Everybody can improve the chest muscle by lifting weights with just a little know-how. I will tell you how you can build a strong and muscular chest with only a few of the very best weight lifting exercises.

The chest exercise routine goes as follows:

1. Incline Dumbbell Press for improving your upper chest muscle. Put a training bench at a 25- to 30-degree angle – at that angle you’ll get the maximum lifting emphasis. Lift the weight slowly to shoulder level and always try to keep your upper arms parallel to the ground and your elbows at about 90 degrees. Follow a triangular motion – the weight you are lifting should meet at the midline above your chest and shoulders. Try to visualize a smooth lifting motion, and also try to focus on the “squeeze” of the chest muscles. You have to lower the weight in this exercise more slowly than you lift it. The lowering phase in this exercise will improve your weight lifting strength, but also the coordination as well. Important note: Never lift the weight out over your stomach or behind your head. Keep it vertical all the time.

2. Flat Dumbbell Presses. Begin the exercise with lifting the weights with your upper arms parallel to the ground, try to keep your wrists as tight and straight as possible. Now move the weights upward slowly and controlled until they meet above the middle of your chest. Continue in this same manner until your upper arms are just a little below parallel to the floor. You should never move too fast during any weight lifting exercise, always stay in full control and always try to focus on proper form, to prevent hurting yourself. Important note: Don’t ever lift your head or your shoulders off the bench, always try to keep them flat.

3. Incline Dumbbell Flyes. Just like the first exercise, you should set your incline bench at a 25- to 30-degree angle, and then just start in the very same position you did with the incline dumbbell presses, also described in the first exercise. In this exercise you should use a grip where your palms are facing each other. While you lift the weight, you should also try to follow a triangular motion, but there is a little twist in this one – this time put an arc into the lifting motion. In this exercise your arms will arch out while you lowering the weight and then up and in when you are raising it. Make sure to lift the weight directly against gravity, and not out over your stomach. Try to do these three exercises at least once per week, you can do them along with other exercises for other body parts. Try to always stay in control when lift a weight – this is very important, otherwise you may hurt yourself!

NOTE: Always consult with a doctor before starting any kind of weight lifting routine.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Exercise

Want a quick way to generate some L/O without spending a dime on advertising?

I thought I would take the time to contribute something of value to the group. So, I’ll let you in on how I do it.

Pick up the Newspaper, or pull your local paper up on line, also go to craigslist and look for everybody that is Advertising “Rent To Own” (RTO) and compile a call list.

Here’s what you say when you call them…

“Hi I was calling about the house for rent to own. I’m an investor also and I have a few houses coming up very soon and I thought we might be able to help each other out. What are you doing with the names and numbers will all the people who aren’t interested in your house. (probably throwing them away) What if you could still make a few hundred bucks off of the people? Hopefully even covering your advertising costs… What I can do is handle these people and put them into a house and you get paid. All you have to do is make sure you get me the name and number and I will follow up with them.”

I’m serious about this… I have used this technique to generate 50-60 leads a week. Imagine you call these potential L/O buyers. Ask them: 1. What kind of house are you looking for (beds, baths, garage, etc.)? 2. How much can you afford per month? 3. How much do you have for a downpayment? 4. How soon do you need to move.

Now you have the receipe for success. Imagine having just 5 serious buyers that have $5k each to invest…. How quick can you find them a house to make $25,000??

Much Success,

-Dustin Scaffide

P.S – For the next 7 people I’m offering an opportunity of a lifetime.

go here now Free Real Estate Coaching

Properties located in a development, popularly known as “urbanisations” in Spain; usually share communal facilities such as gardens, and services such as those of a maintenance person.

All new urbanisations are the responsibility of the promoter or builder until they are all completed and sold. The responsibility is then handed to the comunidad de propietarios (the community of property owners) which you automatically join when you buy your property in Spain. Spanish law gives legal status to this community so that it can regulate the joint ownership of common property e.g. gardens, pools etc

Once you have completed on your property, you are notified and invited to attend a meeting to formally hand over the responsibility of general upkeep of the collective properties to a newly formed community of owners. Amongst the owners, someone must be elected as President and another as Vice President. An administrator is also elected, although for the first year it is normal practice to use the administrator put in place by the developer. The administrator and the committee members sort out the day to-day business of the community and call meetings when matters arise. The committee is annually elected. They hold yearly meetings during which a budget is approved by the Owners covering the expenses for the year. This budget is then divided between owners depending on the percentage contribution for each property as set out in the title deeds.

In some urbanisations where there are a mixture of houses and apartments, the apartment owners tend to pay a higher community fee than the house owners. In the urbanisation where we live owners of a two bedroom first floor apartment pay 170 euros per quarter, whereas the owners of a three-bed roomed town house pay just 55 euros per quarter. This is surprising, but you must consider that the area around apartments incur more expenses e.g. stairwell cleaning and lighting, lift maintenance, garage cleaning and maintenance etc. There are numerous factors which determine the cost of community fees including:

* The number of apartments that share a block. * The more there are, the more there are to share the cost * The position. The higher you go the more you pay and you may also be charged more for enjoying a view! * The total number of properties in an urbanisation. The size of a development (total area)

In some rather unfair cases where a development consists of many phases, owners of completed phases may be expected to temporarily subsidise the community fees of the uncompleted phases. This is because the green areas, the pools etc which are intended for the entire use of the development still need to be maintained. We heard of a case in Marbella, where the owners of the completed phase are paying one thousand euros per month community charges. The construction of the other phases hasn’t yet started so it is likely that they will continue to pay this for the next few years! Seems very unfair really.

The percentage of the budget that each property pays is set in the Title Deeds (escritura) as this is determined by the developer. The Community fees are normally paid quarterly or half-yearly depending on the Community. Expenses vary according to services required and include salaries and social security for those employed by the community (gardeners, pool attendants, hall porters etc), repairs, electricity for the lighting of common areas, administration fees.

Every owner must pay their community fees on the date set by the members at the Annual General Meeting. If any of the members fail to pay the community fees, the President or the Administrator may claim the debt, previous authorisation of the community members, in the Court of First Instance from the city where the block of flats is located, and even have the property sold at auction to recover unpaid charges.

The Town Hall will also make a charge for the Rubbish collection (Basura) from your property or development. This can be charged annually or quarterly depending on the Municipality in which you are purchasing the property. In certain cases, this may be included in your community fees.

In certain municipalities, there is an annual charge for the Recycling Tax (Tratamiento de Residuos). This covers the recycling of waste from the numerous glass, paper, and battery banks that are distributed throughout the area. Again in some cases, this may be included within the Community fee.

Most properties have electricity and water meters and you will be charged according to the amount of each consumed. Some communities will only have one meter for the whole development and therefore include the water in the Community Fees.

So before you purchase your off-plan property it may be an idea to enquire about the expected community fees. Most people don’t get to know about this until it’s too late….don’t get caught out, you’ve no excuses now!

It is now becoming increasingly popular for brides-to-be to hold bridal showers in advance of their wedding day. The emphasis for bridal showers should firmly be on having a relaxed and fun gathering of the bride’s female friends. Don’t try to plan a formal evening as this defeats the whole object.

Bridal showers should be held in a comfortable setting and often this is the bride-to-be’s own home.

The time of year often dictates where bridal showers are held. In warm weather a garden setting is perfect whereas in the colder months a warm and cosy living room is ideal.

No matter where bridal showers are to be held there needs to be little advanced planning and the key is for everyone to simply go with the flow. Food needs to be easy to eat and a selection of finger food is by far the best option, rather than stressing over a formal 5 course sit down meal.

Many brides-to-be organise their own bridal showers but it is a perfect opportunity for their friends to step in and help ensure that the guest of honor enjoys herself.

Friends, food and fun are the essential ingredients for successful bridal showers. You can have an evening of laughter and celebration without being concerned about buying expensive gifts. The best presents of all at bridal showers are those of friendship and happiness.

Find out how to organise your Wedding Day from the comfort of your own livingroon at http://www.a1-ourwedding.com!

This is a great poem to check out. Let us know what you think by voting for your favorite poems. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks!Your kiss is the deepest kiss I have ever felt before you touch ignites overwhelming passion within I am drawn in by your eyes light brown pools of delicious sincerity you stimulate me to the point of expulsion – intellectually I have never been in such a state in such a short period of time when you touch it is without possession when you kiss it is without jealously you have captured my heart and mind yet the prison door swings wide open you hold not own you love not control with you there are no complications with you there is a freedom I have never felt before you dove into my heart and sorted out the clutter you took a stroll within my mind stopping long to admire the landscape your smile tells me you are happy just knowing I exist in this world I longed for you before I ever knew you existed no longer is there a need for tears and bittersweet kisses the veil over my eyes has been lifted and all I see is you

www.originalpoetry.com

Your wedding should be the happiest day of your life, not a frightening remembrance of the past. The difference between a successful wedding and a disaster greatly depends on planning. Successful planning the various details of your special day is crucial. You should worry about not only the large details such as the wedding gown but about the smaller ones such as your wedding favors.

Once you determined what method you’d like to use to announce your engagement or wedding, you should start researching the details. For example, if you’d like to announce your wedding in a newspaper, you should find out about the procedure to submit your ad. It is usually best to call the newspaper or visit their Web site for more detailed information about wedding announcements. By the time you are ready to place your add you should have the following information available:

* your wedding date,
* wedding location,
* the bride’s maiden name,
* your parents’ names and where they live,
* where you will live when you are married.

Depending on how much space is allocated by the newspaper, you might include some additional information such as:

- names of your bridesmaids or made of honor and their cities of residence,
- your honeymoon destination,
- information about the bride’s and groom’s place of birth,
- education such as schools attended and place of employment or business.

Hopefully, your wedding day will be a smooth affair, but you should be prepared for emergencies on your special day. Your made of honor should be sure to have the following small but significant items available for emergencies:

- Band-Aids,
- clear nail polish,
- needle and thread,
- painkiller,
- a complete list of phone numbers of all the involved parties such as caterers and vendors.

Planning your wedding is a huge undertaking, and you deserve a break. When you feel stressed by planning your wedding, try to relax with some of your favorite music or read a good book. Put your feet up and just relax. Just closing your eyes, meditating can be a revitalizing experience. Clearing your mind can be a great stress reducer.

Your wedding reception is one of the most important components of your wedding day, so don’t mess it up with a cash bar. Cash bars are a sure sign of bad taste. Don’t do it. Inviting people to your wedding and then asking them to pay for their drinks is impolite. If cost is an issue, invite less people or make other arrangements. If you are on a budget, you might provide a limited selection of alcohol.

If wedding planning is not your favorite pass time or you just don’t have time or afraid you might miss something important for your wedding day, you may want to consider hiring a professional wedding consultant. A wedding consultant can make the wedding planning process not only easier, but also perhaps more fun. After all, your wedding day should be the happiest day of your life.

George Meszaros is affiliated with Sweet Reflections; a leading provider of wedding favors www.sweet-reflections.com

Using too many colors or the wrong combination of colors on your website could alienate or turn off customers completely. Out of any form of non-verbal communication, color is the quickest way to communicate a message and meaning. And, marketers spend oodles of time and money determining the colors to best market their product: the colors that will prove the highest amount of return on investment.

Choose Colors with Care

The right colors can mean bigger profits for your website. You may even want to hire a professional web designer to help you. Make sure the web designer you hire is not just a programmer, but also a graphic designer and/or marketer. After all, the reason why 99% of all websites fail is because it was created by a technician, rather than a marketing expert.

So, What Colors are Best for Your Website?

That is hard to say. Again, you may want to hire a professional to help you. However, the following tips will help you understand the underlying meaning behind color so you may be guided to make the right choice. Keep in mind that depending on its value or intensity, one color can give very different emotions.

Red – Stimulating. Exciting. Energizing. Appetizing. When you eye sees red, chemical responses in your body cause your blood pressure, pulse rate, and adrenaline to increase. Fire engine red is more energetic than a more traditional burgundy.

Pink – Happy. Romantic. Spirited. Youthful. Best used for less expensive and trendy products. Vibrant pinks are common in the cosmetic industry. Bubble gum pink can be considered immature, but fuchsia or magenta are considered more sophisticated.

Orange – Friendly. Adventurous. Energizing. Inviting. Of all the colors, orange is the hottest. Similar to red’s arousing effect, orange is often associated with bright sunsets or fall foliage. Orange contains the drama of red with the cheeriness of yellow. Neon orange tends to be load and is the most disliked color, but a more tempered vivid orange is highly effective for point-of-purchase graphics and specials.

Yellow – Warm. Sunny. Cheerful. Vibrant. Yellow is equivalent to enlightenment and imagination. This color is especially effective for food service industries because of the association to bananas, custards and lemons. Pale yellow is an excellent choice for point-of-purchase materials (materials at the cash register or reception area) because the eye sees the highly reflective yellow before it notices any other color.

Brown – Rich. Sheltering. Durable. Sensible. Brown is an earth tone and is related to the earth’s nurturing qualities and stability. Generally speaking, brown provokes a positive response, but the wrong shade could lead to customers relating it to dirty, which could be detrimental for a product in the fashion industry, for example. Brown works well with food products since customers also relate it to root beer, coffee and chocolate.

Blue – Cool. Trusting. Serene. Consistent. Similar to the earthy color brown, blue is related to the sky and water, both dependable constants in our lives. Blue is an ideal color for websites, especially e-commerce websites. Many banks and financial institutions use blue in their marketing because it makes customers feel more trusting. Blue also can generate a cold, distant, corporate feeling, the opposite of generating a personal relationship with the customer. Green – Refreshing. Healing. Fresh. Soothing. Green offers the most variety of choices out of all the colors of the rainbow. Green works well for personal hygiene or beauty products because of its soothing and flattering tones. Most people link green to nature; they think of foliage or grass. Mint green is seen as fresh while bright greens are associated with grass. Emerald greens are elegant and deep greens are linked to money and prestige. Green is also combined nicely with many other colors and can also work as a neutral.

Purple – Elegant. Sensual. Regal. Mysterious. Purple is seen as sensual and spiritual as it combines the sexuality of red and the sereneness of blue. It is best used with creative products, new products, or cutting edge products. Deep purple is associated with regal sophistication and lavender has a more subtle nostalgic appeal.

Neutrals – Classic. Quality. Natural. Timeless. The neutral tones of beige, gray and taupe emulate the psychological message of dependability and timelessness. They are regarded as safe and non-offensive and will not go out-of-date as they are always in style.

White – Pure. Bright. Pristine. Simple. While white can signify clean elegance, it can also be considered generic and stark, unless you have stylish graphics to compliment the white.

Black – Strong. Classic. Mysterious. Powerful. Black is most closely associated with the night. Black is seen as powerful, dramatic, elegant and expensive. In food packaging, a customer will actually pay more for a gourmet image. Although black is associated with mourning, its positive associations far outweigh its negative. Warning: too much black can be overkill.

Renters are often in a quandary as to whether it makes sense to continue renting or buy a home. Buying a home makes more sense, particularly when taking a long-term view. Yes, even in the current hot real estate market.

Renting – Advantages

Renting can have a few advantages depending on the part of the country you live in. The primary advantage is your monthly rent payment may be less than an equivalent mortgage. A secondary advantage is the fact that maintenance and improvements to the property are the responsibility of the landlord. Still, these advantages pale in comparison to the disadvantages of renting.

Renting – Disadvantages

The disadvantages of renting are significant. If you have any opportunity to purchase a home or condominium, it almost always makes sense to do so.

The biggest disadvantage of renting is the loss of value. Assume you rent a residence for $1,000 a month and you live in the residence for two years. You will have paid a total of $24,000 in rent, a pure expenditure. The $24,000 is simply gone and you will have nothing to show for it other than the time you spent in the home. Compare this to what your landlord has gained.

Rent payments are closely aligned with a landlord’s mortgage payment. Using the above example, lets assume your $1,000 rent exactly equals the mortgage payment. For two years, you have indirectly paid the landlord’s mortgage, helping them build equity in the house by paying down the loan. In addition, the landlord has benefited from the appreciation of the property.

By appreciation, I simply mean the amount of increase in the value of the house. If the rental appreciated $20,000 in two years, the landlord has received a windfall. They may have seen a gain of $24,000 in appreciation and payments lowering the mortgage. As a renter, you have made this all possible. The landlord no doubt would like to thank you.

Now, what would have happened if you had purchased a similar home with similar financial figures? You would have seen an increase in YOUR wealth of $24,000, not the landlord’s wealth. If you renting, these figures should make your teeth grind.

If you are renting, you should be out shopping for your own property. After all, isn’t it time to make your money work for you, not a landlord?

Raynor James is with www.fsboamerica.org – providing homes for sale by owner, “FSBO”, properties. Are you thinking, “Should I sell my home?” Visit www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.

What is a “distressed” property? What is “bargain” real estate?

A distressed property is one with a distressed seller. Job loss or transfer, divorce, death, pending foreclosure, and lack of money cause sellers to sell fast for less. Discovering the seller’s problem and finding a solution is the key to buying a bargain property. A distressed property may also be a “doghouse,” a dump, or a fixer. Owners of “doghouses” are not always distressed sellers.

18 Easy Steps to Buy a Bargain House

1. Get good advice from successful investors. Ask friends and real estate agents for referrals to investors.

2. Create your personal “Investment Journal,” like Doghouse to Dollars Workbook: Turn Yucks into Bucks Investor’s Guide.

3. Define investment goals: Do you want to buy a home to live in, to fix and sell, or to hold for your future?

4. Get credit reports & scores. Create a file for each credit reporting agency. Take care of any credit issues.

5. Read Real Estate investing books and articles. Attend workshops and seminars. Avoid out of date infomercials on TV.

6. Get good advice from lenders. Choose a lender with great service, good closing record, and fair costs. Arrange financing.

7. Define your target locations: Is your desired property near home or job, vacation or second home?

8. Learn your target market. Study real estate newspaper sections. Pick up homes for sale flyers. Watch sales and note prices, amenities, and conditions. Follow HUD sales in your area.

9. Interview Real Estate agents and learn from them. Do not sign any agreements with agents limiting your search for bargain property. (These contracts make you pay the agent a commission even if you purchase by owner.)

10. Use agents who know local market customs and guarantee to make many offers for you.

11. Find a good escrow officer for buying “for sale by owners.”

12. Study home remodeling, design magazines and books. Learn the costs of materials, supplies, and trades. Visit home improvement warehouses. Note costs of building materials.

13. Be ready to know a bargain property when you see it.

14. Make many offers. Bid on HUD repos.

15. Buy only bargain property. Get great terms or concessions from seller.

16. Plan house transformation during escrow. This speeds your work time — saving you money in holding expenses.

17. Monitor real estate escrow closing. Do not jeopardize your financing by charging up credit cards or making unnecessary purchases.

18. Celebrate buying your “doghouse” with an open house!

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

While most people are accustomed to shopping for homes between Memorial Day and Labor day, that may actually be the worst time of the year to buy a house. The best time of year to go house hunting may be the dead of winter, rather than the summertime.

Most houses are bought and sold in the summer for a good reason. That’s when children are out of school. Parents understandably want to avoid disrupting their children’s’ lives if they can possibly help it and moving when school is out of session is a big help towards avoiding some trauma.

Granted, one doesn’t always have the opportunity to shop for houses at one’s leisure; many people move because of job transfers or job changes, and with those, you pretty much have to move when the even occurs. But if you have control over when you start house hunting, you might do better to wait until the snow comes. Why is that?

The summer creates a seller’s market. Buyers are working on tight schedules; they want to get settled into their new houses before school starts again. That being the case, sellers have an advantage, because most of the people who are shopping in the summertime want to get settled quickly. The opposite is true in the winter, when there are fewer homes for sale and far fewer buyers. Most people who have houses for sale in the winter months do so out of necessity. At this time of the year, the buyer has an edge, as sellers are more likely to be looking to sell their home quickly from a much smaller pool of potential buyers.

As such, buyers who shop in the winter may find sellers to be more flexible. They may be willing to haggle a bit more on the price, they may be more willing to allow concessions for paint or carpeting, and they may be more flexible on a closing date. All of these things work to the advantage of the savvy home shopper.