There are many benefits that you can get just by visiting a health and fitness center, and it is well worth taking out time from even a busy life to go and do some fitness exercises in a fitness center as it will provide your immune system with a much needed boost and you will also feel more energetic as well. What’s more, there is also a wide variety of equipment that you can use at a fitness center that will allow you to do different things including lifting weights, performing aerobics and even swimming, amongst a host of other activities.Fitness clubs are perfect places for people who do not get the proper amount of physical activity during the day. These clubs have drawn many members who flock to the facilities to keep in shape. The health and fitness clubs usually have all of the tools that people need to keep in great shape. Some of these clubs have beautiful swimming pools where people can relax or swim laps for cardiovascular fitness. The health and fitness clubs often have experts who will monitor the people in the pool and help them use these facilities for the most benefit.A good center will provide many different kinds of equipment and services for the clients. Usually a good center will provide classes to help the members improve their physical health. These classes might include swimming, yoga or aerobic exercise. Other centers have kickboxing and cycling classes for the members. A good center will usually have highly trained personal trainers who can help the members of the center. These people usually charge extra for their services, but they provide expert knowledge to their clients.A good center will usually have many different types of equipment for the members. There is usually an array of machines that will help the members improve their cardiovascular fitness. These machines include treadmills, elliptical machines and stationary bicycles. There is usually a section for muscle toning.This area usually has some free weights and machines for improving muscle tone. There are luxurious clubs that have steam rooms, saunas and Turkish baths. There are often shops in the centers where people can buy fitness equipment for use at home. The shops often have nutritional bars and foods that should help clients improve their physical fitness. Some centers have facilities so the members can relax and socialize with others. Most clients are very happy that they have a place to improve their physical fitness.
A good way of picking up a property bargain is for landlords to buy at a property auction, but what do investors need to be aware of?The sun has come out this week and with rental demand booming many landlords thoughts are turning to plans of expansion. The figures out this week suggest that property prices may have at last stabilised and could even be about to start on an upward trajectory.The latest residential property auction by Allsop in London on the 29th March has 54 distressed lots. This suggests there are plenty of potential property bargains out there.Finance has been a real problem following the credit crunch in 2008. However, availability in the BTL mortgage market has slowly been improving making further purchases by landlords a realistic option.Financing a property bought at auction For landlords that aren’t in the fortunate position of being a cash buyer they will need some kind of development or bridging finance to buy a property at auction. According to David Sampson of Property Hawk Mortgages, it is still possible to get an advance of up to 85% of the gross purchase costs on a refurbishment property depending on property type and location.Interest rates on this type of loan start from as low as 0. 7125% per month. At the end of the refurbishment period landlords will then look to replace the bridging finance with a more permanent buy-to-let mortgage. Where a landlord can add value to the property they will be able to leave the development profit in the property and effectively take all of their original equity on refinancing effectively securing them an investment property for nothing. The set up fees borne by the purchaser using bridging finance vary depending on the type of property and borrowers circumstances but generally range from 1 to 2. 5% of the loan amount.David Sampson goes on to add: “Completely non-status finance is available up to 70% of open market value from some lender on residential property, even with no personal guarantees on company borrowing!”Essential things to consider when buying at a property auctionBuying at a property auction is a completely ‘different kettle of fish’ to buying property through private treaty. There are some essential things to bear in mind. Remember at auction you are ‘swimming with the sharks’ in the sense that you are up against a room full of professional investors and developers who will often have the edge over you.However, this shouldn’t stop you having a go. Providing you have done your research on the property, and checked all your sums. I everything adds up you could easily walk away with a steal!The essential things to remember are:1. You will need to pay a 10% non-refundable deposit on the day of the auction (so make sure you have the cash in your account and that you are sure before you bid)2. Most auctions have a guide price for the property they have in their sale. Don’t pay too much attention to this. Frequently, the figure is there just to lure in ‘newbie’ punters. The guide price isn’t the same as the Reserve Price. So even if the bids are more than the guide price the property may still fail to sell because the reserve has not been met.3. There is a good reason why property ends up at auction. It’s normally where ‘wreckers’ that need full refurbishment, property with complex legal issues or distressed property end up. Beware of an attractive property that looks is if it should sold through an estate agent. There may well be a complex legal reason (such as onerous or breached covenant) that has made it unsalable in the past. Make sure you get a good solicitor who has experience at buying property at auction and get them to fully check out the property’s title fully before you enter the sale room.4. Don’t be disheartened! It really is still possible to get a bargain. The nature of a property auction is that prices will ultimately vary on depending on who is in the sale room on that day. If it’s a wet and cold Wednesday or even a fantastically sunny Friday approaching a Bank Holiday the professional investors may not to turn up. This could give you a ‘free reign’ to bag that property bargain. Equally, if it is a very small auction that has not been publicised well; then you could end up being the only bidder in the room.
So what are the best ways to earn money online? Well it’s a question that I have been asked more times than you could ever imagine. The answer however is not as simple as people would want it to be. When making money online, there is no “best way”. We are all different and we all have different experience that we have collected throughout our lives.For me the best way to make money online is to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur always has to be on the edge, and thinking out of the box to come up with profitable ideas. Below are three of the most common ways an entrepreneur makes money on the Internet.1. Starting your own online business.The ultimate way to make money online is to start your own online business or website where you offer services or items at good prices. The advantages of having your own business is that you do not have to rely on anyone else than yourself. If you have your own website where you offer services such as WordPress installations, then you don’t have to worry about any third parties.The amount of money you can make by setting up your own online business is only limited to your ideas and experience. It will most likely take a while to get the whole thing rolling and generating money, but in the end it will be worth it. So if you are able to provide people with something they would like to spend money for, then this is the best option for you. Just remember to always analyze your competition so that you don’t end up in a business where you have no chance of scoring a sale.2. Sell your own products.You might think that this one is exactly the same as the above one, but it’s actually not. Selling your own products does not mean that you need to build a business around it. Let’s say that you write an eBook or create software that will help people with something. Now all you have to do is to get people to promote your product.This can be done by contacting and convincing top affiliates and then uploading your item to websites such as ClickBank.com. If your product is of value to others you might be able to cash in a 5 figure income for months to come. A smart move is to release an update of your product after a while, especially if it was a success the first time. By doing this you will be able to cash in even more money, since people now knows about you and your products.The benefits of selling your own products might not be as great as starting your own online business, but it requires only a fraction of the work and it might be a great way to generate the start-up money that an online business may require.3. Making money through affiliate marketing.So, in the beginning I mentioned that you should sell your own products, but promoting other peoples products might also be very rewarding. Affiliates earn a share from each product they sell, this might be everything from 10% to 90%.Affiliate marketing is not for people who want to see money coming in as soon as they start promoting a product online. It takes hard work and most likely a lot of knowledge in marketing and search engine optimization. In the end you are competing against sometimes hundreds of other people promoting the same product, if you fail you will earn nothing, if you succeed you might earn thousands of dollars. So until you come up with a great idea of your own product, you might want to give this a try.The simplicity of the above online money-making methods, should not be underestimated as it is all about focus and taking action. There are numerous examples of people with low levels of computer literacy, who have managed to make a very good income online. The simple trick was to educate themselves, by learning as much as possible, and not giving up on their financial independence dream.
Whether you’re in the market for a major interior overhaul or you’re simply looking to give your home a quick and easy update, chances are you’ve spent some time online hunting for ideas and inspiration. That said, it can be pretty deflating to stumble upon a look you love only to discover the price to achieve it is well above your budget.
Fortunately, there are some killer home decorating blogs that show you how to refresh, revive, and fall in love with your home anew without breaking the bank. For a home that looks far more expensive than it costs to create, check out the following blogs for all of the interior inspiration and DIY tutorials you’ll ever need.
Welcome back to the week 5 update for the One Room Challenge. Check out the blog posts and updates for week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4 if you missed them. It’s crunch time now and I’ll be honest… I don’t know that this project will be completely wrapped up for the reveal date. The great thing is the reveal and hitting a deadline is not the only goal of reason for this challenge. Ultimately having a fully functional and hopefully beautiful bathroom is where we want to end up even it things are a bit delayed.
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.
When we left off last time the countertops had been templated, the trim was freshly painted and the hardware had been ordered. The hardware took about 1 week to arrive. We chose the Menlo Park 4″ pull from Schlub in chrome because I think the pull has the perfect mix of square and some rounded elements that make it a great transitional hardware option. We went with all pulls for the drawers and doors since the knob option in that line weren’t our favorite.
Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5
The quartz countertops are now installed and things can be put back together. Rectangle, undercount sinks were also purchased through the fabricator. The Marble look quartz from Pental and it is gorgeous with the warm gray veins running throughout. For the edge went for a flat polish eased edge for a clean, simple look.
Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5
Two days after the quartz countertops were installed the tile installer came back to finish up tiling the niches, installing the tile base and grout everything.
Guest Bathroom Reno: Quartz Countertops and Grout – One Room Challenge Week 5
The electoral is being relocated for the new lights. There are some drywall and painting touch ups to do and plumbing fixtures to be hooked up. Plus adding all the finishing touches ???? All those little things like towel hooks, curtain rod, and accessories will bring this whole thing together.
It’s been too long since I’ve updated and even longer since this work has been started. This is me sharing remodel updates, mostly for myself (but also for my nagging family members). I’m sharing photos of the progress that has been made while also document the craziness that has gone on. This is just the beginning of the remodel.
Prior to moving in I had 3-4 weeks where my apartment lease overlapped with the possession of my townhome. This allowed me, with the amazing help of my family, to paint, tear-out carpet and somewhat put back together the upstairs portion of my place so that I could have a clean room to put a bed. At least one that wasn’t completely torn apart. One area that felt more livable that the rest. If you haven’t seen or don’t remember these are the before photos from when I took possession. To list it out here are the main things that I was tacking during those week prior to me moving in.
Phase 1 Remodel Projects
ripping out baseboard, carpet and tack strips upstairs and preparing for new hard surface flooring. (this flooring will go throughout minus the stairs and bathrooms/laundry)
installing flooring upstairs (one of my installers did this)
mostly gutting the master bathroom
installing a new tub and rough in plumbing for the master and powder bath
ordering and installing a rift white oak vanity for the master
Painting (and priming where needed) the ceilings and walls of the bedrooms. Caulking and painting the crown molding in the master
replacing and upgrading the baseboard heater in the master and patch the drywall
painting the hallway and down through the stairwell
adding skirt board to the stairs
installing new carpet and pad on the stairs (my carpet installer from work did this)
removing upper cabinets on the fridge side in the kitchen
partially demoing the wall diving the kitchen (prepare to move switches, outlets, heater and thermostat)
removing drywall on wall next to bar in dining area
painting the downstairs powder bath and removing vanity to prepare for a new floating vanity
Those were the main projects that took place and then I moved in the day after Thanksgiving. Getting rid of the original, nasty cat carpet and new flooring made a huge difference to the upstairs. Also neutralizing and lightening the paint made things feel so much more fresh. I still have no baseboards but I’ll get on that one day! For now here are some photos that I snapped along the way.
It’s been a while since been posting on here but I have some new updates and projects that I have been working on. Last summer into fall I was house hunting while knowing the lease on my apartment would be expiring end of the 2019. It felt a little crazy but was a fun process for me. After a bunch of searching I found and closed on a new home!
I was lucky enough to have a few weeks of overlap with my apartment (I ended up moving out 1 month early) so I was able to get started on projects and updates prior to moving in. I’ll share more about those in the coming weeks (there are still so many unfinished things!) but for now I think it’s best to start with some before photos. Also, follow along on Instagram where I post current project updates more often. The pictures show it in the state I bought it in. It’s a great first place to me and was functional as-is but as you might expect I’m here to make things my own by doing updates that I will enjoy while living here and that will also add value and functionality to the space down the line when I sell… or maybe even keep it as a rental. My dog, Nova, has been enjoying the space as well ???? There are a couple of things to miss about my Bothell apartment but I am very ready to have my own place and space.
In 2017 the guest bathroom was remodeled. You can see more photos and read about that here. Almost everything came out and all new things went back in. From emails and comments people have been asking for sources so I have rounded up what I could in this post to share paint colors, products and links that I could find for the bathroom.
Bathroom Sources and Details:
Wall color: BM Balboa Mist
Trim and door color: BM Chantilly Lace
Floor Tile: Pental Mark Chrome 12×24 matte
Shower tile: Jeffrey Court Weather Gray 4×12 gloss subway
Niche tile: Daltile clio mosaic
Bathtub: Maax Rubix tub
Cabinet: Spencer Cabinets – painted BM Cape May Cobblestone
Countertop: Pental Quartz Misterio polished 3cm
Cabinet hardware: Schaub Menlo Park Pull in chrome
Faucets: Hansgrohe Metris single handle in chrome
Shower trims: Kohler slide bar kit, wall mount supply and Hansgrohe tub spout in chrome
Mirrors: Homegoods
Towel Hooks: Delta Tolva robe hook in chrome