Posted by Dan on Dec 1, 2009 in
Lucky Hit A commercial mortgage is similar to a residential mortgage in that funds can be borrowed over a long period of time, usually a maximum of 30 years, secured by a first charge on the property being bought.
In taking first charge, the lender is first in the queue to recover any debt if the property ever needs to be sold. This could happen because the mortgagee wishes to move on and sells, or perhaps has defaulted on the repayments causing the lender to foreclose.
If a first charge business mortgage already exists, it is common for different lenders to advance funds secured by way of a second charge which puts that lender as second in the ‘security queue’.
Unlike residential mortgages, nearly all commercial mortgages are variable rate loans which fluctuate in line with the Base Rate set by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. So, if a lender offers terms which include an interest rate of say ’2% over base’ then a base rate of 4.5% would result in an interest rate of 6.5% being applied to the loan.
Some lenders will link their interest rates to LIBOR, which is the London Inter Bank Offered Rate. LIBOR is published daily in the Financial Times and can be found on a number of other financial websites.
Commercial Mortgages can be secured against most types of freehold or long leasehold properties, such as shops, pubs, care homes, restaurants, offices, industrial factory units and more. Applying for a commercial mortgage is very much like that of a residential mortgage except that the maximum that can be borrowed is 60% of the assessed Market Value, although one or two lenders will advancelend up to 75% depending upon the proposal.
These percentages are known as the Loan-to-Value ratio, or LTV. A lower LTV means that the risk to the lender is reduced. The higher the LTV, the greater the risk to the lender and it is likely that a higher interest rate would be charged.
Lenders will not generally advance above 75% LTV to ensure that there would be enough security in the case of a forced sale, perhaps through auction when it is expected that property will sell at a discounted rate. When looking for a commercial mortgage it is advisable to shop around for the best deals and to use a specialist commercial finance broker who will possess the necessary specialist knowledge to advise you accordingly.
Posted by Dan on Dec 1, 2009 in
Lucky Hit 2009 has been a difficult year for the video game industry. Game consoles and video game titles have seen a fall in sales since the previous year’s economic downturn. From January to October this year, there has been a major decline in video game sales. For the current and following month, however, forecast says video game sales is about to recover thanks to some famous titles.
The NPD Group, a marketing research organization says that console sales for last month fell down to 23% and video game titles sales went down 18%. Permanent discount prices for the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 helped a bit, but not enough to boost the overall console sales. Experts now predict that a total of $20bn to $21bn will be generated this year which is smaller than last year’s $21.3bn.
The slump in sales have caused numerous job-losses and have been felt by employees from several video game developers and retailers some of which are Electronic Arts and Gamestop. Video game retailer Gamestop said they are looking forward to a decline in sales of up to 11% and has also been removed from Goldman Sachs’ conviction buy list and EA declared it will lay-off some 1,500 jobs but the matter of when remains to be seen.
Sales among the three gaming consoles have been fairly up and down because of competitive price reduction and exclusivity of highly anticipated game titles. The PS3 has reported a rise in sales in Japan and Europe due to the $100 price cut Sony had issued and they are hoping to get more sales next year on both hardware and software with the release of God of War III. On the downside, their PSPGo has not seen any considerable boost in sales since was released last October 2009 in the US.
This month’s video game sales has created new hopes as Activision launched their highly anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” sequel to the successful “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.” Other upcoming titles are also projected to boost title sales for the month of November with Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed 2” and Wii’s “New Super Mario Bros.”
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has given Activision its record sales for this year with gross income amounting to $310 million in the US, Canada, and UK. Activision reported that they sold about 4.7 million copies for within only 24 hours after its launch November 10.
Call of Duty MW2 is expected to overtake the success of Take Two Interactive’s “Grand Theft Auto 4” where it sold 3.6 million copies worldwide, much less than the number of CoD:MW2 copies sold in only two countries. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a price tag of $60 or £36.55.
The game puts players in real-life combat of present time and players can elect to play in single player or multiplayer mode online. It is available on ether PC Windows, Playstation 3 and XBOX 360.
Posted by Dan on Dec 1, 2009 in
Lucky Hit Fast Business Networking Tips – Clear the Trees
This excerpt is from the upcoming book: Face-to-Face Networking Skills
by Mindy Selinger
The majority of all the information & resources you need in order to be successful is within your reach, lurking in the background waiting to be discovered. Sometimes we get so busy and so focused on one aspect of our business that we “can’t see the forest for the trees”. That’s where having a PowerPartner comes in. They’ll see an opportunity for you and share it with you. They’re priceless. This comes from personal experience. Recently, one of my PowerPartners forwarded the email of a resource to me along with her thoughts on how I might use that resource. What a trip! In fact, I had received the very same email that morning. But I had been busy. I wasn’t able to see the application that she saw because of all the ‘trees’ right in front of me. So I took action and had a HUGE result. I’m so happy and grateful that she took a quick moment to share the opportunity with me… Good PowerPartners look out for each other. You can find an excellent PowerPartner at your local Business Networking Groups.
Peter Shankman (of HARO) on the misuse of Facebook
I love this guy! I receive at least three emails a day from him, but I always read each one. (he has nearly 50,000 subscribers and an ‘open rate’ that is just to die for!) Peter Shankman, as described by PR Week Magazine is “redefining the art of networking”. Peter is hilarious… a marathon-running, skydiving, hyper-active PR specialist and social media addict who lives with two cats (NASA and Karma). He is the founder of HARO – Help A Reporter Out. HARO is an unique business networking website. The three or so emails a day contain inquires from reporters looking for sources. I was quoted in a national magazine! Most importantly, I know many people who are experts on many topics. Every week I forward several queries to people I know. Some of the people I’ve forwarded to have actually been quoted and are in print. HARO is one of my favorites because it matches the philosophy I teach; be a hub through which information flows. Subscribe to HARO today and start forwarding Queries to the experts you know. It may just be the big break they are waiting for.Follow his easy rules.
I’m introducing Peter because I wanted to share this article he wrote on the misuse of Facebook Invitations. Go to shankman.com to read the article. My feelings exactly. Even though Facebook and LinkedIn are business networking sites. Being FB friends or LinkedIn Connections does not imply you want to be added to their marketing promotions. Usually I’ve been added to there marketing list, (I didn’t request it.) so the FB invites are duplicates. I’ll venture to say that this is happening with both FB and LinkedIn. I received this LinkedIn message recently: “My Mom has entered the Macy’s ‘I believe’ 2009 campaign competition to win a trip to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade… Will you please vote for her?” Sorry…no. Enjoy HARO & the article!
Posted by Dan on Dec 1, 2009 in
Lucky Hit Total search engine marketing solutions, online shopping cart systems and web sites for small to medium sized businesses, helping business owners promote their businesses within the major search engines, web 2.0 sites and beyond seems to be the mainstay of many webdesign and seo agencies, including Web Design Javea
When people want to find a product or service on the Internet chances are they will use a search engine to produce a list of suitable web sites. Website Design Javea can help with your Search Engine Optimization
Because the Internet contains billions of web pages the list of suggested sites produced by each search engine can be huge. And, getting your site to the top of those lists is our priority, as this will dramatically increase the number of visitors to your site, and therefore increase the amount of business you do!
Getting a top listing for your site, product or service is usually a time consuming thing to achieve and also maintain, and involves optimising your site (SEO) and building relevant content pages and as many inbound links to your site as possible, on an ongoing basis.
Because each search engine is only as good as the results that it produces, Javea web design are very careful to ensure that they do not mislead the major Search Engines. Attempts to mislead a search engine (or mistakes that look like attempts to mislead a search engine) can lead to permanent blacklisting of a domain name.
When choosing an expert to manage your SEO, choose wisely and don’t just go for the cheapest deal you can get.. the consequences could be dire.
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