Buying and remodeling homes for profit can be a very lucrative business. If you've ever seen the shows on television dedicated to the home flipping industry, you know that it can be a great way to make tens of thousands of dollars almost instantly. As long as you have the credit or capital to buy your first home and sink enough money into it to make it more livable and luxurious than it was before, you can get started. Any real estate agent will tell you that location is a key ingredient to home flipping success. If you buy a house in the ghetto and turn it into a mansion, it'll be difficult to sell because nobody wants to live in the ghetto, even if they're staying in a magnificent home.
Another key to remodeling homes for profit is having a network of people to help you out. If you've found a good contractor, keep his or her phone number handy. It's hard to find reliable people who do good work at a decent price, and when you do it's almost like winning the lottery. Building a good business relationship with contractors and construction workers is extremely important. If you aren't sure about which contractor to hire, start asking for letters of recommendation. Any contractor worth your time will have a trail of happy customers behind him, so talk to them and avoid making the costly mistake of hiring the wrong person.
When it comes to remodeling homes, there's nobody more important than a good real estate agent. They can help you find the properties that you'll want to flip, and they can also objectively tell you which changes to make to improve the value of your new house the most. Remodeling a kitchen, for example, can make you a ton of money on your investment. They can also tell you which adjustments are going to be most affordable. Real estate agents can help you to get the greatest return on your investment, which is what remodeling and selling houses is all about.
During our everyday life, we concern ourselves mainly with home security; enabling the security alarm, locking the door when we leave, etc. However, there's another menace out there that is creeping through our society. This menace is Cyberstalking, the exploiting of our children through the Internet.
In my professional role in the Home Security Industry, I preach the values of the Internet, not only for us as adults and professionals, but also for our children. Our children have almost immediate access to any kind of information available throughout the world. Want to read A Tale Of Two Cities? It's on the Internet. Have a question about who the third person to land on the moon was? It's on the Internet. However, want to be exposed to nudity, pedophiles, and thousands (if not millions) of other social deviants? You bet it's on the Internet and just a key touch away from your child or grandchild. So, what do we do about this?
First, we educate ourselves. Go to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website at www.ncmec.org and download their study "Online Victimization - A Report on the Nation's Youth." This report will provide an eye-opening look at the perils our children are under every time they access America Online, Compuserve, or the Internet via the local Internet Service Provider. It also provides a telling survey on how parents deal with their children's use of the Internet. For example, over 85% of parents have talked with their children about being careful talking to strangers on the Net, and 97% of those polled check every now and then on what is on their child's computer screen. But, only half the parents ever go back and actually check history to ensure the child is indeed staying out of potential problem sites, and only 39% set a limit on the amount of time their child can be on the Internet. Though it appears that parents do realize the potential exposure their children have on the Net, less than 1/2 play a truly diligent role in ensuring their child is protected.
Second, we educate others. Gather information from such sites as The National Center and tens of other child advocacy sites (including www.pta.org), and speak to your fellow parents in your school system about the dangers presented to our children on the Internet. Stay tuned for future articles on ways to prevent your children from being exposed to unsuitable material. Bottom line: be involved with your child's Internet experience. They now have the world, literally, at their fingertips. Make the effort to have it at yours also. Part 2 explains the warning signs that your child is having a bad experience online.
Both Jeff D. Bagley & Walter Stone are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Walter Stone has sinced written about articles on various topics from Ideas for Remodeling, Home Security. Walter StoneHome Security Online. Walter Stone's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.