Toledo, OH

Here's an interesting article by by Duke Chung:

Duke Chung co-founded Parature in 2000 with a vision to provide superior customer support software accessible via the Internet. Today, Parature’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product suite supports millions of end users worldwide in diverse industries from national associations, leading educational institutions, gaming & interactive media, manufacturing, services, and technology companies. Prior to Parature, Duke co-founded Limespot, a company focused on providing students vital campus information over the Internet.

Book Review|The Oxymoron Diaries|Twelve Ounce Poundcake. Abigail Nutter has walked a fine line between the apathetic urge to hang out a welcome sign for blood relatives, in-laws, out-laws, kissing cousins and stray animals or digging in with cold emotion and a quarantine sign, boarding up windows and padlocking doors against intrusion. The Oxymoron Diaries' Twelve Ounce Poundcake (Life is an Oxymoron), tells the story of Abigail Nutter,a local writer temporarily forced into multi-generation serfdom, disrupting her daily life in sadly amusing, mildly psychotic ways. As evidenced throughout the telling by random sprinklings of oxymora, she routinely takes her inspiration from everyday life, causing her family to frequently prefer she write her column in invisible ink. From 'plastic glasses' to 'nice and sleazy' and 'cold as hell' to 'safe sex', each chapter is subtitled by a relevant oxymoron, subtly teasing readers with the upcoming possibilities.

Read an excerpt here.

Meet the Author

Didi O'Neil walks a fine line similar to that of her characters, teetering between straight-laced and a straight jacket. She has written fiction for years for personal enjoyment and self-medication and is now delighted to entertain the general public. Nicknamed "The Human Sponge" she has the ability to pull out of a hat random bits of useless information that can be applied to the moment at hand and often, her writing. Her unofficial status as an accomplished wordsmith spurred her to use oxymorons as the theme of her first published series, The Oxymoron Diaries.

Read an excerpt here.

Buy Twelve Ounce Poundcake here for your Kindle.

Buy Twelve Ounce Poundcake here for your Nook.

Coming soon to iBooks.

(Kindle and Nook are both available via FREE download for your PC on
www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com)

Read an excerpt here.

Recent Review

"If sarcasm and an acid-tongue top your list of fiction prerequisites, then look no further. What I thought would be solely a work of fiction for the kinder and gentler sex turned into one laugh after another, with more than ample cringes thrown in for good measure for this macho man. Ms. O'Neil's use of oxymora as inspiration is brilliant and highly entertaining. In between the humor is pain and sadness, but never far behind is another humorous jab in the funny bone. "

Coming Fall of 2012:

The Oxymoron Diaries Vol. 2
A Little Pain Never Hurt Anyone

by Didi O'Neil

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The above blog post is solely the opinion of the blog's author, Dee Nofziger,
and not of The Floyd Wickman Team as a whole

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What Does Short Sale Mean?

Buying Short Sales: What You Need to Know

As the real estate market remains volatile, one of the best options for many new homebuyers is purchasing a short sale home. But, what does ôshort saleö mean? A short sale is when lenders have the opportunity to sell a property before the bank forecloses on the home rather than after. While buying short sales creates the opportunity for real estate investors to pay well-below-average housing prices for properties within ideal locations, there are still drawbacks.

If you're interested in buying short sales, here are a few things you need to be aware of:

Why Banks Short Sale Pre-Foreclosure Homes

The last thing a bank wants to do is own a property secured by the bank's loans. When a property owner is in default and owes more than what the home is currently worth, the bank will work with the seller to offer the property for less than they owe on the mortgage loan.

How much money will banks take off? When buying short sales, how much should I expect prices to fluctuate? On average, banks estimate that holding on to the property after foreclosure will cost up to 18 percent of the home value to complete the inspection, appraisals, repair and maintenance. Instead, it is a much easier and financially sound decision for banks to sell the home ôas isö to avoid any third-party inspection process.

The Negative Side of Buying Short Sales

Buying short sales might seem like a good deal for the buyer, but that's not always the case. Here are three major conflicts buyers and sellers face when a short sale, pre-foreclosed home is on the market:

• Time: Don't let the name fool you. Buying short sales takes a very long time. There's a whole gambit of scenarios of why a short sale might be delayed, but many of the hurdles buyers have to overcome have to deal with secondary financing on the homeowner's original mortgage, bank processing delays and private mortgage insurance policy breakdowns. Buying short sales is a very complex process, which can leave the short sell buyer in housing limbo for up to six months.

• Condition: Short sale homes often need additional maintenance and repairs. When the current property owner is unable to pay the mortgage on the home, more often than not the condition of the property diminishes over time. Additionally, short sale homebuyers should take into account that the property will have had more than one previous owner, which adds to the wear and tear.

• Lender Restrictions: Banks can renegotiate a short sale at the last second. If a new law passes, the market begins to change or the bank finds out more information about the property, they reserve the right to change the terms of the contract at any point in the process. Banks will also refuse to pay for extra services like seller closing costs or inspections. If you want something specific inspected on the property, you're probably going to pay for it yourself.

Short sale homes are the real estate market's diamond in the rough. It's true that buying short sales can be a very tricky process, but for the flexible and patient homebuyer, the short sale home can be the dream house they've been searching for.

SOURCE

Whether or not one believes global warming is an issue to be concerned about, it’s hard to refute the evidence that the world’s carbon dioxide production is the main cause of the warming of our planet. To slow the effect, more individuals and corporations are doing their part to minimize their carbon footprint.

Recent advancements in and an explosion of research on alternative, or renewable, energy are making it possible for homeowners to lessen the impact of their energy usage. Increasingly, there are more options that provide comparable or better performance to current energy sources.

Three of the more common renewable energy sources are solar power, wind power and hydro power. Note that while these are “more common,” they are not necessarily widely used in homes … yet.

Solar power is exactly as it sounds: power that comes from the sun. By the same token, wind power comes from the wind. Hydro power comes from the force of moving water. This article focuses on solar energy.

By various estimates, sunlight can meet the energy needs of the entire human population many times over. Imagine, using the sun’s energy to heat your home, take hot showers, power up all your electronic gadgets and kitchen appliances and keep your lights on!

There are, of course, heavy initial costs involved to using solar power to run your house. At the same time, there are ways you can use the sun’s energy for many years without a long-term expense.

If you’re building a new home, work with your designer to make the most use of the sunlight that falls on your lot. For example, place doors and windows where they’ll work best for you. If you live in a cooler climate, don’t put windows on the shady side. Also in this environment, avoid high ceilings unless you absolutely must have them (they are really nice to have, just keep in mind that you’re heating a lot of space you don’t use).

In warmer temps, plan for the back of the house to get the hottest sun of the day and put fewer windows on the hotter sides.

If you’re in an existing home, plant trees and perennial bushes near doors and windows. During the summer the growth will keep your house cool and in the winter the bare branches will let the sun in. You might also board up windows on the “wrong” side of the house or use insulated window coverings.

For either a new home or existing one, consider installing a solar power water heater. It can be a big expense initially, but you’ll recover the cost through energy savings within 10 years. Even if you don’t plan to be in your house that long, having a solar power water heater will add to your home’s value at the time of sale. more: SOURCE

What are Easement Restrictions? How to Ensure Clear Title on a Property

When buying a home you’re bound to encounter some things that you don’t know anything about. They are things that outside of the home buying process you won’t ever run into. And since the average homebuyer only goes through this process a few times in his or her lifetime, it’s understandable that these things would be unfamiliar. A couple of items that seem to be perplexing are title insurance and the property survey, specifically how easements are represented.

When purchasing a home with a mortgage you need to get title insurance and a survey. This is required for all financed home purchases. An attorney or title company typically orders property surveys. Though the buyer has to pay for this service they usually don’t need to be directly involved in the process