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Those looking to fix up a home, remodel or repair a run-down property may apply for the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) 203(k) loan. The loans are offered to those who want to repair or fix up a home that has run into disrepair and live in it as their primary residence. These loans help reduce the risk that would otherwise have to be undertaken by a primary lending agency. Mortgage payments during the time of the remodel may be covered up to six months by the government. Down payments are reduced to encourage revitalization of neighborhoods. Only 3.5% of the purchase price plus repair costs need to be accounted for as well as good credit and steady income to apply. In order for the loan to be secured you will need to work with a 203(k) consultant.

Do you need a 203(k) consultant? What can they do for you? A 203(k) consultant is approved by HUD, or the government agency that oversees home mortgage lending practices. HUD stands for Housing and Urban Development. Consultants must be approved by a HUD field office and trained using their specific Work Write-Up Forms.

To begin with, a 203(k) consultant will view the site with the potential borrower. Together they will walk-through the site as the consultant assesses the amount of work that needs to be done and whether or not it’s possible to do the project. If the consultant gives the go-ahead, an agreement is signed and the client pays a retainer for services.

The second part of the service is where the contractor’s HUD training comes in. They prepare a detailed Work Write-UP. This lays out line-by-line costs associated with project. Included in the Work Write-Up are project specifications, construction costs analysis and HUD-required draw request forms. They also prepare bid packages and lender packages.

The next step is to deliver the Work Write-Up packages to the borrower, lender and contractor. After that the borrower finds a contractor to work with. It’s important to note that lenders have requirements that contractors have to meet. Contractors must know about the 203(k) process and how it will apply to the work they do.

Finally the loan closes. Repair funds are put in escrow and the actual work begins. After that, the consultant performs draw request inspections. During this phase the proper permits must be issued. As the building progresses a punch list is drawn up. Finally the project is completed and warranties and lien releases are gathered.

This type of investment isn’t for everyone, but for those interested in restoration of homes can find themselves a great deal if granted a 203(k) loan.

San Diego Home Inspector is your resource for prompt, honest and reliable home inspections and commercial property inspections. Our mission is to provide home inspection services that make a positive impact on the local community by protecting the physical and financial well being of our clients. Visit San Diego Home Inspectors today.

When a business experiences an IT problem, its principals often turn to the Internet for help, but at a time when IT advice is offered in thousands of blogs and business websites, it is difficult to know what advice to trust. When the health of a business’s network is essential to the health of its bottom line, IT consulting services should be used to address issues with the network. When a business experiences the situations below, a consultant from a managed services provider should be contacted for advice:

IT Investments that are Over Budget

Sometimes the need to retain a consultant is as obvious as businesses being over their budget with their IT investments. In some cases, the budget is simply too small for what the company needs, but a consultant often finds a way for the company to meet its needs for a lower price than seems possible. For businesses, the key is to seek advice during the planning phase and not when the budget is already in the red.

No Offsite Data Storage

Some businesses discover the true value of business data only after a major data loss. When a fire or a flood destroys the network, some businesses have no way to recover lost data for prospective clients, on competitors, the sales territory, etc. Storing data offsite prevents this from happening. According to research, most businesses never completely recover from a major data loss. Consequently, implementing an offsite storage system with the help of a managed services provider should be a top priority.

Potential to Reduce Staff

Web-based services make it possible for some companies to reduce staff. However, just because services are relocated offsite does not mean a company should immediately cut staff. In fact, when the data from offsite applications must be maintained onsite, the need for staff could increase. Before it assumes that web-based services reduce the need for in-house staff, a company should take advantage of IT consulting services.

Plan to Implement a New Network

When the needs of its network change drastically, a business may need an entirely new IT infrastructure. In most cases, however, network requirements tend to evolve gradually, allowing a business to upgrade components over time. If your business must upgrade its network, seek expert advice to find out exactly what needs to be upgraded. Otherwise, you could overspend by replacing more components than you need to.

No Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan helps businesses stay in business in the wake of a disaster such as a fire or a flood. Without a plan in place, a business may have no way of accessing or retaining its marketing and proprietary data for products or services. A recovery pan helps keep this from happening by supplying the data and hardware a business needs to maintain its network during a disaster.

Conclusion

When they experience the situations above, companies should receive IT consulting services before they make a final decision. For more information about the value of IT consultation, contact amanaged services provider today.

Starting in a Small Town

When I decided to move from the city to a small sized regional town (35,000) of which I knew less than five people I had to have a plan to develop my consultancy in the small town.

This advice comes from a business consultant that has experienced the highs and lows of small town consultancies.

First, building trust

Small towns have a very efficient word-of-mouth network that is working overtime focused on all the latest gossip. Being a consultant your clients need to know they can trust you and worry that their information will become part of that gossip network.

Your professional brand needs to build trust and rapport to back up your actions. If you do or say anything about your clients, your consultancy will slowly fade away.

Second, keep your word

I was so used to service contracts and several formal presentations to clients while working in the city that it took a little time to get used to clients in small towns doing business by taking your word and giving theirs.

It doesn’t matter about contracts in small towns, if you break your word, your reputation will be over town within the week, and clients will lose your trust.

Make sure that if you promise to do something, do it. Never give your word if you cannot keep it. Understand that your clients may be put off by the formal contracts used by ‘city’ managers and build your business systems to operate within this less formal structure.

Third, get to know people as people

Rural towns shut down over the weekend as most people are busy going to local sports matches, hobbies or fishing for example. Become part of the community by engaging in similar social activities in an honest way. In other words, go because you enjoy it, not for cheap advertising.

Surprisingly your clients will want to see your social side as well as your professional side. Remember, you are not just doing consultancy work and then leaving them for the next contract. You will be expected to keep in touch as you bump into old clients while shopping or going to the doctors.

Fourth, change is slow

Even though you possess the latest industry knowledge and solutions be prepared that the town clients could be twenty years out of date. Not because of any deficiencies in the clients, but simply they don’t feel the need to change something they have been doing for decades just because larger towns may have.

Small Town overview

Most importantly you will need to retrain your body language to adjust to the town behaviours or you will be seen as intimidating and high pressure. Spend time watching how people in small towns meet and interact before you go in with your business card, power suit and wide smile.

Information supplied by Paul Baker

Over twenty years of business development & change management strategies successfully used in National organisations across Australia. The focus is on continuous improvement of business systems to stimulate growth through our principles of Initiate, Inspire, Innovate.

Customer-centric focus using our extensive experience in consumer behaviour and business process operations to find ways to help business owners manage their organisations.

The profession of giving advice on various fields is not often advertised. The professionals in this field often rely on referrals from the professionals in related fields. The demand for their services is, in most cases, not very high. It is for this reason that most of these professionals are continually on the search for methods of promoting their services in an attempt to increase revenues. Door hangers for consultants provide a solution for this problem. This is because the use of these cards provides an economical, yet very effective means of advertising the services of a particular advisor.

Making your Cards Effective

Door hangers for consultants provides a solution for marketing the services of a particular advisor. Their effectiveness, however, depends on a number of factors. Most important is the quality of the cards produced. The quality needs to be striking. It should show the potential clients that you value quality. Most clients are likely to keep your card. Most cards end up in the dust bins even before they are read because they do not offer any form of enticement for the potential client to see. The cards should have some form of decorations and neat writing that will attract the reader as they look at what services you have to offer. The clients may also choose to have these cards as decoration in their house and when they require your services they may easily contact you.

Call for Action

It is not enough for door hangers for consultants to be pretty. In some cases these pretty cards also get thrown away like the bad quality cards. These cards should create some form of necessity for the client. They should be able to influence some form of action. Creating this desire to take action often creates demand for the services provided by advisors. This, in most cases, may be achieved by highlighting the negative implications of the clients not seeking your services. For instance if you are a construction consultant, you may highlight the exploitation of construction companies. This will often make the client think and in most cases see that you have a point.

Distribution Strategies

Door hangers for consultants are a form of direct advertising. This means that the more the number of people that the marketers reach, the more their message spreads. These cards should, however, be distributed to the right homes. Depending on the field of expertise that the professional gives advice on, the homes where the cards are placed should have some degree of relation. It is often best to perform some sort of research on the homes before you start placing the cards. The relevant information should be the occupations of the occupants, as well as their income levels. This will help you gauge whether they may be requiring your services.

The Internet provides a promising opportunity for your business to reach a new level of promotion. Internet marketing has been proven to be an effective tool to reach out to your prospective customers without spending too much (it’s more cheap compared to print and broadcast media promotion). However, most especially for beginners, Internet marketing can be a challenging task considering its complexity.

With the help of Internet marketing consultants, you can handle your online business promotion tasks a lot easier. How can they help? Well, they are individuals who have specialized in a wide array of Internet marketing techniques, which are very helpful to make your Internet marketing campaign a success. Some of their approaches include the following:

Business website development – Internet marketing consultants give recommendation about which type of website is more suitable for your chosen niche, for your target customers. They can help you decide whether an e-commerce website is needed for the nature of business you have or a website that is built for the purpose of brand awareness.

Search Engine Optimization – they are also knowledgeable when it comes to promoting your website or brand to search engines. As we know it, majority of website visitors come to a website via search engines. Therefore, making your website more visible in the eyes of search engines like Google gives you more chances of getting visitors for your website

Pay-per-click ad campaign – good marketing consultants are also able to give you intelligent recommendation on when and how to invest in pay-per-click advertising for your business. They can help you understand when PPC investment becomes necessary.

Social media marketing – you can also work with them when it comes to social media marketing campaign. They can help you in harnessing the power of biggest social network names in the industry (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) to further elevate your online marketing campaign.

Local business marketing – most especially if you are promoting a business that is intended for customers of a particular geo-location, a local business marketing campaign can be a great tool and an Internet consultant can help your local business goal realized.

Analytics reporting – lastly, Internet consultants also have specialized in analytics and reporting tasks. They analyze data that your website and other online marketing campaign have generated and provide useful insights on how you can make use of these data for further enhancement of your online marketing campaign. They provide information, usually presented with numerical and graphical data, which give you useful idea about how effective your marketing campaign is, and what are the necessary steps to stay on the right track.