A Guide On Tax Deeds

Taking the time to learn about the different rules and regulations that govern the sale and purchase of tax deeds can keep you from making some unwise investments. You need to make sure that any property or real estate you purchase is one that is going pay off and a significant amount of profit in the long run.
Anytime you happen to come across a real estate listing or advertisement about properties that are being sold because there are delinquent taxes owed, it is the deed to the property that is being sold. The ownership papers to properties that previous owners have neglected to pay the tariffs are called tax deeds.
Anytime a property owner doesn't pay his or her local property taxes, the city or local government can essentially seize the property and sell it by making it available to the public for anyone to buy at auction. Many smart investors tend to take advantage of property auctions since it allows them to purchase real estate at prices that are well below the current market values. Some investors also use this as a convenient means to "flip" property by selling it for more money than what they paid.
There is no way a person can legally neglect to pay their financial obligations on their home and expect to remain the legal owner of the establishment. When the owner defaults, then the local government can seek legal recourse to get the money they are owed by holding an auction. The city government issues tax deeds for each and every property that ends up on the auction block. Of course, even if the highest bidder wins a specific property, there is still a redemption period in which the original owner can regain possession of their property by paying off what is owed.
Auctions that have real estate up for grabs are advertised by the respective city or jurisdiction in which the property is located. Prior to the actual auction, the properties are listed and the information is made available to the general public. This gives anyone that is interested enough time to get all the information they need for any tax deeds they are interested in.
Keep in mind that the opening bid for any property in the auction is going to be comprised of the delinquent tariffs, any accumulated interest, listing fees and other costs that may have been assessed by the county. Regardless of the total, the actual total is much lower than the market value of the property that is being sold.
Many people, who invest in these types of properties, do so because there is a significant chance that the original owner will come up with what is owed plus the interest and pay it off. When the original owner decides to take advantage of the redemption period and purchase back their property, they have to pay the person who holds the tax deeds the delinquent fees and interest. Usually an investor can gain as much as fifty percent of their initial investment by investing in certain types of properties.

Storage and Transportation of Dangerous Goods

You must store and transport dangerous goods in specialized containers that are manufactured to certain specifications. Packaging of such goods must be done in compliance with the state regulations as mispackaging or another error can lead to a disaster.

Packing dangerous goods is an issue significantly different from the packing of normal goods. Packing and shipping regulations are stringent and you have to take care that these are followed in both word and spirit. A slip up would attract harsh penalties or severe consequences to others and you will certainly be not pleased with that.

There is a long list of items that are classed as dangerous goods and all these have distinctly different regulations regarding storage and transport, so you need to very sure what rules you have to follow. It could be a truck carrying hazardous chemicals or a ship transporting radioactive material. You must know exactly how to deal with these scenarios and ensure total compliance with the law.

As you do not transport such goods every day, you must double check the regulations and, if you have any confusion, you must consult with the appropriate authorities. Usually, you would need a special license to store or transfer these goods.

Goods that need special arrangements are usually segregated in three categories - Explosives & highly combustible items, Chemicals, Medical items and nuclear items. You need containers with certain specifications for storing such items. These will ensure that dangerous goods can be transported with ease with little or no security or safety risks as long as the specifications are met.

Containers used for the transportation of hazardous materials are hazmat boxes. These come in convoluted urethane foam for the protection of fragile products shipped within a corrugated box, ensuring that the dangerous goods are stored and transported safely.

The packing of such goods must also be done by trained personnel. They will know how to handle such materials minimizing the associated risks. When done by untrained people, handling and packing such materials will always carry a higher risk.

Separate containers come for storing different kinds of materials. For instance, there are innovative and flexible solutions having a variety of inner containers for storing lab samples. However, you must make sure that these fall within the required maximum gross weight of inner packaging as well as gross weight of the completed package to ensure overall safety.

There are two types of packaging styles - Combination and Single packaging. Combination packaging involves one or more types packaged together, inserting cushions in between for proper transportation. Single packaging, on the other hand, involves only one container.

Get your containers from vendors who have sufficient packaging experience in design, testing and customization of the packaging of dangerous goods. They will sell these using tags like UN approved packaging, DOT approved packaging, etc. Procure the containers from a manufacturer who has appropriate certification. It is in your best interest to avoid

Using Humour for Persuasion in Business

The ability to introduce humour appropriately into a business conversation is a vastly underrated skill. There are two main reasons for this:

1. People confuse 'comedy' with 'humour'; so they believe adding humour to a business interaction requires them to act like a comedian. And, they think if they get it wrong they'll look like a clown.
2. People under-estimate the power of intelligently used humour; and, so, are less willing to commit the effort to apply it. They believe it is inappropriate or, worse still, disrespectful to try to be funny in a business conversation.

Using humour does not mean doing a poor impersonation of your favourite comedian... for your client's sake - please don't do it! Humour (especially business humour) and comedy serve completely different purposes. Comedy exists to make people laugh - sometimes drunk people. If they don't laugh it fails. Humour in business is used as you might use soy sauce or chilli - it's the seasoning, not the meal.
In a business setting humour can serve many purposes:

1. To lighten the moment - giving a difficult message with a soft touch
2. To focus the interaction on your personal (rather than business) connection
3. To make the communication more interesting
4. To draw attention to a particular point
5. To gauge a client's feelings about a particular point
6. To make a client more open to new concepts

This might seem like an ambitious list, but appropriately applied humour can achieve all of these.
The last two are probably the most powerful. Comedian John Cleese is also a great observer of human behaviour. He said, "If I can make you laugh, you like me better, which means you are more open to my ideas. If I can get you to laugh at a particular point that I make, by laughing at it, you acknowledge its truth." For example, your product is the most reliable - and expensive - in the market. To gauge how well this reliability is perceived by the client, you might say, "The one disadvantage of the product is that it won't generate the same number of service calls as some of the other brands!" Follow with a smile and eye contact and watch for their reaction. It will probably be a wry smile, perhaps a nod of agreement. Your aim is not to get a belly-laugh. In business humour a chuckle, grin or nod is all you need to know it has served its purpose.
This works in business because at the core of all humour is truth and what you are doing is reinforcing an accepted fact in an enjoyable, memorable way. Even if they don't laugh, it's still done its job because it's telling you that this point is not a high priority for the client. Note the message and move on. Don't apologise or try to excuse your 'failed' humour - the client probably hasn't even noticed.
The last point above is the most interesting. Put simply, humour messes around with our brain's judgement system making it more easily persuaded. A lot of humour is based on a 'twist'. The first part of the joke - the 'set-up'- sets you up to expect a certain outcome. The second part - the 'twist' or punch-line gives you a different outcome. This leap in logic triggers laughter which releases endorphins; so the brain is rewarded for accepting the unexpected outcome. It has been shown that a person is more likely to be persuaded by new ideas following laughter. For this reason Harvard Business Review nominated humour as the most powerful persuasive tool of all.
Many of us have had our confidence in using humour diminished because at some time we have tried to repeat humour and it's bombed. Here's the scenario: somebody says something at a social gathering and you think it's so funny you make appoint of remembering it. Later, at another social gathering you try to repeat the humour - and it fails miserably. The message we take away from this is that we're simply not funny.
Of course, this is wrong. For everyone there are two styles of humour:

1. The style of humour that makes us laugh
2. The style of humour that we use to make others laugh

In the earlier scenario, you have obviously chosen a style of humour that is of the first type - but not the second. Every day, we all do something to make someone else laugh. Take note of what you do spontaneously - it might be word play, exaggeration, characterisation, satire, joke-telling, story-telling or something else - but you will notice one style emerges as your dominant one. When you try to actively introduce humour, use your natural style to give yourself the best chance of success.