All posts by Jon Clark

Jon Clark is an Internet Marketing Consultant, Entrepreneur and current editor of the Facebook Marketing Blog. Jon loves coffee, sports and NY. You can follow him on Twitter @jonleeclark or circle him on Google+.

Uncategorized

Everything You Need to Know to Get Cheap Rent

May 23, 2012 Jon Clark

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There are several things a person is going to need to know in order to get their rent as cheap as possible for their apartment. The first thing is to set a budget. Typically, this means that you will need to make sure your rent is no more than 30 percent of your income. Once you have figured this out, you’ve made the most important decision and every other decision will be simplified.

1. What and Where

Avoid using a broker, because they charge exorbitant fees. Instead, look in local newspaper ads, apartmentpublications, college bulletin boards, and on Craigslist. Next, be sure to find a neighborhood you’ll enjoy and feel comfortable in. To make sure of this, visit said neighborhood during both the day and night, and do a few Google searches to see if there are any hidden crime problems you’re unaware of.

2. Extras

Determine what is included in your rent. This could include heat, water, electricity, cable or satellite, and/or internet. Then, when you know what’s NOT included, figure out how much the average utility bills are. The landlord should be able to tell you these numbers. Never sign a lease without knowing this, because you could really be hurting if you don’t!!

3. Details

Make sure that you read every little detail in the lease before you sign it. This means that you will also need to get a copy of all the rules and regulations. There are a few things that you are going to want to look for beyond this, including the beginning and end of the lease, the amount of the security deposit, reasons why the landlord could end the lease, and penalties that might occur if you move out before the lease is over. For instance, if there’s a chance you’ll move early, you don’t want to be charged a month of rent to find a sublease. Furthermore, you don’t want to find out when you move out that you weren’t supposed to drill holes in the wall!

4. Inspections

Make sure that you inspect the apartment before you sign the lease. This is important because you want to look for any damage that can be fixed before you move in, ensuring that you are not going to have to pay for those damages later on. You are also going to want to make sure that the landlord does not have access to yourapartment when you are not there. A person should always be notified before the landlord shows up at their apartment. It’s the law, and if you sign that right away, you could potentially end up in a “gotcha” situation, where your landlord isn’t happy with the state of cleanliness or a houseguest.

5. Negotiations
Try to negotiate your lease. This is usually a lot easier if you know your landlord or at least some basic information about the deal. For instance, if you know that the area is close to a dangerous part of town or you know that the windows are drafty, you could use this to your advantage. They may not lower the rent, but they may agree to take care of some repairs or comp you some extra expenses.

Nolan Gellar likes to write about real estate, saving money & www.grouphealthinsurance.org.

Uncategorized

The Best Ways To Prioritize Features and En-Suite Design

January 19, 2012 Jon Clark

When creating an en suite bathroom, the two most important factors to consider, even before you get into the matter of cost and chosing the suite and furniture, are what room it is going to be an en suite for and what the dimensions of the en suite are.

Why an bathroom en-suite?

Although it may seem a really obvious question, knowing what room you are building an en suite for clearly sets parameters for both design and function. If you are adding it to your own bedroom, then your own taste and needs will prevail. However, if it is going on a child’s bedroom then the practicalities of the room are different. Similarly, a guest room will have different requirements as will an en suite added to boost the sale value of a property.

What goes in it?

Your own bedroom’s en suite will most likely be the bathroom you use first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If space and budget permit, it may also become your main bathroom and the bathroom suite inside will reflect this. Depending on the purpose you need to make sure of good lighting and a great mirror for things like applying make-up, cleansing your face or just performing basic dental hygiene. If space permits you may add a toilet and even a shower or bath.

For children

A child’s bedroom’s en suite will probably place less focus on things like make-up or shaving, but there is still every need for a basin to make sure they have no excuse to avoid brushing their teeth. A toilet is of greater importance here, as children often need to make more frequent trips to the bathroom and it makes things easier for the whole family for them to have one close at hand.

Great investment

A guest bedroom or an en suite purely to boost re-sale value will often be more sterile and seem multi-functional, perhaps at the cost of personality and catering to one particularly need. This is not to say it will be unattractive or poorly thought out, but it will reflect less on the taste and needs of the people who use it.

Maximize space

The size and shape of the room are the most obvious constraints regarding the design of an en suite bathroom. Put simply, if the room is too small you can’t get a bathroom in there. If the shape is awkward you may be looking at placing an unconventionally shaped bath in there. You would have to prioritize which items you want in such a room and make the decision accordingly. Luckily, there are some great corner baths, smaller baths and shower baths to help you maximize function and comfort regardless of the space available. Similarly, a smaller toilet or one with an in-wall cistern can also help to maximise what may only be a very small amount of space.

Emma writes for Liberty Bathrooms a supplier of superior quality cloakroom suites and other bathroom items.

Moving

Do You Really Need That? (Tips Before Moving In)

January 7, 2012 Jon Clark

Figuring out what you need can be hard. A lot of us get so used to having certain luxuries that we find it difficult to picture a life without them or we become so attached to items that we lie to ourselves and come up with excuses for why we should keep ‘this’ or keep ‘that’. While the process of determining the difference between your ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ isn’t exactly an easy task because changing how you think can take many months, if not years; here are some tips to get you started. In the beginning, it is going to be a bit tricky, however, in time it becomes much easier; second nature, even. You’ll get there!

Ask Yourself How Often You Use It

One of the first things you should do whenever you are moving into a new home is go through everything you own one item at a time. This is the perfect time (since you have to move everything, anyway) to literally go through everything you own and figure out what you want and actually need and what you don’t need. If you find yourself having a hard time letting go of certain objects; take a moment to ask yourself a few questions about it:

How badly would you miss it if it was gone? When was the last time you used it? How often do you picture yourself using the said item in the near future? Be honest with yourself (although we know it’s tough!) and you are going to end up with a much cleaner home from the get-go. Moving is even better than spring cleaning because you are able to do a much more in-depth look at everything you have. Taking inventory is going to be much easier this way.

The More Room You Have, the Better

There is nothing quite like having a lot of space to store your prized possessions. When a house is cluttered, all of your favorite things can easily get lost in the shuffle but when you clear out the things you don’t need; you’re able to actually enjoy the things you do keep and put them on display for others to enjoy, as well. This may be pictures, trophies, awards or other personal items such as knick knacks that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Just Because You Don’t Need it, Doesn’t Mean Someone Else Can’t

Try not to get too upset over the items that you can’t keep. You don’t necessarily need to throw them away and a lot of the time there are going to be people who want them just as badly as you thought you did in the beginning. Even if you have something that you think may be of no use to someone, it is never going to hurt to put said item on Craig’s List and see if you can’t make a profit. You can even choose to give items away or donate them to local charities so those in need can enjoy something new.

Colton Kyle is an avid blogger and write articles on home improvement projects. In his recent article he has enlisted some best custom home builders who specializes in building luxury residential projects.

Interior Decorating

5 Ways To Please Your Nose By Making Your Home Smell Beautiful

January 5, 2012 Jon Clark

Smell is a sense we don’t give enough credit to. Our eyesight is obviously the most important one we use and that’s why everyone makes sure their home looks beautiful. Touch comes in second place because we all like a little comfort. Nobody wants to sit on a couch that’s as hard as a bed of nails when they are trying to watch television. You have to throw sound in there when you think about all those surround sound systems. Taste doesn’t count unless you enjoy chewing on the pillows, or if you’re including the family pets.

Then you have smell and who do you know that really pays this any attention? You might spray some air freshener around the house every week when you give it a clean, but imagine how much better your home would be if there was lovely aromas finding their way up your nose as you went about your business. It would be so relaxing and you would feel great, but how exactly can you do it? There’s a few easy ways and it’s probably a good idea to go over them just now, so you can try them out straight away.

Put essential oils on your pillows

You can pick out your favorite essential oils and splash a few drops on your pillows each day. This is also a very good way to get to sleep and millions of people use lavender, but the smell from many of them will leave you feeling great. If you have plenty of cushions lying about the furniture in the living room you can also put a few splashes on those too. Just don’t use much and a little bottle should last a long time.

Fill a room with some flowers

If you have lots of flowers in each room they all bring their own unique smell. They also make the place look fantastic because it brightens up the room. Just make sure you always water them because they won’t last very long and will have to be replaced when they die. Maybe you can pick some flowers from the garden if you know what you are doing instead of buying them from the shop all the time.

Keep shoes in a special place

When people wear shoes and kick them off inside the door they won’t exactly fill your home will a gorgeous aroma. You really want to stop the smells from footwear reaching anywhere inside. That means people would have to take them off and put them in a special cupboard to trap the smells. This is even worse during winter when peoples feet are wet, so maybe it’s a good idea if you start now.

Close your windows

If there’s any bad smells floating around outside they will easily make their way into any open windows. This will all depend where you live and if it’s somewhere in the countryside you might have more funky smells if you’re near fields. It would probably be a good idea to install fans or an air conditioning unit if you want to stay cool, plus it will save your nose from cow dung.

Clean up after yourself

Once you have finished eating you should clean up straight away and empty the trash can after it is full. To many people leave food lying around and the place starts to stink. Either because it’s smelly food, or because it’s been lying there for days. Horrible food smells can also come from the trash if you just keep piling it up, so just pay more attention to it and you should be fine.

Tom King is a home improvement expert and he says that Carpet Cleaners Indianapolis is one of the oldest companies in the carpet cleaning industry.

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