Many these days may be spending more time on their phone than reading a book. While there can be many ways to stay entertained with technology, the reality is that reading a book can have lots of benefits for your brain, besides just being entertaining. If it’s been a while since you’ve picked up a book or read something by Bill Copeland poet here are a few things to think about.

Mental Stimulation

One benefit of reading a book is that it can be a great form of mental stimulation. Like with the muscles in your body, if you don’t engage your brain regularly, neural pathways tend to go away over time. By challenging your brain regularly with different activities and regular reading, you can help to keep it working and building new neural pathways, rather than losing ones that you’ve already built.

Increased Creativity and Vocabulary

Not only can reading stimulate your brain, but it can also help increase your creativity, as well. Part of the reason that reading can increase creativity is that it helps build new neural pathways. Additionally, reading stories helps you to engage your imagination, which can lead to increased creativity in other areas. Beyond that reading can be a great way to learn new words and expand your vocabulary, as well as spelling skills.

Stress Reduction

Another benefit of reading is that it can be a great stress reducer. What helps make reading so relaxing is that it offers you an opportunity to escape reality and forget your daily stresses and concerns as you let your mind slip into a new world. Some studies suggest that reading can slow your heart rate after less than ten minutes. Not only can reading help reduce stress, but it may also help with overall sleep quality as well. Reading can be a good way to calm your nervous system and signal to your body that it’s time to wind down, which may lead to a more restful night of sleep.

The Bottom Line

Because it can be so easy to keep yourself entertained, between watching all the shows on your streaming service to playing addictive games on your phone, many are spending less and less time reading books. However, reading can have a wide range of benefits.

Not only can reading help stimulate your mind and your creativity, but it may also reduce stress and help you sleep better as well. So, next time you’re looking for some entertainment, consider picking up a book.

It’s not a secret that there is a lot of money to earn when investing in a real estate business. But that involves a lot of hard work of course. Here are some tips how to invest successfully in real estate:

1. Know your market.

The success of your purchase largely depends on the specific real estate market of your choice and its activities. The first thing you need to remember is to avoid overly hot markets because the risk is just too high and you may end up losing money.

Real estate markets have different phases and cycles. Invest in a market that is in the phase of expansion—where there is balance in the rising of sales and prices versus affordability, construction is low and capital investment is high.

You should also focus on the location of the property and invest more in areas with dense population, accessibility to basic amenities, family and child friendly community, and development is apparent.

2. Spend wisely.

The return on investment is what matters most especially when you invest in affordable real estate properties. Low income neighborhoods tend to not get affected much by economic downturns compared to others which somehow provides you a guarantee to some sort of stability when you invest in low-cost properties. Moreover, tenants in these types of rentals are unlikely to move frequently because of high fees. So once they find something that they can afford, they tend to stay for longer contributing to the stability of low rental properties.

But you also need to consider the safety of the neighborhood like the crime rate, types of tenants, and other factors that will affect your return on investments.

3. Foresee the costs.

When investing in a real estate property, it is important that you foresee the costs upfront, not just the costs of the property and commissions but also the costs of repairs. Unless you are capable of doing DIY repairs, do not try fixing things, messing it up, and result in losing money instead. Also do not make unnecessary renovations that do not appeal to the type of community your property is located.

4. Manage the risks.

It is not wise to go deeply into debt. Before buying a house or any investment property, make sure to have a large cash reserve. You should be able to at least pay a down payment of 10% or much better make it 20%, because it will lead to lower interest rates on the loan and it cancels the private mortgage insurance. In the long run, if you have a huge cash reserve, you reduce the risk of selling your property fast to an unfavorable deal because of cash loss.

While relying on a hard money lender for a fast cash loan to fix last property repairs is helpful, they tend to have high interest rates and end up eating your supposed profit margin.

5. Don’t fall in love with the property.

Wanting your investment property in a working-class location to be the best and end up turning it into a luxury property won’t guarantee it to be sold in the same pricing with those in the upscale area. Do not fall in love with it too much, because you are not going to live there. You will only end up losing money in overbuilding.

Fix what is broken and decorate practically—not expensively.

6. Go extra!

Maximize your investment property and make income generating additions. For example, letting a bank rent and install an ATM in a corner or an extra space in the lobby for a small convenient store which rent fees add to the business cash flow.

You can also hire a caretaker, or a security guard, which adds value to your property and makes it more attractive. With that, you can ask for higher rent and the tenants will be fine with it.

The other thing you can do is fill the property with a tenant instead of house flipping. Once the tenant has moved in, you can then start looking for buyers—that’s called turnkey rental property which usually sells easily to new investors.

7. Familiarize with the local rules.

Before you start doing anything in your investment property, make sure it is within local rules and regulations. You have to be aware which works require getting a permit or not.

8. Explore!

Real estate investment is not limited to single-family homes or apartment rental buildings. You can explore and invest in other types of properties like office spaces, storage units, industrial, and warehouse buildings.

Take it from the CEO of Candid Property Solutions, Cristina Ortega. She runs a successful “cash for houses Los Angeles” investing company. She believes that the key to become a successful investor in real estate business is finding a good investment opportunity and taking advantage of it. Call them for a fast cash offer for your house, if you need help with it.

 

87% of employees want their employer to offer healthier workspace options, including ergonomic workstations and sit-stand desks.

If your business is full of uncomfortable, old office chairs and rickety desks, your employees might start looking for a new job. An outdated office can also deter prospective employees from accepting a job. Investing in your office furniture is a way to invest in your business and show your employees that you care.

Keep reading to find out what you should do with old office furniture from your business.

Sell the Furniture to a Start-Up

If you’re wondering what to do with old office furniture, you should first try to recoup some money by selling it.

Just because the furniture is outdated and not working well for your office anymore, that doesn’t mean the furniture is unusable. There are many start-ups out there that are trying to save money and start a successful business. Offer these businesses your old office furniture at a discounted price.

Not only will you give the new business an affordable furniture solution, but you’ll now have extra money to spend on your office’s new furniture.

Donate It to a Non-Profit 

Another option to get rid of your used office furniture is to donate it to a local non-profit.

Many non-profits would gladly accept your furniture for their own offices. These non-profits use their money to help others and often don’t have an ideal office set-up. Or, you can find a non-profit that accepts furniture donations as a part of their mission.

A few non-profits to consider include:

• Habitat for Humanity
• Goodwill
• Domestic violence shelter
• Homeless Shetler

While you won’t make any money off your furniture going this route, you will give back to your community.

Hire a Trash Removal Company

If you’ve avoided upgrading your office furniture for too many years, it may no longer be in a good enough condition to sell or donate. At this point, it’s best just to put these items in the trash.

The proper way how to dispose of an office chair doesn’t mean you just set it outside with the weekly trash pick-up. Odds are, you have multiple large pieces of furniture that a normal trash pick-up won’t collect.

You’ll need to hire a trash removal service to properly get rid of your office furniture. This service involves a company hauling away and disposing of your trash. Browse this site to get a better idea of how the process works.

Upgrade Your Business from Old Office Furniture

Using these three methods, you can easily get rid of your old office furniture and update your business.

Start by trying to recoup your furniture costs by selling to a start-up. From there, you can consider donating your furniture to a local non-profit to give back to your community. And if all else fails, hire a trash removal company to get rid of the furniture.

Looking for other ways to improve your business? Browse the rest of this site for more great business advice.

 

House renovations generally increase the value of a property. Whenever you want to sell your house fast, there may be a lot of things that needed to be arranged or fixed. Though, it does not necessarily mean that you have to do a total overhaul. Because, to be honest, not everyone has the time or money to spend. Now, you just have to think like you are the buyer and plan accordingly to get it right.

1. Clean Up your Home

Keeping the house neat and organized will more likely to attract buyers. Stop and think about it. “How can I make the house more appealing and create a pleasing environment?  And where do I start?” You can start by clearing the items that are non-essential such as broken items or other junk. In case there are appliances that are part of the listing, you have to designate a good spot for them later on.

2. Go on and Fix Them

Carefully, look around the house. Do you see any holes? Any crack in the walls and ceilings? Those things are going to be an eyesore if not fixed right away. For one, repairing the holes and cracks comes easy in case you have common household tools. Otherwise, you won’t really have to spend much as simple tools and materials from your local home improvement store will have you on your way to a smooth wall and patch those walls.

While you are at it, you can also repair that leaky faucet and replace the broken windows and fix the roof if needed. Lastly, why not change any dated ceiling fans or light fixtures?

3. Apply Fresh Paint and Replace that Curtain

There is nothing fresh paint cannot do. When it comes to painting, it is essential that you choose the colors wisely. You can even do the painting yourself and consider the neutral colors. Primarily, you can begin a full paint job with the kitchen and the bathroom and pick the right shade for each.

Now, the right set of drapes or curtains can either make or break the home sale. Using curtains can help cover ugly paneling, block the noise from the outside, or simply helps the space to look bigger. When replacing the curtains or drapes, find for that perfect one which has an up to date style and sticks with the neutral color and avoid loud patterns.

4. Kitchen and Bathroom Upgrade

Many will agree that the most important parts of the house where buyers pay more attention to are the kitchen and the bathroom. If these two areas are appealing enough, then these can increase the sale value.

Major changes are not really required as you won’t get a large return on investment. Minimal improvements will do the trick.

• Countertops

New countertops with drawers can create a more functional space. If you already have one, then simply check if doors or handles need replacing.

• Cabinets

Check the cabinets if they are still in good condition as they should be free of water damage or rot. Now, if the cabinet boxes are broken or falling apart, your choice is to install new ones. And if those cabinets do not need any replacement, make sure that the paint isn’t chipped or peeling or better yet just paint them new.

• Faucets, Showers, and Sink

Water should run leak-free, and all drains should not be clogged. Showerheads need to be fully operational. The overflow drain that is preventing overfill in a bathtub should be in order as well.

5. Flooring

Good flooring completes the overall appearance of your home. You can change torn carpeting or replace any cracked or chipped floor tiles. Some of the low-cost options to select from including highly upgraded laminate flooring and wood plank tiles.

While all of these are things you have to consider before selling, know that you can simply do it yourself (DIY) which means you can cost-cut on materials and labor.

Just keep in mind that you do not have to go overboard when making these renovations. Avoid additions such as kitchen, bathroom, or even bedroom as it will not pay off. Minor improvements will give you more value in return.

Also, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of fixing your property and you’re having second thoughts about spending money even on minor repairs, there’s another option that you can choose. You can ask a “we buy houses fast Los Angeles” company. They are willing to buy your property as is. The best home buying company that you can find is Mrs. Property Solutions. Call them now for an honest and fast cash offer today!