Need money? Start shopping!
With so many people out of work or just looking to make some extra money to help with the bills you may have considered clicking on one of those advertisements for mystery shopping. Here’s the good news, you don’t have to. Those advertisement require you to pay before they give you the lists of who offers mystery shopping. Save that money and read this blog instead.
I have made extra cash as a mystery shopper for several years and I can give you the real scoop on the industry. First, don’t waste your time paying for lists of companies that offer mystery shopping, instead check out the link at the end of this blog and you can get the information for free.
Second, don’t expect to get rich from mystery shopping. While it can be a nice way to make a couple of extra bucks or get a free meal every now and then, don’t expect to make enough money to pay your car payment. If you make friends with the people who choose which person gets the job and you show that you are a reliable and conscientious shopper you can make some nice money. However, when applying for shopping positions you need to consider how much you will make and how far you will have to go to get to the shop. As these shops are all over the place, there might not be one close enough to where you live to make it feasible to accept. After all, you have to consider the gas money, the amount of time it will take to complete the shop, and whether you have the access to internet, a camera, and a fax machine, which are often required to complete the shop.
While mystery shopping can be a nice way to make some extra bucks, don’t expect to make a career change. However, if you are still interested in checking it out, stop by this website to get the list of available shops for free!! www.volition.com
Beware of Fraud
Since houses are worth less today than they were purchased for, i.e. the homeowner is underwater on his mortgage, some families have tried to put their homes on the market as a short sale and then have a family member purchase the house at the lower price and then sell the property back to the original homeowner at that lower price. While the homeowner would still get to live in his house, this is considered fraud and lenders are cracking down on this. California, Florida, and New York have been identified as the top three states in the country where these fraudulent transactions happen. If you are caught doing this, you could go to jail. I understand that people don’t want to leave their homes but it isn’t worth committing fraud and going to jail.
Florida Real Estate Auction
http://www.condo.com/Auctions/
I just discovered a great new website. This site has info on condos for sale around the country, including auctions.
Check out the auction in Orlando coming up next month. The bank is auctioning off 179 condo units in 3 different complexes around the city. The condos are FHA approved and there is no minimum bid reservation.
Medical Insurance for Employees
S Corporations are required to treat medical insurance payments for employees who are also shareholders owning more than 2% of the business as a wage. Thus, the amount would be included in the employees gross income. However, the amount is not subject to the Social Security, Unemployment, or Medicare taxes.
How To Raise Money For Starting A Business
The task of raising money for a business is not as difficult as
most people seem to think. This is especially true when you have
an idea that can make you and your backers rich. Actually,
there’s more money available for new business ventures than there
are good business ideas.
A very important rule of the game to learn: Any time you want to
raise money, your first move should be to put together a proper
prospectus.
This prospectus should include a resume of your background, your
education, training, experience and any other personal qualities
that might be counted as an asset to your potential success. It’s
also a good idea to list the various loans you’ve had in the
past, what they were for, and your history in paying them off.
You’ll have to explain in detail how the money you want is going
to be used. If it’s for an existing business, you’ll need a
profit and loss record for at least the preceding six months, and
a plan showing how this additional money will produce greater
profits. If it’s a new business, you’ll have to show your
proposed business plan, your marketing research and projected
costs, as well as anticipated income figures, with a summary for
each year, over at least a three year period.
Multi-family Investments - Great options for this economy
Yes it is difficult to get a mortgage right now. Banks are loaning money but they want more downpayments and they are taking more precautions to protect their investments. As such, I would recommend that couples looking to purchase a home consider a multi-family.
Multi-families are great because it allows the couple to purchase a home, thus saving them from paying those pesky association fees you get with condos and many townhouses. In addition, the couple becomes the landlord rather than paying someone else.
If a couple purchases a 3-family home, they can rent out two of the levels and will likely make enough money doing that to cover most if not all of the mortgage for the entire property. In addition, if the couple can get people to sign a lease to move into a level of the home prior to closing on the property, that might influence the bank because it will show that you are getting additional income. As banks are very concerned about debt to income ratios right now this can really help you get the mortgage you need at an interest rate you can be happy with.
Piercing the Corporate Veil
With so many people starting their own businesses now, it is essential that they get proper advice in setting up the companies to ensure that they don’t end up with issues later on in the life of the company.
Many people like to form corporations because of the limited liability for shareholders. Limited liability means that the shareholders are liable, meaning they can lose, only the amount of their investment. Thus, if the corporation owes $200,000 but only has $100,000 in assets, you as the sole shareholder will not be personally liable for the extra $100,000 owed to the creditors. That means that the creditors can only get the money that is actually in the corporation.
Small nonpublic corporations need to be careful when setting up the corporation to ensure that creditors can’t come back and pierce the corporate veil. This means that the creditor claims that the corporation is just a veil to protect the shareholder and would allow the corporation to be put aside and the creditor could then go after the shareholder to get payment for money owed.
To prevent a creditor piercing the corporate veil, corporations need to do the following:
1. Observe corporate formalities - hold shareholder meetings
2. Do not co-mingle corporate funds with the shareholders private funds - get a separate bank account for the corporation
3. Control of shareholders over the corporation - better to have more than 1 shareholder and vote for important decisions
4. Shareholder can’t borrow corporate funds without a contract to repay - don’t move funds between corporate and shareholder accounts without paperwork to show a business reason for moving the money