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Building A Home: 6 Things Your Builder Will Not Tell You

Buying a newly constructed home should be an enjoyable experience. Sadly, for most consumers, it’s a nightmare that will stay with them the rest of their life. A common statement made by many new homebuyers is that they will never have another home built for them.

Here’s 6 things your builder will probably never tell you.

“We market that our company only uses the finest craftsmen to build our homes when in reality, we use the cheapest trades we can find, which means that many are not skilled and are day laborers.”

Custom and spec homebuilders bid out the work on your home to the lowest bidder. Kinda like the U.S. Government. There is few Custom builders left who do their own work and have their own crews.

“I have a binding contract that will prevent you from suing me should you have major defects in your home after you move in. And better yet, there is little you can do to get me to fix it!”

Read the fine print on your contract. Better yet, have a real estate attorney read it for you and explain to you what legal recourse you have should there be problems after you close. I bet you’ll come out of the attorney’s office amazed at how little rights you have if you sign the builders contract.

“If you’re really smart, you’ll hire your own third party, code certified, home inspector because the public inspectors and even my own inspectors aren’t here with your best interest at heart!”

Builders today search out third party inspectors to perform “Quality Assurance” inspections. Problem is, this is just more marketing hype than anything. In most states, these third party inspectors do not have to be licensed to perform “Construction Inspections”. My inspectors and I find a long list of items that these inspectors either miss or ignore on every new home we inspect. Not once have we found a home that the builders inspector found a majority of the defects.

City and county inspectors are generally about the same as the builders inspector or worse. Many of these inspectors are so piled up with work that they can only spend 15 to 20 minutes in a home. Besides, it is not the City or County’s inspectors job to look for workmanship issues, they are only there looking for health and safety issues and protecting the City and County’s interest. Just like the builders inspectors are there protecting the builders interest, not yours!

If you don’t know a good code certified home inspector ask around or check out the American Society of Home Inspectors at ashi.org

“My sales people and I can tell you anything we want because we’re not regulated by the State”

In many states, you’ll find that the sales people for builders are not licensed with the real estate commission like Real Estate Agents are. This lets them tell you whatever they need to so you’ll buy a home from them. I’ve heard just about sales people promising homebuyers just about anything you can imagine they’d buy from their builder. Buyer beware and get them to put it in writing before you sign the contract!

“Your home is built over a landfill or swamp… maybe both.”

As prime land is filling up with new homes, real estate developers and builders are turning to sub prime land. Here in my market, we have subdivisions sitting on landfills, swamps and former rice patties. None are prime areas for building a home on.

“If you back out of the contract for any reason, we’ll keep your earnest money an upgrade money”

Many people are surprised to find this is true. In Texas most builders will, check with the Attorney General in your state to see if this is legal. Again, the builder or sales people may tell you different, but most contracts have a clause that says you’ll forfeit your earnest money or upgrade money if you back out of the home. Get it in writing what happens if you back out and the steps you must take to get your money back. Don’t think it won’t happen to you because I see it happen all the time.

As each state, county and city is different, you should check with a knowledgeable inspector in your area plus your real estate attorney before purchasing a newly constructed home. Also, GET EVERYTHING FROM THE BUILDER IN WRITING! If he promises you he’ll throw in a few extra outlets in the garage, get him to put it in the contract.

This article may be reprinted, copied and distributed as you see fit as long as it is not altered and the article remains intact, including the resource box below.

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The Financial Education You Never Received

I don’t know about what school was like for you, but when I went through school financial education was pretty much non-existent.

I seem to recall one small class on financial education that covered balancing a cheque book and other basics like that. Other than that though, learning how money works wasn’t a subject we were taught in school.

My Own Financial Education

For over a decade now I’ve been on my own mission of financial education that has included reading books, attending seminars, hiring coaches and working with mentors. It’s through this quest for knowledge that I’ve been able to get a much better understanding of what money actually is, and how our financial systems operate today.

Thanks to the internet there is a never ending supply of information available at your fingertips. The challenge is knowing what’s good and accurate and what isn’t. I have a select number of sources that I follow because of the quality of the information they provide, and there’s no shortage of information about how our banking and financial systems work if you look for it.

The Financial Education You Need Won’t Come From Schools

While a large segment of the population is waking up to the scam that has been perpetrated against us, the vast majority of “sheeple” are still in the dark and have no idea how our money system actually works.

Your Financial Education Begins When You Understand That Every Dollar In Existence Is Created As Debt

Once you understand this simple truth, you realize that interest is an instrument of financial enslavement. The money in circulation has been created out of thin air and circulates in the economy, but the money to pay the interest has never been created so we’re simply playing a game of financial musical chairs and when the music stops someone loses their car or home, and the bank gains the asset.

Why Don’t Schools Teach Financial Education?

I’ve often wondered why financial education isn’t taught in school just like math, English and science. In truth, I think it needs to be a core subject. It’s certainly a skill that we’ll all utilize throughout our lives, and without it we tend to suffer.

Perhaps that’s the reason. If you subscribe to some of the theories out there, the modern education system was designed and funded by the elite over a century ago. At that time the globe was full into the industrial revolution, and there was a high demand for factory workers.

Why not create an “education system” that churns out obedient, well trained workers to man the factories. They’d be used to reporting in at a certain time, asking to use the washrooms, eating and taking breaks when the establishment permits.

Whether you buy into that theory completely or not, I believe there’s certainly some truth there. When you follow the money through the system across the globe, it tends to all point back to the same handful of organizations owned by the same handful of wealthy families.

It’s Time To Take Responsibility For Your Own Financial Education

The truth is nobody cares more about you or your money than you do. Your teachers didn’t, your banker doesn’t, your financial planner doesn’t and nobody else does either.

If you ever want to get a handle on your finances and escape the rat race of financial enslavement, then you have to take ownership of your financial education and know how money works, so you can get it working for you.

One of the best ways I know to attain this education is to seek out books by authors like Robert Kiyosaki, and Peter Schiff, and seek out mentors online and offline. There’s a wealth of knowledge available to you, and it’s your responsibility to seek it out and apply it.

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Marketing Theory Without Execution: An Idea With No Follow-Through

An ongoing debate exists in the marketing industry that begs the following question: Is it more important to devise a marketing strategy or to execute actions to achieve your goal?There are good arguments all the way around this debate, but when it comes down to it, the answer is really… neither. You simply can’t be successful without either one.The problem, however, is that many companies, consultants, and marketers do a lot of “theory” and talking, without taking it beyond that. They can sit around and discuss all the latest marketing tactics and even try to put them in place, but in the end, it’s all for naught if they don’t develop a solid strategy and execution steps to make it work for their business.It’s like school-you can sit in a classroom and learn all the information and theory that is taught to you, but what good is it unless you can apply it in real life? We all know this, but as marketers, we forget that it works the same way. Understanding theory is helpful, but you need to know how to develop a strategy and execute that strategy to actually see results.From Marketing Theory to Strategy & Execution
Successful marketing is really a 3-part process that involves following sound marketing theories, creating a detailed strategy, and executing that strategy. Let’s look at each of these steps in more detail.Follow Sound Marketing Theory
Marketing theory is the science of marketing. It’s the “rules” and guidelines we follow. It’s the methods we use to form our strategies.Marketing theory can lead to strong marketing strategies, but too often, we get stuck on the former. We might feel as though we are getting things done by talking and learning about various types of marketing theory, but in essence, we are just spinning our wheels.Mike Roach, CEO of CGI, was quoted as saying, “Strategy without execution is a hallucination!” If that is true, then marketing theory without strategy and execution is psychosis. It’ll get you nowhere.Create a Detailed Marketing Strategy
According to strategy-business.com, a strategy is “the series of choices you make on where to play and how to win to maximize long-term value. Execution is producing results in the context of those choices.”Your marketing strategy is your map. It’s like a light shining in the darkness, guiding every decision you make. Without it, you’re driving in the dark without headlights, expecting to find your destination and not crash in the process.Your strategy shines a light on the road ahead, making it clear when you could veer off a path and driving you forward in the right direction. With it, you’re able to work your way around your obstacles, follow your objectives, and illuminate the choices that will get you to your goal efficiently.According to the Small Business Association, only about 50% of small businesses succeed within the first 5 years. It’s not that businesses don’t have some sort of plan in place; the problem is that most small businesses don’t have a clue how to map out a plan that will lead them to success.They don’t have a strategy that is based on sound evidence, data, and experience. Instead, they read a lot of marketing theory and try a lot of different things.That is not the same thing as having a strategy.Without a sound strategy, companies struggle to keep up with their competition, they miss opportunities that would lead to better results, and they win fewer customers.Execute Your Marketing Strategy
Execution is what seals the deal. Without it, no strategy will be realized, which is why it’s crazy that so many companies create a business plan and then file it away in a binder on a dusty shelf.We know that we can’t get anywhere in business or life if we don’t take action, so too often we find ourselves spinning our wheels moving from idea to idea. We’re taking action, but it has no real strategy behind it.When we skip over strategy and start executing based upon abstract marketing theory, we’re shooting in the dark hoping we hit something, but we rarely hit the thing we want to hit. Unfortunately, that’s what too many companies are doing.We should use marketing theory to inform our decisions and help us plan our strategy, and when we do that, our execution will be solid.Why Companies Struggle with Marketing Strategy & Execution
There are so many reasons why it’s easy for companies to struggle with strategy and execution…Where to Start?
Right off the bat, it can be downright scary to figure out where to start when it comes to drawing up a strategy and executing it to success. Digital marketing has become more and more complicated as new technologies and opportunities keep cropping up.With so many options, how can companies choose? How do you know which marketing ideas to subscribe to and which ones to ignore? Just because one marketing theory works for one company or even thousands of companies doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another company.How to Maneuver the Marketing Paradox of Consistency & Change?
The fact that marketing is ever changing makes it that much more difficult to execute a sound strategy. How do you know where to place your time, money, and energy? And what if you put all that effort into 1 or 2 marketing tactics and then they lose their effectiveness?How do you create something concrete that is ever changing? How do you know when to be flexible and change your marketing plan versus when to stay steadfast? After all, remaining consistent is essential when it comes to digital marketing, but so is changing with the times. It’s a paradox that can be difficult to maneuver.How to Know (Not Just Guess at) Who Your Customers Are?
Most companies don’t spend enough time discovering who exactly their customers are to be able to draft a marketing strategy that will lead them to success. It takes customer data, assessments, feedback, and a lot of investigation to really get to know your customer, but knowing how to compile all of that information can be overwhelming.Since different marketing tactics should be used for different customers, knowing this is essential, but too many companies guess at who their customer is rather than knowing them in depth.How to Bring It into the Everyday Details?
Understanding how to integrate your business plan into daily work is not as easy as it might seem. As a result, decisions are often made without the consultation of the marketing strategy, and that means they are not likely to be in alignment with the strategy.Methods need to be put in place for sharing the company’s marketing strategy with all team members and keeping them on the same page. This ensures the company’s message and interactions are carried out consistently. Expectations and follow-through need to be set up so that there is no duplication, which only leads to wasted time and money. Every decision should be made with the strategy in mind.How to Not Let Everything Else Get in the Way?
Especially for small companies, one thing or another can come up that gets the business owner off track, and unfortunately, when that happens, marketing tends to move to the back burner. Unless time is dedicated to each and every week to working a marketing strategy, forward movement in business is highly unlikely.The Solution
Look, here’s the bad news… For most small businesses, overcoming all of the obstacles that get in the way of creating and executing a sound marketing strategy is not really feasible. Without an in-house marketing team that is skilled and dedicated to marketing planning and execution, it is understandably difficult.But here’s the good news… That’s why most small businesses turn to marketing experts for assistance, and when they do, their business explodes.It is so important to partner with a company that can do more than just talking about marketing theory. Your marketing partner needs to be able to come up with a solid strategy and determine which tactics will best fit that strategy for your unique business.By moving from a marketing theory focus on a strategy/execution focus, you can move past your obstacles and charter the course to success.

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