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Florida is one of the hottest housing markets in the U.S., making buying a home challenging. Here are five vital tips for finding the best real estate deals in Florida and having a smooth closing:
1. View properties in person to make sure you see any aspects of a home not included online. Touring listings with an experienced real estate agent, who can spot potential concerns, is always wise. If you must rely on a virtual showing, you can have an agent visit the property and make a purchase offer contingent upon a satisfactory professional home inspection.
2. Be cautious when buying a home remotely, so you don’t fall prey to any scams, such as fake listings or overpriced properties.
3. Use trusted financial institutions for making necessary payments, such as a good-faith deposit to a brokerage with a purchase offer. Online payment apps, such as PayPal and Venmo, don’t offer the same protections as a traditional bank with FDIC insurance.
4. Make sure your finances are in order before spending too much time searching for your dream home. Getting a mortgage preapproval is best so you know how much you can borrow and at what terms. It may also carry weight with a potential seller evaluating multiple purchase offers. Also, make sure your credit is healthy so you qualify for a mortgage with the lowest interest rate possible, which can save thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.
5. Use an experienced real estate agent who understands the market where you want to buy a home. They can help you navigate the potentially complex process of making offers, negotiating terms, completing contingencies, and getting to the closing table. The right agent can help you get an offer accepted when competing with other buyers in a hot real estate market.
SOURCE: Laura Adams, senior real estate analyst at Aceable, a mobile education platform that offers accredited real estate education in Florida and the U.S.
Graduating from college can be a daunting task for even the most focused college student, but you know the good part? The good part is that you are not alone, and there are loads of people going through these things. That is why I am here to offer some vital guidance to recent college graduates. So, without further ado, let us jump into three of my favorite tips:
Once you’ve graduated from college, it’s the perfect time to immerse yourself in some of the skills you learned during your stay in school. The fact remains that the choice of self-discovery is yours to make, and it’s a great thing to do as a fresh college graduate.
Like Mother Theresa said, “Do not wait for leaders; do it yourself, person to person.” The only person who can discover yourself is you, so try to live a little while remembering some of the vital guidance given by your parents and other trustworthy individuals along the way to help you live the life you want.
Okay, this is a vital piece of guidance that you probably wish you had just before you stepped foot onto a college campus, but it’s never too late to pick up a valuable life lesson. Relationships don’t just happen, and relationships don’t have to be with the most prominent people in your field of study (at least not just yet). Instead, they could be with a few like-minded individuals, and who knows where that will take you?
Thanks to social media, making connections has never been easier, as now all you need is a LinkedIn username and a few minutes to spare. You can directly connect with different people worldwide with a few taps of the keyboard. Remember, the best connections are the ones that you make by yourself, so do not limit yourself! Push forward, think more profound, and immerse yourself in your loftiest ambitions.
Patience is a virtue though this virtue might be hard to exude when you’re fresh out of college and faced with many possibilities (and near impossibilities). However, there’s nothing to worry about, as it’s only a matter of time before you figure it out. Just take the words of Helen Keller to heart, “We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”
Even though some of your dreams will not come through instantly, there’s no need to panic. Just keep on striving, networking, getting vital guidance, and ticking the mental boxes. You’ll be fine in no time!
Final Thoughts
Graduating from college is a remarkable landmark in anyone’s life, and it’s something to look forward to and celebrate once you have concluded the work. Once the celebrations are completed, it is time to look for something to do with that college degree. This is where many college graduates develop cold feet, and that’s where the doubt begins to creep in.
There’s no need for this because there’s more than one way to make your dreams come true. Just be patient and continue to make connections as you discover who you are and want to do.
Article by Vital Guidance writer Olaoluwa Ajayi
We all know that vital relationships are important to our mental and physical health. When the seminal book on love – specifically love languages – was published by Gary Chapman Ph.D. in 1992, he probably couldn’t have imagined how important The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate would become. It is a book that has gone on to define our vital relationships – both with our partner and with friends – and it is always worth a quick reminder of what those languages are and how they work.
It is worth noting that healthy and balanced relationships will hit all five of these languages in some way often. Still, it is also true that everyone has different needs and values some of the languages more than others. At the very least, see this as a reason to talk to your partner about which of the love languages they value most so that you can improve your vital relationship with them.
Quality Time
The keyword here is “quality.” You may spend hours with your partner every day, but if that time is spent helping with the kids or watching TV together, it isn’t going to seem like quality time to someone requiring this language. Another key is to put down your phone and pay attention with your eyes along with your ears as something this simple shows that you are engaged in what your partner – or friend – is saying and that you are there for them and not whoever is down the other end of the line.
Physical Touch
A pretty simple one here as long as you remember that this doesn’t mean that the person is looking just for sensual and sexual touches all the time. This is more about physical closeness and the comfort and security that is provided within that. Think walks in the park with hands held, cuddling on the couch while watching a movie instead of sitting apart, or playing with their hair after a stressful day. Please make an effort to be close to someone who needs this language and show them you care.
Words of Affirmation
This language is all about encouraging your partner verbally and showing them that you are in tune with their day and their life with your words. This can be as simple as an encouraging text before a meeting or a congratulatory one when something goes well. It is worth noting that while telling someone you are in a vital relationship with you love them is essential, it might not be enough here. Try to tailor those words – which are important – to the situation to make someone with this language feel loved and valued.
Acts of Service
This is an outdated way of only doing things that make your partner’s life easier by taking away something they have to do. This can be as simple as washing the dishes or taking out the trash, which shouldn’t be seen as chores but as acts of service to the person you love. Doing these things together – especially when it is something like cooking dinner with a glass of wine – can be an excellent way of showing this language and creating a closer bond.
Receiving Gifts
The first thing to do with this love language and your vital relationship is to remove the feeling that it is materialistic or greedy. Gifts in this way don’t have to break the bank – they don’t have to cost anything at all – but instead are all about showing thought in the gift. Maybe picking a wildflower on a walk in the country or tracking down an old recipe from an in-law that your partner loved as a child, the options here are endless without having to spend hundreds of dollars on soon-to-be discarded junk.
Article by Vital Guidance
One of the most significant issues people have regarding nutrition and getting the vital nutrients they need to succeed in everyday life is being overwhelmed by the data. Studies are great, and they are essential for us to understand the latest science, but they are also a mess of information about confusing things – what on earth is sea moss anyway? – that can lead to people simply giving up and maintaining old (unhealthy) habits.
Getting vital nutrients and being healthy isn’t nearly as hard as some of these studies make it seem. One person looking to make a difference in overall nutrition by making things simpler is Dr. Mike Molloy. Dr. Molloy – a nutritional coach – has worked with athletes such as Crossfitter and UK’s fittest man Zack George, Crossfitter Sara Sigmundsdottir, and world judo champion An Changrim. These are the elite of the elite in terms of athletes. Dr. Molloy believes nutrition principles that allow athletes to perform at their peak while also enjoying a healthy and productive lifestyle can also be used by everyone to be healthier mentally and physically.
Here are his three core concepts to getting those vital nutrients into our body and still loving life.
It begins with the basics
The building blocks of nutrition are ones we can all follow. In many cases, changes begin with eating a high-quality, balanced diet filled with protein. This kind of dieting is one stage of gaining vital nutrition that all athletes swear by, and it’s more common practice in the world of professional sports than taking a lot of supplements.
The other key to nutrition is to stay hydrated. Most people don’t intake nearly enough water on a day-to-day basis. Something as simple as adding an extra 32 ounces of high-quality H2O per day could be the missing piece in reaching your personal nutritional and fitness goals. Finally, make sure you are getting enough good-quality sleep. LeBron James – for example – averages 12 hours of sleep per day. While this is not possible for everyone, it can be used as a sleep guide for overnight sleep and rest periods during the day.
“Sleep and hydration might seem tangential to nutrition, but they are incredibly important for driving good nutritional behaviors,” Dr. Molloy told Insider.com in a recent interview.
Eat for the right reason
The biggest difference between your nutritional needs and that of a professional athlete is an expectation of what the food you consume will allow you to do. An athlete is looking at food from the perspective of optimal performance and is trying to get enough good calories into the body to drive a workout or a competition. While there is some element of that with people just looking to eat better – especially when it comes to working out – the overall goal is often to lose weight and be leaner instead of shredding the body to absorb hits by an outside linebacker. They are different goals, but the same basic principles of knowing what you are eating and how it will get you to that goal apply.
Dr. Molloy again. “It’s not restriction-based; it’s goal-oriented. Not ‘How can I eat as little as possible?’ but ‘How can I eat the right amount to fuel my training so that I’m energized throughout the day, not feeling sluggish, and I’m not hungry?'”
Eat what you want in the right quantities
Circling back around to that sea moss, we get to the point where eating what you want – as opposed to eating what you are told – is vitally important. Nutrition and consuming vital nutrients shouldn’t feel like a chore because if it does, then there is no you will stick with it. Think of this as a long-term planning approach: Telling yourself you can never have pizza is very different from deciding not to have pizza for the two weeks leading up to that lake trip this summer. Know where you want to be at your peak in terms of fitness and nutrition and work back from there, ensuring what you enjoy and like worked into your plans.
“It’s not about never going out for dinner or never eating chocolate; we just build it into their routine,” Molloy said. “As serious as they are as athletes, it’s not about being perfect.”
We know that exercise is as important to our health as vital nutrients and following the vital guidance that doctors and other health professionals give out. The problem can be, especially for people with ultra-busy lives, that there just isn’t enough time in the day to commit to that cardio workout or gym session for it to feel like it is being productive.
Those folks should be happy to hear that a study of 411 middle-aged adults using data from the Framingham Heart Study has some interesting results. According to Harvard health:
“Researchers measured levels of 588 substances involved in metabolism (metabolites) in the volunteers’ blood before and immediately after 12 minutes of vigorous exercise on an exercise bike. The investigators detected changes in more than 80% of the metabolites, including favorable shifts in those linked to diabetes and heart disease. For example, exercise had beneficial effects on metabolites related to insulin resistance (a condition that is a precursor to diabetes), lipolysis (the breakdown of fats), inflammation, and blood vessel reactivity. These benefits appeared to be blunted among people with obesity.”
The way this study achieved its results is interesting. The “12 minutes of vigorous exercise” on the bike were achieved by ramping up the intensity of the workout in one-minute increments. To this end, the first minute was nothing more than a warm-up pace, but by the final minute the participants worked at max effort to pedal as quickly as possible against the resistance they were being given.
With all that in mind, this doesn’t seem like an immediate cure-all for everyone, especially those looking to get back into exercise for the first time in a while. For those people, this type of workout – one that seems to be proven to help with vital health – is certainly something that could be aimed for somewhere down the line and built up to without over-stressing the body from its current point.
There is also a certain section of people that could immediately benefit from this type of short-form, short-burst exercise. Those are the people – and we are looking at you young professionals – who are still in good enough shape to blast out 12 minutes on an exercise bike each day, but haven’t been doing so on account of them thinking that less than a quarter of an hour of exercise doesn’t produce the type of health benefits they are looking for.
This isn’t an exercise regimen that will bulk up the body like a regular gym membership and ingesting the correct amounts of vital nutrients. Perhaps that is why this news will go unnoticed in some sectors. Instead, this is exercise news for the long term and it requires people thinking about their health before it starts to decline in order for the biggest and best benefits to be felt. Getting those metabolites working at their peak today – especially if you are still young and not exercising regularly – will do wonders for the health of your heart and your liver as you get older .
Another interesting aspect of this study requires more research but is worth considering if you don’t think that vigorous exercise is in your wheelhouse just yet. “We don’t know yet if moderate-intensity exercise would have a similar effect on metabolites. But study participants started off with very light exercise, and each minute the intensity increased,” says Dr. Gregory Lewis, the study’s senior author and a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
If it turns out that metabolites do start working at lower intensity levels then that will open up this type of quick – and effective – exercise to a massive range of people who would certainly benefit in the long run. Adding this burst of exercise on off-days to your current training program feels like something that we should all do if we want to lead longer and healthier lives.
Article By Vital Guidance
There are plenty of people unable to take part in their favorite sports right now. Be it playing or watching on TV, sports has always been a way for millions of Americans to escape everyday life for a set period and concentrate on nothing but the action and competition. With team sports being one of the first and longest-standing victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, getting a sports fix in has become hard. One sport that has survived – and perhaps even thrived – is golf, where the solitude of the game makes it just about as socially distant an activity as there is.
Golf is a great sport for kids to learn because of the values the game teaches and because it is something that can be played well into the swansong of life, unlike sports that end after high school, college (football), or when the athleticism fades (basketball/soccer). Here are a few tips on getting kids onto the course and teaching them a vital life skill that will set them up nicely for whatever is around the corner in 2021
It must be fun
Golf is hard. In a world where attention spans and patience have basically been culled in the youth of today, getting them to concentrate on anything – let alone something as difficult is golf – can be a challenge. The way around this is to make it fun. The main way to make it fun is to introduce the game early – think those big plastic clubs and oversized balls – and just let them have at it. Don’t get too critical if they are in their teens and their stance is a little off. Instead, just let them experiment and see what they can do. Adding in a trip to a Top Golf or any similar competitor is also a great idea as these venues are literally designed to be more fun than serious.
The equipment must be right
Golf equipment can be expensive enough for an adult that has finished growing and will be able to hang on to a set of clubs for a decent length of time. With kids, the cost can be much worse because as they grow their club size needs will change. While getting something thy can grow into sounds good on paper, it is problematic in the short term when they cannot use the clubs properly. Don’t feel like you need to keep getting brand new sets either, however, as Facebook Marketplace is littered with sets other kids have grown out of and they often only have minor wear and tear. Also get your kid some fun balls to hit and let them pick out their own accessories to make it even more likely they will fall in love with the sport under your role as a vital mentor.
Always get a cart
While the benefits of walking the course are endless you may as well forget about it with kids in tow. For one the course length is a huge challenge for younger kids to take on and for two, well, what kid doesn’t love the experience of riding with a parent in a golf cart? This is a no-brainer of a choice to increase the day’s fun for you both.
Focus on them
This can be the hardest trick of all considering how every trip to the course should be seen as a chance to get better. When going with your kids, however, it just has to be all about them. This is not going to be your typical round to relax your life – it might actually add to the stress if your child is not having a good round – but it will be worth it in the end. Sure, hit some balls and play along, but spend your time helping out with questions and just enjoying your growing relationship with your child.
Article By Vital Guidance
Investing in real estate is something that everyone with the means considers at some point in their lives. This is especially true in the current climate since investing in any new-high stock market seems risky and defaulting to real estate appears to be a viable option.
Having a hard asset is seen by most investors as a way to diversify from the stock markets. Still, to do so, it is essential to know if you are the type of person to handle being a landlord. Here is some guidance to follow before dipping your toes into the real estate market with a rental property:
Run the numbers
There is no point getting involved in the rental game if the numbers don’t make any sense. Having cash will make the whole process run smoother and likely get you a discount on the property you are buying. Sellers love avoiding banks, speeding up the process, and cutting off a good chunk of fees. Work out what your costs are going to be – taxes, insurance, any mortgage, charges the landlord is supposed to cover – and make sure that the rental income you will be bringing in supports the decision. Especially when it comes to . . .
Have a savings backup
This should read “do not throw all your money into the rental property,” leaving you broke when – and it will be a when and not an if – something terrible happens. Having a cushion is vital – especially as these bad things always tend to occur in the first year when improvements need to be made, or something just fails in general. That old water heater is bound to give up at some point, and it is going to be up to you to replace it to keep your tenants happy, and speaking of keeping the tenants happy . . .
Are you up for the job
Being a landlord is both a job and a responsibility. Hiring a property manager is fine, but that is a costly expense if being the landlord is something you have the time, the patience, and the skills. Being handy is a big advantage, too, as it means you have to hire less help to take on the various maintenance tasks that crop up. However, knowing how to fix a small plumbing problem or put up a fence is not the only area of expertise required. This is especially true if you own a multi-family rental property where being the voice of reason in an argument between tenants to keep the peace is vitally important.
Will the market support your investment
Think carefully about where to invest in a rental house and study real estate before taking the plunge. Knowing where to buy – and then what to charge in rent – is a huge part of being a successful landlord. Some areas are full of rentals, and the market may be too competitive to make inroads without undervaluing the lease. In contrast, others – especially in rural areas – might not have the interest you need to get the money you need. Also, while student rentals are fairly easy to lease, you may rather have loyal tenants who are not on the edge of throwing a party every weekend.
Look for something that will increase in value
If real estate investing was as cut and dry as it sounds, then everyone would have rental properties in the right areas. Anything from changing demographics to the opening or closing of the right industry in an area can swing a great real estate rental investment into a bad one overnight. Betting on economic growth – be it of a town or even a part of a town – is risky. Still, there are huge benefits long term if a house increases in value while you keep renting it out.
Article by Vital Guidance
I read an article about a big box retail store in my hometown of Philadelphia ransacked from rioting. A protest of another recent tragic police shooting spawned the riot. The article went on to describe the chaos that ensued around the city. I then thought to myself, “not again!”
A feeling of deep sorrow came over me. I started asking myself, “How has America come to this?” Why does it feel as if we are so divided as a people? Are we not better than this? Have we not come further than this? We are supposed to be the home of the “free and the brave.” We are one of the most diverse nations in the world. How can this be happening? Where is God in all of this? Is He just looking down at us in disappointment? Some may even ask, is He there at all?
Later that same evening, I was reading the book of Nehemiah in the Bible. Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king of Persia. The cupbearer would test the wine before the king drank it to ensure it was not poisonous. In those days, this was a prestigious position.
Nehemiah was very close to the king and went with him everywhere. He had to advise the king and converse with him frequently. He was a man of influence and culture. Nehemiah was also a Jewish man and was far from his homeland of Jerusalem.
One day his brother Hanani came to visit from Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked his brother how things were in his homeland. Hanani went on to tell him how the city was in shambles. There was only a remanent of people left, and much of the once-great city was in ruins. These were God’s chosen people living in poverty and destruction from the hand of its enemies.
Extreme sorrow came over Nehemiah from this news. Nehemiah then said, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days, I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” (New International Version, Nehemiah 1:4).
Why did he even care? He was in a prestigious position in a land far away. He had all the comforts of life and protection of the palace of the king. If he did care, why was he not outraged by this? Why did he not blame his people for letting this happen? Why did he not curse Jerusalem’s enemies? Why did he not curse God for letting this happen to his chosen people? Instead, he wept and prayed. What Nehemiah did next was even more surprising.
He started his prayer with praise to God. He said, “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love… (Nehemiah 1:5).” He then went on to ask God for forgiveness for his people. Much of the destruction that came upon them was because they had rebelled against God and made poor decisions. He asked God to have mercy on them, as he had promised. Finally, Nehemiah asked God for favor with the king so that he could help his nation.
In those days, going to the king for a request such as this would be very risky, especially in his position. He would have to leave his post for an extended period and would require resources from the king for this project. Nehemiah was willing to risk it all to help his people. To his relief, the king responded with support, and Nehemiah was successful in his endeavors to help Jerusalem rebuild.
God came through with his promise to His people through the hands and heart of Nehemiah. What a great lesson for us to learn from Nehemiah. Our nation is not in complete ruins, but it is in turmoil. We could get angry at our politicians, the system, the mistakes we have made in the past or present, a group of people, or even God. We could also follow Nehemiah’s example and weep, pray, and take action to help our brothers and sisters, even when it means making significant sacrifices or taking risks.
We are one people created by God. He made us for love and to do His work. If we all acted like Nehemiah, there could be peace and unity in our nation. With God’s help, this is what is possible for America. Let us unite as “One Nation, under God.”
Rich Foster, Life Management Advisor at Vital Guidance
