Technology

The 10 Most Popular Movies of All Time – A Cheat Sheet (Part 1)

Are you a movie idiot? Can’t tell your Corleone from your Kurosawa? Would you know a lightsaber if he hit you in the face? Well, don’t panic. To help you brush up on your movie knowledge, here’s the first installment of his two-part crash course on the 10 Greatest Movies of All Time, as voted on by Internet Movie Database readers. Beware though… there are spoilers here.

10. Star Wars IV: A New Hope

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . .

Luke Skywalker, farmer and son of Darth Vader, is uprooted from his home when his aunt and uncle are killed by Imperial Storm Troopers searching for the stolen plans for the Death Star, a space station with planet-destroying weapons. Luke escapes with his two droids of his, Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi, smuggler Han Solo, and First Officer Chewbacca.

After escaping from Tatooine, the ragtag crew stumbles upon the Death Star shortly after it has destroyed the planet Alderaan. Caught by his tractor beam, his ship is swept away. While attempting to escape the Death Star, the team rescued Princess Leia, imprisoned in the bowels of the ship. During the rescue, Obi Wan sacrifices himself to allow the others to escape.

In a grand finale, Luke destroys the Death Star by firing a missile at a weak point in the ship’s frame, and Darth Vader is shot into the depths of space.

Quote: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly screamed in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Trivia: Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, and James Caan reportedly turned down the role of Han Solo.

9. Pulp Fiction

A film whose various plots are too intertwined to be summed up in a paragraph or two, Pulp Fiction simply tells the story of a day in the life of an unusual group of people: two hit men, a gangster’s wife, and a boxer who died. in the ring among others.

Edited to tie each story together, the film often plays out of sequence, to the point where the final scene and the opening scene take place at the same time. Filled with pop culture references and quotable lines, Pulp Fiction stays true to form as a Tarantino film.

Quote: Zed is dead, baby. Zed is dead.

Trivia: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is the brother of Vic Vega, aka Mr Blonde, on Reservoir Dogs.

8. The good, the bad and the ugly

Set during the US Civil War, the film follows the three protagonists Blondie (The Good), Snake Eyes (The Bad) and Tuco (The Ugly) on their search for a treasure trove of gold stolen by the bank robber Bill Carson. All three want 50% of the gold, resulting in a good old fashioned matchup. Snake Eyes is shot dead, and the honorable Blondie allows Tuco his share of the loot.

Quote: You see, there are two types of people in this world, my friend: those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

Trivia: Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho for all three ‘Man With No Name’ movies, never washing it once.

7. Schindler’s List

Schindler’s List tells the true story of Oscar Schindler, a Nazi industrialist who is so moved by the plight of the Jewish people during World War II that he devotes himself to saving as many as he can. Even after rescuing more than 1,100 Jews from the gas chamber, Schindler laments the fact that he could have saved more if he had sacrificed everything he had.

Quote: Could have gotten more. Could have gotten more. I don’t know. If I had… I could have gotten more.

Fun fact: Steven Spielberg refused to accept any payment for the film, claiming it would feel like he was getting “blood money.”

6. The seven samurai

Regarded as Akira Kurosawa’s best film, Seven Samurai tells the story of a terrified town in war-torn 16th-century Japan. Constantly attacked by bandit gangs, the residents enlist the services of seven ronin, or masterless samurai, to protect them.

Despite initial tensions between the villagers and the samurai, together they successfully defend the village against the bandits. However, his success comes at the cost of the lives of four samurai.

Quote: What’s the point of worrying about your beard when your head is going to be taken off?

Trivia: The three samurai whose characters survived the film were the first three to die in real life.

So, you’re up to speed on five of the ten most popular movies of all time, but that’s not enough! To round out your film knowledge, why not read the top five movies in the latest installment of your crash course?

Business

Deducting property taxes saves money on income taxes

They say only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. What is not certain is how much tax a person will pay. When it comes to federal income taxes, the bite can be substantial. The top bracket of income tax hits taxpayers a total of 35% of their taxable income. The only way to pay less tax is to take full advantage of all available tax deductions.

Unfortunately, despite the claims of numerous books, infomercials, and websites, there are surprisingly few income tax deductions that can be used by most taxpayers who are not in a special situation, such as owning a business, managing a farm or have a substantial trust or investment income. Many things that are technically tax deductible are not of much use to most taxpayers because a specific floor or minimum must be reached before these things become viable tax deductions. For example, while medical expenses may be tax deductible, that’s only true for the number of medical bills that exceed 9% of your income. In other words, unless your medical bills were huge, there is no deduction for you.

The good news is that there are several substantial tax deductions available to taxpayers who own real estate. The government continues to encourage American home ownership through several substantial tax breaks. Most people are aware that interest on a mortgage is tax deductible for most people, for example. Also, on new mortgages, the points paid on the loan are also deductible.

Less well known is the property tax deduction. Deducting money paid in taxes is one of the most sought-after tax deductions by people seeking professional tax advice from an enrolled agent, certified public accountant (CPA), or other tax professional. Desire is not difficult to understand. It seems very unfair to me to have to pay taxes on money that has already been used to pay taxes. When it comes to property taxes, the tax code agrees.

Some taxpayers don’t deduct property taxes on their income taxes because they forget to pay them. This is because many mortgages are set up with an escrow account where the bank or lender holds funds to pay for things like homeowners insurance and property taxes on the borrower’s behalf. The owner pays an additional amount each month as part of his required monthly payment. This additional money is held in the escrow account until it is time to pay a designated expense. Although the mortgage company writes the check to pay property taxes on a home, it uses the borrower’s money to do so, so the deduction belongs to the homeowner, not the bank.

Where to deduct property taxes

To deduct property taxes, fill in the appropriate amount on IRS Form, Schedule A (Itemized Deductions). Deduct your property taxes on Line 6 (Real Estate Taxes). For homeowners who pay their property taxes through an escrow account through their mortgage company, the total taxes paid are generally included on the Form 1099-INT submitted by the lender. For homeowners who pay property taxes themselves, it may be necessary to review financial records to find the amount. Keep in mind that many states, cities, and counties require property tax payments twice a year, so be sure to count both payments to avoid deducting only half of the amount actually paid.

Home Kitchen

Tips to protect your granite from cracking and sagging: there is a simple solution

Granite and other heavy stones or surfaces will crack and warp if left unprotected.

You may think that a surface like granite is strong and does not need protection against cracking or buckling, but you will find that if it is not properly protected, you will need a very expensive repair or replacement of your granite.

Granite is the choice for countertops, shelving, bathroom sink tops and more in interior and exterior use today. It is a beautiful natural stone and can provide long lasting enjoyment and appreciation.

If you are installing granite that has an overhang in your kitchen, bathroom, or outside counter, you will need, or your granite installer will need, to assess or determine if the overhang needs support underneath to protect your granite from buckling cracks.

Granite can crack or warp from the sheer weight of the protruding granite. Cracking or sagging can also occur through weight applied to the surface. For example, if you have a granite bar overhang and people are sitting on the bar and leaning on it with their elbows; is causing stress on the granite surface. Some people think that the granite can support their weight and it will sit on the granite overhang. Children love to hang on and swing from things, like countertops. These are things that can present a problem for your granite or other heavy counter surfaces.

Yes, granite is strong, hard, and beautiful, and will provide lasting beauty and enjoyment, but at the same time, when suspended beyond a supporting surface, you will need a support brace in the form of angle brackets, braces, or corbels. .

Determined by your granite installer, you will know if you need support, and if so, what type of support or bracing is required for your particular situation.

There are several types of braces or corbels that will support a suspended surface. They are known as angle supports or corbels. Angle support corbels or corbels come in various materials such as plastic, wood, thin metal, cast iron, and heavy-duty wrought iron along with other materials.

With a heavy surface, you’ll want to get the best support available. You don’t want to settle for inferior material such as plastic, cast iron, or a thin metal. The wood is available for indoor use, but will deteriorate over time through the elements and weather in outdoor conditions. Heavy-duty wrought iron is a good choice for indoor use and is ideal for outdoor use as a support for countertops, pergolas, pergolas, or other bracing needs.

You’ll find that wrought iron angle brackets, or iron corbels as some call them, come in various sizes and styles that will actually accentuate your surface and enhance through your design flair.

It is important to determine the size and quantity of angle support bracket needed for proper coverage and support. This is established via the depth of the surface and the length of the surface. It is best to bring the depth of the corbel to within 2-3″ of the depth of the granite or counter surface. For the number of corbels, it is determined by the length and spacing of the corbels. Corbel spacing 24″ – 30″ spacing is a general rule of thumb. Again, your installer or professional can make this determination for you. Sometimes installers will put a sheet of plywood under the granite, and sometimes they won’t. This can also influence the size and spacing of the brackets.

With all of this information in mind, you’ll find several great websites with excellent heavy-duty support products for home improvement and commercial use of granite or other heavy surfaces. Do some research and buy the best quality, granite backed, and you will enjoy your granite, worry and worry free for years to come.

Auto

Cucumber preparations for rosacea

Cucumber is believed to have originally come from India or Thailand and has been cultivated for thousands of years.

In England, it was common in the time of Edward III (1327), and then forgotten until the reign of Henry VIII. It was first cultivated in Britain around 1573, but was not generally cultivated until the mid-17th century.

In 1597, John Gerard, an English herbalist (who wrote a General History of Plants) suggested that eating soup containing cucumber and oats three times a day “would combat a burning, pimply complexion.”

The “upper classes” in Victorian England introduced the cucumber sandwich, which is made of paper-thin slices of cucumber sandwiched between two thin slices of traditional crustless bread (lightly buttered) with a touch of salt and lemon juice. .

Cucumber sandwiches used to be in the afternoon tea; Interestingly, both green tea and cucumber are said to help reduce the effects of rosacea.

There are many variations of the cucumber sandwich, some may be made with cream cheese and flavored with dill or mint. Different types of bread, rye, pita or French bread are also used and extra ingredients are also added, for example salmon, tuna, watercress and/or tomatoes.

Using cucumber externally

The cucumber can be sliced ​​and the person suffering from rosacea can lie down and place pieces on the affected areas. This is said to be particularly good for the eyes and ocular rosacea.

Cucumber can be pureed; use about 6 slices, add 4 tablespoons of plain yogurt, then mix. The mixture is applied to the affected parts of the face and left for about 10 minutes and then washed off; it should also relieve itching.

Make a mud pack; use a whole cucumber, specially purchased mud, a glass of cream, a tablespoon of honey and olive oil. Blend the mixture and then refrigerate. When the mixture is cool, apply it on the affected parts and leave it on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse it off.

soap; There are various recipes for handmade cucumber soap, which can also be purchased from herbalists and may also contain other ingredients, for example aloe vera.

A recipe for a cucumber wash or lotion.; Slice a large cucumber and put it in a ‘caldera’, which should be well covered. Cook it slowly until soft and then place the pieces in a fine linen bag and squeeze out the juice. Add about a quarter of this volume of rectified wine (or whiskey) liqueur and a third of elderflower water. For example, if there were 24 ml of juice, you would add 6 ml of rectified alcohol and 8 ml of elderflower water. The mixture is then shaken and poured into ready-to-use bottles.

Another recipe for a lotion; cut up a cucumber and use a lemon squeezer to extract the juice. Make a mixture of equal parts glycerin and mixed rosewater, and then mix this with the extracted juice in equal parts.

cosmetic properties.

Cucumber contains relatively high levels of silica, so it is often beneficial for the skin and complexion.

It is also used to treat dark circles (a slice of cucumber is placed on the closed eyelid before sleeping).

To end the article on a light and slightly humorous note: Caution for women using cucumber as a treatment for rosacea on the face: Cucumber juice is said to promote hair growth, especially when added to lettuce, spinach and carrot juice. Hopefully this only applies to bald men!

Relationship

If drinking don’t kill me (your memory will)

A song written by R.Beresford and H.Sanders and sung by the living legend of country music, george jonesentitled, If drinking don’t kill me (your memory will)has a very different meaning to me today.

In my case, this song was left wide open to interpret the meaning in any way the listener wanted. In george jones case, it was rumored that he lived the song in full color. If his drink wouldn’t kill him, the memory that would kill him would be in reference to his wife, at the time, the deceased, great First Lady of Country Music, Tammy Wynette. The song was most likely intended to represent the painful and self-destructive ways a broken relationship or divorce can have on a person unable to handle the disappointment of a failed relationship.

On a more serious note, my rendition of this song packs a deadlier punch than divorce. It means eternal pain for the permanent loss of my soul mate, my spouse, my wife and my once very happy life.

Let me share with you the lyrics of this song, to better understand my story:

If drinking don’t kill me (your memory will)

The bars are all closed.

it’s four in the morning

Must have shut them all down

For the way that I am

I put my head on the wheel

And the horn starts to sound

the whole neighborhood knows

That I’m home drunk again

Chorus:

And if drinking don’t kill me

Your memory will be

I can’t take much more

the way i feel

with the blood of my body

I could start my own yet

And if drinking don’t kill me

Your memory will be

These old bones move slow

But so sure of his steps

As I stumble to the ground

and land lightly

Sir, it’s been ten bottles

Since I tried to forget her

But the memory still lingers

Lying here on the ground

Chorus:

And if drinking don’t kill me

Your memory will be

I can’t take much more

the way i feel

with the blood of my body

I could start my own yet

But if drinking doesn’t kill me

Your memory will be…

THE END

It has been almost six years, since the horrible disease of cancer claimed the life of my dear wife, bobby. He beat her so badly that she could no longer think clearly and had no control over some of her bodily functions. She fought the relentless demon to the end. But like some evil crusades, sometimes they win.

He had always been a beer drinker. I am not in denial of that. I am an alcoholic. However, my disease was practically in remission, thanks to my wife, bobby. She hated people who drank irresponsibly. And with her attitude and beliefs, I tried not to let her down. Throughout our marriage, I failed many times, but for the most part, my drinking was under control.

I didn’t like to drink at home, so I drank in bars and lounges. That meant I would have to drive or have a convenient designated driver with me at all times. This was not a practical thought. Being an alcoholic, who plans to practice? He really wasn’t a regular boss anywhere. I was an irregular boss who needed to jump from one establishment to another. I would get bored drinking in one place. This is what would get me in trouble with the law: drinking and driving.

after bobby He passed away in 2001, I was a lost soul. I was in pain and I didn’t want to feel this kind of grief pain. He was alone now, and he hated it. Without bobby, wanted to die. My drinking came out in full force again. This groundhog saw her shadow. And it meant more than six weeks of winter. It meant two and a half years of pure hell: drinking. I was able to keep my job by some capricious miracle, or perhaps bobby He was my guiding angel. I do believe in angels. I was a mess. My self esteem didn’t really matter anymore. He would drink one day and be very sick for four. This is where my progression from alcoholism led me. I would be seriously ill in bed every weekend after a folder. I wouldn’t answer the phone or the doorbell, even if it rang.

I fell off the bottom. Bottoms out. I was cited for a DUI So I drank more. I didn’t stop drinking until two and a half months later. by believing in God , my higher power, I gave up my weakness. I sobered up. I complied with the penalties and obligations imposed on me by law and carried out my sobriety plan for life. For once in my life, I got the gorilla off me. And what a weight I had carried on me. I’ve been sober ever since.

As george jones, I stopped drinking before he left me. Aim bobbie’s the memory lives on. Like the song, it may be the memory of it that kills me. i pray to God it won’t be the drink that will kill me. If my life ends sober, I would rather die sober and have bobbie’s memory makes me enter

Wanna bobbie’s memory to live, but not necessarily kill me. If that means living in pain, so be it. God knows… I miss her terribly. I have wonderful and happy memories. Memories can’t really kill you if you live your life sober. Sobriety is a safe harbor. Memories can somehow keep you from living if you don’t move on with your life.

If someone says that life gets easier with time after the death of a loved one, it hasn’t really happened to them. I mean it’s not necessarily true. Everyone grieves differently. Human nature tells us to comfort the afflicted. So what else can be said other than “give it time, time will heal your pain”.

I guess it’s true that I feed my pain. bobby It is a constant presence in my life. I hear another cliché used often, “you have to get on with your life.” What if I don’t want to go ahead? My front yard has a memorial garden in loving memory of my wife. My computer screen has bobbie’s photo there. I created a website in honor of bobby and for the benefit of cancer research. I put music that bobby appreciated. I look at photos and read the cards and letters we have given to each other. I surround myself with bobbie’s memories. Will I ever stop reliving her memory? Probably never. Will I ever move on? Now that, I don’t know. I tried to be in a relationship with a girlfriend who moved in with me two years later bobby transmitted. It didn’t work. There were many reasons why it was not a successful courtship. She would rather not go there.

I know in my heart that bobby I wouldn’t want to see myself this way. He would like to see me happy and move on. I remember she told me many times after my mom and aunt passed away that she shouldn’t make a shrine out of her memories. At the time, I thought that she was being cold when she said that. But she was right, she was probably building a shrine to preserve her memories. I didn’t see anything wrong with that.

The pain of memories eases with time, if you will. The only time the pain eases is when I write my feelings down in a story. It is the best therapy for me that I have discovered. I guess that means if I keep writing stories about my memories and feelings for Bobbie, I’ll be fine. So I guess if the drink doesn’t kill me, her memory will. And I’m saying this in a positive way. Thank you, Jorgefor singing that song.

Health Fitness

Health benefits of avoiding processed foods

There are now more choices than ever when it comes to healthier foods, and you don’t have to select processed foods when you shop. Shopping for healthier food is a great way to start living a healthier lifestyle, and organic food is becoming easier to find and cheaper to buy. You can find organic foods in most stores, although the widest choice will be in a specialty store or online.

Natural and organic foods are much healthier for you and can make you look and feel much better. Eating processed foods just fills your body with the wrong kinds of things that can make you feel lethargic and exhausted. They are full of artificial sugars and fats that will make your body feel fuller and you will have less energy. Although organic foods are the best you can eat, simply eating healthier can help your body, the foods we tend to eat right now are at an all time low and manufacturers are simply stuffing food with chemicals and preservatives.

All of these things are bad for you and over time your body will start to reject the food that you are forcing it to have. You need your body and mind to function in the best state possible, and to do that, you’ll need to watch what you put into your body. It needs a certain amount of protein and nutrients a day and if you’re not giving it what it needs, you’re going to get sick. Your energy levels and immune system will be weakened and this will cause you to stay unwell for longer periods.

There are many foods you can eat that can help boost your immune system and can help with both your energy and brain power. You need to make sure you have enough vitamins and nutrients each day, and if your food can’t make it, you may need to take supplements. By avoiding processed foods, you’ll look and feel better in no time, although you may not be able to cut them out completely, you should try to eat less. You will find that you can lose weight more easily if you stop eating the foods that are bad for you and with a healthier diet and exercise plan you will achieve your goal in no time.

Eating healthier isn’t hard, it’s just a state of mind once you realize that there are alternatives to the foods you buy today. If you look around you can buy healthier snacks and drinks that will be the beginning of your trip. Once you see how much healthier you look and feel, you’ll never want to feel the same way again. Processed foods can cause problems with your digestive system, your skin, hair, nails, and fitness levels. Is it worth feeling and looking horrible just to eat something fast and processed?

Legal Law

Building the Professional Services Firm

Entrepreneurs starting or expanding a professional services business need to realize that this type of business is different than a retail store, manufacturing company, or e-commerce store.

Rather than selling a tangible product directly to the end user, it involves marketing a defined set of skills based on personal knowledge and experience.

The buyer cannot physically touch or feel that service, but must rely on conscience, reputation, and trust before selecting a firm for accounting, training, financial services, IT consulting, legal work, and/or healthcare.

Our firm is currently in its 17th year. We offer developmental optometry services to clients not only in our base area of ​​Glen Carbon, Illinois, but to others across the country. Over the years, we have tried various marketing strategies to grow the practice. Fortunately, we have developed a winning combination that has resulted in an extremely large increase in both patient volume and net profit. Below are some lessons learned, which can be applied to anyone looking to start or grow a professional services business.

1. It’s okay to be a small fish in a big pond.

When we started, we were in a very small rural area. We were the big fish in a small pond. Unfortunately, it was a very small pond. While patients visited us from the surrounding towns, there simply weren’t enough of them to sustain our practice. This triggered a move to a larger area, about an hour away. It was also a suburb of a major metropolitan area. Although the competition was greater, we were able to create our own niche and attract dozens of new patients. Moving to an area where there were more potential customers became the foundation for our spectacular growth.

2. Make and differentiate your company.

Google any business in any service category. It is a challenge to determine how one company differs from another. That’s why professional service firms need to develop a marketing strategy that differentiates their business from the competition. In our case, we were one of the first development optometry companies to use YouTube. It helped us educate the public on a variety of eye-related issues that weren’t really being addressed. He also helped establish our firm as experts in the field. Since this medium is very popular and relatively inexpensive to use, we were able to create a large number of videos and reach a large number of potential customers more efficiently. Today we have hundreds of videos on YouTube and a strong presence on various forms of social media. It has allowed us to reach potential patients not only in the US but also internationally.

3. Work together with other professionals in your industry.

Since our firm is one of the few growth optometry practices in the nation, other eye doctors in remote locations often call us to inquire about their patients. Some are even located in Europe and South America. This consultative approach is also valid for professionals in other industries. Attorneys who specialize in one area of ​​law can often serve as a referral source for those in other practice areas. The same is true for a financial planner wanting to connect with an insurance professional or real estate broker who can serve as a referral source for a mortgage lender. Developing relationships with those in non-core businesses can be a real boost to your company’s growth.

4. Hire a business coach or consultant.

Few of us in professional services are trained in strategic business growth. It’s not what we do. To grow our practice, we engaged with a business consultant who has started and operated many large and small businesses. The consultant helped us establish many standard operating procedures, helped us build a higher functioning team, and helped create benchmarks for growth. He has paid himself many times over. Service companies can scale faster and more efficiently by hiring someone who has done it all before.

5. Consider new ideas for practice growth.

Those in professional services need to research and analyze different ways to grow their businesses. In our case, we began consulting with other opticians who wanted to learn Developmental Optometry or wanted to add it as a service offering. The consulting piece has added to our revenue stream and increased profits. You can study industry trends and determine the right type of additional specialty services that best fit your practice, personality, and business goals.

Lifestyle Fashion

What Husbands Can’t Resist – Advice for Wives

When it comes to what husbands can’t resist, virtually all wives want to know. When you’ve been married for a while, the excitement of the newness of the relationship can be replaced by familiarity that results in boredom and complacency. If you feel like your husband doesn’t love or appreciate you as much as he did at the beginning of the relationship, don’t lose hope. There are many things a woman can do to rekindle her husband’s interest in her.

One answer to the question of what husbands can’t resist is surprise. Men love it when their wives do things that bring them down. It can be anything from getting a new haircut to finding a new job. If a woman wants to keep her husband involved in the relationship, she has to keep things fresh and new. If her husband doesn’t know what to expect from you around the next corner, she’ll stick around to find out. Men are much less likely to stray if they are married to a woman who is not afraid to make changes and take risks.

Another thing to consider when you think about what husbands can’t resist is trust. Many women feel comfortable after their marriage and may gain a few pounds or now only work part time instead of pursuing the full time career they once did. If a woman can remain secure and happy with herself now, she will keep her husband’s attention. If you constantly complain about your appearance or what you do for a living, she will soon stop paying attention to you. Show your husband that you embrace and love the woman you are today as much as the woman you were when you first met and he will do exactly the same.

Real Estate

What investors look for in the offers

In this article, I’ll take some time to go over what many real estate investors look for in deals. You should realize that while I am covering what MOST real estate investors are looking for, there are real estate investors who have very focused interests and may fall outside of these parameters. It doesn’t hurt to strike up a conversation with people on your buyers list to get an idea of ​​what each person is looking for. That way, you’ll be more confident when finding wholesale deals because you know which investors would be most interested in that deal. In fact, a quick call to the investor or investors you think would be interested in the deal BEFORE you take it on can actually save you time in the end, as sometimes you may discover it’s not quite the deal you thought it was. .

So let’s take a look at what real estate investors are looking for in deals. They tend to look for one or more of the following:

below market price

In the simplest form, investors want to buy a home for less than it is currently worth. They want to get a discount. The higher the discount, the better, but in many markets the formula for buying homes at a discount is that the most an investor can pay for a home is:

70% of the after repair value (ARV) less what the house needs in repairs. This is often called the Ugly House Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) Formula or Ugly MAO in investor lingo.

To explain that formula with an example, if you had a home that was worth $100,000 if it was in good repair (that’s the value after repair, ARV for short), and you needed $15,000 in repairs to make it worth the ARV, then the most an investor must pay for that house is $55,000. This is how I calculated it:

  • 70% of the ARV – Cost of Repairs = MAO
  • 70% of $100,000 – $15,000 = MAO
  • $70,000 – $15,000 = MAO
  • $55,000 = MAO

Notice the previous sentence “most investors ought many investors want even better deals than being on the edge of that formula, especially in soft real estate markets.

It is also important to note that if an investor wants to buy at that price and needs to do a wholesale rate, they must contract the house for LESS than that amount. How much less? Sufficiently below the price that the investor will buy from you to pay for your marketing expenses and your wholesale fee. So the answer to how much less is how much money you want to make in your wholesale business.

Investors who buy based on getting it below current market value are often top investors who are fixing or investors who will quickly turn the property around.

positive cash flow

Investors who intend to buy the property and hold it for rent are often more concerned with buying properties where the property income makes sense based on the price they are paying and the financing they can obtain.

While I don’t think it’s a strong formula, one formula they often use is that if the rent on the property covers the full mortgage payment, taxes, and insurance, then the investor is cash flow positive. You should consider reading additional articles on net operating income to get a much better analysis of what I believe to be positive cash flow.

So if you use that formula and a financial calculator that you can get for around $25, you can calculate the most an investor can pay for a house.

Let’s take a look at an oversimplified example, so you can understand the basics of how to do this calculation.

For this example, the house has property taxes of $75 per month and an insurance payment of $50 per month.

If you knew that the rent for this property is $1,000 per month and that by calling a local mortgage broker, the current interest rate an investor could earn on a loan on this property would be 7%, then you can calculate the maximum payment you could afford with a financial calculator. Using this figure, you can determine the most you can afford for the house with that payment. This is how the maximum payout is calculated:

  • Rent – Taxes – Insurance = Maximum Loan Payment
  • $1,000 – $75 – $50 = Maximum loan payment
  • $875 = Maximum Loan Payment

Enter the following into your financial calculator and calculate the PV (the loan amount in our case):

  • N = 360 (that’s for a 30-year loan)
  • PMT = – $875 (the maximum loan payment)
  • I/Y = 7% (the quote we got from the Lender)

Maximum loan amount = approximately $131,423 (you need a financial calculator to work out this number).

So, using this example, the most your investor could pay to have BREAK-EVEN cash flow (and many investors want to earn $100, $200 or more per month in cash flow), would be around $131,000. In order to wholesale the property and charge a wholesale fee, you need to hire it for less than that.

I want to emphasize that the example above is an oversimplification and that there is a lot more about cash flow property buying that you will want to learn about.

owner financing

Some investors are looking for investment opportunities where they do not need to borrow money from a hard money lender or bank to purchase the property. They want to buy property where some, or preferably all, of the money to buy the home comes from the equity the owner already has in the property. Another way of looking at this is that the owner is willing to accept payments instead of just a lump sum to buy the property from him.

You may be looking for properties where the seller can finance all or part of the down payment or where the seller can finance the entire purchase. There are many variations on what owner financing can look like, but here is an example:

You agree to buy a house for $100,000. The seller agrees to accept $80,000 in cash (that is, you get a new loan from a bank for $80,000 and the seller receives that amount in cash from the bank) and will then accept payments for the remaining $20,000. Of course, you’ll need to negotiate the interest rate (if any), the amount of the monthly payment, and the term (number of payments) for how the $20,000 will be paid back to the seller.

Another relatively common, but hotly debated, method of owner financing is home purchases “tied” to existing financing, in which the buyer agrees to make the seller’s original mortgage payments, often without the lender’s permission. A discussion of “Subject to” is beyond the scope of this article.

Other real estate investors often offer owner financing to attract buyers who won’t or can’t go to a bank to get a loan. Rarely do private sellers who are not seasoned real estate investors offer direct owner financing. To get owner financing from private sellers, you almost always have to apply and negotiate. In other words, if someone advertises owner financing, they are probably investors and your chances of wholesale the deal are slim. To get financing offers from the owner, you will need to show, through the owner’s ability to sell and negotiate, what the benefits would be to the seller of selling your home and accepting payments instead of just receiving a lump sum.

the more the better

Finally, it’s important to remember that investors look for one or more of the above criteria. If you can get cash flow positive, below market price, and owner financing, that’s even better, and the deal is likely to be more desirable to real estate investors.

While investors tend to focus on finding deals that meet the three criteria above, the seller’s motivation is often what dictates their ability to obtain a below-market price, positive cash flow, and/or owner financing. . That’s why you often hear real estate investors talk about finding motivated sellers. It is the seller’s challenge that is causing the seller’s motivation and your offer to purchase the house must solve your challenge to make your property worth selling at a discount, cash flow positive and/or with owner financing.

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Do whales have navels? 10 Weird Whale Questions Answered

Do whales have navels?

They sure do! Whales, like humans, are mammals and give birth to live young. Whale calves grow inside their mother’s womb and receive oxygen and nutrients through the umbilical cord, which breaks during childbirth, leaving a belly button.

Do whales have hair?

Yes, they are mammals, and one of the characteristics common to all mammals is the presence of hair. Most are born with hair, but lose it as they age. Adult humpback whales, however, have distinctive knobby growths called tubercles, each of which contains a sensory hair.

Do whales shit?

Yes. The color and consistency of your poop depends on the species, but generally speaking, whale poop is a diarrhea-like substance that appears as a scattered cloud or plume on the surface. It sounds kind of gross and weird, but poop is loaded with iron and nitrogen and is actually a vital component of the marine ecosystem.

Do whales have teeth?

Whales are divided into two categories: toothed whales and baleen whales. The toothed variety, which includes sperm, billfish, and dolphin, can have more than 100 teeth in their jaws. The wattled variety, such as the humpback, blue, and right, have wattles instead of teeth. Baleen is a strong yet flexible material made of keratin (the exact same protein that makes up our hair and nails) and is used to filter food from water for ingestion.

Do whales fart?

Yes. Scientists observed a minke whale spewing gas off the coast of Antarctica, and unsurprisingly, it didn’t smell like roses.

Do whales eat people?

No. Despite the many stories in mythology and storybooks, there has never been a recorded incident of a whale eating a human.

Do whales yawn?

A full-fledged mammalian yawn requires the ability to breathe through the mouth. Whales breathe through blowholes, so they don’t have the ability to yawn.

Do whales have lungs?

Yes. They are mammals and, like all mammals, they breathe with lungs, not gills.

What do whales drink?

Whales can obtain water in one of two ways: they can obtain water through their food or produce it internally from the metabolic breakdown of food. To make this possible, whales have special kidneys that are designed to cope with strong concentrations of salt water.

Do whales have tongues?

Yes, and here’s a disturbing fact: a blue whale’s tongue can weigh as much as an elephant!