For the Sports and Entertainment Professional - A standard Builder's Contract?

You are celebrating the contract that you just signed and your signing bonus is burning a hole in your pocket. You’ve decided that you want to build a new house, renting just isn’t the same as owning.

There is no such thing as a standard builder’s contract. This is not a player’s contract where all your agent has to do is negotiate salary amounts, bonuses and incentives. While builder’s contracts vary from state to state, they always are drafted to protect the builder and not you. You have hired an agent to get you the best deal with your team, you have financial advisors looking after your investments, you have doctors and trainers caring for your body; make sure that you have an attorney, not necessarily your agent and or manager, but an attorney who specializes in real estate negotiate your purchase contract before you sign it.

Below are some items that you need to consider in your contract. Buying a new home is one of the biggest investments that you will make in your lifetime, make sure you protect yourself as much as you can.
Financing
Although you may not think it is necessary, consult with your bank or financial institution and have them pre-qualify you for a mortgage. This will help you determine how much you can afford to spend and still live comfortably. Most contracts don’t contain a contingency for financing which means that if you can’t qualify for a mortgage when the house is ready, you lose your deposit. While you probably can’t change this language in the contract, you can help yourself by understanding what it says.
Deposit
You want to keep your deposit as small as possible, preferably less than 10% of the purchase price. The builder is also going to want a deposit on your upgrades, try to keep that number to 25% or less. Make sure that whoever is holding the deposit has to keep the deposit in an escrow account, that you are earning interest, and that the builder cannot use the funds for construction. You don’t want to be financing the builder and have him go bankrupt with your money.
Inspections
Make sure the contract allows you to periodically inspect the home with your own contractor or building professional to ensure that the builder is doing a good job and constructing a solid house. I would inspect the wiring, plumbing, air conditioning ducts, and the insulation before the contractor seals them in with the drywall. This will give you an opportunity to get the builder to make some of the repairs before the house is completed.
Once the house is completed you should have a final opportunity to inspect the house and provide the builder with a punch-list of items that need to be corrected. It is very important that you carefully inspect the house because after closing you cannot to object to any item which you could have damaged moving in to the home. The contract should give the builder no more than thirty days to complete the repairs.
Default Provisions
What if you are traded or even worse released?
Make sure the contract provides that in the event that you default that the builder is limited to taking your deposit and cannot sue you for specific performance to make you complete the purchase or sue you for damages. You want to make sure that the worst-case scenario is you lose your deposit. Try and get the builder to make your contract assignable. That way if you can find someone to buy the house you will not forfeit your deposit.
Mirror Image and the Models
Keep in mind that model homes are professionally decorated, outfitted with the finest upgrades and presented to make the rooms look bigger and better than what it may look like when your home is built. The builder has the right to reverse the image of your house once it is built, that means the garage or the bedrooms may be flipped from the model. Have the contract provide that the builder must have the plans approved by you before construction can commence. Check the contract and identity what is standard and what is extra. Try and get the builder to throw in a few upgrades at no extra charge, if you don’t try, you never know.

Finally, do some research on the builder. Make sure that he has a good reputation and is experienced. Remember, once you sign the contract you are basically married to the builder until your home is built and your punch-list has been completed. Don’t let anyone tell you that the builder doesn’t negotiate the contract. Everything is negotiable. Remember that building a new home should be one of the most rewarding things you do in life.

AHB Custom Home Builders have completed many homes for sports and entertainment figures with happy results. We provide the support and expertise required to complete your home on schedule and on budget. We recognize the need for privacy and logistics that are usually required for your transaction.

For more information contact Diane Fudge 404-886-6716 or EMAIL.

Article Coutesy of Pro Athletes Only

Principles of Feng Shui

Everyone appreciates the benefits of beautiful, comfortable living environments; America's billion-dollar interior decorating industry attests to this fact. However, Feng Shui takes the approach that your surroundings affect not just your level of material comfort but also your physical and mental health, your relationships, and your worldly success.

Feng Shui (pronounced "fung shway") examines how the placement of things and objects within it affect the energy flow in your living environment, and how these objects interact with and influence your personal energy flow. Your personal energy flow affects how you think and act, which in turn affects how well you perform and succeed in your personal and professional life. Feng Shui affects you every moment of the day — whether you're aware of it or not.
As you begin to discover more about Feng Shui, remember that you need to have an open mind and should use the methods that are most comfortable for your particular circumstances.

Demystifying Feng Shui
If you've already read a bit about Feng Shui, you may be somewhat confused by the seemingly contradictory advice you've encountered. People who are unfamiliar with this method may have some misconceptions and apprehension.

Feng Shui is not
A get-rich-quick method of Asian interior design that guarantees impossible results for mystically rearranging your furniture

A superstitious or magical belief system, or a New Age fad that disconnects you from reality or from your daily life

A simple home and garden makeover

A quick fix to be tackled in one afternoon

A luxury only the rich and famous can afford

So the million-dollar question is, what is Feng Shui?

On the surface, Feng Shui is the simple interaction of humans and their environments. Taken a step further, Feng Shui enables you to influence these interacting energies to achieve specific life improvements. This influence is achieved by positioning or designing your surroundings in harmony with principles of natural energy flow. As a result, you (and your life) can achieve harmony with your surroundings. Feng Shui is practical and grounding, and it helps you right where you live and work.

Feng Shui is often referred to as the art of placement. How you place your furniture, possessions, and yourself within your surroundings largely determines your life experience at every level. Feng Shui offers a unique way of looking at yourself and your environment, and it provides a way of bringing balance, comfort, and harmony into your environment in a manner that is difficult to achieve by any other means.

Feng Shui is the study of the relationships between the environment and human life. Discovered by the Chinese, Feng Shui has been practiced for centuries to design environments that enhance conditions for success in life.

Interesting bits of historical Feng Shui confirmation are starting to emerge. For example, recent scientific research indicates that 28,000 years ago, Neanderthal cavemen (located in present-day Croatia) chose which caves to live in based on three criteria: The caves held the high ground in the area, the surrounding area was easily seen from the entrance of the cave, and the water source was easily accessible. These findings show that even our ancestors were naturally aware of the effects of placement in their environment. Interestingly enough, all three of these criteria are in harmony with the basic principles of Feng Shui, which has evolved and become more sophisticated along with humankind. Thus, Feng Shui is as relevant and beneficial to humankind today as it was 28,000 years ago.

Feng who? The meaning of the term Feng Shui
Feng Shui is a term composed of two Chinese words: feng (wind) and shui (water). Wind and water are the two natural elements that flow, move, and circulate everywhere on Earth. They are also the most basic elements required for human survival. Wind — or air — is the breath of life; without it, we would die in moments. And water is the liquid of life; without it, we would die in days. The combined qualities of wind and water determine the climate, which historically has determined our food supply and in turn affects our lifestyle, health, energy, and mood. These two fundamental and flowing elements have always profoundly yet subtly influenced human individuals and societies.

The essence of these life-giving elements is chi, or life force. Wind and water are direct carriers of chi, as their flowing quality reflects their essential nature. All living organisms are largely composed of these two elements. Thus, Feng Shui is the art of designing environments in harmony with the flow of chi through one's living space, and this flow supports and enhances one's personal chi or life force.

The big picture view of Feng Shui
Feng Shui is rooted in a holistic worldview. It sees all things and creatures as part of a natural order, a vast environment that is alive and in flux, ever moving and changing. Each thing in this natural order is equally alive and has an energetic value or component. So everything — plants, animals, people, and things — exists in a vast landscape that swirls with vital energy. The same energy that flows through the world flows through you as well. In fact, according to this view, your essence — the part of you that makes you alive, unique, and vital — is this energy. And your body is the vehicle or environment in which this essence flows.
Feng Shui divides the vast environment or landscape that is the universe into more manageable units — like human beings and their homes, property, offices, living rooms, and bedrooms. You can't control the Feng Shui of the world at large. But Feng Shui enables you to design your personal environment according to the same universal principles of energy flow by which planets spin in their orbits and galaxies wheel through space.

Article Adapted From: Feng Shui For Dummies

Photo Courtesy of www.5elements.ch/img/feng_shui_room_350x280.jpg