If you are thinking of investing in a new apartment, then you should definitely get a strata inspection in Sydney or elsewhere before investing your hard-earned money in it, so that you know exactly what you are getting into.

Apartment living is the new breed of luxury homes

With land becoming scarce quickly, apartment living has become much more attractive to the average home seeker. In recent times it has been found that apartments may be the new way forward when it comes to luxury living because they are closer to the city, offer more amenities and make life much easier.

Luxury apartment living has many benefits over other forms of housing including:

• The ability to live in a luxury home without having to worry about maintaining it yourself, as that is taken care for you by your building’s staff and/or facilities manager.
• Being able to leave all yard work behind while still enjoying the comforts of using your own private outdoor space; this can be especially appealing if you are moving from an area where there was little green space available or where commuting time was long enough that you only had access every few days.
• Luxurious finishes such as hardwood floors, high quality kitchens with stone benchtops and large modern bathrooms with designer fixtures will give your home a fresh new look.
• While you may be downsizing the size of your home, if located in an area with amenities like cafés and restaurants nearby or even on site, this can make for a very social way to live without having to worry about maintaining it yourself.
• Security – Many luxury apartment developments will have their own security teams patrolling 24 hours per day which makes living in one feel more secure than ever before compared to when people were still residing inside large houses all alone at night time.

The disadvantages of apartment living may include such things as:

• If not managed properly, high-rise living can sometimes come with problems such as noise from neighbours above or below making too much of a ruckus.
• In some high-rise developments, the parking areas for owners’ cars can be a serious distance from their unit which is an inconvenience that many people do not take into account when looking at this style of living in Australia.

It is a good idea to weigh out the pros and cons before deciding on moving into an apartment, and the best way to do this is by getting a strata report in Sydney which will outline all the information you require about the building and its management.

How do you find an apartment that is perfect for you and your lifestyle?

With so many high-rise buildings coming up, it is not easy finding an apartment that is perfect for you and your lifestyle. This is why it’s a good idea to get in touch with an agent that specialises in luxury apartment living. For example, if privacy is one of your main concerns when looking for a place to live, then maybe high-rise apartments aren’t right for you. However, if convenience and easy access are more important, then going up into the sky might be just what you’re after.

With all this information coming from someone who knows their stuff about where to live in Australia, finding the best possible location will be a breeze rather than a chore, however wherever you intend to buy, getting a strata or building inspection in Sydney before investing is a must.

The modern Australian city lifestyle has evolved at a rapid pace over recent years and show no signs of slowing down any time soon, so being prepared is going to help you out more than ever before, especially when considering where you intend on buying.

What are some things to consider when looking at apartments?

There are many things to consider before you find the perfect luxury apartment, such as:

• Price & affordability of rent & repayments.
• Amenities on offer.
• Size and layout including the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, parking spaces etc.
• The overall condition of the apartment building itself as well as how it looks from outside (including any renovations that are currently happening).
• Do you need to be fenced in or have security gates?
• What’s your current budget like?
• How long do you plan on living here for?

All these things matter when looking at luxury apartments because they all come together to make up your ideal lifestyle, so don’t settle for anything less than perfect.

There are many great reasons to live in an apartment

The reason that apartment living has become so popular in recent times is that it’s a luxury lifestyle that is attainable for many Australians.

• Firstly, apartment buildings are much more affordable than the average house in Australia so this makes them perfect for those who have slightly lower budgets compared to what they might normally spend on their dream home.
• Secondly, luxurious apartments come with access to all kinds of amenities such as swimming pools and gyms, free of charge! This means you don’t need to worry about buying your own equipment or paying out extra money each month just for something like having a gym membership which really helps if you’re trying to save up for an investment property at the same time.
• Thirdly, because there may be shared facilities (e.g., laundry machines) within your building it reduces (or even eliminates) any additional expenses in terms of doing your own laundry.
• Finally, luxury apartments offer residents the chance to live in an area with easy access to city transport and other amenities such as cafes and restaurants, without having to worry about spending a lot of money on rent each month.

Luxury living in the city is no longer just for those who can afford a house. With large, luxurious apartments coming to major cities across Australia and around the world, we’re seeing more people than ever before trading in their single-family homes for what was once considered an exclusive commodity; luxury apartment living.

By Stephen Turner

As the owner of a St. Louis Public Relations agency, I am often asked for help and advice when a friend or colleague inquires about a marketing problem or a potential marketing opportunity.

I was most intrigued recently when a friend solicited my assistance to spread the word about an upcoming advertising campaign he was involved in. His objective was to find a few organizations for networking purposes where he could tell everyone about a new discounted deal his company was offering.

The news of this discount would soon be the highlight of an email sent to thousands of recipients across the St. Louis area.

I asked him if this was some special new program he was involved with or some new business venture.

‘No’, he replied. ‘I’m doing a Groupon!’

Groupon has no doubt become a part of today’s marketing culture. Each day the company sends an email offer to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of persons living in a specific geographic area.

Most Groupon offers are discounted fifty per cent or more off the listed price of a product or service. Nearly all of the deals involve business to consumer offerings. Common sale items include meals at restaurants, tickets at entertainment venues, healthcare and beauty products, medical treatments, clothing items, and sporting goods.

The success of each Groupon campaign can vary. It seems the better the product or service is known, the better the response.

A popular chain is more likely to generate a greater response than say a niche eatery located in a specific part of town. That being said the Groupon may have a greater sustainable business impact on a small company or restaurant than to a national corporation.

The result of the Groupon is an immediate financial return to the advertiser. Businesses get their money quickly and are assured of a certain cash flow for the next few weeks as the Groupon payments are deposited into their account.

The one drawback, of course, is the money generated is at a large discount to what customers would normally pay for the same product or service. And that money is paid in advance so when shoppers visit a store or restaurant they have already paid for their goods.

For a restaurant the Groupon impact can be a bit challenging. Should many pre-paid visitors come at peak weekend times they can cause other regular customers to incur inordinate waits for a table. The full paying patrons may grow impatient with the establishment and decide to dine elsewhere.

The eatery may generate little new revenue on what is normally a busy Saturday night.

Restaurants and other retailers often face a delicate balancing act based on the success of their offering. The goal of course is to generate new customers with the hope of turning them into full-paying loyal and repeat shoppers. Alienating existing patrons due to an onslaught of discount crazy consumers is only counterproductive to the success of the campaign.

Still for many businesses the impact of a Groupon can be quite positive. It can bring in new shoppers and add income to a company’s bottom line. It can help a new firm create awareness and name recognition where none existed before.

The goal for most businesses to keep in mind is that sending out a Groupon should not be the ‘end-all’ of a public relations or marketing strategy. It should be part of greater campaign that creates and develops customers over time. A campaign that develops positive relationships between the business and the targeted audience it serves, both for now and for years to come.

About the Author: Stephen Turner is a Principal in Solomon/Turner, a St.Louis Public Relations Agency named One of The Best PR Firms in St. Louis by Small Business Monthly solomonturner.com, sturner@solomonturner.com 36 Four Seasons Center Chesterfield, MO 63017 314-205-0800

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By Tom Atkins

Do you understand your FICO score? When your credit history is reported it is shown as a three-digit number. It’s important that you know what that number is, particularly if you plan to use credit to make purchases. This three-digit number is known as a FICO score. FICO stands for the Fair Isaac and Company which began credit scoring sometime in the 1950’s. Their strategy was to use 30 different factors to determine risk. The three major credit bureaus, Trans Union, Experian and Equifax, use FICO scores when making credit reports.

This method of scoring is used to assess the possibility of your loan defaulting. The credit card and installment loan industry have used this method for a number of years. The mortgage industry is using this scoring system as well. A credit score will help lenders simplify underwriting by categorizing borrowers more quickly. If you have a high credit score your application will probably get a superficial but positive review. Wherein, a low credit score may get a quick review and a quick denial.

Credit scores fall between 300 and 900. Most consumers score between 500 and 800. A score in the 500s is very low. This indicates to the lender that the borrower is a high risk. A score in the 600s is medium. In this case your payment history will be closely examined. More than likely, written explanations will be required to explain your derogatory credit before you are issued new credit. Some lenders will not extend credit to consumers with a score less than 640. A FICO score of 680 or higher is considered high. This translates into low risk for the lender and lower costs for you.

Each reporting agency provides up to four reason codes when they post FICO scores. This helps the consumer understand why they received a low score on their credit report. The reason codes are the main factors that contribute to the consumer’s score. If you address these factors, your FICO score may be affected in a more positive way. The following is a list of factors that impact your FICO score:

1. Numerous accounts opened within the last twelve months.

2. No current credit card balance.

3. Short credit history.

4. Delinquencies

5. Credit card balances near their maximum.

6. Tax liens, judgments or bankruptcies.

7. Excessive credit inquiries.

8. Not enough revolving credit accounts.

Remember, FICO scores are only guidelines. Factors other than FICO scoring can impact underwriting decisions. The following examples of compensation factors may help a lender to be more lenient:

1. A larger down payment.

2. Low debt-to-income ratio.

3. Excellent history of saving money.

4. Previous paid loan with current lender.

5. Available home equity or collateral.

About the Author: Tom Atkins is a staff writer at

Debt Journal

and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including

Finance Journal

.

Source:

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By Brian Garvin

The Suddenly Slender the body wrap income opportunity is huge. Becoming a franchise of Suddenly Slender is the opportunity of a lifetime offering you the opportunity to be your own boss, have an exclusive territory, training, no competition, and much more!

Suddenly Slender the body wrap offers you the opportunity to have your own franchise. Today, the health and fitness industry is booming with diet pills, foods, and other ways to lose inches and drop pounds.

Getting into the body wrap industry is the best route to go because this method of losing inches really works. The best thing about this is that body wrap salons have not saturated the market yet and they have significant and immediate results. People are amazed at the differences they see after completing a body wrap.

When you start your own franchise with Suddenly Slender body wraps you have the right to use the Suddenly Slender the body wrap Salon mark if you like. This can draw in customers based on the name and for many people it is an honor to use this. You also get access to much more than just the body wraps.

You will have the opportunity to offer services like Bust Enhancing, Bra Water-Retention Control, Nutritional Supplements, and Skin Care Products. This gives you a wide base of things to start your business with and almost guarantees you success from the get go.

Suddenly Slender the body wrap offers people who are interested in starting their own franchise a thorough training program. You don’t just get the packages and the information and be sent on your business. The company wants you to succeed in your opportunity and they will do everything that they can to make it happen.

You will also be entitled to ongoing support from the company whenever you feel you need assistance with something. Don’t be afraid to ask. Another big benefit is that Suddenly Slender also offers the experience of hundreds of licensed professionals that can offer their advice and assistance to you when you need it.

Because the market is hardly saturated with Suddenly Slender the body wrap franchises, you have the advantage of having almost no competition out there. You will have the opportunity to be able to have your own exclusive territory. This means that your customers will stay your customers and when other competition finally does move in, you will have been there first. This is a fantastic benefit to starting your own franchise doing body wraps.

Working for you is a big opportunity that many people often regret passing up. The Suddenly Slender the body wrap franchise business is perfect because you can offer your community true solutions that are proven to take off inches and pounds. You won’t be limited to only the body wraps, but have other healthy and beauty products available to offer.

If you are interested in the Suddenly Slender the body wrap income opportunity you are making an excellent decision for your career and lifestyle. You shouldn’t pass up this type of opportunity.

About the Author: You can read our Unbiased, expert review of

Suddenly Slender

from Brian Garvin and Jeff West at

MLM Review Kings

. This article may be used royalty free provided bio & links remain intact.

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By Jodi Witte

Standard advertising practices are so important; having an ad in the yellow pages of your phone book or newspaper does a tremendous amount to bring in new business. However, what do you do to differentiate yourself from all the other veterinarians listed in the same yellow pages? A pretty ad does not tell potential clients that you are better then the next guy with a DVM after his name.

These days more pet owners are researching their pets health information online. Internet marketing should be a part of your overall marketing campaign, and can be done successfully for little or no money. Make the most of this medium by following a few easy steps:

Your Website

You do have a website dont you? If you dont, you should. A website can tell potential clients about your practice, your staff, your standards of care, and so much more. This is where the potential client can really get to know your veterinary practice in a way the ad in the yellow pages just cant do. You dont have to spend a great deal of money to build your website. If you dont want to hire a website development firm, talk to your staff members chances are one of them has some web developing skills and can produce quite a nice and effective website for you. There are also many website templates online that have beautiful animal and veterinary themes, which allow you to simply add your content, without a bunch of coding.

Become An Expert

Yes, you are already a professional, and by all means, an expert in veterinary medicine, but so is that next guy with the DVM. Therefore, you need to show potential clients that you are more of an expert then that next guy. How do you do that? Its quite easy actually, and costs nothing, you simply write articles. Writing articles and submitting them to online animal health websites is the best way to become an expert at any subject and it costs nothing but your time. Many of the expert veterinarians got that way by writing for the journals and the trade publications but potential clients do not read these veterinary trade publications and journals. You need to become an expert to the pet owners by writing articles for the consumer.

Take Dr. Alice Villalobos for example, writing an oncology column for one specific veterinary trade magazine. Dr Villalobos is well known in the veterinary community, but what you may not know is she is very well known in the pet owner population also. She has taken many of her articles and adapted them for pet owners, and has authorized these articles for reprint on consumer websites such as AnimalHelp.Com. Pet owners from around the United States contact AnimalHelp.Com requesting her contact information because they are willing to cross country for a chance for her to treat their pets cancer.

While you may not be looking for cross-country clients, your local clientele will grow considerably when you become well known as a veterinary expert. Whether you practice in a small town or a big city, the local pet owners are undoubtedly online and researching you, your practice, and your competitors. When they find well-written veterinary medical articles by you on one of the large national animal health websites, your reputation will grow, you can ethically attract the cases you want by narrowing your article subjects to specific topics, you will become an expert in the eyes of your current and potential clients, and you will have differentiated yourself from that next guy with the DVM.

Tying It All Together

Now you have a website and are writing articles for electronic publication on your favorite animal health website. You will want to make sure your authors bio includes a link to your website and your practice contact information. When your article is published on the animal health website, this direct link will increase your websites search engine listing rank. Your name will also get higher rankings in the search engines. When you Google yourself, how many results are returned? Are they the results you want? Having multiple articles published on a leading animal health website will result in relevant, quality results from the search engines. Add a link from your website to each of your articles published on the consumer animal health website. This directs your potential clients to your articles and lets them see your expertise at work.

For little to no money, you have just established yourself as an expert and – even better, more of an expert then that next guy with the DVM. Your reputation, your practice, and your clientele will grow, and you didnt have to take out a loan to do it!

About the Author: Jodi Beck Witte is CEO and President of

AnimalHelp.Com

, an animal health website that has been online since 1997. Ms Witte is a veterinary technician with extensive training and experience in online marketing.

animalhelp.com

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By Daniel Millions

Dental insurance plans can help individuals and families save a lot of money with respect to dental care and treatment. There are different types of such plans and some plans are more expensive than others. But the difference in the diverse plans offered by different insurance providers mostly lies in the coverage of dental procedures what is reimbursed and what is not. It is therefore important to consider what is covered in a plan very carefully before signing up for one.

Full coverage normally refers to all dental procedures that can be expected to be carried out with the goal of keeping teeth healthy and restoring them. However, there exist some misunderstanding as to full coverage, whereby people often believe that it implies that all dental procedures are covered by the dental insurance plan. If this was the case, then one would have to look at price alone in order to determine which one of the plans is the best one to adopt. Needless to say, it would be the cheapest one.

Therefore when examining the different plans, it is vital to understand what each one of them covers and what they do not cover. Some plans may cover basic dental procedures, such as checkups and cleanings, but not more complex ones, such as implants or dentures. Some will cover major dental procedures, and not the basic ones. These types of coverages are not to the benefit of the clients. People most often than not go to the dentist for basic dental care and treatments which, if catered to carefully and regularly, will diminish the risk of having recourse to major dental procedures. On the other hand, it is also important to have coverage for major, expensive dental procedures, as they may still be necessary, though on a less frequent basis.

Minor treatments, along with basic dental care, are usually included in full coverage dental plans. They include tooth extraction, fillings, treatment of roots, gums, cavities, among others. They are not considered as overly costly procedures, unlike major dental procedures. However, they usually involve co-payments and deductibles on the part of the client.

Major dental procedures such as prosthodontics (dentures, implants, bridges) are really very expensive, and therefore dental plans which cover these are quite worthwhile. Insurance providers know that these types of procedures arise less frequently, and are the result of not getting appropriate basic dental care. These procedures may be more subject to exclusions such as waiting periods. It may happen that people sign up for dental insurance plans which offer full coverage as to major dental treatments; being fully aware that they will be going through them.

Orthodontics (straightening of teeth, treatment including braces, retainers) usually forms part of cosmetic dental procedures, which does not find a great place, when it finds one, in dental plans. Indeed, these are barely, if not at all covered with dental insurance plans. The argument for this fact is that dental insurance plans, like medical insurance plans, work towards the sole aim of keeping people healthy or restoring their health. Cosmetic surgery, on the other hand, aims at improving appearance of people, and is therefore not covered by most dental insurance plans.

Before signing up for a dental insurance plan, people should therefore examine very carefully what the full coverage refers to. They should know exactly what their needs are and choose their dental plan accordingly. They should avoid making assumptions as to what is covered, so that they will not end up paying for dental procedures that they believed to be included in the coverage of their dental insurance plan.

About the Author:

Get Wellness Plan

s and

Dental Insurance Plans

.

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