Criminal Justice USA

100 Tips, Tools, and Legal Resources to Be Your Own Real Estate Agent

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/27/2009 | 0 Comments

By Courtney Phillips

These days, people in the real estate market can use all of the money they can get. For many people, that means cutting out the middleman and saving on agent commissions. It’s easier to go it your own than you’re probably thinking, and you’ll find lots of great tips, tools, and resources for doing so here.

Tips

Follow these tips for great advice on being your own real estate agent.

1. Hire a real estate lawyer: Using a real estate lawyer is a very smart move, as a good lawyer’s advice and guidance can help you save lots of money and headaches.
2. Invest in marketing: Take the time to develop strong marketing materials, such as an effective for sale sign and an informative flyer.
3. Consider every offer from qualified buyers: If the terms of an offer are not what you’re looking for, you wan always deliver a counter-offer.
4. Clean and declutter: When taking photos and showing your home, be sure that your home is clean and presentable for potential buyers.
5. Get preapproved: Before you start looking at homes, be sure to get preapproved so that you know what you can afford, and so your offer will be more attractive to sellers.
6. Visit open houses: Get a look at other homes for sale in the neighborhood, including how they are marketing and what they have to offer.
7. Hire your own inspector: Have an inspector give you a report on your home before you sell-you can generally repair problems identified by your own inspector at a lower cost than if they are pointed out by a buyer’s inspector.
8. Require pre-qualification: Make sure that you’re only talking to qualified buyers by requiring that anyone who wants to see your home has proof of pre-qualification first.
9. Add strategic value before selling: Adding a new bathroom or refinishing your cabinets may help raise your price, but not all improvements will pay off in your final profit.
10. Consider offering a home warranty: Provide buyers with peace of mind by offering a low cost warranty that covers major home systems.
11. Ask for a comparative market analysis: Realtors do not charge for CMAs, and it’s a good idea to have this information. Just be honest about selling or buying on your own-they’ll be waiting if you decide you need help.
12. Sell your home "as is": If you want to avoid inspection problems, or having to deal with repairs, you can sell your home "as is," although at a lower price.
13. Get an appraisal: Make a qualified valuation of your home by hiring an appraiser.
14. Take lots of high quality photos: Make it easy for buyers to fall in love with your home before they even step foot in it by taking photos that show them everything they want to see.
15. Get a homeowner’s report: Be sure to check for liens against your property to avoid trouble before getting into a sales contract.
16. Price aggressively: By saving on commissions, you can afford to price your home more aggressively and attract more buyers.
17. Give the proper disclosures: If you know your roof leaks, or your electricity is not up to code, you will be required to disclose this information to potential buyers.
18. Carefully list what is and is not included with your home: Make it explicitly clear whether or not the buyer will be able to keep items like appliances and chandeliers.
19. Consider all of the fees involved: When pricing your home, be sure to factor in closing fees and other selling costs in the final profit.
20. Hold an open house: An open house is a good way to attract buyers to your home and allow a lot of people to see it at the same time.
21. Consider special financing: Your house may become more attractive if you allow buyers to assume your mortgage, or if you provide seller financing.
22. Check references: Before hiring a contractor or accepting an offer, be sure that you can trust who you’re doing business with.
23. Prequalify: Instead of opening your home up to everyone who wants to take a look, require that buyers meet certain criteria before they can come in for a showing.
24. Know when you need help: Not everyone can handle being their own real estate agent, so know when it’s time to call in an expert.
25. Tell your friends, family and neighbors: Get the word out about selling your home-you never know who knows someone in the market.
26. Negotiate: Don’t be afraid to go back and forth on terms and offers to get the deal you want.
27. Watch out for contingencies: An offer with restrictive or too many contingencies can make it hard to complete a sale, so tread carefully when it comes to these terms.
28. Check comparable sales: Be sure to find out what similar homes in your area are selling for.
29. Know the market: Pay attention to the selling market so that you can be aware when home sales are hot or when they are slow.
30. Write easily-scannable copy: Most buyers will just skim through what you write on flyers and online, so make sure what you write is formatted in a way that’s easy to read.
31. Write an effective ad: An ad with the right information is an incredibly powerful tool for attracting home buyers.
32. Repaint: Something as simple as slapping a fresh coat of paint on your walls can help make your home more attractive to buyers.
33. Get help with marketing: Use an MLS listing service to make sure that your home is seen by a wide variety of buyers.
34. Set your price just under a whole number: By setting your price at $249,999, you can make your price more attractive than $250,000.

Tools

Here you’ll find lots of great tools for doing your own real estate work.

35. Audrie.com: Audrie.com is full of real estate tools, including a flat fee MLS service and web pages.
36. Real Estate Glossary: In this glossary, you’ll find helpful real estate terms and definitions.
37. Angie’s List: Find a high quality inspector, appraiser, and more using Angie’s List.
38. Checklist for Buying a Home: Take this checklist along with you when shopping for a home, and it will help you evaluate different houses.
39. Sperling’s Best Places: Sperling will make it easy for you to assess different cities.
40. Multimap: Get a bird’s eye view and lots of information about locations using this tool.
41. Better Business Bureau: Make use of the Better Business Bureau to check up on title companies, inspectors, and more.
42. Glossary of Legal Terms: You’ll be able to look up hard to understand real estate terms in this glossary.
43. Yelp: Yelp will help you find good service providers with reviews and more.
44. House Buying Checklist: Follow this checklist to make sure you’re ready before buying a home as your own agent.
45. Real Estate ABC: Get definitions to real estate terms in plain English from this glossary.
46. Google Maps: Google Maps is a great tool for checking out neighborhoods, with street view, local businesses, and more.

Listing Services

With the help of these services, you can get your home seen by buyers.

47. For Sale By Owner: You can see your home without commission on this website.
48. BuyOwner: Buyers and sellers alike can use this website to be their own real estate agent.

Calculators

Make use of these calculators to do the math in your real estate transactions.

49. Bankrate Mortgage Calculator: Enter your mortgage amount, term, interest rate, and start date, and this calculator will tell you your approximate monthly payments.
50. Seller’s Net Cash Calculator: With this calculator, you can estimate the proceeds from the sale of your house.
51. Real Estate Calculator Suite: This software will help you with amortization schedules, closing costs, payments, and lots more.
52. How Much Can I Borrow Calculator: This calculator will help you determine the maximum loan you can expect to qualify for.
53. Simple Mortgage Calculator: Check out this mortgage calculator for a no-frills look at your payments.
54. Pre-Qualification Calculator: Sellers can use this calculator to determine whether or not a prospective buyer will be able to obtain a loan.
55. How Much Can I Afford Calculator: Find out if your income is enough to qualify for the home you want with the help of this calculator.

Legal

You’ll find legal forms, advice, and more in these resources.

56. Katkus: Katkus is home to a variety of free and low cost real estate forms, including disclosures, tax forms, and more.
57. Legal Home Forms: This website has more than 60 professional fill in the blank real estate forms.
58. US Legal Forms: In this resource, you’ll find state specific real estate forms for deeds, contracts, liens, and more.
59. Lienfax: With this service, you can look up any and all liens on your home before putting it up for sale.
60. ZipForm: ZipForm’s software will make it easy for you to create your own real estate forms.
61. All Law: Check out this site to find real estate forms and information.
62. Profpub: With this software, you’ll get a variety of real estate forms that you can use nationwide.
63. ‘Lectric Law Library: Use this library’s forms room to find all of the forms you’ll need for real estate.

Communities

Get lots of great advice from the people in these real estate communities.

64. Redfin Real Estate Forums: Redfin’s forums are full of DIY real estate mavens with lots of great information and conversations.
65. National Real Estate Directory: In these forums, you’ll find news, advice, and ideas.
66. Agents Online: These forums are designed to help both agents and aspiring agents.

Advice

Read these articles to learn valuable advice for being your own real estate agent.

67. How to Be Your Own Real Estate Agent: This article offers useful advice for selling your own home.
68. FSBO Signs for Selling Your Own Property: This article is a goldmine of advice for creating your own sale sign.
69. Facts About Real Estate Appraisals: Read this article to find lots of great information about real estate appraisals.
70. Negotiating Tips for Selling by Owner: Learn the fine art of negotiation from this article.
71. Making an Attractive Home-Purchase Offer: Read this article to learn more about making a home purchase offer.
72. The Basics on Lease-Option (Rent to Own): Find out how lease-option sales work from this article.
73. 77 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value: Follow this article to get a variety of useful ideas for improving the value of your home before selling it.
74. A Simple Guide for Selling a Home on Your Own: This article offers lots of great details to keep in mind when selling your own home.
75. Buying a House on Your Own Versus Using an Agent: Here you’ll find out the advantages of buying without an agent, and how you can go about doing so.
76. Home Selling Price: Set it Right and Everything Else is Easy: Audrie.com’s article is full of advice for setting the right selling price.
77. Be Your Own Real Estate Broker: Rome Neal offers a variety of tips for avoiding pitfalls when selling your home without a broker.
78. Closing the Deal to Sell Your House: This article deals with the nitty-gritty details of finalizing your home sale.
79. Snagging a Home Buyer: Selling Secrets for Writing a Successful Property Listing Ad: Find valuable advice for writing a successful property listing ad in this article.
80. Showing FSBO Homes for Sale: In this article, you’ll find great advice and ideas for an open house.
81. Setting a Value on a Home: Check out this article to learn more about determining value for a home.
82. What is FSBO?: Read this article to learn the basics of selling your home without an agent.
83. Can You Really Be Your Own Real Estate Agent?: This article weighs the pros and cons of DIY real estate.
84. Formatting Tips for Home Selling Pictures: This article has advice on lighting, sizing, perspective, and other photo taking essentials.
85. United Kingdom: Be Your Own Landlord/Managing Agent: Brits interested in changing the terms of their lease can benefit from reading this article.
86. 5 Reasons You Don’t Need an Agent: Read this article to find out why you don’t need an agent to see your own home.
87. Prepare Your Home for FSBO by Cleaning and Clearing: Check out this resource to learn about preparing your property for sale.
88. Simple Steps to Pricing Your Home: Follow this article to determine a good asking price.
89. How to Be Your Own Realtor: This article will provide you with a look at how you can cut out the middlemen and sell your home yourself.

Blogs

Check out these blogs for ongoing advice and inspiration for working as your own real estate agent.

90. Inman News: Inman News discusses the intersection of real estate and technology.
91. Bubble Meter: This blog covers the decline of houseing markets in the US.
92. Go Beyond MLS: Get lots of tips for smart home marketing from this blog.

Resources

Make use of these resources to make working as your own real estate agent easy.

93. Total Real Estate Solutions: This website is full of listings, tips, tools, forms, and more.
94. Zillow: Zillow makes it easy for you to look up comparable sales, local information, and more.
95. HomePages: HomePages is a great resource, including information on buying or selling a home, and obtaining a loan.
96. Homes.com: On this site, you can learn about finance, neighborhoods, home values, and other valuable information.
97. Cyberhomes: Cyberhomes is full of useful resources including maps, values, and listings.
98. Real Estate Wiki: This wiki offers information on home selling, buying, mortgages, and more.
99. Foreclosure.com: You can find foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and more on this site.
100. Trulia: Trulia’s website will provide you with advice, news, comps, and more.

50 Useful Open Courseware Links for Private Eyes & Digital Snoops

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/24/2009 | 0 Comments

Whether you’re a detective or a wannabe cyber security expert, there are all kinds of educational resources available online that will help you learn about data and network systems, computer vulnerabilities, the culture of information technology, and even the psychology of criminals. These open courseware links will connect you to engaging lectures, reading assignments and outlines from some of the top universities in the country, and it’s all for free.

Data and IT

Understand the design of data and network systems and information technology structures before attempting to monitor or troubleshoot any vulnerabilities.

1. An Introduction to Data and Information: Learn how data is stored and shared on computers and online. [The Open University]
2. ICTs in everyday life: Learn about networks and how everyone online is seemingly connected in this course. [The Open University]
3. Principles of Wireless Communications: Understand the make-up of wireless systems before trying to decode it. [MIT]
4. Pervasive Human Centric Computing: Here, students have the opportunity to learn about the programs and systems of GPS, iPhones and more. [MIT]
5. Representing and manipulating data in computers: Here you will learn about representing numbers, representing images, representing sound and more. [The Open University]
6. Computer Networks: Discover the vulnerabilities of network design in this course. [MIT]
7. The Database Development Life Cycle: Become an expert at manipulating, creating, troubleshooting and maintaining databases. [The Open University]
8. Data and Processes in Computing: Learn about different types of data and data structures in this course. [The Open University]

Technology and Society

By gaining insight into how humans interact with technology, you’ll be able to anticipate criminal behavior or at least be able to understand your cases a little bit better.

9. Technology in American Society: Understand how technology systems have helped American culture and American business prosper and fail. [MIT]
10. Social Theory and Analysis: This course covers social theory from the 19th century to the present and wonders how and why social institutions respond to technology. [MIT]
11. Technology and Gender in American History: Learn how men and women respond differently to technology in this course. [MIT]
12. Social and Political Implications of Technology: This course uncovers "how technological devices, structures, and systems influence the organization of society and the behavior of its members." [MIT]
13. Race and Science: Consider how race and identity have changed over time, especially in response to new inequalities in technology. [MIT]

U.S. Law and Policy

Make sure you’re well versed in the law, especially as it relates to privacy and technology, before doing something illegal yourself.

14. Law and Society: Here you will be challenged to discover law as a social institution and as a feature of pop culture, as well as how society relates to law in all aspects of everyday life. [MIT]
15. Justice: In Justice, students consider "the place of values of liberty and equality in" a just society. [MIT]
16. The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: Study constitutional law, race relations and Americans’ right to the protection of their civil liberties here. [MIT]
17. Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier: Learn about the relationships between law, ethics and technology. [MIT]
18. American National Security Policy: Make sure you understand the ins and outs of American national security policy, including how threats are interpreted and whether or not allegiances with other countries should be pursued. [MIT]
19. Reading Seminar in Social Science: Intelligence and National Security: Learn about counterintelligence, the relationship between U.S. intelligence organizations and national security offices, and more. [MIT]
20. Ethics Part I and Ethics Part II: This course addresses the history of ethics, as well as moral behavior and modern theories. [Western Governors University]
21. Introduction to Copyright Law: Learn all about copyright law here, if property and copyright are what you’re snooping for. [MIT]
22. U.S. Social Policy: Try to gain a sense of how and why some social policies and citizens are favored and why others are completely abandoned in this course. [MIT]
23. Property Rights in Transition: Property rights is a complex issue, and this course can help you understand the intricacies of all types of property rights. [MIT]

Sociology and Criminal Psychology

Learn about crime psychology and general sociology to gain an edge over your perpetrator.

24. Ambient Intelligence: Better understand how humans react to computers and intelligent interfaces everyday. [MIT]
25. Identity and Difference: Consider the idea of identity, including how it is formed and how it evolves [MIT]
26. American Dream: Exploring Class in the U.S.: Use your understanding of social class psychology when tracking a case. [MIT]
27. Culture, Embodiment and the Senses: This class may help you to determine a person’s ability to choose between right and wrong. [MIT]
28. Ethnic and National Identity: Explore the factors that shape national identity and ethnic or racial identity. [MIT]
29. Social Psychology: Self and Society: Lessons in this course include Conformity, Stereotypes, and Roles and Identity. [UC Berkeley]
30. Making and using rules: Consider practical application and psychological response to rules in this course. [The Open University]
31. Introduction to Psychology: The basics of psychology are taught in this class, including consciousness, self and society, cognitive behaviors and more. [MIT]
32. Technology and Culture: Discover the relationship between technology and culture in all types of historical and social environments. [MIT]
33. Gender, Sexuality and Society: This course explores sexual identity and gender roles. [MIT]

Terrorism and Public Safety

These public safety courses will prepare you for major cases.

34. Terrorism, Peace and Other Inconsistencies: This course asks students to question the rationale for contemporary terrorism and the relationship between al-Qaeda terror philosophies and the general conflicts between the Middle East and the Western world. [Notre Dame]
35. Case Studies in Terrorism Response: As a cyberterrorism detective, you probably won’t be a first responder in a terrorism scare, but you will still learn valuable skills in anticipating terrorism scenarios and handling evidence immediately after an attack. [Johns Hopkins]

Miscellaneous Law

For more law-related issues regarding technology, turn here.

36. Privacy rights and the law: This class is taught with a UK slant, but it still poses interesting questions about privacy rights. [The Open University]
37. Company Law in Context: Consider how business laws and business organizations can be unclear to employees. [The Open University]
38. Introduction to Security: Learn the fundamentals of security, loss control and crime prevention. [Weber State University]
39. Ethical Practice: Professionalism, Social Responsibility and the Purpose of the Corporation: If you’re investigating a business or organization, take this course to understand their ethical standards. [MIT]
40. International Law: In cases that span countries, use this class as a reference point to learn about human rights, international resource management, the European Union and more. [Professional Educational Organization International]

Computer Science and Information Security

This list will help you understand the basics of computer science, cryptography, digital worlds and information security.

41. Computers and computer systems: This introductory computer science class will teach you about processors, memory, digital cameras and representing data on a computer. [The Open University]
42. Crossing the boundary — analogue universe, digital worlds: Understand what divides our analogue world versus "the binary world of digital entities." Lessons include "The pervasive computer" and "Manipulation." [The Open University]
43. An introduction to information security: This course introduces students to the concepts and practices of information security. [The Open University]
44. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs: Students will learn the basics of computer structures and computer programming here. [MIT]
45. Computation Structures: This course teaches the fundamentals of software and hardware design. [MIT]
46. Network Security: Here you will learn the terminology, abbreviations and security measures related to protecting networks. [The Open University]
47. Advanced Topics on Cryptography: Practice zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge, non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs and other types of proofs in this course, which also teaches two-party secure computation and other concepts. [MIT]
48. Cryptography and Cryptanalysis: Students get introduced to modern cryptography and encryption in this course. [MIT]
49. Principles of Digital Communications I: Understand the differences and relationships between different digital communications systems in this course. [MIT]
50. Reflections on Secret Intelligence: Sir David Omand KCB offers up his thoughts on what now dictates cyberterrorism, homeland security, the future of intelligence, and more. [Gresham College].

Who Knows What About You? 25 Free Tools to Find Out

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/16/2009 | 0 Comments

Lots of personal information about you is available online, and you dont have to be an FBI agent to find it. Whether it’s public records or your home telephone number, there are lots of tools that you have at your disposal to find this information. Here, we’ll take a look at 25 tools that can help you track down the information that’s available about you online.

Monitoring Tools

Set up these tools to get alerts whenever your information comes up.

1. Google Alerts: With this tool, you can find out what people are saying about you online. Set up an alert for your name, common misspellings, and more to monitor your Google buzz.
2. TweetBeep: Twitter is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to communicate online, so monitor your name on Twitter with TweetBeep by setting up an alert.
3. AlertThingy: AlertThingy will update you on your information in social networks all over the web, so you can stay up to date all in one handy spot.
4. Yacktrack: Use Yacktrack, and you can find comments on your content from Blogger, FriendFeed, Digg, and more. This is a great way to find out when people are responding to your comments, videos, photos, and more.
5. MonitorThis: With this simple tool, you’ll be able to monitor search feeds from a variety of websites online.
6. Technorati: Find out what’s being said about you on the blogosphere from Technorati, and even read reactions to your blog.
7. uberVU: Get updates on reactions all over the Internet to your stories, profiles, and much more using the uberVU tool.
8. Boardtracker: Get alerts about forum threads that have your name in them from this tool, so you’ll always be able to find out when someone is talking about you.
9. Backtype: Find, follow, and share comments about yourself all around the Web using this tool. You can even make sure that when you write a comment with a link to your website, it will be attributed to you.
10. Trackur: Trackur offers a really sophisticated way to track your online reputation over blogs, news sites, and lots more.

Business & Finance

Check out what’s being said about your business and finances with these tools.

11. Yelp: Yelp’s local websites are full of reviews and discussions that can help you find out what’s being said about your business online.
12. AnnualCreditReport.com: Check out what the credit reporting agencies are sharing about your financial situation from this website.
13. Yahoo! Local: Check out reviews and ratings for your business using Yahoo!’s local business pages.
14. Sellerwise: Sellerwise will help you find out intelligence about your auctions, including how people are finding your listings and how many times they visit.
15. Citysearch: Find out what’s being said about your business, and find the resources that your customers can find out with through Citysearch’s website.

Search

With these search engines, you can be your own sleuth to find out who has the dirt on you.

16. Social Mention: Use this social media search engine to find your name and brand on blogs, comments, bookmarks, videos, and much more.
17. The Internet Address Book: See where you can be found on the Internet from this website, and register so that you can control the information that’s shared.
18. Wink: Use Wink’s comprehensive people search to find yourself online, and claim your online identity.
19. ZabaSearch: ZabaSearch is well known for being eerily accurate about the information it can dig up on you-so be sure to check this one out.
20. Spydentity: Spydentity searches webpages, blogs, profiles, photos, and lots more to find your personal information online.
21. PeekYou: PeekYou makes it easy to find yourself by your real, name, online username, and more.
22. Pipl: Pipl’s comprehensive people search will show you information about your name, email, username, and phone number.

Public Records

Make use of these tools to research your own public records.

23. iSearch: iSearch can help you find your public records data, school and professional information, social networking, and lots more.
24. Intelius: Intelius is a smart tool that can help you find your personal information, including home value, income, and public records.
25. Mamma: This mother of all search engines offers a way to find your public records, unlisted phone numbers, and background check information.

100 Tips, Tools, and Legal Resources to Be Your Own Real Estate Agent

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/09/2009 | 0 Comments

These days, people in the real estate market can use all of the money they can get. For many people, that means cutting out the middleman and saving on agent commissions. It’s easier to go it your own than you’re probably thinking, and you’ll find lots of great tips, tools, and resources for doing so here.

Tips

Follow these tips for great advice on being your own real estate agent.

1. Hire a real estate lawyer: Using a real estate lawyer is a very smart move, as a good lawyer’s advice and guidance can help you save lots of money and headaches.
2. Invest in marketing: Take the time to develop strong marketing materials, such as an effective for sale sign and an informative flyer.
3. Consider every offer from qualified buyers: If the terms of an offer are not what you’re looking for, you wan always deliver a counter-offer.
4. Clean and declutter: When taking photos and showing your home, be sure that your home is clean and presentable for potential buyers.
5. Get preapproved: Before you start looking at homes, be sure to get preapproved so that you know what you can afford, and so your offer will be more attractive to sellers.
6. Visit open houses: Get a look at other homes for sale in the neighborhood, including how they are marketing and what they have to offer.
7. Hire your own inspector: Have an inspector give you a report on your home before you sell-you can generally repair problems identified by your own inspector at a lower cost than if they are pointed out by a buyer’s inspector.
8. Require pre-qualification: Make sure that you’re only talking to qualified buyers by requiring that anyone who wants to see your home has proof of pre-qualification first.
9. Add strategic value before selling: Adding a new bathroom or refinishing your cabinets may help raise your price, but not all improvements will pay off in your final profit.
10. Consider offering a home warranty: Provide buyers with peace of mind by offering a low cost warranty that covers major home systems.
11. Ask for a comparative market analysis: Realtors do not charge for CMAs, and it’s a good idea to have this information. Just be honest about selling or buying on your own-they’ll be waiting if you decide you need help.
12. Sell your home "as is": If you want to avoid inspection problems, or having to deal with repairs, you can sell your home "as is," although at a lower price.
13. Get an appraisal: Make a qualified valuation of your home by hiring an appraiser.
14. Take lots of high quality photos: Make it easy for buyers to fall in love with your home before they even step foot in it by taking photos that show them everything they want to see.
15. Get a homeowner’s report: Be sure to check for liens against your property to avoid trouble before getting into a sales contract.
16. Price aggressively: By saving on commissions, you can afford to price your home more aggressively and attract more buyers.
17. Give the proper disclosures: If you know your roof leaks, or your electricity is not up to code, you will be required to disclose this information to potential buyers.
18. Carefully list what is and is not included with your home: Make it explicitly clear whether or not the buyer will be able to keep items like appliances and chandeliers.
19. Consider all of the fees involved: When pricing your home, be sure to factor in closing fees and other selling costs in the final profit.
20. Hold an open house: An open house is a good way to attract buyers to your home and allow a lot of people to see it at the same time.
21. Consider special financing: Your house may become more attractive if you allow buyers to assume your mortgage, or if you provide seller financing.
22. Check references: Before hiring a contractor or accepting an offer, be sure that you can trust who you’re doing business with.
23. Prequalify: Instead of opening your home up to everyone who wants to take a look, require that buyers meet certain criteria before they can come in for a showing.
24. Know when you need help: Not everyone can handle being their own real estate agent, so know when it’s time to call in an expert.
25. Tell your friends, family and neighbors: Get the word out about selling your home-you never know who knows someone in the market.
26. Negotiate: Don’t be afraid to go back and forth on terms and offers to get the deal you want.
27. Watch out for contingencies: An offer with restrictive or too many contingencies can make it hard to complete a sale, so tread carefully when it comes to these terms.
28. Check comparable sales: Be sure to find out what similar homes in your area are selling for.
29. Know the market: Pay attention to the selling market so that you can be aware when home sales are hot or when they are slow.
30. Write easily-scannable copy: Most buyers will just skim through what you write on flyers and online, so make sure what you write is formatted in a way that’s easy to read.
31. Write an effective ad: An ad with the right information is an incredibly powerful tool for attracting home buyers.
32. Repaint: Something as simple as slapping a fresh coat of paint on your walls can help make your home more attractive to buyers.
33. Get help with marketing: Use an MLS listing service to make sure that your home is seen by a wide variety of buyers.
34. Set your price just under a whole number: By setting your price at $249,999, you can make your price more attractive than $250,000.

Tools

Here you’ll find lots of great tools for doing your own real estate work.

35. Audrie.com: Audrie.com is full of real estate tools, including a flat fee MLS service and web pages.
36. Real Estate Glossary: In this glossary, you’ll find helpful real estate terms and definitions.
37. Angie’s List: Find a high quality inspector, appraiser, and more using Angie’s List.
38. Checklist for Buying a Home: Take this checklist along with you when shopping for a home, and it will help you evaluate different houses.
39. Sperling’s Best Places: Sperling will make it easy for you to assess different cities.
40. Multimap: Get a bird’s eye view and lots of information about locations using this tool.
41. Better Business Bureau: Make use of the Better Business Bureau to check up on title companies, inspectors, and more.
42. Glossary of Legal Terms: You’ll be able to look up hard to understand real estate terms in this glossary.
43. Yelp: Yelp will help you find good service providers with reviews and more.
44. House Buying Checklist: Follow this checklist to make sure you’re ready before buying a home as your own agent.
45. Real Estate ABC: Get definitions to real estate terms in plain English from this glossary.
46. Google Maps: Google Maps is a great tool for checking out neighborhoods, with street view, local businesses, and more.

Listing Services

With the help of these services, you can get your home seen by buyers.

47. For Sale By Owner: You can see your home without commission on this website.
48. BuyOwner: Buyers and sellers alike can use this website to be their own real estate agent.
49. International Listings: This site specializes in international real estate sales, so US homes in the luxury market would qualify. The service also helps with real estate marketing syndication.

Calculators

Make use of these calculators to do the math in your real estate transactions.

49. Bankrate Mortgage Calculator: Enter your mortgage amount, term, interest rate, and start date, and this calculator will tell you your approximate monthly payments.
50. Seller’s Net Cash Calculator: With this calculator, you can estimate the proceeds from the sale of your house.
51. Real Estate Calculator Suite: This software will help you with amortization schedules, closing costs, payments, and lots more.
52. How Much Can I Borrow Calculator: This calculator will help you determine the maximum loan you can expect to qualify for.
53. Simple Mortgage Calculator: Check out this mortgage calculator for a no-frills look at your payments.
54. Pre-Qualification Calculator: Sellers can use this calculator to determine whether or not a prospective buyer will be able to obtain a loan.
55. How Much Can I Afford Calculator: Find out if your income is enough to qualify for the home you want with the help of this calculator.

Legal

You’ll find legal forms, advice, and more in these resources.

56. Katkus: Katkus is home to a variety of free and low cost real estate forms, including disclosures, tax forms, and more.
57. Legal Home Forms: This website has more than 60 professional fill in the blank real estate forms.
58. US Legal Forms: In this resource, you’ll find state specific real estate forms for deeds, contracts, liens, and more.
59. Lienfax: With this service, you can look up any and all liens on your home before putting it up for sale.
60. ZipForm: ZipForm’s software will make it easy for you to create your own real estate forms.
61. All Law: Check out this site to find real estate forms and information.
62. Profpub: With this software, you’ll get a variety of real estate forms that you can use nationwide.
63. ‘Lectric Law Library: Use this library’s forms room to find all of the forms you’ll need for real estate.

Communities

Get lots of great advice from the people in these real estate communities.

64. Redfin Real Estate Forums: Redfin’s forums are full of DIY real estate mavens with lots of great information and conversations.
65. National Real Estate Directory: In these forums, you’ll find news, advice, and ideas.
66. Agents Online: These forums are designed to help both agents and aspiring agents.

Advice

Read these articles to learn valuable advice for being your own real estate agent.

67. How to Be Your Own Real Estate Agent: This article offers useful advice for selling your own home.
68. FSBO Signs for Selling Your Own Property: This article is a goldmine of advice for creating your own sale sign.
69. Facts About Real Estate Appraisals: Read this article to find lots of great information about real estate appraisals.
70. Negotiating Tips for Selling by Owner: Learn the fine art of negotiation from this article.
71. Making an Attractive Home-Purchase Offer: Read this article to learn more about making a home purchase offer.
72. The Basics on Lease-Option (Rent to Own): Find out how lease-option sales work from this article.
73. 77 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value: Follow this article to get a variety of useful ideas for improving the value of your home before selling it.
74. A Simple Guide for Selling a Home on Your Own: This article offers lots of great details to keep in mind when selling your own home.
75. Buying a House on Your Own Versus Using an Agent: Here you’ll find out the advantages of buying without an agent, and how you can go about doing so.
76. Home Selling Price: Set it Right and Everything Else is Easy: Audrie.com’s article is full of advice for setting the right selling price.
77. Be Your Own Real Estate Broker: Rome Neal offers a variety of tips for avoiding pitfalls when selling your home without a broker.
78. Closing the Deal to Sell Your House: This article deals with the nitty-gritty details of finalizing your home sale.
79. Snagging a Home Buyer: Selling Secrets for Writing a Successful Property Listing Ad: Find valuable advice for writing a successful property listing ad in this article.
80. Showing FSBO Homes for Sale: In this article, you’ll find great advice and ideas for an open house.
81. Setting a Value on a Home: Check out this article to learn more about determining value for a home.
    
82. Can You Really Be Your Own Real Estate Agent?: This article weighs the pros and cons of DIY real estate.
83. Formatting Tips for Home Selling Pictures: This article has advice on lighting, sizing, perspective, and other photo taking essentials.
84. United Kingdom: Be Your Own Landlord/Managing Agent: Brits interested in changing the terms of their lease can benefit from reading this article.
85. 5 Reasons You Don’t Need an Agent: Read this article to find out why you don’t need an agent to see your own home.
86. Prepare Your Home for FSBO by Cleaning and Clearing: Check out this resource to learn about preparing your property for sale.
87. Simple Steps to Pricing Your Home: Follow this article to determine a good asking price.
88. How to Be Your Own Realtor: This article will provide you with a look at how you can cut out the middlemen and sell your home yourself.

Blogs

Check out these blogs for ongoing advice and inspiration for working as your own real estate agent.

90. Inman News: Inman News discusses the intersection of real estate and technology.
91. Bubble Meter: This blog covers the decline of houseing markets in the US.
92. Go Beyond MLS: Get lots of tips for smart home marketing from this blog.

Resources

Make use of these resources to make working as your own real estate agent easy.

93. Total Real Estate Solutions: This website is full of listings, tips, tools, forms, and more.
94. Zillow: Zillow makes it easy for you to look up comparable sales, local information, and more.
95. HomePages: HomePages is a great resource, including information on buying or selling a home, and obtaining a loan.
96. Homes.com: On this site, you can learn about finance, neighborhoods, home values, and other valuable information.
97. Cyberhomes: Cyberhomes is full of useful resources including maps, values, and listings.
98. Real Estate Wiki: This wiki offers information on home selling, buying, mortgages, and more.
99. Foreclosure.com: You can find foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and more on this site.
100. Trulia: Trulia’s website will provide you with advice, news, comps, and more.

A Rise in Forensic Scientist’s Salaries?

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/07/2009 | 0 Comments

Forensic science has meant a new way to look at the criminal justice system.  We no longer have to explicitly rely on the testimony of witnesses and law enforcement, but instead have concrete evidence that a certain person was at the crime or that a crime happened in a particular form.  However, forensic scientists and the criminal justice process have recently come under fire in a myriad of Supreme Court cases that have ruled if forensic analysts do not appear at trial as witnesses, their evidence cannot be admitted due to the constitutional right of a defendant to confront witnesses. 

The process is different in courts around the country, but it remains fairly standard that forensic science analysis has to be thorough for a court to accept it as evidence.  Many forensic scientists have been recently called to participate in drug-related charges in order to prove to the court that the substance is illegal contraband.  Because of new technology, however, the cost in obtaining this information has gone down and therefore fewer scientists are needed to testify in court.  This has resulted in an increasing level of value in the forensic scientists who are needed, resulting in an increase in their salaries.

While the role of forensic scientists in criminal proceedings remains largely unsettled by the majority of states, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, it is clear that the justice system has experienced a complete turnaround since the advancement of these procedures.  Forensic science has not only helped many prosecutor’s secure their cases by DNA and scientific evidence, it has also helped release many defendants who had previously been improperly charged for a crime they did not commit.  It is amazing to think how we got along without forensic science analysts only a few decades ago.   They have become a major part of our criminal justice system, and are involved in cases as minor as personal injury cases stemming from car accidents to major capital murder proceedings.  The reason forensic scientists have become so valuable in recent years is due to this broad range of expertise they exhibit to courts and the common knowledge that our criminal justice system would be vastly different without the evidence they bring to trial. 

Despite recent constitutional issues regarding forensic science, it continues to be a go-to for many prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, each relying on evidence to prove a different defense.

50 Tools to Research Your New Home, Neighborhood, and Community

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/05/2009 | 0 Comments

Before you move, take a few minutes to make sure you’re well-acquainted with your new city and neighborhood. Use these online tools and guides to research school districts, look up sex offenders, find things to do in your community, and compare home prices.

Home Inspection and Security

Learn how to evaluate your new home’s vulnerability to thieves, research the history of your house, and more when you use these tools.

1. Check local or county courthouse: City archives and the local courthouse should have deed registrations for your house, so you can find out who owned it or rented it before you.
2. How to Research the History of Your House: This guide will help you take the steps necessary to finding out who owned your house before you, how to check public records, and more.
3. House Histories: Learn to estimate how old your house is, find old title transfers, and more.
4. Home Safety Game: Play this game to identify everyday dangers in your home and yard.
5. It Takes a Thief: It Takes a Thief is another interactive game that challenges you to find your home’s security vulnerabilities.

Car History

Before buying a used car, do a check to make sure it wasn’t in a fire, stolen or salvaged.

6. Auto Lemon – Used Car History Check: Use this site to look up the vehicle history report on your car.
7. Carfax: Carfax has tools to help you uncover title problems, ownership history, accident history and more.
8. DMV.org Vehicle History Reports: Use DMV.org to conduct a vehicle history report on your car to find out whether or not it was salvaged, fire damaged or in an accident.
9. AutoCheck: AutoCheck is another great resource for checking odometer problems, frame damage, accidents, theft and more.
10. VIN Numbers: This free report features a VIN glossary, VIN code law, decoding links and a car history report.
11. Check My Car: Learn all about VIN checks here, then enter your car’s VIN to get a Vehicle History Report.
12. Vehicle History Report: Your Key to a Good Used Car: Read Edmunds.com’s overview of Vehicle History Reports to learn about all the things you need to get checked before buying a used car.

Sex Offender Check

Look up sex offenders to find the safest neighborhood and zip code for your kids.

13. Family Watchdog: Find sex offenders by location or name using this tool.
14. Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website: Check for sex offenders on this national registry. The list combines all the names on state registries for an easy search.
15. SexOffender.com: Read about Megan’s Law and access the database registry to look up violent offenders in your area.
16. Map Sex Offenders: This database includes over 300,000 sex offenders around the country. Results in your area are displayed on a map so that you can see just how close they live.
17. RegisteredOffendersList.org: Use this site to access photos, conviction information, offense dates, street addresses and other facts about the offenders living in your area.
18. Code Amber Sex Offender Registries by State: This tool has links to every state’s sex offender registry.

Criminal Background Checks

If you suspect your co-worker, neighbor or even your child’s teacher of suspicious activity, run a criminal background check with one of these tools to find out.

19. CriminalCheck.com: Use this site to conduct a criminal check by name or zip code.
20. Public Record Finder: With Public Record Finder, you can do a criminal background check to learn about property ownership, bankruptcies, marriage records and more.
21. Criminal Watchdog: This site uses its connections to official government reporting agencies to generate criminal background checks and public record checks.
22. USA People Search: This report generates address and phone history, property ownership and court records, sex offender and criminal records, and more.
23. Statewide Criminal Background Check Resources: Here you can find links to each state’s lists of inmates and criminal records.
24. Criminal-Checks.com: Narrow your search by typing in a name, state, county, date of birth and gender to find criminal records.
25. FBI NICS e-check: Use this official tool to find perpetrators in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
26. CrimCheck: Connect to over 1,330 government court sites to look up public records and criminal background checks.
27. Background Check Gateway: Find state resources and look up neighborhood profiles on this website.

Real Estate Appraisal

Check your old home’s value or the general neighborhood value of your future community here.

28. Zillow: Zillow looks up local mortgage rates and home value information.
29. Yahoo! Real Estate: Here you can find tools to estimate home values, look up foreclosures and more.
30. HouseValues.com: This free tool generates a report that reveals your home’s current market value.
31. Real Estate ABC: Real Estate ABC estimates the value of your home based on the last 30 comparable sales in the area.

Schools

Compare school districts and find public school rankings with these tools.

32. Homefair: Look up schools, local salary reports and other community information here.
33. Search for Public Schools: The National Center for Education Statistics helps you find public schools in your area with this tool.
34. Great Schools: Compare and get ratings for public schools and private schools here.
35. SchoolMatters: Get feedback from parents who have rated their child’s school on this site.
36. Neighborhood Scout Public School Ratings: Subscribe to these school ratings to find out how it compares to other schools in the state and country. You can find test scores, number of teachers, and more.
37. Rankings of Public Schools: Before you move, use this tool to locate the top public schools in the state.

Local Crime Reports

These tools will help you run local crime reports so you know which neighborhoods and cities are safest.

38. CrimeReports: Enter your city or street address, or click on a state to access local crime reports.
39. City Profile Report: Using the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, this tool generates statistics about crime, demographics and more in different zip codes.
40. Spot Crime: Spot Crime is "the most comprehensive online source of crime information." Select a state to get more information about your area.
41. Wal-Mart Crime Report: If you plan on making lots of late-night trips to Wal-Mart, make sure your local store is safe.
42. USA Cops: This tool connects you to local law enforcement agencies, where you can look up any city crime reports and safety information.

Local Guides

Beyond safety, you’ll want to make sure your new community has lots to offer in terms of social activities, grocery stores and more. Use these local guides and tools to explore your zip code from afar.

43. Find My Nearest: If you live in the UK, type in your zip code to find your nearest florist, pubs and more.
44. Neighborhood Scout: This all-in-one resource lets you scout out your future neighborhood before you move. Access real estate tools, school ratings, neighborhoods with kids, retirement communities and more.
45. Weather.com: Weather.com’s averages and climate tools let you research how cold, rainy or hot a particular city gets each month.
46. Google Local: Look up businesses, night life and more using this tool.
47. Yelp: Yelp lets you post and browse reviews of local businesses, restaurants, shopping, and more.
48. MyLocalLookup: Learn more about your new community when you use this tool to find nearby businesses, movie times, TV listings and more.
49. Riley Guide: Find job opportunities by U.S. region here.
50. Ready America: When you need to locate an emergency response team or first responder office, check this resource.

100 Useful Web Tools to Survive–and Thrive–in a Recession

Posted by Site Administrator on 02/02/2009 | 0 Comments

The Internet affords those of us suffering from the recession many tools to stay afloat and out of danger, from tracking the stock market in real time, accessing free investment tools and financial calculators, and using free or discounted business tools to keep us connected and in the game. Read on for 100 useful web tools that will help you thrive in a recession, instead of running to play catch up.

Finance and Investment

Keep up with the markets by checking these charts, financial news sites and feeds. You’ll also find financial calculators to estimate and manage debt, house payments and retirement.

1. Bloomberg.com: Bloomberg.com’s investment tools are great for watching the market, finding financial calculators and keeping up with your portfolios, securities, and stock market.
2. Market Watch Market Indexes: Track the gains and losses of major markets, industries and international markets.
3. SmartMoney: At SmartMoney, you can use tools like the Market Radar, Price Check Calculator for stocks, mutual fund maps and more.
4. The Street: This website is an online news source and customizable tracker for business news and tracking the market.
5. Tip’d – financial social media: Tip’d is the first major social news site for investing, budgeting and other PF topics.
6. The Wall Street Journal: Get up-to-the minute news and market information on all the politics and business news that determines your investments.
7. Quote.com: At Quote.com, you can easily find information about the world’s financial markets and use tools to manage your personal investments, like home costs, college planning and retirement.
8. Raging Bull: Get real-time stock quotes on Raging Bull and set up your own account to manage your portfolio.
9. NYSE: Learn about bonds, equities, trading information and more from the NYSE website.
10. London Stock Exchange: Keep track of Europe’s leading market here.
11. Reuters Finance: Closely follow Reuters’ business and finance pages to learn about the latest failures during the recession, get analysis on what’s coming next, and tips on how to protect yourself.
12. TurboTax: Use TurboTax to make sure you’re taking advantage of every kind of deduction around tax time.
13. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Find out what the government is doing to help credit holders and investors during the bank crisis and financial crisis.
14. The Motley Fool: Read The Motley Fool to look up stock information, read about the latest bank and company busts, and manage your own personal finances.
15. NASDAQ: Get quotes, market indices, summary quotes, after-hours summaries, charts and a whole lot more on the NASDAQ site.

Budgeting Tools

Use these budgeting tools to ensure you get the most out of every paycheck and know exactly where all your money goes.

16. Kiplinger: Use Kiplinger’s budgeting tools to evaluate your cost of living, figure out how much you’re spending, and even discover ways to turn your savings into millions.
17. Mint: Mint is a free program that helps you see where all your money goes, and how to keep it safe.
18. Ideal Budget: CNN’s Money 101 starts you off with an online worksheet to budget your biggest expenses, debt and more.
19. Free household budgeting work sheet: This free work sheet from Bankrate can help your family organize its budget, savings and spending.
20. Buxfer: Buxfer is another free software program that tracks your credit cards, spending, debt and more.
21. Bill Q: This program is a simple, streamlined platform for organizing bills.
22. Choose to Save: Find all kinds of calculators on this site, from life expectancy to mutual funds to retirement to Roth IRA to stocks to bonds and health insurance.
23. budgetEDGE: You can use this tool anonymously, which warns you when you’re getting close to running out of money.
24. Indy Budget: IndyBudget will give you the tools to set goals, remind yourself of upcoming bills through e-mail alerts, forecast your savings and budget needs, and more.
25. Geezeo: With Geezeo, you can manage all your accounts from one place, get advice from financial experts and other users, and access lots of budgeting tools.

Price Comparison

Comparison shopping is extremely important right now, and these websites make it very easy to get the best deal on baby items, groceries, clothes, electronics and more.

26. PriceGrabber.com: This online comparison shopping tool lets you shop by category or look up a specific product. You can also get reviews and ratings of individual items.
27. Bizrate: Bizrate is a popular resource for those searching out the best deals. Categories like home and garden, sports and outdoors, toys and games, computers and software and electronics direct you to what you need.
28. DealTime: DealTime comes with a shopping guide and store directory, plus searchable categories so you can easily compare deals.
29. Street Prices: This shopping search engine is committed to "sniffing out the best prices on the web."
30. Bottomdollar.com: Get the best deal on books, cameras, furniture and more.
31. mySimon: This little guy directs you to some of the best sales online.
32. PriceSCAN: Here you can view price trends, get vendor ratings, and easily find the product you want.
33. Nextag: Nextag finds deals in mortgages, travel, and regular shopping categories.

Travel Deals and Tools

A recession doesn’t mean you have to cancel all your vacations. Use these sites and tools to find the best deals on ticket prices, attractions, public transportation and more.

34. TravelZoo: Look for flights and hotels all over the world, plus vacation specials and packages on this site.
35. Kayak: Kayak searches over 140 travel booking sites to find you the best deals, while still allowing you to buy directly from the travel sites.
36. Trip Advisor: Make sure you get the most out of your trip and the best deals by reading reviews, getting vacation ideas and finding the best restaurants, transportation and attractions for less.
37. Booking Buddy: Use Booking Buddy to search Expedia, Orbitz, American Airlines and other travel sites.
38. EasyJet: If you can’t get a cheap flight to your first destination in Europe, fly to a hub and then use the more budget-friendly airline EasyJet for a connection.
39. Transport Direct: If traveling throughout Britain, use this site to get public transportation directions, car routes, day trip ideas, bus stops and more.
40. Google Transit: Google Transit will connect you to the closest public transportation option and then get you to your destination. Find public transit in the U.S., Europe and more.
41. GasBuddy: When planning a road trip, make sure you know where to stop for the cheapest gas along the way when you use this tool.

Saving Money on Food

Food is a necessity and often carves out a large portion of our budgets. Use these tools to make sure you’re saving as much as you can on grocery shopping and eating out.

42. Vegetable Gardening Guru: Grow your own vegetables to save money at the grocery store.
43. Beer Tools: Learn how to make your own beer with these recipe generators and other beer tools.
44. Diet.com recipes: Instead of buying trendy and expensive diet foods, learn how to make your own healthy meals.
45. All Recipes: Watch how-to videos, start your own blog, and create an online recipe box to store meal ideas and cheap snacks.
46. Cheap Eats: This blog directs you to cheap food in cities like Detroit, Eugene, OR, and Las Vegas. You can also find recipes and tips for finding and making cheap food.
47. New York Eat Cheap 2008: New Yorkers and those planning to visit the Big Apple can find the best of inexpensive restaurants here.
48. 20 Ways to Save on Groceries: Bankrate’s list has lots of great tips for helping you budget your grocery bill.
49. The Grocery Game: Get tips for saving money on groceries, find coupons, and more.
50. Healthy, Cheap, Tasty and Quick: The Grocery Store Grand Slam and Eight Tips on How to Achieve It: The Simple Dollar has excellent tips on getting through your grocery trip stress-free and without spending too much.
51. Sam’s Club Store Locator: Consider getting a membership to Sam’s Club so that you can save money on groceries and other items.

Coupons

Check these coupon sites to cancel out online shipping costs and more.

52. RetailMeNot: Find free shipping and discount coupons for ebay, Kohls.com, PapaJohns.com, VictoriasSecret.com and others.
53. DealCatcher: With DealCatcher, you can find coupons and learn about the best deals of the day.
54. CouponCabin: Go to CouponCabin.com to get savings plans, free shipping and clearance prices.
55. Cool Savings: Here you can find printable coupons for groceries, clothing, pet items and more.
56. Fat Wallet: Fat Wallet is an online cash saving community that lets you connect with other shoppers, find coupons, earn cash back and more.
57. Flamingo World: On this site, you can find online coupons for Bluefly, Ann Taylor, Target and more.
58. CurrentCodes: Browse by store merchant or by category to find coupons for your favorite products and stores.
59. Wow Printable Coupons: Find printable coupons for restaurants, shopping, travel, rebates and more.
60. Best VoIP Service Coupons: Compare deals at the top Voice over IP service providers.
61. CheapStingyBargains: This site posts coupons and even has a forum and price comparing tool.

Free Business Tools

Continue to grow your business despite the recession with these free or almost-free tools.

62. Entrepreneur.com: Access Entrepreneur.com’s business tools to search for vendors, start your online business, create a logo and more.
63. Inc.com: Membership to Inc.com is free and gives you access to tips and tools regarding employee management, client relations, financial management and more.
64. Bplans: Get tips on writing a business plan and design your plan based on one of 500 sample plans.
65. Google Docs: Create spreadsheets, word documents and more with this free set.
66. Zoho: This free collection of productivity and business apps features an online organizer, wiki, notebook, presentation tool, spreadsheets, invoicing, CRM and more.
67. Backpack: Organize your small business, vendors and contacts online with this project management and streamlining tool.
68. Campfire: Manage group chats without having to pay for commutes and travel with Campfire.
69. Highrise: Make your clients feel super special when you use this CRM tool. Comes with a 30-day free trial.
70. Blinksale: You can send up to three invoices per month for free with this online invoicing program.
71. LinkedIn: Join this networking community to instantly broaden your contacts base, find new jobs and discover promising opportunities.

Cheap Fun

If you give up fun altogether in the name of savings, the recession will damage your mood and relationships, not just your budget. Check out these resources for ways to have fun on the cheap.

72. My Open Bar: If you live in New York City, Chicago, LA, Miami, Honolulu or San Francisco, check this website for spots with free or almost free drinks specials. More cities to come.
73. Daily Candy: Subscribe to this daily e-mail service that lets you know all the cool (and affordable) sales, and special events and parties for foodies, fashionistas, the art crowd and more.
74. PaperBack Swap: Join this community to mail books to fellow readers and get books sent to you. You can also swap hardbacks and audio books.
75. SwapTree: Trade books, music, DVDs and video games with online friends using this service.
76. Shop Freebies: Shop for free samples and get coupons for household items, travel and more.
77. CompleteTickets.com: Get discounted movie, concerts, theater, and sporting events tickets here.
78. Okaya: Okaya is an event search engine that helps you find discounted travel, concert, sports and theater tickets.
79. Citysearch: Search bars, spas, restaurants and more by price range here.
80. Chowhound: Get recommendations for quality, but economical, bars, recipes and restaurants.
81. Fun Free or Cheap Things to Do In Your City for $5 or Less: Click on the map to find cheap things to do in your city, or in a major city near you.

Health and Fitness

Don’t neglect your health during a recession: from free clinics to personal fitness and diet tools, these resources will keep you healthy.

82. HRSA Find a Health Center: Use this tool to find federally-funded health centers that can help you out, even if you don’t have insurance.
83. NeedyMeds.org: Click on your state to find low-cost clinics.
84. PPARx.org: This free clinic finder finds health care facilities in your zip code.
85. iPod Workouts: Download free and cheap workouts to your iPod to save you money from classes and trainers.
86. Body Fat Calculator: Calculate your body fat by yourself with this tool.
87. StartYourDiet.com: Set up a free account to get daily weight tracking support, a diet profile, daily food journal and more.
88. The Diet Channel: Use the tools on this website to learn more about diet and fitness. Use the exercise calculators, find daily meal plans and more.
89. WebMD: Look up symptoms and get medical advice for free on this site.
90. MayoClinic: The website for the prestigious Mayo Clinic features treatment help, information about drugs and supplements, a symptoms and diseases page, and plenty more.
91. Doctors Lounge: Head to this site to ask medical questions without going to the doctor’s office.

General Recession Advice

For even more tips and advice on how to thrive during a recession, turn to these guides.

92. WiseBread: This site teaches you how to live "large on a small budget." Find shopping and travel deals, get personal finance tips, and more.
93. Tips for Surviving a Recession: Kathleen Pender of SFGate gives readers tips for emergency saving and more.
94. 3 Ways to Recession Proof Your Finances: This article cautions readers to avoid credit cards, go back to using coupons and more.
95. Recession Tips for Web Designers: This guide is helpful for web designers and freelancers who need to stay afloat during tough economic times.
96. 40+ Ways to Survive a Recession: Get tips for saving money on groceries, cell phone bills and more.
97. Managing Debt: Suze Orman has lots of tips for managing and paying off debt here.
98. How to Protect Yourself in a Recession: Mellody Hobson has advice for locking in fixed mortgage rates in this article.
99. Recession Management: Positive brand image: Learn how to make your brand work for you and sustain your business during a recession.
100. Recession 101: What are the signs?: Learn how to recession-proof your finances and stay afloat in a bad economy.