VA Home Improvement Loans? | VALoans.com

One of our recent posts included a reader question about VA loans for home improvements. The reader asked, ?Can we get a loan for home improvements. For example, paint, carpet, and tile floor repairs, ect.??

As we mentioned in the original blog post, the VA does not guaranty separate, ?new purchase? type mortgage loans for home improvements. Eligible borrowers can apply for refinancing loans that either feature additional funds for energy-efficient upgrades to the home, or they can apply for cash-out refinancing loans and use those funds for home improvements.

But chances are good that many readers still want to know why the VA does not guaranty home improvement loans as a stand-alone product.

The answer can be found in the VA loan rules as described in the VA Lender?s Handbook. Chapter Three of that handbook includes a section on eligible VA loan purposes. The guide states, ?The law authorizes VA to guarantee loans made to eligible veterans only for the following purposes?, then proceeds to list all the ways you can use a VA mortgage.

Those ways include:

?To purchase or construct a residence, including a condominium or cooperative unit, to be owned and occupied by the veteran as a home

?To refinance an existing VA-guaranteed or direct loan for the purpose of a lower interest rate.

?To refinance an existing mortgage loan or other indebtedness secured by a lien of record on a residence owned and occupied by the veteran as a home.

?To repair, alter, or improve a residence owned by the veteran and occupied as a home.

?To simultaneously purchase and improve a home.

?To improve a residence owned and occupied by the veteran as the veteran?s home through the installation of a solar heating system, a solar heating and cooling system, or a combined solar heating and cooling system, or through the application of a residential energy conservation measure.? These energy efficiency improvement loans can be made in conjunction with any type of VA purchase or refinancing loan.

?To purchase a one-family residential unit in a condominium housing development approved by VA.

?To purchase a farm residence to be owned and occupied by the veteran as a home.? If the loan includes the purchase of farmland, the farmland is appraised at its residential value only.

The purpose in bold text, ?to repair, alter, or improve?? requires the borrower to have an existing VA home loan that is eligible to be refinanced, or refinance a non-VA loan. The VA does not guaranty stand-alone ?new purchase? type home loans for improvements only. Part of this has to do with the rules for VA mortgages?only under limited circumstances (cash-out refinancing, for example) does the VA allow money back to the borrower in a VA loan transaction that is not a refund of some kind.

Refinancing loans are different?cash out loans are underwritten and processed with an appraisal, credit check, and other requirements?and the loan is secured by the property to be refinanced.

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Source: http://www.vanewsblog.com/2012/08/va-home-improvement-loans/

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China, Twitter and the 0.1%

Earlier this month I had the good fortune of visiting China - a place I'm deeply curious about and - aside from some second year university courses, the reporting from the Economist, and the occasional trip over to Tea Leaf Nation - remains too foreign to me for comfort given its enormous importance.

As always China - or to be specific - Beijing is overwhelming. The pollution, the people, the energy, the scale. It can be hard to grasp or describe. But I want to talk about my conversations which were overwhelming in other, equally fantastic ways.

As an indirect result of the trip I just posted a piece up on the WeGov section of TechPresident asking "Is Sina Weibo a Means of Free Speech or a Means of Social Control." The post comes out of a dinner conversation I had in Beijing with Michael Anti, an exceedingly smart and engaging Chinese journalist, political blogger and former Nieman Journalism Fellow at Harvard who has a very interesting analysis about Weibo (Chinese twitter) as a means to enhance the power of the central government. The piece is worth reading largely because of the thoughts he has that are embedded in it.

There was another interesting thread that came out of our dinner conversation - one that was equally sobering. Michael described himself as part of the "Generation 70," those who, if it isn't obvious, were born in the 70s. For him, the defining trait or esprit, of that generation was a sense of possibility. As he noted "I'm from a humble family and fairly unimportant city in China, and I got to end up at Harvard." For him and his peers as China grew, so did many of their opportunities. He argues that they were able to dream big in ways the almost no previous generation of Chinese could.

He contrasts that with the "Generation 90," those now in mid teens to mid twenties and he sees a generation with small dreams and growing frustration. Forget about access to the top international universities in the world. Indeed, forget about access to top Chinese universities. Such opportunities are now reserved for the super rich and the super connected. What many have felt was a system that was relatively meritocratic is now flagrantly not. According to Anti, the result is that Generation 90 does not have big dreams. Forget about become a world class scientist, founding a leading company, leading an interesting organization. Many do not even dream of owning an apartment. This evolution (devolution?) in moods was summed up succinctly in a poster Anti saw at a demonstration a few months earlier which nihilistic read "We are Generation 90: Sacrifice Us."

A few days later I had the good fortune of being in Soho (a very upscale neighborhood in Beijing) with a group of Generation 90ers. Eating at a very nice Chinese restaurant above a Nike and Apple store I discretely asked a few them if they agreed with Anti's assessment about Generation 90.

Were they optimistic about their future? What were their dreams? Did they feel like opportunities for them were shrinking?

I was stunned.

They agreed with Anti. Here I was, in the nation's capital, sitting in an upper middle class restaurant, with a vibrant, intelligent, bilingual group of young Chinese. This is a group that would easily fit in the top 5% in terms of education, opportunity and income, and most probably in the 1%. And they felt that opportunity for their generation were limited. Their dreams, were more limited than the generation before them.

Maybe this is a sort of Gen X syndrome Chinese style, but if I were the Chinese government, such sentiment would have me worried. There is an acceptance - from what I observed - in China that the system is rigged - but there was clearly a sense that before the benefits were more widely distributed, or at least available on a limited meritocratic basis.

I've never been as bullish on China as some of my peers. Between the demographic time bomb that is about to explode, the fact the state spends more on internal security than the military and the weak sense of the rule of law (essential for any effective market) I've felt that China's problems are deeper and ultimately harder to address than say those in India or Brazil. But this conversation has given me new pause. If the 5% or worse, the 1% don't feel like China can make room for them, where does that leave everyone else not in the .1%? These are, of course, problems many societies must face. But public discourse in China on a subject like this is almost certainly much harder to engage in than in say, Brazil, India or America.

China is a wonderfully complex and nuanced place. So maybe this all means nothing. Maybe it is a sort of Gen X funk. But it has given me a whole lot more to think about.

Original post

Source: http://www.govloop.com/xn/detail/1154385%3ABlogPost%3A2308495

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Internet Marketing For Smaller businesses - Your own garden - Home

If you?ve been considering doing internet marketing for your small business, you certainly might have seen or heard a lot of people discussing the advantages of it. However, as a business owner, you can not rely solely around the opinion of other people. You need to have good knowledge of this type of marketing, of the benefits and advantages and of the methods in which you can use it effectively. This guide can help you understand this better.

Precisely what is internet marketing for small businesses?

Simply put, internet marketing could be the online promotion of your business and the products that it offers. However, there are tons of aspects for it. In order to be accessible web in order to operate online, your business needs a web site.

Setting up a website is only the start of your internet marketing for small business strategy and it will not cause you to instantly popular with shoppers as they will simply not know about your site or business, nor marketing. You need a strategy to aid you in getting website traffic and consumers.

This is where internet marketing regarding small businesses comes in. That focuses on search engine optimization (Search engine optimisation) for driving increased traffic to your website through natural searches. Techniques for example article marketing and video marketing are used for promoting your organization and products and your web site as well. Social media marketing is a crucial component of the overall method as well as it permits higher traffic, primary advertising and retaining existing customers. E-mail marketing will help you achieve the latter two as well.

What are benefits of internet marketing regarding small businesses?

More prospects will visit your site. This is the major good thing about this type of marketing. The harder popular on the web greater customers you will get.

Higher sales are immediate result of internet marketing pertaining to small businesses. You will make a lot more sales because you will get more customers, nevertheless this is not the only reason. This type of marketing focuses not only on advertising of your website, however on promoting your business and products on the web and in your site as well. This may provide for an increase in the lead conversion rate and also lead to even more revenue.

Affordability is one of the key benefits of this method pertaining to promoting your business and merchandise on the web. In general, online marketing for small businesses fees considerably less than most other forms of marketing including print media the television marketing. At the same time, the competition in the industry is growing which gives for falling price ranges. Even small companies are able to afford to use the services of experts in the field.

How do you set up and apply an internet marketing strategy?

There is a couple of ways in which you can do it. The D-I-Y method is always an option, but you require knowledge, skills and plenty of time. Furthermore, you cant ever be certain that your techniques will yield the desired results. It can take time and effort to learn and actually implement all the strategies needed to get results from undertaking internet marketing yourself.

The second option is to hire an individual such as a consultant that may devise and carry out online marketing strategies for the local small business. This can create good results, but you will certainly incur costs inside short-term but in the long-term your return on your investment can be high. Hiring a consultant is generally the better option for hectic small business owners who want to acquire results sooner plus a see a return on investment without the effort of doing all this themselves.

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This entry was posted on 16. August 2012 at 17:50 and is filed under Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://gardenclubblog.pictureshop-and-search.com/2012/08/16/internet-marketing-for-smaller-businesses-get-more-customers-online/

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Evaluating the Integrity of a Professional Roofer

Just with enough money can you change the rotting roof structure of your property, and oftentimes, it requires more than just funds to ensure that the venture will go smoothly. Roof materials, style, layout, budget, and contractors to hire are only several of the numerous aspects of roof ventures that you have to consider. Since you'll absolutely require the assistance of a qualified roofer, you'll have to ask the ideal questions to pick the ideal man for the task.

How long have you been in the business?

Companies that have been delivering supports to your area for several years are still there for a very good reason: they are well-established and upheld by their clients. Those that have been in the industry for 5 years or more, despite the rigid competition, have survived by offering excellent solution. Successful contractors have history with their customers and a long list of useful experience.

How many staff members do you have?

When concerning deciding on a roofing service provider, larger is not often superior. Select a service provider that has a sufficient number of employees to accomplish the task within the given time frame. In addition, check if the roofing firm's construction staff are certified, trained, and insured.

What type of roofing system do you recommend?

If you stay within the Contra Costa County in California, hiring a neighboring Danville or Concord roofing contractor will be straightforward. Having said that, identifying the "right" roofer needs more effort and time. keep in mind to test a contractor's expertise by asking for details pertaining to the roof he likes to mount on your home. A knowledgeable professional roofer needs to be able to explain about the benefits of the supplier, the needed roofing materials, in addition to the basics of air flow.

What about the warranty?

A Danville roofing contractor can either present you a manufacturer's warranty or a contractor's warranty. Trustworthy professionals usually guarantee their workmanship for at least a couple of years. If it's a manufacturer's warranty, find out if it encompasses both the workmanship and materials or only the materials.

Projects or repairs for roofing Danville CA residents have to keep or develop their properties can be accomplished by dependable and skilled roofing contractors. By asking the questions above, you'll be able to screen the excellent from the unsatisfactory and hire a professional who can adeptly work on your home's roofing system. To understand more questions to ask, you can check out voices.yahoo.com/things-ask-hiring-roofing-contractor-467204.html?cat=6.

For more details, search concord roofing contractor, danville roofing contractor and roofing danville ca in Google for related information

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Syrian pilot ejects, rebels say they downed plane

In this citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, taken on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, a man looks at destroyed buildings from Syrian forces shelling in Khaldiyeh, Homs, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS CITIZEN JOURNALIST IMAGE

In this citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, taken on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2012, a man looks at destroyed buildings from Syrian forces shelling in Khaldiyeh, Homs, Syria. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS CITIZEN JOURNALIST IMAGE

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian state-run media said Monday a pilot ejected from a warplane after a technical failure while rebels claimed they shot it down over an eastern province where the opposition has a strong presence.

Earlier Monday, activists released a video which they claimed shows a government Soviet-made MiG warplane catching fire after it apparently was hit by ground fire over Deir el-Zour province. The warplane appears to be spiral into a ball of flames. It was impossible to independently verify the video.

SANA news agency said the plane was on a training mission when a "technical failure occurred" and the pilot had to eject. It added that a search was under way to find the pilot.

If the rebels indeed managed to shoot down a fighter jet, it would mark a major leap forward in their military capabilities as well as a big blow to the regime, which started using its air force intensively in the civil war over the past weeks.

The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the plane was hit as it was conducting air raids on the town of Muhassan. The group quoted activists in the area as saying the plane was hit with fire from a heavy machine gun used by rebels in the area.

Observatory Director Rami Abdul-Rahman said he was told by locals that the rebels captured the pilot, a colonel, alive.

Theodore Karasik, a regional security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said the rebel claim ? if true ? would suggest a stepped-up flow of outside military assistance. Older anti-aircraft weapons, possibly looted from Syrian arsenals such as variations on the Soviet-era SA-7, are considered overmatched by later model MiGs in the Syrian air force.

"If this is true, the conjecture would be that covert aid to the rebels is expanding with higher-grade anti-aircraft capabilities," he said.

Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged to help supply the Syrian rebels, but the extent of the aid is unclear. Rebel commanders have consistently complained about lack of ammunition, including during recent battles in Aleppo. Last week, anti-regime protesters across Syria staged rallies calling for greater anti-aircraft firepower.

On Sunday, the head of Syria's main opposition group in exile called for international powers to impose a no-fly zone in border areas to protect civilians who are coming under increasingly intense attacks by regime warplanes and helicopters.

The president of the Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, told The Associated Press that such a move by the international community would show President Bashar Assad's regime that his opponents around the world are serious.

The Syrian opposition has been calling for a no-fly zone over Syria for months. But Sieda renewed the plea a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington and Turkey were discussing a range of steps including a no-fly zone over some parts of Syria as the regime increasingly uses its air force to attack rebels.

The eastern, oil-rich region of Deir el-Zour near the border with Iraq has been witnessing heavy clashes between government troops and rebels over the past week. Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected to Jordan earlier this month, comes from Deir el-Zour.

The toll of Syria journalists killed over the weekend rose to three on Monday, when a pro-government TV station said one of its cameramen kidnapped three days ago is believed to be dead.

The station said two other journalists and their driver are being held by rebels near the capital Damascus.

The station said gunmen kidnapped the cameraman Friday along with three other employees of the pro-regime Al-Ikhbariya TV while covering the violence in the Damascus suburb of al-Tal. The three surviving members of the team appeared in an online video, saying they were being held by rebel forces who were treating them well.

A man who identified himself as a rebel spokesman also appeared in the video, saying the cameraman and two members of the Free Syrian Army rebel group were killed in government shelling while on a tour in al-Tal to shoot destruction in the area.

It was impossible to independently verify the events shown in the video. But the general manager of Al-Ikhbariya TV said they believe the cameraman is dead. In June, gunmen raided Al-Ikhbariya's headquarters, killing seven employees.

Two other journalists were killed in Damascus or its suburbs on Saturday. A reporter for state-run news agency SANA was killed in his Damascus home, while another working for the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya TV was killed in a blast in al-Tal.

Activists reported clashes and shelling between government troops and rebels in areas including Damascus and its suburbs, the central province of Homs, and the southern region of Daraa. The Observatory said 52 people were killed so far Monday, 39 of them civilians while the others were soldiers or rebels.

Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in March 2011.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-08-13-Syria/id-5055dfb09b34442ea9b4af71679e4084

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Energy Efficiency and Indoor Environment Air Quality

In the late 19th century, a curious turn of serendipitous events caused the development of air cooling innovation-- not in the interest of luxury and convenience, but as a measure to control malaria. Odd as it could appear today, medical professionals at the time didn't comprehend the pathogenesis of the disease, and attributed the condition to exposure to the bad air-- or mal aria in Italian-- in tropical swamps.

In fact, British colonials who spent even more time inside air conditioned spaces were less likely to suffer from malaria not because of the lack of so-called bad air, but because disease-carrying mosquitoes were shut out.

While the medical professionals at the time were wrong about absolving the mosquitoes and accusing the bad air, they were correct in surmising that bad air definitely does have unfavorable results on wellness. Certainly, numerous disease-causing products that threaten humanity are air-borne, invisible, and essentially all over.

Paradoxically, the most harmful air is not found at swamps, but inside closed buildings where air can neither be circulated nor renewed effectively. Work wellness experts mention the risks of sizable malls that regularly reuse the exact same air for a number of years in the interest of lowering HVAC costs. As people inhale and exhale this recycled air, they additionally pick up an alarming number of damaging substances.

For this reason, managers of office and commercial spaces seek to attend to the complication of air circulation by installing electrical tools to keep the air circulation going. Air flow equipment like Delhi fans and blowers, for example, are well fit for buildings with higher demands, whether due to their design, dimension, or special requirements. They are frequently utilized in paint booths and server rooms that need continual air flow.

Other special-purpose air flow could be found in hospitals, meal preparation areas, and places where the presence of radon gas is a concern. Axial, inline, and centrifugal blowers are accessible for buildings that call for heavy-duty air moving. Fantech fans also provide domestic and commercial establishments with venting answers that feature hepa filtering to maintain ideal health levels.

The Greek term "zephyr" is the mythical name for the soft West wind. In the present-day context, Zephyr fans are made for lighter commercial applications and for residential use. Discover even more about different ventilation equipment by logging on to epa. gov/iaq/homes / hip-ventilation. html.

For more details, search Delhi fans, Fantech fans, and Zephyr fans in Google for related information.

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Ezekwesili, others to chart new economic path for Africa, By Laolu ...

BUILDING on her work in the last five years as?World Bank Vice President for Africa, former Nigerian Solid Minerals and Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, is teaming up with billionaire George Soros to chart a new economic course for Africa.

The move will?help?advanced?economies on the continent?to finally reach and positively touch the lives of the poor African majority, and set up a?world-class?graduate school of public policy in Abuja.

Ezekwesili, who has been appointed by the Open Society Foundations (OSF) to lead its new Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative, will provide economic policy support for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and other African countries.

Ezekwesili, in May, rounded off her tenure as World Bank VP for Africa, and handed over to Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese.

Ezekwesili told The Guardian in New York on Monday evening that her partnership with the Open Society and its billionaire founder?was strategic,?providing?the opportunity ?to advance the centrality of sound policies for economic?growth that delivers benefit to a larger number of African citizens especially?because?capable states do better in articulating and executing sound public policies.?

After holding meetings with other top officials of the Open Society in New York, she added that ?in this assignment, I want to bring in structural transformation, especially?now that Africa must prioritise structural transformation through economic diversification.?

A statement from the Open Society in Abuja yesterday, where Ezekwesili would be based in her new role, also said:??The Open Society Foundations today announced that it has asked Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, a world-renowned expert on economic reforms and economic governance, to lead its new Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative. ?

According to the statement, the initiative was created to build on the strong growth performance of Africa over the last decade and the emergent urgency for structural transformation of economies to expand benefits to the poor majority through policies that boost private sector jobs and incomes.

Continuing the Open Society said: ?Operating from Abuja, Ezekwesili will advise the leaders and policy-makers of the countries on their economic strategy and policy reforms that can help boost investment and create job growth in the Mano River region. The initiative over the next three years will expand to include other countries across Africa.?

The initiative, which is focusing on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, countries in West Africa, will help develop leadership in public policy and economic reforms within governments and will leverage African expertise in the Diaspora to strengthen state capacities in various sectors of economies in Africa, according to the Open Society.

Commenting on the new role of the Nigerian former minister, President Alpha Conde of Guinea said:??We very heartily welcome this initiative by the Open Society Foundation and are eager to seize the opportunity to receive the valuable policy advice and support from Oby Ezekwesili. We benefited from her rich experience and policy expertise when she was at the World Bank and helped us considerably in advancing our country?s economic reforms and development priorities.?

In his own comments, Open Society founder, Soros, observed: ?I am delighted for Oby to join our team working on Africa.?

Soros, who is also the chairman?of the Open Society Foundations added that??my foundations have long been committed to fostering economic development in post-conflict countries and nations transitioning to democracy.?

Ezekwesili will take the title?Senior Economic Advisor in the Open Society Foundations and in that capacity, ?will oversee the creation of a public policy advisory centre in Abuja that will collaborate with Paul Collier, the professor of economics who focuses on developing countries and others to provide economic policy solutions to pro-reform governments starting with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.?

In addition to that, the former World Bank Vice President for Africa?will help establish ?a separate Africa-wide graduate school of public policy, based in Nigeria, that will collaborate with leading universities including the School of Public Policy at the Central European University.?

Ezekwesili said?that there was a two-year?timeline, ??to begin to build towards the school.?

Open Society President Christopher Stone also praised Ezekwesili saying: ?Oby has dedicated her career to the proposition that governments in Africa, as elsewhere, can achieve equitable growth when they are open, honest and disciplined. She is the right person to lead this new initiative.?

In her job at the World Bank,?where she was Vice President in charge of Africa, Ezekwesili was responsible for operations in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and supervised a lending portfolio of over $40 billion.

Source: http://choforche.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/ezekwesili-others-to-chart-new-economic-path-for-africa-by-laolu-akande-new-york-and-marcel-mbamalu-lagos-news-national-the-guardian-wednesday-08-august-2012/

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