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What is the question?

Both ethics and morality assist is in answering the question: What should I do?

We are faced with this question all the time. Too often we make important decisions without giving enough time or process to reaching the best answer. Why not? Often we simply don’t know how to make such decisions. Sometimes we ignore them and hope they will go away, sometimes we follow the advice of others, sometimes we just guess.

If we wish to be responsible for our own future and our own decisions we should spend a little time thinking and trying to make a good decision, a better decision than simply choosing the easiest answer.

So, ethics and morality assist us in answering the question: What should I do?

Do they provide the same answer? No.

Which is the better approach and why?

What is the difference between morality and ethics?

Many of us confuse ethics and morality, many people use them interchangeably. But they are very, very different, related but different. The difference is crucial when making important decisions, even deciding whether you are facing a moral dilemma or an ethical dilemma. Important when discussing such popular topics as religion, sexuality, good and bad, right or wrong. So, take a few minutes now to better understand the difference between morality and ethics.

Please, don’t refer to the dictionary. Dictionaries attempt to capture popular usage and much of popular usage of ethics and morality is very blurred. Here I can show you how to use each word precisely, and make these words as sharp tools to cut through some pretty complicated ideas.

Morality

Morality is a set of rules or guidelines by which we behave. Simple? Yes, very simple but the implications are very important.

Morals answer problems we face in life. Morals are written down; they’re defined answers to defined problems. Examples that come to mind are: Stealing is immoral. Adultery is immoral. Killing another person is immoral. Abortion is immoral. Homosexuality is immoral. Burning the Christian Bible is immoral.

Now you must appreciate that someone must decide upon these rules or guidelines. In the case of the Bible’s Ten Commandments that were handed down from the Mount thousands of years ago, these rules were spoken and written by the Christian God and then possibly transcribed and interpreted by Moses. As a general rule, morality is determined by others and followed by people who share certain values.

The Ten Commandments were a set of ten rules which defined the behaviour of a group of people many years ago. The rules were effective in that they devolved the Ten Commandments into practical laws and a social structure which defined a people. They provided stability and provided the basis for an ongoing identity and development.

The fact that morality provides stability is a very important and powerful aspect of morality. When the environment changes, when the old leaders and mentors die, morality enables their values, their rules to continue. So people have stability. A change in leadership does not mean everyone must start again. People feel and are more secure when things are stable. Change and uncertainty are somewhat scary. Morality provides a basis for a comforting stability.

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife” is my recall of (part of) one of the Ten Commandments. Most people would agree that it is not good to try to seduce your neighbour’s wife (which may be the result if you desire her enough). Even today it would result in some pretty nasty outcomes if everyone went around seducing each other’s wife right, left and centre. It could damage the society substantially. So that is a pretty useful rule to apply within most societies then and today.

In summary, morality is a set of common values that provide stability for societies and differentiate between societies.

Ethics

Ethics is an approach, a method of making decisions. Ethics is about deciding to the best of our ability, without fear or favour. It is about being aware of the many aspects of each issue and trying to include them into the decision making process. It is about being aware of the outcome of our decisions, good and bad.

Ethics is about making a well-considered decision and having the moral courage to accept the responsibility of our decision.

Ethics is more a way of approaching decisions, ethics is not a set of values but a way of developing values for a certain situation as it is understood.

Do you see how it differs from morality? Morality is a set of values that are applied, ethics is a way to solve something at we understand it. Ethics can develop morals and as the situation changes ethics can evolve morals.

Let us just return to ethics for now and I shall say more about the strengths and weaknesses of each in more detail further on.

Ethics is a way of reaching an answer in any situation. The aim is to reach the best answer. But all problems are complicated. The more we learn about a problem, the more complicated it becomes.

Let us take a simple example. Common morality states “Thou shall not kill another person.” A drug-crazed killer has shot a dozen students in a classroom and is systematically shooting more students, one every ten seconds. You are situated behind him ten meters away. You have a gun and a clear shot at him. Do you shoot and kill him?

Morality says no.

Ethics tells us we should consider the potential outcome of our decision, how it will affect others and how it affects the world we live in. Ethics tells us to make a decision based upon what we think is right for everything and everyone.

My own take is:

Don’t decide for your own benefit, decide for the benefit of others.
Do the right thing, the nicest thing.
Be aware of the consequences. In part they are our responsibility.
Do we kill him? There is no perfect right or wrong answer here We each must make our own decision and live with the outcomes. If we have done so, then the decision was ethical.
Based upon my understanding of the situation, I would shoot to kill because it is in the best interest of the remaining students. It may have a bad outcome for me, but I am less important than the students. I would judge more good would result from my killing him.

This is making an ethical decision.

However, maybe there is something I didn’t know. Maybe it was a movie being shot and I for whatever reason, was unaware that everyone was acting. Sounds pretty stupid, but such things happen.

The Problems of Morality and Ethics

Morality provides answers. Morality provides solutions. Morals are right, absolute and certain. We can be confident that if we decide based upon morality, it is a solution and correct based upon the morality. Morals are convenient and easy. Few questions are required, thinking is limited, and we follow the rules. This is a great strength and a weakness. Morality provides good answers to many day to day decisions.

There are so many decisions we need to make each day, we cannot spend hours on each of them. This is where morality is strong. We can follow our morals with a fair degree of confidence because in the past they have provided a good outcome. Morals are convenient and easy.

But things change. How do the Ten Commandments handle the internet? Genetic engineering? Pollution? Nuclear power? Global warming? The Ten Commandments do not have an answer for these questions because the questions did not exist or were not asked at that time.

Clearly decision making must evolve to adapt to current circumstances. But morality is characterised by stability, by absolute rules. What about ethics? Ethics is the domain of changed circumstance. Ethics is fluid and adaptable.

Ethics can show us how to evolve our morals, how to make decisions in new situations.

Ethics is better for the tricky decisions, morality is more efficient for the regular problems we face day to day. But be aware, do not get complacent, morality does not question and we often need to understand and question the reasons behind even simple looking problems before making a decision. Take care using morality, ask yourself is the answer obvious or do I need to understand a little more?

Let us use a simple example. The morality “Thou shall not kill another person” seems straightforward.

Hitler was exterminating the Jews in 1939. Was it ethical to declare war on Germany? Is war moral? See above… which is right, correct or best?

Take a more complex example within the context of war. Imagine aircraft pilots shooting civilians because they looked like so called dangerous insurgents. Such decisions were made ethically in their view, they were making a decision for the best interest of other parties at some risk to themselves. In hindsight they may have been wrong, but the decision can well be called ethical. It could equally be called moral because the pilots were following the rules.

Morality is applying predetermined values (usually developed by others) and designed for different problems, different dilemmas at a different time and then not accepting the responsibility of that decision. “I did it because the rule said so.” This in my view is taking the easy option, abrogating responsibility in many cases.

Ethics is applying your values to a problem now and making the best decision possible based upon the available information. Such decisions become your decision and you are responsible for the decision and outcome in part. Ethics is characterised by doubt, unanswered questions and knowing that we can only make our best decisions and that such decisions are not the best for everyone. Every decision has costs and costs are not shared equally. So ethics does not answer the question what is right or wrong, but what is possibly better or worse based upon what is known.

Moral decisions provide certainty, an amount of righteousness. But of course because each society has different morality, each society will make differing moral decisions in some cases. Sometimes this is enough to generate major conflicts despite seemingly almost insignificant differences. The fact that religion is a major factor in conflict demonstrates this. The morality of each religion is different and absolute. Absolute differences are irreconcilable, and generate intolerance.

Ethical decisions provide uncertainty and doubt. Even if societies have differing values, taking an ethical approach permits different solutions and an acceptance that perhaps my decision is not the best for all. This engenders an accepting culture, one which takes a more “live and let live” approach. Doubt is good in that is encourages tolerance.

Ethicists are wracked with doubt. Moralists are absolute in their convictions. Find a smug politician and you have found a moral politician. Find a tormented politician and you have found a more ethical politician.

I will close with another example of where today’s society has a moral value which is at odds with ethical decision making.

Euthanasia. Under the same moral code that states we shall not kill, society today demands we maintain the life of aged damaged people who no longer have any desire to live. Our morality demands we keep their hearts beating, their lungs pumping, using all that modern medicine can offer. Ethics asks the question why we should maintain the life in this failing body propped up by technology. What is the good that comes from locking out the grim reaper a little longer? No one wishes to suffer and finally die ever so slowly, causing grief to their loved ones. Yet society forces this morality onto us all.

I ask you the question who gains from this? Look deep into your heart and think for a moment, think ethically. I suspect that some people gain by saying “We did all we could to keep him alive.” This is a way of justifying an unethical decision. A way of avoiding criticism and blame. Being ethical is accepting the consequences for making the best decisions.

Remember morality is about abrogating responsibility? The dying person makes their decision and wishes to die. For our own selfish reasons, not for their benefit, someone else decides they must continue to suffer and others must suffer so they can be moral.

Euthanasia is ethical in the vast majority of cases, but it is immoral in most societies today. Politicians are largely being unethical by allowing this to continue. They are acting in their self interest – their ego removes their ethical component from their actions.

So, I hope you now understand the difference between morals and ethics. It won’t change the world tomorrow, nor should it, but if perhaps you can just take a little more time to consider important decisions in ethical terms in future then your world will be a better, more tolerant place.

If you want to practice straight away, ask yourself what are the ethical questions associated with smoking, with parenting and junk food, computer games or boxing. What about walking across the road safely on a Don’t Walk sign, forcing children to attend classes where they are disruptive in class, smoking a cigarette, working for an alcohol or uranium mining company. What are the ethics of working for a lobby group, being a politician or a vegetarian?

And recall again, there is no absolutely right or wrong answer. There are better or worse answers, yes. But not right or wrong. The best you can do is better understand the issues, the consequences, and who and what is affected before deciding. You cannot make a truly ethically decision until you are on the spot. And each ethical decision will not be perfect nor please everyone, nor will it be valid forever, the answer may change tomorrow, but such decisions will be yours and the best you can make at the time with the information you have.

Nutrition is an unavoidable factor in education and health growth of a nation. A healthy student is a productive student. Good nutrition is increasingly perceived as an investment in human capital that yields returns today as well as in the future, while bad nutrition is a treat to the nation. The global loss of social productivity in 1990 is caused by four overlapping types of malnutrition â?? stunting and disorders related to iodine iron and vitamin A deficiency â?? amounted to almost 46 million years of productive disability â?? free life nutrition raises returns on investment in education and health care.

A body of literature observed that there is a heavy decline in knowledge in Nigeria from 1980s unlike the past years. Some attributed this decline to the malnutrition during the past civil war. A researcher noted that in the 1980s Nigeria had the lowest number of indigenous engineers of any Third World country. The teaching of English, which is the language of instruction beyond primary school, had reached such poor levels that university faculty complained their inability to understand the written work of their students due to ineffective communication there is a lot of quack graduates and workers in the country. By 1990 the crisis in education was such that it was predicted that in few decade to come, there would be insufficient personnel to run essential services of the country. This calls for a serious attention before the nation losses all her skilled labour force. I have categories these problems into two major nutritional factors, the problem of undernutrition and malnutrition. The purpose of this write â?? up is to review the impact of nutrition on the present and past and necessary steps taken to arrest the situation. It will also provide some relevant solutions to the problem.

NUTRITIONAL PROBLEMS:

Nigeria as a country is characterized by two major nutritional problems which includes undernutrition and micronutrient. The rest have little impact and may be reserved for now.
Undernutrition is characterized by inadequate intake of macronutrients. It often starts in utero and may extend throughout the life cycle. It also spans generations. Undernutrition occurs during pregnancy, childhood and adolescence, and has a cumulative negative impact on the birthweight of future babies. A baby who has suffered intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) as a fetus is effectively born malnourished, and has a much higher risk of dying in infancy. The consequences of being born malnourished extend into adulthood. During infancy and early childhood, frequent or prolong infections and inadequate intakes of nutrients (particularly energy, iron, protein, vitamin A, and Zinc) may add to the contribution of IUGR to preschool underweight and stunting. In Nigerian situation, infants after period of exclusive breast feeding are followed up with weaning which consist of pap, akamu, ogi, or koko and is made from maize (Zee Mays), millet (pennisetum americanum), or guinea corn (sorghum spp.). People from low income groups seldom feed meat, eggs, or fish to their infants, because of socio-economic factors, taboos, and ignorance.

In Anambra State, Nigeria, Agu observed that pap contained only 0.5% protein and less than 1% fat, as compared with 9% protein and 4% fat in the original corn. This is usually due to poor processing. Akinele and Omotola investigated the energy and protein intake of infants and children of the low income group. They reported that about one-third to one-half of the infants suffered varying degrees of malnutrition and 10% were wasted and stunted. A more recent Nigerian National Survey conducted by the Demographic and health Survey (DHS) in 1990 placed the proportion of underweight children under five years of age (those below â??2SD weight-for-age ) at 36% including 12% severely underweight. (below -3 SD). The prevalence of stunting (below â??2 SD height â?? for â?? age) was 43% including 22% severe stunting (below â?? 3SD) while the levels of wasting and severe wasting were 9% and 2% respectively. In 1986 in Ondo State, Nigeria, DHS Survey of children aged 6 to 36 months is 28% prevalence for underweight, 32% for stunting, and 7% for wasting.
For adults and older children, it is usually possible to achieve an adequate protein â?? energy intake by increasing the daily intake of starchy foods of low nutrient density. For infants and small children, however, the volume of the traditional diets maybe too large to allow the child to ingest all the food necessary to cover his or her energy needs. A baby aged four to six months would need 920g of corn gruel to meet daily needs of energy (740 Kcal) and protein (13g). This is an impossible task, considering the size of an in factâ??s stomach.

President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo rightly observed that almost half of children ages 7-13 in Nigerian are continue underweight. A lot of children and adults go to bed starved and some take one meal a day which mostly consists of carbohydrates.

Micronutrient is another hard nut to break in the area of nutrition. It is the inadequate intake of key vitamins and minerals. It can be observed both among the rural and urban dwellers in Nigeria. The lack of vitamins and minerals result in irreversible impairment to child physical and mental development. Apart from the indirect effects on the mother, micronutrient deficiencies during pregnancy have serious implications for the developing fetus. Iodine deficiency disorders may cause foetal brain damage or still birth (mental retardation, delayed motor development) and stunting. Iodine deficiency in during foetal development and infancy has been shown to depress intelligence quotient levels by 10-15 points. Foliate deficiency may result in neural tube or other birth defects and preterm delivery, and both iron deficiency anemic and vitamin A deficiency may have significant implications for the future infantâ??s morbidity and mortality risk, vision, cognitive development reduce their ability to concentrate and fully participate in school and socially interact and develop. It is on record that 40% of children under 5 years of age suffer vitamin A deficiency. It is the major cause of preventable, severe visual impairment and blindness in children. The most vulnerable is a high percentage of pre-schoolchildren and pregnant women who are anemic. These two nutrition problem are enormous in Nigeria situation have a great impact in the economy and social life of the country.

THE EFFECT OF NUTRITION ON NATIONAL EDUCATION:

Nutrition has a dynamic and synergistic relationship with economic growth through the channel of education. Behrman cites three studies suggesting that, by facilitating cognitive achievement, child nutrition and schooling can significantly increase wages. In utero, infant and child nutrition affects later cognitive achievement and learning capacity during school years, ultimately increasing the quality of education gained as a child, adolescent and adult. Parental education affects in utero, infant and child nutrition directly through the quality of care given (Principally maternal) and indirectly through increased household income. Human capital development, primarily through education, has received merited attention as a key to economic development, but early childhood nutrition has yet to obtain the required emphasis as a necessary facilitator of education and human capital development.

A recent research shows that early childhood nutrition plays a key role in cognitive achievement, leaning capacity and ultimately, household welfare. For example, protein – energy malnutrition (PEM) deficiency, as manifested in stunting is linked to lower cognitive development and education achievement; low birth weight is linked to cognitive deficiencies; iodine deficiency in pregnant mothers negatively affects the mental development of their children can cause delayed maturation and diminished intellectual performance; iron deficiency can result in impaired concurrent and future learning capacity. This goes a long way to prove that nutrition have a great impact to national education as Nigeria is fully experiencing this ugly impact now and in time to come.

THE EFFECT OF NUTRITION ON HEALTH GROWTH:

A health nation is a wealthy nation. Nutrition has a great impact on every nationâ??s growth especially as we can see in Nigeria situation. Inadequate consumption of protein and energy as well as deficiencies in key micronutrient such as iodine, vitamin A and iron are also key factors in the morbidity and mortality of children and adults. Mal-nourished children also have lifetime disabilities and weakened immune systems.

Moreover, malnutrition is associated with disease and poor health, which places a further burden on household as well as health care systems. Disease affects a personâ??s development from a very early age. Gastro-enteritis, respiratory infections and malaria are the most prevalent and serious conditions that can affect development in the first three years of life. In factions affect childrenâ??s development by reducing their dietary intake; causing a loss of nutrients; or increasing nutrient demand as a result of fever.

Malnutrition also plays a significant role in morbidity among adults. The link between morbidity from chronic disease and mortality, on the one side, and a high body mass index (BMI), on the other has been recognized and analyzed in developed countries primarily for the purpose of determining life insurance risk. A study on Nigerian men and women has shown mortality rates, among chronically energy â?? deficient people who are mildly, moderately and severely underweight to be 40, 140 and 150 percent greater than rates among non-chronically energy â?? deficient people.
A lack of micronutrients also contributes significantly to the burden of disease. Iron deficiency is associated with malaria, intestinal parasitic infections and chronic infections. Chronic iodine deficiency causes goiter in adults and Children and also affects mental health. Vitamin A deficiency significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death from common childhood infections, particularly diarrhoeal diseases and measles. In areas where vitamin A deficiency exists, children are on average 50 percent more likely to suffer from acute measles. A UN report states that improvement in vitamin A status have been reduction in mortality among children aged one to five.

EVALUATION OF THE PRESENT AND PAST EFFORTS:

There have been series of bold step toward solution finding by government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) to eradicate mal nutrition and its reacted effect both in the present and past, though some proved abortive due to bad government and economic dwindling which characterized the 1980s, to trace this chronologically. In 1983, the U.S. Agency for international Development (USAID) began providing assistance to the Nigerian Federal and State Ministries of Health to develop and implement programs in family planning and child survival. There focus was in three areas, but especially in the government and social services area. It will also be focused on catalyzing the growth and leverage of NGOs working at the community and national levels in health care support and democratization. The USAID committed and $135 million to bilateral assistance programs for the period of 1986 to 1996 as Nigeria undertook an initially successful structural Adjustment program, but later abandon it. Plans to commit $150 million in assistance from 1993 to 2000 were interrupted by strains in US â??Nigeria relations over human right abuses, the failed transition to democracy, and a lack of cooperation from the Nigerian Government on anti â?? narcotics trafficking issues. By the mid â?? 1990â??s these problems resulted in the curtailment of USA ID activities that might benefit the military government.

In 1987, The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), under the principal Researcher Dr. Kenton Dashiell, Launched an ambitions effort in Nigeria to combat widespread malnutrition. They encourage using nutritious economical soybeans in everyday food. They further said that soybeans are about 40% protein â?? rich than any of the common vegetable or animal food source found in Africa. With the addition of maize, rice and other cereals to the soybeans, the resulting protein meets the standards of the United Nations Food and Agricultural organization (FAO). Soybeans also contain about 20% oil which is 85% unsaturated and Cholesterol free. Though that is nice program for alleviation of malnutrition started at period, a lot of socio economic thorns hindered its proper function during this period.

The world health organization (WHO) in 1987 estimated that there were 3 million cases of guinea worm in Nigeria about 2 percent of the world total of 140 million cases making Nigeria the nation with the highest number of guinea worm cases. In affected areas, guinea worm and related complications were estimated to be the major cause of work and school absenteeism.

In August 1987, the federal government launched its primary Health care plan (PHC), which President Ibrahim Babangida announced as the cornerstone of health policy. Intended to affect the entire national population, its main stated objectives included accelerated health care personnel development; improved collection and monitoring of health data; ensured availability of essential drugs in all areas of the country; implementation an expanded Program on Immunization (EPI); improved â??nutritionâ?? throughout the country; promotion of health awareness development of a national family health program; and widespread promotion of oral dehydration therapy for treatment of diarrheal disease in infant and children.

The president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 meeting with the president international Union of Nutritional sciences (IUNS) promised to support a better coordination of nutrition activities and programs in Nigeria, he further said that â??the high prevalence of malnutrition is totally unacceptable to this Government and he assured the IUNS president that he would do everything possible to ensure that resources are available to improve household food security greater access to healthcare services and better caring capacity by mothers including supported for breast feeding promotion.

In the 27th September 2005 Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Lunched the Nasarawa State School feeding program at the Laminga primary school. The program is fully funded and administrated by the state of Nasarawa, which makes it a unique model in Africa today. The epoch making event is in fulfillment of one of the promises of combating malnutrition especially among children whom he observed that many at the age of 7 â?? 13 years are underweight. He further promises to reach out about 27 million children during the coming 10 years. The NAFDAC are also helping in arresting the issue of malnutrition through making and adequate evaluation of food and drugs used in the country.

Other international bodies and NGO like the World Bank development fund; the world health organization (WHO); the United Nations agencies (UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP); The African Development Bank; the Ford and Mc Arthur Foundation etc. All of them have contributed their own quarters to the improvement of the nationâ??s health and nutrition.

CONCLUSION:

The greatest Solution to nutrition can be captured in this slogan, â??Catch them youngâ??â??, Children are most vulnerable to malnutrition in Utero and before they reach three years of age, as growth rates are fastest ad they are most dependent on others for care during this period. However, nutrition intervention, such as school feeding program which has started in Nasarawa State among children of school age are also important for strengthening learning capacity. Training and nutrition education is very important. Nutrition education can easily incorporate into primary health care programs. The African Child survival program have reduced the high prevalence of malnutrition in many part of cause and an outcome of under nutrition economic losses from undernutrition includes, as percentages of total losses from all causes: foregone human productivity, 10 â?? 15% ; foregone GDP, % – 10 %.

The government should also use mass media to create necessary attention when needed. The government should also try to reach out to people in the rural areas who have lesser access to variety of government interventions. Moreover, improved nutrition is a particularly powerful antipoverty intervention because it can be achieved at low cost and it has a life long impact. Investment in nutrition is one of the best options for economic growth and better social life.

Real estate has traditionally been an avenue for considerable investment per se and investment opportunity for High Net-worth Individuals, Financial institutions as well as individuals looking at viable alternatives for investing money among stocks, bullion, property and other avenues.

Money invested in property for its income and capital growth provides stable and predictable income returns, similar to that of bonds offering both a regular return on investment, if property is rented as well as possibility of capital appreciation. Like all other investment options, real estate investment also has certain risks attached to it, which is quite different from other investments. The available investment opportunities can broadly be categorized into residential, commercial office space and retail sectors.

Investment scenario in real estate

Any investor before considering real estate investments should consider the risk involved in it. This investment option demands a high entry price, suffers from lack of liquidity and an uncertain gestation period. To being illiquid, one cannot sell some units of his property (as one could have done by selling some units of equities, debts or even mutual funds) in case of urgent need of funds.

The maturity period of property investment is uncertain. Investor also has to check the clear property title, especially for the investments in India. The industry experts in this regard claim that property investment should be done by persons who have deeper pockets and longer-term view of their investments. From a long-term financial returns perspective, it is advisable to invest in higher-grade commercial properties.

The returns from property market are comparable to that of certain equities and index funds in longer term. Any investor looking for balancing his portfolio can now look at the real estate sector as a secure means of investment with a certain degree of volatility and risk. A right tenant, location, segmental categories of the Indian property market and individual risk preferences will hence forth prove to be key indicators in achieving the target yields from investments.

The proposed introduction of REMF (Real Estate Mutual Funds) and REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) will boost these real estate investments from the small investors’ point of view. This will also allow small investors to enter the real estate market with contribution as less as INR 10,000.

There is also a demand and need from different market players of the property segment to gradually relax certain norms for FDI in this sector. These foreign investments would then mean higher standards of quality infrastructure and hence would change the entire market scenario in terms of competition and professionalism of market players.

Overall, real estate is expected to offer a good investment alternative to stocks and bonds over the coming years. This attractiveness of real estate investment would be further enhanced on account of favourable inflation and low interest rate regime.

Looking forward, it is possible that with the progress towards the possible opening up of the real estate mutual funds industry and the participation of financial institutions into property investment business, it will pave the way for more organized investment real estate in India, which would be an apt way for investors to get an alternative to invest in property portfolios at marginal level.

Investor’s Profile

The two most active investor segments are High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) and Financial Institutions. While the institutions traditionally show a preference to commercial investment, the high net worth individuals show interest in investing in residential as well as commercial properties.

Apart from these, is the third category of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). There is a clear bias towards investing in residential properties than commercial properties by the NRIs, the fact could be reasoned as emotional attachment and future security sought by the NRIs. As the necessary formalities and documentation for purchasing immovable properties other than agricultural and plantation properties are quite simple and the rental income is freely repatriable outside India, NRIs have increased their role as investors in real estate

Foreign direct investments (FDIs) in real estate form a small portion of the total investments as there are restrictions such as a minimum lock in period of three years, a minimum size of property to be developed and conditional exit. Besides the conditions, the foreign investor will have to deal with a number of government departments and interpret many complex laws/bylaws.

The concept of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is on the verge of introduction in India. But like most other novel financial instruments, there are going to be problems for this new concept to be accepted.

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) would be structured as a company dedicated to owning and, in most cases, operating income-producing real estate, such as apartments, shopping centres, offices and warehouses. A REIT is a company that buys, develops, manages and sells real estate assets and allows participants to invest in a professionally managed portfolio of properties.

Some REITs also are engaged in financing real estate. REITs are pass-through entities or companies that are able to distribute the majority of income cash flows to investors, without taxation, at the corporate level. The main purpose of REITs is to pass the profits to the investors in as intact manner as possible. Hence initially, the REIT’s business activities would generally be restricted to generation of property rental income.

The role of the investor is instrumental in scenarios where the interest of the seller and the buyer do not match. For example, if the seller is keen to sell the property and the identified occupier intends to lease the property, between them, the deal will never be fructified; however, an investor can have competitive yields by buying the property and leasing it out to the occupier.

Rationale for real estate investment schemes

The activity of real estate includes a wide range of activities such as development and construction of townships, housing and commercial properties, maintenance of existing properties etc.

The construction sector is one the highest employment sector of the economy and directly or indirectly affects the fortunes of many other sectors. It provides employment to a large work force including a substantial proportion of unskilled labor. However for many reasons this sector does not have smooth access to institutional finance. This is perceived as one of the reasons for the sector not performing to its potential.

By channeling small savings into property, investments would greatly increase access to organized institutional finance. Improved activity in the property sector also improves the revenue flows to the State exchequer through-increased sales-tax, octroi and other collections.

Real estate is an important asset class, which is under conventional circumstances not a viable route for investors in India at present, except by means of direct ownership of properties. For many investors the time is ripe for introducing product to enable diversification by allocating some part of their investment portfolio to real estate investment products. This can be effectively achieved through real estate funds.

Property investment products provide opportunity for capital gains as well as regular periodic incomes. The capital gains may arise from properties developed for sale to actual users or direct investors and the income stream arises out of rentals, income from deposits and service charges for property maintenance.

Advantages of investment in real estate

The following are the advantages for investing in Real Estate Investment Schemes

• As an asset class, property is distinct from the other investment avenues available to a small as well as large investor. Investment in property has its own methodology, advantages, and risk factors that are unlike those for conventional investments. A completely different set of factors, including capital formation, economic performance and supply considerations, influence the realty market, leading to a low correlation in price behaviour vis-à-vis other asset classes.

• Historically, over a longer term, real estate provides returns that are comparable with returns on equities. However, the volatility in prices of realty is lower than equities leading to a better risk management to return trade-off for the investment.

• Real estate returns also show a high correlation with inflation. Therefore, real estate investments made over long periods of time provide an inflation hedge and yield real returns

Risks of investment in real estate

The risks involved in investing in real estate are primarily to do with future rental depreciation or general property market risk, liquidity, tenancy risk and property depreciation. The fundamental factors affecting the value of a specific property are:

Location – The location of a building is crucially important and a significant factor in determining its market value. A property investment is likely to be held for several years and the attractiveness of a given location may change over the holding period, for the better or worse. For example, part of a city may be undergoing regeneration, in which case the perception of the location is likely to improve. In contrast, a major new shopping center development may reduce the appeal of existing peaceful, residential properties.

Physical Characteristics – The type and utility of the building will affect its value, i.e. an office or a shop. By utility is meant the benefits an occupier gets from utilizing space within the building. The risk factor is depreciation. All buildings suffer wear and tear but advances in building technology or the requirements of tenants may also render buildings less attractive over time. For example, the need for large magnitude of under-floor cabling in modern city offices has changed the specifications of the required buildings’ space. Also, a building which is designed as an office block may not be usable as a Cineplex, though Cineplex may serve better returns than office space.

Tenant Credit Risk – The value of a building is a function of the rental income that you can expect to receive from owning it. If the tenant defaults then the owner loses the rental income. However, it is not just the risk of outright default that matters. If the credit quality of the tenant were to deteriorate materially during the period of ownership then the sale value will likely be worse than it otherwise would have been.

Lease Length – The length of the leases is also an important consideration. If a building is let to a good quality tenant for a long period then the rental income is assured even if market conditions for property are volatile. This is one of the attractive features of property investment. Because the length of lease is a significant feature, it is important at the time of purchase to consider the length of lease at the point in time when the property is likely to be re-occupied. Many leases incorporate break options, and it is a standard market practice to assume that the lease will terminate at the break point.

Liquidity – All property investment is relatively illiquid to most bonds and equities. Property is slow to transact in normal market conditions and hence illiquid. In poor market conditions it will take even longer to find a buyer. There is a high cost of error in property investments. Thus, while a wrong stock investment can be sold immediately, undoing a wrong real estate investment may be tedious and distress process.

Tax Implications – Apart from income tax which is to be paid on rental income and capital gains, there are two more levies which have to be paid by the investor i.e. property tax and stamp duty. The stamp duty and property tax differ from state to state and can impact the investment returns ones expected from a property.

High Cost Of Investment – Real Estate values are high compared to other forms of investment. This nature of real estate investment puts it out of reach of the common masses. On the other hand, stocks and bonds can now be bought in quantities as small as-one share, thus enabling diversification of the portfolio despite lower outlays. Borrowing for investment in real estate increases the risks further.

Risk Of Single Property – Purchasing a single – property exposes the investor to specific risks associated with the property and does not provide any benefits of diversification. Thus, if the property prices fall, the investor is exposed to a high degree of risk.

Distress Sales – Illiquidity of the real estate market also brings in the risk of lower returns or losses in the event of an urgent need to divest. Distress sales are common in the real estate market and lead to returns that are much lower than the fair value of the property.

Legal Issues – While stock exchanges guarantee, to a certain extent, the legitimacy of a trade in equities or bonds and thus protect against bad delivery or fake and forged shares, no similar safety net is available in the property market. It is also difficult to check the title of a property and requires time, money and expertise.

Overall keeping an eye on market trends can reduce most of these risks. For instance, investing in properties where the rentals are at market rates, also, investing in assets that come with high-credit tenants and looking for lease lock-ins to reuse tenancy risk are simple guidelines to follow.

Future Outlook

The real estate market is witnessing a heightened activity from year 2000 both in terms of magnitude of space being developed as well as rational increase in price. Easy availability of housing loans at much lesser rates has encouraged people who are small investors to buy their own house, which may well be their second home too.

High net worth individuals have also demonstrated greater zeal in investing in residential real estate with an intention of reaping capital appreciation and simultaneously securing regular returns.

In the wake of strong economic growth, real estate market should continue to gain momentum resulting in falling vacancies in CBD areas and more development in suburbs; it is unlikely that commercial property prices will rise or fall significantly, beyond rational reasoning.

As the stamp duty on leave and license agreements has been further reduced, it should further attract to deal in this manner encouraging the investors and the occupiers.

With current budget focusing on infrastructure, it will attract quality tenants and add to market growth. Heighten retail activity will give upward push for space requirement.

Further, the proposed introduction of REMF (Real Estate Mutual Funds) and REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) will boost these real estate investments from the small investors’ point of view. These foreign investments would then mean higher standards of quality infrastructure and hence would change the entire market scenario in terms of competition and professionalism of market players.

Looking forward, it is possible that with evident steps of the possible opening up of the REMF industry and the participation of financial institutions into property investment business, it will pave the way for more organized investment in real estate in India, which would be an apt way for retail investors to get an alternative to invest in property portfolios at all levels. Overall, real estate is expected to offer a good investment alternative to stocks and bonds over the coming years.

When purchasing items either online or on an actual shop, it is best if you already know what you are getting in line with the product you wish to spend your money with. Otherwise, spend a minute or two to perform product review before splurging your money on shopping.

Some may think that purchasing luxury briefcases or leather briefcases are not as complicated as it is. All you have to do is go to the shop, pick which one you like, or heed the suggestions from the salesperson or from your close friend. Wrong. Everything you want to buy ought to be double-checked first.

Shopping and product reviews are twins, they should go together. Going shopping without the aid of product reviews can lead you to a rather disastrous purchasing experience.

Let us go back to purchasing simple luxury briefcases and leather briefcases. Without prior knowledge on the things that you would want to purchase, you may be fooled by fake retailers. It is a known fact that frauds are all over the place. Everyone knows that. What you don’t know is how to determine whether what you are buying is an authentic leather therefore worthy of its skyrocketing price (leathers are expensive). But since you found time to search the net of what you are looking for, together with the information of how big is it, of the marks that can be found on its body, etc at least you have the knowledge of what to look for when buying the item.

Imagine not knowing all of the information. You went home with the package on your hands, thinking that you have in your possession something that is a bit expensive when actually what you had is close to a clone. Same goes with the price. Other stores take advantage of the lack of knowledge of their customers and would give a price way too expensive than the actual one.

With reviews, previous buyers’ comments can help you decide whether your chosen product is worth it or would you rather choose a different one just because most of those who had it are saying it is not worth a penny. Prices, whether actual or approximates, are also posted to give you a hint of how much your target item costs.

If you are planning to purchase not so-cheap articles, surfing the net to look for reliable product reviews may the best thing to do. It is for your own protection still. If you can stay for a while adding friends and posting your hang-ups in social networking sites, guess you will also allot a time for this as well.

Product reviews are just safety measures a buyer should take seriously so that their money will not go to waste not to mention not be fooled by fakes masquerading themselves as store owners or retailers. Checking online will not take a lot of time. Shopping may be good, but it will be better once you are confident that what you have paid for is actually the same thing you always wanted to have and not just a poor copy of it.

On the role of ethics in personal development and the need to develop a comprehensive psychology of ethics

Ethics is a very relevant area in the study of psychology as ethical values on what is wrong and what is right relate directly to an individual’s moral standing in society. Our ethical standards could closely associate with our moral standards although morality is more individualistic and moral standards could vary between cultures, societies and religions. Ethical standards are however more general as they depend on our basic human nature and human values and ethical values are more human and thus more about psychological dynamics than the moral values. Yet ethics is considered as a branch of moral philosophy

In a study of the Psychology of Ethics it is important to distinguish between ethics and morality and a Psychology of Ethics would be more about values of being human whereas Moral Psychology specifically deals with questions of morality. Moral psychology or psychology of morality is thus considered a part of the broader psychology of ethics. Ethics deals with morality as well as questions of right and wrong, moral and immoral, virtue and vice, good and evil and responsibilities of being human.

Ethical philosophy also shows how ethical judgments and ethical statements or attitudes are formed. Ethics was studied in philosophy from the days of Socrates and Aristotle and was related to self realization about the needs of the human condition. Doing the right thing at the right time and in the right manner for the right reason is considered virtuous and ethical. Yet a psychology of ethics would involve more than just understanding moral values and appreciation of the human condition. The psychology of ethics is about our basic beliefs and attitudes and the formation of these beliefs as also how our value systems are shaped in childhood through moral development. Psychoanalysis and social and developmental psychology could use a range of theories to explain ethical development in children and adults.

Freud has used the concepts of Id, Ego and Superego to suggest that the superego serves as a moral filter and helps individuals to decide what is right and what is wrong. The id, ego and superego are described as the three parts of the psychic apparatus with the id being the instincts and base desires, the ego is the realistic part that balances the desires and the superego is that which monitors and controls and the part that has a strict moral dimension. The superego is thus the part of the psyche that deals moral values and triggers us towards moral justification. This means we seek an ethical explanation of behavior or tend to consciously or unconsciously behave in a certain way because of the underlying ethical needs.

Apart from psychoanalysis that would explain ethics mainly as a mechanism controlled and directed by the Superego so that all dark unethical desires are somehow filtered, ethical development is also explained with social and moral psychology.

In social psychology belonging to a group would mean following basic standards of conformity and conformity determines the extent to which social behavior would be in accordance with what the society accepts or considers as standard. Standard behavior would in fact be closely related to ethical behavior thus within the context of social psychology, ethics is about conformity and doing what is right according to social standards or values. If we consider developmental psychology, individual needs are met through social conformity as following ethical standards and engaging in ethical behavior would be continually rewarding to an individual and would encourage or reinforce ethical standards. Ethics fulfils our social and recognition needs and our moral needs of regulating our desires. So psychoanalysis would consider ethics as the moral aspect of our psychic structure and according to social psychology theories ethics is essential to group behavior and conformity as ethics according to social theories is an important social developmental process in our interaction. Some of the questions that would be central to the psychology of ethics are the stages related to the development of ethics. This would be similar to moral development although ethical values and beliefs would be distinct and unlike general morality can be shaped even at old age.

The slight distinction between ethics and morality apart from the fact that ethics is a part of broader moral psychology is that ethics could be changeable or related to attitudes that may change with time. For example euthanasia is an ethical decision and doctors or nurses who face such a situation in their profession depends on their ethical stance and this could be affected by what they have learnt in their profession, their years of experience and their personal upbringing or value systems.

In some cases, circumstances could determine ethical choices as also social systems and individuals and their thoughts are influenced by others in ethical development providing the social theory of ethics. However specific theories such as cognitive dissonance theory could explain ethics as a change of behavior or attitudes through discomfort with a specific view of things. If certain actions are basically incongruent with attitudes held then the individuals will either have to change their actions or their attitudes and thus personal ethics would also change. Evolutionary psychology also explains our moral and ethical development as when we are constantly rewarded by society for certain behavior, we would naturally consider these as positive and this would then be socially acceptable and ethical. Behaviors rewarded over time are finally seen as ethical and ideal.

The psychology of ethics will have to encompass theories from psychoanalysis, evolutionary psychology and social and developmental psychology to provide a comprehensive understanding of moral development and changes in the development of ethics. Ethics would be affected by the unchangeable element of basic values that we hold and the changeable element of experience as ethics are values shaped and even changed by experience.

The stages of ethical development will have the general structure of social and moral development as individuals go through guilt in childhood (of mischief etc.) through group conformity and learns what is right and what is wrong. This is developed further in adolescence which is marked by identity crisis (as suggested by psychologists including Erikson) and ethics is formed in young adulthood as part of this identity consolidation. When a 20 year old man says to himself ‘I believe cheating is wrong’ he is suggesting that his sense of ethics is connected to his sense of identity. Finally in middle and late adulthood experiential changes may lead to change of ethics and the final stage of reflection and evaluation in which there is evaluation and the need to defend one’s own ethical beliefs and attitudes. The stages of ethical development could be thus given as guilt-group conformity-identity crisis- identity consolidation-experiential change-evaluation or defense.

Psychoanalysis and the role of superego could suggest why ethics are formed in humans and the general interplay between the psychic structure and the formation of ethics. Evolutionary psychology shows the interplay of the biological structure or human body systems and ethics formation and suggest how ethics are formed over many years of evolution and social psychology shows the general interplay of social structures and formation of ethics or value systems and highlights the basis of ethics in society telling us what ethics are formed according to the demands of society. Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality with an emphasis on social systems could also provide insights on the study of the formation of attitudes, values and ethics.

Along with the social, developmental, psychoanalytic and evolutionary dimensions of ethics, it is important to delineate the types of ethical decisions for example ethics from a legal perspective, ethics from a moral perspective, ethics from an educational perspective, ethics from medical perspective and so on. Business ethics, legal ethics, medical ethics and all branches of ethics will have to consider the psychological stages of ethical development with social, psychoanalytic, evolutionary theories.

The holistic model of medicine cannot be imagined without iridology and nutrition. In fact, iridology and nutrition are heavily interrelated and complement each other.

When iridology analysis reveals inherent weakness in the digestive system or toxicity in elimination organs, it precisely means that the body’s nutrition is suffering. On the other hand, iridology analysis when provided after the prescribed nutrition program allows to assess the success of this program and to understand what else this patient needs to do to bring his mind and body back to balance.

Detoxification is a key process linking iridology and nutrition together. Successful detoxification program dramatically improves nutrition and iridology analysis could be a measure of this success. It also could be the other way around. Iridology analysis can help to understand what kind of nutritional requirements the body needs and based on this knowledge, a doctor can develop a proper nutritional program to correct the nutritional deficiencies of the patient.

There are three important zones in irises that we need to analyze to assess the nutrition level of the body. The first one is the humoral or assimilation zone. This zone situated just outside the digestive reflexes and gives valuable information about the normalcy or pathology of the digestive process, specifically about how food is transported and distributed. Any congestive signs in this zone could affect digestion and absorption, in turn affecting nutrition.

The second important iris zone in nutrition assessment is the utilization zone. This zone shows the distribution and use of the nutrients inside of the body. Here all nutrients are put to use for all major organs. Any signs of blockage and congestion point out the disruptions of this gentle process and ultimately suggest poor nutrition.

And the third iris zone we need to analyze for nutritional assessment is, of course, the elimination zone, which includes the skin and the lymphatic system. The analysis of this zone shows how effectively and quickly the body system can eliminate toxins, residues, and metabolic waste. Any signs of weakness in this area also point to trouble with the body’s nutrition.

Most real estate professionals flunk within the first few months of trying to create a business enterprise out of real estate investing. The trick begins with a beneficial marketing plan and then practicing a disciplined effort to the marketing plan on a even basis. There is a lot more required to succeed, and you will encounter more tips, tricks and unique real estate marketing techniques in this article.

Is there anyone in your town that doesn’t recognize that you buy homes or that you are a real estate professional? If so, you aren’t performing as well at marketing or rendering real estate investing information about your real estate investing business enterprise as well you could be. I find out real estate investors telling all the time that they aren’t receiving seller phone calls and subsequently aren’t receiving the leads they need to find the real estate business deals they require to earn a living. I say increase the marketing and the sellers will Call. Not only that but if you are canvassing the world (or at least your area) that you buy problem real estate holdings, eventually you will be acknowledged for what you do and sellers will telephone you strictly on your reputation. this is what is called cost effective marketing.

One real estate professional was in a home, garden and hardware store a few calendar weeks ago and went past a couple of guys in an aisle. A conversation was heard while he walked by, I overheard one state, “That is the real estate man”. Now I had never known either of those men and have no idea who they are but that experience lets me acknowledge that I must be doing my business at letting the world to recognize my business is buying real estate in that area. There are many ways to let the area know that you are in the real estate investing profession and getting information out there that helps people realize you buy foreclosures, distressed real estate, do real estate short sales and have got a lot of real estate information and experience to flip properties. Some methods are cheap and some are more expensive. You are going to have to attempt many things and acquire a feel for what brings about for you the best results in your region to get the calls you require to transact real estate deals. I have tried many forms of marketing methods for real estate commercial enterprises of all varieties and have come back to a few that consistently create enough leads for me to purchase the 2 or 3 real estate holdings and houses I want to purchase every single calendar month. They are as follows:

Classified Ads

The classified advertisement in the most prominent newspaper in the region is by far the heaviest producer of leads for local real estate investors that I have determined. I understand it is costly and I understand there are instances it does not generate phone calls but if you are going to persist in the real estate investing business sector just place it in there and leave it. Get used to it making up part of the toll of performing the real estate business. You may expend about $350.00 a calendar month for my 4 line ad and that is the commercial range. I’d consider running it 365 days a year to constantly cue everyone that you are a real estate professional and you purchase real estate in their region.

Over the past few or so years I have watched many “real estate investor” ads come and go. Most folks put them in for a many or even just a couple of calendar weeks and then remove them or try just placing them in on the week ends. Real Estate Marketing just simply does not work this way. Put your real estate ad in the paper and leave it in there. It will more than make up for the price, trust me, and you will see after you finish your first deal. If you are distressed because there are real estate investors ads from many other investors in there, don’t be. They are there because they are getting responses. Just be sure to and actually answer your cell phone and keep it on all the time otherwise you’ll be squandering money.

When a fresh ad for real estate investor information shows up in my newspaper, I will always call on the advertisement. 9 times out of 10 I get a message device or answering service. This is a significant turn off to somebody who needs a resolution to their real estate trouble now. They want to speak to a person who can quiet their anxiety over their current issues with their home and tell them everything is going to be ok. Your answering device won’t do that, they need a human being. As for what to put in the advertising, you will have to work on this one. I have tried various idea and the one I have now hast not changed for over 4 years. I haven’t switched it because I get responses. My ad is:

We Pay CASH FOR HOMES In 24 Hours! Any area, price or condition Call xxx-xxx-xxxx

Now I have had other real estate professionals jockey for place and interchange their ad copy to be leading of mine in the column but it has not made whatsoever difference, at least as far as I can discern. Don’t worry about those things, just get the advertising out there and leave it. It could possibly take a bit of time, perhaps a several weeks to get going but sellers will telephone. As soon as you have your classified advertising running, then you should start working on your other marketing techniques right away. If you only go through one idea a week, within a few weeks or a couple of months you will have a significantly powerful real estate purchasing process.

Ads in the “Freebie” Papers

You might also run advertisements in the freebie papers in your local region or the region you want to conduct real estate investment deals. These are the “Thrifty Nickel”, or whatever they are named in your region. We run both a column ad and a display in this newspaper and expend about $175.00 or so a calendar month for these ads. They pull in seller leads reasonably well and have always rationalized the costs. Remember that these guys are usually open to talking terms on your rates and you will probably get a better rate if you commit to a longer advertising agreement.

Bandit Signs or Road Signs.

Bandit signs are great. They are some of the best lead producing tools around. I have yet to put out a bunch and not be bombed with calls right after I arranged my marketing. I just don’t position them out that often. I might place out a few to a half dozen or so a calendar month and the ones that continue and don’t get taken down continue to pull in phone calls. At an average price of less than $4.00 per sign, they are one of the greatest real estate marketing and advertising values available. Check the net for sign manufacturers for discount signage costs. I use 18 x 24 signs and set them at high traffic crossings around the town I wish to purchase houses in.

I also position a sign in the front yard immediately after purchasing any house. I have purchased several homes in the same regions as a result of marketing this way.

You can either use wood stakes or the wire stakes with your signs. I like the wood stakes because they do not bend like the wire ones, in addition, they are more less expensive and you can find just about any reasonably sized stick of wood or stake at your local hardware store for a really good value. Just get long lengths and trim down to fit. Then just nail the sign to it with the roofing nails with the orange or green plastic tops or you can use screws. There are many variants on what the wording on the sign can say. Keep in mind that traffic will be moving so you want to keep your message short and simple so it may be read. Plus your telephone number must be big, large and easy to read.

If you search the sign advertisement content, you will discover that it is same resemblance my paper ad. I like to brand my advertising because I believe that helps with identification that is probably why the two guys noticed me as a Real Estate Professional..You want to have contrast, so a white sign with dark blue letters usually is the best draw. Some folks swear by black on yellow or black on orange. Again, I say it’s not what or how you say it rather simply that you’re out there marketing and placing out signs that counts. You’ll build a ‘brand image over time if you stay logical with your real estate marketing endeavors. When dealing with bandit signs, be sure that your local code enforcement laws are aware of them. In some areas or counties they can lax on them but a few miles down the road in another county or city, they can be super strict and will ticket you in a minute, pull the signs down and lead off looking for your next posters to go after you again. Some retail merchants in high tax areas can’t put out any A board signage without having them sized and then fined.

Flyers and Bulletin Board Postings

Flyers and related collateral are another cheap way to get the word out that you are a real estate investor buy property, foreclosures or distressed properties. Just create a flyer with any one of the free on-line flyer software internet sites telling people that your are a real estate investor and how to get in touch with you. Make copies for few cents apiece and you have some really inexpensive real estate marketing and advertising. It really is that simple. Then place these flyers on every bulletin board in your Town or region you would like to buy your property, foreclosure or distressed home.. I also recommend that you place some of them in those plastic sheet shielders so the rain won’t ruin them and put them up on phone poles around neighborhoods I like to buy property in.. While not as prominent as the bandit signs, on poles actually in the neighbourhood they still attract phone calls. I carry a file with me in my automobile and put them up whenever I stop at a grocery store or major discount shop or really wherever. Some of the other area to put them are:

· Laundromats
· Taped to the inside of telephone Booths.
· On the counter of any business organization that will let you place them at.
· Bulletin boards at any local or major rebate store (lots of traffic)
· Grocery store bulletin boards
· Fax to Mortgage agents, call first
· Fax to Real Estate Agents, call first and they may get a lot of these.
· Take them Door to Door in target regions
· Employment centre Bulletin board
· County Courthouse or public office Bulletin board

These are just a few illustrations. Any place that will allow you to set one is a good place. You can never let too many people know that you are a real estate investor and are in the foreclosure market.

Imprinted and/or Promotional Items

Optimum Real Estate Investor Marketing Ideas – These no-lose ideas are sure to get you top hits on leads and calls for your Real Estate Investing occupation.

These are some of my favourites and most fun. While they are not the top producers of leads or the least costly, they will sure position you apart from the average investor.

Pen Knives – These tiny Swiss army knives are the neatest things. They are actually key chains etched with your content, mine being: WE BUY HOMES – All cash or take over payments within 24 hours! Call xxx-xxx-xxx I assure if you give one of these to somebody they will hold on to it it and if they conceive of selling, they will think of you. They are about $1.75 each.

Key Chains – I give these to all my buyers with the keys to their new house on them and leave them all over the place. They come in the shape of a house or #1 or whatever style you like and have your message on them. You can guess what mine says. Cost – about $. 25 cents apiece.

Pens – I use these all the time. Whenever I sign a sales receipt or anything I leave my pen. I cannot tell you how many outcries I have gotten off of these things and since I often need one, I always possess one to give away. My attorney even has a supply on his closing table. I possess two types printed. One for sellers says “We Buy Homes!” and one for buyers says “Everyone Qualifies”. Cost – about $.26 cents per unit.

Coin Holders – These you hardly find anymore so everyone is surprised when I have them. I leave these things everywhere. Mine are bright yellow with blue letters and my message. Cost – about $.30 cents apiece.

I leave all of these promotional items everywhere, on the top of gas pumps, on end-cap displays in grocery stores and in department stores. I look at it this way, if I give away 100 pens, 50 knives and 50 coin holders a month, that is only a little over $100 bucks a month. That is still cheap advertising. And with the money you can make in a real estate deal, it is ‘no cost’ marketing strategy. You can get any of these promotional advertising products at many major promotion marketing manufacturer, and you can find companies online as well.

Because real estate prices have dropped quite a bit, the potential commissions that real estate agents and brokers could earn have also dropped. But the drop in commissions can be more than offset by the amount of properties that can be sold. And getting quality real estate leads is one of the keys to making this a reality for real estate professionals. This is because there are so many more properties on the market now than there were before the bubble burst.

The rise in the number of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages has increased so much that a very large number of them have decided that they cannot afford to stay in their homes. They would rather sell their home and buy a comparable home for a much lower price, and take the loss so that they can improve their cash flow situation by having a lower mortgage payment each month. And since there is no shortage of properties to buy, these people had no problem finding a suitable home for a good price.

And another result of the rise in available properties is that more and more people are becoming first-time homeowners. Since prices on homes are falling, more and more people are able to afford a home for the same amount they are currently paying in rent. So the logical choice for these people is to buy a house rather than continuing to rent.

These factors all lead to one thing – a higher need for real estate agents to help the buying and selling of all of these properties. Therefore, even though prices have fallen, the quantity of available properties, buyers, and sellers has raised which more than makes up for the lower prices in terms of how much a given real estate agent could make in the current real estate market. And as we all know, the more clients a real estate agent has, the more properties they’ll sell and the more money they’ll make.

The problem comes in when a real estate agent has already gone through their current client list. The best way for them to get more clients is to somehow obtain more real estate leads. Not only do they need more leads, they need high quality leads if they are going to be successful in converting a high number of them into clients who actually follow through on buying and/or selling one or more properties.

So how can you get more real estate leads? There are of course many different ways. These include buying them from an agency that offers them, advertising, subscribing to lead generation websites, developing and keeping current your own real estate website that draws potential

clients to it, and best of all by getting them through your own network. There are undoubtedly other ways of generating real estate leads as well, but these are the most common methods – all of which have proven to work to a certain degree.

One of the easiest ways to get real estate leads is by purchasing them. There are companies whose sole purpose is to find people who want to buy or sell a property. They then sell this information to people who are willing to pay for it. So if you are a real estate agent looking for real estate leads and either don’t have the time to find your own, or simply don’t want to, then this may be a good option for you.

There are two different major ways to do this. You can purchase the real estate leads from a company as a set of data that you will get in the form of a list or spreadsheet. Then you will need to start sifting through them and using the data available to qualify and categorize them yourself. And after that, it’s time to start making calls to find out they are valid leads or not.

The other way of purchasing real estate leads is by subscribing to a real estate lead generator website that will send you much smaller lists of leads on a regular basis. This can be nice because the information is likely to be much more current than buying a single very large list of leads. But this also means that there are fewer to work with so it doesn’t give you as much freedom in terms of choosing who to contact first.

Purchasing real estate leads or subscribing to a lead generation website can also be expensive. This can be a very bad thing since the whole intent of buying leads is to find clients, sell properties, and make commissions, if the leads that you buy don’t turn into commissions. In that case, not only did you not sell any properties (or many properties), but you wasted money on worthless information, and you wasted time contacting worthless leads when you could have been working on finding good real estate leads instead.

Another way to generate real estate leads is by advertising. If you are a real estate agent, broker, or business person, advertising your services may be a good way to generate real estate leads. This type of lead generation is great because rather than you doing the work to find people who want to buy or sell a property, the tables are turned and they come looking for you instead.

In addition to having people try to find you instead of you trying to find them, there is another benefit to advertising to generate real estate leads. The people who are trying to find you are already definitely interested in buying or selling a property. This means that you don’t have to worry about whether they are going to turn out to be qualified leads or not, because they definitely will be.

A similar way to generate real estate leads by advertising which can be even more effective than simply advertising on a billboard or in the paper is by setting up your own real estate website. Websites are surprisingly inexpensive to have hosted, and having one developed for you doesn’t have to be expensive either. And if you learn the basics of website development, you’ll be able to maintain it by yourself after it’s been set up so that you can always keep it current.

The reasons to keep your website current cannot be understated. First, you have to keep it updated with the properties you are trying to sell so that the people who visit your website will have something to look at – and since this list of properties will be changing frequently as your client list grows and changes, you’ll need to change your website often to incorporate the new properties and eliminate the ones that are no longer available.

A second reason for keeping your website updated on a regular basis your page rank will grow higher. Search engines use a number of factors to determine how relevant they are to certain keywords, and where to display them in a list of search results. And one of the biggest things that moves a website toward the top of the list is it’s page rank, which is greatly affected by how active and how current the website is. So the more often you update your website, the higher its page rank will be, the higher it’ll show up in search results related to real estate keywords, and the more visitors you’ll get to your site.

Once you get visitors to your site, you’ll be getting the exposure you want to potential clients for free. They can stay on your site for as long as they want to and look at as few or as many properties as they want to. And you don’t have to do anything in order to help them. In fact there could be thousands of people all on your website at the same time. That is something that you would not likely ever have the opportunity to do in person. This phenomenon is what is known as leverage, and leverage is what can turn a small business into a fortune 500 business in short order when managed correctly.

The best way to do real estate lead generation also happens to be one of the most difficult – at least in the beginning. The method of finding leads is by building a very large network, and using it. This is one of the best ways to get leads because it is one of the most surprisingly effective ways. But unfortunately, it’s also one of the more difficult ways to start, and takes a while to yield significant results.

The first thing you’ll need to do is to start building your network. And it’s not that you just need to start building it, you need to intentionally focus on building your network each end every day, no matter where you are or who you’re talking to. This is because for most people, networking does not come naturally.

If you are like most people, you are probably somewhat shy and don’t make it a point to intentionally meet and talk to new people on a regular basis. But if you want to build a network, you’ll have to do exactly that. This is something that can come as a challenge to say the least, both emotionally and technically, but it is well worth the effort in the long run.

It can be emotionally difficult because a large part of building a large network is dealing with rejection. And if you want to build a large network quickly, you’ll have to deal with a lot of rejection each and every day. Too many people, being rejected is taken personally and it ends up wearing them down so that they eventually give up before they gain the benefits that building a large network provides. But if you can learn how to not take rejection personally, you’ll succeed where so many others have given up and failed as a result.

And networking to generate real estate leads can be done almost anywhere. When you need to put some gas in your car, park on the other side of the pump from someone who’s already there and try to strike up a conversation where you’ll be able to tell them that you’re in the real estate business and can help them or anyone else they know who may be looking to buy or sell. And if you’re really serious about it, you may want to only get $10 or some other small amount of gas at a time so that you’ll need to go to the gas station more often and have more opportunities to network.

You can also build your network by meeting new people at any other place. You could talk to someone at the grocery store, library, church, waiting in line at the bank, or anywhere you are around other people for more than a few minutes at a time and starting a conversation wouldn’t be too awkward. It can be done anywhere, with just about anyone, at almost any time. And the more dedicated you are to it, the faster you’ll be able to grow your network and the better off you’ll be in the long run.

Some of the best ways to network are by talking to the people you already know. These are people who are already in your network, and you can use them to help you grow your network even larger. The most obvious way is to simply ask them if they are interested in buying or selling a property in the near future, and to keep you in mind if they are.

But another way to help you grow your network is to ask them who they know that may be interested in buying or selling a property. You are basically asking them for real estate leads using different words. You could ask them for the names and numbers of people who they know who may be interested in buying or selling a property, or you could ask them to give your contact information to the people they have in mind when you ask them that question.

It’s a great idea to have business cards with your contact information made up when you’re networking. That way you won’t have to rely on people’s memories which are definitely not the most reliable things when compared to something they can simply read from a card. Cards on the other hand make it so that the person you are giving your contact information to doesn’t have to rely on their memory, and it puts forth a more professional image as well which can only benefit you.

Real estate values have taken a dive and one of the results has led to there being many, many more properties on the market now compared to before the economy took a dive in 2008. This means that even though the prices are lower, the higher quantity of properties on the market make it possible to buy and sell more of them and make more money in commissions as a result which will more than make up for the decreased individual property values.

I order to sell more properties you must have more clients. And to get more clients, you need to have more real estate leads. These real estate leads can be generated in a variety of different ways, all of which can be useful to real estate professionals. Having reliable leads will definitely result in more clients, more sales, and more money made in commissions. Purchasing them, advertising for them, or getting them from your network is all great ways go get leads that all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Pick the one that will work best for you, and you’ll be on your way to making more money through real estate in less time that you think.

Shopping online is a pleasure when you get what you want and with significant savings. Finding the best quality items for the lowest possible spend is a challenging task. By turning your focus on comparison shopping and taking out time to carefully assess the product reviews, you make sure that you get the best value for the money spent. Ask any avid online shopper and he/she will tell you the benefits of reading product or service reviews before you go hit the virtual stores!

In any shopping experience, online or when you walk into a physical store, one of the best approaches of arriving at a great bargain is of comparing different products and prices. Internet makes comparison shopping a breeze. Open an online shopping portal and begin your product search by identifying your choice of brands and comparing notes on the various product specs & prices. For instance, if you are looking to buy a good laptop, comparison sites can bring great deals and bargains within your reach. View the laptop images, specifications and dimensions, and arm yourself with all of the information you need for deciding on the one closest to your needs. Make sure you also check the online store’s warranties, return policies, service records and customer ratings.

Comparison shopping also helps you to use discount coupons wisely. One might think that the more shopping sites he refers for price comparison, the better results he gets. It is true to an extent but price comparison is certainly not the only idea behind comparison shopping. Reading product reviews from customers, who have already been using the product, also guide you in making the right choice. Blogs and forum posts have evolved as valuable sources of information. Read up forums and buying guides where you get the latest professional and consumer advice based on usage experience.

Useful tips that make you among the first to know about the best deals:

There are many ways of finding the best online deals. Since there are so many places from where a prospective buyer can know about the money saving deals, each one has his own way of staying up-to-date of the buzz.

Subscribe to merchant newsletters

Sign up for personal newsletters at your favourite online store and you will be informed periodically of the latest deals on offer at the store. Be the first one to know about the exclusive coupon codes, festive season discounts, freebies and the attractive contests.

Outlet Stores are also available online

Outlet stores often make available great money saving deals on your favourite products. You also find many of such stores online. It’s a good idea to visit them frequently if you wish to lay hands on otherwise expensive products at unbelievable discounts. Keep in mind to act fast when you find a good deal because such stores usually stock limited quantities which could run out if you delay.

Join Deal Forums – Express, Suggest and Exchange Ideas!

Connect with the members of shopping blogs and forums and you will know of the latest online deals. Look for the best deals posted by the members in the forums and purchase the items at discounted prices.

Special Deal Search Engines

Search for deals in specific search engines. A bargain site is a place where members post internet links to great products. You can easily grab the best deals for yourself through these specific search engines. This way comparison shopping becomes as easy as the click of a button! Compare the price of your favourite product on different websites and find the same quality at a cheaper price. These sites are usually updated several times a day so it’s always worth going back to them.

Internet shopping is perfect when you know what you want. You’re sure to find some important advice that you can take along to your next online shopping trip. Remember each person has different likes and opinions, so try to first understand what is most important to you, and a simplified shopping experience will ensue.

Quite evidently, the very best basic nutrition is absorbed through cellular nutrition. What a joy to hear the excitement in the voice and see the astonishment in the eyes of a person who has started a cell activated nutrition program! The reaction is typical enough that it’s no wonder certain specific programs like these are among the world’s most popular. Yet the happiness and exuberance expressed, about the newly discovered energy level and overall sense of well being that comes with them, is always unique and gratifying.

What is Cellular Nutrition?

Cellular Nutrition is the principle that would be adhered to by a person seeking the very best solid basic nutrition program. It’s been found that in order to be genuinely effective, nutrition must start and stay at the cellular level. This makes great sense because we, our bodies, are made up of trillions of cells, each with its own special function and basic nutritional needs to perform that function. So, it becomes of prime importance not only to find out what each of these specialized cells nutritional requirements are, but then to make sure the correct specific nutrition is delivered to each cell and be properly absorbed by each cell. The Medical Advisory Board researches for the exact best ingredients and calculates the nutrient ratios in the very best supplement nutrition programs available. These programs produce a kind of nutritional efficiency that is optimal nutrition for each and every cell in the body!

Who Should Use One of These Nutrition Programs?

A cellular nutrition program should be part of everyone’s daily regimen. The benefits are immense. Millions of people who’ve tried these programs have reported that they feel better than ever with the greatest energy ever. Some report they’ve never felt or even looked better in their entire life. Most doctor appointments are made by persons complaining of fatigue. The increased incidences of obesity have been associated with an increase in the occurrences of colon, prostate, and breast cancer, and also heart disease. Its been observed that these existing conditions frequently are nutritional issues and that often better eating habits and/or weight loss through optimal nutrition can be a key to the solution for these health challenges. While these programs are not to be considered a ‘cure all’ or medicine for any particular ailment, the results of millions of people who’ve dealt with these health challenges and tried cellular nutrition speak for themselves! Succinctly put, cellular nutrition is a life wellness path choice that promotes metabolic improvement so as to enable all body systems to function at their peak best.

How to Get Started On Cellular Nutrition

Because so many ailments are the result of diets containing foods deficient of nutrition like pre-packaged or fast food meals, it is strongly recommended that you replace those meals with a diet promoting cellular nutrition absorption of healthy nutrients. Three items are highly recommended as a simple basic nutrition foundation that will lead to excellent nutrient absorption at the cellular level:

1) A healthy nutritional meal with at least 9 grams of 98% digestible protein. (Some protein shakes are among the most technically advanced foods available today)
(2) A multivitamin with micro nutrition from numerous vitamins, minerals and botanical herbs.
(3) A cell activating supplement formula for repairing and reawakening the villi in the small intestine, increasing the nutrient absorption through cell activation for increased vitamin, mineral and food assimilation and intake effectiveness. These three kinds of product provide the foundation of an excellent cellular nutrition absorption program for the body’s essential basic nutritional needs.

In conclusion, should you be looking into the efficiency of nutrition and what it can mean to your health challenges and goals, or even if you just want to look and feel your best with great energy, check into a cellular nutrition program. You will see clearly that, for our bodies, the very healthiest and best basic nutrition is cellular nutrition.