How to Make Money by Buying a Duplex and Renting Out Half of It

You can make money buying a duplex and living in one unit, and renting out the other. However, you need to take the time to find the right property, the right location, and it helps to have some mechanical ability.

Housing Market and Location

Your first concern is the housing market. At the present time it’s a buyers market, but you may live in an area that is currently bucking the trend. Drive through different areas in your town and note the number of houses for sale. Then, call the listing agent for some of them, and find out how long they've been on the market. This let’s you know whether houses are selling, and what to offer.

Location is of paramount importance. Investigate an area through the eyes of someone looking for a place to rent. Is there a mall in the area and are the schools undergraduate or graduate, what are the ages of homes in the area? Do you see children or their toys in yards? All this tells you what you can expect in the way of renters.

Budget Work

Even though you spend more for a duplex than for a single family unit, your monthly expenses should be less. In order to accomplish this, you need to rent the other unit for a minimum of half your monthly expenses. To figure what you need for rent include money for upkeep, insurance, taxes, utilities, mortgage payments, and any other expense you may think of.

By living in your duplex you will be able to save money on insurance, because you will not need a commercial policy. All you will need is a simple homeowner’s policy, which is less expensive.

Another advantage is some cities have grants, or low interest loans, available only to homeowners who live in the home. Because you live in your duplex, you can take advantage of these programs for improvements not only in your unit, but in your tenants unit.

In addition, a money saver is your odds increase to find responsible renters. Often, when a potential irresponsible tenant applies, and they find out the landlord lives in the same building, they may decide to look elsewhere for a place to live.

Summary

As a matter of logistics, living in your duplex makes you money. If you’re mechanically inclined and do repairs and maintenance, you don’t have far to travel, and all your tools are at hand.

The secret to making money living in your duplex, is the money you save compared to living in a single dwelling. A final suggestion is to keep track of all expenses. Let your accountant make the decision if an expense is deductible, or not.

- This article was contributed by Jane Sanders from Debt Management. Visit her site for more financial tips, such as how to create the perfect debt management program.

CNA Practice Test Questions to Increase Your Confidence Level

If you are looking to be a Certified Nursing Assistent, you should prepare hard ,There are so many sample questions which will help you a lot. More over CNA exams can be the best option to prepare yourself. Apart from this florida cna practice test will give a better guidence to make a good preparation.

Cna is now extended from helping patients who are achiving basics task to assist other stuff. By this way nursing care will recognized as the most valuable function of a cna exams.

If you want to prepare in the best way you may study for the CNA and may go for the practice test, also review your sample question. By this way you will get clear idea about what type of question will be asked at the time of exams. It will also give you a briesf idea about the question format and the pattern of answers.

Be aware that sample question matter a lot. it can make a remarkable difference in cna job description. So make a good prepare so that you can boost up your confidence level high.

Sample testing questions are very important to open your chance in online cna classes. By this way you can clear the test and achive the certification.

Importance of Product Fulfillment

What is the function of a fulfillment house? Well, if looked through a down-to-earth prism, it ensures the safe and on-time delivery of the products of an organization. But if judged from a broader perspective, the task involves a sequence of several complicated steps. Product fulfillment is such an important aspect of a business that it needs perfect and professional handling. This is the reason, why the business units are unwilling to take the responsibility of in-house handling and pass the burden to the out-house parties.

The good quality of the products entices the buyers and acts as an incentive to make them return times and again. But apart from quality, precise product fulfillment is also a key to a flourishing business. A poor fulfillment service may be a cog in your expansion plan. Your products must reach the destinations within the set time frame and in the safe condition. The consumers will feel frustrated at the delayed delivery or if they get the damaged products. When a product fulfillment service fails them, they consider it a breach of promise on your part. If such a failure happens repeatedly, they loose interest in your products and shift to the other alternatives.

The demand for the products arises out of the needs as well as desire of the clients. So, by ensuring timely and secured delivery of the merchandises, you not only satisfy their needs but also rustle the strings of their heart. They feel like building up an invisible bonding with the business owners. You too crave for a life-long association with them. So, always make sure to take care of the consummate handling of the product fulfillment.

Due to the intricacies involved in the fulfillment service, you need help from a professional service provider. Even though it requires you to shell out additional cost, you can be assured of getting excellent service. An effective, efficient and easy handling of the product fulfillment task will also help you pocket a rewarding return by reaching out to the new clients and keeping in touch with the dedicated customers too.

Annuities – How Are They Regulated

An annuity is a long-time investment made to secure the financial future and supplement retirement income of the investors. Annuities are of different types such as fixed, variable and indexed annuity to satiate various needs of the individuals. Contrary to popular belief, all of them are not regulated in the same way. The investors must have a transparent idea regarding the regulation of annuities.

A fixed annuity is what earns a pre-determined interest during the period of accumulation. Income is paid by the insurance company to the investors at a fixed rate after regular interval. In case of variable annuities, the individuals invest into the mutual funds or other income-oozing vehicles. In this case, the figure of the payouts is determined in accordance with the performance of the mutual funds. Income from an indexed annuity is based on the performance of the financial index.

As the variable annuities are regarded as securities, so they are regulated by SEC, an abbreviated form of Securities and Exchange Commission as well as NASD, a trimmed format of National Association of Security Dealers. Some indexed annuities combine the features of both traditional insurance policies and securities. In that case, they are also regulated by the SEC. In order to provide the investors with protection against fraud, the SEC keeps an unblinking watch on security exchange, brokers and dealers, advisors and also monitors the mutual funds. In addition to SEC, the state department of insurance also has a role in regulating these annuities.

As the securities carry no guarantee about the steady flow of fixed income, so the annuitants may gain or loose on their investment. Therefore, prior to pouring money into these securities, the individuals must assess if they are brave enough to take the risk. The SEC also tries its best to make the investors familiar with the risk factors associated with such investment. The commission ensures that the investors get all the financial data and other information in detail prior to signing a deal.

A fixed annuity is safe to invest into as it spurts out guaranteed income, comes hell or heaven. For that reason, the fixed and majority of the indexed annuities are akin to the insurance products. The state department of insurance acts as the regulatory body in this case.