Where’s the best place to live in America?

Charlotte, N.C., leads Relocate-America.com’s annual ranking of the top 100 cities.
By Amy Hoak, Marketwatch.com

Apparently, there's just something about North Carolina. For the second year in a row, America's best city in which to live lies within its borders, according to Relocate-America.com's annual list.

This year, Charlotte is in the top spot, the site announced late last week. Last year's winner was Asheville, which slipped to No. 7 on this year's list.

"North Carolina is very active on our radar," said Steve Nickerson, president and CEO of HomeRoute. "It continues to get a flood of interest from all over."

HomeRoute is the real-estate firm that operates Relocate-America.com, a source of community information and real-estate resources for people who are relocating. Each year, the site ranks the top 100 places to live in the country.

Areas need to be nominated on the site in order to be eligible for the list; more than 2,000 were nominated this year, Nickerson said. Special efforts are made to prevent spamming campaigns from influencing the results, he added.

But the site's editorial team also takes into account an area's growth, its educational and employment opportunities, crime rates and housing options before granting it a spot in the top 100. Environmental highlights also play a role, with a city gaining points for good air and water quality or the strength of its recycling efforts, Nickerson said.

Home-price appreciation does get some consideration; however, it's only one piece of the analysis, Nickerson said — explaining why some struggling real-estate markets in California and Florida, for example, still made the top 100. Areas that offer a comfortable climate and economic opportunity tend to be the most sought-after communities on the site, he said.

Charlotte's diversity of housing options and home affordability were two of the reasons users nominated the city, Nickerson said. The city's strong economy, boosted largely by the banking industry, was another selling point.

Second on this year's list was San Antonio, which people praised for its cost of living, recreational opportunities and diversity, he said. Chattanooga, Tenn., came in third place, noted for its vibrant downtown and affordable home prices in the nominations.

Below are the top 10 cities on Relocate-America.com's 2008 list:

• Charlotte, N.C.
• San Antonio
• Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Greenville, S.C.
• Tulsa, Okla.
• Stevens Point, Wis.
• Asheville, N.C.
• Albuquerque, N.M.
• Huntsville, Ala.
• Seattle

Read the full list at Relocate-America.com.

The firm also plans to release a coffee-table book on the top 100 soon, Nickerson said. Proceeds will benefit American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, he added.

The view from the topCertainly, being ranked as the top city to live in has its benefits, mainly as a marketing tool for the area, said Tony Crumbley, vice president of research for the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. An e-mail blast sent news of this list to thousands of residents, and the chamber actively keeps track of where Charlotte falls in many of the lists that are published.

"They are important," Crumbley said of the good rankings the city receives. But he also knows that these rankings come and go and that they're somewhat subjective; the city's appeal can change from one day to the next, depending on who is writing the list.

There weren't any significant changes in Charlotte during the past year that would account for boosting the city to the top of this particular list, he said. But the city definitely gets recognized a lot more today than it did 25 years ago, he added.

Bank of America and Wachovia have their headquarters in Charlotte, and it's also a hub for US Airways — all of which seem to have increased the visibility of the city outside its boundaries, Crumbley said. The addition of professional sports teams since the 1980s has also helped.

In recent years, Charlotte has been successful in attracting young, educated workers to relocate there, he said. Asheville, on the other hand, has become a popular choice with retirees, he added.
But cities can easily make it to the top of one list and rank poorly on another, he said. Case in point: One recent Forbes.com list ranked Charlotte as one of the country's most miserable cities, a ranking, not surprisingly, that Crumbley and others disagree with.

Forbes also ranked it as one of the best places to invest in foreclosures, in part because the real-estate market there is relatively stable.

"If they're good, you use them. If they're bad, I won't tell you you should ignore them — you look at them," he said of the lists on which Charlotte appears. But negative rankings aren't likely to end up getting used as a marketing piece for the city.

House Design in Perth

By Jacqueline Hars

House Design in Perth has been reflecting a worldwide trend towards sustainability and environmental awareness in general. In recent times new regulations have been passed, particularly with regard to water wise items, which will reduce our environmental impact on the land and our precious water reserves.

Many of the environmentally friendly initiatives have had government rebates provided as an incentive to purchase them. For many of these appliances consumers also receive the benefit of reduced running costs further down the track, thereby making the initial outlay for purchasing them not quite so formidable.

House design in Perth has also had a huge emphasis on outdoor areas. Many people are choosing to have a covered alfresco area, usually as part of the main roof, and using it as an extension of their living space. Indeed these areas can be furnished and decorated as creatively as the indoors. The use of all weather blinds for these areas help protect from weather and therefore make them a viable living space for most of the year.

Perth has a very Mediterranean climate and it is important that the weather be taken into consideration when designing a house. Eaves overhanging, for the afternoon sun, are just one example of this, as is trying to build your living areas to take advantage of Northerly sun in Winter months. This will warm up your living areas when they need it and save you on heating bills.

Of course not all blocks of land or floor plans will necessarily lend themselves to the "ideal" position. This is where it pays to get expert help to see what can be done. Sometimes it can be as simple as flipping a floor plan. Remember too that those professionals who you choose to help you do this sort of thing every day and will be aware of many ways you can achieve a better design for your ideal house space. The pay off for employing these people is cheaper costs on items such as electricity, for years to come.

As a result of the resources boom in Western Australia the building industry has been furiously working to keep up with the demand that has been created. There are many innovative designs and designers working to provide "dream" homes for clients. Apartments and building on small blocks has been a huge growth area and designers have risen to the challenge to provide all the comforts required as well as addressing environmental issues.

Housing design in Perth has certainly proven it can keep up with the trends as well as taking care of our environment in the process.

Jacqueline Hars is an interior designer in Perth, Western Australia. She is known for creating the "wow" factor for her clients.

She also has an intimate knowledge of where to source the best product and good tradesmen. With this knowledge she can save her clients around 10% on a typical project, and yet Jacqueline's fees are only about 5% of the project cost.

By engaging Jacqueline, her clients get a stunning result cheaper than if they did it themselves. Click the link for Jacqueline's free report on Perth Interior Design.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacqueline_Hars

Achieve Financial Freedom - Buy One More House

By Alexandra Taylor, M.d.

If you were able to achieve financial freedom now, wouldn't that ensure a more comfortable lifestyle in your future years? I submit that the key to your future wealth may be to buy one more house now.

It is said that there are more millionaires because of real estate than any other investment. After many years of home ownership, people often discover that their house has greatly appreciated in value, and is worth many times what they originally paid. Although real estate markets are cyclical and there will always be ups and downs, the general trend in the long run is generally up. Imagine how much better off many of our elderly would be today, if they had made the effort to buy one more house?

Right now, in most areas of the country, real estate prices are dropping and may continue to do so for some time. After years of record-breaking appreciation, resulting in some of the hottest markets in history, we are now experiencing a normal market correction. In addition, a large number of sub prime lenders have recently gone out of business because they took too much risk, and now people are not as easily able to get zero-down loans as before. Thus, there are fewer qualified buyers who have a down payment who can qualify for a mortgage. These changes have resulted in more houses for sale, and fewer buyers who want them. It follows then, that sellers who would like to sell, but who have not had many offers are probably getting impatient, especially if their homes have been on the market for many months. The good news for buyers is this: the longer a property is on the market, the more likely it can be bought at a lower price using creative strategies.

Now is the ideal time to invest in real estate because buyers have never been more motivated! More "For Sale" signs have switched to "For Rent" signs than ever before. Desperate sellers are settling for rental income rather than paying for a vacant home with no buyer in sight. Now, many sellers are willing to consider alternatives to the typical sales transaction.

Today, both buyers and sellers are seeking real WIN-WIN property solutions that will benefit all parties involved. Here are some examples:

Taking a property Subject To
its existing financing. In this case the seller deeds the home to the buyer who simply takes over the mortgage payments without assuming the loan. Taking this one step further, a property taken "subject to" can then be rented out to a tenant, and the rent collected will pay the monthly mortgage payment that the seller took over.

Lease Option allows the seller to have immediate rental income now, and the tenant-buyer has the option to buy it later. For an investor who is leasing in this way, he can sub-lease the house to another tenant-buyer for a higher rent than he is paying, and make a positive monthly cash flow now, and profit from the sale later as well.

Seller Financing allows the buyer to pay the seller his money in monthly installments instead of paying the bank. This allows the buyer to avoid having to qualify for a loan.

These strategies, and others, can allow buyers to purchase properties without necessarily using their own money or credit. In today's market, an investor can buy one more house at a good price from a motivated seller, and achieve financial freedom via real WIN-WIN property solutions.

Talking to someone who does what I do could help you acquire a second, income-producing, appreciating property, and ensure that in the future you will have a more comfortable lifestyle!

Alexandra Taylor, M.D. is a real estate investor who was an OB/GYN doctor for nearly 20 years. Having transitioned from health-related problems to property problems, it is her passion to provide real WIN-WIN property solutions that benefit all parties. She assists new investors to achieve financial freedom and have a more comfortable lifestyle buy showing them how to buy one more house and more! For those who wish to sell or those who wish to buy, Dr. Taylor offers free confidential telephone consultations.

www.BraveHeartWomenAds.com/doctoralex

Helping Around the House - Starting Your Child on Chores

By Lily Morgan

Chores are something every child dreads doing. How many TV sitcoms have you seen with a parent hounding a child to do his chores? While this scenario is played repeatedly with older children in houses across the globe, smaller children actually enjoy helping out around the house. But when is it time to introduce a few household chores to your child, and what tasks can a toddler or preschooler accomplish?

You can start educating children about chores as soon as your child is able to follow simple directions. As you start feeding your baby table food, you can have him pick up food from his tray and put it back in his bowl. This enforces the idea that he has to pick up his messes. Be sure to praise him for his efforts, even if he ends up making more of a mess than he started with. The point is that he is trying to help, and he needs praise for that.

Toddlers can help mom or dad set the table. Give your child unbreakable items to take to the table, like silverware and napkins. While he may not get the items in their perfect location, he will gain a sense of accomplishment from helping. At the end of the meal, have an item or two that the child is responsible for putting away. Many kids enjoy putting their milk or juice cup in the refrigerator when the meal is done. This enforces the idea that they do not jump up from the dinner table without helping with the clean up.

Another task a very small child can do is bringing in the mail. While you will have to get the mail out of the mailbox physically, you can hand it to your toddler to carry inside. Again, she will feel great accomplishment from helping. Be sure to teach her the importance of not opening other people's mail.

Children who have pets at home can help with care of the animals. Toddlers can bring pet dishes to mom or dad to be filled when it is mealtime. Older preschoolers can fill the bowls or feed smaller pets themselves. Because large pets like dogs often get excited around food, an adult should always be present at feeding time.

The most important thing to remember when introducing your child to chores is that praise is the best way to reinforce the idea that helping is fun. Instead of hounding your child to do what you want her to do, praise her when she does it.

Should you reward your child for doing chores in other ways? You may want to avoid giving tangible prizes to your children for doing chores every single time. This fosters the belief that children are only doing the chore because they get something for it.

A system of rewards can be set up where the children earn points for doing chores willingly, and the points are turned in for rewards. This teaches children the value of hard work, and the fact that sometimes the reward for their efforts comes a little later. With these suggestions, you can help your children develop a sense of accomplishment, pride, and belonging in your family by introducing them to the world of chores in a positive, uplifting way.

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How to Successfully Get Your Belongings Out of Your Ex's House

By Lindsay Colip

Having just done this horrible task today, I feel like I should impart some knowledge onto future ‘belonging picker uppers’ to help ease the gut-wrenching pain of this process. It sucks breaking up. There’s nothing pleasant about it. In fact, there are many, many unpleasant things about it, one of them being the unavoidable task of returning each other’s belongings. This usually occurs during the 2nd week of breaking up when the need for your bathrobe outweighs the pain of seeing his house again. If you were smart enough to have kept your own apartment whilst dating, then this can easily be done in one afternoon. If you shared a living space, my heart goes out to you and your closest friends. Bon Chance!

Step One: Make sure he isn’t there. He can be nowhere NEAR there. He preferably wouldn’t have been there in the last, say 5-6 hours, so that his all-familiar yummy scent isn’t lingering around. The last thing you need is to walk in and be blindsided with Drakkar Noir right off the bat. You’ll lose focus and start doubting your decision to break up. And if he actually wore Drakkar Noir, I’m proud of you for getting out of there.

Step Two: Park close by. This was my big mistake today. You will be carrying multiple items, including and not limited to: pots and pans, books, lingerie, sports equipment, food items, and god forbid your vibrator lived there, you’ll be carrying that too, and whatever ever else you’d left. You really don’t want Nancy Neighbor knowing your business and if you’re walking down the street with an eye mask, curling iron, the entire DVD collection of Harry Potter and your favorite cereal, she might start asking questions. And furthermore, you will be crying. Park close. This is an important one.

Step Three: Get your stuff out as quickly as humanly possible. The longer you’re in there, the more likely you are to unconsciously grab a cup of water, have a seat on the old’ couch, take a pee…all of which is not okay anymore. This isn’t your house. You wouldn’t rummage thru the cupboards for a glass at a strangers house, nor would you relax on their couch before asking. This is a new concept that you have to start accepting. Your membership has been cancelled. No more perks. Stay Focused!

Step Four: NO SNOOPING. This is a big one. You’re allowed to see if your photos are still up, if your decorating tips are still in place, if your trinkets are still on his dresser, etc. but you are not, by any means, allowed to do the following: turn on his computer and see what new photos and documents are there, check his email and/or phone messages, look in his drawers for new condom purchases, smell his clothes and sheets for new perfume smells, and absolutely no checking his trash (I actually heard of someone doing this once. What on earth are you expecting to find there!?) Once you do these things, you’re officially ‘breaking and entering’ and not simply collecting your things. You’ve crossed the line.

Step Five: Leave something behind. Don’t take everything. You want him to miss you right? Even if you broke up with him, you do NOT want him forgetting about you before you forget about him. Leave a toothbrush, a comfy t-shirt you always wore, anything so that he’s reminded of you. Chances are he won’t be able to throw out your hair thingy or favorite snack item; he’ll keep it right where it lived.

Step Six: Leave a note. A cute note. Anything you can muster up that’s 100% authentic adorable you…an inside joke, a saying you repeated often, a simple ‘I love you, take care’. Be the bigger person. Walk out of there with your head held high, and leave him wondering why you two ever broke up in the first place (unless it was all you, then you go girl!)

Finally: Get some big, oversized sunglasses. You will be crying at this point. This is when you take your final look around his place, soaking it all in, memorizing the details so you won’t forget, breathing in the last few rollercoaster years and letting it all sink in. It’s over. And now, putting his keys on his kitchen table, officially. Exhale as you walk out the door, make sure all your belongings are secure, you don’t want to drop your blender in his driveway, and get to your car as quickly as you can. And don’t you DARE put on sappy music. You just began a new chapter in your life. Try “Time to Move On” by Tom Petty. That might just do the trick.

Having just recently quit my job and my relationship, I'm finding that I'm most inspired and most at ease when I'm writing. This is the first article that I've ever written and it felt good to write. I have chosen to empty out most of what I'll call my "life cup", or that which I came to know as my life, and start fresh. It's scary and exciting and I have a lot to say on the subject. More articles to come on how to survive being 28, finding a fulfilling job and a life partner with a smile! Lindsay Colip coliplindsay@yahoo.com

How To Sell Your House in Today's Market

By Sally O'Boyle

If your market is anything like the Key West market, you are sitting on your property, waiting for your flush buyer. And you have been for some time. Frustration has probably set in. You need to sell before actual panic takes hold.

There is hope. The formula is ancient: product and price. Sellers who really want to sell, need to lower prices till they generate activity (i.e., phone calls and showings) and keep lowering till they generate action (i.e., offers).

It is now officially a Buyer's market and this is true in all but a very few U.S. markets. In a Buyer's market, the good deals sell first. The formula we have used successfully for getting showings and offers on a stagnant property is to: 1. Lower the price 10% at a time until the phone starts ringing = ACTIVITY. 2. Keep lowering the price 10% at a time until you get offers = ACTION.

How often? Every 2 weeks is not too often to lower the price, but timing is dependent on time of year and seller's motivation. In your busiest season, when you have the most activity, every two weeks might not be fast enough! You will know you are close when the phone starts ringing.
You'll know you are really close when you get offers. You'll know you are there when you have a signed contract.

To get from contract to closing, be willing to negotiate. Fix anything the buyer needs to have fixed to have a safe home (termite treatment, upgrade electric, plumbing repairs, sound roof, dead trees limbs down.) Remain calm.

In a Seller's market, sellers are insulted by offers lower than 5% off the asking price. In today's market, you will definitely get offers lower than this. If you are insulted by any offers, you need attitude adjustment. Nobody cares if you are insulted.

There are buyers in our market right now and they want to buy. The hold up is price. Sellers are still in denial about the direction of the market - they can't let go of the big number and they think any minute this baby is going to turn around.

Unfortunately, this ship is too big and wieldy. And it's run into an iceberg called Subprime Mortgages. It's just not going to be able to bounce back. Last I looked in our MLS, there was a four year inventory on the market... Usually, we have four to six months. And with so many
Fortunately, REALTORs I've spoken with lately are coming to grips with reality. No paycheck will do that to a person. Trust me, I have first-hand knowledge of this. Before I left Key West for Costa Rica in January '06, my income was down 90%. Twenty months later, my brethren back home are starting to realize this is more than a slow patch. Much more. As REALTORs stop cheer-leading, reality will spread.

Reality is the only hope for a turnaround in this market. Inventory has to clear out. A lot of it will clear out via foreclosure. That's a fact. If you are a seller who can still avoid foreclosure, take the money you can get and move on.

Today, the price has to make sense to the buyer. For sellers stuck in 2004's market when seller's ruled, today's price will NOT make sense to you. It will be shocking. But for sellers who really want to sell, it's time to bite the bullet. It's not your market anymore.

Sally O'Boyle, Recovering REALTOR®, packed up her family and 30 years of a life in Key West on basically a whim and a prayer and moved to Costa Rica for a year. It's been almost two and they can't leave. Life in Costa Rica is something... breathtaking, frustrating, hilarious. Details here: http://www.abroadincostarica.com

Still watching and working the Key West market, mostly from afar, occasionally on the ground, Sally reports on that market's ups and downs at http://www.so-real.com