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CHECK THIS OUT – CHOCOLATE IS HEALTHY!

Now, THIS is good news! A popular health magazine reports:

1. Chocolate reduces chances of heart disease and stroke. A recent study found that people consuming the highest levels of chocolate had a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared to those with lower chocolate intakes.

2. Chocolate may help you in math. Flavonols in chocolate are thought to improve blood flow to the brain. One study reported participants could do calculations faster and more accurately after drinking hot cocoa.

3. Chocolate makes you feel good. Chocolate contains phenethylamine, which triggers the release of endorphins, a reaction similar to the one people experience when they fall in love.

4. Chocolate relaxes you. Studies have shown chocolate contains the compound anandamide, which activates the brain receptors for relaxation.

5. Chocolate may help you live longer. One study found that participants who ate candy one to three times a month had the lowest mortality rates of the group.

Cha-Ching! Simple Tips to Keep Your Savings Plan on Track!

As anyone who likes to shop can tell you, a quick trip to the mall can turn into a full-blown shopping spree—complete with impulse buys—before you even hit your favorite store. If you’re constantly coming home with items you never intended to buy, you may be doing more harm than good when it comes to keeping your savings plan on track.

Here are five ways to keep your spending under control:

1. Create a budget. In order to be financially stable, your spending must not outpace your earnings. To ensure you’re on the right path, track your spending for a few months to see where you’re spending the most. Then make any necessary adjustments to your spending to bring it in line with your income. Be sure to check your budget every once in a while to make sure you’re still on track.

2. Wants vs. needs. While it’s a great feeling to be able to treat yourself, it’s most important to live within your means. Before you pull out that cash or credit card, determine whether what you’re about to purchase is a ‘want’ or a ‘need.’

3. Keep seasonal spending in check. From holidays to birthdays and everything in between, seasonal spending can put a huge dent in a savings account if you aren’t careful. Take the time to set budgets and priorities before these events roll around.

4. Say ‘no’ to social spending. While it can be fun to meet up with friends and splurge every once in a while, these social spending habits can wreak havoc on your bank account. If you meet up with friends on a consistent basis, consider creating a fixed budget to cover these outings.

5. Teach your kids to be responsible spenders. It’s never too early to talk to your children about money and spending within their means. Be open and honest with your kids and talk to them about your family budget. It’s also important to teach them where the money comes from when you visit the ATM or write a check, along with the importance of paying bills on time.

Source: M&I Financial

Keep Water Away From Your Home’s Foundation!

Water is good for trees, shrubs and many other plant forms. It’s not, however, always good for your house, especially when your property stays wet and does not drain properly.

“Water is the number one cause of damage to the homes we live in,” says Jamison Brown with AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service in southeastern Virginia.

“Excessive water around and under the footprint of the home can produce a host of unwanted consequences — fungal growth and structural damage.”

To protect your home, the soil around the home should slope away from the foundation on all sides.

Typically, the recommended slope is one inch per foot for at least six feet away from the home. This rule of thumb is not always possible for hard surfaces like drives and walks. However, with these impervious surfaces, water can keep moving away from the home even if the slope is less.With the passage of time, the presence of shrubs and household outdoor pets can result in a change in the slope around the home, says Brown. Homeowners should annually review the ground around the home to ensure the gardening activities, installation of mulch or raised beds — and the comfortable spot your dog lays to rest in — have not resulted in a low spot or a slope, which is pitched toward the home.

If the lot slopes toward a home, a swale, or a shallow ditch, should be installed to prevent surface water from flowing against the foundation. A swale should carry surface water around the home and away on the surface of the soil or to a catch basin that will carry the water via an underground drainage pipe.

A French drain can also help get water into the ground where it can quickly disperse. The drain can be as simple as a huge hole dug and filled with rock, or it can be as sophisticated as a system of interior foundation drains that feed into a sump pump and exterior flow system.

Gutters and downspouts are also important means for getting water away from your home’s foundation, especially when the structure does not have substantial overhang. For gutters to function properly, they must be firmly attached to the eave of the roof; all seams must be sealed and the gutters must slope toward the downspout with a slope of one inch in 17 feet, says Brown.A good rule of thumb — one downspout should not drain more than 35 feet of gutter. The gutters must be clean to prevent clogging. The gutter downspouts need to be extended away from the home a minimum of four feet with six feet being preferred. When downspouts are connected to underground drains, it is very important to keep all debris out of the gutters, downspouts and underground drains.

Air-conditioning units can also create unwanted water-logged areas. Consider extending your unit’s drain pipe to direct extra water away from the foundation and to a gardening area where moisture-loving plants like cardinal flower, Joe-pye weed, milkweed, giant coneflower, cannas or bee balm can drink it up.

Kathy Van Mullekom is gardening columnist for the Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

Throwing a Housewarming Party? Tips for a Successful Soiree

If you recently moved into a new space, you’ve undoubtedly invested a lot of time, energy and money into making your new house a home. And throwing a housewarming party is a great way to get all of your friends, family and neighbors together and show off your new digs. If you’re ready to unveil your new space, keep the following tips from the Relocation.com blog in mind.

-When it comes to throwing a party, it’s easy to go overboard and shell out more money than you originally planned, so setting a budget is crucial. Make sure your budget is realistic and in place before any plans are even made. And, by all means, stick to it!

-While your party doesn’t necessarily need to have a theme, it’s always a good idea to have a few activities or games planned. Or, simply put together a playlist to add some background noise and let your guests mingle.

-Deciding on your menu well ahead of time will eliminate unnecessary stress as the big day draws closer. Whether you’re cooking the food yourself, getting the party catered or even renting a food truck for the occasion, don’t leave these decisions until the last minute.

-As the host, it’s your job to introduce everyone. While this can be a challenge with everything going on, name tags can be a great addition to your party. Have guests write their name as well as their relation to you, providing an easy conversation starter.

-Be sure to thank your guests for taking the time to come to your housewarming party. If anyone brought a gift, take the time to write them a thank you note.

Source: Relocation.com

5 Spring Selling Mistakes Sellers Make…

Unfortunately, when market factors start to feel like magic, too many sellers fall prey to the risk of thinking homes just “sell themselves.”

Here are five potholes you and your sellers, literally, can’t afford to stumble into this spring:

1. Demand “Dumbification”

Yes, I just made the word up, but the complex is real. It’s bad when a client can’t see beyond their emotional attachment to a home. It’s even worse when your sellers ignore the facts about what’s making today’s buyer’s fall in love.

According to a recent National Association of Home Builders survey, the top features that will help your home compete with new listings that are hitting the market are:

Walk-in Master closets
Energy efficient windows and appliances
Laundry room and
“Great” rooms that are multi-purpose for the family

Instead of highlighting key features like these, many time sellers just want you to focus on emphasizing the features that mean the most to them.

While your seller’s pay you to stay in touch with the latest real estate trends, like these, it can pay for you to pass the information on when making staging and renovation recommendations.

2. Over-meditation

Spring buzz means busy buyers who are looking to make a move fast. Long before an offer, buyers deliberate on which home is their best choice. And, while your listing may be option one; remind your sellers that there’ s always an option two, three, and four who are ready to close now.

That means you and your sellers need a selling plan. Sit down and discuss important questions like these to prepare for likely scenarios:

What is your ideal sale price?
What is the lowest price you’re willing to accept?
What repairs, improvements, or concessions are you willing to make?
What other important factors, like closing date, are high priority for the transaction?

Knowing and documenting these answers up front can save a lot of time during negotiation. Ensure your sellers don’t end up with withdrawn offers over something as simple as a slow or an unreasonable response. In this market, the best way to negotiate is to think ahead.

3. Hidden Gems

After living in a house for 20, or even three, years sellers can forget some of the most important reasons they love to call the place home. These missed selling points can make a real difference in moving a home in days verses months. To jog the sellers memory and make sure you have a full list of selling points to share on Trulia, social media, and everywhere else you advertise,

Have your sellers complete this free Survey for Home Sellers,
Ask the sellers to have friends and family e-mail you one-thing you like about the home, and
Make your sellers take you on their own personal showing where they try to sell you a home.

Yes, these things take time but they could save you a lot of work when it’s time to put together online listings or other collateral.

4. Un-staging

We led off this year with a 25 percent surge in visits to real estate websites across the nation according to a recent Inman News article. That makes every piece of online listing content even more valuable and important.

Online shoppers want to see themselves in a home; and let’s face it, imagination is easier when someone else does the work. Help your sellers see the benefits of staging by

Taking them to well-staged homes,
Clicking through photos of other blank rooms online, or
Showing off your past staging talents with your portfolio.

You know that a few small tweaks can make a world of difference when trying to get buyers to see the potential in a home. Help your sellers see the light and avoid being edged out by the competition because they didn’t make the effort of proper staging.

5. The Sure Shot Mindset

Yes, spring is typically a hot season when it comes to home sales. However, this year hasn’t shown to be the magic turnaround some were hoping.

According to Trulia’s Chief Economist, Jed Kolko, “Spring home buyers might be surprised that national housing data have pointed to a recent market slowdown…nationally new construction starts and existing home sales have been sluggish.”

In fact, the National Association of Realtor’s March Home Sales Report showed existing home sales were almost flat from February to March.

The sure-shot mindset that a home is “guaranteed to sell” this spring is probably the most dangerous of the potholes. The truth is, a home sale isn’t a guarantee until buyers have closed and have the keys. That means sellers need to be prepared to compete in every way possible including making renovations, being flexible with showing times, and doing whatever else you advise to move their home into a new buyer’s hands.

Breaking News: Handyman Services Save Homeowners Money!

Whether you’re standing around the water cooler, talking shop in the garage, or sipping wine at a dinner party, there’s a lot of talk these days about which home remodeling projects are a good investment, and which ones are best left for better economic times. That said, the smartest choice for you, your home, andyour bank account might be shifting your attention away from major remodels, and giving your local handyman a call instead.

What advantages does a handyman have that your average G.C. is lacking during times of economic hardship? Let’s take a look.

To put it simply, why pay to remodel your entire bathroom when installing a new sink and upgrading your shower fixtures will do? We live in a society where the reigning mantra is “more, more, more,” and the world of home improvement is no exception. Handymen specialize in just the opposite: smaller jobs that cost less money, but that make a big difference, nonetheless.

Because handymen focus on smaller jobs around your house, they usually charge less for their services than a big-time contractor would. Sure, Joe General Contractor might deserve the big bucks if he’s coordinating work between your architect, framers, concrete guys, drywallers, and painters, but if you’re opting for home improvements on a smaller scale it doesn’t make sense to pay all that extra money for services that you just don’t need.

Quick Service

While you often have to schedule appointments with other contractors weeks or months ahead of time, most handymen will bend over backwards to fit you in as soon as possible, especially if you have a pressing need, such as a plumbing leak, frozen pipes, or a failed heating system. In fact, once you find a good handyman, it’s not a bad idea to put his number on speed dial. You won’t find better peace of mind as a homeowner than knowing you’ve got competent Mr. Fix-It just a phone call away.

A handyman, by definition, is a jack-of-all-trades. That said, you can save yourself a lot of money, time, and frustration, by calling a handyman to tackle all of your household needs in one visit, rather than paying separately for the high prices of specialized contractors like plumbers, painters, and carpenters, to do the same jobs.

Some of the smartest home improvements when it comes to raising energy efficiency and cutting energy costs are the most common sense—a fact that’s important to remember as winter sets in. Simple green upgrades that are well within the ability of most handymen include weatherstripping, caulking and sealing doors and windows, maintaining your heating system properly, and upgrading insulation—all of which can dramatically lower your utility bills during cold winters and tough times.

The Handyman Can!

In fact, since we’re on the subject, there’s almost nothing that a handyman can’t, or won’t, do. The short list includes (but isn’t limited to!):
• Plumbing installation and repair
• Electrical work, including hanging ceiling fans, light fixtures, and installing new outlets
• Home maintenance tasks, such as gutter cleaning, power washing, and chimney sweeping
• Roof repair
• Drywall patching
• Interior and exterior painting
• Small installations, such as replacement windows, shelving, sinks, countertops, vanities, and cabinetry
• Basic carpentry
• Insulation upgrades
• Tile, laminate, hardwood, and other flooring installations

If you do decide that hiring a handyman is the right choice for you and your home, make sure you do your homework ahead of time. Unlike specialized contractors like plumbers, electricians, and even general contractors, handymen aren’t required to pass any tests or obtain licensing to go into business. That means that anybody with a toolbox, a tool belt, and a phone number in the yellow pages can call themselves a handyman, whether they know what they’re doing or not. In order to make sure that your attempt to save money doesn’t end up bleeding you dry, be sure that you get bids from at least 3 handymen, and ask for, and check, references before you hire. It’s the only way to ensure that your handyman hire is going to provide you with the tip-top service you deserve.