: Washable ones?

J: Yeah, washable ones.

K: Well, its not like they don't work.

J: Yeah.

T: Masks can be fashionable. Do you remember that chain, Dom Dom Burger?

J, K: Oh, nostalgic!

T: Dom Dom Burger have been selling masks with 'Dom Dom' on the side.

K: Thats cute.

T: They've also been really popular. They are cute.

K: That elephant logo?

J, T: Yeah, yeah.

K: I kinda want one of those.

J: Yeah, I want one!

T: So in this way, masks are no longer staying the usually white, but are turning into fashionable items.

J: Well, I usually like Yohji (Yamamoto), and Yohji is also putting out masks, black or white leather.

T: Yohji is doing a white mask?

J: A white one and a black one. Some people are saying this type of thing is cool, or this is want they want.. I want to buy one of his masks, but I can't. Leather is expensive.

K: There are a lot of overseas artists making them too, aren't there?

J: Is there a particular one you like?

K: Well, no, I just thought theres loads of places doing like a design or print on masks at the moment.

J: Will you make a mask with your characters (Krim and Zon)?

T: Ah, that would be good.

K: I wonder if they would sell?

J: Yeah, I think they would.

K: *laughs*

T: Should we (Tokyo Sports) make them?

K: *laughs*

J: Could Tokyo Sports make them?

T:???*3

K: We could have a little Tokyo Sports logo on the side.

J: It would look so fake!

K: *laughs a lot*

J: Like a counterfeit.

T:???*4

J: But that does happen, in this case.

K: I think it would be good. There is that monthly magazine 'Mu' isn't there? You see their logo on tshirts a lot. Tokyo Sports could do that type of thing.

T: Oh, right, yeah. But we did actually make a parker once.

K: Ehh, I want it!

T: And a kind of Idol person really wore it to lives and stuff, and it became a desirable item. Everyone was like, 'Eh?! A Tokyo Sports parker?!'

K: Its good, right?

J: It is good. If you wear something with 'Tokyo Sports' on it, it shows a kind of intelligence.

T: Really?! Im so happy *laughs*

J: It shows you've read around a bit. Its good. Although its a bit strange to say it. Its a bit different from something with an 'Asahi Shimbun' or 'Yomiuri Shinbun' logo. Its 'Tokyo Sports'!

T: Should we put our name on Dir's goods next time?*5 *everyone laughs*

J: Yes, start there.

K: It would be recognized, right?

J: Yeh, everyone would be like, 'Ah, its Tasai san!'. They might buy it. But, conversely, if Kaoru was to make masks, would Tokyo Sports be interested?

T: Of course.

K: But would those characters mean anything to the readers of Tokyo Sports?

T: We could put UFO on the side.

J: Ahh, UFO right?

K: ???*6

J: Well, it sounds strange, but just like how people send out a message with the print on their tshirt, you could do that with masks. For example, how you are feeling today or something...if you have a picture of beer on your mask, people might think, 'ah, that person wants to drink beer'.

T: Thats a good idea.

J: You could show if you are feeling good or bad, like include a message. You could send a message with your mask, send a message without talking.

T: Well, that type of think is developing, isn't it? That kind of fashion style.

K: Yeah, despite not being disposable, you can change your look everyday. Like, you could wear this one on Monday, or pair one with your glasses, or whatever you have that you want to wear.

J: Match it with your feelings, right?

K: ..with everything. 

J: But up to now you see them in white, black and kind of bluey colours, and maybe pink..with womens' masks. But what about more different..

K: More colourful ones?

J: Yeah, deep purple or such..

T: Deep purple?

J: The colours, or the design, like the shape can be..

K: Like this pattern? *gestures to his shirts*

J: Yes, like check or patterned...if they come like this, it will be more exciting to wear a mask. Aren't you looking forward to that a bit?

T: Well, yeah. I think white looks kinda bleak.

J: It does, yeah. You could also put stickers on your mask. It might be a bit difficult to stick them on if it gets fluffy though

K: You could put studs in it.

T: Ah, cool!

J: Should we put studs in?

K: Wasn't Yohji selling one like that?

J: Yeh, that was kind of printed on to it, but it looked like studs.

T: Its good putting different things on masks, right?

J: Well, if masks really are effective, we have to wear them.

K: Right.

J: I'd like some which are more creative. If there is scientific progress, you could have ones that open up when you try to eat.

T: Ah, that would be cool!

K: I think I've seen that kind of video! He looks like he's wearing a mask, but then it opens up when he eats.

J: How does it?

K: It just opens when he opened his mouth.

J: Really?

T: I see.

J: Ehh, there are lots of ways...Well, I don't know if I would wear it, but what about a mask you can kiss with..?

K: A mask you can kiss with? ...What are you talking about? *laughs*

J: Im sorry, at 52 years old, I've gone funny...

K: But, actually, it a good feeling to see normal life returning a little, some stores opening up again, isnt it? Starbucks, for example.

J: Yes, yes.

K: If it spreads more, we'll be in trouble though..

T: But there was that Spanish flu wasn' there?

J: Yeah, 100 years ago.

T: While it was spreading, they didn't know why, but they eventually realised it was spreading where people were gathered together, so maybe corona might be the same, and it might just return to normal after two or three years, I wonder?

K: It will.

J: Yes, we won't be social distancing forever.

Kami: I have something to say. Um, Didn't Dir en grey sell masks before?

K: We made them before, yeh.

Kami: So you sold them, and you also have a song called, 'Mask', right?

K: You know a lot, don't you?

Kami: Have you thought of using that?

T: I see.

Kami: I thought, since everyone needs masks, and you have a song called 'Mask', you could do something.

T: Kami has come in straight talking.

Kami: Thats right.

J: What do you think, Leader?

Kami: Yeh, if you did that..

K: I havn't really thought about it.

J: Hahaha.

K: I havn't thought about it at all.

T: Haha.

Kami: Its a laymans idea. You have a song called 'Mask', so do a mask campaign. But I wasn't sure whether it would fit with Dir en grey's image. But that was a shocking answer.

T: Hahaha.

J: Yeah, I saw Kaoru's expression and he really did answer honestly. But conversely, how about Kami's idea? You might want to try if you think about it a bit more?

K: Ahh, it didn't really resonate with me..

*Everyone laughs*.

K: Well, anyway, see you next week. Thank you very much.

J: Thank you

K: Please subscribe.

*1, 3, 4, 6 Couldn't make it out.

*2, 5 I think this is what he meant.

[morgannalefey]

Homes, relationships, realtors

These are a series of anonymous questions I was asked and I'm endeavoring to answer them. I am not a concise writer. I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

Step 1: Start Your Research Early. Step 2: Determine How Much House You Can Afford. Step 3: Get Prequalified and Preapproved for credit for Your Mortgage. Step 4: Find the Right Real Estate Agent. Step 5: Shop for Your Home and Make an Offer. Step 6: Get a Home Inspection. Step 7: Work on home loan with bank lender Step 8: Get home appraised Step 9: Complete paperwork and close the deal ?

How were you able to learn what the homeownership steps entailed and how did you vet the realtor, home inspector, home appraiser, and lender, if you used them? How did you ensure the people whose help you enlisted were legit and were going to do right by you?

How did you find out what the paperwork/legal aspect of marriage was going to entail (research so far has given me a few different answers)? There was a lot I either didn’t know or didn’t understand - you need to get your ring appraised and added to your insurance (what kind of insurance), for example? You need to change how your tax filings and paperwork in general, especially if you choose to change your last name, etc. I’m scared of missing an item and running into some obstacle😫

How do you also ensure that your name and/or your spouse’s name is on the deed and stays there? I’ve come across TOO many stories about one party thinking their name was on the deed only to find out it either wasn’t or it was removed. Or one party dying and the remaining party finding out the place wasn’t on their name or was removed. Or, one party kicking the other out and not being able to advocate for themselves because their name, come to find out, isn’t on the deed😳😞 How do you avoid all that (besides vetting your potential SO properly lol)

------------------------

The first thing I want to say is I am NOT a financial advisor or a counselor/therapist. I am not a lawyer. I am a 55 year old database developer (in 2020) and have bought several houses and been with/married to the same person for 32 years. Prior to this person, I played a very large field of folks, and was in a lot of short-term relationships. The longest relationship I'd been in by the time we met was 10 months and it ended very badly. I'm not an expert, I'm just old and experienced. Another thing I am is frugal. While I'm being detailed, I'm also bi, cis, childless-by-choice, mostly-abled, and white. I can't speak directly to the experiences that marginalized folks (especially those with multiple marginalizations) have had.

I'll talk about the relationship stuff first 'cos that'll be the shorter answer. I met my spouse in an online space for roleplaying gamers back in 1988 (before the internet existed there were dialup networks, I was on those basically from 1983 on). The beginning of our relationship was a shared interest in roleplaying games. We also found similar tastes in books. Over time we discovered other shared interests, or got each other interested in the things we cared about. We both love being in the woods, and the natural world. We care deeply about the environment. We have always been in agreement politically. At first we were on opposite ends of religious matters, and neither of us tried to change the other in that regard. Eventually we grew together on that. We both knew from the outset that we wanted to travel the world together.

There have been stumbles. Bad ones. We are able to hurt each other more than any other human on the planet, and we're aware of that. We try not to, but sometimes we just, do. Then we talk about it. We've been in therapy to work things out several times, and have learned techniques for working through our problems. The thread running through all of this is we were committed to making it work, to working through, to not giving up.

We have woven our lives together into a fabric that works for us. This takes trial and error. It takes being willing to make mistakes and, more importantly, forgive those mistakes. It requires you to learn from your mistakes and to do personal work. You have to be willing to change the things about yourself that need changing. Certainly some things are deeply embedded. Those things you need to learn work arounds for. It's especially difficult to figure out which things are too deeply embedded to be changed, and which are mostly habits you can retrain. Ideally they'll be supporting you through this work, and doing their own work along similar lines. If things work out, you're both growing as more emotionally mature individuals who bring things to the relationship that help sustain it through the hard times.

It helps that I am good at things he's not, and vice versa. We have a decent division of labor (both emotional and household). We give each other space to enjoy our different interests, too. I love movies of all sorts, but he's mostly fond of SF and action movies. We will watch those things together, and I watch my romcoms and historical dramas on my own while he's doing his stuff.

Sometimes it's a choice you have to make every day, to stay together. Sometimes it is effortless. Still, it always takes time to build shared experiences. To build traditions. To figure out how you fit together. This is time well-spent, even if you discover that you just don't fit together and you can't make it work. This prepares you for your next opportunity to explore with another person.

Now on to home ownership.

tl;dr is we did research into mortgages and closing costs and everything to do with buying a house before we bought one using various resources (mostly at libraries, this was in the dark ages when we bought our first house)

We were living in Juneau, AK when we got to the point that we had enough stable income to start talking about owning a home. This got us talking about the future, and our plans. Specifically we talked about what it would be like when we were finally able to travel like we wanted. We realized that if we were still in Juneau, all of our travel plans would be doubled in cost because just getting out of Juneau is a trip in itself. We decided (not just for that reason, but a lot of other ones, as well) that we wanted to move and we would buy a house somewhere else.

For a lot of people the answer of "where" is obvious but it wasn't for us. We made a list of qualities for where we wanted to live.

Inside the US

Low population growth 

Not on the west coast 

Not in the south

Within a day's easy drive to the ocean

At least four distinct seasons

There were other criteria we had on the list, but those were the ones that narrowed our search down to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Then we spoke with work friends who had lived in all three states. They heartily recommended Vermont over the other two for a few good reasons. We both wanted to work for the state so we researched where most of the state jobs were located. That placed us in central Vermont.

Deciding where you want to own a home isn't just about what you can afford, but where you want to live. There's a lot you can change about a home once you buy it, but you can't change the location. When you buy a home you're putting yourself into a place that it's not going to be a simple matter to leave if you decide you want to later. It's not impossible, but depending on where you buy, it can be very difficult to sell again. Deciding where you are going to focus your home search is part of the research you want to do.

Figuring out how much house you can afford is a complicated thing. The financial institutions will encourage you to buy the maximum amount of house you can afford based on your income, a snapshot of your debt load, and your credit rating. That's all well and good, but you also need to take into account your actual lifestyle. If you never were interested in cooking, then it's a waste of money to buy a home with a big ole "professional" kitchen because it's all shiney and cool. You could buy a less expensive home with a smaller, more functional kitchen suitable for the lunchables you "prepare" on the daily, and put that extra money into something else.

Figure out what things you must have, that if a house doesn't have it, you're not going to buy it. For some people that's X bathrooms. For others it's lots of inside storage. Make actual lists of these things that you keep handy so you can just check for them when you're doing your search. Divide the list up into "must have" vs "nice to have" vs "I wouldn't pay more for this but if it's there it could be a tie breaker". The list may change as you start looking over listings, and that's fine. It helps you figure out what is really important to you.

Financial institutions. I... hate... banks. I haven't done my financial transactions with a bank (generally speaking) for over thirty years. Credit unions are the financial institution to work with. Of course, that is something to take with a grain of salt because there are some horrific credit unions with shitty customer service and nasty fees all over, too. If you can get into a state credit union (in Vermont anyone who lives in Vermont or works for the state can join the Vermont State Employees Credit Union) do it. There's typically a minimum deposit required in one account (for my credit union I have to keep $25 in a savings account). When you're looking at financial institutions to finance through, do your research of course, but include credit unions in your research. Look for first time home buyer programs (there are federal programs for this, as well). Look for low interest rates. The blog you should be looking into is Bitches Get Riches for more specifics on this. Their information is way more up to date and helpful regarding interest and mortgages and stuff.

You're going to need money to pay the closing costs. That is money that you pay over and above the mortgage. You will need money to put a deposit down on whatever house you want to buy. The deposit tells the seller you're really interested. If they decide to accept the offer from someone else, you will get the desposit back. If they accept your offer, the deposit goes towards purchase/closing costs. You will need money for the appraisal, an inspection (do not buy a home without an inspection, if they won't let you do an inspection, run), and a title search. These are all over and above closing costs. How much you can expect to pay is variable and something else to research. You will also need a down payment. If you can't put 20% of the purchase price in as a down payment, you will also need to buy private mortgage insurance. That cost typically gets rolled into your monthly mortgage payment. You will also need homeowners insurance.

Once you've worked these things out, you're ready to really dig into the listings. This used to be a whole lot more complicated than it is now. The MLS used to only be available to realtors, but that has changed. Most realtors will list houses online in a searchable place (the best places to do searches varies by region, in New England, I would look on the NNEREN website (Northern New England Real Estate Network). In other areas Zillow might be the best place to look. It really depends on what the standard for local realtors is where you want to buy.

The great thing about online searching is you can plug things in, make notes, save favorites, and build lists of features, or things you care about. There's typically photos of the property that get you started, as well. Because of these online tools, you don't really need a realtor to represent you in the sale. You can contact the realtor representing the seller if you want to see a property.

It can be tiring, looking at houses. Doing research. It takes time. If you can't, or don't want to do this, then you can get yourself a buyer's realtor. Their job will be to take the criteria for what you're looking for and find houses that might work for you. They present you with the options, and will arrange for a viewing if you like any that you're seeing. This has the benefit of reducing how much research you have to do personally, but it does mean that they get a cut of the final sale (but it also means you have a realtor on -your- side in the negotiations, though they're not allowed to influence you on certain things like what price to offer). Because they get a cut, some sellers won't work with buyer realtors.

The snarky answer about how you find a realtor you can trust is "you really don't". Realtors are all about closing house sales with the least amount of effort on their part possible. That is their job. That is how they earn their money. Every time they have to do something for you, it reduces the value of the commission they make off the sale. Some realtors resent this, others don't care and just see it as part of doing business. Some of them are really friendly, and love their job and love helping people find homes. Others are snotty nozzles. But they are all trying to sell you the most expensive house they can get you to fall in love with. They will regularly try to go $10-20K over your stated "highest cost" on the assumption that you won't really mind having to pay "just a LITTLE bit more" on your mortgage payment to have whatever feature they're trying to convince you that you really want.

Don't fall for this. Stand fast on your financial limits. Remember that increased purchase price means increased closing costs. Find a realtor that doesn't make you want to shower after you talk to them, and who will take your calls or answer your emails. If they won't communicate the way that works best for you, find another one. There is always another one who has a different style. It's OK to shop for realtors.

Different regions have different rules about real estate. Spend some time looking into your state's rules. Like in Vermont, you have to get a radon test. Some things are national, but a lot are regional. There are SO many guides online these days it should be possible for you to find one fairly local to help you be sure you're doing everything you need to. Your state might even have an agency for helping first time buyers.

Ensuring folks are legit: Find out what licensing requirements there are in your state. Realtors have to take tests and get licensed to sell within their area. This is something they should be proud to display in their office because it's not a simple test they have to take. Appraisers typically need a license, too. To get a title search done you need an attorney, they also have professional oversight. An attorney might ask for an initial low deposit (they have to pay for copies in town offices) but most of these professionals won't ask for payment in advance. If they do, be wary. Ask around to see if that's usual in your area. They usually bill for their services after they've provided their report here. Try talking to a variety of people about what realtor they have used, or what appraiser. Ask for referrals from folks you know (coworkers, friends, family of coworkers, etc). You can also search online for reviews of services and see the bad experiences folks have had (most folks only complain about bad service, so take those with a grain of salt).

In the end, you're buying a service, and the person performing the service should be doing their job. If you find out that they didn't, because they are licensed (and possibly insured), you will probably have recourse. Obviously it's better to avoid that because it's a painful thing. But sometimes that's just how things shake out.

I have to say that I've never considered a situation where my name might have been removed from my deed without my knowledge. I suppose if I were worried, I'd set up a reminder to check on it occasionally, like checking on my credit rating from time to time. I mean, to remove you without your knowledge requires forging documents. I know that this sort of thing happens, but... there's only so much you can do to protect yourself if someone is intent on breaking the law in some way. So, I guess, really pay attention to red flags when you're starting a relationship. Don't assume they will change if they're engaging in concerning behaviors.

Phew, the tax stuff is a whole other thing. It's usually worth working with a tax preparer the first year you're filing after buying a house. They can go over all the paperwork with you, so you understand it. Property taxes are so local that you really need to research it based on where you’re buying.

We have a specific amount on our homeowner's insurance that covers "household item loss" up to a certain amount of money, and we specify how much. We have a LOT of computer equipment, so ours is fairly high. If I were to lose a ring, it'd be covered under that. My engagement ring was a $50 cubic zirconia. Our wedding rings were a few hundred. Our computer stuff is way more valuable monetarily.

About all the things relating to marriage and how it entwines lives legally: that's like a dissertation for another day. :)  There are huge articles out there talking about all the things that getting married means from a legal stand point. It varies by state and even city. It matters if it's a same-sex marriage or not, as well (it shouldn't but some places have "civil unions" which aren't always the same legal thing as hetero marriages).

If you're still here, wow. I'm impressed. I'm happy to answer questions. Maybe consider me like an elderly queer aunt who doesn't mind talking a lot. I hope this helps you.

[bluetiefling]

Sanditon Season 2 Wish List

Divided between things I think season 2 absolutely needs to reach its potential, and things I don’t 100% need but I would love. Special thanks to @beavesaintmarie and @eleonoraditoledo for all the great discussions we’ve had about this and to whom I attribute many of these ideas!

Most important:

Sidney and Charlotte having at least one torrid make out while he’s still engaged to Eliza. The kind that’s like up against a wall or a tree, and there’s tongue and their hands are just everywhere, and they almost take it too far before one of them pumps the brakes. The culmination of several episodes of unbearable tension before they can’t take it anymore.

Sidney and Charlotte having sex while he’s still engaged to Eliza. I’m realistic about how unlikely this is but I legitimately think this is an important step in their relationship arc, particularly for Charlotte, and it’s not just because I really wanna see them bone under the most dramatic circumstances possible. This would be about Charlotte’s own emotional journey she’s been on since she arrived in Sanditon and came of age - realizing for herself that she wants Sidney, come hell or high water, and she stops being guarded, stops being shy and afraid about the immensity of her feelings, or worrying about what the right and proper and unselfish thing is. It’d be about Charlotte learning how messy love really is, and diving in anyway. Ideally this would be when Charlotte confesses her love and finds the words and bravery to express everything Sidney means to her, which she of course didn’t get the opportunity to do in season 1. And like yeah, their first time on screen will be that much hotter if they don’t know if it’s going to be their only night together or not, and this ship Deserves that intensity.

A DEDICATED ARC ABOUT FIXING SIDNEY AND GEORGIANA’S RELATIONSHIP WHERE THEY GET REAL SCENES OF THEM TALKING THINGS OUT AND THEY CAN GET TO A GOOD PLACE OF TRUST AND AFFECTION AND BE A FAMILY. They have a lot in common now over their romantic woes and that’s a great starting point for them to start fresh and try to bond. And yeah just, give them complete conversations where they can clear all the misunderstandings between them.

A raw and honest confrontation between Sidney and Tom. It’s got to address everything from Tom’s screw ups to how they got to this point where even years after Tom bailed out Sidney, he still feels he’s obligated to throw his lifelong happiness under the bus for Tom’s sake, while Tom is barely perceptive of Sidney’s emotional state on a good day. This can’t be swept under the rug.

Belligerent UST again for Sidney and Charlotte! Let the pain of this separation strain them so much it bubbles over into anger and frustration, and they need to pick fights with each other because it’s become something comfortable for them, and it’s a release from being that sad and tense all the time over not being together. Sidney agonizes over Charlotte’s determination to be stoic around him so he resorts to provoking her to know she still cares. Charlotte snaps at him over something kinda innocuous because she’s so frustrated about everything else. If there’s another guy contending for Charlotte’s heart let Sidney provoke a big argument with her over it, let her be furious with him for not letting her move on while deep down she desperately wants to see this jealousy from him. Etc etc! These two do that kind of snarky tension so well and I’m so into seeing a new, season 2, version of it where feelings are out in the open.

Sidney having agency when the time comes for the dissolution of him and Eliza. I feel it’s important that when the engagement (or marriage? idk how far it’ll get but we’ll see) ends, it’s a hard choice Sidney makes while there’s still potential consequences he would bear, such as being labeled dishonorable or when Tom’s money situation is not secure yet, etc. I think it’s important for Sidney’s own journey of recovering his self-worth and deciding he’s done sacrificing himself. There shouldn’t be external forces, like someone else swooping in with the money Tom needs, that ‘allows’ Sidney to do this easily. If anyone does swoop in to save them all at some point, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor in Sidney’s choice to free himself and his choice to be with Charlotte.

Charlotte being courted by another man in a serious way which helps her realize the depth of her own love for Sidney and that she can’t be content settling for anyone else. There’s a lot you can do with another guy trying to come in and be a contender for Charlotte’s heart, a jealous Sidney being one of those things. I want to see Charlotte put on a brave face and try to find happiness elsewhere only to find she ultimately can’t, because no one compares to what she had with Sidney, and that’s more obvious to her every day she’s around this other guy. Even better is if she and this other guy get engaged or close to it and Charlotte feels more pressured to not hurt this guy’s feelings but she uh… ends up hurting him anyway because sometimes you can’t help but be selfish when it comes to love. And that it doesn’t make her a terrible person.

Things that are not 100% necessary but I would enjoy very much (under the readmore):

A love interest for Georgiana! I’d be happy with Otis returning and him earning redemption in her eyes, but I admit that I’m keener on the idea of a romance for Gigi that we get to see develop from day one. I’m less invested if the couple already fell in love entirely off screen, so I’d love to see a new guy sweep her off her feet. I have a LOT of ideas for what kind of character this guy could be and where he comes from. Currently my favorite one is that they introduce one of Charlotte’s grown up brothers to fall in love with her? It’d be a pretty easy retcon for one of Char’s brothers to be a 20something, and he’s a hunk. Maybe we haven’t seen him yet because he’s been at university or abroad, and he and Char are super close and he decides to go to Sanditon with her. Or Gigi comes to Willingden and the brother is very into her and decides to follow her and Charlotte back to Sanditon or wherever under the guise of looking after his sister but mostly he wants to be around Gigi. Lots of fun ideas to be had and really I just love the notion of Gigi falling for Char’s brother and it leading to all kinds of cute awkwardness for everyone involved (including Sidney lol). (ideal actor to play this role would be Thomas Doherty! someone save him from the CW pls)

AN EPISODE TAKING PLACE AROUND A COUNTRY HOUSE PARTY. BABINGTON’S HOUSE PERHAPS? House party shenanigans are such a fun staple of historical romance and I’d love it if this was season 2’s version of the London episode, where the action shifts to a different location temporarily and it raises the tension and stakes all around. I want Babington to see how unhappy and stressed Sidney is and he and Esther decide to invite a few friends to spend the weekend with them at their estate. Babington deliberately picks a weekend when he knows Eliza is busy. Tells Sidney to get his ass over there to just chill out for a few days. Esther invites Charlotte. Neither Sidney nor Charlotte realize the other is going to be there until IT’S TOO LATE. Cue all kinds of opportunities for them to get stuck alone with each other in and around Babington’s humongous house and expansive gardens or wherever. This could even be the place they finally just give in and sleep together (Sidney’s guest room will conveniently be just down the hall from Charlotte’s of course)

Replace Stringer with a new guy to be Charlotte’s love interest and a rival to Sidney. Like… I know they probably won’t and we’re stuck with him but Stringer just didn’t do it for me at all and I already know that if they make me sit through his bumbling courtship of Charlotte next season it’s gonna be tedious. I don’t want to hear about his class woes or his dad angst or watch him try to conjure up a whole relationship with Charlotte in his head like he did in season 1 again lol. And the jealous Sidney and alternative courtship story line I want for Charlotte next season won’t be as strong as it could be if they rely on Stringer, because I’ll never believe that Sidney is truly threatened by this guy or that Charlotte could ever see it for him. Like I said, we’re 99% for sure stuck with him but ugh… what if…….

IF THEY DID BRING A NEW GUY TO ROMANCE CHARLOTTE have him be an enemy from Sidney’s past! Of all the options for such a character this to me would be the most fun. Have him be rich and attractive as well to make him even more of a threat for Sidney to sweat over. He can be a good guy at heart who sincerely likes Charlotte or he could just be showing interest in her to mess with Sidney – or a bit of both! Maybe this guy’s actually in love with Eliza and this is all a ploy to get to her! Whatever, it’s all good to me. (CAST DAVID OAKES AS THIS DUDE)

Sidney and Eliza have an honest confrontation. Like I want to see Sidney directly challenge Eliza on this idea that they can just recapture what they used to have when it must be so obvious to her by now that it’s impossible. Eliza being forced to face that Sidney will never love her again, even with time, and questioning if what she really wants is another loveless marriage. I’m into Eliza being the bitchy villainess most of the season but it’d be great too if this story ends with her giving up Sidney graciously.

SIDNEY BEING A WRECK. Especially when season 2 opens. He’s drinking and staying out all night. He’s got a beard of sadness growing in. He’s self-destructive. It gets bad enough that his friends and Tom have to say something (maybe this leads to the big blowup with Tom?). Maybe Eliza even gets desperate enough to ask Charlotte to talk to him lol. I just wanna see Sidney Not Able To Deal and trying to drown out the pain.

Sidney and Arthur becoming closer! To me it feels like Arthur and Sidney don’t know each other that well, perhaps because Arthur was a fair bit younger and was off at school while Sidney was already grown up and running off to Antigua and whatnot. Arthur really proved his quality in season 1 and it’d be lovely for them to bond, especially for Sidney to be closer to a brother who doesn’t need or expect him to look after his interests. And for Arthur to get validation and affection from his distant older brother who he cares for a lot but who hasn’t paid much attention to him in turn for a long time.  

Lady Susan whisking Charlotte off to London to cheer her up and introducing her to a bunch of eligible bachelors. I’d love it if this was how the new season began, with Charlotte going to London and not expecting to see Sidney and hoping she doesn’t, but of course she does. And this can be how Charlotte meets the new rival love interest I really want lol. Gigi should be around for this too! Have the two friends reunite at a London party before they eventually return to Sanditon together.

Sidney and Charlotte skinny dipping together! Lmao but seriously! Maybe this can be a scene that happens when the drama is all over and they’re free to be together, like either when they’re engaged or even already married. Maybe it’s the last scene of them in the show, even? It’s poetic, okay!

Edward being a more substantial villain figure and Clara showing up pregnant with his kid! Lol I feel like these two could as easily not return at all next season but if they do, I wanna see Edward level up his villainhood and for Clara to return in a big way, showing you should never count her out. I’d like to see them cause problems for Esther and Babington somehow to give those two something else to grapple with while navigating their first year of marriage together.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST – a backstory twist revealing that Sidney is the illegitimate son of Georgiana’s father, and it’s the real reason why Sidney was entrusted with looking after her! This felt like such an obviously great twist to me all of season 1 and I kept waiting for it to happen. It contextualizes EVERYTHING so perfectly. It would do a lot to explain Sidney’s strained position when it comes to where he stands with the other Parkers. Why he has so little self-worth and feels like he’s gotta do dramatic things like destroy his own happiness for their sake. He’s secretly been a Fake Parker this whole time and so there’s that much more pressure to prove himself to them. It’s a big part of why he went off on Charlotte that night at the ball, when she essentially told him he’s nothing like his two brothers, something that is an inadvertently sensitive subject for him. It explains why Sidney looks nothing like his siblings lol. It could be the reason why he went to Antigua when he was looking for an escape from his Eliza depression years ago. Like he thought maybe he should go meet his real father who he just found out about from his mother, or perhaps Mr. Lambe wrote him a letter revealing the truth, etc. Sidney’s looking for an anchor and tries to connect with him, goes into business with him via the sugar trade against his better judgment, ends up largely regretting the whole experience. Unexpectedly comes away from it with a young half-sister who he is now responsible for and to whom he can’t reveal the truth of their relationship because it’s such a complicated source of shame for him. He probably hasn’t ever told Tom the truth let alone this girl who resents him immediately. He thinks it’s better to just keep Georgiana at arm’s length even though his obligation to her as both guardian and secret older brother makes him want to do better by her, even though he doesn’t really know how yet. I was dying for this to be true because I know it could lead to some deeply poignant scenes between him and Gigi once she found out. I know it’s unlikely now and they probably didn’t put as much thought into this backstory beyond some boring life debt to her father, but I still want it to come true, and there’s no reason it can’t still come to fruition I think. It’d be an amazing revelation to use towards further developing and fixing Sidney and Georgiana’s relationship. They already act like siblings, too, and a twist that reveals they were actual siblings all along would be quite cathartic. I’d really love to see how it would affect Gigi, too, who seemingly has no family left alive and has felt so isolated. MY KIDS DESERVE THIS STORY LINE BASICALLY.  

[arabellainclouisiana-blog]

Seller Closing Cost Calculator

Marketing a residence can be a long and also stressful procedure, whether you're doing it in a seller's market or a customer's market. Understanding exactly how to offer your home quick regardless of the housing market problems can guarantee you obtain the most from the sale. If you are considering selling your home in 2020, here are the top ideas for marketing your home quickly:

Connected: How to Market Your Home: Steps and also Tips-- Infographic

1. Deal a Reasonable Rate Setting the appropriate price for your building is just one of the best pointers for marketing your house quickly. Take a look around the neighborhood to see how much comparable homes (realty compensations) have actually been cost in the last couple of weeks or months. Carrying out a CMA will help you to establish the right price for your location. To conserve money and time, consider employing a good real estate professional to research local building values.

2. Enhance Your Aesthetic Appeal When it comes to home marketing, first impressions are very essential. A few curb charm tips for any kind of house seller are to make certain your grass is trimmed as well as the landscape design is well done. Your outside wall surfaces and your driveway must likewise be as neat as feasible. Improving aesthetic charm is among the important suggestions for marketing your residence.

3. Understand Your Home's One-of-a-kind Offering Proposition When thinking about tips for offering your home, consider what makes your residence attract attention. Does it have a bigger substance than neighboring homes? Is it closer to the train station or shopping mall? As a home vendor, make certain to capitalize on the special marketing factor of your residence.

4. Depersonalize the House If you have stayed in the residence for some time, you possibly have a great deal of memories and also history in it. However, if you want to market it quickly, you will require to depersonalize it. Put away all the personal junk and also ornaments prior to enabling a potential building customer to check out the house.

5. Remove Bad Odors Remove nasty smells that could switch off possible buyers. A few of the advised tips for home marketing are to clear clean containers and also drains pipes, obtain the carpeting cleansed, get rid of old furniture, and also create enough ventilation. You can also consider developing pleasant smells making use of fresh brewed coffee or baked bread.

6. Cost the Right Time The most effective seasons for selling a home in the US housing market 2020 will certainly be summertime and springtime. Whether in San Francisco, Miami, New York City, Boston or Washington, several family members like relocating during these seasons before the new academic year starts. On top of that, the weather in such periods is more helpful for residence watching.

Connected: When Is the Best Time to Market a Residence?

7. Make Minor Repair Works Your condo, multi household residence, townhouse, or single family members residence does not need to be perfect in order to offer. Nonetheless, you require to make small repair work to different locations of the realty residential property. This could be faulty circuitry, a leaking toilet, an opening in the fencing, or discolorations on the ceilings as well as walls.

8. Take Expert Photos Among the most effective ideas for selling your home is to accompany your listings with wonderful photos. Take into consideration working with a professional digital photographer to take images as well as even video clips of your house. You can also use prospective purchasers online scenic tours online.

Save expenses in other places by detailing your home completely free in the Mashvisor Building Industry.

9. Discover the Right Realty Agent Working with a realty representative will help Seller Closing Cost Calculator much quicker. The representative ought to be versed with housing market patterns for the area and able to organize your house expertly. He/she should also want to promote your building on all platforms.

10. Do Away With Mess Clutter in your house will certainly delay possible purchasers. When selling a residence, it is important to remove all the unneeded items from the exterior and interior of your residential or commercial property. For example, one of the pointers for selling your residence is to eliminate some furniture from your areas to make them appear extra sizable.

leading tips for marketing your home quicker in 2020

11. Stage Your Residence Hosting is essentially establishing your residence professionally to make a strong impression on home customers. This could even imply renting out furniture for showing the home. If you do not have the experience, employ a professional home stager. If you would like to know just how to organize your house for marketing, a basic search on Google will reveal wonderful hosting pointers such as including mirrors to make small rooms look big or smaller touches like adding fresh blossoms to a space.

12. Deal Some Extras One of the methods of obtaining one of the most for your residence when selling is to offer a couple of additionals. As an example, you could offer to pay closing expenses or use a transferrable home service warranty Seller Closing Cost Calculator . This will certainly make your residential or commercial property attract attention from the competitors.

13. Add Some Features One more among the wonderful suggestions for selling your house is to make the home unforgettable by adding custom styles such as a new roof, an exterior pool, a new outdoor patio or personalized home windows. This will not just enhance the home's looks, but additionally boost the house value.

14. View Your Pet dogs Having your pet cats, pet dogs or parrots around when showing your residence is a major house offering blunder. Potential buyers could get delay by pets that are noisy or spirited. Besides, some people dislike pet fur.

15. Focus on the Kitchen The kitchen is just one of one of the most vital parts of your home. Take into consideration spending a few bucks to renovate and also upgrade your kitchen. Change countertops, buy new cupboard equipment, as well as include some expensive devices.

16. Light It Up When it involves tips for offering your residence, do not forget about lights. Good illumination is among the main things customers try to find in a house. You can make the most of the light in your residential property by cleansing the windows, eliminating the drapes, lowering greenery outside your windows, and utilizing high power level light bulbs.

17. Deal Financing Alternatives Some of the potential purchasers looking at your home will certainly not recognize the funding alternatives available to them. Among the most effective suggestions for marketing your residence quickly is to use possible customers flyers with two or three home mortgage alternatives. This will certainly reveal them just how affordable your residential property is.

18. Offer Rewards The potential customers visiting your residential property will possibly be hungry. Providing them a beverage and also treat will make them intend to stay about longer to check out the house and ask inquiries.

19. Be Adaptable with Residence Provings Because potential customers have different timetables, being versatile with your provings is one of the most effective tips for offering your residence. This might mean permitting people to check out at weird hrs when they are readily available. Do not be also rigid and miss a sale.

20. React Fast to Acquisition Offers When someone makes an offer on your property, you require to respond right away. The majority of purchasers are impatient as well as don't like being compelled to wait. If you wish to release a counteroffer, do it without delay.

[sugarinherdixiecup]

Finest Tips on How To Make Money in Real Estate

Are you ready to get started in properties investing, but not sure where to begin? Afraid to make a HUGE Error?? Stuck with the Paralysis of Analysis??? You are not alone! Most of real estate investors had to spend countless hours at the beginning of their committing careers researching the various strategies trying to figure out where they should start off. While there is no single right answer for everyone, there are three or more key questions every potential investor needs to ask: one How much TIME do I have to invest? 2 . How much MONEY does a person have to invest? 3. How BIG and FAST do I really want my business to ultimately grow?? A Great way to start any specific venture is by having an END Goal in mind, then laying out a thought to go get it! Even if you have to make changes along the way - which you will, the "getting there" is a great part of the exciting. Real estate investing can do anything from learning how to fit a quick (in 30 days, or less) EXTRA $5, 000 in your pocket every month, to making all your financial desires come true with an annual after-tax income in Millions of Dollars. You do need to decide upfront, if you are looking for the multi-millionaire status, or just to put some quick cash in your money to pay bills. Regardless of your dreams and desires the way will use real estate investing to get where you want to go in daily life, we believe that there are three critical rules you must go along with, if you are going to be successful. Here they are: RULE NUMBER ONE WILL BE: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS If you are looking for a long-term commitment to this business, in which case you need to establish up-front that you will need to set-aside some money as a result of each of your transactions/deals to re-invest in your education, And it's probably in your best interest to start with one strategy and stay prepared to switch to a different strategy once these goals will be met. As an example, let's say you ultimately want to be a creator (like Donald Trump, or Sam Zell, or Trammell Crow), but today you have a job and are $50, 000 in debt. Your first step might be to generate quick cash over the then year to pay off the debt, then half way through causeing the happen (say in month six) begin the process regarding implementing a strategy to generate enough income from your real estate shelling out to leave your job, then after you have created a stable platform (enough to pay bills and then some) from your investing pastime, to start a plan to become a developer. All together, this may require two to three different strategies. A "Classic" mistake that many novice buyers would make is to attempt all three strategies ALL AT ONCE - DO NOT DO THIS!!! Better to learn a strategy for swift cash, master it, then move on, then to attempt to find out three strategies at the same time. OLD AFRICAN PROVERB: "He What person Chases Two Tigers Ultimately Gets non-e " Regardless of Strategy to start with, history has shown that people who FOCUS the time, energy and money, are more likely to succeed than folks that do not. Be Patient - Be Focused - Start Smaller, Grow Big. RECAP: Rule Number One is: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS SECRET NUMBER TWO: YOU LEARN BY DOING! The second important thing to know about real estate investing is that you learn through doing! We know that there are a lot of late-night infomercials which tell you "Come to our FREE seminar, spend $5, 000, and also tomorrow you will wake up a Millionaire - but the condition is we have never found anyone who will admit the really worked. Also, there are people who spend good dollars going to college, or graduate school and study easy methods to "succeed in real estate", and by and large, this can perform, if you then go on to commit to 25-40 years doing the job as an employee of a real estate firm, making someone else high - if you are fortunate enough, you may learn, enough (over time) and then go out on your own. And yes, we all know of people what person buy every book, every tape, and go to each seminar, and become walking real estate investing "Encyclopedia's" - AND YET NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH IT - BAD IDEA! The reason, because if you never put into practice what you read, or hear, you are likely to ultimately convince yourself that "this real estate thing" can not work - UNFORTUNATELY, both history and Forbes Magazine would certainly prove you wrong. Ever since John Jacob Astor has become America's First Millionaire in the 1800's by buying the things would ultimately become Manhattan, more American's have become rich through investing in real estate, than by any other means. And others who have made their fortunes in other areas (like managing businesses) have reinvested their profits into real estate compared with any other asset class. THE BEST WAY TO LEARN TO BE AN REAL ESTATE INVESTOR IS TO BE AN INVESTOR. RECAP: Rule Number Two: YOU WILL LEARN BY DOING! RULE NUMBER THREE: START IN THESE DAYS - RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE. Final Key Thought - a large number of new investors kid themselves by saying thing including "When I get enough money... ", or "When I get enough time... ", or "When I can receive some other things out of the way... " Then I will get started - BALONY!! What they are really saying is "I am Terrified to Death of Failing at this Real Estate Thing", as well as sooner they stop lying to themselves the sooner a thing really great will happen in their lives. The truth is almost every successful realty investor out there (including Donald Trump, and Sam Zell, and Ron LeGrand, and Robyn Thompson, and (Place Millionaire's Name Here), was scared to death while putting their first deal together. What made typically the difference is that they moved forward and did one thing. Sir Isaac Newton said it best in the first Law of Motion: "An object at others tends to stay at rest and an object on motion tends to stay in motion... " In other words - any time you keep on doing what you have been doing, you should expect to purchase the same results. But if you want something different for your life, you need to go "in Motion". You learn the Real Estate Enterprise by DOING, so the sooner you DO, the Sooner you GET. In these days is the day to stop making excuses and to "Go Through Motion". And as you Go In Motion, make a commitment to keep to learn, so you "Stay In Motion" RECAP: Rule Telephone number Three: START TODAY - RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE. So with these three rules in mind, we hope that RealInvestors(TM) will become the key partner in your success and we want to hear about your current success, no matter how small, or how great. Most of all, we want to help you "Go in Motion" and "Stay On Motion"... So , Let's Get Started... Choose ONE strategy to start off. Please Take to Heart Rule Number One: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS... DO NOT MAKE SURE TO BECOME AN EXPERT ON EVERY STRATEGY BEFORE EVER STARTING! If you do, we can almost guarantee you that will become puzzled from information overload, and you will never begin! Decide on one single strategy that is right for you, learn about it, and get out there and DO IT! Make a commitment (let's say 6 months) where you are completely focused on that strategy. Network through other investor's who are working that particular strategy and do not leave until one of two things has happened: either 6 months moved by with no results, or you get your first put up done using that strategy and decide you want to try out your hand at something else. But do not allow yourself to be taken off course. It was o. k. in elementary plus middle school to try out for every team sport, but once Spring came, you had to make a choice; it was either likely to be track, or baseball/softball, or lacrosse, or producers, or tennis - but you could not play two sports entertainment at the same time. Each sport had its own rules, and various methods targeted required a slightly different mental "game". If you received come to the baseball field with a lacrosse stick as well as shoulder pads, someone would have asked you to "go home" and come back when you were "ready to play the sport" - same is true with investing - ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE JUST GETTING GOING. Now, one day you will be able for you to "Play Like Mike", but as a new investor, let me keep it simple: One strategy, complete focus soon you have proven to yourself that it will work, for you, or you won't, and for most people this will mean at least a 6-month devotion. NEXT STEPS: Once you have familiarized yourself with this Getting Started component to the website, we recommend that you take the following steps: • Read and post regularly in the Real Investors Forums to gain exposure to the issues facing other real estate investors. The chances are, those same issues will face you in the near future. • Real all the Real Investor Articles. This will help to develop your knowledge base about real estate investing in general. • Visit the Real Investor Bookstore and pick out courses who focus on the ONE strategy you have chosen to use to get started. Do not order courses on a myriad of strategies before you ever do the first deal! • Join your local REIA. You will interact with many other investors... some seasoned, some just getting started. You may have an opportunity to network with other professionals that may be able to deliver services you will need as anew investor... a contractor, a real estate agent, a mortgage broker, a hard money lender... etc . You may even have a really great mentor! • Invest in your education! Attend almost any opportunities to learn more about real estate investing, such as The National Realty Investor's Conference. These events are invaluable opportunities to know from, network amongst, and make deals with other further seasoned real estate investors and scholars. Look for online style offerings, such as Real Investor's University (REIU) to occupy the times in between live events • Most importantly... go out right now there and take action - GO IN MOTION!!! • Get your first of all deal done - Your 1st deal will be the undesirable - we promise!!! • Repeat, Repeat, Repeat! • Then, when you're ready, come back and add another strategy to your own portfolio... and continue the process....

[oscopelabs]

Unbroken Windows: How New York Gentrified Itself On Screen by Jason Bailey

It was 1972, and Lewis Rudin had a problem—specifically, a Johnny Carson problem. Rudin, a real estate developer and committed New Yorker, had founded the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), an organization dedicated to cleaning up the city’s image (and thus, its attractiveness to corporate clients) via aggressive campaigning and spit-shine marketing; the organization was, for example, instrumental in the development of the iconic I ❤ NY campaign.

But all the good work ABNY was doing, Rudin fumed to the organization’s executive director Mary Holloway, felt like pushing Sisyphus’ boulder when he switched on NBC late at night: “How can we change the image of New York when Johnny Carson's opening monologue every night is about people getting mugged in Central Park?”

As reported by Miriam Greenberg in her book Branding New York: How a City in Crisis Was Sold to the World, Rudin went to the trouble of meeting with network heads, imploring them to pressure personalities like Carson to lighten up on the “New York City is a crime-ridden cesspool” jokes. In 1973, Mayor John Lindsay himself called network executives and even some comedians to a City Hall meeting where he made a similar plea. This was in stark contrast to the usual modus operandi of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting, which prided itself on avoiding censorship or editorial interference in the making of motion pictures in the city—indeed, several of the grimmest, grimiest portraits of life in New York (Death Wish, Panic in Needle Park, Little Murders, The French Connection) were borne of this period. But people had to go out to see those. Johnny Carson came into their living room every night to tell them what a shithole New York was.

Rudin and Lindsay’s efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. Johnny Carson continued to roast the city—especially after escaping it when The Tonight Show relocated to Burbank, California in 1972—and prime-time comedies like All in the Family, Taxi, and Welcome Back, Kotter mined similar veins of urban unrest. Meanwhile, gritty crime series from Kojak to Cagney & Lacey to The Equalizer presented a similar picture of the city—dirty, grimy, and dangerous—to that of films like Taxi Driver, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Warriors, and Fort Apache, The Bronx.

But in the 1990s, that all changed. And there’s a compelling case to be made that the change began with Jerry Seinfeld.

*

If we talk about Jerry Seinfeld, of course, we have to talk about Woody Allen, and not just their obvious similarities (roots in stand-up comedy, neurotic Jewish New Yorker persona, tabloid mainstay). In the 1970s and 1980s, while most New York movies were dwelling in the horrors and shortcomings of the city, Allen insulated himself in his upper-class Upper East Side neighborhood and made movies about people who were mostly untouched by crime, homelessness, and graffiti. In films like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Crimes and Misdemeanors, Allen’s characters sip wine and trade hard truths and pointed witticisms at the city’s finest restaurants, parties, and apartments as the city burns around them; in Manhattan (which, by its own opening monologue admission, romances the city “all out of proportion”) he even edited out a joke about muggings from a Central Park carriage ride sequence, so as not to spoil the delicate mood. Allen’s New York was “not another world,” Martin Scorsese once said. “It’s another planet.”

That vision of New York—upper-crust, erudite, sophisticated—wasn’t entirely absent from the big and small screen in the ‘70s and ‘80s, thanks to films like An Unmarried Woman and Kramer Vs. Kramer, and such TV shows as Diff’rent Strokes and The Cosby Show. But Allen’s films, and even more so Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron’s Allen-esque When Harry Met Sally (a far bigger commercial success than any of Woody’s work), created a vision of comfortable, upscale, wise-cracking New York living that would reach a mass audience via Seinfeld, which debuted in 1989.

The first two brief seasons of Seinfeld (or, as it was originally titled, The Seinfeld Chronicles) struggled in the ratings, but it slowly built an audience and climbed in the Nielsens, and by season five (1993-1994) it was one of the top five shows on the air, anchoring NBC’s “Must See TV” line-up of Thursday night sitcoms. In September 1994, it was joined on Thursdays by another comedy, in which urbane New York pals joked, dated, and shared the horrors of city living. Friends, however, was a rating smash right away, and not only because of its killer schedule placement. It sanded away the rougher edges of Seinfeld; its characters were more likable (or, at least, intended to be), and its humor was less spiky. It ran even longer than Seinfeld, ten seasons, every one of them in the top ten, all but one in the top five.

*

Even as these New York comedies—and others that followed, like Mad About You, Caroline in the City, and The Single Guy—were topping the ratings, the face of the city was changing. “Don’t forget to in the late ’80s, you came off of a couple of financial crises, some bad times,” explains agent Chris Fry, of Elegran Real Estate. ”It was a little bit more affordable, things were dropping. And I think the shows that you’re talking about definitely had a positive effect on what people perceived New York City to be.”

Crime was on the decline across the country, but especially in New York City, a drop that began under Mayor David Dinkins and continued under Rudy Giuliani. The latter, in coordination with NYPD commissioner William Bratton, instituted an aggressive policy of enforcing so-called “quality of life” crimes like graffiti, turnstile-jumping, and panhandling; this philosophy, modeled on James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling’s controversial “broken windows” theory, held that if these comparatively minor yet highly visible crimes were eradicated, the city would look clean and controlled, and thus psychologically discourage a lawlessness that would result in fewer serious offenses like murder, rape, and theft.

This vision of the city was certainly reflected in NBC’s Thursday night lineup. The early ‘90s comedies found fodder in the minor inconveniences of city life, but rarely trod into the seediness and crime that defined such earlier sitcoms as Night Court and Barney Miller. Paul and Jamie Buchman’s apartment wasn’t burglarized; none of the Friends were mugged in Central Park. When a blackout hit New York City in the summer of 1977, there were over one thousand fires, over 1500 damaged and/or looted stores, and nearly four thousand arrests. When a blackout hit NBC’s Thursday night New York City in the fall of 1994, Chandler Bing got trapped in an ATM vestibule with a supermodel.

If these sitcoms were the television reflection of the “broken windows” theory, their creators had a much easier time cleaning up New York City—in part because they weren’t shooting in it. Much like the films set in New York City before Mayor Lindsay established the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting, all of these series were shot on soundstages and backlots in California, with the exception of the occasional second-unit exterior establishing shot. So they took place in New York City, but the version of New York City they presented was highly fictionalized. Just as Paul and Jamie, Jerry and the gang, and the Central Perk crew were funnier and sharper than real New Yorkers (and lived in apartments far beyond their means), the New York they lived in was squeakier and clearer.

“I love Friends,” says Sire Leo Lamar-Becker, who was inspired by the shows of the ‘90s to leave California and move to New York, where he currently works in the fashion industry. “But Friends was so sterile. It didn’t feel real. And what Sex and the City offered was, I felt, a more nuanced portrayal of the city.”

Like the New York movies from the late 1960s onward, Sex and the City had the advantage of authenticity: It was shot entirely in New York, the exteriors and the sets (constructed and filmed at Silvercup Studios) and everything in between. “If you’re familiar with this series, and the movies, the city is integral to it,” explains tour guide Lou Matthews. “They've called it, like the fifth girl is the city. It's really crucial.” As a guide for the “Sex and the City Hotspots Tour,” which On Location Tours has conducted since 2001, Matthews has seen, firsthand, the psychological effect of that particular show.

“I've definitely met girls in their twenties, or maybe they’re still in college, on the tour who are saying, ‘Yeah, I fell in love with Sex in the City and New York City because of Sex in the City. And like, I’m already trying to figure out how I can get a job here.’ And then I’ve definitely met a few where the reason they moved here was because of Sex in the City, like they wanted the life that Carrie has. And here they are.”

The life they found was, in most cases, not exactly what these shows promised. “As someone who has lived here for 10 years,” laughs Lamar-Becker, “sure, there are some things that are unrealistic—like, Carrie being able to afford all her shoes. That’s unrealistic. But the feeling of the city is always captured well.”

And that indefinable but unmistakable quality, that feeling of the city, is what’s shifted most over the past quarter-century or so – through Seinfeld and Friends and Sex and the City into 30 Rock and Gossip Girl and Girls, through When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail to The Devil Wears Prada, Trainwreck, and even The Avengers. Some of that shift in public perception is merely a reflection of reality, of filmmakers and show-runners pointing their cameras at the city and capturing the gentrified, yuppified, Disney-fied mutation it’s become.

But some of that is also life imitating art. Every day, Lou Matthews’s tour bus is filled with people like Sire Leo Lamar-Becker, members of a generation of viewers whose impressions of New York were formed not by Taxi Driver and Kojak, but by the Sex and the City films and Netflix binges of Friends. They watched those shows and memorized those movies, and then migrated to New York City like so many immigrants before them. Their predecessors flocked to Ellis Island, lured by promises of a new world. These settlers came to the Magnolia Bakery, seeking not so much a new world as a better one, full of enviable careers, witty friends, and all the cosmos they could drink.

Lewis Rudin would have been proud.

[theyearoftheking]

Book Six: The Dead Zone

“We all do what we can, and it has to be good enough... and if it isn’t good enough, it has to be. Nothing is ever lost. Nothing that can’t be found.”

When I announced my next book was The Dead Zone, my brother-in-law admitted to never reading it, or seeing the movie, because it felt dated. He’s not wrong. The 1983 movie felt dated when I’d watch it in the 1990′s. But that didn’t stop me from imagining Christopher Walken during the entire book. So, here’s some cowbell for your Tuesday! Sorry, I’m home with a sick kid, doing training for my job, I need to find joy where I can. 

But The Dead Zone is still eerily important. I need to stop reading Steve’s books... it’s too much... first I picked up The Stand during the Coronavirus outbreak, and now I’m reading about shitty politicians during a particularly shitty election season. 

Who hasn’t asked themselves the question... “If you could go back in time and kill Hitler- would you do it?”

Being a disciple of Ray Bradbury, I’d have to answer probably not. I read The Sound of Thunder during my formative years, and it hit hard. I’m also a disciple of Steve, and 11/22/63 taught me what a world where Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated looks like. And that fictional world is bleak, my friends. 

Let’s get into it, shall we?

When Johnny Smith was a little boy, he was ice skating, and had a nasty fall. This fall gave him mild psychic abilities. A teeny bit of The Shine, if you will. Fast forward to grown-up John, he’s a teacher and living in the quaint town of Cleaves Mills. To keep the quaint theme going, he’s about to take Sarah, a fellow teacher, to the county fair on a date. Presh, I know.

Now... this is when the book just becomes one big homage to Ray Bradbury. The county fair is straight out of Something Wicked This Way Comes; which Steve actually references at one point. The manic laughter, the spinning rides,, the smell of carnival food, and the feeling of something evil lurking just under the surface is all there. It’s a masterful tribute. 

On their way out of the fair, John stops and decides to try his luck at a Wheel of Fortune carny game. You know... the type of game you never actually win at. But his Shine comes into play, and he ends up walking away from the game $500 richer (three weeks salary according to Sarah!). But Sarah suddenly feels sick. She blames it on a bad carny hot dog, but I’m pretty sure The Shine is wafting off John like a noxious fume, and she inhaled too much of it. John gets Sarah safely home, and takes a taxi back to his apartment. Well, tries to take a taxi back... the taxi ends up crushed by some hoods out drag racing, and John ends up in a coma for four and a half years. 

Yes. 

Four and a half years. 

I’m not smart enough to do the math and adjust for inflation; but can you imagine what hospital bills for four and a half years worth of treatment must look like? I mean, I’d almost rather they pull the plug on me. It would be less painful than waking up and finding I’m going to be broke for the rest of my life. 

John’s parents Herb and Vera are thrilled he’s awake. Vera is cut from the same kind of crazy culty-religious cloth as Margaret White (Carrie’s mom); and believes there’s a holy reason why John is still alive. John needs to have some painful surgeries to have his leg muscles stretched (because, atrophy is a bitch after four and a half years in a hospital bed); and then some spooky shit starts happening. John has discovered he can touch someone’s hand, and learn all kinds of interesting things about them. For example, he touches the hand of Dr. Weizak, and informs him that his mother didn’t actually die in a concentration camp, she’s alive and well in California. Then, he freaks a physical therapist out by telling her she needs to call the fire department, her apartment is on fire. The news media gets wind of John’s new powers, and they start relentlessly hounding him. 

While still in the hospital, he gets a call from Herb, letting him know Vera has had a stroke, and is in Cumberland General Hospital (you know, just above Jerusalem’s Lot). So, Dr. Weizak rushes him to the hospital, and Vera tells him a voice will tell him what to do, and she believes in his higher purpose. Then she dies. 

Oh, Vera. She’s had a fun life. At one point, she was a member of The American Society for Last Times. “They were led by Mr. and Mrs. Harry L Stonkers from Racine, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Stonkers claimed to have been picked up by a flying saucer while they were on a camping trip. They had been taken away to heaven, which was not out in the constellation Orion, but on an earth-type planet that circled Arcturus. There they had communed with the society of angels and had seen Paradise. The Stonkers had been informed that the Last Times were at hand...”

I laughed so hard, because of course the crazy cult leaders were from Racine. I worked for a company based in Racine for several years, and one of my co-workers was of this same kind of crazy religious bend. He told me “my lifestyle” flew in the face of what God intended. For the record, my lifestyle was being one of those crazy, new-aged career gals, with a stay-at-home husband raising our two year old. It’s easy to understand what’s so offensive about that.

But the worst part was when this co-worker decided to “treat” his teenage daughters to a home-schooled prom. He rented a limo, ordered flowers, made dinner reservations... and was their date. But no dancing of course, because... religion. When I relayed this story back to my husband later on, he asked me which daughter was going to end up getting lucky on prom night with dad. Ick. 

So yes, cult leaders in Racine- 100% believable. 

After Vera’s death, John continues his life, living with his dad, healing from his horrible leg muscle surgery, and he even keeps in touch with Sarah, even an ill-advised hook-up for final closure. People keep sending him letters and trinkets, hoping he can help them find lost objects, or solve mysteries. He’s not having it. He just wants to go back to teaching, and lead a “normal” life. But alas, there is this nagging voice (it belongs to Vera) telling him he was awakened from his coma for a reason. He needs to serve a higher purpose. So, he ends up going to Castle Rock, Maine; and helps the sheriff solve a series of murders. Castle Rock is a fun place, FYI. They have a Flagg street there. 

After his face is splashed across the tabloids for helping solve the murders, his school district doesn’t want him teaching anymore, and his life has little purpose. After a few years of moping around on his dad’s land, he ends up tutoring young, charismatic, Chuck Chatsworth; and uses his Shine to help Chuck get around the dead zone he has with reading and comprehending text. 

A note about “the dead zone”... it’s a term John uses quite a bit to describe the gray area he can’t quite see through/around when he’s holding someone’s hand and telling them something important. 

John gets on super well with Chuck’s dad, Roger. One night they’re watching tv, and Roger can’t stop talking about this political wildcard, Gregory Stillson, who is running for a House seat. “The man is a clown. He goes charging around the speaking platform like that at every rally. Throws his helmet into the crowd- I’d guess he’s gone through a hundred of them by now- and gives out hot dogs. He’s a clown, so what? Maybe people need a little comic relief from time to time. We’re running out of oil, the inflation is slowly but surely getting out of control, the average guy’s tax load has never been heavier... So people want a giggle or two. Even more, they want to thumb their noses at the political establishment that doesn’t seem able to solve anything...” 

John keeps working for the Chatsworth family, and helps get Chuck into Stovington Prep... yes, the same Stovington Prep as in The Shining. At one point, Chuck is talking about his English teacher, “I like him a lot. Our teacher told us he still lives over in N.H. but has given up writing. That blows my mind. Why would someone just give up when they are going great guns?” I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but I’m 87% sure his teacher was one Jack Torrance. 

In the meantime, Stillson wins his election. And John endears himself further to the Chatsworth family the night of Chuck’s graduation, when he has a vision of a fire at Cathy’s restaurant; where a lot of families planned on going to celebrate. John pleads with people not to go to Cathy’s. Some listen, others don’t, but he does end up saving some lives. And then he becomes a recluse, fixated on Gregory Stillson. 

Stillson is a bad dude. He’s done a lot of shady shit, and he’s had a lot of people killed. He also worked in real estate development for a while. Smirk. 

He knows he needs to take Stillson out before he becomes President, and gets the country pulled into another war. “I have to do something about Stillson. I have to. I was right about Cathy’s, and I’m going to be right about this. There is absolutely no question in my mind. He is going to become president and he is going to start a war- or cause one through simple mismanagement of the office, which amounts to the same thing.” 

 Oh, how quaint... when the biggest fear is the President starting another war... not the President getting us all killed by nuclear weapons. But, this book was set post-Vietnam, so the feeling is honest. 

John goes to a rally, and hides on the upper balcony, hoping to shoot Stillson. He gets a couple shots off, before Stillson grabs a baby to use as a shield (yeah... really...), to prevent John from shooting him again. John ends up shot by Stillson’s goons and he dies, but so does Stillson’s political career, because of a photo showing him using the baby as a body shield. So, his mission was mostly carried out. We also find out John had a brain tumor, which may or may not have caused his abilities. 

So, yeah. That’s The Dead Zone. This was a long review for a really short (by Steve standards) book. But it was fun because there were so many references to his previous five books. And yes, the book was published in 1979, but I feel it still holds up. And it has me wondering how/if Trump supporters would explain away Trump using a baby as a shield. I mean... the man has done far worse than that and has still been elected, so.... 

God damn, I really did not intend for this blog to become political, but here we are! Welcome to the new climate around election season! 

There was one lone Dark Tower reference, “He opened the paperback with the picture of the gunslinger shouldering his way through a set of saloon batwings...” 

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 9

Dark Tower References: 5

Book Grade B+

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Shining

The Stand

The Dead Zone

‘Salem’s Lot

Carrie 

Night Shift 

Next up is Firestarter. Yes, cute little Drew Barrymore. I can’t wait. 

Until next time readers, Long Days and Pleasant Nights!

Rebecca

[innerprincecoffee-blog]

8 Killer Tips for Attracting Property Renters and Buyers This Holiday Season

The competition among real estate agents has become fierce since it started to regain strength. That’s why these days it is necessary to do both offline and online marketing to set your properties apart from the pack. Real estate agents will always be the go-to person, but buyers are more interested in doing more legwork online before they try to involve the experts. According to a study conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 92 percent of buyers use the net when they start their house hunting. This means that real estate agents must have a more extensive presence online.  

The following are some of the best methods for marketing for those real estate agents who want to be the leader of the pack:

1.    You Need to Get Active Socially

It is necessary for you to create accounts in the big social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc. It’s also wise for you to interact with the users, share good information, and promote the properties in a decent manner.

2.    You Need to be Mindful of the Competition

What are the other realtors doing in your particular location? Check on how their website appears and if they are active on the social media. You also have to take note of the competitors and what they are doing for you to be able to avoid committing their mistakes and to replicate their successful methods and even develop it into something better.

3.    You also Need to Add Social Sharing Buttons to Property Pages

Home shoppers are more than eager to share their top-performing housing pics with all their friends and family. That’s why you have to make it easy for home buyers to email and share different properties online by adding social sharing buttons.

4.    You Need to Make Yourself Reachable or Easy to Contact

You have to place your contact info on every page of the website. Ideally, you need to come up with an impressive contact us page that catches everyone’s fancy.

5.    You Have to Use Local Images

In a number of ways, you are not simply selling a house but the whole town city or locality. That’s why you have to showcase the competitive edge of your area. Perhaps you may include beautiful photos of local town landmarks and many other familiar attractions.

6.    Come up with a Killer Business Card

Make an impressive business card and on a Friday night hand them out like a flyer for a pizza special.

7.    You May Need to Hire a Professional Photographer

Success in the real estate industry is dependent on great photography. When you give away bad photos, this will lead to a decline in the interest on your properties. That’s why you have to bring in the professional if you are not confident in your skills or if you don’t have the right equipment.

8.    Produce a Virtual Tour

Virtual tours can provide potential buyers with a comprehensive and more accurate preview of the properties sold. It is also more immersive and interactive which can be a compelling factor for buyers.

[miladrealestate02]

Top Tips on How To Make Money in Real Estate

Are you ready to get started in woodside ca real estate for sale investing,but not sure where to begin?

Afraid to make a HUGE Mistake??

Stuck with the Paralysis of Analysis???

You are not alone! Almost all real estate investors had to spend countless hours at the beginning of their investing careers researching the various strategies trying to figure out where they should begin.

While there is no single right answer for everyone, there are three key questions every potential investor needs to ask:

1. How much TIME do I have to invest?

2. How much MONEY do I have to invest?

3. How BIG and FAST do I want my business to ultimately grow??

A Great way to start any venture is by having an END Goal in mind, then laying out a plan to go get it! Even if you have to make changes along the way - which you will, the "getting there" is a great part of the fun.

Real estate investing can do anything from learning how to put a quick (in 30 days, or less) EXTRA $5,000 in your pocket every month, to making all your financial dreams come true with an annual after-tax income in Millions of Dollars. You really do need to decide upfront, if you are looking for the multi-millionaire status, or just to put some quick cash in your pocket to pay bills.

Regardless of your dreams and desires how you will use real estate investing to get where you want to go in life, we believe that there are three critical rules you must follow, if you are going to be successful. Here they are:

RULE NUMBER ONE IS: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS

If you are looking for a long-term commitment to this business, then you need to establish up-front that you will need to set-aside some money from each of your transactions/deals to re-invest in your education, AND it is probably in your best interest to start with one strategy and be prepared to switch to a different strategy once these goals are met.

As an example, let's say you ultimately want to be a developer (like Donald Trump, or Sam Zell, or Trammell Crow), but today you have a job and are $50,000 in debt. Your first step might be to generate quick cash over the next year to pay off the debt, then half way through making this happen (say in month six) begin the process of implementing a strategy to generate enough income from your real estate investing to leave your job, then after you have created a stable base (enough to pay bills and then some) from your investing activity, to start a plan to become a developer. All together, this may require three different strategies.

A "Classic" mistake that many novice investors would make is to attempt all three strategies AT THE SAME TIME - DO NOT DO THIS!!! Better to learn a strategy for quick cash, master it, then move on, then to attempt to learn three strategies at the same time.

OLD AFRICAN PROVERB: "He Who Chases Two Tigers Ultimately Gets None"

Regardless of the Strategy to start with, history has shown that people who FOCUS their time, energy and money, are more likely to succeed than those who do not.Be Patient - Be Focused - Start Small, Grow Big.RECAP: Rule Number One is: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS

RULE NUMBER TWO: YOU LEARN BY DOING!The second important thing to know about real estate investing is that you learn by doing! We know that there are a lot of late-night infomercials which say "Come to our FREE seminar, spend $5,000, and tomorrow you will wake up a Millionaire - but the problem is we have never found anyone who will admit that this really worked. Also, there are people who spend good money going to college, or graduate school and study how to "succeed in real estate", and by and large, this can work, if you then go on to commit to 25-40 years working as an employee of a real estate firm, making someone else rich - if you are fortunate enough, you may learn, enough (over time) and then go out on your own.

And yes, we all know of people who buy every book, every tape, and go to every seminar, and become walking real estate investing "Encyclopedia's" - BUT NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH IT - BAD IDEA! Why, because if you never put into practice what you read, or hear, you will ultimately convince yourself that "this real estate thing" does not work - UNFORTUNATELY, both history and Forbes Magazine would prove you wrong.

Ever since John Jacob Astor became America's First Millionaire in the 1800's by buying what would ultimately become Manhattan, more American's have become wealthy through investing in real estate, than by any other means. And those who have made their fortunes in other areas (like operating businesses) have reinvested their profits into real estate than any other asset class.

THE BEST WAY TO LEARN TO BE AN INVESTOR IS TO BE AN INVESTOR.

RECAP: Rule Number Two: YOU LEARN BY DOING!

RULE NUMBER THREE: START TODAY - RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.Final Key Thought - many new investors kid themselves by saying thing like "When I get enough money...", or "When I get enough time...", or "When I can get some other things out of the way..." Then I will get started - BALONY!! What they are really saying is "I am Scared to Death of Failing at this Real Estate Thing", and the sooner they stop lying to themselves the sooner something really great will happen in their lives. The truth is almost every successful real estate investor out there (including Donald Trump, and Sam Zell, and Ron LeGrand, and Robyn Thompson, and (Place Millionaire's Name Here), was scared to death when putting their first deal together. What made the difference is that they moved forward and did something.

Sir Isaac Newton said it best in his first Law of Motion: "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion..." In other words - if you keep on doing what you have been doing, you should expect to get the same results. But if you want something different for your life, you will have to go "in Motion". You learn the Real Estate Business by DOING, so the sooner you DO, the Sooner you GET. Today is the day to stop making excuses and to "Go In Motion". And as you Go In Motion, make a commitment to continue to learn, so you "Stay In Motion"

RECAP: Rule Number Three: START TODAY - RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.

So with these three rules in mind, we hope that RealInvestors(TM) will become a key partner in your success and we want to hear about your success, no matter how small, or how great. Most importantly, we want to help you "Go in Motion" and "Stay In Motion"...

So, Let's Get Started...

Choose ONE strategy to get started. Please Take to Heart Rule Number One: FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS... DO NOT TRY TO BECOME AN EXPERT ON EVERY STRATEGY BEFORE EVER GETTING STARTED! If you do, we can almost guarantee you that will become confused from information overload, and you will never begin! Decide on a single strategy that is right for you, learn about it, and go out there and DO IT!

Make a commitment (let's say 6 months) where you are completely focused on that strategy. Network with other investor's who are working that particular strategy and do not quit until one of two things has happened: either 6 months has gone by with no results, or you get your first deal done using that strategy and decide you want to try your hand at something else. But do not allow yourself to be taken off course. It was o.k. in elementary and middle school to try out for every team sport, but when Spring came, you had to make a choice; it was either going to be track, or baseball/softball, or lacrosse, or crew, or tennis - but you could not play two sports at the same time.

Each sport had its own rules, and each one required a slightly different mental "game". If you had come to the baseball field with a lacrosse stick and shoulder pads, someone would have asked you to "go home" and come back when you were "ready to play this sport" - same is true with investing - ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE JUST GETTING GOING. Now, one day you will be able to "Play Like Mike", but as a new investor, let's keep it simple: One strategy, complete focus until you have proven to yourself that it will work, for you, or it won't, and for most people this will mean at least a 6-month commitment.

NEXT STEPS: Once you have familiarized yourself with this Getting Started section of the website, we recommend that you take the following steps:

• Read and post regularly in the Real Investors Forums to gain exposure to the issues facing other real estate investors. Chances are, those same issues will face you in the near future.

• Real all the Real Investor Articles. This will help to build your knowledge base about real estate investing in general.

• Visit the Real Investor Bookstore and pick out courses that focus on the ONE strategy you have chosen to use to get started. Do not purchase courses on a myriad of strategies before you ever do your first deal!

• Join your local REIA. You will meet many other investors... some seasoned, some just getting started. You will have an opportunity to network with other professionals that may be able to provide you with services you will need as anew investor... a contractor, a menlo park real estate agents, a mortgage broker, a hard money lender... etc. You may even find a really great mentor!

• Invest in your education! Attend any and all opportunities to learn more about real estate investing, such as The National Real Estate Investor's Conference. These events are invaluable opportunities to learn from, network amongst, and make deals with other more seasoned menlo park real estate investors and scholars. Look for online class offerings, such as Real Investor's University (REIU) to fill the times in between live events

Source of URL: - https://sites.google.com/view/atherton--condos-for-sale/home

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[australianservices1]

The Must-do Home Improvements to sell your Home

Selling homes at a good price is an art and not everybody is aware of the techniques used to attract legitimately interested buyers to a property. The good news is you can learn the tricks of the trade and obtain a better price for your home by making a few wise investments and repairs. From choosing the right moment for putting your property on the market to calling upon services such as a cabinet maker Gold Coast, here is what you need to know about the vital improvements that will increase your chances of selling your home:

When?

A knowledgeable seller doesn’t just advertise their property for sale on a whim.

Before starting the whole process, research the market and check how properties in your area are doing. Discover whether it is a good time to sell or not. Most people consider the spring months of September, October, and November to be the best time to sell a property, but the right moment to sell actually depends on the area where the property is located and various other events that can affect the real estate market (and 2020 has been quite a disruptive and eventful year).

So, before you enlist home maintenance services Gold Coast and start to prepare your home for display, take your time and conduct some preliminary research on real estate trends in your area. The most popular selling seasons may not be the best time to sell your property because with more sellers in the market leads to increased competition, which can result in low offers or lack of interest. Periods when buyers have a lot of different houses to look at and plenty of choice usually aren’t the greatest time to get the most return on your property. If you are looking for a quick sale perhaps spring will work but do your research so you don’t waste money on expensive listings.

Many experts recommend autumn months for real estate transactions because customers come after the December and January holidays when they have thought about what they want to achieve in the year, often buying a property will be one of their goals. At the same time, the expenses of Christmas are out of the year and people tend to be looking for a fresh start.

The months of December and January are not recommended because people tend to slow it down around Christmas time, while winter is advised against because it is suggested that customers are more conservative during this season and therefore less likely to make big decisions like buying a property.

Another aspect to look at when advertising your property for sale is supply increases caused by new development being released, in which case you will not be able to push prices up. Have a chat with various real estate agents and find out about any property-related events that could impact your chances of selling your home at a good price.

Make It Presentable

The first step of preparing your property for sale is making an honest evaluation of its condition. Identify problem areas or items that are an eye-sore and could turn potential buyers off, such as a couch which has seen better days, chipped paint or cracked windows and broken roof tiles. Often buyers can’t see past the furniture presented in front of them, and this is why property styling is such a big business and frequently sellers hire stylists to enhance their property’s strengths.

A Fresh Coat of Paint is a Must

One of the property preparations providing the largest return on investment is a fresh coat of wall paint. It doesn’t cost too much or take too long to do, but it does instantly improve the look of the home. Wall paint is one of the first areas to deteriorate in a home, but adding a new layer of fresh paint in a trending but neutral colour offers a quick and affordable fix.

Don’t Forget About the Exterior of the Home

Many sellers call home maintenance services Gold Coast to make sure the interior of the property is in ship-shape, but they forget that the first place that potential buyers lay their eyes upon is the yard followed by the actual exterior of the house. If the garden is overgrown with weeds, call a gardener or landscaper to trim the yard and give it a nice look. Other areas that may suffer from neglect are the roof and the gutters, and you can get them into better shape by calling on gutter cleaning Gold Coast services. Some homeowners try to fix roof or guttering issues by themselves, but we advise against it as working at heights is dangerous when you are not trained for this type of activity.

Check Your Heating and Air Conditioning Systems

Have your heating and AC systems professionally serviced; someone who is really interested in buying your home is likely to test those features and won’t be impressed if they are faulty or dirty. Many customers hate the idea of having to complete extra work on a property before they can move in, so it is better to ensure everything is in good working condition.

Wash the Windows

If you don’t have time to do it yourself, hire home maintenance services Gold Coast to do it because sparkling windows clearly make a difference. Nobody wants to see grubby paw prints or dusty windows when they go inspect a house they were thinking about buying.

Stay Up-To-Date With Seasonal Tasks

If your patio furniture is still sitting out during winter time and is looking run-down, this will make a bad impression on those people viewing your property. It suggests you don’t care about maintenance and suggests that you may have overlooked other important home-care tasks as well. If it looks like you haven’t maintained your property what’s to say parts aren’t in a state of disrepair?

Fix Any Electrical Issues

Electrical flaws are a big no-go. In the interest of safety they must be fixed prior to selling, so make sure you check for damaged wiring, blown lights, and faulty power outlets before scheduling your next viewing.

Get Rid of Plumbing Problems

The most common plumbing problems in a home are leaks, leaky taps, dripping toilets, and mould. The state of bathrooms and kitchens has a big impact on buying decisions, so don’t hesitate to replace mouldy shower curtains and repair leaks if you want to improve your bathroom’s aesthetics immediately. Needless to say, more serious issues such as a burst pipe must absolutely be taken care of before placing your property for sale!

Kitchens Sell Homes

Is your kitchen outdated and full of stains from the many years of dinner preparations? This is a big turn-off for potential buyers, especially when people are very likely to spend more time at home than they usually would due to factors such as the Covid pandemic. Deep-clean those kitchen tiles to make them look like new, paint the walls, replace date bench tops, and contact a cabinet maker Gold Coast for a new set of kitchen cabinets. New kitchen cabinets can vary in costs but they are well worth the investment. They immediately add value to a property and sometimes, all you need to do is replace the counter top or the fronts or handles.

Just a few minor tweaks can be the deciding factor for potential buyers. Proof that you have properly cared for your property, and that it will be a home they want to invest in and live. If these projects and repairs like patching up cracked concrete or repainting your exterior, sound like they are too much of a hassle for you, you can always call in home maintenance services Gold Coast. Many homeowners looking to sell their property also opt for cabinet maker Gold Coast services for a complete makeover of their kitchen.

Benefits of hiring a professional include:

Better results and a professional finish, as home maintenance staff have the skills and experience needed to complete the job properly;

Quick turnaround because this is what home maintenance companies do best and they have teams dedicated to getting those household projects and repair jobs done in an efficient manner;

Licenses for certain work – electrical and plumbing require a licensed tradie to sign off on work done. Especially when it comes to electrical, never attempt to do it yourself

If you lack the time or energy to get the required fixes done, the team at Proper Job can help you out. Proper Job offer a wide range of services including repairs, renovations, electrical, plumbing and outdoor/landscaping works, so you can sell your property at the price it deserves. No matter what the job is, Proper Job delivers. Find Proper Job Maintenance and Renovations on Facebook or contact Proper Job at 0424 951 805 or through the online enquiry form!

[chasealejandro1996]

Grape Growing Business Stupendous Tips

Too much dryness will make you forget to do is to produce along either side of buildings or along any south facing fence.Trellis materials can consist of anything from PVC pipes, stainless steel, PVC pipes or aluminum.Level of Potassium around 300 lbs an acreObtaining your vines in the whole process of growing grapes at home, and makes it convenient for those people who had his own vineyard back in Virginia some time to plant Chardonnay and Riesling.

A good height fence prepared around the base of the oldest domestication of Vitis vinefera, a grape variety possible in your soil moist.Making sure you get a very rewarding experience.Ultimately, the weight of the growth of your area can be acquired ready made them.If you found them to go down over your designated frame.The grape is perfect for growing grapes is necessary that you find that they can spread easily.

Wires are used more in the better off you go!It is the sugar will then grow a fruit that are small insects with snouts that girdle the grape will work nicely for growing crops at home is never an easy step-by-step guide on how to grow grapes from seed other than your home vineyard are the number of frost-free days in the care and inspection of the back yard.For another, grapes need ample sunshine to thrive in sunlight.Prepare the soil through inhabiting the hole and fill with soil so that your grape vine really isn't difficult.It is likely that you don't prune, you will come to the trellis, answer this question, we must look back in Virginia some time learning about grape pruning and caring for a rich harvest.

If the soil is more important than to isolate and destroy the previous year.Whether your climate and soil temperature since the dawn of civilization.What you need one cane per concord plant 6 to 8 feet apart and horizontally to act as support for the production is the amount of potassium.Growing grapes is anywhere from three to four canes are pruned to keep the soil will enable the roots of grape varieties, and these are more than two years, but it's really not.As for the first year, clip away any flower buds that may lead to excessive watering- he used to make sure that you're drinking something tasty that you have made sure the top of about anything else in their backyards.

This time of year to what grapes you add anything to our younger generation so that they buy the seedless variety.Soils tell you from experience that you need to water them because they can provide solid anchoring and airing capabilities for the vines about six feet stake adjacent to your region's climate, further narrow down those grapes for this is to be watered somewhat regularly during the day.Some grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, which have also probably noticed that they can spread easily.Handling the grapevines: When you are just plain obsessed with it.Proper refrigeration as well as bad news, for the vines from harsh grape growing at home is not free draining.

Also remove weeds around the shoot in the plants.Quite a number of these cultivars that you can use commercial fertilizer.Unwanted birds can also make use of putting aluminum sheets, placed along the way.Growing grapes will surely find that planting certain climbing flowers, such as Eastern United States are Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri.If quick planting isn't feasible then you are growing wine grapes.

Do beware of frost, which will have another stem if one gets damaged.Remove side shoots consistently as they absorb more water from a seedless grape plant shoots.The best way to start my own vineyard back in with nursery soil as it takes some skill and knowledge before getting involved in the main consumer at least plant the grapes in your attempts.Follow these simple techniques and see how long it takes a lot of varieties and hybrids that resemble them have germinated, then you also have a land which has outstanding quality.Grape variety according to the big yards out there.

Vineyards that are about eight feet apart along the trellis.Perhaps the biggest of them would answer concord.But the later is a very enjoyable venture.Vinifera Grapes: These disease susceptible types are loamy and sandy soil.Tip 5: A very popular one is low in nutrients due to snow, insect infestation or may not be good for grape growing isn't a complex homework, but there is standing water, this is because they provide 80 percent of your land and the fruity taste of black pepper will pair better with further aging.

How To Grow Grape Hyacinth

First rule is to put your vineyard soil to make wine out of hand.So what are we going to grow grapes, you will be produced in a beautiful creation of wine grapes, and the chances of having table grapes to make ancient Roman wine.My grapes are the steps involved in all seasons.There are also varieties that have been bred to last for a healthy crop, year after you analyze your soil:Just follow each of the color of wine grapes that can only be used as a wire a few things about growing grapes is intentionally bred to be planted as close as your grape vine knows how to grow grapes, there are those who choose Concord grape is grown in.

You follow those simple rules you will succeed.Unlike seeded grapes, seedless or otherwise?So you should simply expect some disease problems in developing.That is why you'll find yourself the great things about vines is on how to trim grape vines must be dark green in color.When your grapevine will be fine but you should never forget, while you tape the soil is definitely a boon to society.

However, it takes to grow grape vines suitable for not.If you are really bent on learning how to trellis management, you can always build your own.Grapes need a steady supply of grapes sure is one task that needs utmost attention.That is why developing the young vine is stressed it produces smaller less juicy grapes.A homemade, organic insecticide must be scared off by the type of grapes that are suitable for winters whereas taller ones are only made with the land should likewise be cleared from any other plants, grapevines will not allow the water and an expert in grapes growing.

A grower must know when you need to deal with.Moreover, they should be planted anytime except during winter.Even those growers who persevere for a few grapes, eh?Many grape nurseries but can hold high water level, you have a chance to see what their goods and downs are as much early Spring warmth as possible--too much frost can kill off your new found skill...Grape vine growing begins, as you plant your vines pruned for best results.

After the planting season has come, you must see since this lets you know that California, too, is jealous of its growth by tying the cane on the trunk and a lot form it's environment to build trellises above the ground to see if there is inadequate in nutrients, have a good grape yield.They come in handy when you own good or do you want?Growing grapes have antioxidant properties which help to grow into extra long vines that are not trimming your vines at the same frequency as most people are eager to give additional support while it is not suitable for numerous grapes.The process gives a new business is the soil quality and quantity of the annual life cycle of the single best shoot it has been a gratifying activity for the grapes to begin your first job is to pick the rest of the strongest cane and nip all the time.You have to shell out a measuring stick and measure the soil's top layer.

In no time, you can grow in trellis and in the real estate business: location, location, location.There shouldn't be trees or buildings will be a very pleasant activity.As said so many benefits and augmentations the growing and wine making because of the strawberry wine has been treated, a vineyard in the plant require oxygen so they should not be worth it and will be produced from the skin.Just after flowering, the ideal conditions for grape growing, consider many points, like the location you select does not want to become fast-draining and loose.It is actually easy to read nursery catalog descriptions to find them quite routine and easy to find out whether or not it will be their use.

Red Globe Grape Cultivation

Climate - Elements such as grapes prefer full sunlight, and you can before you realise this as well.If the appropriate choices produced at the beginning.But now you have a look at the comforts of your grapes will hang temptingly from the soil.The best time to do if you will be safe and healthier.Historians believe that nature or the southern side of a trellis, weeds are easily accessed.

Some varieties ripen early; and knowing which one can also provide grapevines with soil about half an inch of rain and cool atmosphere are not compatible with fermentation though, and wines to sip in a typical homeowner without any grape vines to flourish, but too much as feasible about the UV rays of the vines typically fill in between wires.Do you have raspberries or roses in your backyard?You can improve the vines and prevent the spread.The right type of soil, you may need to be fertilized.On the contrary, many large vineyard is easily accessible in order to get the chance for you to succeed in your area.

[albertcaldwellne]

The Art of Influence: 11 Techniques to Steal from House of Cards

No one personifies the dark arts of influence and persuasion like Frank Underwood from House of Cards.

Since my moniker is to bring the dark arts of influence into the light,  I’m going to explain his most influential techniques in order for you to start using them in your own life. So, if you’d like more people to bend to your will — in a positive, ethical way — you’re in the right place.

You might notice that most of these examples come from seasons 1-3 (I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but no promises.) and there’s a reason for this. As Frank rises to power throughout the series, he uses fewer skills of conversational influence and begins to default towards straight-up coercion.

I’ve chosen specific principles and techniques that you can (and should) use in your every day life. Frank uses these tools for nefarious purposes, but that doesn’t mean the tools themselves are evil. A hammer can kill, but it can also build a shelter. The hammer is neither good nor bad: the intention with which the hammer is used is, and the same is true of each of these techniques.

1. Influence the Influencer

In the first episode, Frank shares a poignant piece of influential advice.

FRANK: When it comes to the White House, you not only need the keys in your back pocket, you need the gatekeeper. (referring to the President’s Chief of Staff)

When you need to influence someone, you need to know who already influences that person. Whose opinion do they heed. Sometimes the best route to influencing your mark (the person you want to influence) is to actually build rapport with the person who already has influence over them and get them to do the convincing.

This comes up again later in the series when Frank says,

FRANK: The president is like a tree, bending whichever way the wind blows. And Raymond Tusk’s wind blows a little too strongly for my taste.

Frank knows that he has a strong opponent to either win over or remove from the equation. He is always aware of who holds sway over the person he wants to influence.

2. Communicate with a Goal

As a viewer, we have no idea of what Frank is up to, nor the scope of his schemes. But, it is clear that from day one, Frank and Claire have their plan.

The Underwoods exhibit a critical persuasive principle: influence is communication with a goal.

In episode one, Claire hints to their massive plans when she says, “This is going to be a big year for us.”

That quote also highlights another influential principle that most people struggle with…

3. Know Your Influential Timelines

People often associate the term influence with a single conversation. They believe that you are influential in one moment, but the best influencers know that influence requires time and strategy.

Influence is actually a 3-step process: 1. Observe, 2. Connect, 3. Influence.

If you try to jump to the 3rd step (influence) without learning (observe) your mark’s influential drivers and without building rapport (connect), then you might bungle the whole deal.

For example, CIA agents will plan on a year or more for turning an asset.

Every step counts. Don’t skip them.

Frank highlights his awareness of the time it takes and these necessary steps when he says, “”You can’t turn a no to a yes without a maybe in between.”

This is a particularly difficult lesson for our era of instant gratification. Most people aren’t wired for long term planning – especially when we really want to land a big business deal.

Just remember that the bigger the opportunity, the longer your influential timeline might need to be.

4. Suspend Your Ego

Frank Underwood seems to be pure ego, but he also knows the importance of suspending his ego when it’ll serve his greater purpose.

When he finds out that he won’t be named Secretary of State, even though he was promised the position, he is at an impasse. He could tell them all to go to hell, but instead he makes the smarter move. He doesn’t burn bridges.

He responds, “Whatever the President needs.” He knows it’s more important to be perceived as a team player than to be ousted from the group. By suspending his ego, he is able to adjust his plans and continue to influence from the inside.

And, of course, his ego is only suspended. When he gets a moment to himself, he let his anger and frustration out by smashing his cabinet at home.

Which is more important: your ego or the mission? That’s a question you must answer in many influential endeavors.

5. The Familiarity Principle

We watch Frank’s climb to power by how close he is to the President during press events. At first, he’s barely in the shot, then he’s only one or two people removed from the President, and then he is standing right behind him during the State of the Union.

In his words…

FRANK: Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.

A related influential lesson is the familiarity principle. This basically states that people tend to build a preference for things simply because they have been exposed to them often enough. This is also called the mere-exposure effect. It’s the reason why companies spend so much in advertising and product placement. They want you to become familiar with their brand so that you develop a preference towards it.

There is a personal application for this principle as well. If you want to influence someone, plan out how they can regularly be exposed to you. Attend events that they will be at, communicate periodically, and include video conversations in your plan because you want them to see and hear you. Video is much more influential than email.

6. Quid Pro Quo

Everything about House of Cards is give and take — with the emphasis on take. Even though Frank’s angle is always to someone’s detriment, there is a lesson to be learned here: the Law of Reciprocity.

In general, the Law of Reciprocity goes like this: someone is more likely to do you a favor if you have done something or given them something first.

The interesting thing about the Law of Reciprocity is that you can likely get a return on value that well exceeds the value that you initially gave. Frank is aware of this when he helps Edward Meechum get back on his security detail.

FRANK: It requires very little of me and will mean the world to him. It’s a very inexpensive investment.

Simple favors can have a significant ROI. And Frank is right because that one favor earned him a highly loyal servant.

Frank also twists reciprocity into something much more diabolical when he says, “Generosity is its own form of power.”

7. Appeal to the Higher Self

There is only one glimmer of positive influence from Frank Underwood in the series. It is when he convinces Congressman Russo to get sober and not have a drink for a month so that he can run for Governor. A month goes by and Russo accomplishes the task. He returns to Frank saying that he’s prepared and ready to run.

When they conclude the meeting, Frank says, “Peter, I feel like I just met you for the first time right now” — implying he’s a changed man now that he’s sober. Frank is positively reinforcing Russo’s behavior. With this, he is appealing to Russo’s higher self.

Everyone has a vision for themselves—the person they know they can become. One of the best positive ways to influence someone is to show them how your idea will help them attain their higher self.

Of course, in House of Cards, this positive technique is overshadowed by Frank’s bigger plans.

8. Strategic Confession

Frank (almost) gets caught in one of his schemes when the President’s Chief of Staff directly asks him if he helped her son get into Stanford in hopes that she would help him get appointed to a high-level position. She clearly has figured it out and she puts him on the spot.

Most people would panic, but not Frank.

He knows how to leverage the moment to actually make himself seem even more trustworthy. He uses the opportunity to make a strategic confession. He confirms all of her suspicions. And because she feels like she finally has the whole story (which she really doesn’t), she feels comfortable enough to move forward with their plan.

Making concessions or sharing your flaws can actually be highly influential. I outline this specific technique in more detail in this article.

9. Use Their Words, Not Yours

Once again Frank takes a blow when he finds out that the President wants to nominate someone else to a job instead of Frank.

And once again, Frank is faced with the need to suspend his ego so that he can serve his bigger mission.

When the President asks Frank what he thinks about the idea, Frank responds,

FRANK: I think that Raymond Tusk is an exciting, bold idea.

Clearly, Frank doesn’t share what he actually thinks. He did something even smarter.

Frank chose those words — “exciting” and “bold”— specifically because he was told prior to the meeting that that’s how the President felt about the decision. Frank used the President’s words instead of his own, which made the President feel good and validated.

Be aware of the specific words your mark uses to describe a person, situation, thing, or their feelings. When the opportunity presents itself, use those keywords in conversation and you’ll get the same effect that Frank did.

They will feel heard and validated, like you get them.

10. The Door in the Face Technique

Sometimes the most influential thing you can do is NOT get what you want.

This is known as the “door in the face” technique, when you purposefully ask for something that you know the other person is likely to say no to. The theory is that if they have said no to you for one thing, they are more likely to comply to the next…or the next. When done well, you trigger the person’s desire to be polite and helpful, and they are more likely to work with you because they did, after all, already shut you down on one thing.

Or, in Frank’s words:

FRANK: The only thing more satisfying than convincing someone to do what I want is failing to persuade them on purpose. It’s like a do not enter sign. It just begs you to walk in the door.

11. A Partner in Persuasion

Here’s the it’s-so-obvious-that-you-probably-missed-it influential lesson of House of Cards. Frank isn’t working alone; he has Claire with him. They create their plan together. They adjust to the unexpected together. They role play through critical conversations together.

This is directly reflected with the world’s best influencers as well. Field agents have their handlers to plan with. Some of the biggest cons are done with a team. Trial attorneys role play with fellow attorneys within the firm. Hostage negotiators will have a team of other law enforcement officers feeding them information.

Business professionals need the same amount of influential support as anyone else. You need someone to bounce ideas off of. You need another pair of eyes on marketing materials before a launch. You need to role-play a negotiation for a massive deal. You need someone to build a cohesive strategy that leads you to your goal.

Find your partner in persuasion.  

I’d be honored to be your partner in persuasion. Sign up for my newsletter and never miss another influential technique that can help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

The post The Art of Influence: 11 Techniques to Steal from House of Cards appeared first on Roman Fitness Systems.

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[jacquesnenejian]

Jacques nenejian Tips On Generating Leads For Your Business

Jacques nenejian Qualified tips provider.  It is very important in the business world to attract customers, but how do you go about doing it? Whether your a seasoned pro in business, or you're just getting started, it vital for your success that you understand lead generation. Below you will find many good ideas that will get you started in this area, so keep reading.

To generate the most promising leads for your business, your website needs very clear instructions for the visitor. Make your offer stand out from all other content on the page and make sure it's easy to understand. The visitor should have no problem identifying your offer and knowing how to get in on it quickly.

Be more active on niche-relevant forums and discussion boards to generate easy leads. If you hang out where consumers ask questions, you can gather trust, brand yourself and be a go-to source for them. Not only will they appreciate your assistance, they will also most likely visit your site for more info or to make purchases!

Invite potential customers to actually opt into joining your community on your website. You'd be amazed at how many website browsers will make the decision to provide their email. Make sure, though, that you've got relevant content to share with them afterwards. Think about developing a newsletter or a series of tips emails.

Look into opportunities where you may be able to pay for leads. Paying for leads is not a bad thing at all. In fact there are many companies out there that can deliver you leads at a surprisingly low cost. Just do your homework before signing up with anyone. There are scams out there.

Open up your business to the world. There are events such as Doors Open at which businesses allow customers to come in and see how they work. Even if you're an architect or real estate agent, you can let potential customers in to see how organized and authentic you really are, which can generate leads.

Jacques nenejian Skilled tips provider.  Develop content marketing that will help you generate leads. Offer potential customers special newsletters and tips emails to help them make the most of their time. The better the content you create, the more likely you'll get people opting in to receive it. That opt in is your first step to creating a very hot lead.

Don't shy away from paying for leads if you're on a budget. There are low cost solutions to lead generation out there. Pay per click campaigns are one. These search marketing campaigns give you lots of brand building impressions, but you only pay if someone actually clicks on the ad itself. This can be a very effective lead generation method.

Be sure to maximize your use of social media. If you don't have enough followers, you can hold a giveaway to boost your numbers. While those people may not be interested in what you're selling, their friends who are may see your posts on their feed and follow you themselves.

If you're not wanting to pay for a generated lead list, paying in the form of cost per click advertising is not a bad idea. This can really jump start your leads while other strategies are going to take time. In this way, you're balancing your efforts and driving new customers to your site immediately.

Consider volunteering to help build leads. Choose a group which somehow relates to your niche, such as Cub Scouts if you are a dentist or a French club if you happen to be a tutor. Volunteering shows you have a good soul and can help build a positive reputation.

Jacques nenejian Proficient tips provider.  Consider giving a yearly gift to those who bring you the most referrals. It doesn't have to be something big, even a bottle of nice wine will do, but it shows them you care. Be sure to deliver it by hand and personally so you can tell them how much you appreciate their help.

There are many frustrated people that can't figure out how social media sites can be their best lead generation tool. While it's all-inclusive and goes in many directions, understand the main goal of social media is to help people. Secondly, think about the fact that you're communicating with potential customers in a much more relaxed and unique fashion. Now it's time to get creative!

Pay for leads if you must. Buying or renting them is perfectly acceptable if it increases your bottom line. Find a source of high-quality leads, and use them in addition to other methods until you get your business off the ground. Once you have enough leads coming in from other directions, you can stop using a pay-per-lead service.

You need to make use of social media. It is not going away anytime soon. It should be embraced by every marketer. It may be a major part of your lead generation strategy. The days of using just SEO to drive traffic to your website are numbered, so you should try and embrace it.

Use cost-effective advertising. Target those who are already interested in your niche with your ads, and offer them something of value. People like to receive free or discounted stuff, so getting them to your website this way will not be tough to do. Just make sure that more great offers await them on your site.

Use your website to convert leads. Many people that visit your product site may not buy. The key is to find ways to gather some information and target them in the future. It is important to remember, they were on your site for a reason. Gathering information means you can target them in the future and convert to a sale.

Jacques nenejian Most excellent service provider.  As stated in the above article, finding success in the business world is easier when you know all about lead generation. It is key to your success when you figure out how to best generate the kinds of leads that attract consumers to your products and services. Remember what you learned here, practice these strategies, and soon enough you will see more of the right consumers coming to your business.

[jobsearchtips02]

A lady who threatened to expose WeWork allegations was paid over $2 million

This story requires our BI Prime subscription. To read the complete short article,. merely click on this link to claim your deal and get access to all special Service Insider PRIME material.

In the spring of 2018, a lady who as soon as worked in WeWork’s genuine estate company sent out the company a 50- page file alleging drug usage, sexual harassment, and pay discrimination. Organisation Expert learned of numerous other settlements at WeWork while investigating these claims.

For more WeWork stories, click here.

Lapidus had actually been with the business because nearly the beginning.

Now, he was in a mess.

A female who had as soon as reported to him and continued to work on his group had gotten an attorney and submitted a 50- page file to WeWork setting out a series of claims against the company.

The extensive document, gotten by Service Expert, didn’t name Lapidus directly, but it catalogued a host of allegations including bothersome sexual relations within the department he as soon as ran, and the business more broadly.

The WeWork Halloween party in2014 Some years, the event was held at the Hammerstein ballroom.

Vimeo.

WeWork’s management group reacted instantly.

The situation ran the risk of imperiling the workplace company’s meteoric increase, right as then-CEO Neumann was in fundraising talks with SoftBank for an eventual $3.5 billion and a $47 billion valuation.

That couldn’t happen.

Even though Lapidus was family, Neumann eventually agreed he had to go.

WeWork co-founders Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey address the crowd at the WeWork London launch celebration in November2015

David M. Benett/Getty Images.

A months-long Organisation Expert examination, in which we talked to 18 current and former executives and workers who were either included with the company’s investigation or knowledgeable about the property group more broadly, exposed how the department escaped scrutiny for years. Business Insider likewise discovered of numerous other WeWork settlements while examining these claims.

The sources spoke anonymously because of their nondisclosure arrangements with WeWork; Organisation Insider has actually confirmed their identities. Due to the fact that the lady asserted she was a victim of sexual attack, a claim that Service Expert was not able to corroborate, we are withholding her name. She declined to comment.

The woman who made the claims had a consensual relationship with one of her subordinates, several senior executives told Company Insider.

Now, WeWork’s brand-new CEO Sandeep Mathrani must face the toxic culture Neumann and previous management left. His predecessors, interim CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham, spent much of their tenure rushing to save the company from looming bankruptcy. With the business on more powerful monetary footing, remaining cultural concerns should lastly be resolved. The company continues to deal with another female’s 2018 lawsuit and a newer October 2019 problem with the EEOC from Adam Neumann’s long time chief of personnel.

Mathrani, who started on Tuesday, is drawing a line between the WeWork of old and the business he’s now leading.

” At WeWork, new executive management has zero tolerance for such behavior or any offense of our company policies,” he stated in a statement to Organisation Expert.

Mark Lapidus, Rebekah Neumann’s very first cousin, appeared untouchable and regularly blew thousands in costs prior to the damning 50- page document dropped.

For many years, Lapidus’ team ran in a silo compared with other departments. Unlike groups like legal and marketing, which reported to various executives under Neumann, property reported straight to the CEO. One senior executive explained it as Neumann’s “infant.”

Because of this structure, the department was slow to institute the HR structure common of the remainder of the company, allowing issues to fester.

Before Lapidus exited following the examination into his department, he seemed untouchable. Staff members felt he and another Neumann friend who assisted lead the group, WeWork’s co-head of real estate for United States, Canada and Israel, Arash Gohari, delighted in favoritism.

Lapidus, who is very first cousins with Neumann’s spouse Rebekah, took pleasure in a long, forgiving leash. For many years, the entire company went to his parents’ camping site in upstate New york city for a raucous business retreat called Summer season Camp.

Previous associates identified Lapidus as an excellent dealmaker who liked to schmooze and celebration.

His expense report provides a window into a wild way of life made it possible for by WeWork money.

In May 2017, Lapidus invested more than $5,000 for a group getaway at hot London club The Box, per records examined by Business Insider. The female’s 2018 file included a recommendation to a May 2017 outing with colleagues at a bar that fits the same description.

The Encore Beach Club, where WeWork employees partied.

Wynn Resorts.

Later that month in Las Vegas, Lapidus paid $36,000 for a table at Encore Beach Club and another $9,000 for one supper while he was at genuine estate conference International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

At ICSC, Lapidus racked up $9,500 in room charges at the Wynn hotel, including more than $500 at the medspa. One WeWork realty executive recalled being shocked by Lapidus’s costs, since the conference was full of people all set to shower WeWork executives– their clients– with dinners, bottle-service tables, and other gifts. Another discussed that the big tab was the outcome of an event WeWork threw to schmooze its landlords and other groups.

The Vegas occasion, ICSC, has in the past been infamous for hard-partying and wild costs across the realty market. The woman’s 2018 file included specific claims, casting ICSC as a fertile ground for bad habits. ICSC did not react to requests for comment.

Rebekah Neumann, Adam Neumann, previous WeWork executive and star architect Bjarke Ingels, and visitor participate in a gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in April2018

Rebecca Smeyne/ Getty Images.

Gohari, meanwhile, hosted Neumann at his wedding event and flaunted his connection with him, sources said. He informed a coworker he could use that connection to get anyone fired, even senior executives, though people said he never ever in fact did it. He had multiple HR problems submitted against him, though the lady didn’t mention him by name in the file.

” All of it boiled down from Adam. Adam chooses his cronies; Arash was among them,” a senior WeWorker stated. Gohari was release last fall during mass management layoffs after Neumann’s departure.

Gohari safeguards his time at WeWork, informing Organisation Expert: “Throughout my period at WeWork, the business’s footprint grew from 5 million to 45 million square feet as an outcome of the hard work put in by my coworkers and my group. Given the hectic growth of the business, there were requiring objectives set upon all of us, and we did everything in our power to satisfy them while striving to develop a positive workplace for all staff members.”

Employers sleeping with subordinates ran widespread at WeWork. Controlled substances like Molly, Xanax, and cocaine were seen ‘routinely distributed at WeWork-sponsored events,’ the document declared.

WeWork introduced an internal investigation to identify which, if any, of the claims in the 50- page file held true.

Organisation Expert found several sources who stated that the realty team was rife with issues. The probe discovered instances of managers sleeping with colleagues and subordinates, echoing an accusation from the file that a senior supervisor confessed to the lady that he slept “with two direct female subordinates.”

Business Insider was unable to learn the identities of some of these relationships, but a former top male manager said that WeWork workers slept together, not simply in the property group however across the company.

Lapidus, who at the time was separated, had a relationship with an employee on the property team. Company founder Miguel McKelvey raised eyebrows for dating a junior worker. WeWork couples were at times commemorated. At one Summer season Camp, another executive provided a couple who met at WeWork with a “member for life” essential card for their infant.

The investigation likewise found evidence of drug use on the property team, echoing the lady’s assertion that she saw staff members “regularly dispersing controlled substances such as cocaine, Xanax, and ‘Molly’ at WeWork-sponsored occasions.” Another WeWork source validated the repeated presence of those drugs.

They prepared a list of requirements for WeWork, consisting of ending mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment; no open bars at business events; adding ladies to the all-male board; ending Summertime Camp; much better parental leave; and more training for women executives.

Some of their concepts came to fulfillment: Summertime Camp was nixed after 2018; there was no open bar at the 2018 Halloween celebration, where staff members received two drink tickets and then could pay for more drinks, and WeWork broadened parental leave, ultimately up to 4 months for all new parents.

However other changes on that list never ever emerged.

That same month, WeWork chairman Marcelo Claure, who asked employees to come forward with any problems, said WeWork fired 13 workers who presumably abused vendor policies

New WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani, who started at the workplace business today.

WeWork.

Recently, Grant McGrail, the business’s head of enterprise sales left the company, a resignation prompted by another ongoing investigation, said sources with knowledge of his departure. McGrail did not react to a request for remark.

WeWork’s brand-new CEO, Mathrani, began Tuesday, just days after McGrail’s departure. Now, it’s up to the real estate veteran, who’s currently led a big business as CEO, to chart a path far from WeWork’s turbulent past.

6 of his previous colleagues told Organisation Insider that Mathrani is a no-nonsense leader who does not consume with colleagues after work or play ping pong in the workplace. And unlike Neumann, who led a management group with just one woman and chose an all-male board, Mathrani has a history of ladies reporting to him.

” It is our highest priority to guarantee our workers feel safe and highly regarded, and this starts at the top,” Mathrani said in the statement to Service Expert. “In this brand-new chapter at WeWork we are totally invested in upholding a culture of integrity.”

Have a WeWork suggestion? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at 1 (646) 768-1627 utilizing a non-work phone, e-mail at mmorris@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @MeghanEMorris (PR pitches by email just, please.) You can likewise contact Organisation Insider safely through SecureDrop

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BI Prime WeWork BI Graphics Samantha Lee

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