Matthew Rand provides some helpful tips and advice on updating your home prior to listing it for sale.

?Never be the last homeowner in your neighborhood to renovate,? says Matthew Rand, Managing Partner of Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty. Many buyers know that the key to a quick sale is to be on par with surrounding properties, but not to completely surpass them. So, when updating before a sale, keep in mind the following dos and don?ts.

Don?t add in superfluous luxuries like a home-office or master suite. They may look appealing to you, but your buyer may see them as over-the-top.

Don?t go overboard with the extras. ?You may need to revamp your kitchen, but you probably don?t need to choose the highest-end cabinetry or appliances,? warns Rand. Most buyers won?t fully appreciate these luxurious details, costing you money in the sale.

Don?t go crazy on the yard. You might think a new patio or deck will be a huge selling point, but it may not be. Be sure to keep up with your landscaping so that it looks enticing, but don?t sink tons of cash into large-scale improvements.

Do turn that extra attic space into an extra bedroom. If it doesn?t cost too much to insulate and revamp your extra attic space, consider turning it into an extra bedroom. ?This will appeal to buyers with large families, or who plan on having out-of town guests and find an extra bedroom an asset,? notes Rand.

Do redo your bathroom, but aim for mid-range updates. ?Similar to the kitchen renovation, while most buyers will appreciate a nice tub or walk-in shower, adding that whirl-pool spa or Jack & Jill sink set-up is not a necessity, and can seem overboard to some,? says Rand.

Do update your siding. New siding on your home can really add sparkle to its appearance. As exteriors are often neglected, giving the outside of your house a little TLC can help it shine during selling.

ABOUT BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS RAND REALTY

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate – Rand Realty, founded in 1984, is the No. 1 real estate brokerage in the Greater Hudson Valley with 27 offices serving Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess counties in New York and Passaic and Bergen counties in New Jersey. Rand has more than 800 sales associates, as well as a commercial real estate company (Rand Commercial Services), new york mortgage company (Rand Mortgage), title company (Hudson Abstract Services) and New York insurance agency (The Hudson Group Insurance Agency). Rand Realty is also on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on updating your home for selling, please contact Matthew Rand, at media(at)randrealty(dot)com.

###

Find More Mortgage Press Releases

Clopton Capital, a Chicago commercial mortgage provider is setting the aggressive goal of expanding by 100% in size and profit over the course of 2012. This goal is believed by the firm to be realistic based on current demand for SBA loans and commercial mortgages. ?It sounds like a lofty and unrealistic goal but everything seems to be pointing in a direction that makes me believe it’s totally possible?, said Jake Clopton, the founder of Clopton Capital.

The commercial mortgage firm intends to expand itself rapidly by prolifically and consistently promoting it’s 3.5% interest commercial mortgage programs and its access to SBA loan options. This is largely what they have done for the last six months and they feel it has shown enough success to warrant continuing on this way perpetually into the future. ?There is a recession and we choose not to participate in this. We want to be bullish now while so many others aren’t lending or even providing access to commercial lending mechanisms.?, said Matt Reed, an associate of Clopton Capital.

The firm’s future plans involve releasing numerous short educational tutorials on how commercial credit ratings work and the inner workings of Clopton Capital’s headquarters in Chicago, IL. Anyone commercial real estate owners our business owners who are interested in business loans, commercial mortgages, or commercial mortgage refinancing are urged by the firm to contact them at 866.647.1650 or via the contact form on their website, CloptonCapital.com.

Any businesses or commercial real estate owners who are seeking business loans are urged to contact Clopton Capital at 866.647.1650 or via their website CloptonCapital.com.

Clopton Capital can be contacted at their website CloptonCapital.com or at 866.647.1650 during regular business hours central time. Their website contains more specific information about their commercial loans. Their website dedicated to business loans is CloptonCapital.com. To join Clopton Capital’s financial link exchange visit CloptonCapital.com/link.

###

Foundation Financial Group named Joshua S. Barger, an expert tax preparer and a senior financial and tax analyst, as its vice president for its new tax services division.

“In my 13 years’ experience in income tax return preparation, I have helped hundreds of customers maneuver the complex rules of the Internal Revenue Service,” Barger said. “This is an exciting opportunity to help more people with tax preparation and help them break free from the stress that tax debt places on them.”

Barger has a finance degree from Marycrest International University in Davenport, Iowa. He is a certified official for men and women’s college volleyball and is a volunteer for The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). Barger is also a golfing and fishing enthusiast.

“We are excited to have Joshua join our team,” said David Gueterman, chief operations officer of Foundation Financial Group’s subsidiaries. “Joshua brings a wealth of tax knowledge and he will be a great asset to the department and our clients.”

Foundation Financial Group’s tax services division is the company’s third new division launch in 12 months. In January 2011, Foundation Financial Group launched its insurance services, offering property, casualty and life insurance to its customers. Last November, the company added retirement services. Last fall, Foundation Financial Group opened a branch network of retail financial service locations in Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Toledo, Ohio. With all its growth, Foundation Financial Group also made the 2011 Inc.

About Foundation Financial Group

Foundation Financial Group, one of the nation’s fastest-growing financial services companies, specializes in mortgage lending, property and casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement services, personal taxes and corporate tax services. Foundation Financial Group operates seven regional centers in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; Rochester, N.Y.; and Savannah, Ga., as well as a branch network of retail storefronts in Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Toledo, Ohio; and St. Paul, Minn. Foundation Financial Group offers mortgage refinancing and first-time buyer lending through traditional financing, as well as Federal Housing Administration and other government-backed home loan programs. Foundation Financial Group enjoys an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, the highest accreditation the BBB gives and an industry-leading Federal Housing Administration compare ratio.

For additional information, interview and image requests, contact The AXIA Public Relations Firm at 866-999-2942, ext. 700.

###

More Mortgage Press Releases

Follow us on LinkedIn ? The global economic recession dented prospects in the construction sector due to stringent credit conditions and decreased business confidence. Residential buildings segment remained depressed due to high unemployment rates, while industrial and commercial properties witnessed drop in occupancy rates, tenant demand, and rentals. Residential housing market registered declining home ownerships, new constructions, and eroding property values. The global real estate market is slowly recovering from the economic recession driven by strengthening fundamentals, increased capital availability and availability of alternative sources of finance. Improved business spending, revival in manufacturing activity and increased capital flows in real estate market are expected to bestow steady growth prospects in the global real estate market.

With the effect of recession ebbing, the real estate and construction industry recovered in few US markets and witnessed strong resurgence in Canada and China. However, a number of owners of commercial or home properties are expected to continue facing difficult conditions as the value of properties is still below the cost of purchase, and various mortgage debts are at higher levels than the value of underlying properties. Commercial mortgage foreclosures and delinquencies are also expected to continue affecting the industry. On a corporate level, the industry is expected to witness consolidation of development and construction firms, which would primarily focus on debt reduction, cost control, as well as risk management. Investments in transportation, education facilities, highways, healthcare facilities, and government offices would provide opportunities to commercial construction firms.

The European real estate markets are beleaguered by a number of challenges such as austerity measures imposed by struggling economies, market regulations, weak credit markets and a looming sovereign debt crisis. In addition, concerns over struggling economies such as Spain, Portugal and Italy continue to dog the market. Despite the prevailing grim market situation, availability of equity is expected to increase in future with funds flowing in from foreign investors, private equity funds and institutions. However, most of the investment is expected to be directed towards large economically robust cities such as Paris and London. Real estate industry across Asian countries is witnessing robust growth owing to the buoyant economies. Some of the major real estate markets in Asia include China, Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam. Increasing purchasing power of people and increased commercial construction activity favor growth in the region?s real estate industry.

The research report titled ?Real Estate: A Global Outlook? announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers an aerial view of the global industry, identifies major short to medium term market challenges, and growth drivers. Market discussions in the report are punctuated with fact-rich market data tables. Regional markets elaborated upon include United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, UK, China, India, Australia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Latin America, among others. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of companies worldwide.

For more details about this comprehensive industry report, please visit ?

http://www.strategyr.com/Real_Estate_Industry_Market_Report.asp

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company currently employs over 800 people worldwide. Annually, GIA publishes more than 1300 full-scale research reports and analyzes 40,000+ market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 Companies worldwide. Serving over 9500 clients in 27 countries, GIA is recognized today, as one of the world’s largest and reputed market research firms.

Follow us on LinkedIn

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Telephone: 408-528-9966

Fax: 408-528-9977

Email: press(at)StrategyR(dot)com

Web Site: http://www.StrategyR.com/

###

CaliforniaPayday.com announces the redesign of its homepage and the addition of new resources. In just a few minutes, cash-strapped consumers can be on their way to a California payday loan. Borrowers can complete the online application and have funds transferred directly to their bank account without leaving the comfort of home. With newly added free educational resources, getting a loan has never been faster or safer.

?CaliforniaPayday.com works tirelessly to make sure its customers are able to make responsible lending decisions regardless of how much experience they may have with taking out payday loans,? says CaliforniaPayday.com spokesperson James Neuberg. ?Numerous articles detailing the benefits and requirements of a payday loan have been made available free of charge in order to ensure that the loan experience is the best one possible.?

On the CaliforniaPayday.com website, users can now click on a variety of articles, written by experts on California payday loans, on the laws and regulations pertaining to lending in the state, the rates and fees that may be associated with California loans, and even some helpful advice on how to make the most out of the money that is borrowed. These articles are listed directly on the homepage and are free of charge. CaliforniaPayday.com does not require any form of registration or charge any fee to give visitors access to its expertly written financial resources.

The easy 2-step application for California payday loans allows users to get the money they need as fast as possible. By offering loans with the least restrictive qualification requirements possible, CaliforniaPayday.com is able to help a wide range of consumers with their debt problems.

After completing the application, borrowers will be matched up with lenders in CaliforniaPayday.com’s extensive network. From there, users have the opportunity to pick the lender that they want to work with based on interest rates, fees, repayment terms and loan amount.

For consumers seeking information and resources about getting out of debt and learning to spend wisely, the newly updated CaliforniaPayday.com website has it all. By offering an easy online application that connects borrowers with an extensive network of lenders, as well as a wealth of valuable information on personal finances, CaliforniaPayday.com has become the premiere destination for consumers seeking an escape from the clutches of unexpected, emergency debt.

###

Related Home Loan Press Releases

Mifflinburg, PA: Installation of the two-story housing building, which will accommodate up to 144 students, will double the amount of housing currently offered by the college. The additional housing will include contemporary apartment-style living that can house three to four students. Each apartment is designed with its own kitchenette, living room and private bathroom.

?Ritz-Craft had the willingness to work with us on the technical side of the project. The result is going to be a testament of what modular construction can do? said David D?Amore of AND Architecture. David continued, ?the importance of this project cannot be overstated for the student population. It doubles the capacity and provides students a safe environment in which to live. This project will allow the college to grow and meet their goals in expansion and growth.?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the college an $ 11 million loan to complete the project along with other renovations. Manufacturing is expected to begin early in 2012, with the building scheduled to open for the fall 2012 semester.

Ritz-Craft Corporation is a privately held, vertically integrated company headquartered in Mifflinburg, PA. With its roots in residential homebuilding dating back to 1954, Ritz-Craft Corporation has risen to be an industry leader in the system-built industry. The company has additional production facilities in Michigan and North Carolina. For more information about Ritz-Craft Energy Star

Silanis, the leader in enterprise electronic signature solutions with the largest e-signature deployments, announces that several strategic wins throughout 2011 confirm the company is the number one e-signature choice for banks and lenders.

Four of North America?s top 10 banks, as measured by assets, have now standardized on Silanis e-Sign Enterprise? across multiple lines of business, with three becoming customers in the last nine months of the year. They join many other top lenders and captive financers for auto, heavy equipment and student lending, including BMW Group Financial Services, who use Silanis for their enterprise e-signing needs.

These leading institutions have entrusted e-signing of their core customer transactions to Silanis. As a single platform for multi-channel enterprise needs, Silanis? e-signature solution now processes hundreds of millions of transactions annually through various channels, including in-branch, call center, field representative and online.

?The growing momentum for e-signatures in the banking and lending sectors is largely due to customer-facing business transformation initiatives and tightening regulatory and legislative requirements,? said Tommy Petrogiannis, Silanis CEO and co-founder. ?Consumers expect banks to transact in any channel with speed and efficiency, and e-signatures are the key to transforming customer experience. The challenge is creating a better experience without introducing risk.?

E-signatures ? and more specifically, enterprise-class e-signatures ? help mitigate risk by providing substantially more evidence than paper, recording the web screens presented during a transaction and capturing a record of all actions taken by a signer.

Banks are therefore certifying and evaluating e-signatures based on enterprise requirements ? primarily the ability to scale across different lines of business and adopt a consistent approach across all transactions. The Silanis e-signature platform is a true enterprise solution for financial services in that it offers a flexible e-signature framework to support the unique requirements of individual lines of business and processes. The solution manages e-signature transactions from end to end, scales to massive volumes, integrates with existing systems, and provides strong legal evidence in the event of a customer dispute.

Silanis is the only enterprise e-signature choice for financial services organizations, as evidenced by the following:

Deepest experience with top-tier banks and lenders: Four of North America?s 10 largest banks have standardized enterprise-wide on Silanis, whose total financial services customer base has combined assets of more than US$ 4.5 trillion.
Highest volume of transactions processed: Silanis customers are using e-Sign Enterprise to process hundreds of millions of documents annually. One customer alone uses Silanis to electronically process over 10 million documents for new account openings per year and an average 40,000 retail transactions per day.
Largest deployments of e-signatures: The single largest implementation of e-signatures for consumer and small business loans in North America is powered by Silanis.
Most financial products signed: Silanis? solutions are being used to automate the broadest range of customer transactions, including disclosures; consumer, small business, auto and student loans; account openings; consumer and merchant credit retail contracts; wealth management products; and more.
Strongest electronic evidence: The electronic evidence captured by Silanis? patented Process Reviewer? has saved customers millions of dollars in litigation costs, and helped them avoid costly penalties and settlements. Document and process-level evidence help reliably re-create the details of a transaction and how a document was e-signed.
Proven ROI: Organizations with an enterprise strategy for e-signatures, e-documents and e-transactions are gaining real results, rapid ROI and competitive advantage, while lowering total cost of ownership. Some highlights:

1) Consumer Loans: For consumer and small business loan applications, one leading bank used Silanis e-signatures to automate the processing of 2,000+ loans per day, reducing loan exceptions by 90% and redeploying more than 95,000 hours of bankers? time for sales activities rather than chasing paper.

2) Mortgage Applications: For mortgage applications, one lender used Silanis? online signatures to reduce the loan application process from a week to 24 hours; now over 90% of their loans are completed electronically and they have increased loan volume by 34%.

3) Student Loans: A leading student loan authority reduced loan approvals from an average 10 days to mere hours. They experienced a 99% adoption rate online, fixed abandonment rates and became more competitive ? while remaining paperless from the initial application to the e-vaulting of promissory notes.

4) Retail Contracting: A leading global payments provider chose Silanis to shorten the time to process merchant contracts from four weeks down to hours, thereby getting new merchants set up and transacting faster. In the competitive credit services industry, closing new merchants quickly is a priority.

5) Disclosures: For many bank processes, the secure delivery of e-disclosures has become an underpinning e-signature application area because of regulations such as the RESPA72-hour requirement. Silanis equips financial institutions to meet regulatory requirements for secure e-disclosure delivery.

About Silanis

Silanis is the most widely used e-signature solution in the world, processing over 600 million documents annually. Since the company was founded in 1992, our solutions have strengthened the business processes of thousands of organizations, including four of the top 10 North American banks, eight of the top 10 insurance companies and the entire US Army, among others. Companies and government organizations around the globe depend on Silanis to accelerate business transactions, improve customer experience and reduce costs while improving compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Silanis? on-premise, cloud and SaaS e-signature solutions eliminate manual, paper-based processing and enable e-commerce and e-government transactions to be electronically executed from start to finish.

###

Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity builds and restores homes year-round, with nearly as many projects underway in January and February as in the organization?s peak summer season.

But Habitat says volunteer numbers often dip as the mercury plummets.

?People think we don?t have a lot going on in the winter, but that?s not true ? the last couple of winters especially,? said Habitat?s Volunteer Coordinator Anna Meyer.

The nonprofit needs upwards of 150 volunteers per day to keep its 15-plus projects on-pace. The need is greatest for volunteers during the week and for those willing to help on projects in the Twin Cities? southwest suburbs.

Having sufficient volunteers to complete a home means families ? especially those stuck in unsafe or unstable housing ? can buy their homes on time. Habitat homebuyers all sign a zero-interest mortgage and must complete hundreds of hours of sweat equity.

?We?re geared up as a volunteer operation,? explained Site Supervisor Tara Lumley. ?When volunteers stop coming and we have deadlines, we either have to subcontract the work, which costs money, or it just takes longer and we don?t meet our production guidelines.?

Meeting spring closing dates is also important to secure public and private funding for the homes, Meyer added.

Winter volunteering with Habitat is a chance to learn new skills, cure cabin fever and indulge interests with special theme days like Coffee Lovers Build, First-Timers Build and Couples Build. Group sponsorship opportunities are also more flexible in the winter months.

Most work is done indoors, and volunteers are never expected to work in extremely cold temperatures. Lumley said winter volunteers often work on insulation, dry walling, painting, trim, cabinets and doors.

Whatever their task, the importance of having a steady flow of volunteers cannot be overstated.

?We have maybe three people on our site supervisor staff that are as fast as 10 volunteers, but I am not one of them,? Lumley laughed.

Those interested in volunteering with Twin Cities Habitat may visit http://www.tchabitat.org/volunteer to sign up.

###

Related Mortgage Press Releases

FaxlessPaydayLoan.com announces the re-launch of its consumer-lending site, which features a new user-interface and faster online application. As more families fall victim to a constricting economy, one faxless payday loan can make the difference between staying above water between paychecks or defaulting on an auto loan or mortgage. FaxlessPaydayLoan.com provides access to a network of qualified lenders who are ready to approve a short-term loan in minutes.

?It just made sense to make the loan application process as easy as possible,? said company spokesperson Matt Engel. ?And that meant getting rid of the paperwork wherever possible. The entire loan application and approval process can now be accomplished completely online.?

Using the updated website, the borrower?s faxless payday loan application goes out to myriad lenders within the company?s proprietary network for review. Lenders compete to offer the best possible terms and are obligated by the Truth in Lending Act to fully disclose the terms of the loan up front. The borrower is free to accept or reject any loan offered, without obligation.

Once the borrower finds a suitable offer, he or she can accept the terms via an e-signature. A faxless payday loan takes less than 24 hours to fund ? from the start of the application to seeing funds direct-deposited into the client?s account.

FaxlessPaydayLoan.com is not a lender; rather, the company acts as a matchmaking service for prospective borrowers, pairing them with lenders who specialize in providing short-term loans. Payday loans carry a higher interest rate than traditional long-term loans, but the tradeoff for the consumer comes in the form of immediate approval and funding. In today?s tight credit market, that?s a benefit that banks ? with their mandatory credit checks and extensive paperwork ? can?t match.

Most payday loans range from $ 100 ? $ 1,500 and have a repayment date coinciding with the borrower?s next paycheck. The loan repayment can be automatically debited from the borrower?s bank account to avoid the possibility of incurring late fees.

As the need for smaller short-term loans increases, FaxlessPaydayLoan.com has stepped up its services to provide Americans with the funds they need during a truly trying economic time.

###

At the end of 2011, with consumer confidence higher and unemployment down, consumers opened their wallets and spent during November and December ? a trend that could indicate a worrisome direction for consumer debt, according to the Freedom Debt Relief Quarterly Comment on consumer debt and credit issues.

Recent data from the Federal Reserve Board indicates that consumers went deeper into debt for both revolving and nonrevolving credit accounts in November 2011. Other statistics show that holiday retail spending in December was at least 4.7 percent higher than the same period in 2010.

?When spending and debt increase, but income stays the same or declines, it?s a problem for any budget,? said Kevin Gallegos, vice president of Phoenix operations for FDR. ?After the strain of several years of economic struggle, seeing revolving debt increase can mean people are giving in to the temptation or the need to rely upon credit to meet their household needs. When total debt begins to climb, we become concerned that those charges are not being paid off and could result in financial trauma for many Americans.?

The latest Federal Reserve statistics show that total consumer debt increased consistently during 2011, rising by 2.3 percent from the first quarter to the last. While that percentage might seem small, Gallegos noted, the total amount consumers owe has gone up by more than $ 56 billion since Q1 2011. To put that figure into perspective, it equates to every American age 18 and up owing $ 240 more than they did last January.

Recent financial data as reported:

1.