40 Ideas to Build on for Business Success

1.      Have a plan - identify your goals, but keep it simple.
2.      Know thyself - examine what you enjoy doing and focus your efforts.
3.      Know thy customer - understand their needs and expectations.
4.      Don’t make the same mistake twice - learn from lessons of the past.
5.      Be nimble - respond to new opportunities quickly.
6.      Make sure your employees are respectful all of the time – establish professionalism and identify roles.
7.      Think differently - be creative and open to new approaches.
8.      Deliver outstanding client service - go above and beyond every time.
9.      Be different - stand out from the competition.
10.    Keep your promises - do what you say you are going to do, and do it on time.
11.    Invest in a good web site - the Internet is the new yellow pages.
12.    Be curious - ask questions and find solutions.
13.    Invest in technology - get organized, then take advantage of it.
14.    Make new friends and keep the old - don’t burn bridges.
15.    Work with enthusiasm - it’s contagious.
16.    Be visible - raise your business profile in the community and on the Internet.
17.    Lead with a vision - provide clear objectives and expectations.
18.    Always take the high road - the straight way is the only way.
19.    Seek peace - be brave enough to talk when lesser people want to fight.  
20.    Don’t be cocky - never underestimate your competition or opponent.
21.    Work smart - you can’t do it all, so delegate.
22.    Write it down - keep a comprehensive to-do list or you will forget something.
23.    Prepare a sound bite - write and memorize your 30-second elevator speech.
24.    Be memorable - have three things to say when you meet people.
25.    Share the wisdom - pass your knowledge on to others.
26.    Refer business to others - what goes around comes around.  
27.    Put clients at your fingertips - categorize your contacts in a user-friendly format.  
28.    Be easy to reach - encourage people to download your V-card from your e-mail or bio.
29.    Over plan - you can never be too prepared.
30.    Be decisive and flexible - make decisions, but be willing to admit when you are wrong.
31.    Know what you don’t know - continually keep learning,

32.    Listen carefully - don’t just hear, but understand.
33.    Do more than expected - provide added value, just for the joy of it.
34.    Go with your gut - always trust your instincts.
35.    Walk the talk - demonstrate your passion for your business in everything you do.
36.    Be persistent - where there is a will there is a way, so find it.
37.    Stay centered - find balance in work, family, and play.
38.    Focus on the future - plan for success and be ready for growth.
39.    Appreciate your clients - thank people for doing business with you.
40.    Stay fresh - never stop thinking like an entrepreneur!

Here’s a room-by-room guide to saving money and benefiting the Earth while still enjoying some summertime fun.

By Kimberly Palmer and Maura Judkis of U.S. News & World Report

Before the summer temperatures — and summertime utility bills — start to make you sweat, you might want to consider making a few changes to cut your energy consumption. You can shave dollars off your monthly bills without sacrificing comfort as long as you plan and get creative. Here’s a room-by-room guide to saving money this summer — and benefiting the Earth at the same time.

In the basement: Geoff Godwin, division vice president of Emerson, the country’s largest provider of heating and cooling systems, says cleaning air-conditioning filters every month and getting your system checked by a professional once a year will ensure that it’s functioning as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. "A lot of people don’t do that — they ignore the AC system until something goes wrong," he says, and then they end up buying a new unit instead of making minor fixes.

If you need a new air conditioner, an energy-efficient one might be eligible for a tax credit (check at www.energystar.gov). When you’re shopping around, look for a unit with a seasonal energy-efficiency ratio of 16 to 21, the highest level of efficiency. Another option is a geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses pipes running from the more stable, ambient temperatures 5 feet underground into your home, where they pump heat in or out, depending on the season.

Throughout the house: "Make sure your house is leak-free," says Ronnie Kweller, spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy, or else "nice, cold, expensive air is going out the cracks." You might want to consider assigning this task to a professional. Through the Energy Star online directory, you can find a local auditor who will use diagnostic equipment to test your home for areas where air conditioning might escape. Your auditor will probably do what’s known as a blower door test, which lowers the air pressure in your home and reveals leaks. He or she may also take a photo of your house with a thermographic camera; the red areas of the photo will indicate where better insulation and sealing are needed.

If you don’t want to shell out money for an energy auditor, you can perform a casual energy audit yourself. Efficiency experts recommend feeling around baseboards, windows, doors, light switches and electrical sockets for air leaks. Air can escape or enter anywhere that two different building materials meet. Kweller also recommends walking around your house with incense to see if the smoke blows in when you pass windows. Kweller says old wooden windows are especially prone to this kind of leakage.

If you find problem areas, seal with foam or caulking, which you can find at a hardware store. Insulation that meets certain efficiency criteria is eligible for federal tax credits. Kweller says properly sealing your house can save up to 20% on your utility bill.

Using a programmable thermostat so that the temperature automatically rises when no one is home during the day can yield annual savings of about 30%, Godwin says. While about 25 million households own programmable thermostats, only half of those people take advantage of them.

Replacing older light bulbs with compact fluorescents not only reduces your electricity bill, it can help save energy on air conditioning since fluorescents generate less heat, Kweller says. She estimates that each bulb can save about $50 over its lifetime.

In the living room: There’s nothing wrong with hosting movie nights this summer, but make sure you shut your entertainment center down when the evening’s over. Simply turning off a television set doesn’t put a stop to so-called "vampire power" — the power that devices consume even when they’re not in use. That’s why you should either unplug your electronics or use a Smart Strip, which cuts power when it’s not needed.

If you’re in the market for a new television, check energy-efficiency ratings. The Energy Department bestows its Energy Star rating to sets that use about one-third less energy than regular televisions. In general, LCD televisions use less energy than plasma screens, but both use more than older sets.

Remember to turn the power off or unplug your digital photo frames when you’re not gazing at those illuminated photos. Over a year, leaving one on costs about $9 — not a lot, but when thousands of people are doing the same thing, it adds up.

In the kitchen: Baking a cake or casserole in the summer will force your air conditioner to go into overdrive. Plus, eating hot food will only make you want to turn the thermostat down. But you don’t have to survive on cold pasta salads and gazpacho this summer. Instead of using your oven, consider an outdoor grill or toaster oven for small amounts of food.

If you’re up for a challenge, try baking cookies on your car — yes, your car. Nicole Weston of the “Baking Bites” blog developed a method of baking cookies with the heat that collects inside cars on steamy days. She suggests parking in the sun, using a thermometer to help monitor the temperature, and protecting your dashboard by putting a barrier between it and the baking sheet. (It should be at least 95 degrees outside and the baking takes around 2½ hours.)

In the bathroom: If you don’t want to spend money on a low-flow toilet, you can still make yours more efficient by dropping a soda bottle filled with sand or water into the tank. It will use less water each time it flushes. Ivan Chan of carbonfund.org adds that small steps such as turning the water off while brushing your teeth or shaving can save a substantial amount of water (and money on your water bill) each year. He also recommends installing a water-conserving shower head.

In the bedroom: Stay cool while you sleep with an overhead fan instead of pumping air conditioning throughout the entire house. Shutting the doors and vents of unused rooms can also lighten the load on your air-conditioning unit.

Outside: A way to reduce cooling costs in the longer run is to plant trees or shrubs so that your house is more shaded, especially on the sunnier side, Kweller says. (For a quicker fix, draw the blinds or shades when you’re not home.)

Homebuyers should be prepared for extra costs and delays as cautious mortgage lenders order stricter reviews.

By Marcie Geffner of Bankrate.com

Homebuyers and sellers who expect an appraisal to sail through to closing without a hitch may be surprised to discover that home appraisals today can be problematic. The reasons for the change are complex, but there’s no question that mortgage lenders have started to demand more reviews and do-overs.

Rob Johnson, vice president of lending at San Diego Funding, a mortgage company in San Diego, attributes the increase in home appraisal reviews to lender-specific requirements imposed because of past problems with certain types of home loans. For example, a mortgage lender might demand more scrutiny of an appraisal if the borrower has a marginal credit score or high debt level relative to income or if the property was a foreclosure that was fixed up and flipped by an investor.

Appraisals may lag home prices
Home prices are also a factor. When prices are on the rise, perhaps because buyers have bid more in a multiple-offer situation, appraised values might still be lower. The reverse is also the case.

"Any time you have a market in transition, appraisals aren’t going to keep up because the appraisal is based on historical data," Johnson says.

Inadequate "comps" can present problems as well. ("Comps" are recent sales of nearby homes that are similar, or comparable, to the home that’s the subject of the appraisal.) The mortgage lender may deem the comps inadequate if the homes were too far away or were sold in such nontraditional circumstances as a short sale or foreclosure or if the sales occurred too long ago. If the comps aren’t sufficient, the lender may order a review or second home appraisal to verify that they were chosen correctly.

"If (the appraiser) can’t find three comps within that area and has to expand, that is where you start to get appraisal reviews or secondary appraisal requirements to make sure the appraisal was valid or that (the lender) was comfortable," Johnson says.

The term "second appraisal" generally refers to a new, start-from-scratch valuation. An appraisal review could be a "desk review," in which the appraisal gets a second look by an office-bound person, or a "field review," in which the appraisal is subject to another drive-by or in-person inspection of the property. A review is more common than a second appraisal.

New guidelines distance lenders from appraisers
Leslie Sellers, president of the Appraisal Institute in Chicago, says a lender might order a new home appraisal if the first one was based on factual errors or the appraiser wasn’t competent in the area.

Some second appraisals, he adds, result from a misunderstanding of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, guidelines that were meant to prevent undue pressure being placed on appraisers to inflate home valuations, but that may have caused some lenders to cut off communication with appraisers.

"The banks are thinking they can’t even talk to the appraiser," he says.

Sellers can offer comps to appraiser
An appraisal review can cost several hundred dollars while a second appraisal generally involves a second full fee, says Sara Schwarzentraub, owner of Inter-State Appraisal Service in San Diego. These costs usually are paid by the buyer.

"It’s commendable that the lenders are being cautious and having stricter criteria to protect themselves, because in the long term that protects everybody, but it does make it more costly," she says.

Home sellers can offer the appraiser information that might affect the appraiser’s opinion of the home’s value. This information is best handed over before the appraisal is prepared.

"If you know of a sale that’s similar to your house and it was a foreclosure, short sale, divorce or anything of that nature, make the appraiser aware of that," Sellers says.

Real-estate brokers can help buyers and sellers find comps to offer the appraiser, Johnson says. If the broker believes comps may present a problem, the buyer and seller can plan accordingly.

"A good real-estate agent is aware of these issues. Many times, an agent will call us and say, ‘I know we are going to have problems with comps on this," he says.

Neither the buyer nor seller can choose the appraiser, but Sellers says buyers can insist on a minimum competency, which he defines as having local market knowledge and being certified as well as licensed.

Buyers and sellers also can agree on longer time frames for the home appraisal contingency and closing date. Schwarzentraub says that asking for a 45- or 60-day closing, rather than 30 days, is not unreasonable.

Buyers are entitled by federal law to a copy of any appraisal for which they’ve paid a fee. Buyers should look over the appraisal and notify the lender of any errors that could have affected the appraiser’s opinion of the home’s value.

Find out what they wish you knew before they haul your stuff

By Amanda Greene Posted June 07, 2010 from WomansDay.com

Anyone who’s ever moved knows how stressful uprooting all that stuff can be. Another thing they know? How thankful they are for their movers. Between maneuvering heavy furniture down treacherous staircases and hoisting giant boxes of books on each shoulder, movers complete feats that seem unimaginable to the rest of us. But even though they make it look easy, there are plenty of ways you can make their job go more smoothly.

1. We Expect a Tip If We Do a Good Job
“It’s really impolite to say ‘Excuse me, ma’am, I want a tip.’ So we never ask. But if we did a good job we do expect to get a tip at the end of the move––especially because that’s part of our salary,” says Gene Lemay, CEO of Moishe’s Moving and Storage in New York City. According to Stephen Coady at Gentle Giant Moving Company, a common guideline for tipping is $3–$5 per mover per hour. And if you think a snack or beverage will do the trick instead, think again. According to Brad Armstrong, CEO and president of Blue Whale Moving Company in Austin, “Movers don’t want pizza!”

2. Reserve Movers at Least 3 Weeks Ahead of Time
According to Lemay, about 40 percent of the year’s moves happen during the summer and on weekends. Avoid getting stuck without movers—or having to call around town trying to find someone to help you haul your stuff at the last minute––by planning ahead. Or if your dates are flexible, consider moving in the middle of the month or week.

3. Be Home and Be Prepared
“Many people believe they can let the mover in and take off,” says Tina Buckley of JK Moving & Storage in the Washington, DC, area. ‘But it’s important to be there during the moving process so you can observe what’s going on as well as ask and answer questions.” Making sure your home is prepared for the move is essential: Figure out where the movers can park their truck, shovel your sidewalks if there’s a snowstorm and find someone to watch your pets on moving day. Lastly, be mentally ready for the transition. “I once spent half an hour on a customer’s couch holding her hand while she cried, apparently not ready to move,” says Coady.

4. Do All Paperwork Ahead of Time
“If you live in a major city, your building may have time restrictions and require a Certificate of Insurance,” says Lemay. Figuring out these details before the movers arrive is essential—because getting all the paperwork done on the day of the move is never fun.

5. Report Damages Right Away
After your move is completed, immediately survey your belongings to check for damages. If there are any, report them to the moving company immediately. “In order to take action we need to know right away if there are any problems,” says Buckley.

6. You May Have to Pay More Than the Estimate
Most moves are priced by the hour, and estimates are only estimates. “Your mover should tell you this, but a disreputable one might not,” says Coady. The rate your movers give you depends on the number of movers and trucks they plan to use. “Special packing equipment and packing materials are additional. The actual cost can be greatly affected by the preparedness of the customer and how ready their belongings are to be carried out to the truck.” If you leave your cabinets or bookcases full, for example, your mover will have to do the packing, which will cost more.

7. Give Warning About Special or Expensive Items
“We once moved a telescope for The University of Texas, which required crating and very special handling,” says Armstrong. “High-value items need to be disclosed early on, not on moving day.” Also, consider items you may need to move yourself. “For safety reasons, paints, propane tanks and certain types of household chemicals can’t be legally loaded onto a moving truck,” says Coady. “Be sure to get a list of things you’ll need to transport yourself or get rid of them ahead of time.”

8. Don’t Make the Boxes Too Big or Too Heavy
According to Coady, if you don’t pack safely and effectively, your movers will have to take the time to repack certain items as necessary, and you’ll have to pay for that time. “It’s better to pack fewer things into smaller boxes than lots of stuff into one giant, heavy box,” says Lemay. “We’d always prefer to move two lighter boxes rather than one heavy one.”

9. Stick to One Move at a Time
Moving one person out while the next person is moving in may sound efficient, but according to Armstrong, it’s not. “There are way too many personalities in the mix, with way too much going on at once.” Give your movers some space to work by carving out a separate time for each move.

10. Be Realistic About How Much Stuff You Need to Move
Though it makes sense to sell or donate items you no longer want before you move, chances are you won’t end up getting rid of every last thing. “You never sell all the furniture you plan to at your garage sale prior to your move. It’s best to include everything in a ‘worst case scenario’ list for planning and pricing purposes,” says Armstrong. It’s not fair to have the movers prepared for a certain number of items, only to be faced with twice that amount. And you’ll be the one paying for the additional time they spend hauling the extras.

By Holden Lewis • Bankrate.com

Homebuyers with little money for a down payment are finding more home loans available for a low down payment or even no down payment.

These mortgages are becoming more commonplace even as the country recovers from a housing bust made worse by the popularity of low-down-payment mortgages during the housing boom.

The Federal Housing Administration insures loans with small down payments. And private mortgage insurers have lowered their down payment requirements.

It’s even possible to get a mortgage today with no money down. The nation’s biggest credit union offers "zero-down" mortgages. The Veterans Administration and the Department of Agriculture guarantee home loans with no down payments.

Following are a few options for borrowers seeking low-down-payment and zero-down-payment home mortgages:

No down payment: VA loan

Veterans Affairs (formerly the Veterans Administration) guarantees no-down purchase mortgages for qualified veterans. Private lenders originate VA loans, which the VA guarantees. There is no mortgage insurance. The borrower pays a funding fee, which can be rolled into the loan amount.

The VA funding fee varies, depending on whether the veteran served in the regular military or in the Reserves or National Guard, and whether it’s the veteran’s first VA loan or a subsequent one. The funding fee can be as low as 2.15 percent or as high as 3.3 percent.

No down payment: Navy Federal

Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation’s largest in assets and membership, offers 100 percent financing (up to $650,000) to qualified members for buying primary homes. Credit union eligibility is restricted to members of the military, some civilian employees of the military and U.S. Department of Defense, and family members.

Navy Federal resumed zero-down financing this year after a hiatus of a couple of years. Barbara Sheehan, Navy Federal’s assistant vice president for mortgage products, says when members of the military are transferred, they sometimes own houses whose values have fallen, wiping out equity.

"Some people had to take losses to sell their houses, so to have to start over and save the money again for a down payment is really difficult," she says.

The credit union’s zero-down program is similar to the VA’s. One difference is cost: Navy Federal’s funding fee of 1.75 percent is less than the VA’s funding fees.

No down payment: Department of Agriculture

The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development mortgage guarantee program is so popular that it ran out of money this spring. Congress is expected to cough up more in time for summer homebuying season.

"That’s the cat’s meow, my favorite loan program," says Jeff Tufford, mortgage consultant for Monarch Mortgage Consulting, in Grand Blanc, Mich.

Some borrowers are surprised to find that Rural Development loans aren’t confined to farmland.

"It’s not all rural," Tufford says.

Grand Blanc is a suburb of Flint. There are nearby towns, such as Fenton and Davison, where "no one would walk there and say this is a rural area, but the USDA can do loans there."

The USDA has maps on its website that highlight eligible areas. In addition to geographical limits, the USDA program has restrictions on household income, and it’s intended for first-time buyers, although there are exceptions.

The USDA mortgage comes from a bank, and there is no mortgage insurance. Instead, the USDA levies a 2 percent guarantee fee, which can be rolled into the loan amount.

Low down payment: Federal Housing Administration

The zero-down options listed above are restricted to limited groups of buyers. With a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent, the Federal Housing Administration is the low-down option that’s available to the most people.

Today, about 30 percent of all home loan borrowers get FHA-insured loans, up from 3 percent during the housing boom. The FHA gained market share after many other low-down-payment options (such as piggyback loans) evaporated in the housing bust.

Losses to the insurance fund compelled the FHA to hike rates. The FHA charges an upfront premium of 2.25 percent of the mortgage amount. On a loan with the minimum down payment, there’s an annual premium of 0.55 percent of the mortgage amount, or $550 a year for each $100,000 borrowed.

Another low-down-payment option

There is one more option for borrowers in the "low-down-payment" camp: A standard home loan with private mortgage insurance.

A number of companies offer private mortgage insurance for home loans with down payments of less than 20 percent. PMI is not the same thing as FHA insurance, a form of public mortgage insurance.

Typically, monthly private mortgage insurance costs more than FHA insurance for borrowers who put down 5 percent. However, PMI costs less than FHA for loans with down payments of 10 percent or more.

Private mortgage insurance has another edge over FHA: Under certain conditions, you can cancel PMI earlier — as soon as two years after you get the loan, compared to a wait of at least five years to cancel FHA insurance.

PMI has become easier to get. From the start of the housing bust until just recently, mortgage insurers slapped a "declining market" label on the worst-hit housing markets and required minimum down payments of 10 percent or more, instead of the traditional minimum of 5 percent.

Now, at least some of the insurers have relaxed the requirements, even in hard-hit states such as Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada and Michigan.

"We’ll do 5 percent down across the country," says Chris Antonello, senior vice president of marketing for Genworth, a mortgage insurer based in Raleigh, N.C.

HGTV.com

Use these 10 tips to increase your home’s curb appeal and find out how an attractive and well-maintained landscape can add as much as 10 percent to its value

Potential home buyers form their first impression of a home from its curb appeal. Yet often a home’s outdoor landscaping is overlooked, or underdone, in the preparation for the sales process. An attractive and well-maintained landscape can add as much as 10 percent to the value of your home.

Ideally the time to get started cleaning up your yard is about a month before you plan on showing your house. That should give you enough time to get everything looking just right and not leave the impression that you simply waited until the last minute to put things in order. Follow these tips for sprucing up your yard to help your home sell quickly.

Spruce up outdoor containers. Container plants, especially large tropicals add considerable interest to patios and doorways where would-be buyers enter and exit the house. Such displays also demonstrate the endless possibilities for designing with container plants.

Touch up the mulch. Nothing spruces up a place like a new application of mulch, so apply a fresh layer in all your garden beds. The color enhances the contrast of the surrounding plants and makes everything pop. What’s more, mulch is relatively cheap and easy to apply.

Plant some instant color. Seasonal color makes the landscape pop as well, and flats of annuals are also relatively inexpensive. Go for a splash of several colors or a more monochromatic scheme, whatever fits in with the look of your home.

Shape unsightly or overgrown trees and shrubs. Regardless of the season, it’s a good idea to tackle any overlooked pruning chores because nothing says neglect like a bunch of dead branches. The idea is to show how well not only your house buy your garden has been maintained. It’s okay to prune deciduous trees and shrubs any time of the year.

Tend to perennial beds. Tidy up herbaceous plants, such as annuals and perennials, that don’t look as good as they should. If a plant is in such bad shape that it needs to be removed, either replace it or stick a decorative pot in its place.

Now is also a good time to dig up any plants that you want to take with you to your new home. If you intend to remove any landscape plants and haven’t already done so, you have an obligation to inform the buyer exactly which plants you plan on digging up. That’s only fair, and in many states there are restrictions on removing plants from the landscape.

Clean up water features. Get rid of any visible algae, remove leaves and clean filters so that the water is crystal clear. After all, a water feature that doesn’t look good or function properly can be an instant turnoff.

Take care of any irrigation issues. If there are any problems with an irrigation system, fix them. Irrigation system repairs can be expensive, and you don’t want to lay the cost of those repairs on the buyer. Provide information about your irrigation schedule, especially if you have an automatic system. Include instructions as to how the system operates and recommend the same watering schedule that’s worked for you.

Repair faucet leaks. A leaking faucet suggests that there may be other problems elsewhere in the plumbing, and that can be an instant turn-off to buyers.

If you receive sufficient notice that your home is about to be shown, water a half-hour or so before the appointed time. The water reduces the glare of paved surfaces and also sends the message that your plants are well-maintained. You might even consider running your irrigation system just to show that it’s working properly.

Consider labeling as many plants as possible. That way the buyer will at least know the name of each plant and can then research their growing needs. Also, consider creating a complete plant inventory in scrapbook form and leaving it out on a table for prospective buyers to browse through as they tour your home. This relatively simple step can have a powerful effect on buyers, whether they’re gardeners or not.

Power-wash dirty surfaces. Consider buying or renting a power washer to clean paved surfaces. With very little time or effort, you can make grungy, grimy surfaces look brand-spanking new. Power washers also do a great job of cleaning fences, as well as brick and vinyl siding.

Even though critics think it’s marketing hooey from an industry starved for sales, women seem to be getting the royal treatment as builders work to win the hearts — and checkbooks — of female homebuyers.

By Alyssa Abkowitz of SmartMoney

When it comes to house hunting, Kim Sliney is the first to admit she can be picky. After visiting — and vetoing — 37 houses, the single mom from Exeter, R.I., chanced upon her just-right fit: a newly built, $350,000 home that boasted a spacious  layout, killer walk-in closets and custom details such as crown molding, granite countertops and a gas fireplace — for no extra charge. How did she stumble upon this particular property? She was driving around in the area and saw a woman-centric sign by the entrance. “It was very intriguing,” Sliney says.

Men may think they run the world, but it’s women who are now getting the royal treatment from the housing industry. Indeed, housing-market watchers say that builders are working strenuously to win the hearts — and checkbooks — of female buyers. And with the economy punishing the sexes unevenly, single women have become an especially important force to be reckoned with in real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, they now sign on the dotted line in nearly a quarter of all U.S. home deals — up from 14% in 1995.

To tap into this formidable market, more industry pros are marketing themselves as “certified” in women’s housing needs. Design Basics, an Omaha, Neb., outfit that trains and certifies woman-centric builders, says its roster of participating firms has more than quadrupled to 70 in the four years since it launched the program.

Developers nationwide are increasingly touting home features to address what they believe women want — think security (more), maintenance (less) and organizing hectic lives with amenities such as walk-in pantries and “drop zones” for groceries. Builders are trying to catch women’s eyes with carefully chosen aesthetic flourishes — right down to brass cabinet knobs — so often invisible to Joe “Where do I put the plasma TV?” Guy Buyer.

And sales teams are exploring selling tactics such as paint-color psychology and spa nights, while doing everything they can to reduce the intimidation factor of the purchase process for solo female buyers. Home-marketing consultant Sara Lamia summed up the industry’s growing fixation on women when she addressed a gathering at this year’s International Builders’ Show: “If mama ain’t happy, you’re dead in the water.”

A passing fad?
To critics, of course, the idea that new homes are more mama-friendly is just marketing hooey from an industry starved for sales. And even woman-centric builders acknowledge that men are just as likely as women to crave roomy closets or sleek countertops. “Much of what we propose is smart design,” acknowledges Paul Foresman, a Design Basics executive.

But hype-driven or not, the wooing of the XX-chromosome crew is the byproduct of genuine demographic and social trends. Women are tying the knot later, pursuing higher degrees and continuing to close the salary gap, with never-married women now earning 94% of what their single male counterparts do. Fewer women are “waiting for Mr. Right to build a nest egg,” says Linda Hebert, trustee of the National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Council; small wonder that they’re not waiting to nest, either.

Ironically, the beleaguered economy that the housing bubble created may be giving women, particularly younger ones, their biggest shot at homeownership. In the current malaise, people working in the financial and manufacturing sectors — mostly men — took it on the chin first. In 2008 alone, more men than women lost their jobs, by a ratio of three to one.

And in a housing market where depressed prices are creating bargains, 20- and 30-year-old women see their chance to build equity. Ellen Iggulden, a 27-year-old Chicago-based auditor, says most of her guy friends are sitting on the buying sidelines. But among her female college pals, she was actually one of the last to take the real-estate plunge. Hearing about their successes, she says, was empowering: “If they can do it, I can.”

What women really want
Even with more single women diving into the homebuying pool, real-estate experts say understanding and meeting their needs takes work. Design Basics says it’s making a concerted effort to study what women want through focus groups and in-home observation. Builders seeking to be certified as woman-centric by the firm sit through a two-day seminar get bombarded with research and coached on how to retool their blueprints and marketing plans. Ultimately, for a fee of as much as $10,000 annually, they’re allowed to stamp their websites and e-mail signatures with the firm’s woman-centric seal. Some of the program’s suggested feminine features? Wall-mounted gift-wrapping stations with retractable shelves, “serenity packages” (up to $5,000 extra) that include noise-muffling walls to drown out upstairs laundry machines, and hidden storage in the bathroom walls for reading materials and feminine products.

In her hunt for a townhouse under $280,000 in the Dallas area, Sharon Cherrnay has found herself drawn to “feminine” details such as hair-dryer-ready drawers (plug included) and 360- degree mirrors. But while the 54-year-old real-estate professional appreciates thoughtful amenities, her top priority isn’t seeing the back of her hair; like the majority of single female homebuyers, it’s security, so she’s focusing on gated communities. She’s hoping to find a walkable, convenient neighborhood. She’d like the design to have a bit of “romance” to it, she says, but as is the case with many women, she’s avoiding fixer-uppers. “I don’t like the pre-owned feel,” she says.

New laws ushered changes
Homebuying among women such as Cherrnay are actually a relatively new phenomenon. Barely a generation ago, an American women couldn’t get a mortgage without a male co-signer. That changed as divorce rates soared, prompting the passage of equal-lending laws. Today women make up about 21% of borrowers, up from 17% in 1998. But that number doesn’t accurately reflect the homeownership rolls. As courts grant women more favorable divorce settlements than in the past — in some cases up to 70 % of marital assets — they’re receiving the keys to the family house, or the means to find a new one.

Single female homebuyers have also reaped an advantage from the recession, which has punished male-dominated industries disproportionately. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of female payroll employees fell by 2.6 million in 2008 and 2009, compared with 5.8 million for men. Indeed, last year marked the first time that women outnumbered men on the country’s payrolls — a milestone that University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan attributes to the downturn. Historically, he says, the majority of women’s employment gains have occurred in recessions.

Such recent empowerment is a big reason some beleaguered builders see women as key to their industry’s recovery. According to the National Association of Home Builders, single-family home sales are projected to rise 28% this year compared with 2009, prompting some novel and sometimes dubious-sounding marketing ideas aimed at the ladies. Woman-centric gimmicks range from massages and yoga to cooking demonstrations and jewelry-design parties. Mark Patterson, a builder in Maine, is considering holding an educational session on menopause to draw more women to his development, complete with a comedian to keep the event light.

The industry is even looking to hook women in normally guy-heavy arenas such as the World Series. Last year, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate placed an ad in the World Series program inviting women to view “staging to sell” videos on their cell phones. The ad caused such a surge in site traffic that the company is considering similar pitches for football games and NASCAR races.

The gender difference
Still, homeownership for single women isn’t exactly a swing in the backyard hammock. Although women have made gains on the mortgage front — their rejection rates dropped from 37% in 1998 to 23% in 2008 — post-crash loans have been much tougher to land for single-income applicants. And a recent study in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics shows that women tend to pay more for mortgages than men because they’re more likely to choose lenders through word-of-mouth recommendations. “Men will search for the lowest rate, while women rely on others,” says co-author Zhenguo Lin, a real-estate professor at Mississippi State University. What’s more, research shows women are 32% more likely than men to receive subprime mortgages.

Then there’s the adventure of home maintenance. To be sure, some single women don’t think twice about fixing a leaky faucet or even installing new floors, but real-estate agents say women are more likely than men to prefer not to deal with the upkeep. When Lindsay Griffiths’ sump pump failed, causing water to drench her heater, the 30-year-old Barnegat, N.J., legal services marketer crawled under the house with a flashlight and mucked around in 18 inches of dirty, cold water to assess the cause before calling her parents at midnight, in tears. “I was kicking myself for not paying attention during the home inspection,” she says.

And home hassles aside, skeptics say some of the marketing flurry around women is half-baked. Part of the problem, says Scott Testa, a marketing professor at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa., is that the real-estate industry has been a late adopter of modern marketing techniques. Learning what customers want simply leads to better design — such as kitchens opening up into family rooms — which isn’t necessarily woman-centric. “More people like open design,” Testa says. “Whether that’s a woman preference, I don’t know that as a fact.”

With so many builders drinking the girl-power Kool-Aid, Greg Brown, for one, decided to take action. The Seattle-based developer started a business to fight what he sees as women’s hold over every detail in the home, right down to the size and shape of the toilet handle. “We’ll go into a house, and a guy will say, ‘Well, I don’t know if she’ll let me have that,’” Brown says. “Most guys are weenies who don’t stand up for anything anymore.”

His solution? Stoke the male mojo by building “man caves.” One of his current projects (price tag: $15,000) combines must-have boy toys such as kegerator, an Xbox 360 game system and a 52-inch LCD TV, along with dude-friendly decor including a “chandelier” made out of golf clubs. The finishing touch? A certified man cave imprint burned into the side of the bar. Apparently women aren’t the only ones being sold a seal of approval.

Here’s what to do this month to get your garden growing for summer. It’s time to plant summer-blooming bulbs, annuals and perennials. And it’s also time to care for the lawn.

By Sally Anderson of MSN Real Estate

There are plenty of reasons to celebrate June, but let’s start with just one: It’s summertime!

The solstice isn’t until June 21, but not all plants know that.

Lots of gardeners have already begun their summer planting and maintenance.

Now that the weather is warmer, you can lower your water bills and impress your neighbors by watering at cooler times of day to prevent quick evaporation.

A good way to start is to plant extra bulbs now for a burst of brightness later in the summer, when some of your early favorites have begun to fade. Dahlia, gladiolus, canna, crocosmia, tuberous begonia and tigridia are all good choices for a touch of garden drama.

In many climates, early June isn’t too late to put annual seeds or seedlings in the ground. Plant sunflower, marigold, cosmos, sweet alyssum and zinnia. You can also plant seedlings of geranium, impatiens, petunia, coleus and Madagascar periwinkle; by now, the ground in most regions is ready for even the most tender vegetables and flowering annuals.

Annuals that have already bloomed should be deadheaded when the flowers fade.

"Color spots"
For splashes of color in early summer, select bright nursery annuals already in bloom. They’re a great solution for the time-challenged gardener, and it’s more pleasant doing "dirty work," such as dividing perennials and planting seeds, when you’re surrounded by chocolate cosmos and scarlet impatiens.

Plant color spots of annuals — usually sold in 4-inch, 6-inch or 1-gallon pots — to accent your garden with instant brightness. Be sure to water plants before removing them from pots, and water again after planting.

Here’s how to determine what’s causing the problem and how much it will cost to fix it.

By Margarette Burnette of Bankrate.com

Many homeowners are perplexed when they see defects in their homes. If there is a water spot on the ceiling, does it mean a few shingles on the roof need to be replaced? Or does an entirely new roof need to be purchased?

Reggie Marston, president of Residential Equity Management Home Inspections in Springfield, Va., says it is important to thoroughly assess any defects in a home. Call in experts as necessary to help decide whether the repair is a major or minor expense, he says.

"Homeowners should have some method of determining the extent of the problem and how to have it corrected," Marston says.

Relatively common defects — such as cracks in concrete or worn wooden decks — may offer clues as to whether they can be solved with a quick, cheap fix, or whether they require a long, costly remodel, Marston says.

Homeowners need to use these clues to spend their repair dollars wisely.

1. Cracked concrete
Thin cracks along a concrete foundation could be the result of settling in the concrete and are not necessarily be a cause for concern, says Kathleen Kuhn, president of HouseMaster Home Inspections in Bound Brook, N.J.

However, homeowners need to pay attention to the shape and direction of the divide. Long, horizontal splits in the concrete could indicate pressure from the outside — possibly from saturated soil — that needs to be repaired. "Normal settlement doesn’t generally cause horizontal cracks," Kuhn says.

Regardless of shape, any cracks that leak water or are wider than one-fourth of an inch (some experts put the limit at one-sixteenth of an inch) should be inspected by a structural engineer immediately, Kuhn says.

Even if a crack appears to be minor, it should be repaired, Marston says. "If moisture gets inside a small crack, it can cause the steel inside to rust, which could cause further deterioration," he says.

Cost: The cost for a structural engineer to assess a property is about $300, Marston says. If the expert finds major structural damage, the repair would be costly.

"Typical bills range from $10,000 to $30,000," he says.

2. Worn-out decks
One low-tech way to test the firmness of a wooden backyard deck — assuming it’s safe to stand on — is to hit it hard with your foot and listen to the sound it makes, says Dean Bennett, president of Dean Bennett Design and Construction in Castle Rock, Colo.

"If you hear the board beneath your foot vibrate, the deck is still probably solid," Bennett says.

Marston says that if the deck is fairly new, it’s probably structurally sound. "When the wood is under five years old, then even if the lumber is discolored and there’s a little cracking, it’s generally not a cause for concern," he says. "The solution could be as simple as cleaning it, resecuring the nails and adding a sealant."

Cost: Marston says the cost of a cosmetic repair could range from $200 up to about $1,000, depending on whether the owner makes it a do-it-yourself project or hires a contractor.

If the deck is older than about 15 years, however, it is probably past its life expectancy and should be inspected by an experienced, licensed landscape contractor, Marston says. Replacement costs range from $5,000 to about $20,000, he says.

3. Ceiling water stain
After spotting a water stain, homeowners should consider where the possible source of the stain is, Kuhn says. If there’s a bathroom above the water spot, the leak may be a plumbing issue. That could be a costly repair, she says, because a plumber may need access to an interior wall to repair the leaking pipe.

If the water spot appears to be rainwater coming through the roof, it’s not necessarily a major expense, especially if the roof is fairly new, Marston says. It could simply be a nail that popped through a shingle on the roof, or flashing (which secures pipes to a roof) that hasn’t been caulked properly, he says.

"Those problems are relatively simple to fix," Marston says. "They usually cost a couple hundred dollars for a roofer to repair."

Other problems could be more expensive to fix. For example, if the roof is 15 years old and several shingles have blown off, the roof is probably in poor condition and may require a complete replacement, Marston says.

"Most builder-grade asphalt roofs have a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years," he says.

Cost: New roofs cost from $5,000 to $12,000, depending on their size, Marston says.

4. Inefficient heating and cooling
If a home’s heat source or air conditioning unit isn’t working well, homeowners need to have it inspected by a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) professional, Bennett says.

The technician will look for problems and probably will perform general maintenance on the system, which may include cleaning the burners, tightening connections and checking the system controls, Bennett says.

After the heating and cooling unit is repaired, homeowners still need to budget for regular maintenance on their systems to keep them in good condition, Marston says. "If the system isn’t efficient in the first place, it’s probably because the owners didn’t keep it properly maintained."

Cost: Common problems that HVAC technicians discover, such as defective igniters and fuses, are relatively cheap to fix, Bennett says.

"Homeowners can expect to pay a few hundred dollars for these types of repairs," he says.

However, Marston says that if the unit is older than 10 years and isn’t working properly, it’s probably best to buy a new one. Otherwise, even after it’s been repaired, it probably won’t have the energy efficiency that newer models will have.

New HVAC units cost about $5,000, with high-efficiency models starting at about $10,000, Marston says.

5. Basement wall spots
If a basement wall spot appears to be mold, there’s probably a moisture problem, Marston says.

"Call a soil engineer or home inspector to help determine where the moisture’s coming from," he says. If water is coming from leaks in the interior water pipes, the repair could cost thousands. However, if the problem is poor water flow around the house, the exterior of the house may just need simple regrading, Marston says.

"The owner could hire a landscaper for a couple hundred dollars to add more shrubs and to make sure the dirt that’s beside the house is 6 inches higher than the level of dirt that’s 10 feet away," Marston says. This allows water to drain away from the house.

If you live in an arid climate, a wall spot may not be moisture at all.

Bennett, who lives in Colorado, says: "Out west, in our part of country, it’s very dry. We don’t see a lot of water filtration, so we don’t run into mold issues often. So a spot could just be dirt."

The solution? Soap and water.

Cost: Anywhere from a few dollars to several thousand dollars.