The Gambling Peak

Property investing prices pick up following a cooler winter last year. Susannah Petty Reports.

Winter has yet to make its mark on Port Melbourne’s retail sector. Traditionally a slow rental period, the past months have instead enjoyed an uncommon amount of interest, according to agents with up to 15 new Property investing inquires each day.

“This time of year normally it’s three or four a day for property investing,” says Biggin & Scot senior property manager Jaymie Spanos. “We had six to eight troupes going through yesterday for a mid-week inspection. That’s normally quite unusual, especially for a weekday.”

Similarly, at Cayzer Real Estate, Senior property investing manager Tricia Maxwell says properties are being snapped up even before they fall vacant.

She estimates the vacancy rate would be less then 3 per cent and says it looks likely to continue to fall.

Until fairly recently Port Melbourne’s retail sector was subdued by the weight of new stock being listed by investors. Now it seems the new property investing additions are proving a rental stimulant, attracting tenants who are keen for high-quality, near-city residences.

“I think Port Melbourne has become a lot more popular with the young property investing executives and families now,” Says Mr Spanos. “And I’ve noticed an influx of people wanting to move closer to the city but not be right in the city.”

Prices reflect this shift. Mr Maxwell says it’s now tough to find anything for less then $300 a week, while penthouses in the newer apartment towers can fetch up to $1200 a week and bayside apartments wouldn’t dip much below $700 a week.

Mr Spanos says prices in sought-after pockets, such as the Beacon Cover housing estate, have climbed by about $20 a week. These properties command between about $600 and $650 a week, she says.

By comparison Mr Spanos believes apartment rents have largely stabilised.

“We had to reduce some slightly last year because they weren’t leasing, compared to this year, were they’ve kept their price,” he says. Premium Apartments are an exception as the typically attract people who, he says, are willing to pay more for the right address.

Slightly cheaper housing can still be found in the Garden City, which is closer to Docklands and has un-renovated houses for around $400 a week.

Properties in Port Melbourne’s midrange moved from between $300 and $400, depending on the age.

“But if you have a three bedroom townhouse in Port Melbourne for around the $450 mark, which is not in the Beacon Cover, you will pretty much see that go first, before a two-bedroom apartment,” Mr Spanos says.

Generally speaking, however, Ms Maxwell syas demand is relatively consistent across all property investing types.

“We’ve got something here to suit all styles and they all seem to rent just as quickly as the next,” she says. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it. We have open-for-inspections and can get up to 20 or 30 people for either an apartment or an old weatherboard house.

Domain Express The age Saturday, June 11, 2005

More articles on http://www.aviategroup.com.au/ – Aviate offers property investing, Australian property

Background on the History of Vitamin Supplementation in America

Did you know that, on average, an estimated 40% of all Americans take a multi vitamin or vitamin supplement? And yet, what they don’t know is that more than 90% of their vitamin supplement’s nutrients are not adequately absorbed by the
body, rendering them virtually useless, or at the very least, very watered down and ineffective for their intended therapeutic purpose. You’ll see why a liquid vitamin supplement is so much more effective than the ever so common chewable or ‘horse pill’ vitamin that so many Americans take, thinking they are really gaining a benefit.

So, why are multivitamin supplements so popular in American society? Well, it is largely due to our generally fast paced lifestyles, which can make it difficult to ensure we consume all the proper vitamins and minerals in each meal. Hence, the booming market of multivitamin supplements and mineral supplements was born in an effort to improve our lives by feeding our bodies what they weren’t getting through our natural diet and food selections, and to compensate for high stress, high anxiety lifestyles.

Why a Liquid Multi Vitamin vs. a Chewable?

The primary reason that liquid vitamin supplements are dramatically more effective in the human body is that, due to their liquid nature, they are much more easily digested and more readily absorbed by the digestive tract, rather than passed through the body in hard pill form, undigested, and unused.

Since the body needs to work less to break down the vitamins and minerals in a liquid form, it is much more quick to absorb and disperse the nutrients to the various areas and organs of the body via the blood stream, to be utilized and used by the organs that need them the most.

In chewable or whole pill form, many times the majority of the nutrients are not even broken down in the digestive tract due to the “dense” nature of the vitamins and minerals, and they are therefore passed through the body at the most crucial moments of absorption where the body “snaps up” the nutrients it craves and needs to most, as undigested.

The popularity of the liquid vitamin supplement has grown leaps and bounds in popularity precisely for this reason. The American public has been growing more and more tired of feeling run down, and they want a vitamin that is going to really work, and make them feel great. Liquid mutlivitamins are answering
that demand – and they’re proving to be extremely effective in doing so!

Visit Liquid Vitamin Supplement for information on a very effective liquid multivitamin created by a master herbalist with many years in the naturopathic and herbal field. Danna Schneider is the founder of Herbal Therapeutics Herbal Medicine and Supplements, which offers the latest articles, products, product reviews, and helpful lifestyle tips in herbal medicine and alternative healing.

With the concept of vanity, many people are now despising the fact that whatever is beautiful are the only ones that are accepted in the community. Hence, they uphold the rights of equality and contend that life will never be balance without the negatives live side by side with the positives.

Same thing goes with people who have bad credit. The problem with most people is that they look down on people who have bad credits as if they are the meanest and the most unworthy person here on earth.

For this reason, many people, institutions, agencies, businesses, and other ventures to give these people who have bad credits a second chance to live their life to the fullest.

Today, many people who have bad credits are now enjoying the benefits that most people who have good credit standing are enjoying.

In fact, when it comes to owning a home, which is one of the necessities of human survival, people who have bad credits can get a loan for them to be able to obtain a home mortgage.

However, like any financial decisions, people with bad credits who seek to find any possible home mortgages, must try to saturate the market in order to arrive at the best deal available. This is because most lenders may approve a home mortgage application of a person who has bad credits, but may impose higher interest rates, big monthly payments, shorter term, and stricter regulations.

In most cases, people with bad credit work hand-in-hand with a sub prime lender. It refers to those who offer lending options to people who do not have good credit standing. They are the ones who are willing to take risk when everybody seems too hesitant to do so.

However, before you decide on getting a bad credit loan mortgage for your home from these sub prime lenders, there are certain guidelines that you may use in order to arrive at the best rate. Here is how:

1. Bad credit loans mortgages usually offer higher rates

In many instances, lenders who give bad credit loans or home mortgages may provide higher interest rates. However, their rates may still vary from one company to another. Therefore, it is necessary that the debtor should analyze the deal before they arrive at a conclusion.

2. Shop around and compare

If many lenders have high interest rates, the best thing that you can do is to obtain a bad credit loan mortgage with the lowest among those that are available in the market.

You can only identify the item by shopping and comparing rates and benefits. Try it. You will be on your way to your bad credit loan mortgage.

3. Know the rules

In this kind of game, you should know how to play by the rules. Because if you do not, chances are, you may lose.

Hence, be very careful about rules and terms of the lender concerning your bad credit loan mortgage.

The problem with most people is that they neglect this piece of document, in which they do not just realize how important it is to know whatever was stipulated therein.

4. Be wary of fees, rates, and charges

You should know the rules that go with these three variables.

What usually happens is that a person is buried deep in debt not because of the principal loan amount but because of the accumulated interest rate charges and fees. Therefore, it is best that you have known the exact rules in order to avoid getting charged with late penalties.

5. Know your situation

Even if you have bad credit, but you know that you can afford to make bigger monthly payments to have lower interest rates, it would be better. This will make your repayment for the loan easier and faster.

This goes to show that the result and consequences of getting a bad credit loan mortgage are all dependent on the kind of situation that you have right now.

6. Have a budget and stick to it

The problem with most people who have bad credits is that they get so overwhelmed with the fact that they get a bad credit loan mortgage that they tend to neglect to have a budget for the item that they want to purchase, say, a home. In addition, even if they have a budget, they tend not to conform to it.

Therefore, it is important to stick to your budget in order not get into trouble in case things get out of hand.

7. Research! Research! Research!

It is the best thing that you can do. In fact, it is the most important thing that one should do especially if it involves financial decision-making.

Whether you have bad credit or not, the fact that it is your money that you use in order to pay those monthly financial obligations, it is important to know all the important details about a loan.

Otherwise, you will just end up losing everything.

For more information about bad credit loans and mortgages, visit Bad Credit Mortgage and Bad Credit Loan

An observation while returning home from a seminar:
Getting away from the everyday allows room for analysis and new thoughts.
Stimulation while away from the everyday energizes analytical and concept ional thinking.

The above observation was formulated in-flight while attempting my normal travel timekiller, enjoying reading a popular adventure novel. But stimulating thoughts from the two-day seminar I attended kept intruding on my recreational reading. So I put down my book and started reviewing my notes and workbook. I spent the next two hours engaged studying and considering ways I might put the knowledge I gained to good use, amazed at the energy and focus I was putting into the process.

Three things gave me that energy and focus: Absence, Change, and Immersion.

Absence from normal schedules, normal people, normal workload

Change to new location, new people, a learning environment

Immersion into two days devoted to one subject presented in a logical, energized, entertaining manner

By the time the plane landed I had written pages of notes, schedules, and diagrams. I am now implementing some of the projects I wrote down while on that plane and integrating them into my conscious efforts. I never would have developed those concepts had I not gone to that seminar. Yes, I could have turned off the phone, cleared my schedule and devoted a couple hours a day to work on that topic by myself, but I never do that. Maybe it is a personal quirk but taking time for conceptual thought is just not on my internal radar screen when I am in my familiar surroundings, living and working my normal schedule.

It is the act of purposefully leaving that normal world (Absence), entering a new world (Change), and being totally engaged (Immersion) that leads to the Stimulation necessary to jump-start the thought process. The seminar worked for me, it might take something completely different for you to find your creative muse.

This week’s “Front Lines Challenge” is to find a way to stimulate your creative spirit. Progress doesn’t happen by doing the same old thing the same old way. Stimulate yourself. Energize and focus your thinking

Larry Galler coaches high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses to extraordinary acheivement. He is a long-term business owner, a ten-year business coach and consultant, speaker, and columnist.

For more information email him – larry@larrygaller.com

http://www.larrygaller.com

Southern Africa is an awesome place, the open spaces buzzing with animals and one of the smallest population ratios in the universe. Southern Africa comes with some of the greatest natural scenery in South Africa, the pretty blend of beautiful fields, scenery and swamps makes the entire place come to life. Not only can you be pleased at the scenery, one will also be seduced at the excellent lakes and waterfalls. This is a real sanctuary on earth. Visit bush camps in Zambia with Kaingo and see what Southern Africa has to offer.

In Zambia you yourself will be able to see the finest waterfall of all, the Victoria Falls. This desirable waterfall has been a place for loads of elephants with tons of big cats & elephants coming to drink the crystal clear waters that run here. Furthermore make sure you yourself view the snakes & hippos at the Zambezi River, & do not forget to bring a safari guide as the river might be a tiny bit unpredictable. you yourself may of course wish to take a photography safari in South Luangwa National Park & get near with the varieties of wildlife. On a walking tour one will see giraffes & extremely rare wild dogs. If you are lucky enough you might see a heard of elephants with their young. The ability to be so close with all of these cheerful animals is amazing.

Accommodation in Zambia can range from 5 star luxury hotels right through to tents without any radios. Whichever accommodation type you yourself select you yourself will be sure of a marvellous time.

When a relationship takes on a life of it’s own, it has been infused with Essential Sunshine.

We all evolve. We grow stronger, we grow up.

We grow older.

Some of us even mature.

This evolution process can be times of misery or personal times of happiness. The times and seasons always come, and we must allow them to come. But we ultimately decide how we will react to the times and seasons of our lives.

Essential Sunshine is the sum of the elements we take hold of that give us joy along our journey in life. These elements are associated with the most powerful life giving force on our planet, being the Sun. Only for us, these elements seem to run deeper, even stronger. So we refer to them as elements of Essential Sunshine.

Essential Sunshine is the elements in our relationships and our lives that warm us, lift us up, and support us. They are elements that make us feel good about ourselves, about who we are becoming, about what we are doing and where we are going.

They are elements that raise us to a higher level from self-awareness to a global awareness and responsibility. They are elements that will help us to become more than we ever dreamed possible.

The ultimate mystery is that these elements are unique to us, only, in their creation, form, and nature. They are tailored to our own personality and potential.

We all may have a number of similar elements, but in the end result, our elements are of our own making and discovery.

And that is what makes it so exciting!

So open your mind and your heart. Become aware and gather in those elements that will lift and improve you. You are responsible to act upon those elements purposefully placed in your path by the forces of nature and eternity.

You must take hold of them. You must incorporate them into your lives and futures.

The opportunities will present themselves, but you must act!

Bob Curtis has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and has been writing about the elements of relationships for a number of years. He is the manager of the Essential Sunshine Association, a new website for positive relationship development at http://www.essun.blogspot.com

So, you want to start a home based business? According to the U.S. census, there are over 700,000 businesses in the United States with no employees, so you’re definitely not alone. The best part is that about 20,000 of those businesses had gross receipts of over $1,000,000! That is over a million dollars for a single person, working out of their home. Obviously not every person starting a business is going to make anywhere near that kind of money. You need to have several things to even have a prayer of getting a solid, profitable business going. The type of home based business you are looking for is one that can pay you a very handsome profit, year after year, and allow you to take enough time off to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

So, how do you get such a business started? First, you need a plan, a real, solid business plan. The plan should encompass everything pertaining to your business;

• What type(s) of products or services you are selling

• Who your target market is

• How you will market your chosen products and/or services

• A complete financial plan including: your sources of financing, expected expenses, initial revenue projections (realistic ones)

• What resources you need to begin your business such as: office equipment, finances, vendors, a website, etc.

• Where you expect to be in one year and three years

A business plan is essential for a number of reasons. First, it causes you to think through your business carefully. You can make sure you have covered all your bases and that no details have been missed. Next, it will be a necessity in the event you need to seek financing. Investors will want to see a well thought out business plan.

The first decision you need to make when starting your home based business is: what will you be selling? There are many options. Do you have much needed expertise in a certain industry? If so, you could start a lucrative consulting business. Consultants in certain industries make $100 – $200/hr. Some are paid as a percentage of the money they save the client. That can be extremely profitable. I’ve personally seen consultants save businesses over a million dollars a month! If you had a fee structure such that you only received 5% of the savings, you would get a $600,000 annual paycheck! That is an abnormal, but by no means an isolated example.

You could start an online store. It is much easier to begin an online store than a bricks n’ mortar operation, however you still have a lot of work to do. You’ll need to, as with every business, evaluate your target market. Who are you selling to? What types of products will you be selling to your target market? You have distribution and fulfillment decisions to make as well. Will you be using a drop shipper, or will you be stocking products yourself?

Most small internet businesses, except for those that are selling products they produce or source locally, use drop shippers. The advantage to a drop shipper is you never touch or stock the products you sell. They are shipped directly from the fulfillment center to your customer. The advantage is obvious. Your inventory carrying costs are reduced or eliminated completely. You need not have a staff to package and ship your inventory either. The disadvantage to using a drop shipper is that you usually pay a little bit more, 3% – 5% on average, than you would if you used a traditional wholesaler. Many traditional wholesalers have fulfillment departments specifically for e-commerce businesses. You’ll have no minimum orders, but possibly a small set up fee, usually less than $100.00. Beware of the many, many fake wholesalers on the Internet. A real wholesaler will typically be used by many online and bricks n’ mortar businesses. They will buy directly from the manufacturer or importer of the products. They will not charge you a membership fee or a larger fee to get better pricing. They make their money from selling you products, not from marketing you a price list.

You could sell information products. There are four ways to obtain information products for your business:

• Create the products yourself

• Contract a third party to create them for you

• Purchase resale rights to an existing products

• Sell other’s products as an affiliate

Information products are delivered as hard copies of books or other recorded media such as tapes or CD ROMs, or they are downloaded directly to your customer’s computer. The download method works very well because you are paid instantly when the product is downloaded if you are selling your own products. If you are selling as an affiliate, you’ll typically be paid bi-weekly or monthly. In either case, you need carry no inventory. You can sell the same product over and over again, creating a nice revenue stream. Many successful home based businesses use this approach.

Another very popular home based business is selling other businesses products as an affiliate. This approach has many advantages. You carry no inventory. You are not selling the products yourself, but being paid a commission for sales to customers referred by you. You don’t have to deal with many of the headaches and expenses of traditional businesses; returns, customer service and inventory. There are many affiliates making substantial profits every month using affiliate marketing. The disadvantage is that due to low barriers to entry and low risk, there is substantial competition. You have to differentiate your business to be successful.

There are many ways you can join the exciting and profitable world of home based business. You’ll free yourself from the problems of the traditional job market and enjoy a whole new life. Make the leap!

Steve writes about a multitude of business and finance topics. He has been a principal in several businesses both online and bricks n’ mortar, including one that grossed over $1.5 million a year. See The Home Based Business Opportunities Guide
for great home business opportunities and valuable information about growing your home based business.

Practically every small business has receivables that it cannot obtain from clients. If your small business doesn’t have any such receivables, consider yourself lucky. For those small businesses that suffer from uncollected receivables, solace can be taken from the fact you can claim a tax deduction.

Bad Debt Tax Deduction

A small business can write-off bad debt losses if it meets nominal requirements. To claim such a tax deduction, the following must be shown:

A. The existence of a legal relationship between the small business and debtor;

B. The receivables are worthless; and

C. The small business suffered an actual loss.

Proving there is a legal relationship between the small business and debtor is fairly simple. You must simply show that the debtor has a legal obligation to make a payment. Most businesses issue invoices or sign contracts with debtors and these documents suffice to prove the legal relationship. If you are not putting your business relationships in writing, you should begin doing so immediately.

Proving receivables are worthless is slightly more complex. A small business is required to show that the debt has become both worthless and will remain so. You must also show that you took reasonable steps to collect the receivables, but you are not necessarily required to go to court to meet this requirement. A clear example where you would meet this requirement is if the debtor filed bankruptcy.

While proving that you suffered a loss may sound like the easiest requirement to meet, the issue is a bit more complicated. The Tax Code defines the loss as an amount that is included in your books as income, but is never collected. A classic example of such a situation would be a manufacturer that provides products to retailers on credit. The manufacturer can show a real loss if the retailer files bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, there is almost no way to claim a loss if you provide hourly services and use a cash accounting method. The IRS does not consider the expenditure of time and effort to be a sustained economic loss.

Small businesses suffer all to often from uncollected receivables. If you failed to claim such losses as a tax deduction during your last three tax filing years, you should file amended tax returns to get a refund.

Richard Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com – information on tax deductions.

One of the most popular tourist destinations these days can only be labeled as no place at all. People are lining up at docks all over the world to spend their vacation on a cruise ship. The features of the ship itself are, seemingly, far more important to most travelers then the places the boat actually docks. Depending on a lot of variables these cruises can be pretty expensive, but they don’t have to be. Play your cards right and you can get on a really cheap cruise and end up with a lot of vacation money left over for other things.

The best thing about a cruise ship vacation is that you get something completely different. While a lot of vacations turn into nothing but shopping in a different country, cruise lines offer something unique. Travelers get to be trapped in a fun filled environment they’ll never want to leave. It’s true. If you get on a ship that offers the activities you enjoy or would like to try, you end up in a very social environment that offers you a chance to lay back and relax or spend your day playing games, watching shows and hanging out with energetic crowds.

For the inexperienced vacationer this all sounds expensive. The happy fact is that an average cruise can cost the same or less then equal time in a hotel. The better news is that a cheap cruise is by no means a bad cruise. Really, offers of cheap cruises are most often just better prices on the exact same trip everyone else spent a fortune on.

Getting the good deals isn’t at all hard. It does, however, require a less then picky taste. Also, like any other vacation, it leaves you traveling in the off season.

The first thing you can do to get a cheap cruise vacation is worry less about where the ship goes. If, for instance, you like the events, layout, and activities offered by a certain cruise line and you aren’t picky about which destination you wind up on, then you can get away with not planning ahead. Much like people who get cheap airfare by buying last minute tickets, you can get deals on a cruise the same way. Like any other transportation these cruises want to be full. When the ship is scheduled to leave no matter what, then selling a cheap ticket is better then selling no ticket at all. Further, the enjoyment of their guests depends on a populated boat.

This is the same reason why traveling in non-peak seasons can get you cheap cruise tickets. It also comes down to simple supply and demand. A holiday season brings with it millions of people fighting for tickets to any given place. In turn, the price goes up because it can. Going on vacation at a time when most other people are staying home can mean the difference between a five hundred dollar cruise and a fifteen hundred dollar cruise.

If all this fails and you find that a cheap cruise still isn’t cheap enough then there’s still one other way to get on the boat. These guys are always hiring.

Christopher M. Luck has an extensive background in working exclusively with cheap cruises and is now offering his free cheap cruise advice to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher’s personal cruise advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his cruise blog

When a customer walks into your office, you want to make sure they feel welcome, you want to treat your customer as though they are a piece of gold, and not as a statistic.

Have you ever been standing in a line, and when it comes to your turn to be waited on, the sales associate yells out “next?”

Just thinking about that scenario makes me cringe. It is hardly a way to build a relationship with your customer.

I have been working in sales for more than fifteen years, and I have literally had customers tell me that the most important thing to them is to be appreciated and not treated as a statistic.

Keep this in mind the next time you wait on a customer, instead of yelling “next,” you can politely say, “may I help you Ms. Jones.”

We all have our daily, weekly, and monthly goals that we must meet. And with this pressure applied to our daily work day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that it is the customer who is the most important thing when it comes to our company’s existence. They are the backbone. Without customers, we cease to exist.

Here are a few tips to ensure that your customer is appreciated by you and your company, and not viewed as just another number in line.

1. Address Your Customer by Name

When addressing your customer, make sure you call them by name. This will put your relationship with your customer on a personal level, and customers like to know that they are remembered. It gives them a felling of importance with you, and your company.

2. Don’t Hurry Them Out the Door

The last thing the customer wants is to be hurried out the door. Remember. You are running a business, where people are your greatest asset. You are not on an assembly line manufacturing cars, so don’t treat your customer as though you are.

When you are finished with your customer’s transaction, ask if there is anything else you can do for them, or if they have any questions for you. You could even use this opportunity to ask if you could go over some of your companies products with them, which you feel could benefit them.

The last thing you want to do is get them in and get them out.

3. Discuss Non-Business Topics

There is more beneath the surface of your customers than just the business that they do with you. People love to talk about themselves, such as their family, their job’s, their pets, their hobbies, etc.
So ask your customer about one of the topics mentioned above, I guarantee they will be delighted to tell you all about it.

This is also a great way to get to know your customer, and build a strong relationship with them.

A strong business relationship is a great opportunity to obtain all of your customer’s business as well as the business of all of their friends and relatives through referrals.

So remember, don’t treat your customer like a statistic, treat them as you would treat one of your friends.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.