Personal Finance Blog

Tips And Stories To Help You With Managing Money

Set Emotion Aside During a House Sale

By

Be objective about selling your home.
Be objective about selling your home.
A home seller who is making decisions based on emotional feelings about their property may find the going very slow, real estate experts say. Failure to look at the sale as a financial transaction (although a very important financial transaction) may thwart efforts to consummate the sale. Cold, hard decisions should be made without sentimentality getting in the way, they say.

The experts offer these suggestions to avoid pitfalls related to emotion:

Don’t expect a potential buyer to see the value you attach to certain features of your property. They are not likely to pay a premium for something that has special value only in your mind. Don’t’ let your emotional attachments lead you into setting an unrealistic price. Remember, too, that the price you paid for your property is not likely the price that it will bring. While an older property may have escalated in value, if you bought at the market’s peak a few years ago, you may find the asking price will be adjusted downward.

If you have marked emotional feelings about the property, please let the realtor conduct showings. Make arrangements to be absent, says Renee Weinberg of Petrey Real Estate in Long Beach, N. Y. , in a Bankrate.com article.

Having the seller at hand becomes sensitive when a potential buyer finds flaws in the property, agreed Karyn Anjali Glubis of The Real Estate Expert in Tampa, Fla. When the seller takes comments personally, the sale is jeopardized. The seller must remember that the comments relate to the property, not to the person, she said. The involvement of the seller may hamper the free flow of conversation between the prospective buyers and the realtor. Better that the parties do not meet until there is a serious proposal for purchase.

Those who are selling need to be aware that the most interest will come during the first two weeks. The longer a property is on the market, the worse the offers are likely to get, the experts know. Sellers worry that they may have underpriced their property, but waiting for a better offer may keep the property on the market longer. The market tends to make reasonable adjustments over time.

Taking the whole process personally is a mistake, said Fiona Dogan, a realtor in Rye, N.Y. “Sellers need to become emotionally detached very quickly from their homes. By its nature, a real estate transaction is aggressive and confrontational since the seller wants the highest price and the buyer the lowest.” Negotiations usually will mean that the would-be buyer will point out flaws and the seller could be offended. But such nit-picking means the buyer is genuinely interested, Dogan said. To pass up the sale because of such feelings defeats the purpose in a big way.

Be Certain Your Resume Reflects The Real You

By

Your Resume Is Crucial For Landing Your Next Job
Your Resume Is Crucial For Landing Your Next Job
When your resume is a large part of the first impression a prospective employer sees, you want to be sure that the resume tells the true story. It’s enough to keep you awake nights before a crucial interview as you try to decide how much information is necessary and at what point it becomes fluff.

Experts share these tips for the job hunters:

By all means showcase your professional accomplishments, but relate them to the job you are seeking. How does what you have done relate to the skills required for this new employment opportunity? The company you are trying to impress will understand that you have researched the job and that you are in tune with the skills they want.

If your resume is dated, bring it up to date. It should be flexible to meet the specific needs of the actual position you desire. Though some information, obviously, will always be the same, there may be areas of your past work experience that will relate more directly to this position. The traditional wisdom said that a one-page resume is best. But if you have experience that seems relevant and it won’t fit on one page, don’t hesitate to include a second page. Be concise, but not stingy. Don’t short change yourself for the sake of brevity.

Your entire job history may be excessive, especially experience that is totally irrelevant to the position you are seeking. Don’t neglect gaps in your experience. Many times they are entirely justified. Even if you have gaps related to the current job market, many employers are aware that the recent recession put understandable holes into the job histories of many Americans.

Honesty counts. Don’t embellish your experience and skills. Open discussion of past problems is better than back-pedaling to explain things for which you have no good explanation. You may be asked to demonstrate certain skills. Failure to perform is the death knell for your application.

Neatness counts as well. Errors or a poor layout of your resume may catch the interviewer’s eye sooner than the content. Have a qualified friend or a professional proofreader look it over before you hand it to a prospective employer.

Non-paid internships or volunteer work in a related field are legitimate items to include in a resume, especially for young applicants whose experience is naturally limited. A mix of information may impress the reviewer with your willingness to try many things that add to your versatility.

Small Business Hires Are Up

By

Companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring.
Companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring.
For some time, financial experts have been predicting a surge in hiring among small businesses. Now it’s happening. As the demand for their products and services swell, the companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring, economists report.

The growth in the small business arena also is reflected in a spate of new businesses such as car care, spas, cosmetology and special service areas. This suggests that Americans as individuals also are moving beyond the recession mode and spending more for non-essentials. As the general economy becomes more robust, the money is spreading further, small businesses report. A quickly-recovering construction industry and increased consumer spending also are fuel for the increased hiring in the small business sector.

The recovery of the real estate market in south Florida, for example, allowed Tadd Schwartz to add five members to the staff of his public relations firm in the past year. The company’s revenue is up 16 percent in 2014 and he is now able to “hit the ground running” when a new client shows up.

A sharp increase in orders also prompted Brad Barrett, owner of Grill Grate to look for new employees. Barrett and his wife spent the post-Fourth of July Monday filling more than 500 orders for their product, which is a raised grilling surface for backyard grills. Obviously, it was time to take on more help. They expected to add two workers to their Cartersville, Ga., company shortly. The Barretts expect a 40 percent growth in revenue this year.

The surge in small business hiring also has a ripple effect. New employees need computers and supplies. Companies that had put off upgrades in their equipment and inventories are spending to get back on track.

Cut Costs on College Textbooks

By

Save money on college textbooks by buying used books.
Save money on college textbooks by buying used books.
After tuition, the biggest financial challenge for many college students is the soaring cost of textbooks. On average, students pay about $1,200 per year on class texts and other materials, according to the College Board, whose members represent colleges universities and other educational institutions.

The costs rose about 6 percent a year from 2002 to 2012, about three times the rate of overall inflation, the Government Accountability Office reported. One of the reasons is the frequent issuing of new textbooks with little new material. Many texts also include workbooks and other supporting materials that boost the cost.

In 2008, the Higher Education Opportunity Act was passed, requiring publishers to inform college faculty about the content of textbooks along with pricing. Schools also are required to list a textbook’s price and the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) in course registration materials. The information is expected to help students to make decision as to whether they should buy new or used or rent a text.

There are some options that reduce the costs for students who are textbook shopping:

Armed with the ISBN, you can shop online. Punch in the numeric code and you can do some comparison shopping. One for-instance: college freshmen required to have “Campbell Biology” for their classwork will find the new copies selling at $241. But a used copy often will be available in the neighborhood of $181. Use comparison pricing websites to find even better deals – as low as $30 per copy. Remember that shipping times and fees will vary. Not all online dealers have refund policies. And not all used book have the CDs or electronic codes that access course content online. You’d have to buy them separately.

It is possible to rent textbooks, either from online retailers or college bookstores. Most of the 3,000 members of the National Association of College Stores now offer rentals. Most rental agreements are for an entire term, including the final exam period. The renter is required to keep the items in good repair and it may not be possible to jot notes in the margin as you might do with your own property. Renting has the advantage of not having to resell or store the book. The renter will tack on fees if you are late returning the text, and the supplementary materials that are assigned with many textbooks would have to be arranged for separately.

Many assignments can be read online. Consider an e-text. Digital books can also be rented at a fraction of the cost of buying a new textbook. There is no need for a dedicated reader. You can access the materials on most devices. Most have tools that assist you in highlighting and taking notes. Most young students today are comfortable with this kind of learning, but for those who didn’t grow up with computers, there may be a period of adjusting.

Work At Home? Balance Job, Family

By

Over 18 million home based businesses exist in America today.
Over 18 million home based businesses exist in America today.
Home-based businesses have gained respectability in the economic arena as their numbers have grown. The Bureau of Labor estimates that 18.3 million home-based businesses now exist in the country and some other sources say that number is too low, that there probably are closer to 38 million such businesses.

Maintain A Healthy Balance

That means a lot of people are balancing the competing demands of their work and their households, where children and other necessities make their presence felt. It’s the epitome in convenience coupled with the challenge of keeping on track, given the push and pull of two major demands under one roof.

There are some compromises to be made. Volunteering for school or charity work may have to be put on hold until it can be successfully undertaken without sacrificing time that might be spent adding to your income. The at-home business person may have to create a personal gauge for measuring what is most important on a day-by-day basis.

And unless the person who works from home is well-disciplined, there is a tendency to skip work for what seems at the moment to fall into that “important” category.

Schedule Your Time Wisely

The solution, experts say, is to set definite boundaries and firm time schedules. If your children know from long experience that from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is your work time, they will likely respect that time frame. On your side, it is necessary that you remember not to become so immersed in what you are doing that you forget it’s time to prepare dinner. When it’s time to shut down the computer, shut down the computer. If the schedule is maintained consistently, all parties will benefit. Some at-home workers say they wait until everyone else is in bed if they have left-over work that just won’t keep, rather than violate the accepted routine.

Scheduling important calls for times when children are occupied will save the embarrassment of having them interrupt. They’re famous for that, inevitably picking the moment that the call goes through to engage in an argument or otherwise disrupt your business. If they have a regular nap time or are in school, that’s the time for important calls.

Include Family Members As Partners

Getting the children on board as invested partners in the business is smart. Let them see how the results of your productivity affect them positively. When you have a particularly successful period at work, get them a special treat and be sure they know that the treat is the result of uninterrupted time at your work. As one mother described how it works for her, “They know that their job is to play so that Mommy can work.” A father said he gives his growing boys assignments to make their home business succeed. “The boys have both expressed interest in running their own business some day,” he said. “They are getting a daily education that you wouldn’t be able to get any place else.

A Positive Attitude Helps

Stay positive. When the going gets tough, recite the benefits: No travel to work. No boss. Little or no overhead. Freedom to set your own parameters. A greater amount of control over your own financial destiny. Flexibility when you really need it.

Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you can make your home business work, it won’t.