How to Get the Most Money When Selling Your Home

It's still a buyer's market out there. If you're putting your house on the market, you'll be up against some serious competition. To get your property sold at the price you want, you'll have to go the extra mile to help it stand out from the crowd.

Fortunately, doing so need not cut too deeply into your profits. When prepping your home for sale, the smallest touches often bring the biggest return. 

Improve Your Home's Stage Presence

It's doubtful that you would arrive for a Fortune 500 job interview dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. It's the same when selling your house. Over 1,000 experienced real estate agents agree that taking the time to clean and de-clutter a house can pay big dividends, resulting in a gain of between $1,500 and $2,000 in its selling price.

Think Beige

Although the thought of ripping the grape-patterned paper from the walls of your Tuscan kitchen might bring a tear to your eye, one thing is certain. When it comes to your decorating flights of fancy, potential buyers may not be feeling the love.

The solution is simple: Go neutral. Regardless of your love for color, you might be surprised to see how the use of soft whites, tans and other neutrals can open up your space. These shades will also blend as well with your own furnishings as they will with those of your prospects, relieving them of having to paint over your more creative hues after they've moved in. 

Depersonalize

An interested party is far more likely to sign on the dotted line if he can envision himself actually living in your house. Those beloved pictures of your kids on the piano and grandma hanging on the fireplace wall may spell "home" to you, but they will make it very hard for a stranger to see himself living in your space. It's best to pack those family treasures safely in cotton batting, promising them star billing once you've arrived at your new digs.

Dress It up a Bit

Some of the most valuable decorative touches will cost the least to accomplish. Fresh flowers in the living room will make an immediate impact. A roaring fire on a cold winter's day will do the same, particularly if you accompany the visual effect with the scent of apple cinnamon potpourri boiling on the stove.

Make Some Reasonable Renovations

In a weak economy, the often-prohibitive expense of updating a kitchen or installing a new attic bedroom can cut too deeply into any hoped-for ROI. Fortunately, other fix-me-ups can make an impression in a way that's considerably more cost-effective. These include:

• A new front door. 
• Vinyl or fiber-cement siding.
• Double- or triple-pane windows.
• A modern water heater.
• Upgraded HVAC.
• New or steam-cleaned carpets.
• A back-yard patio or deck.

Smile for the Camera

According to Julie Reynolds of Realtor.com, web appeal could soon trump curb appeal when it comes to attracting buyers. Many modern house hunters spend days scouring the web before ever setting foot inside a Realtor's office. She also recommends using an agent that has gone through a qualified real estate school.

If your home is to compete well on the online front, it must be ready for its close-up, and still pictures alone may not be enough. Statistics show that potential buyers are 150 percent more likely to click on a Realtor's listing if it features a video walk-through. Such extras work wonders in encouraging buyers to leave the comfort of their own homes to have a closer look at yours.

Have Your Own Inspection

Do-it-yourself projects, so popular in stringent economic times; often suffer from shoddy workmanship that leads to dangerous conditions. The hazards may not announce themselves at first glance, but if they show up during a buyer's inspection, they can seriously stymie any sale.

The savvy seller will beat buyers to the punch with a pre-inspection. The fact that a home has already had and passed one with flying colors will be of enormous comfort to any house hunter and could mean the difference between a walk-away and an actual sale.

In good times and bad, carrying out these cost-effective home improvements can enable you to reap the greatest profits on the day you turn over the keys.

How to Live Comfortably on a Fixed Retirement Income

When you're working, it's relatively easy to put in some extra overtime to boost your earnings. After you retire, however, you have to adjust to living on a fixed income; that means freeing up room in your budget so that you have cash in the bank for when something unexpected happens. You don't have to suffer through your retirement, but practicing a little frugality will help you build a financial cushion for unexpected expenses.  

Dine In

On average, Americans spend nearly half their budget on food. One of the best ways to cut your expenses is to cook more at home. Take advantage of having more time in your schedule and spend some time exploring new recipes, you may even find that you enjoy cooking more than you thought. You don't have to live on Ramen noodles, but be reasonable about your food budget and mix-up "treat" nights where you may have something more expensive like steak with other nights where you have less expensive meals like pasta. Try to plan your weekly meals in advance so that you don't overspend when you go to the grocery store. 

Give Up Your Landline

Many retirees like the security of having traditional telephone at home and a cell phone for when they are on the road. While that is a nice luxury, it also means you have two phone bills to pay every month. Since long distance doesn't cost extra and the majority of cell phone plans offer adequate minutes for a reasonable price, many people are opting to have their cell phone as their only phone. Another nice safety feature of cell phones is that even if you are out of minutes on your prepaid plan or over minutes on your contract, you can still always make 911 calls in case of an emergency. Many cell phone plans include free directory assistance as well. 

Don't Use Credit Cards

Even though you've worked all your life to build an excellent credit score, you really should avoid taking on new consumer debt during your post-retirement years. Switching to a cash or debit card only policy for purchases will help reduce your monthly bills so that you can stretch your income further. Keep your credit cards for legitimate uses only. If you do like to use credit cards in order to take advantage of reward programs, then pay off your balances every month so that they don't accrue interest. Treat credit card spending just as if you are spending cash, if you don't have the money in the bank to cover the bill, don't buy things on credit.

Share Vacation Expenses

It is natural to want to travel during your golden years and you've earned that privilege. However, expensive cruises and long overseas trips can decimate your savings quickly. Travel with friends or family members who can help you cover some of the expenses such as lodging. If you like to spend time at the beach, see if you can rent a vacation home with another couple instead of staying at a pricey hotel. Split your trips up so that you have plenty of time to save up enough money so you can have a good time without feeling guilty about spending too much money. It is also a good idea to book vacations as early as possible.

Use Senior Discounts

If you go to a store, a diner, or any other place that offers discounts to senior citizens, then take advantage of them. Some people pass up on these discounts because they make them feel "old" or they don't like revealing their true age. This is like throwing money away. Even if it is, only a small percentage off, senior citizen discounts save you money. If someone were going to sell you something for $5, would you pay $10 for it? No, of course you wouldn't. Not asking about senior discounts or turning them down is the same as paying for more for things than you really have to. Some places only offer discounts on certain days, so plan your schedule around discount times.

Review Your Monthly Bills

Every bit of money you can take off your monthly bills is more money in your pocket. For example, look at your cable bill carefully. Do you really watch all those channels? You can most likely switch to a basic plan that is less expensive. Be sure to turn off lights when you leave a room and unplug appliances that you don't use very often. It is also a good idea not to overindulge in heating and air condition. That doesn't mean you have to be uncomfortable, but don't keep your home ridiculously cold in the summer and sweltering during the winter. Utility costs are typically a large chunk of household expenses, so try to be conservative. 

Cut Clothing Expenses

Yes, you do want to have nice clothes when you go out, but you don't need to keep a wardrobe full of professional attire as you had when you were working. Mix up your wardrobe so that you have nice clothes for special occasions and some inexpensive clothes for just running around doing errands or doing chores around the house. Locate some second hand shops in good neighborhoods and you can save a lot of money on clothes, especially everyday wear. That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy new clothes at all, but allot money in your budget for clothing and stick to that fixed amount.


There really is no such thing as having too much money saved up for retirement. Retirement is just another phase of your life, not the end of it. Don't make the mistake of spending money as if you are going to die quickly. Many people live 20 years or more past their retirement age. Be a little frugal about spending money and it will help you stretch your retirement income a lot further. Sure, you can splurge occasionally, but makes sure it is a planned expense.


About the Author: Tony Standin is a personal finance expert with a passion for frugal living. His goal is to help others learn to plan, budget, and save for the future so they can experience the most comfortable retirement possible!

Reach Your Retirement Goals Faster Playing The Budget Game!

Throughout our entire lives, we dream of financial freedom. We think of what it will be like to retire and finally be able to do the things that we enjoy full time! So, we work and work and save and save hoping to reach a retirement goal that we set years back. But, wouldn't it be great to reach those goals faster than you thought simply by getting competitive with yourself? Well, you can!

Recently, I got bored with budgeting. I mean, really bored! So much so that I stopped keeping track all together. Oh boy, was that a great idea or what? A couple of months flew by as they always do and, I started to realize, I wasn't saving any money or making much of a dent in the debt I was working so hard to pay off! It should come as no surprise that I quickly updated my budget and took a look at my bank statement to see where all the money was going. Small purchases were killing my retirement plan because they weren't being made in moderation with the help of a budget.

Now, there is no one on this planet that doesn't like budgeting as much as me so, if it is one of your least favorite things to do, join the club! What came as a shock to me is, there are overwhelming amounts of people out there that feel the same way I do about budgeting. I found that out as I sifted through several different personal finance websites around the web. 

After reading up on ways to make the process fun, I came to the conclusion that none of the approaches I'd found would work for me. Why? Well, they were all great but, I'm a competitive person! I like to play games, keep score and of course, WIN! So, I figured, why not try and turn my budget into a game. In the game, every dollar would signify a point and there would be set barriers to break. 

I started by cleaning up my budget spreadsheet. Once I did, I totaled up my debt goals and savings goals. I had to do at least this much to get a positive score. For every dollar I spent that went over my goals for that month, I would give myself a point. Month by month, I started to track my progress. 

In the first month, I ended up with a negative score which, well, frustrated me. But, I didn't reach my goals and now, I was being told I didn't by a score board! So, I did some tweaking. I looked at where my money was going and made some changes to how it was being spent. The next month, I scored 11 points! Which was not much considering I had a 219 point dent to cover from the month before.

So, I worked and worked, tweaking little spending habits and eventually, I got the high score of 376 points! I'm still working to beat it but, what that means is $376 more than my goals made it to pay off my debts or pad my savings a bit in one month! That's great considering I have pretty aggressive goals! That being said, I'm going to challenge you to start playing the budget game. All the instructions for how to set up your score board and play the budget game are available in my recent article, How To Make Budgeting More Fun. 

About The Author – Joshua Rodriguez
This article was written by Joshua Rodriguez, proud owner and founder of CNA Finance and avid personal finance journalist. Join the conversation with Joshua on Google+!

Things to Consider While Running your Own Business

Perhaps you have thought about starting up your own business, but you are not sure if it is something that you are able to do. Well if you have a hobby or you spend your time dabbling in what is called entrepreneurship the perhaps starting up your own business is a good thing to do. How can there be anything wrong in owning your own business and it also being about something that you really have a passion for. If you can have that passion and it is about something that you are passionate about then you will never enjoy having your own business as much as this. 

Starting up your own business

There are lots of things that you can use in order to start up your own business and here are just some of the examples that you may find interesting, none of these examples require much and they are very easy to start up as a business. There are many things that you will need to do if you find that they start to take off you are in need of producing even more of the items that you are selling.

Being able to make the business work

But first you need to find out if you have a market for the things that you are selling. If you find that you do have a need for the items then you will need to decide if you are just going to sell them from home or if you are going to need to find yourself premises so that you can start to sell the items on a bigger scale. So now you have the items and you are starting to make a business out of them what is your next step? This is something that you may need to seek further advice on. Below there are some ideas that you may not have thought about or that you may have not thought would be viable for a small business.

Ideas for businesses

Some ideas which are easy to start up

• Refurbishing antique furniture – This is something which you may want to get into if you enjoy antiques. You may have antiques at home which you have restored or you may be into buying antiques. If you have the patience to restore and look after the antiques then you will be able to make a very good profit out of them. 
• Auto Detailing – If you have an eye for detail and you enjoy making things clean, it is all about making cars gleam and cleaning them inside and out, the good thing about this service is that people will pay the money to have this done. 
• Baby sitting – Do you have plenty of evenings free? Well if you do this could be the job for you. If you feel that you could look after more than one child on a Friday or Saturday night then you could earn a very good income from this. 
• Cake decorating – If you have an eye for detail and you enjoy baking them this is another good business to get into, but it is no good if you are not willing to put the time and effort into it as you need to extremely good at this in order to make a good enough income from it.

Many more business ideas

There are many other things that you could use in order to start up your own business here we have just mentioned a few which you could possibly think about using or actually use.

Author Bio:Austin Richard Is an I.T professional from pass certification. He is 9L0-314 certified. He is now getting prepared for 9L0-408 exam. He likes to write about Business.

A Demo Account To Start Exploring The World OF Forex

The trading on the Forex market is one of the most simple activities, but at the same time it’s risky in the financial investments panorama. It’s simple because, with very limited investments, you can actually invest significantly higher amounts of money simply by choosing whether to go long or short on a currency cross. It’s risky because the use of levers up to 500 or 1000 times the capital invested can burn your money in a matter of minutes. 

This happens because one of the main characteristics of the Forex market is the volatility. In fact, an exchange ratio is influenced every minute by unpredictable events (natural disasters, terrorist attacks, unexpected news, etc ...) or expected events, but with a different outcome from what expected by analysts. The publication of macroeconomic data, the statements of central bankers, the rating cut of a state are all market movers which needs a gradual learning of the Forex matter.
For this reason, the major online brokers offer demo accounts through which beginners traders can understand how the Forex market works, but also what are the most liquid currency pairs and the risks generated by the use of too aggressive levers.
A good rule for a novice trader is therefore to carefully choose a good broker evaluating the spread policies, the cross on which the operation is offered, the degree of leverage offered, graphics platforms, etc… So, in order to get all the information to choose the suitable broker for your needs, the best choice is to open a free of charge, for example this demo account.

After opening a demo account, the trader can use virtual currency and start immediately to trade in the Forex market. The first thing that the you will notice is the speed with which you can earn, but unfortunately also lose money. Usually, at the beginning, the novice trader tends to use very high levels and this creates easy enthusiasms if the first trades are positive, but often these trades result in devastating burns when you get to use real money.

A good tip can therefore be to use the demo account for all the time granted by the broker, trying to understand the market and its dynamics, but also adjusting the leverage to your risk profile. Only after one month of training on the demo account, the trader will be ready to pass from virtual to real money.
A good idea would also be to open demo accounts with different brokers at the same time in order to compare in real time who is the best suited to your needs. Doing the same trade on more demo account is a good way to compare speed of execution, spreads, news service, graphics, different brokers. After some time, the trader will understand the differences and will start to abandon those brokers who do not respond to his needs. At the end of the trial period of the demo account, the quality of the broker is certified and you can begin to work with it by paying real money.

How to Deal with an Accident Abroad that Wasn't Your Fault

Accidents Will Happen (Photo credit: elycefeliz)

Being involved in an accident whilst abroad can be a really traumatic experience. The experience is even more difficult to deal with because you are so far away from home. Accidents whilst abroad bring much confusion with insurance to deal with, different laws, and language barriers. Regardless, if you have been injured whether physically or psychologically due to someone else’s fault or neglect, then you need a little understanding to make the circumstances a little more bearable. You can get this information and the advice you need from experts back in the UK without complication.

If you are involved in an accident abroad, then you will probably want nothing more than to get home as quickly as you can. Whatever you do, make sure you record anything and everything to help you when you get home. You can get advice from the experts as to what to do next and focus on your efforts on a speedy recovery.

The key to effectively dealing with your personal circumstances is to contact a personal injury solicitor. Initially, you might be focused on getting home and will probably want to avoid any hassle if you can. This is where the experts can help; getting a hassle free service is simply a case of finding a reputable company to represent you and take on your case. If someone else is responsible for your injuries in whatever way, then why shouldn't 

 you get the compensation you deserve? You can get the best help ensuring you recover as quickly as possible, and that is the most important thing.

An accident abroad can have a happy ending; as strange as that might sound. If you can recover as quickly as possible and recover any lost earnings for example, then at least you can get back to full health and get back to your day to day routine as quickly as possible. Personal injury solicitors can take on all the legalities and hassle for you so you can completely avoid any stress that you would prefer not to be involved in. They can also offer their expertise and advise you on whether or not your claim is worth pursuing. They may even be able to give you an indication of how much compensation you can expect.

Personal injury lawyers have the expertise to help you deal with an accident abroad that wasn’t your fault effectively. If its money you are concerned about, then you can even consider a ‘no win no fee’ option. These options are designed to ensure you get 100% of the compensation awarded to you. The idea is that your representation will claim their fees from the opposing party. Again, the deal you get here depends in the company you choose; always look into the detail to make sure you are getting the service you expect and don’t be afraid to ask questions along the way.

Dealing with an accident whilst abroad can be really scary. It’s not nice to be involved in an accident anyway, but when you are so far away from home it can be traumatic. Get the help and assistance you need for a speedy recovery with a reputable personal injury solicitor.