Considering buying a home, but frustrated by increasing home prices in your community?

You are not alone. According to a quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors, 67 percent of tenants feel that housing prices in their area have significantly increased over the previous 12 months.

And study supports that claim. ATTOM Data Solutions reports that additional than one in four home markets is currently more expensive compared to its historic standard.

When you are saving for a deposit and thinking during your finances choices, seeing climbing home costs just intensifies the strain. It is tempting to pursue innovative funding options or warrant spending more than you are able to afford simply to secure a home.

But before you dip into fiscal disaster, know you’ve got other choices besides extending your budget. Here is the way to obtain a house in your area which you are able to afford, even in a hot marketplace.

Define Your House Price Boundaries

Let us begin by setting some boundaries to your own finances. Before you can evaluate your choices, you need to learn your home-buying budget.

Just how much home you can afford should be based on your specific financial situation, not the strain of your home marketplace.

If you cannot pay money for your home, the second best option is that a home mortgage loan done the ideal way. What exactly does this look like? We recommend these tips:

• You opt for a 15-year fixed-rate traditional loan.
• Your monthly mortgage payment is no more than 25 percent of your take-home pay.
• You put at least 10 percent in, but 20 percent is much better!
• You have sufficient money to cover closing costs and moving costs.

Use a capital growth calculator to assess the investment, as it is a huge financial decision. A creditor will likely approve you to get a greater amount but remember: just because you qualify for it does not mean that you are able to afford it.

If you are married, ensure you and your partner are on precisely the exact same page. As soon as you understand what affordability appears like for you personally, share your borders with your property representative and do not budge. Professional advice is essential, speak to an investment property advisor to assess your thoughts. When your home market is more expensive than your budget permits, here are 3 options to consider:

Choice #1: Conserve

Let us cut to the chase. If you reside in an unaffordable marketplace, it will probably take you more to be financially prepared to purchase a house.

Perhaps you’re still wanting to pay off debt or save a deposit. However, even if you’re debt-free with an emergency fund already set up, you could live in a region where your income truly does not support the purchase price of a mortgage. And that is fine. Leasing helps you develop your savings and endurance. Additionally, you get to phone the landlord if something breaks rather than spending your hard-earned money to repair it!

If you would like to purchase a home in a costly market, waiting could be your smartest move. And meanwhile, you can keep saving and seeking to boost your earnings. Your neighborhood may seem cheaper 3 years from now once you’ve got a hefty down payment saved and much more money coming in each month!

Choice #2: Reset Your Expectations

Another option if you reside in a costly housing market would be to re-evaluate your criteria. A remodeled four-bedroom craftsman house in an acre lot may be out of your budget, however, a ranch-style house that requires a little work might be the ideal match.

It may be difficult to give a lavish kitchen or shiny hardwood flooring, but it is well worth it to avoid getting in over your head. Bear in mind, you may always update your home’s features in the future.

Think about these variables to be certain you’re making a wise investment:

• Do not get the most expensive house in the area. Rather, attempt to purchase the least expensive house in the best neighborhood you are able to afford.
• Pay focus on dwelling values around that region. Are they going down or up?
• How are the schools in your town? Even in the event that you don’t have children, that can be a significant element when you market.
• Get a house inspection as soon as you’re under contract so that you don’t get blindsided by costly repairs.

When you utilize an actual estate expert to receive your expectations based on what you could afford locally, you might be amazed to learn that you have some fantastic choices!

Choice #3: Broaden Your Search

Its expansion prediction for homes has been decreased from 3.4 percent to 0.7 percent. While it states flats will underperform due to a massive increase in distribution and reduced demand from off-shore buyers.

Apartments in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth are not expected to increase in price, and will likely decline. Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and the South West area of Western Australia are in the base of the sector and starting their scale back.

Among the reasons for the recession is an oversupply especially for flats in Melbourne, which appeared at about 10,600 coming online this past year and now 76,400 are in the pipeline.

Should you be a business owner, perhaps consider a shop or space that allows for lodging, such as a fully furnished second floor. This type of strip retail investment is versatile and means you do not have to rent a second property if income is tight.

Mortgage brokers and financial advisors are being supplied big incentives to assist clear inventory, especially off-the-plan flats which increasingly run the chance of decreasing in value prior conclusion. Seek out a commercial property manager today and choose an area that will one day pay for itself.

A hammer-wielding woman emblem with a pink outline, along with the words “Female Tradie” in bold letters is splashed throughout the side of a black van at Sydney’s Marrickville. Behind the wheel is Penny Petridis, a carpenter, metal worker and builder that began her renovation and construction maintenance business, rightly titled Female Tradie, five years ago.

Petridis is a part of a new revolution of sourcing female tradies across Australia, who have the resources to subtract traditionally male-dominated trades. There is a great deal of people who are doubtful about the notion of feminine trades, but they are eager to give us a move and the feedback from them is wonderful, Petridis explains. When you receive great reviews and testimonials afterward people know that you just do a fantastic job.

Melissa Parker contracted Female Tradie to do her outside decking job, after being burnt by previous experiences with contractors. She needed to get Penny to replace her entire decking as a result of the incompetence of her preceding contractor, saying that her staff were simply wonderful and that she felt comfortable with the experience. She has done on to tell her friends on Facebook that when someone’s looking for a builder, then they should look to the Female Tradie business.

Parker was also happy to have the ability to encourage different girls breaking down obstacles within a male-dominated field. What Penny is doing is excellent, and Parker believes there should be a lot more women like her, breaking down obstacles.

Wendy Pinch was fed up with having work done by undependable tradespeople and began The Lady Tradies, an internet database which connects clients with neighbourhood tradies around Australia, in 2012.

It had dawned on her that these women were out there, however they were not promoting themselves nicely, and on the flipside, the people that needed to hire them were not able to locate them, which is why she went on to create such a database. If someone needs a female electrician, they can find one, if someone needs gas fitting services then they can also find someone to help them out, all within this database.

Penny Petridis, creator of Female Tradie, is a part of a new creation of tradies hard in the office across Australia. For Pinch, there are quite a few factors that inspire people to seek the services of female trades employees, from girls who feel comfortable having another girl around the home to the growth of DIY culture.

They are at a huge home improvement age and lots of the time it’s a girl who is the one opening the doorway to the trade, and she is the one which is likely to make the choices. She’s often contacted not just by clients across Australia but an increasing number of companies seeking to employ female trades and apprentices to tackle the gender imbalance within their own workforce.

The clients are only crying out for [feminine trades], and firms are in fact beginning to target them today, explains Pinch. Her response is, for girls to get a trade ASAP, as there is a hell of a good deal of work awaiting you.

Wendy Pinch founded The Lady Tradies after being fed up with unreliable tradespeople. Despite changing social attitudes, women still account for fewer than two percent of tradespeople in Australia. There is indications of positive growth, however; last year almost a quarter of those 188,600 apprentices or trainees employed as a member of the Australian Apprenticeship Scheme were feminine. Advocacy and media classes are also proving successful. Supporting and Linking Tradeswomen (SALT) helps girls in trades team up, linking them through monthly meetings and social websites.

They attempting to alter what girls believe that they can perform, and also what society believes that girls can perform, the president of SALT, Fi Shewring states. The Wollongong painter, decorator and TAFE teacher started SALT in 2009 after realising how “quite isolated” tradeswomen in Australia were.

It has been hugely successful and left a difference, where they are now able to connect tradeswomen around Australia, as well as from abroad. “Jobs do not have a Gender” is the slogan in SALT, and supported like Shewring are working hard to dispel unconscious prejudice against girls plying traditionally male trades.

If you are trying to find quite a skilled work force, which the trades are, why would you restrict yourself to less than 50 percent of the population as Shewring points out.

Shewring considers that the rising numbers of female apprentices imply that times are changing. It is not limited to electrical services, plastering or commercial plumbing services, women trades are also found in painting, carpentry, amongst others.

Initiatives like SALT’s community applications, including the world’s sole cellular workshop designed to educate women and showing women how to utilize resources, will also be playing a very important function. There are at least three generations of girls who do the projects. It affects the way they see the trade as they realise the skills function isn’t gender-based. You can teach your grandmother how to use a drill and then she is more amenable if her granddaughter comes to her and wishes to enter a trade.

Commercial tenants are more fortunate than their residential counterparts in regards to rental security, but occasionally nothing beats possessing the building that you run your company from. Perhaps you are starting a business or need to upsize your current clinic premises to carry out breast surgery and branch into other cosmetic surgeries like double eyelid surgery. Expanding your business requires new property and space. To be able to make an educated choice on whether to buy a property, it’s crucial you think about the tax and money consequences before you take the plunge.

Deciding whether to buy a property

Purchasing commercial real estate may be a fantastic move for your company if it is being created for the correct reasons. Before looking at suitable property for sale ask yourself:

• Why you are Purchasing the property
• Everything you could do with the cash if you did not Buy a property
• What your Long-term strategies for your company are, and also how possessing land supports those plans
• Ensure that you’re pleased with the responses to all those questions prior to taking this thought any further.

Preparing to Purchase a property

Before purchasing anything you are going to want to sit down and prepare a budget to ascertain what you are able to afford. First off, you will want to allow for the deposit, that will be generally 30 percent for industrial property. Look at the amount of savings you have, the size of the loan you estimate and your predicted income for the next few years. This should give you a view of how long it will take you to pay off the property. After that you have to take into consideration:

• Legal fees, review fees, depreciation accounts charges, etc. in relation to the Buy
• Price to renovate upon buying (if needed)
• Mortgage payments (interest, principal, fees, etc.)
• Strata rates (if appropriate)
• Council charges and price of utilities (water, gas, electricity)
• Repairs and replacements

It is a fantastic idea to create an adjustment for your current company budget to permit for the shift in outgoings — simply take the lease you are currently paying and place in the several costs associated with owning the area. Doing so on a month-by-month foundation should make it possible for you to foresee any potential money flow dramas well beforehand. Of course, you will be looking for properties on major real estate sites and newspapers but don’t forget to search through private real estate listings for the perfect property. There are also different types of business property to consider, you could purchase a factory or warehouse type dwelling or a retail property development in a busy area.

Prior to buying a property, you need to talk to your accountant, and maybe your attorney, to go over the most practical constructions to maintain the house. There is a guideline that states that you don’t hold passive assets (for instance, commercial property) at precisely the exact same thing that carries on an active business — that means that you would not purchase the property at exactly the exact same firm that operates your small business. There are a couple of choices you can research here including another business, a trust or maybe a self-managed superannuation fund. In any event, make sure you find the ideal information prior to signing any contracts.

Use an accountant that knows how to develop innovative companies

Making the Purchase

Should you choose to buy a property, it is a fantastic idea to commission a depreciation report (also called a quantity surveyors report). These reports detail the many fixed assets inside the property so it is possible to claim a depreciation deduction every year because the value of these assets declines. These reports are assembled with a professional quantity surveyor and may yield substantial tax deductions.

Additionally, it is important to get a commercial rental agreement in place in the event the property is stored in a separate contract from your enterprise. Why? The company will be paying rent for this asset, to guarantee no hassle with the Tax Office you may need all related-party trades to be undertaken on a commercial basis. This usually means obtaining a property agent to gauge the market lease and then placing this at a leasing agreement and sticking on file, only in the event the tax man comes knocking.

Negative gearing is something which applies to commercial property in precisely the exact same manner it applies to residential property. In case the running costs of this house (e.g. maintenance, rental prices, etc..) exceed the rental income being obtained then the homeowner receives a tax deduction for your reduction being made. Just bear in mind your ability to get this tax deduction will be affected by the arrangement you opt to maintain the property.

This guide is by no means a comprehensive manual but should provide you a beginning point for discovering whether you would like to purchase commercial property. For detailed advice, speak to your accountant.

Residential Estate prices have been soaring sky high and getting a new property can be quite costly. Aside from the burden on the mortgage, you also need to deal with stamp duty.  In Sydney, the stamp duty for a $1 million home could cost up to $41,000.

Setting up a new home is no longer as appealing when you calculate what you stand to lose.  Thus, a home extension has become a go-to solution for families who want more room without actually moving to a new residence.

According to Robert Moerman, a Cape Cod Australian managing director of an extensions and home additions company, homeowners now want to make the most of what they’ve already got due to stamp duty costs.

Robert says that second additions are more prevalent now than ever. The rate of stamp duty has not changed, but the value of property certainly has and that’s adding a huge amount to the price of a new home.

A second storey addition could cost more than $40,000, plus an estimate putting an addition of 50sq m at about $120,000.  This could get you 2 bedrooms with sitting room with an en-suite bathroom.

Thus, if one is considering investing in building up then it would be natural to want to maximize the amount of space you get above. It’s not every day you get the chance to rip off your roof, however when you do you need to think about the impact and cost of the environment around you. Utilising welded mesh panels to seperate the building site area from the home is one way to go about it.

Planning to build directly on top meter by meter could be disastrous. Conditions have been set for home extensions. Adherence to the conditions set by councils from Penrith to Bondi and everywhere is pertinent, with older suburbs the most stringent.

Robert says, If you look at suburbs like Bondi, there may be some homes which were built to the boundary in their time, but there is no way you can replicate that today. You have to work within the existing footprint, and then take into consideration shading on the neighbors and blocking out views. In Penrith for instance, those regulations haven’t changed to the same extent and you have more flexibility.

It is best to consult your local council first for the requirements before making plans. Once everything is checked then you can work out the details you want to add as well as setting up your budget.  Robert says $120,000 may be enough for a second storey addition, however, if you want richer materials and finishes for a 50-oddsq, you might need to stretch your budget to $500,000.

When it comes to renovations and additions, it is best to do your homework and gird yourself. Remember, being forewarned is forearmed.

Depending on the original materials used for the ground floor combined with the condition of the home,  a house may struggle with the weight of the additional second storey. However, engaging the best home renovation builders in melbourne would eliminate any problems.

Robert says that it is quite possible to even out about ten tonne over a 50sqm one storey home. 98 per cent of homes need nothing. The trick is to spread the load out and rarely would underpinning be required. You may need to put in steel posts with one extra pier, which isn’t a major drama.

Cape Cod offers services such as building a second storey according to your specifications as well as match what is originally on the first storey. Brick, being the most expensive material, alternative options are now available such as polystyrene and weatherboard and if your budget allows rock face, sandstone or Weathertex cladding and other commercial finishes.

Craig Smythe, owner of Adbuild Construction says that there are ways to minimize the cost such as prioritizing to keep the wet areas and services in one line. Having the lines run across the home would not only increase your bill but also be very challenging to set up.

The other thing to consider is electrical. Once you take the roof off the house the electrical cables and service pipes from the bathroom and air conditioning tubes will all be exposed so you have to waterproof the house as quickly as possible. This is achievable by putting on a heavy duty and durable custom tarpaulin that will remain up for the whole process.

Most families prefer to stay put during the disruptive period instead of spending on short time accommodation while waiting for the renovation to complete. Because most people stay in the house you have to make sure it’s a safe environment. You only have the Gyprock ceiling between the workers and the family below.

Craig says it could take about two to three months to complete a basic second storey addition including putting the roof structure on external sarking, downpipes and eaves.

He recommends that if you are planning for a home extension, then you should have all the trades locked in one after the other to finish the project smoothly.

If you are living in the house, it will feel like an eternity living with a work site above you. There is a lot of noise and a lot of dirt that you have to put up with and you want the process to be as quick and smooth as possible.

Craig explained that he had seen particle board flooring which was exposed to the elements for five months. You can do a moisture read to make sure it’s structurally sound, but you don’t want that flooring to be exposed for more than three months. Once the roof comes off, you want things to move as quickly as possible.

Craig relays that it could be uncomfortable working while there are people living below, but he takes it in stride.  The good thing about them living there is that they can see the progress every day, and it’s like a marriage, we treat each other with respect. After the extension is in place you then get the exciting task of styling the home with the latest in timber or wire furniture, whatever is the style of the home.

Bitcoin shot past $US11,000 to hit a record high last month after gaining more than $US1000 in a short twelve-hour window. This has again raised concerns that a fast swelling bubble may be set to burst into spectacular fashion.

It afterwards dropped by 20 percent in only hours.

Here are some facts that you might not know about the biggest and best-known cryptocurrency.

1. How many are there?
Bitcoin’s supply is limited to 21 million – a number which is expected to be reached around the year 2140. Thus far, around 16.7 million bitcoins are released into the machine, with 12.5 new ones published roughly every 10 minutes with a process known as “mining”, where a worldwide network of computers competes to address complicated algorithms in reward for the new bitcoins.

2. Energy drain
These mining machines require a vast amount of energy to run. A recent quote by tech news website Motherboard place the energy cost of one bitcoin trade at 215 kilowatt-hours, presuming that there are approximately 300,000 bitcoin trades every day. That is nearly enough energy as the typical American household consumes in an entire week.

3. Bits of bitcoin
The smallest Bitcoin unit is known as a Satoshi, named after it’s elusive creator of the cryptocurrency, Satoshi Nakamoto. One Satoshi is 1 hundred-millionth of a bitcoin, which makes it worth around $US0.0001 at current exchange rates.

4. Bitcoin billionaires
Bitcoin has performed better than each central-bank-issued currency in each year from 2011 except for 2014, when it performed worse than any conventional currency. So much in 2017, it’s up around 1000 percent. In case you had purchased $US1000 of bitcoin at the beginning of 2013 and had never sold any of it, you’d now be sitting on $US80 million. Lots of individuals believe bitcoin to be more of a speculative instrument compared to a money, due to its volatility, increasingly substantial transaction fees, and the fact that comparatively few retailers accept it.

5. Exchange heists
More than 980,000 bitcoins have been discharged from cryptocurrency exchanges since it was first formed, either by hackers or insiders. That is a total of over $US10 billion at current exchange rates. Few have been regained.

6. Mystery creator
Despite many efforts to find the founder of bitcoin, and a number of claims, we still don’t know who Satoshi Nakamoto is, or has been. Australian computer scientist and entrepreneur Craig Wright convinced some notable members of this bitcoin community that he had met Nakamoto in May last year, but he then refused to offer the evidence that the majority of the community said was necessary. It’s not clear whether Satoshi Nakamoto, supposed to be a pseudonym, was a title used by a set of programmers or by one person. Nor is it clear that Nakamoto is still living – the overdue computer scientist Hal Finney’s title may be put forward. Developer Nick Szabo has denied claims that he’s Nakamoto, as has tech entrepreneur Elon Musk more lately.

7. Inflated Chinese trading
Until this season, it had been thought that Chinese exchanges Accounted for about 90 percent of trading volume. But it is now clear that some trades inflated their volumes through so-called wash transactions, repeatedly trading minimal amounts of bitcoin back and forth between accounts. Since the Chinese government imposed trade fees, Chinese trading volumes have dropped sharply, and now represent less than 20 percent, according to data from site Bitcoinity.

8. Market cap
The total value of all bitcoins released into the machine so far has now reached as large as $US190 billion. That makes its whole value – sometimes dubbed its “market cap” – higher than that of Disney, and larger than the market cap of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs combined.

9. Crypto-rivals
Bitcoin is far from the sole cryptocurrency. There are now more than 1000 rivals, based on commerce website Coinmarketcap.

Approximately, two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer from the time they are 70, with over 750,000 individuals     treated for one or more non-melanoma skin cancers in Australia annually. Non-melanoma skin cancer is more common in men, with nearly double the incidence in comparison with women.
Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, melanoma is the third most frequent cancer in Australians. In 2013, 12,744 Australians were diagnosed with melanoma.

Each Year, in Australia:

– Skin cancers account for approximately 80 percent of all newly diagnosed cancers.

– The vast majority of skin cancers are caused by exposure to sunlight

– GPs have more than 1 million patient consultations annually for skin cancer

– The incidence of skin cancer is among the greatest in the world, two to three times the rates in Canada, the US and the United Kingdom.

– In 2014, 2067 individuals died from skin cancer in Australia, 1467 from melanoma and 600 from non-melanoma skin cancers.

– The five-year relative survival rate for melanoma is 88 percent for men and 93 percent for women in Australia. The five-year relative survival rate for non-melanoma skin cancer is 68 percent for men and 74 percent for women in Australia.

Skin cancer symptoms

The faster skin cancer is detected and identified and treated by a skin doctor, the greater your odds of avoiding surgery or, in the event of a significant melanoma or other skin cancer, possible disfigurement or even death.

Additionally it is a good idea to speak with your doctor about your level of risk and also for information on early detection and possible mole removal. Become knowledgeable about the appearance of your skin, so you pick up any changes which may indicate a skin cancer. Search for:

– Any crusty, non-healing sores

– Small lumps which are red, pale or pearly in colour

– New spots, freckles or some other additives changing in colour, thickness or shape over a period of weeks to months (particularly those dark brown to black, red or blue-black in colour).

Causes of skin cancer

Anyone can be at risk of developing skin cancer, even although the risk that increases as you get older. The vast majority of skin cancers in Australia are brought on by exposure to UV radiation in sunlight. Sunburn causes 95 percent of melanomas, the most deadly type of skin cancer. In Australia, 1 in 8 adults and 1 in 5 teens are sunburnt on an average summer weekend. Lots of individuals get sunburnt when they’re taking part in water sports and activities at the beach or a pool, as well gardening or having a barbecue. Sunburn is also common on cooler or overcast days, as many people wrongly believe UV radiation is much less strong. This is false — you may continue to be sunburnt once the temperature is cool. Sun exposure that does not lead to burning may still cause damage to skin tissues and increase your chance of developing skin cancer. Evidence suggests that regular exposure to UV radiation every year can also cause skin cancer.

Tanning

A tan isn’t an indication of good health or health, despite many Australians referring to a ‘healthy tan’. Nearly half of Australian adults still hold the misguided belief that a tan looks healthy.
Tanning is an indication that you were exposed to sufficient UV radiation (from sunlight or solarium) to harm your skin. This will eventually result in loss of elasticity (wrinkles), sagging, yellow discolouration as well as brown patches to appear on your skin. A tan provides only limited protection against sunburn, usually equivalent to SPF3, based upon your skin type. It doesn’t protect from DNA damage, which may result in skin cancer. Some men and women who use fake tans erroneously believe it will give them protection against UV radiation. Because of this, they might not take sun protection measures, placing them at greater risk of skin cancer. More info about fake tans is offered in Cancer Council’s position statement on fake tans.

Solariums

Solariums emit UVA and UVB radiation, both known causes of cancer. Cancer Council doesn’t advocate solarium use for cosmetic tanning under any conditions. As of January 2016, commercial solariums were prohibited in most states in Australia. ACT has also banned commercial solariums. There are no business solariums working in the Northern Territory.

Analysis for skin cancer

It’s important to check your skin regularly and check with your physician if you notice any changes. Your physician may perform a biopsy (remove a small sample of tissue for examination under a microscope) or refer you to a professional if he suspects a skin cancer.

Treatment for skin cancer

Skin cancers are almost always eliminated. In more complex skin cancers, some of the surrounding tissue may also be removed to be certain that all of the cancerous cells are taken out. The most common treatment for skin cancer is operation to eliminate the cancer (usually under a local anaesthetic). Common skin cancers may be treated with ointments or radiotherapy. Skin cancer may also be removed with cryotherapy (using liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze off the cancer), scraping or burning.

Big, mainstream automotive manufacturers such as Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and Volkswagen continued to market the hottest new versions worldwide in 2015. As it came to luxury prestige brands, vehicles from Germany’s Big Three; Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, dominated the sales charts. For the fifth year in a row, the BMW brand sold the many luxury cars and trucks around Earth in 2015. And with Mercedes-Benz nudging third-place Audi for moment, it is no surprise versions from those three automakers filled up our list of the top 10 best-selling luxury vehicles on the planet for 2015:

10 Position: Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class (118,618 sold)
(2015 Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 4Matic Coupe)

With earnings up overall 13.4 percent in comparison to 2014, Mercedes-Benz marketed 1,803,250 new vehicles worldwide last year. The brand’s third-best seller was the streamlined CLA “four-door coupe” with leather car seats. With over 118,000 bought in 2015, earnings of the CLA were up with a substantial 29 percent. In Canada, sales were virtually flat, with only a 0.5 percent profit to 3,870 units sold. For 2016, CLA pricing begins at $35,300 and can go as large as $51,800 for the top-of-the-line 375-horsepower AMG model.

9th Position: BMW 4 Series (134,061 sold)
(2015 BMW M4)

BMW sold the most luxury vehicles in the world this past year, with sales up 5.2 percent to 1,905,234 units in 2015. No surprise then, to see out five of the 10 vehicles on our list from the German automaker. The first is that the 4 Series, the “coupe” family derived from BMW’s top-selling 3 Series compact sedan with added 4wd accessories if needed; 2015 was its first full year available, which clarifies why the 4 Series’ 98.6 percent sales jump over 2014. Priced between $49,450 and $85,500 for the M4 Cabriolet, 4 Series sales last year grew by 43 percent in Canada, to nearly 5,000 copies sold.

8th Position: Mercedes-Benz A-Class (147,006 sold)
(2013 Mercedes-Benz A-Class)

Even though it shares the exact compact front- or all-wheel drive platform as the B-, CLA- and GLA-Courses, Mercedes-Benz doesn’t market its own A-Class four-door hatchback in Canada; but possibly the German automaker should. First seen in 1997, the present third-generation A-Class is more traditional than its taller predecessors, and has become a popular model for the German automaker worldwide.

7th Position: BMW 1 Series (163,721 sold)

BMW world show of the 1 Series five-door in the 2011 Frankfurt International Motor show. Just to be clear, the current BMW 1 Series is the streamlined, rear-wheel-drive hatchback that has been offered in overseas markets since 2004. We Canadians got the 1 Series coupe and convertible versions, renamed the two Series for 2014 (not to be confused with the BMW 2 Series Active/Gran Tourer four-door hatchbacks, depending on the Mini platform, also not sold here).

6th Position: BMW X5 (177,417 sold)

One BMW model we Canadians have managed to purchase because it went on sale in 1999 has become the X5, the German automaker’s popular midsize SUV. The only utility vehicle to make this record, the X5 has been the most popular luxury SUV on Earth in 2015. Over 177,000 copies of this third-generation X5 were sold — a substantial 22.6 percent gain over 2014. Base 2016 X5 models begin at $66,300 and climb to the 567-horsepower $106,900 X5 M. Unlike the gains made globally, X5 sales were relatively flat this past year in Canada, with a 1.6 percent drop to only 5,381 units sold. Ironman 4×4 roofracks are perfect for this car if you like road trips.

5th Position: Audi A4 (180,063 sold)

Audi’s global sales grew by 3.6 percent last year to a total of 1,803,250 new vehicles. An all-new fifth-generation A4 sedan started its worldwide roll-out last June. Due to the model move, A4 earnings were down globally by 4.3 percent, to just a little over 180,000 units sold. In Canada, where 2016 A4 prices vary between $43,200 and $56,090, sales were also down in 2015 by 6.7 percent, to just over 5,400 copies sold.

4th Position: Mercedes-Benz E-Class (208,604 sold)

On sale since 1993, the midsize Mercedes-Benz four-door remained a favorite model globally in 2015. First seen at this year’s Detroit auto show, international sales of the ‘Benz sedan were down 14.6 percent to over 208,000 units sold in 2015. E-Class earnings in Canada last year were also down, by 16.5 percent, to over 3,100 units.

3rd Place: BMW 3 Series (304,316 sold)

The sixth-generation BMW 3 Series now comes only as a four-door. In Canada, where the 3 Series can be obtained for as little as $39,990 and as much as $75,000 for the 425-horsepower M3 Sedan, sales were down 4.9 percent, to 9,590 units sold.

2nd Place: Audi A3 (353,572 sold)
(2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet)

In the world’s first premium compact in 1996, the Audi A3 is now the German automaker’s bestseller worldwide and the next most popular luxury vehicle on the planet. This past year, A3 earnings grew by 19.5 percent over 2014, to over 353,00 copies sold. With over 3,700 sold in Canada (where it could be had as a sedan, convertible or plug-in hybrid for between $31,600 and $45,400), A3 earnings were even more impressive — a leap of 54.5 percent compared to 2014.

1st Position: Mercedes-Benz C-Class (364,668 sold)
(2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class)

The world’s bestselling luxury vehicle in 2015 was the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The world’s most-popular luxury vehicle was also number one in Canada last year; with prices beginning at $43,800 to the 503-horsepower $83,700 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S, C-Class sales saw a leap of 41.7 percent annually to 9,992 copies sold.

The Chinese Mennonite Church was changed into a makeshift three-hour workshop last weekend as volunteers tinkered with technology, house appliances and much more in the church’s first repair café. Fix Café, a roving incarnation of a global DIY initiative based in Amsterdam in 2009, brings together volunteers that provide free repair services each month.

For those who enjoy fixing things, it’s a whole lot of personal satisfaction and a good deal of fun. Fern Mosoff, co-founder of the town’s fix café, said that the pursuit of the appliance repair service is enjoyable, the cooperation – the experience of fixing together – is entertaining … It actually appeals to the fix-it audience. This community-centric strategy appealed to the church, and it got connected with Fix Café if Sandy Yeun, among its own volunteers, stumbled upon an occasion.

She explained that it reminded her of her dad’s generation, referring to the Do-it-yourself ethos that awakens at the events, which concentrate mostly on family appliance and clothing repairs but volunteers also take on additional odd jobs such as repairing ornaments and small laminated timber products. Aaron Shindman, a program programmer, is just one of Repair Café’s 500 volunteers. In the events he frequently uses skills he learned while researching manufacturing technology. A region of the group since it started in May 2013, Shindman has his reasons for coming back again and again. What appeals to him is taking things apart, and perhaps fixing them – if you are lucky.

Jessica Beketa, who recently moved cities, arrived at the café to get an amp fixed and also because she’d begun a similar initiative, Repair Things, in her former residence town. It is something which she has been passionate about since she thought of it from an environmental standpoint. Everybody sees recycling as a great alternative but repair is obviously one-up. In addition to repairing things, the volunteer team need apprentice fixers so they can learn new abilities from someone more experienced. Co-founder Mosoff said that since it is a really collaborative fix experience, individuals share knowledge.

After all, one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. For Mthunzi Qagana, the saying is his reality, and became the key to his rise from road dweller to company owner. Qagana said they turn rubbish into gold. He refurbishes used and broken appliances and sells them at an inexpensive price. Qagana discovered his market due to Your Appliance Bank, a programme conducted by the non-profit organisation The Clothing Bank. The appliance programme provides jobless men the chance to operate their own companies by providing them appliance repair training and business skills in the industry they hope to compete in, from offering  timber engineered custom to general lighting repairs.

Qagana was residing on the streets of the major city only a couple years ago, finding foods in garbage bins. He explained how when he had been on the road he had to figure out ways to live. Qagana came the city in 1998 after falling out of college, where he was a standout singer. Finding no job in the city, he started living on the streets, with his ability to make some cash. Subsequently Qagana determined he wanted more from his life.

He explained that it was his 18th birthday. It was chilly and he was determined he wanted to changed. Qagana moved along with his church-going uncle, who helped him enroll in college. He ended Grade 12 when I was 22, but he was proud of himself. Following a stint as a ranger in Table Mountain National Park, he started to search for ways to begin his own company and came across The Appliance Bank programme on Facebook. He did not understand anything about appliances, particularly about gas and electrical services, but he chose to take the chance. That’s where his life changed.

He’s currently among 50 participants at the programme. Although retailers, for example Clicks and Shoprite, contribute busted, returned or surplus inventory to the programme, Qagana said obtaining sufficient appliances to fix was a struggle – they want more suppliers.

The Appliance Bank also accepts donations of fresh or broken appliances. Qagana Is also having his chance to return to his community. Once he gets home, he says he will teach men business skills that he knows here so that they can head out and do something. He will go there and promote them. He has a computer school now, and is training youth in the area so they have the ability to head out and search for jobs. He stated that it is called Bright Future Youth IT Centre, and explained how he’s glad that he can help someone considering how he had been helped to escape from the life that he had been living.

It is easy to fall out of rhythm without a healthy routine of diet and exercise when you make the transition from school to the working world. For the lucky few people who are not short on motivation, it can be tough to get the energy to prepare healthy meals or get a terrific workout in when you work daily shifts. Here are some steps you can take to stay healthy as you make the transition from University student to the 9 to 5 working life.

Take a break in the lunch line
Amongst the greatest and easiest ways to stay healthy is to pack a lunch and bring it to a function instead of constantly ordering out. One of the big drawbacks for some individuals to face is finding the time to actually pack a healthy lunch. To avoid waking up in the morning too tired and deciding to not prepare lunch, perhaps prepare your lunch the night before. Another method is to plan for the week ahead on Sunday. Save up some leftovers from your weekend trip to South Yarra’s luxury restraunt bistro. Cook anything you may want to bring and part it in Tupperware that is easy to catch in the morning prior to going. That gets rid of the hassle of everyday prep work.

And if that is not enough to convince you, think about the fact that, normally, buying lunch daily prices workers approximately $2,000 annually, according to a survey conducted by Accounting Principals, which, Business Insider says is much more money than people spend on both commuting and java. That is $2,000 (minus the cost of groceries and eating at expensive European eateries for your home) back into your pocket. So the lesson here: do not be afraid to brown bag it.

Give up your chair
Healthful living does not end at lunch though. Take this marvelously morbid headline from CNN: “Sitting will kill you, even when you exercise.” This report came on the heels of a recent study from Annals of Internal Medicine, which concluded “prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health effects regardless of physical action.” Sitting for more than eight hours every day, for example, increases your chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 90 per cent, according to the study. That is frightening, especially if you work at a desk all day. Therefore, if you can, get yourself a standing desk and a high chair. This way you can alternate between standing and sitting (standing for eight hours straight is just plain disagreeable). Begin the day standing to awaken. Give your feet a break for a bit and then get back on up. Additionally, there is seat yoga! Do not be afraid to seem perhaps a tad silly to your co-workers.

Measure up and take a stroll
But do not stop there. It is crucial to take afternoon strolls. Nothing too much or time consuming, but a five to seven minute walk around the immediate neighborhood is equally a great reprieve from work and a fantastic way to keep active during the day so that you are not only in a constant state of not moving. And count your steps also while you are at it with help from a Fitbit. That way you can attempt to up the amount daily (the more steps you take daily, clearly, the better).

Do not leave exercise up to destiny
The best way to guarantee you really do all this is to program it. Keep organized. Know that on Sunday evening, you are likely to prepare the week’s lunches. Whilst at work, perhaps try sitting until lunch and then stand for another hour or two. Write in a 4 p.m. walk, and while you are at it, add your gym trip to your own work schedule and proceed with the exact same commitment you have got at the job.

ARLINGTON, Va. — At a small gym in the Langston Brown Community Center, the atmosphere is full of the squeak of shoes and good-natured heckling of pickup basketball, a bunch of women ranging in age from 40 to 75-plus stays on the sidelines.

Dressed in varying basketball jersey design patterns, they are not fans here to watch; they’re here to play.

Who’s got next? For an hour each Wednesday night, this where Helen White among other elderly ladies compete in the Arlington County Senior Women’s Basketball program.

Yes, it may be a recreation league, but it is also some proper basketball.

Thirteen years out of its conception, White remembers the now-successful program did not take off instantly, but it currently has over 50 players on teams which compete around the nation. (Age classes are-50, 55, 60, 65, 70 and 75-plus.)

Additionally, White is  a founding member and the president of theNOVA United Senior Women’s Basketball Association, which  in 2007, turned into nonprofit organization.

In the 2015 National Senior Games, the Quick Fire 50+ group Finished in fourth position, the Triple Threat 55+ group finished in fifth, the Solid Gold 55+ group won a bronze medal, the Gold Mettle 60+ group and the Rebounders 65+ group both won silver medals in their age classes. The Classics 70+ group nearly attained the medal round.

Regardless of the national victory, the girls say it does not Compare to when some of these ladies visited West Point, remained in the Commandant’s house and played an exhibition match during halftime of the Army women’s match. In 2014, once the girls took the ground during halftime of a Sweet 16 NCAA match played in Old Dominion University.

KEEP PUSHING

The on-court advantages are great, however for all these girls, it is more than only a game.

“People become isolated as they get older,” said Barbara Porter, a regular with the Wednesday night group. “I think the biggest thing I’ve taken away is the friendships…We’re a family.”

Porter is called Fred on the court, because of Barbara being a frequent female name in the 50’s. The program had three in the exact same group, so she chose to go by Fred.

Porter began playing after her and her husband adopted a boy and girl born in Russia in 2003. She fought to connect with her son, who chose to play basketball, and captured her imagination.

Porter stated her relationship with her son is powerful, as is Her bond with her fellow opponents, on and off the court.

Comradery is a favorited word with all the players. So are ‘wellbeing’ and ‘hazard’

Simonton, who played tennis and basketball in both Ohio University and West Virginia, began playing again due to health issues and her kids. The Vienna, Va., native has been diagnosed with diabetes and stated that she just let herself go.

Her weight had increased to over 300 lbs. Simonton Hated physical exercise, despite being a physical education major in school, but at the urging of a friend began playing basketball again, two to three times every week.

“The spirit us ladies have is amazing,” Simonton stated. “We’re not as fragile as some would think, and our passion for the game still burns deep.”

THE MESSAGE: WHY NOT?

These girls are making a difference, and also the motion is beginning to actually hit its stride, with more and more elderly ladies appearing in basketball shirts on the weekly.

White says that the message she needs to relay is straightforward: Why not?

All of us have this picture of how individuals age and in many cases It is sedentary. However, elderly sports are keeping more people in the game. Many feel a need to be playing and an exceptional few such as White reasonably ask why they can’t still be doing this when they are 100 years old.

“I want to change the stereotype of people as they grow older. There’s no reason to stop playing as you get older. People get old when they stop playing.”

There are a couple of best practices which apply to any sort of site project. It doesn’t matter if you’re only making a few tweaks into some site, or redoing the whole thing. The information management system does not apply to those best practices, nor will the business your organization is in.

By taking into consideration these best practice benchmarking ideas, your site redesign project program will go smoother and with fewer glitches.

Research your present site

It is altogether possible that the whole site overhaul that you wish to do will be a far bigger job than what you really want to achieve. By conducting site user testing on your own website, you are able to ascertain whether a complete redesign is justified, or if instead you simply have to add additional conversion chances to the layout and tweak the header. Even if the results demonstrate that a redesign is necessary, you may use the information as a reference to check the new custom web design against it.

The evaluation typically run on customers’ websites is your 5-second evaluation. In this viewer sees your website for 5 minutes, and then answers a few questions regarding the plan, for example:

• What’s the company name?
• Where could you locate pricing information?
• What’s the product or service the website provides?
• Would you believe this website is trustworthy?

By running this brief evaluation for 100 or so results, you get answers to this big picture questions for your website, such as does your website have powerful branding and logo design, does this communicate your distinctive value proposition, is it simple to navigate, etc.

UsabilityHub is great for consumer testing. You may use whatever audience they develop with, or you could pay additional to target certain demographics, such as your perfect customer.

Have a web site content strategy

One of the biggest challenges in finishing a web site redesign would be overhauling your articles and getting it ready to go to your designer. Not having a plan for who your digital copywriter is for reviewing the material and when can signify that the job deadline needs to be pushed. Writing content for a website, or some other material, always takes longer than anticipated. It is not a simple matter to put into words exactly what your organization actually supplies, or what you are attempting to educate your reader.

Doing a web page content first site redesign means using the material almost finished prior to the layout even begins. The plan should match the material and display it as much as possible, not the other way round. Additionally, your designer can read your articles and also have new suggestions for the layout, particularly in regards to getting a solid hierarchy on the page.

Successful communication

It’s been seen on several jobs before where the designer has been brought to the job much later than they should have. There are areas where they might have shared experience and the job may have taken another route, which could have benefited the customer.

Bringing on your designer sooner than you believe means that they can observe the practice of this job and find a better feeling of how the project will unfold. Should they view the material is taking longer to be generated, or that there is questions on how much of their website in order to redo, they may be leaned to their view. Building a site that’s profitable because of their customer is a main aim.

Powerful communication also involves sharing expectations which all parties might have about the redesign procedure. You might believe the designer wants something, but it ends up they want other things first. Getting on precisely the exact same page because your designer usually means nobody is going to be left feeling frustrated and the job will run easy.

Deadline obstructions

Each job has its own quirks, and some other projects lasting over a month or two will encounter unforeseen troubles. Sicknesses, holidays, technical challenges, and company changes can all affect the way the project deadline functions in actual life. Ideally, all deadlines are met and everybody’s happy, but the truth is that we are all human and matters come up, this even happens with top business advisors believe it or not.

The question is how to greet these problems and find a means around them.

Possessing the job

Your site redesign job must be a priority for you, not just something you are working on on the side. Your new site is a priority to your own designer, and if you treat it exactly the exact same manner, and require possession of this procedure, then you will have greater communication and fewer problems.

The very best salesperson for your business is the site. It is often the first impression someone has about your business.

Taking possession means being available to a own designer, following up on questions that they request, and asking questions to get everybody on precisely the exact same page. This means pulling in extra resources if necessary to find the work done (such as a content author or photographer), and you will feel accomplished when the new website is up and you are proudly sharing it with your co-workers.

Wrap up

The internet design method is an iterative thing, and frequently every job differs from my ending. Maintain these best practices in your mind and perform a strategy out with your designer to be certain that you’re all on precisely the exact same page. Remember that fresh attributes might want to wait until after launching, and sites will always change and it does not have to be ideal.