Property Management Nation

Realtor.com

A mere $13.5 million will buy you the famous Tuscan style villa in the Beverly Hills Post Office neighborhood used in the reality dating show “Ochocinco:  The Ultimate Catch” on VH-1.  According to the LA Times, the network leased the over 15,000 square foot gated home for the dating show in which Chad Ochocinco, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, picks a partner from a group of 85 women.  The number 85 is significant in two ways: one it’s his jersey number and two it was the inspiration behind his name change from Johnson to Ochocinco.

The hilltop mansion is ideal for entertaining with winding, dual staircases in the entry, parking space for 100 cars, a massive front room with 28 foot ceilings and a drop-down projector with a 15-foot retractable screen.  The pool and spa are bordered by a two-story guesthouse and features both indoor and outdoor fireplaces.  The 2 acre property boasts 9 bathrooms and bedrooms altogether along with sweeping views of Franklin Canyon Lake and canyons.  If you want more, the adjacent lots are also being sold for $3 million and $1.5 million respectively.  The whole enchilada encompasses 10 acres.

Ochocinco’s reality show premiered Sunday and is already being billed as one of the summer’s “must-watch” shows by MSNBC.  The NFL star will whittle the women down to 16 as they will then compete in a tournament style dating competition in order to win his heart.  Ochocinco got his reality television start on season 10 of “Dancing With The Stars” on ABC, but is more widely known for his play (and antics) both on and off the football field.  Want a better look at Ochocinco’s newest partner, the Beverly Hills home?  Watch his VH-1 show or contact real-estate guru Lynne Duquette.

Becoming a homeowner has many benefits to you personally.  It is most likely the single largest investment you will ever make and can serve as a vessel to help you build wealth.  You will also benefit from tax breaks in the form of mortgage interest and property taxes.  This does not even take into consideration the personal memories and piece of the American dream you receive in buying a home.  Home ownership is not just good for the individual, but also benefits the community and economy.

Home owners tend to be more involved in their local community than renters since they feel as if they own a piece of the neighborhood.  Owners are more likely to engage in local politics, crime busters or neighborhood watch and community organizations as well as maintain social networks and contribute to the work force.  Homeowners strive to support local schools and local outreach programs more often than renters do.  Homeowners want to make their neighborhood and community a better place to live and most have a vested interest in this.

Buying or building a home also contributes to the economy.  When having a house built you are creating demand in the construction sector for both unskilled and skilled labor as well as increasing the need for manufacturing jobs that supply equipment and materials.  Businesses like mortgage banking, real estate and home furnishings are also stimulated with the building of new homes.  Taxes at the local and federal level are collected from workers, businesses and sales tax from building materials which also drives the economy.  Homeowners also spend money on housing services, appliances and other materials further benefiting the economy.

The first-time home buyer tax-credit that expired in May and was originally put in place by Congress in an attempt to revitalize a struggling economy and housing market apparently fell into the wrong hands on multiple occasions.  14,100 occasions actually.  According to an investigator for the US government, 1,300 inmates took advantage of the tax-break costing the country $26.7 million.  One of the scams used had taxpayers filing for the credit 67 times on one home sale (Associated Press).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is supposedly looking into the matter and is disturbed by its implications. The IRS claims that due to its aggressive actions they have denied 400,000 questionable claims and opened 150 criminal investigations.   This did not alter the fact that prison inmates still were able to cash in on the $8,000 tax credit.  241 of these inmates are serving life-sentences.  Apparently prisons are not required to provide information on inmates to the IRS and many do not.  The IRS is asking them now to expedite the investigation. 

According to the National Association of Realtors, the tax-credit enabled the sale of 1 million homes that would not have been possible without it.  Hopefully the IRS can uncover all the wrong-doers and expose all the fraudulent claims so as not to take away from those of us that honestly deserve these kind of breaks.

babble.com

Today, June 14th is flag day for us Americans, but surprisingly few know the right way to display the American flag!  If you are planning on flying the flag today or any other day, you should know some American flag etiquette and rules surrounding its display. The flag should be flown with respect and honor to the United States of America and those who have and are defending it.  Here are some things to remember:

• Union up!  The union is the blue rectangular part of the flag and should always be flown with it up or in the top upper-left corner.  If you fly your flag upside down it is considered a distress signal.
• If you are going to display the flag crossed with another flag, it should be on the flag’s right, or your left as you view it, with the staff in front of the other flag.
• Similarly if you are going to display the flag on a stage or podium, it should be stage-right on the right of the podium with any other flags on stage-left.
• The American flag should always be raised first and lowered last, so if you are going to fly it with another non-nation flag on the same halyard it should be on top or at the peak.
• If there is a group of flags together from other countries, they should all have their own staff and be flown at the same height.  If the group is of state or other local flags on their own staffs, the American flag should be at the highest point of the group in the center.
• If the American flag is being carryed in a parade, it should always be carried on the marching right, or at the front and center of a line of other flags.
• If a prominent person dies, the President of the United States will order all flags to be flown at half-mast or half-staff.  To do this you should first raise the flag all the way to the peak and then down half-way.  Also when you lower the flag, first raise it to the peak briefly.
• If your flag becomes worn out it needs to be disposed of properly.  To do this you need to properly fold it and ceremoniously burn it.  You can also always give it to any VFW, American Legion or government office for proper disposal.

Now that you know how to properly display your American flag, fly it with pride this Flag Day!

Whether you’re a “new age” type of person or not, some places have a mystical quality.  Look, we’re not talking auras, or ley lines.  What we’re saying is, whether you believe in that sort of stuff are not, some places, when you experience them in person, give off a sense of being more than what they are.  Sure, some could say you’re just picking that up from the people around you, but honestly.  Perhaps it’s just a sense of the site’s history, or the mystery surrounding its origin.  Suffice it to say, some places are mystical.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge image via Wikipedia

If you’re going to do a list of mystical places then you have to include Stonehenge.  The place has been used as a ritual site for over ten thousand years.  The Stonehenge as we know it, however, began construction sometime around five thousand years ago.  The function of Stonehenge remains its greatest mystery.  The most common known guess is it is an ancient astronomical observatory.  Others have suggested it is a places of death or healing.  The most likely guess possibly encompasses all of these, that the site has been used for multiple purposes.

Pyramids

Pyramids image via wikipedia

Mention “mystical places” to anyone in the western world, and they’ll probably bring up the Egyptian Pyramids.  The one pyramid most of us are familiar with is also the largest, The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.  It is also the only wonder of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” to exist today.  The practical use for the Egyptian pyramids is well known.  They were burial monuments, tombs.  Their theological purpose, however, is still up for debate.  Some believe they represent the rays of the sun.  When they were new, the pyramids were smooth and bright.  They would have even seemed luminescent at a distance.  The pyramids could also have been built to assist with sending their deceased occupants into the afterlife.

Moai

Moai image via wikipedia

And what are “Moai”, you may ask?  They’re the famous statues on Easter Island.  These monolithic human statues were carved between the years 1250 and 1500.  While most refer to these statues as the Easter Island Heads, this is a misnomer as the statues are actually full bodied or at least go down to their hips.  The heads do, however, take up 3/5 of the statue, and many are also buried up to their shoulders, which explains inaccuracy.  The statues are believed to represent specific ancestors and chiefs.  While all of the statues were standing upright when the island was discovered by the western world, sometime during 1722 and 1868, civil war broke out among the island’s natives and many of the statues were toppled over.  Today, many have been restored, and several have been taken to museums.

Nazca Lines

Nazca Lines image via wikipedia

If you’ve ever heard of ancient drawing drawn on the ground that could only be viewed from high up in the sky, these are them.  The Nazca lines, found in Nazca Desert in Peru, were created between 200 BC and 700 AD.  Their purpose, to this day, remains unknown, although there are several guesses.  The most popular guess is that the geoglyphs were created to be viewed by gods who dwelled in the sky.  Others suggest that various lines on the glyphs point in specific directions, towards celestial bodies on the horizon.  Another suggestion is that the geoglyphs are purely ritual in nature.  The lines were created by removing the reddish pebbles that cover the Nazca Desert, revealing the whitish ground beneath.

Temple Mount

Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock via Wikipedia

One would be hard pressed to find a more contested religious site than Temple Mount.  The Jewish faith believes that this is where the world began, where God collected the dust to create Adam.  The site is considered so holy that many Jews will not set foot on the site.  So why is it contested?   Because Temple Mount is sacred to the Muslims as well for an entire different reason.  The Islamic faith believes that this was the site from which Muhammad left our world and ascended into heaven.  Built on the Temple Mount is the Dome of the Rock, the oldest existing Islamic building in the world.

Bodhi Tree

Bodhi Tree image via wikipedia

In Buddhism, it is believed that Buddha received enlightenment after spending 49 days meditating beneath a tree.  This is that tree—well, a descendent of it… or a clone.  It is all very complicated.  Suffice it to say, the original Bodhi tree is firmly believed to be very much genetically alive as several of its clones have been planted (by planting branches and seeds, etc.) since ancient times.  There is a temple at the location of the original tree.  Within the United States, a clone of the Bodhi Tree exists within an arboretum located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Atlantis

Mythical Painting of Atlantis

Not real?  A complete work of fantasy?  Perhaps that makes this place the most mystical of all.  One might even describe the lost city of Atlantis as “Biblical” if they wanted to go the whole “lost paradise” route.  First mentioned in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, all information we have on Atlantis ultimately originate from these two sources.  As the original story goes, Atlantis was an island nation and rival of Athens.  Athens ultimately won their ongoing war, and at a later time Atlantis sunk beneath the sea due to a great earthquake.  To this day, some people believe the story is fact and search for the lost nation’s location.

The Internet

data strem

Yes, that’s right.  The internet, that thing you’re using right now.  Sure it’s just ones and zeroes, but you could say many of the places above are just rocks and plants.  Still not buying it?  Fine.  Consider this… think of the first time you saw the internet first hand and realized what it was.  Compare that to the reaction you might have to bearing first hand witness to one of the sites above.  The internet is pure science, but there is a ghost in its machine.  It is more than just the sum of its parts.

Whether it be lines in the sand, a mythical realm, an ancient building, or even a world changing technology, the mystical nature of some places can’t be denied.  One can only imagine sites that are commonplace today, which may be mystical to our ancestors in a few thousand years.