Quincy Harrington - 10 Tips to Sell Your Home Fast

1 Set yourself up for a quick sale

The peak homebuying season may be over, but there are still steps you can take to ensure a speedy sale. Setting the right price and making an excellent first impression are both essential to attracting buyers, but what else can you do to get the offers rolling in? Here are 10 tips to help you sell your home as quickly as possible – even in the offseason.

 2 Price it right from the start

Sellers often think they should start the asking price high and then lower it later if the house fails to sell. But that can result in a slower sale – sometimes even at a lower price. “The first 30 days’ activity of your house being on the market is always the best activity you’re going to see,” says Michael Mahon, general manager of HER Realtors in Columbus, Ohio. If the price is too high, many buyers and their agents will stay away, assuming you’re not serious about selling or you’re unwilling to negotiate.

3 Enhance your home’s curb appeal

This could mean adding new sod, planting flowers, painting the front door or replacing the mailbox. Prospective buyers form an opinion the moment they spot the home. "Curb appeal is everything,” Mahon says. “Driving into the driveway and walking into that front door sets the expectations.

4 Update the interior and exterior

New fixtures, fresh paint and updated landscaping are all fairly easy and affordable ways to give your home a makeover. “It’s got to look up to the current market conditions and what’s in style,” Mahon says.

5 Clean, declutter and depersonalize

The fewer things there are in the home, the larger it will look, so remove knickknacks and excess furniture. Also take down family photos, religious items and political posters so prospective buyers can envision their family in the house, not yours. Finally, you may want to hire a cleaning service to do a deep cleaning.

6 Stage the house to show how the rooms are supposed to be used

If you have odd rooms with no obvious role, give them one. An odd alcove off the kitchen could be staged as an office or a pantry, for example.

 7 Make the property easy to show

The more flexible you are about visits, the more people will be able to see your home. Be ready for prospective visitors early in the morning, at night and on weekends, with little notice. Also, leave when the house is shown so would-be buyers can feel free to move about without feeling like intruders and discuss the home's pros and cons honestly.

8 Remove your pets

Also remove their paraphernalia, such as dog dishes and cat litter boxes (or at least hide them). A prospective buyer shouldn’t even know that a pet lives in the home if you can help it, Mahon says.

9 Make sure your listing is on all the major online portals

This is usually part of an agent’s service, but it doesn’t hurt to double-check that your listing is on Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. It also helps if your agent showcases the home on social media. “We sell as many homes off Facebook as we do off the [multiple listing service],” Mahon says. Both the agency and the individual agents have Facebook business pages where they share listings.

10 Ensure the listing has good photos, and lots of them

Most homebuyers start their search online and decide which homes they want to see based on the photos. You probably want something better than snapshots taken quickly with your agent’s phone.

Read More: usnews.com

Quincy Harrington - 10 Easy Steps to Save Money

Quincy Harrington - No matter how much money I have, it is never enough for all the expenses I seemingly incur.

Once you have implemented these tips into your lifestyle, you will begin to see change in your finances and that will allow you to start putting away a R100 or more into the money market, think about the power of compound interest in long term investments.

A small consolation is that I am not alone, but instead of doing nothing about it, I have in the past few years practised the art of discipline when it comes to spending money.

In an article on How SA women spend their money, a lot of women have pointed to spending unnecessary amounts of money on wants rather than needs.

Here are the 10 tips:

1. If you are obsessed about styling, cutting your hair every fortnight, perhaps you can switch to between six and eight weeks. This goes for manicures and pedicures, better still, you can do this yourself, buying your own kit is cheaper in the longer run.The reality is that on top of the costs of having these treatments, you are likely to buy coffee, a sandwich and when you count the cost, it adds up.

2. Look at your laundry costs. A lot of people spend a lot of money on dry cleaning when some of the clothes can actually be washed at home.Her advice, wash more, dry less.

3. We live in a world where toxic friends are in – they drag us to fancy bars where you are likely to spend R25 on water, never mind what the drinks costs. Orman says instead of ordering a martini to look cool, downgrade to a wine or beer. It’s the company that makes the evening not the decor, and where you pay more for your drink, there is a tip to be added to your bill.

4. Instead of buying lunch, make your own at home. The reality for many people is that buying lunch, whether it’s a sandwich or salad, is usually complemented by a soft drink, another cost. Get a roommate if rent is your biggest fixed cost and cut on that spend.

5. Use public transport and lift clubs whenever you can. With the petrol price expected to increase to about R15 per litre this year, car owners will feel the pinch. According to Orman, taking a cab should be treated as a special occasion or reserved for when it’s really the only safe alternative to public transport.

6. Be a good sport. Sports such as golf and skiing are costly, as such, one has to think strategically, she says. Buy your gear off season or buy used stuff and you will save loads of money on the swank and still get to play the sport. It is also a good idea to practise on public golf course rather than on a private club course.

7. I know I love movies and I am often horrified by the amount of money I spend on tickets and popcorn. If you have to do this make it a treat, look for good deals, for example, Nu Metro has its special Woza Wednesday, and Ster Kinekor is half price on Tuesdays. Better still, Orman says its cost effective to hire movies to watch at home, and you can also make your own popcorn at home (the joys of microwave).

8. Get a roommate if rent is your biggest fixed cost and cut on that spend. Unfortunately this one is not to everyone’s taste, if sharing is not ideal for you, find a cheaper place to rent.

9. Get ahead of the housing trend. Her advice is that if you are Young, Fabulous and Broke that you cannot make ends meet, fight the urge to live in the hippiest, trendiest neighbourhood or block if you are dipping into your credit card to pay for your accommodation. By understanding what different areas offer and for what price, you will be in a better position to cut drastically on your rental or get good value for money when you buy into a location.

It’s the company that makes the evening not the decor, and where you pay more for your drink, there is a tip to be added to you bill.

No point in buying a ‘box’ home for a premium in a trendy area where you cannot even fit all your furniture never mind own a dog when a block down the road offers all that. Before buying property, research and speak to various estate agents operating in that area and find out how much on average homes sell for in the area. Property reports are useful to have - click here to view a sample or here for more information about obtaining reports.

10. Drive your car longer, she says. Rather than trading in your car after three or four years and taking out another loan for a new car, hold onto it for between six and eight years. The reality about cars is that they are liabilities rather than assets and they depreciate in value as soon as you drive them off the showroom floor, unlike property that gains value. For many people, a car is not just a mode of transport - it is a symbol of power, except this kind of power leaves holes in one’s pockets.

Once you have implemented these tips into your lifestyle, you will begin to see change in your finances and that will allow you to start putting away a R100 or more into the money market -think about the power of compound interest in long term investments.

Read More : property24.com

Quincy Harrington - Dovish Fed scares financial markets | Blogger

Quincy Harrington - Stocks fell sharply and bond prices rose as traders reacted to a new level of worry about China chilling global growth, after the Fed revealed its own concerns.

Stocks were down sharply out of the gate, with the S&P 500 down about 1.2 percent in afternoon trading. The Dow was down as much as 300 points. The Fed Thursday held off on hiking interest rates and pointed to international developments that could slow the economy.

"The biggest signal from the Fed is that the international conditions are weak enough that we should be concerned about a bleed through to domestic conditions and that's what's worrying the market more than anything else," said Gina Martin Adams, institutional equity strategist at Wells Fargo Securities.

Stocks sold off globally after U.S. stocks turned in a mixed reaction Thursday after two hours of volatile trading. Asian markets were mixed overnight, with the Shanghai up 0.4 percent, but selling gripped European stocks, and the German DAX was down about 3 percent.

Read More : cnbc.com

10 Ways to Finance Your Business

Financing a business is always a challenge. Here we've compiled 10 techniques, from the tried-and-true to the experimental.

1. Get a Bank Loan

Lending standards have gotten much stricter, but banks such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America have earmarked additional funds for small business lending. So why not apply?

2. Use a Credit Card

Using a credit card to fund your business is some serious risky business. Fall behind on your payment and your credit score gets whacked. Pay just the minimum each month and you could create a hole you'll never get out of. However, used responsibly, a credit card can get you out of the occasional jam and even extend your accounts payable period to shore up your cash flow.

3. Tap into Your 401(k)

If you're unemployed and thinking about starting your own business, those funds you've accumulated in your 401(k) over the years can look pretty tempting. And thanks to provisions in the tax code, you actually can tap into them without penalty if you follow the right steps.

4. Try Crowdfunding

A crowdfunding site like Kickstarter.com can be a fun and effective way to raise money for a relatively low cost, creative project. You'll set a goal for how money you'd like to raise over a period of time, say, $1,500 over 40 days. Your friends, family, and strangers then use the site to pledge money.

5. Pledge Some of Your Future Earnings

Young, ambitious and willing to make a bet on your future earnings? Consider how Kjerstin Erickson, Saul Garlick and Jon Gosier are trying to raise money. Through an online marketplace called the Thrust Fund, the three have offered up a percentage of their future lifetime earnings in exchange for upfront, undesignated venture funding. Erickson is willing to swap 6 percent of her future lifetime earnings for $600,000. The other two entrepreneurs are each offering 3 percent of future earnings for $300,000. Beware: the legality and enforceability of these "personal investment contracts" have yet to be established.

6. Attract an Angel Investor

When pitching an angel investor, all the old rules still apply: be succinct, avoid jargon, have an exit strategy. But the economic turmoil of the last few years has made a complicated game even trickier.

 7. Secure an SBA Loan

With banks reluctant to take any chances with their own money in the wake of the credit crisis, loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration have become a hot commodity. Indeed, funds to support special breaks on fees and guarantees on SBA-backed loans have run out a number of times. And while SBA-backed loans are open to any small business.

8. Raise Money from Your Family and Friends

Hitting up family and friends is the most common way to finance a start-up. But when you turn loved ones into creditors, you're risking their financial future and jeopardizing important personal relationships. A classic mistake is approaching friends and family before a formal business plan is even in place.

9. Get a Microloan

Microlenders offer smaller loan sizes, usually require less documentation than banks, and often apply more flexible underwriting criteria. There are a few hundred microlenders throughout the U.S. and they often charge slightly higher interest rates for loans than banks.

10. Consider Factoring

Factoring is a finance method where a company sells its receivables at a discount to get cash up-front. It's often used by companies with poor credit or by businesses such as apparel manufacturers, which have to fill orders long before they get paid. However, it's an expensive way to raise funds.

Quincy Harrington - 5 Finance Management Tips for Small Businesses

While starting a business, revenue fluctuations are common and owners struggle to have a steady income. Rising manpower costs and spends on technology add to the burden of managing finance better. To ease up their life, small business owners can follow the below finance management tips that will help them to sail through initial finance-related challenges and even help them foresee them. Tapping into the latest technological solutions at the earliest will prove helpful and business owners should not ignore them.

1. Use Cloud Computing Solutions

Latest reports suggest that more and more small businesses are adopting for finance management solutions available on cloud due to the many free or low-cost options available and lower barriers to entry. The trend is fast catching on as spending on technology is proving to be far more affordable instead of hiring more people.

Managing bills and finances is a complicated task and can get stressful as well. Lots of companies are seeing the opportunity to help small business in this area. There are several accounting software available on cloud which help in not only sorting out the finances better but also help in taking effective business decisions.

2. Have Better Supply Chain Management

To efficiently manage supply chain, small business owners should ensure that there is tight supervision in the process and check that they rule out the possibilities of middle men who may add up to the extra costs. Efficient supply chain management would be more prevalent to B2C. Such businesses should reassess the supply chain process from time to time.

  

3. Be Ready for Risky Times

The global financial crisis in 2008 has taught businesses to be prepared for all possible type of risks. Hence, risk assessments should be an integral part of business and finance planning. Small businesses should be extremely careful while managing cash flow and ensure they have a risk strategy in place in case there is any turbulence in the business environment.

  4. Go Paperless

One can be surprised with the amount of saving one can do by deciding to go paperless. Not only will it ensure cost reduction in the business but will also help you do your bit for the environment. Clients will love to partner with businesses which are more aware of the societal and environmental needs.

  5. Latch on to BYOD Trend

It is unlikely that new businesses haven’t got bitten by the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) bug. Smart entrepreneurs are using and also promoting the use of gadgets like smartphones, tablets during work hours which helps them close on things faster. An AMI report states that spending on smartphones in India among SMBs increased steadily. According to AMI’s 2013 India SMB ICT & Cloud Services Tracker Overview, 55 per cent of small businesses and 43 per cent of medium-sized businesses currently have BYOD policies implemented. The report also states that SMBs enjoy several cost benefits with the implementation of such policies. These include cost savings on hardware, increased employee productivity as they are able to access their devices anytime anywhere.

Source : http://www.franchiseindia.com/entrepreneur/article/features/ecosystem/5-Finance-Management-Tips-for-Small-Businesses-489/

Quincy Harrington - Taxsutra Analysis of Finance Act, 2015 amendments effective from 1st June, 2015

Taxsutra Analysis of Finance Act, 2015 amendments effective from 1st June, 2015