Charm City Real Estate Investment

The Harris House - John St/Bolton Hill

2008-12-01T10:37:00.001-05:00

Eight Smart Personal-Finance Moves in '08 by Don Taylor

2008-04-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

1. Define or refine your life goals
2. Put together a spending plan
3. Establish an emergency plan
4. Manage your credit
5. Review and rebalance your portfolio
6. Know your net worth
7. List your accounts
8. Estimate your retirement nest egg needs
9. Be a part of your community (bonus item)

1. Define or refine your life goals. What do you want out of life? How are you going to achieve it? Money is one of the means to achieving a goal but seldom is the goal itself. Don't get drawn into the vague generalities of a comfortable retirement, an education for your children or traveling the globe. When you know what you're working toward, you'll be more committed to investing for those goals.

Spend some time thinking through what you want to accomplish in your lifetime. The Bankrate Financial Literacy series on financial tuneups article, "Use investments to reach your goals," can help you get started.

The financial planning field is moving, ever so slowly, toward the ideas put forth by George Kinder and Susan Galvan, the founders of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning. Kinder and Galvan focus on helping clients identify and prioritize their goals and dreams before working on a plan to help the clients achieve those goals. I think that's a good thing.

2. Put together a spending plan. I don't like to call it a budget. No one likes to diet and no one likes to budget. A spending plan lets you decide how you are going to allocate your income between current consumption and investing for the future. Often, we have to allocate income toward paying off past consumption, too. But once you get those credit card balances under control, you can focus on moving forward toward the future instead of being mired in past spending.

Even though I don't like to call it a budget, someone at Bankrate does. You can uses Bankrate's "Budgeting 101: Start your own budget" work sheet to build your spending plan.

3. Establish an emergency plan. An emergency fund is a pool of money typically invested in liquid investments, meaning the investments can be converted to cash without penalty or reducing principal.

Financial planners often suggest that you have three to six months worth of living expenses available in the fund. The more risk you face in the workplace concerning the size or continuation of your paycheck, the more savings you should have available. The Bankrate Financial Literacy series on emergency funds is a helpful place to start. Within the series, the article "Creating an emergency fund" can help you size and invest your fund.

Some people dislike keeping so much money in short-term investments for an emergency that may never materialize. Instead of investing in an emergency "fund," these folks may want to consider putting together an emergency "plan" so that they know exactly where they can get money quickly.

For some, that means opening a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, to have a ready source of funds to borrow. For others, it may mean a willingness to take a risk liquidating longer-term investments if the need arises. Whatever option you choose, make sure there is a financial backstop available to get you through a crisis.

Cash advances from your credit card or loans from your 401(k) plan are typically not viable financial backstops. Credit card companies can raise the interest rates on those loans to obscene percentages at a moment's notice, while borrowing from a 401(k) can be dangerous if you are laid off from your job -- a 401(k) loan comes due when you leave an employer.
4. Manage your credit. Managing your credit means different things to different people. I'm going to take a pretty broad view here rather than focusing on the nuts and bolts of the monthly payments on your credit cards.

Your credit score is based on the information in your credit report. You can get a free copy of your credit report once each year from each of the consumer reporting agencies. Personally, I space out my requests so I get a different credit report every four months: in September it's Experian, in January it's Equifax and in May it's TransUnion. I review the report and dispute any errors.

Opt out of credit card offers by visiting OptOutPrescreen.com or calling 888-5-OPTOUT ( 888-567-8688). This year, I also used the Direct Marketing Association's Web site to remove myself from direct-mail lists.

Consider freezing your credit report. It's not right for everyone, but it's a great way to protect you from identity theft. See the Bankrate feature "Credit freezes available nationwide" and decide if a credit freeze is right for you.

5. Review and rebalance your portfolio. From time to time, it's important to rebalance your portfolio to make sure you have the right investment mix. Investment allocations in financial securities are typically split between stocks, bonds and cash. Cash is financial shorthand for money market debt investments with a final maturity of a year or less.

The investment allocation that's right for you will depend on your risk tolerance, investment goals, and market outlook. For example, you may decide that an allocation of 50 percent stocks, 30 percent bonds and 20 percent cash is right for you.

If this year's stock performance brought your stock allocation up to 60 percent, rebalancing the portfolio will get you back to your target allocation.

Calendar rebalancing is one approach to adjusting how you're invested. With this technique, you adjust your portfolio on a regular basis. In target rebalancing, you wait until an asset allocation is above (or below) the maximum (or minimum) target asset allocation. Meanwhile, tactical asset allocation has you underweight or overweight asset classes based on your outlook for that asset class -- it's also called active management or timing the market.

For the do-it-yourselfer, there are a host of asset allocation worksheets available on the Web. SmartMoney.com offers two work sheets -- one for people approaching retirement and one for retirees.

Tax and other considerations, like estate planning, can influence your desire and ability to rebalance your portfolio. It's a good idea to consult with your financial planning professional and tax adviser before reallocating your investments.
6. Know your net worth. To determine your net worth, take an accounting of what you own and subtract out what you owe. You are then left with what's yours, a measure known as your net worth. It's common to build wealth during your career and start tapping that wealth in retirement, or to meet other life goals.

You don't need a daily balance sheet, but tracking your net worth on a regular basis gives you a sense of whether or not you're building wealth. Bankrate's "Net Worth Calculator" is an interactive work sheet that will help you calculate your net worth.

7. List your accounts. Keep a current listing of your bank accounts, investment accounts, life insurance policies and pension information. Of course, it's important to keep a copy of your will and a note stating where an original copy of the will is available. Make sure somebody knows where you keep the list -- and don't keep the list in your safe-deposit box, where it is not easily accessible.

This list will be invaluable to your family if you become incapacitated or die. They'll have enough to deal with without trying to piece together the puzzle of your finances. If you already have a list, take the time to review and update it to keep it current.

8. Estimate your retirement nest-egg needs. Hoping for the best doesn't cut it here -- you need a sense of how big your investment portfolio should be at retirement. The three-legged stool of a pension, Social Security and retirement savings has gotten a bit wobbly.

If you construct a spending plan, use the total annual expenses as a guide to what you might need in retirement. Financial advisers recommend different things here. Some say you need only 75 percent of these annual expenses in retirement because you're not commuting to work, buying work clothes, etc. However, other advisers recommend budgeting for a full 100 percent because your retirement hobbies and travel will take up any slack.

Bankrate's Retirement Calculators can help you determine the size of an appropriate nest egg by weighing how much you have already put aside, looking at your pre-retirement savings goals and estimating your income needs in retirement.

If you're late to the party, don't throw up your hands and say there's no point in starting to save for retirement. Every dollar you put aside today will work toward funding your retirement. The dollar spent today won't help at all.

9. Bonus item: Be a part of your community. Everyone wants to live in a great community. But it's people -- not houses -- that make a community great. Be a better person and you get a better community. Volunteer your time and get involved in your community. You'll make a difference and feel great doing it.

MEEEEEE

2008-03-17T15:38:00.003-05:00

How does your company make money? By Ram Charam

2008-03-05T14:00:00.004-05:00

Here's a question to test your prospects as a business leader: How does your company make money?

If you can't answer it, you're hardly alone. Many MBAs can't answer it. Many CFOs and vice presidents can't answer it. Experienced CEOs sometimes struggle to answer it.

What I'm testing with this question is your business acumen.

The Universals of Business

At the core of every successful business, from a global giant to a corner store, are the same fundamentals of moneymaking: cash, margin, velocity, return, and growth. And at the core of every successful business leader is an intuitive understanding of the relationships among them.

It's easy to think the basics of business are for beginners. Everyone knows what cash is, and that companies must make a profit.

But business acumen isn't about knowing definitions. It's about keeping the basics of moneymaking in sharp focus and balancing them in a way that's healthy for the business.

When you have business acumen, you realize the importance of every job at every stage of your career. A mailroom clerk with business acumen knows that getting checks to the accounts receivable department more quickly will ease the company's cash flow. And a sales rep with business acumen knows that higher-margin products will increase the company's return.

Moneymaking Basics

2008-03-05T13:59:00.001-05:00

As the complexity of your job increases, it's easy to lose sight of the fundamentals. If your business acumen doesn't develop, you can stumble -- focus too much on revenue growth and overlook cash, or focus too much on cash and overlook growth.

That's why you should never consider it beneath you to revisit the moneymaking basics. They should be front and center in your diagnosis and decision making in every job you have.

Here are the basics:

• Cash

No business survives long without it. You should know how much cash your business generates and how much cash it consumes.

What are the sources of it? What drains it? What's the timing of the inflows and outflows and how is it changing? More revenues (sales) often means more cash. But growing a business consumes cash. How fast can the company expand without straining its cash flow?

• Margin

When people talk about the bottom line, they generally mean net profit margin -- the money the company earns after paying all its expenses, interest, and taxes. But gross margin is important, too.

Gross margin -- the difference between a product's selling price and what it costs to make the product (the "costs of goods"), expressed as a percent of the selling price -- can signal important shifts in a business. When PC makers saw their 32 percent gross margins decline to 20, they knew (or should have known) the competitive landscape had changed.

You have to know how changes inside or outside the business affect gross margin. Are there new entrants in the market who are winning customers? A competitor who's found a clever way to reduce costs and prices? A change in the pricing power of suppliers?

• Velocity

Velocity refers to speed, turnover, or movement.

How much revenue do you turn over, or generate, for each dollar of inventory? If you have $1 million in inventory for the year and revenues of $10 million, your inventory velocity is 10. This tells you how fast you're moving raw materials through the factory, turning them into finished products, and moving those products off the shelf to customers. The faster, the better.

Service businesses can track velocity, too. For banks, velocity of equity -- how much revenue is generated per dollar of equity -- is a useful measure. The concept applies to every business.

• Return

Margin multiplied by velocity equals return. If your return is lower than your cost of capital, your business is likely to be in trouble. That's when shareholders get concerned.

How do you boost your return? See if you can boost your margin or increase your velocity -- or, better yet, both.

• Growth

Every business needs to grow to stay in business. How do you grow in a way that keeps the other aspects of moneymaking in balance? There's no formula -- people with business acumen figure it out.

Where Business Acumen Counts Most?

2008-03-05T13:58:00.000-05:00

Street vendors in villages around the world use business acumen every day. They have to -- their next meal often depends on it.

In companies, business acumen is crucial when the external world changes and there's a need to reposition the business.

Like when Hollywood studios started selling videocassettes directly to the public at the same time it sold them to video rental companies. That's when Blockbuster's rental business started to slide.

People wanted to buy movies, not just rent them, so Blockbuster started selling them. But the moneymaking was completely different.

Blockbuster was used to buying videocassettes on credit and making payments with the cash from renting them. Returns were high.

Selling videocassettes meant laying out the cash up front, holding lots of inventory, and waiting for the cash to come in when the videocassettes were sold. Cash flow, velocity, and return were all adversely affected.

Where Do You Want to Go?

2008-03-05T13:57:00.000-05:00

You don't need business acumen to make a meaningful contribution to a business. But you'll need it to rise through the leadership ranks.

You can't acquire it at a seminar or in a quick read. You learn it by using it in real business situations.

Start now by applying it to your company. Ask for the numbers or pull them from the annual report. Precision isn't necessary -- knowing what to focus on is.

The Law of Least Effort by Deepak Chopra

2008-03-05T10:26:00.001-05:00

The Law of Least Effort .... Nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease...with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.
I will put the Law of Least Effort into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
1. I will practice acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.
2. Having accepted things as they are, I will take responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself.) I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.
3. Today my awareness will remain established in Defenselessness. I will relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I will feel no need to defend my point of view. I will feel no need to convince or persuade others to accept my point of view. I will remain open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them.

MEEEEEE

2008-03-05T10:24:00.000-05:00

Thinking Big is the Best Plan by Robert Kiyosaki

2007-07-25T14:44:00.000-05:00

Years ago, when I was just starting my real estate investing career, I came across a property with a for-sale sign on it. I called the broker and asked, "What can you tell me about the property, and how much does it cost?"

The broker politely and patiently said, "It's a commercial building with six tenants. There's a chiropractor, a dentist, a hairstylist, an accountant, and a bail bondsman. The price is two million dollars."

Losing Big

I almost choked. "Two million dollars?! That's way too expensive!"

Thirty years ago, $2 million was a lot of money. And instead of looking at the property, I let the price frighten me off. I never looked at the deal, and just assumed that the seller was crazy, greedy, and out of touch with the market.

Today, there's a luxury hotel on the same site. It's spectacular. I estimate the property to be worth at least $150 million, and maybe more.

Cheap Lessons

Not seeing the potential of that deal taught me many lessons. Here are two important ones:

• Sometimes you learn more by being stupid and making mistakes.

• The person with the better plan wins.

In the above example, my plan was just too small. In fact, the only plan I had at the time was to collect the rent money from the tenants, cover my mortgage and expenses, and put a little in my pocket. And 30 years ago, I knew that the rent from six small tenants couldn't possibly pay for a $2 million property.

I later learned that the property's eventual owner bought it for full price -- with terms. He put $50,000 down as an option and asked for 180 days to put the rest of his plan together. During those 180 days, he gathered his investors, a builder, and his tenant, a major hotel chain.

If he hadn't been able to put his plan together, he would've lost his option money. Instead, before the 180 days were up, his investors paid the $2 million in cash, and he spent the next three years getting the project through the city planning commission and finally began construction. He won because he had a better plan.

Mind Expansion

Donald Trump often says to "think big." He definitely does so, but by nature, I don't. My excuse is that I come from a small town in Hawaii. My family wasn't rich, so when it comes to money, I tend to think err on the side of caution. Over time, my thinking has become medium-sized when it comes to spotting opportunities, but I'd still like to think bigger.

One of the reasons I enjoy doing business in New York and having Trump as a partner on different projects is that he makes me do just that -- because if you don't think big in New York, you get kicked out. If I thought small, I wouldn't be on television, cutting book deals with major publishers, or talking in front of tens of thousands of people in arenas like Madison Square Garden.

Currently, I'm working on a real estate project to present to Donald. Consequently, I find myself pushing my thinking, expanding my context, and thinking of luxury, not just price. Even if Donald doesn't like the project and we don't partner on it, just preparing to present the project to him has required me to think bigger and come up with a better plan.

A Blast from the Past

About a year ago, someone called to say that there was a spectacular condominium that had just come up for sale. She wanted to know if I was interested in looking at it. Of course I said, "Yes." I wanted to see what her definition of spectacular was, and trust me -- it was spectacular. She then said, "And the price is only twenty-eight million dollars. But I believe you can pick it up for twenty-four million. At that price, this condo is a steal."

Once again, I heard myself saying what I said so long ago: "That's too expensive." But, as I said, that lesson from 30 years back proved to be priceless: After hearing the think-small person in me comment on the condo price, I took a deep breath and asked myself, "What's my plan?" Then I asked myself, "What's wrong with my plan?"

I didn't buy the condo, but I did come up with a better plan. Over the next few days, I realized that the reason I couldn't afford the condo was because my business was too small. If I wanted to afford such a luxury residence, I needed to come up with a better plan for my business. Today, I'm working harder than ever to improve it -- not because I want the condo, but to be able afford such a condo if I someday decide I want one.

Plan Ahead

In many of my Yahoo! Finance columns, I've written about my concern over the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. As the dollar drops in purchasing power, it often pushes up the prices of real assets -- quality real estate and equities. My fear is that many people may not be able to afford tangible assets and become poorer as the dollar declines. This drop in purchasing power also widens the gap between the rich and everyone else.

One method of staying ahead of rising asset prices and the declining dollar is to think bigger and come up with better plans. As important as financial and business planning is a plan for personal development and self-improvement. I'm often asked to invest in people's business plans, and one of the reasons I turn many of them down is because a big plan requires a big person who's spent time on personal development. In a lot of cases, a business plan is far bigger than the person with the plan -- that is, the dream is bigger than the dreamer.

Today, I'm glad I missed out on that $2 million property all those years ago. The best lesson I learned from it is that I can have a better life if I have a better plan -- and a plan to become better person. So what's your plan?

3 Ways to Handle Anger Before Anger Handles You by David Romanelli

2007-07-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

"Feelings are much like waves. We can't stop them from coming, but we can choose which one to surf." -Jonatan Mårtensson

In the Western world, we think of strength as big muscles, heavy weights, physical power. But in the ancient Eastern cultures, strength means something entirely different. The yogis think of strength more as an ability to overcome powerful emotions such as anger and jealousy.

In the heat of the moment, a normal person (myself included) will want to lash out. In her song "White Trash Deco," country singer Cynthia Ford catches her husband cheating and responds with anger and jealousy by maxing out his credit cards to misdecorate his house. The words go like this:

So don't write any checks cuz they'll just bounce back
Don't use the credit cards cuz they're all at the max
But don't worry, babe, I spent it all on you
To go along with all the cute little things you do
Oh, I've wanted so long just to wring your neck, oh
Instead I redid your house in White Trash Deco

Is this the best way to respond to anger? Probably not. Can most of us relate to it? Hell, yeah! But if we cultivate the rare ability to overcome powerful emotions, we make better decisions. So much of life comes down to the decisions we make in intense, pivotal moments.

Here are some tips on dealing with anger so you can walk proud on your finest path through life:

1. Remember that anger and love are two sides of the same coin

If you really want love in your life, you must be willing to spend a little time with love's less comfortable relatives, anger and pain. It's common to think that with anger and pain come breakup and divorce. But the bottom line is the more you love someone, the more able they are to piss you off. So be aware: Anger and intense emotion are normal when you truly love and care. Mel McDaniel sings about this two-sided coin in "Anger and Tears":

Anger and tears, anger and tears
Is that all that's left of us after loving all these years
As slowly as love grows how soon it disappears
In a house full of anger and a heart full of tears

Remember, true strength is being able to work through the anger rather than letting the anger work through you.

2. Before you lash out, look within

When you're struggling with anger, it's common to blame others for every little thing. A true sign of strength is taking responsibility for yourself. In "Startin' with Me," Jake Owen comes to a very yogic resolution to dealing with anger:

If I had a dime for half the things I did that didn't make no sense at all
I'd be living a little higher on the hog
If only I'd have known
That later on down the road
I'd look back and not like what I see
I'd have changed a lot of things
Startin' with me

3. Practice feeling without reacting

The 6,000-year old practice of yoga teaches that when you are in challenging situations, you make the best decisions in even the worst of situations if you just breathe and relax. Try it: Lift your arms to the sides of your body and hold them so you form a letter "T." Allow your arms to stay parallel to the ground for 2, 3, even 4 minutes. When your shoulders start to burn, notice that by breathing and relaxing, you gain more endurance. There's very little that physical strength, hustle, and effort can do you for you in this situation. As a famous Zen proverb reads: "Nothing on earth can overcome an absolutely nonresistant person."

Mememememe

2007-07-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

5 Secrets You Should Keep From Your Partner by David Zinczenko

2007-05-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

It starts out simply enough: A man and woman get together, they share some wine, they go back to her place, their relationship grows, they laugh and they fight, and they become-tada!-a couple. And then something happens: They're supposed to share everything with each other. Their fears. Their dreams. Their thoughts. Their bills. Their medicine cabinets. And that's when this simple little romance starts to get complicated. in most relationships, there's such a thing as too much sharing-and I believe that a little discretion at the right time in the right situation is not only a good thing, but also could actually improve relationships. As long as you're not breaking the relationship rules-like playing tonsil hockey while the goalie isn't watching-then a little mystery can be a good thing. Here, five secrets you should keep to yourself-because not saying something will actually speak volumes. (And just so you don't think that I'm pushing to abolish the honesty policy, you'll read about the things you should never keep from your partner next time.)

You Don't Turn Me on Right Now

Granted, there will be days when your partner walks into the room and everything sparkles-moments like these make us count our blessings. But there are going to be other moments when your woman looks less like Cindy Crawford and more like Broderick Crawford, and when your guy is less Hugh Grant than Lou Grant. But when the occasional fashion faux pas or haircut from Edward Scissorshands comes around, swallow your tongue. If you want him or her to wear certain styles, compliment what you like, and ignore what you don't. Eventually, they'll get the message-but without the hurt feelings.

I Flirt With Others at Work

The stats don't lie: About 40 percent of men and 35 percent of women have lusted after a co-worker-without ever making a move. Even if you have no intention of taking it anywhere, nobody wants to think of their significant others spending 8, 10, 12 hours a day around flirtatious and attractive co-workers, especially when they look, smell and behave at their very best. Want to share sexual secrets? Confess your attraction to Hollywood celebs, not the co-workers in the adjacent cube.

I Can't Stand Your Friends

Your partner's circle of friends probably come in three different categories: a perfect package, nice enough, and how the hell can the two of you be friends? In that last category, there are all kinds of crazies-maybe she's too controlling, or maybe he's a bad influence. Whatever the case, know your audience. You may not like the friends, but your partner has more history with them than with you. So while they may not rank high on your personal list, keep it to yourself. Boxing out a man's friends is a relationship deal breaker, according to 83 percent of men we surveyed. And 62 percent of women would end a relationship if a guy doesn't get along with her friends.

I Still Think About My Ex

While it's natural to think about your ex, the Internet has increasingly made exes a bigger threat than ever before. The phenomenon of searching online for one's ex, which the majority of Americans admit to, can really make your partner jealous and fearful-especially since the phenomenon of people reuniting with very old flames has recently exploded (again, because of the Internet). You put your exes in the past; do the same with any conversation about them.

I Can't Live Without You

Why? Number one, it's not true; you can live without them. And number two, the key to a successful long-term relationship is to ensure that you've got your own life. You can say I love you, I enjoy you, I desire you, I appreciate you. You don't say I can't live without you. A partner should never feel trapped. He or she should be making a choice every day to be with you. And you, with them.

Savvy Networker by Liz (Nirina's comments)

2007-05-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

I found this in Yahoo yesterday and I loved what she wrote. I was in that "Elevator Pitch" saga for 7 years I had my cleaning business. I had to stand in front of people for my business pitch and man it was hard sometimes when you don't feel like it. I was a member of two business network groups and we had breakfasts and lunches twice a week.
It taught me a lot about myself and gave me the pride that I can do it. In 2001, I was invited to give a speech about being a minority/woman business owner. If I could do it, all of you women out there can. Have a wonderful day!
nr

The Savvy Networker by Liz Ryan

2007-05-16T13:18:00.000-05:00

Lose the 'Elevator Pitch'
Of all the networking advice that bugs me, nothing is worse than the insistence that every networker hit the street prepped with a 30-second, well-rehearsed "elevator speech" about your skills and professional value.

The idea is that for every new interaction, your elevator speech rolls off your tongue within the first two minutes, and now your new contact is well equipped to hire you, recommend you, or otherwise help you along your way.

Reality Check

Maybe the elevator pitch makes you uncomfortable. Maybe it feels awkward and phony and presumptuous to spit your business credentials in someone's face within a few moments of meeting them. If the elevator speech thing doesn't feel like you, there's a good reason why: Your mother raised you with better manners than that.

This elevator-speech business is atrocious. For at least 100,000 years, human beings have been carving out a system of social interaction that says, "Tell me something, ask me something, let's get to know one another, and see what develops." There's a reason why audio business cards delivered 10 inches from your face have never taken off as a marketing tool before. They're rude!

Stick to Conversation Skills

Think about the conversation you would have if you weren't networking, if you merely sat on a commuter train next to someone and she said, "I love your watch." You'd say, "Thanks, my sister gave it to me after a trip to Milan." Your seatmate might say, "I've never been to Milan but I'd love to go, I've heard the architecture there is amazing," and off the two of you would go. You'd give and take and inquire politely, and learn interesting things about one another.

And here's what else: You might reach the station without having shared your business backgrounds, because that information is often not very interesting.

Focus on What's Interesting

Unless you're Lance Armstrong, your job description is very likely the dullest part of your story. There's a lot more to know about you, including what kinds of music you like, where you grew up, or how you hiked the Appalachian Trail. You are more fascinating than your job, and there's nothing about the business-networking-event paradigm that changes that.

Inflicting your well-rehearsed elevator speech on a new acquaintance is exactly the same as saying, "I'm not sure how long I'll be talking to you. And it's vitally important that, above all, you leave this event knowing what I do for a living and how you can help me. So I'm putting it out there now, before we discuss one other thing." What kind of statement is that? It says, "All you are to me is a source for contacts." Yuck.

So if you've felt squeamish about the elevator-pitch dogma in the past, relax. It's not you, it's the elevator-speech protocol that's broken.

The Goal Is Trust

People, left to their own devices, will make conversation that works for them, and if the conversation results in enough mutual good feeling to warrant more conversation, there's plenty of time to get your business message across.

No one makes recommendations based on business-card data; they make recommendations based on trust. And how do you establish trust? It doesn't come from a well-rehearsed, 30-second pitch.

Liz Ryan is a 25-year HR veteran, former Fortune 500 VP and an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new millennium workplace. She is the author of "Happy About Online Networking," creator of the Career Bound workshop, and founder of the global women's organization formerly known as WorldWIT. Contact Liz at liz@asklizryan.com.

Breaking the Perfection Habit by Penelope Trunk

2007-04-27T10:59:00.000-05:00

I'm not a perfectionist. In fact, when I painted my walls I didn't paint near the windows because I didn't want to do the detail work. When I accidentally address an envelope upside down, I don't get a new envelope.

You know what? Doing those things hasn't made my life any worse. It hasn't made me unhappy, and it's freed me up to do other things besides worry about if what I do is perfect.

A Lack of Perfection = Perfection

I have a good eye for how well something has to be done in order to accomplish what I need to accomplish, and it's one of my favorite traits about myself. The good that comes from a lack of perfection is that I can set a lot of goals for myself because I get them done.

Here are the reasons I can't stand perfectionists:

• Perfectionists procrastinate because they're scared of not being perfect.

• Perfectionists are hypercritical to the point that they can't support people around them.

• Perfectionists can't finish a project because they can always think of a way to improve it.

• Perfectionists are phony, because no one's perfect and they can't handle showing that in themselves.

Four Steps to Imperfection

Here are four things to think about if you're letting perfectionism dictate your life:

1. You get more done if you don't sweat the details.

My disdain for details started when I looked around at all the people who are disappointed with their lives. For the most part, these are people who wish they'd done something that they didn't do for fear of failure. In the worst cases, these people have whole lists of such things. Then I saw a bumper sticker that read, "What would you do if failure were not an option?"

When I went through my own list of what I would do, I decided that if I stopped worrying about failure I'd be able to do a lot more. So I started focusing on just getting stuff done instead of getting it done perfectly. Details fell by the wayside.

I also noticed that once I stopped worrying about doing something perfectly, I didn't have nearly as much reason for procrastination. It's easy to start something if you tell yourself that getting it done 70 percent perfect (as opposed to 100 percent) is OK.

Believe it or not, in most cases 70 percent perfect is fine for what we do. The trick is to balance fearlessness with attention to detail and understand when you need to concentrate on each.

2. You do better work if you aren't worried about perfection.

Here's a story I heard from Alexander Kjerulf, who was talking about David Bayles's book "Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking":

A ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of the work they produced. All those on the right would be graded solely on their works' quality.

His procedure was simple: On the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the quantity group; 50 pound of pots rated an A, 40 pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on quality, however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an A.

At grading time, the works with the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

It seems that while the quantity group was busily churning out piles of work -- and learning from their mistakes -- the quality group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of clay.

Think about this in your own life, even if you're not using clay. The more you practice, the better you'll get. But you can't practice if you think only of perfection. Practice is about making mistakes; perfection comes from imperfection.

3. Working the longest hours doesn't mean you're doing the best work.

Usually, the hardest worker in an office is a perfectionist. This begs a few questions: Why does this person need to work harder than everyone else? Is she slow? Is she stupid? Is she avoiding her home life?

The people working the hardest are usually stuck on getting all the details perfect, but they've lost sight of one of the most important things -- which is that you look desperate if you work more hours than everyone else. The person working the hardest looks incompetent, either at managing their workload or at managing their family life.

Of course, you don't want to work the least number of hours, either. But you want to fall somewhere in between. People who work very long hours are inefficient and sometimes get so little sleep that they're performing at the level of a drunkard at work. So cut back your hours, and even if you do things with less attention to detail in order to get them done faster, they might actually get done better because you have a better handle on the time in your life.

4. Stop procrastination by stopping perfectionism.

One of the biggest productivity problems is procrastination. And one of the biggest contributors to procrastination is the feeling that we need to do something perfectly.

The key to ending procrastination in your life is to be honest about what you're really doing with your time and energy. Look closely at why you've made the bar so high that you can't even start. Procrastination can only flourish in a situation where perfection is so clearly demanded and so intrinsically impossible that inaction seems preferable to action.

So be honest with yourself about why being perfect is so important to you. Perfectionism doesn't make people happy, and often makes them nutcases.

And remember those clay pots -- they represent all the creativity and excitement you could unleash if you'd let the attention to detail slip a little.

Create Life!

2007-04-25T09:57:00.000-05:00

We are creating our lives with every breath, in every moment, and through every one of our thoughts, words and deeds. We have a choice every day when we wake up, and we make hundreds more choices throughout the day.

For many years I was one of those people who perceived the glass as half empty. I’d complain and whine to anyone who would listen. I hated getting up in the morning and was never satisfied with anything. If someone asked me how I was, the answer was usually something like, “hanging in there,” “ok, I guess,” or a litany of complaints about how crappy life was. I was always angry and frustrated. I didn’t realize my attitude was dragging me deeper and deeper into a dark hole of negativity.

A few years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. That turned out to be the wake up call I needed. After going through painful treatment and surgery and being confronted by my own mortality and the fragility of physical existence, I decided it was time to take control of whatever time I had left on this earth and make the best of it.

I started to meditate every morning. I began to make a list of all the things that I am grateful for before going to sleep at night. I implemented some subtle shifts that have made a huge difference in my life.

I’m still not a morning person. I will sleep in when I have the chance, and some of my most creative time is in the afternoon and evening. However, I’ve learned to change my perspective, which makes waking up a much more pleasant and joyful experience.

When the alarm goes off, I take a few deep breaths, then get up and sit on my mediation cushion in the corner of the room by the window. I do just five minutes of deep breathing while visualizing the awesome day I’m going to have, then I do a short yoga sun salutation routine. (I usually skip the laying on the floor part when I do it outside.)

I shower, dress, then prepare a quick and nutritious breakfast – usually a fruit and protein smoothie, a bowl of oatmeal or a veggie omelet. I prepare my lunch and snacks for the work day: a salad, a pita or wrap sandwich, a small bag of nuts or trail mix, a piece of fruit and some string cheese or a cup of yogurt.

At this point it’s time to face the commute. I hate traffic, but fortunately I have a collection of great CDs, uplifting music and audio books. I’m not going to say I meditate in the car, as that would be dangerous, but I do deep breathing exercises and try to be aware of the little things around me.

I’ve also begun pasting sticky notes with affirmations on the dashboard. I spend over an hour a day in the car, and driving is such an automated process. What better way to help positive thoughts sink in to my consciousness:
Wonderful things are happening today.
I am always moving forward.
I am exactly where I need to be right now.
Expect a miracle.
From that point on, the rest of the day becomes much easier. As the ancient Chinese saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step…”

How have you redesigned your life? Please share any tips or ideas that you have worked for you.

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

Suzanne Ledo lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her Tibetan Spaniel, Taz. After a bout with cervical cancer, she escaped from Corporate America and is now determined to help women of all ages, races, and physical conditions to become the powerful, strong, beautiful beings they were born to be through her work as a life coach. Learn more about Suzanne at Magical Possibilities, and email your questions to suzanne@magicalpossibilities.com.

Creatures From Heck by Karen De Coster

2007-04-20T13:09:00.000-05:00

Women drive me crazy. However, I’m glad I am one, because that way, I don’t have to put up with them because I can’t do without them. After all, you know what the men say: “Can’t live with ‘em, but can’t live without ‘em.” (We ladies say that about guys, too.) Heck, I couldn’t live with women and I can live without them. On that account, I can bash ‘em.

Women are like cats, and I don’t like cats, either. Speaking of which, I love the bumper stickers that say, “If you’re looking for your cat, look underneath my tires.” I’d like to have that bumper sticker, substituting women for cats.

Women, you know, get their claws out over things like looks and brains. You can make them hotter than a hornet just by looking pretty without trying or by being educated beyond basic college memorization capabilities.

For starters, women get all catty and stuff if you are a woman that even dares to look halfway decent around them. That’s a criminal act, you know, deserving of two years of hard labor in the Arizona desert. I mean, try looking good in a short skirt with sculptured, shaved legs and well-done nails around ‘em, and they’ll all sit there and gossip about how you “look like a hussy”, or you “must spend way too much time in front of the mirror”. Truth is, some of us spend forty-two-and-a-half minutes in front of the mirror each morning; much less time than what all of those Barbie Doll wanna-bees spend primping themselves. I believe in the low maintenance, yet highly-feminine look. So arrest me, ladies. Just make sure you send me to Arizona in the wintertime.

When these catty-type dames walk by you in a hallway, or something, they always gotta look at you, up-and-down, like they are wondering where your scars are from all of your liposuctions and assorted other plastic surgeries. They talk about how if you’re shapely, it must be because you eat lettuce leafs for dinner or have a monthly liposuction appointment with Doctor Fatsucker. They never stop to gossip about how you do high-intensity workouts five or six days a week and eat a large pizza by yourself. That’s not good gossiping material for catty folks.

Another thing that bothers me about women is the way they get all in a huff over other women who demonstrate an apparent intelligence factor. Catty women don’t like that because if you got big brains AND shapely legs, it must be a personal conspiracy against them. If you talk kinda smart, like say you are talking about Xenocrades of Chalcedon and his codification of Plato’s philosophy, or Southeastern Europe and the Macedonian cease-fire, they get even cattier and start talking about how you think you know it all. Even if you do, you can’t tell them that.

One mistake I made was playing the board game, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, with a bunch of cats, umm, I mean women. They couldn’t even answer the $1000 dollar questions like, What country is commonly known as the country “Down Under”?, and got mad because I knew that Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States. Geez. Hey, it’s not my fault they’re reading vapid Harlequin Romance stuff while I’m readin’ about State’s Rights and James Madison’s nationalist Virginia Plan. So keep the claws in, ladies.

In fact, women bug me because most of them don’t know diddle about politics and issues, in general. Let’s face it; most women vote half-witted, and especially the catty types. They vote for a cute guy for president that seems cool because he didn’t inhale once and he has a tight butt (though I think he has flappy thighs). They like Gore because he likes the femi-commies and backs their plans to give us all government-paid abortions at the drop of a hat. They think Republicans don’t like women and they never heard of Libertarians. One day, I tried to explain to a catty woman co-worker that I was—ideologically – sort of libertarian-ish, and she asked me if “I was one of those people she always watches on the TV News, demonstrating about stupid rights and stuff.” I know she voted for Clinton.

Catty women think politics are boring, but yet they vote and ruin everything for all of us, including us smart ladies who can answer the BIG questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. If politics are so boring to them, why do they vote? I’d like to start a company that places people outside of voting locations on vote days, and gives away free shoe coupons to women who will go shopping instead of voting. I’ll call it the Shoes-for-Freedom exchange. It’d have to be a not-for-profit because I’d have to raise all my money from rich men and other ladies who don’t like dumb women. Hey, if inner-city gun-grabbers can give away Footlocker coupons to minorities in exchange for them turning in their guns, why is my idea so invalid?

Speaking of women being doltish on politics, have you ever noticed that women will stop anywhere, and sign any kind of petition, no matter what the issue? If the petition mentions children or women’s rights, of course, signing that thing is a done deal. Maybe the employees of my not-for-profit company could also stand outside of shoe stores and petition for canceling all female voting rights under the guise of “women’s rights”. I think that might actually work.

Another thing about women I hate is that they detest guns because they are scary-looking and make loud sounds. They march against guns and get all catty and emotional about having guns in the house, and they refuse to see the bigger picture. This kind of thinking just drains me. It bugs me that they won’t put down the trashy romance novels with Fabio on the cover, and bother to delve deeper into an issue for the sake of understanding it. Then they get their shorts all into a twist when you talk about current US gun control laws having ominous parallels to the Nazi gun laws.

I have one like-thinking female friend, and she doesn’t like women either. I guess that’s why we like each other. She has what she calls a “Two-transactions-per-day” rule. This means she doesn’t want to deal with catty people all day, so she limits her contact with them by allowing herself no more than two transactions of any sort on a given day. I think she does this to avoid women because they bug her so much. I think I’ll give that a try.

Okay, okay, so now it seems that I hate women even though I’m one of them. Well, sometimes I do, and sometimes, some of them are ok, albeit a bit troublesome. I just want ‘em to keep their claws in around me, and get themselves a good book on State’s Rights, or something.

Karen De Coster is a politically incorrect CPA, and an MA student in economics at Walsh College in Michigan.

2007-04-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

4RealWomen

2007-03-29T12:55:00.000-05:00

Setting boundaries keeps superwomen alive.

2007-03-27T10:30:00.000-05:00

The biggest complaint I hear from professional women is that they don't have enough time and energy to meet all their obligations, much less have time for themselves.

As the superwomen we are, we give our time and energy to running our business, nurturing our family, supporting professional organizations and contributing to our community.

Many of us struggle with putting ourselves first because we see it as being selfish and nonsupportive.

One way to start reclaiming your time and rebuilding your energy reserves is to set boundaries. Think of the last time you flew on a plane. The stewardess instructed you to use the oxygen mask on yourself first and on your children second so you can be alert and prepared to deal with any adversities. By the same token, you need to take care of yourself first in your daily life.

Boundaries are lines of protection that you draw around your time and energy. You decide what is OK and then you hold yourself and others to those boundaries. Following are essential ingredients for setting effective boundaries:

1. Decide how you want to use your time and energy for your best results. Start paying attention to how you use your time and energy and try different methods to find those that work best for you. Ask yourself questions like, "Do I work best by..."

Having uninterrupted blocks of time?
Taking time to plan and fully understand a task before I begin working on it?
Scheduling time for exercise and daily down time?

2. Be confident in your choice. Be aware of your body language and how you send that message to others. Do you look down? Mumble? Fidget? Challenge yourself to hold your shoulders back, stand up straight and make direct eye contact.

3. Remain "charge neutral" at all times. When you are setting a boundary it is critical that your voice has a neutral tone. With a negative tone, your message gets lost and so does your boundary.

Gently and clearly draw your line in the sand.

4. Don't assume that others know how you want to use your time and energy. Be willing to teach others how to respect your boundaries. As change takes time, be patient with yourself and with others.

Be sure that your message is clear without going into long explanations and ask for their agreement. For example: "I don't have time right now to work on that issue. I have time at 3 p.m. to meet with you. Does that work for you?"

By asking for their agreement, you will uncover hidden issues such as, "I have a client holding on the phone for this information, so it can't wait until 3 p.m."

5. Get comfortable with saying "No" and sticking to it. Be prepared for others to push your boundary and be prepared to say "no" as many times and in as many ways as it takes.

For example, you want to discuss an issue with a co-worker at a later time and the other person insists that you deal with it now. First, be sure that the issue can wait, then draw your line. They may come back with a response like, "But it will only take five minutes."

Draw your line: "I understand that it may only take five minutes, but I need to finish my project now." Repeat as many times as necessary.

Once your boundary is set, you'll save that time many times over in the future.

6. Avoid confrontations by making "I" or "me" statements rather than "you" or "we" statements. You can only speak for yourself. Rather than saying "You always make us late for meetings," you could say, "It is important for me to be on time for meetings."

7. Avoid confrontations by offering choices. Offering choices is a proven sales technique for getting the result you want. You can apply this technique to your boundaries. For example, you could say, "I can meet with you to work on this issue at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. Which time works best for you?

8. In the face of confrontation, acknowledge their position. Just as you set your boundaries and request that others respect them, you need to acknowledge and respect that others have their own ways of doing things. If you are faced with confrontation, first acknowledge the other person's position, then state your own boundary.

For example, if you are working with a know-it-all who insists their approach is best, say, "Thanks for sharing, I can understand how that approach has worked well for you. I've tried many methods and this approach works best for me."

9. Deliver your message and let it go. Understand that you are not responsible for how others react to your message. Keep your eye on your objective -- protecting your time and energy. Trust that others will adjust to your boundaries in their own time.

Melinda Condray, owner of Coaching for Success in Cockeysville, can be reached at (410) 628-2722 or twocond@aol.com.

100 Block of N. Rose Update.

2007-03-22T10:18:00.000-05:00

Today, the brick front is cleaned, washed and looks beautiful. The cornice will be put on next week. Changed the front door and the back door, they will be painted in red or black (I haven't decided yet).
I went to pick out lights. Home Depot didn't have many choices so I went to Lowes. I have to pick colors today, I found some really nice paint at potterybarn.com with Benjamin Moore paint. Picking room colors is my favorite thing. I painted the room in Federal Hill chocolate brown and barley, it turned out very nice.
The windows are in, I am trying to get the guy who is going to install them to do the carpentry works even though he charges more than a regular carpentry guy to just be done with it. So far, I exceeded my budget and the time frame . I will post my final budget at the end.
I sent an email to the people next door who are renting right now and are interested in seeing/buying this rehab.

Washer and dryer hook up after drywall.

2007-03-21T12:53:00.000-05:00

Hallways upstairs after drywall

2007-03-21T12:27:00.000-05:00

Kitchen after drywall.

2007-03-21T11:19:00.000-05:00

Living Room after the drywall

2007-03-20T12:54:00.000-05:00

Repointing the brick front.

2007-03-20T12:36:00.000-05:00

The repointing contractor showed up yesterday to finish repointing the front. They acid clean it today and do the cornice.

5. Focus on flexibility, not guarantees.

2007-03-20T09:19:00.000-05:00

Most people prefer a mortgage with long-term guarantees, because they want to avoid the risk of higher payments. Realistically, long-term mortgages don't usually improve your real security, because the life expectancy of a mortgage is only about five years. People soon move or refinance, and the long term guarantees offer little real value when you are back in the market to get a new loan. Investors seek flexibility, enabling them to more easily adapt to changing market conditions.

4. Focus on opportunities, not problems.

2007-03-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

Most people make choices based upon fear, and their minds are constantly looking for what could go wrong. They don't have the ability to take action quickly, and they miss out on opportunities. They either think "What if it doesn't work?" or, more often, "It won't work." It comes down to the age-old question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?" We're not talking positive thinking here, we're talking about one's habitual perspective on the world. Risk is unavoidable, and people that avoid risks and those that take responsibility and manage risks feel the same thing, but savvy investors look for opportunities. It's the same thing, risk, but it's what you do with it that counts.

3. Focus on Life's overall financial risks, not just mortgage risk.

2007-03-16T10:30:00.001-05:00

Most people financing real estate are concerned about the risk of rising interest rates, and they seek the security a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. However, it has the highest monthly payment of all loans, and it diverts cash to invest in the future, which is a bigger danger. There are new mortgage products with lower payments, while providing stability and predictability. the cash flow can be saved or invested, allowing for a more secure financial future and bringing balance to your financial goals.

2. Focus on control, not ownership

2007-03-16T10:29:00.001-05:00

The life long goal of most people is to own their properties free and clear, and they try to pay off their mortgage with earned income. The investor chooses to increase their cash flow to control more properties. The properties are appreciating assets that create wealth and provide passive income. They create wealth faster, and use their profits to pay off their properties

1. Focus on cash flow, not interest rate.

2007-03-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

People equate a low rate with saving on financing expenses. However, the adage "You have to spend money to make money", implies wealth is created by investing, not saving. A loan, which diverts cash flow from other investments that could provide greater financial security, may actually be more costly in terms of lost opportunity.

Five Mind-Sets for Creative Financing by John McBride

2007-03-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

Most people worry about the wrong things when it comes to financing realestate. They think they should finance appreciating assets, such as real estate, the same way as a depreciating car or a boat, because they think all debt is bad and should be avoided if possible.
Below are find mind-sets that may help you make your money work harder.

Stay tuned for more.......

8 Qualities of Wealthy Women By Suze Orman

2007-03-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

What keeps women from achieving the financial security they -- and their families -- deserve? I believe the root of the problem lies in the dysfunctional relationship women have with money.
That's the launching point for my new book, "Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny." My message to all women: Owning the power to control your destiny requires more than 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. It requires reconditioning from the inside. In this excerpt from "Women & Money," I discuss the eight qualities of wealthy women.

Qualities 1 and 2: Harmony and Balance

Harmony is an agreement in feeling, approach, and sympathy. It is the pleasing interaction between what you think, feel, say, and do.
Balance is a state of emotional and rational stability in which you are calm and able to make sound decisions and judgments.
Harmony and balance are perhaps the most important qualities of all, for they serve as the foundation for the remaining qualities. When you possess true inner harmony, what you think, say, feel, and do is one. We are so accustomed to this split-screen state of mind in which we think one thing, say another, feel something else, and act in a way that has nothing to do with what we just thought, said, or felt. When your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions are not in harmony, it shows up as an imbalance -- you feel agitated, uncomfortable, you sense something is off, so you find it difficult to make rational, calm decisions. This is why these two qualities are a pair.

Quality 3: Courage

Courage is the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.
Courage gives harmony expression. When your thoughts and feelings are one, courage helps you manifest them in the form of words and actions. When you are afraid to speak or act, courage helps you overcome your fear. Courage gives you the ability to speak your truth, even when it is not what others may want to hear.
Fear is usually what stands between us and our courage. But if we are to embrace this quality of courage to its fullest, we can no longer allow ourselves to hide behind fear. You can meditate on your fear and think about it rationally and try to will it away, but in the end, if fear is preventing you from acting, you must find your courage and act to overcome your fear.

Quality 4: Generosity

Generosity is when you give the right thing to the right person at the right time -- and it benefits both of you.
Generosity is a quality that most women can tap into very easily -- maybe too easily. As women, we tend to be overly generous with our time, support, love, and money -- but giving simply for the sake of giving does not match the definition of true generosity.
True generosity goes far beyond what you give to others. In giving there is a power, an understanding that you are just the vessel that wealth or energy flows through. You allow money to come in through your hands and out through your heart. To be empowered to give, to be moved to give straight from the heart, is a feeling that all the money in the world could never buy. So let me ask you: Is that how you feel when you constantly give of yourself? Do you feel enhanced or do you feel diminished? You think of yourself as a giver, as generous with your time, your talent, your money. Others probably describe you as a generous woman, but if I were to look at you, I might think you give for the wrong reasons. Do you give because you feel that you should? Do you give out of guilt or embarrassment? Understand that true generosity is as much about the one who gives as it is about the one who receives. If an act of generosity benefits the receiver but saps the giver, then it is not true generosity.

Quality 5: Happiness

Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment.
When you find the courage to live your life in harmony and balance, when you understand and practice generosity in the truest sense, happiness spontaneously appears. When you are happy, you are open and accessible. When you are happy, you tend to be more optimistic. You approach new challenges with a clear mind that seeks positive solutions. You see possibilities rather than problems.
Happiness is not a luxury. It is a necessity for true wealth. When you are happy, you have the satisfaction of knowing that your actions come from a place of purity and balance, that they are correct and generous and kind. There are no regrets in this state of happiness -- and that's a goal worth striving for in all areas of your life.

Quality 6: Wisdom

Wisdom is the knowledge and experience needed to make sensible decisions and judgments, or the good sense shown by the decisions and judgments made from an accumulated knowledge of life that has been gained through experience.
The quality of wisdom is more than intellectual, and it is in no way related to how much schooling you have. Exercising wisdom requires cutting through the noise of life and tapping into your core beliefs to make thoughtful decisions. Wisdom results from inhabiting all the qualities that came before it. A wise woman recognizes when her life is out of balance and summons the courage to act to correct it. A wise woman knows the meaning of true generosity. A wise woman knows happiness is the reward for a life lived in harmony, with courage and grace. A wise woman knows how to summon her courage and do what is right, rather than what is easy.

Quality 7: Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a state of purity, clarity, and precision.
Cleanliness is about respecting the importance of order and organization. When you don't know where your money is, when you have no filing system for your important documents, when you dive into your pocketbook to pull out crumpled bills, when your car looks like a garbage can, when your closets are filled with junk and clutter -- you cannot possibly be a wealthy woman. You need to clean up your act -- quite literally -- to bring true wealth into your life. In India, women sweep the front entrance to their home each morning as a way of welcoming Lakshmi, the goddess of material and spiritual abundance, into their home, for there is a belief that she resides at the threshold of every house. In order for her to enter, she must have a clear path. You might be reading this and thinking that cleanliness is nice but not essential to your financial well-being. I am here to tell you that if this quality is not up front and center, wealth will elude you and you will be left with the mess that you created. Respect the power of this quality of cleanliness. Tell the universe that you have cleared the path for wealth and abundance to enter.

Quality 8: Beauty

Beauty is the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. Beauty is what you create when you incorporate the other seven qualities into your life. When you take the steps to have harmony, balance, courage, generosity, happiness, wisdom, cleanliness, and beauty in your life, you will exude confidence in who you are. And there is nothing more beautiful than a confident woman. Remember, when you are confident you feel secure, and when you feel secure you have no fear. And when you have no fear, you have the courage to say what you think and feel in a calm and wise way. And when you are calm, you make wise decisions with your money, which then allows you to be truly generous to others as well as yourself, which, in turn, makes you a happy, powerful, and beautiful woman. Do you see how all of these qualities work together to help you arrive at the goal of being a woman in control of her destiny?

Summoning the 8 Qualities

I've noticed, in my own life and in others', that the more you summon these qualities, the easier they are to access. Harmony yearns for more harmony, and balance abhors imbalance. Courage begets greater courage. Once you are generous in the right way, a lesser form of generosity will feel inferior to you. True happiness will never permit you to settle for a lesser form of happiness. Cleanliness recoils at disorder. Wisdom, once achieved, is with you forever, and beauty inspires beauty in all things.
Carry these qualities with you throughout your life. Write them on a notecard and keep them close at hand -- in your wallet or in your pocket. Make it into a talisman to guide you every day as you make your way through life and all its impossible demands. These qualities will keep you focused and tranquil. Let them and they will offer you constant reassurance that you are acting powerfully and correctly, with love in your heart and the purest intentions, to realize your goals of security and comfort for yourself and all you love.

Suze Orman.

MeMeMeMeMe

2007-03-12T11:33:00.000-05:00

OPM (Other People's Money)

2007-03-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

So, I ran out of money and I know I cannot hold on to this property anymore, the holding costs are too expensive.
There are a lot of options out there to get money. Everything will be easier if you have good credits (720 and up credit score), have a free and clear property to borrow against, have a millionaire family or friend (which I do not recommend as Money can ruin relationships). I will give tips on how/when/why to borrow money that I found from other sites or newsletters that helped me fund this rehab. For sure, the points, interest rate and closing costs are outrageous but I had to see the big picture and the result of having that moolah in my hand and this house sold in a month.

Hallways upstairs, first bedroom in the back.

2007-03-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

The hallway has exposed brick, will be carpeted. You can see the 1st bedroom from here, will have new windows, carpet, cable and phone.
As you see the drywalls are in. We will start next week.

Tub area.

2007-03-07T13:37:00.000-05:00

Will have a jacuzzi tub, walls will have tiles up to the ceiling.

Washer and dryer hook up.

2007-03-07T11:22:00.000-05:00

The washer and dryer were moved upstairs in the bathroom area. Very convenient.

Upstairs, 2nd Bedroom

2007-03-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

This was a bathroom and a closet before we change it to a bedroom. Has a new closet, wired for cable and phone. The windows need work but will stay the same. Will have carpet.

Experts: Women need to go after those loans

2007-03-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

After years of working in fitness, Sheila Drohan decided she wanted to fill a much-needed niche in the industry: customizing and managing fitness facilities and wellness programs for businesses and agencies.

With a business plan in hand and a master's degree in business administration, Drohan and her business partner hit the bank circuit looking for financing.

Bank after bank said no. Drohan even had a close contact at one of the banks, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a loan to launch the company.

Drohan's company, Corporate Fitness Works Inc., received its startup funding from her mother, who mortgaged her home to generate cash for the business. Nearly 15 years later, the debt-free, 200-person company manages 32 facilities and has been profitable since the day it was launched.

So why didn't Corporate Fitness Works get bank financing? The founders point to several factors, including gender.

"They looked at us and it was a different mindset back then," said Drohan, co-founder of the corporate fitness consulting firm (www.corporatefitnessworks.com), which launched in 1988. "Male friends of mine have gotten loans with a basic business plan and it was no big deal."

The business world has changed in the past 15 years and Drohan's chances of obtaining financing today are a little better as banks and other sources of startup capital have slowly opened their doors to women. And those being turned down for capital are citing factors other than gender. But many women, who are known to be more financially conservative than men, have also been known to stay away from debt, using personal savings, credit cards and money from friends and family to launch businesses.

Only about one-fourth of women entrepreneurs of all races reported encountering obstacles to obtaining financing, with the exception of African-American women, according to a recent study, "Women Business Owners of Color: New Accomplishments, Continuing Challenges," by the Center for Women's Business Research in 2002. Forty-seven percent of African-American women, compared to 22 percent of Asians, 28 percent of Caucasians, and 27 percent Latinas, reported encountering financial obstacles.

Debt aversion
While the country is home to more than 7 million women-owned businesses, women business owners report that the majority of their investment has been from individuals or informal investors, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. Women will often turn to their own finances and credit cards or friends and family.

This may be attributed to the fact that women are more reluctant to take on debt, according to lenders.

"Women business owners tend to be more conservative in terms of how much debt they're willing to take on," said Brian Israel, executive vice president of commercial banking at Columbia Bank.

Business earnings are the top source of current business capital for all women, regardless of ethnicity. Business credit cards are the next most frequently used source of current operating capital. Among women who said they encountered obstacles in seeking financing, three of the top obstacles cited were personal sense of risk associated with taking out a loan; gender discrimination; and a weakening economy causing investors to hesitate, according to the Center for Women's Business Research study.

Another recent survey shows that 39 percent of women who own fast-growth firms -- firms that achieved revenue or employee growth of 30 percent or more over a three-year period -- have a commercial bank loan, compared to 52 percent of male owners of fast-growth firms, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners.

Gender role
When female entrepreneurs do apply for a loan or seek venture capital, they are not as quick to blame their gender for being turned down. Many are blaming their lack of experience and certain market conditions for the inability to raise money.

Drohan said banks turned her down for financing because she couldn't offer collateral. "I think we did everything we could back then in terms of a plan and what we had," she said.

Lenders say the biggest mistake women make when trying to raise money for their business is lack of preparation. Each bank or investment group has their own qualifications. For example, venture capitalists will only invest in certain types of industries. Entrepreneurs need to research the institution before submitting an application.

One of the most crucial selling points that women should make when seeking either a bank loan, grant or venture capital is their business plan. A business plan usually will include an executive summary, a marketing plan, financial projections for the next few years and an in-depth history of the founders and managers of the company.

"You have to sell to the banks that you have a good idea and one that will work, and have enough cash flow to repay the loan," said Martha Brown, Women's Business Ownership representative for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Baltimore, which has guaranteed $26 million in loans to women from Oct. 1, 2002, through July 25, 2003.

Bank lenders said it is also crucial to have good personal credit before seeking a business loan. Many women have been turned down for loans because they have shoddy credit, or no credit if their household accounts are in their husband's name.

Women business owners should also be aware of what kind of financing is best for their company.

It's not always harmful to finance a startup business with personal savings. Some banks prefer seeing that an entrepreneur has invested their own money in their business before seeking a commercial bank loan.

"I always think it's a plus when the owner has some skin in the game," Israel, of the Columbia Bank, said. "If they're putting in their own funds, then that just builds confidence in the banker."

Banks and other lending organizations offer a wide variety of options, including grants and venture capital.

Judy Britz, CEO of Cylex Inc., a Columbia-based developer of in vitro diagnostic products, is in the process of raising $5 million in venture capital for her company. She is reluctant to blame her gender for any rejections she has received so far.

"What is important about raising money is really matching your company with the appropriate venture capital firm based on their own investment objectives," said Britz, who raised $6 million in a first round of financing for the company. "That approach is taken whether you are a man or a woman."

Amy Millman, president of Springboard Enterprises, a Washington nonprofit that tries to connect women and venture capitalists, said some women are reluctant to talk with authority about their own background and expertise. The apprehension causes presentations to investors to fall short.

"They talk a lot about their team and the company but never put themselves front and center," Millman said.

Kitchen.

2007-03-06T12:45:00.000-05:00

Will have new cabinets, appliances. Will keep the floors as is, only regrout. It will look nice when it is done.

Living Room.

2007-03-06T12:26:00.000-05:00

Decided to leave the stairs where it is to separate the dining room and the living room. New entrance door will be put in, new windows, new hardwood floors, the brick will be exposed.

Back of the house.

2007-03-06T12:23:00.000-05:00

This is the new stucco that I put in. Stucco is very popular now, durable, you can choose any color your want, may costs more than the regular siding.

View from the 2nd Bedroom.

2007-03-05T14:20:00.000-05:00

You can see the renovation going on around the area. Will be a very good place to stay in a year or so.

View across the street from the house.

2007-03-05T14:05:00.000-05:00

This house is in a good homeowners block. A year ago, new stove and fridge was stolen from this property with no witness, you wouldn't want to venture in this area passed 6pm then. Now, most of the formstone are down, most of the houses in this street are gutted and rebuilt. This is why they call Baltimore Up and Coming City.

100 Block of N. Rose

2007-03-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

Purchased in October 2005, 1 year and half later still not done. This house was in rentable condition at time of purchase, but I had this idea of doing a good renovation to get a better tenant, so here I am with a gutted house and no renter. At first, I was running it smoothly. I hired two guys to redo the back of the house which you will see in the pics, took the formstone down (unfortunately, the formstone contractor didn't pull permit and couldn't finish repointing the front), demo the plasters, moved the bathroom in the middle, exposed the interior brick on the right side of the walls upstairs and down. Then, I hired a reputable contractor to finish the rehab (new plumbing for the new bath, new kitchen, drywalls, carpetry etc...). He did such a good work in the first time that I didn't feel the need on checking on him all the time... wrong.... He kept asking me for money and I kept on giving him money. One day, I happened to pass by the house and to my surprise, the house was still the same, no work has been done. I tried to negotiate and play it for a while since I know the only way I could get my money back is to be nice with him and make him finish what I paid him for. Unfortunately, it didn't work and he left the site and didn't come back. I am in process of sueing him to get my money which I think will take forever to get back but it may be worth at the end.
So, then the house stayed the same until I met a project manager from one of those Realestate group. Buck Metcalf works as a project manager at a construction company and has a lot of construction background, very professional. After a long meeting, I decided to hire him to be the project manager for 100 Block of N. Rose.
He didn't waist time, the first week, the plumbing rough in was inspected, the elecrician got his sticker, the trash got towed. Then I ran out of money ......