No subsidies for you

Posted on December 9, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

So much for tort reform …

Even though the highest court in the land upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act more than a year ago, the lawsuits are still piling up like so much dirty laundry.

(To be fair, it was a win-lose. That particular case focused on the mandate – upheld – and the forced Medicaid expansion – tossed.)

The Hobby Lobby case challenging the birth control “mandate” is the one getting all the press, of course, because anything that flirts with religion or abortion always grabs headlines – which is the only time you’ll hear needlepoint or basket-weaving called sexy. READ MORE>>> No subsidies for you

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▶ The most inspiring video you will ever watch!

Posted on December 9, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

▶ The most inspiring video you will ever watch! – YouTube.

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Better Living Outdoors

Posted on December 8, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

One of the hottest trends in home remodeling is to create an outdoor living space. Many homeowners are spending more time exercising, cooking, entertaining, and simply relaxing outdoors – and they want to enjoy the same conveniences and comforts they have indoors. In fact, in recent years, adding an outdoor room has become the second-most popular home remodeling project – following kitchen renovation.

If you are planning to enhance your outdoor living space, here are some tips that will help you select projects that yield the highest return for your investment.

Patio – Dress up a plain patio by installing pavers, which come in a variety of styles and colors to match your house. And make sure that your patio is covered to provide protection from the elements.

Deck – Enlarging your deck or enhancing it with a new railing can increase the value of your home. Consider such luxurious touches as wrought iron balusters, decorative centerpieces and post caps.

Outdoor fireplace – Although this is a popular feature, it can be expensive to add a built-in fireplace outdoors. You may be better off purchasing a portable fire pit, which can create a warm, cozy atmosphere for a fraction of the cost.

Other amenities – An inground swimming pool can increase the value of your home by as much as eight percent. A hot tub and outdoor cooking area with a grill, sink and refrigerator are also popular features to add.

Need more outdoor space? If you’re looking for a home that fits your family’s changing needs, I am here to help. Contact me today.

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Arsenic and Old Wood

Posted on November 29, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

Many homeowners enjoy the outdoors from the comfort of their decks. From barbeques to bird watching, decks provide a lot of living space. But did you know that if your deck was built before 2004, it may have been treated with toxic chemicals that could harm your family?

Wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) was widely used to build decks and porches prior to being discontinued for residential use in 2004. Copper, chromium and arsenic – the chemicals that make up CCA – are all potentially dangerous. In fact, researchers have measured the soil beneath CCA-treated decks and found that the concentration of arsenic was more than seven times the level allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

CCA-treated wood typically has a greenish tint due to the copper content and is resistant to mold and termites. Because it has a long lifespan, many homes still have porches or decks made with it. CCA was also used to construct basement walls in some areas of the country.

If you suspect that you have CCA-treated wood in or around your home, you may wish to replace it with wood treated with other, less harmful chemicals like copper azone (CA) or water-soluble boron compounds.

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Benefits of a Home Warranty

Posted on November 28, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

It’s never convenient when an important system or appliance within your home malfunctions. But if you have a home warranty (which may also be called a home protection plan), your cost and inconvenience could be drastically reduced. Most of the time, when something that is covered by your home warranty stops working, all you would need to do is make a call, request a service visit, and pay a nominal service charge to have the problem remedied. Some coverage exclusions and price limitations may apply, but these plans can offer peace-of-mind to buyers about their new home.

A home protection plan is like an insurance policy that can protect homeowners against the cost of repairs should any of the major systems within their home malfunction. Exactly what is covered will differ from company to company. However, most policies cover such things as the plumbing and heating systems, and all built-in appliances.

In the real estate industry, home protection plans are popular because they can be an inexpensive way to cover any unforeseen repairs that may be needed after a home is sold. Some sellers choose to offer a 12-month home protection plan, which can provide potential buyers with an extra measure of assurance.

If you would like more information about other ways you can offer peace-of-mind to buyers when selling a home or if you have general real estate questions, please do not hesitate to call. As your trusted real estate professional, I’m here to help with all of your buying and selling needs.

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Email Newsletters Drive Traffic To Your Site

Posted on November 25, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

Using links in your email marketing is a fantastic way to drive traffic to your website or blog.Whether you pride yourself on being as up-to-date as possible on the latest marketing trends or are focusing on the basics of growing your business or community, linking within your email newsletters is a valuable practice because you’re creating an avenue to…you!

What Do We Mean by ‘Drive Traffic’?    Savvy marketers are in constant pursuit of new ways to get existing customers to their website or create repeat business. ‘Driving traffic’ means you’re creating opportunities for your site to be found.Email marketing is one way to drive traffic to your site among many. Internet traffic is the equivalent of foot traffic for brick and mortar businesses.

How Can I Use Email Newsletters to Drive Traffic?   Adding relevant links URLs to your newsletter is the easiest way to drive traffic to your site. You can easily link banner images and text and images in the body of your newsletter from the Mad Mimi composer.

Here, two users share their recommendations for how to link effectively in an email newsletter :

Crystal, from Rodan and Fields “I know you want to put everything about your fabulous service, product, etc. out there [in your newsletter] for your audience to see, but that is what links are for. Do not make this a catalogue of all of your products. Simply put some pics of your best selling items, and link them to an online website or catalogue. You can even link to a demo video! My customers love to do their own research, so I link every picture, and some relevant text to web locations that may be of interest to them. Of course, I have multiple links to my personal website, and most of my customers have used newsletters to find their way to their favorite products.

”Ryan, from Best Name Badges “Include a short blurb in your email that’s interesting to your customers and readers. Best Name Badges is active in animal rescues and it’s a great non-product related talking point that we can include on our company blog as well as our emails. It’s best to include the full story on your blog and just use a snippet in your email to encourage your customers to click through to your website.

” Both Crystal and Ryan use links in their newsletters to give their readers just a taste of what’s going on, bigger picture, and it drives traffic to their sites. Brilliant!At its best, using links is quite organic, but don’t be afraid to use the technique to make it easier for your people to find you. Focus on the quality content you’re sending first and then go back and link effectively.

 

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NODs & REO’s

Posted on November 19, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

NODs and REOs continue rising

According to PropertyRadar, formerly ForeclosureRadar, which tracks notice of default (NOD) and Real Estate Owned (REO) data nationwide, the numbers are showing a steady rise in new defaults and REO inventory compared to a year ago. In California alone, NODs rose 15.3% and REOs over 4% just over the month of October! And the trend is finding it\’s way throughout the country. The fact is, there aren\’t enough jobs, or credit available to help the 10+ million homeowners who are currently underwater and having trouble making payments. California alone has over 1.5 million underwater homeowners at risk of default.

To put things into perspective, the state that faired the best this year, was Oregon, and their foreclosures dropped by only 2.5% in October, and this is the best performing state. Banks have also lost confidence and are seeing that the temporary spike in housing values has ended, and now it\’s time to start selling off more of their REO inventory they\’ve been holding onto.

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Democrats threaten to abandon Obama over health law – Capitol Report – MarketWatch

Posted on November 14, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

Democrats threaten to abandon Obama over health law, and more morning readsNovember 14, 2013, 7:46 AM Getty ImagesA growing number of House Democrats are warning the White House they may support a bill that would allow Americans to keep their existing health coverage through 2014 without penalties, the New York Times reports. President Barack Obama’s administration opposes the legislation, saying it would undermine the Affordable Care Act.Meanwhile, economist Dean Baker’s blog has a piece rebutting a Washington Post columnist’s claim that “Obamacare is in much more trouble than it was a week ago.”Read more about ‘Obamacare’: California state exchange outdrawing federal health exchange | Why hardly anyone has signed up for ObamacareIt’s three years away, but the 2016 presidential primaries will have the Republican Party’s strongest group of contenders since Ronald Reagan, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist predicts, as reported by Politico.Thanks a lot, Edward Snowden. Reuters reports U.S. technology companies including Cisco Systems Inc. and IBM Corp. are facing unprecedented difficulty selling their goods and services in China, as fallout from the U.S. spying scandal takes a toll.Remember the government shutdown’s lawnmower man? That’s Chris Cox of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., who voluntarily mowed grass on the National Mall during the 16-day shutdown. ABC News reports he was back in Washington being honored for his efforts, and one reward is an enormous chainsaw.– Robert Schroeder

via Democrats threaten to abandon Obama over health law – Capitol Report – MarketWatch.

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Social-media lingo, Part 1

Posted on November 12, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

Sometimes the social-media world can feel like a whole other planet, with its own unique etiquette, customs and language. If you’re an realtor, financial advisor or an insurance agent –  just beginning to explore this strange new landscape — or an old pro — you need to be familiar with certain words and phrases. Enter the Financial Social Media dictionary, a list of need-to-know social-media lingo, broken down by platform. Here, we cover general social-media terms.

Authenticity: A trait valued on social media and blogs. Authenticity means consumers get to know the real person behind your firm.

Compliance: Social-media activity that meets the regulatory conditions set forth by FINRA and the SEC. This includes the process of archiving social-media communication.

CPC: Cost per click. This is how much you pay when someone clicks on your social-media ad.

CPM: Cost per 1,000 impressions. This is how much you pay when 1,000 people see your social-media ad.

Crowdsource: The process of reaching out online to a group of social-media users for opinion and feedback. Advisors can reach out to groups via LinkedIn or ask questions on Facebook or Twitter to see what resonates with their clients and prospects.

Editorial calendar: A schedule for planning when to post content across multiple social-media platforms.

Embed: Displaying a photo or video on one website while it is still being hosted on another. For example, you can embed a video from YouTube in your financial blog.

Engagement: Actions that occur on a post or update. This includes likes, comments and shares.

Financial blog: A “web log” on an advisor’s website. Advisors can use a financial blog to regularly create entries containing valuable content for their clients and prospects.

Financial hashtag: The dollar sign preceding a company’s abbreviated stock market name. (Example: $GOOG.)

Geo-tag: A label indicating the origin of a status update or tweet.

Hashtag: The pound sign preceding a word which classifies it as a conversation topic. (Example: #Advisor.) A hashtag will turn into a link for a search thread within your message. Originally used solely on Twitter, you can now use hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+.

Klout: A score which determines an individual’s social-media influence. This allows marketers to find influencers within the social space.

Optimization: The process of enhancing your social platforms and profiles to maximize their overall performance through such things as search, reach and engagement.

Reach: The number of people who view your post, update or ad.

Share: A feature that allows you to share a post or update with your network. Akin to a retweet on Twitter.

Tag: Labels a topic or person that is the subject of a post or comment. You can tag people in a status update, comment or blog.

Two-step verification: A security measure for logging on to social sites. In addition to a username and password, a user can be required to enter a code sent to a mobile device.

Viral: Describes content shared at a rapid rate.

Vlog: A blog consisting of video as opposed to text.

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U.S. obesity rate on the rise

Posted on November 7, 2013 by robertjrussellcompanies

Rising obesity rates among U.S. adults is back and it could be bigger than ever.

So far this year, the adult obesity rate is 27.2 percent, up from 26.2 percent in 2012, according to a new Gallup report.

Not only that, but Gallup notes that obesity rates have increased across almost all demographic groups, and the rate is on pace to surpass all annual average obesity rates since Gallup-Healthways began tracking in 2008.

Though the increase over last year seems relatively small, Gallup researchers say the uptick in the obesity rate so far in 2013 is “statistically significant and is the largest year-over-year increase since 2009.”

The new report is bad news amid a federal anti-obesity campaign and previous reports that indicated obesity rates among Americans were becoming stagnant. This year’s rate increase reverses the lower levels recorded in 2011 and 2012 by Gallup, and is much higher than the 25.5 percent who were obese in 2008.

Earlier this year, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed that childhood obesity, on the other hand, seems to be declining, albeit slightly.

“It is unclear why the (overall) obesity rate is up this year, and the trend since 2008 shows a pattern of some fluctuation,” the Gallup report read. “This underscores the possibility that that the recent uptick is shorter-term, rather than a more permanent change. Still, if the current trend continues for the next several years, the implications for the health of Americans and the increased burden on the health care system could be significant.”

The obesity rate is highest among blacks, middle-aged, and lower-income adults, Gallup found. But rates increased across almost all major demographic and socioeconomic groups, with the exception of 18- to 29-year-olds, among whom the percentage who are obese has remained stable.

The increase in obesity rate was accompanied by a slight decline in the percentage of Americans classified as normal weight or as overweight but not obese.

Researchers noted that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may help reduce obesity among low-income Americans if the uninsured sign up for coverage and “take advantage of the free obesity screening and counseling that most insurance companies are required to provide under the law.”

They also noted that employers can take an active role to help lower obesity rates (and cut health care costs) by developing and implementing strategies to help workers maintain or reach a healthy weight.

Researchers calculated these percentages based on 14,000 interviews conducted between Jan. 1 and Oct. 28 of this year.

via U.S. obesity rate on the rise | BenefitsPro.

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