When you are searching for Boise Real Estate agents I realize that oftentimes people visit web sites like mine is because they want to see what is available in a given area without the 'pressure' or hassle of having to speak with a Real Estate Agent. To that, feel free to search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for Boise homes for sale, Boise foreclosures, condos, and land and the surrounding areas anytime you like at no cost or obligation to you. Of course, I am always available to help you search if you want my assistance.If you are relocating from another state I have a lot of great information I can share with you. I moved here from California with my family back in 2004 and I can tell you this is the most incredible place to live and raise a family. I would love to share my experiences with you, and why I can say that I don't think I will ever leave this area if I don't have to. When we first moved here we literally ate our way through Boise and the surrounding areas. We have been to great concerts and shows, snow skiing (only 45 minutes away), fishing in the Boise river and so much more. If you are a hunter or love to fish you will love this place. I can also send you a free relocation package which has the following information:Schools in the area you are interested inEntertainment & RecreationRestaurantsCommunity informationBoise Weekly Dinning & Entertainment publicationAnything else you would likeMapsSome of the more popular cities close to the Boise area

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Short sale (real estate) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Question book-new.svg This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008) For short selling in the financial markets, see Short (finance) A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property's loan.[1] It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the borrower. Both parties consent to the short sale process, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and poorer credit report outcomes for the borrowers. This agreement, however, does not necessarily release the borrower from the obligation to pay the remaining balance of the loan, known as the deficiency.[2] Contents [hide] * 1 Process * 2 Additional parties * 3 Consent * 4 Credit implications * 5 Approval timeline * 6 Business * 7 Fraud * 8 Deficiency judgment * 9 See also * 10 References * 11 External links [edit] Process In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance because of an economic or financial hardship on the part of the borrower. The home owner/debtor sells the mortgaged property for less than the outstanding balance of the loan, and turns over the proceeds of the sale to the lender. Neither side is "doing the other a favor;" a short sale is simply the most economical solution to a problem. Banks will incur a smaller financial loss than would result from foreclosure or continued non-payment. Borrowers are able to mitigate damage to their credit history, and partially control the debt. A short sale is typically faster and less expensive than a foreclosure. It does not extinguish the remaining balance unless settlement is clearly indicated on the acceptance of offer. Lenders often have loss mitigation departments that evaluate potential short sale transactions. The majority have pre-determined criteria for such transactions, but they may be open to offers, and their willingness varies. A bank will typically determine the amount of equity (or lack thereof), by determining the probable selling price from an appraisal, Broker Price Opinion (abbreviated BPO), or Broker Opinion of Value (abbreviated BOV). Lenders may accept short sale offers or requests for short sales even if a Notice of Default has not been issued or recorded with the locality where the property is located. Given the unprecedented and overwhelming number of losses that mortgage lenders have suffered from mortgage failures that in part triggered the financial crisis of 2007–2010, they are now more willing to accept short sales than ever before. For "under-water" borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than their property is worth and are having trouble selling, this presents an opportunity for them to avoid foreclosure as a result. [edit] Additional parties Multiple levels of approvals and conditions are very common with short sales. Junior lien-holders - such as second mortgages, HELOC lenders, and HOA (special assessment liens) - may need to approve the short sale. Frequent objectors to short sales include tax lien holders (income, estate or corporate franchise tax - as opposed to real property taxes, which have priority even when unrecorded) and mechanic's lien holders. It is possible for junior lien holders to prevent the short sale. If the lender required mortgage insurance on the loan, the insurer will likely also be party to negotiations as they may be asked to pay out a claim to offset the lender's loss in the short sale. The wide array of parties, parameters and processes involved in a short sale makes it a relatively complex and highly specialized type of real estate transaction. Not surprisingly, short sale deals have a high failure rate and often do not close in time to prevent foreclosure when they are not handled by a knowledgeable and experienced professional.[citation needed] Short sale negotiators, Realtors who are short sale certified (a National Association of Realtors designation), loss mitigation specialists, and real estate lawyers who specialize in short sales are often brought in to handle these deals. Quite often, the average consumer is not aware that the lien holder pays the Realtor commissions, often exacerbating the difficulties. [edit] Consent Short sales are different from foreclosures in that a foreclosure is forced by a lender, whereas both lender and borrower consent to a short sale. However, this consent may be revoked at any time as short sales are entirely voluntary transactions for both parties. The borrower may decide to remain in the property and attempt a refinance or modification of their mortgage loan, or may refuse to cooperate with the lender's demand for financial documentation or a cash contribution, and thereby ensure foreclosure. Similarly, lenders can refuse to evaluate or approve a short sale offer, generally due to disapproval of either the buyer's offer amount or high closing costs, which reduces the lender's net proceeds. All short sale contracts should include a contingency clause specifying that the contract is contingent upon approval of the seller's lender(s). In the state of California, short sales can be tricky in that it is important for the party handling the deal to advise the seller to seek the advice of an attorney and a CPA. There could be tax consequences if the loan(s) on the property are not purchase money (all the funds needed to purchase the property). On the other hand, if the loan(s) on the property are purchase money, then the loans are considered "non-recourse" and the debt is generally forgiven and satisfied at the end of the short sale. Changing consent can present a perilous situation for potential buyers. It can waste considerable time and money for a prospective buyer who anticipated a sale. Typically, deposits with the bank will be refunded but money for paid inspections or other services cannot be. There are several defenses against this. If the seller has moved out of a property, that is a clue that they have no intention of staying or negotiating further with the bank. "Bank Approved Short Sales" are advertised by real estate advertisements, indicating that a real estate broker has verified the selling bank's position. This still does not guarantee acceptance, and it often does not take junior lien holders into account, but it is better than situations where the bank holding the mortgage has only been lightly involved in the borrower's decision. [edit] Credit implications Short sales are a type of settlement, and they adversely affect a person's credit report. The negative impact may be less than a foreclosure, but in some cases the effect is the same. Unlike bankruptcy line items, short sales DO show on a credit report like Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax and remain on your credit report for 7-10 years. Some people may have some credit available to them within 18 months or so. Depending upon other credit information, it is possible to obtain another mortgage 1–7 years after a short sale. While lenders sometimes forgive the remaining loan balance, other lien-holders likely will not. Further, it is possible for a lender to omit updating mortgage balances zero balance after a short sale. However, willfully misrepresenting information on a credit report can constitute libel in some jurisdictions, and lenders may be sued in civil court for engaging in this behavior.[citation needed]. [edit] Approval timeline Short sale success rates vary from state to state and from bank to bank. [edit] Business Short sales are common in standard business transactions in recognition that creditors are not doing debtors a favor but, rather, engaging in a business transaction when extending credit. When it makes no business sense nor is economically feasible to retain an asset, businesses default on their debt. It is common for commercial debt to trade on the secondary market for a small fraction of their face value in realization of the likelihood of these future defaults. This is known as distressed debt. [edit] Fraud CNBC reported that some lenders have been accused of engaging in fraud during the short sale process.[3]. The fraud involves lenders in second position demanding kickbacks in the form of cash payments from the home buyer or real estate agent, and that are not disclosed anywhere on closing documents or HUD-1 statement. This is in violation of RESPA rules, which require disclosure of such payments. [edit] Deficiency judgment By nature, all short sales will have a deficiency balance. Laws governing the right of the lender to pursue a borrower for the deficiency balance vary state to state. States considered recourse states allow the lender to pursue. Non-recourse states generally prevent this, though some allow pursuit of deficiency though set forth limits on the amount that can be pursued. If a lender can legally pursue the deficiency and does not specifically waive its right to pursue the deficiency, the borrower is at risk for a deficiency judgment. Nevada law potentially grants lenders a six year window of time to sue for the deficiency based on breach of contract in contract law, not foreclosure law. Other states may differ. Borrowers considering a short sale should be aware of this risk and ask every party involved in the process (Realtor, lender, third party, ...) what can and will be done to protect against a deficiency judgment. Consult an attorney in the state where the property resides to determine specific risks. Once a short sale has been completed, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a possible remedy the borrower can use to remove the risk of the deficiency or discharge the judgment itself. [edit] See also * Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 - U. S. legislation affecting short sales of residential property. * Deed in lieu of foreclosure [edit] References 1. ^ "Short sale (of house)". Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary. http://www.nolo.com/dictionary/short-sale-term.html;jsessionid=221FFE543112BCEC44A8F8DC9B195260.jvm1. Retrieved 29 Sept 2008. 2. ^ Christie, Les (February 3, 2010). "You lost your house - but you still have to pay". CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/03/real_estate/foreclosure_deficiency_judgement/index.htm?hpt=T2. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 3. ^ "Big Banks Accused of Short-Sale Fraud". http://www.cnbc.com/id/34877347. Retrieved 19 Jan 2010. [edit] External links * "Short sale market experiencing growing pains". Tampa Bay Business Journal. March 3, 2008. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_sale_(real_estate)"

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Real estate broker/agent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Real estate broker) Jump to: navigation, search This article focuses on North American practice; for other definitions and practices in other countries, see the more general Real Estate or Real property articles "Realtor" redirects here. For the real estate industry trade association that refers to its members as "Realtors", see National Association of Realtors. A real estate broker is a term in the United States and Australia (and real estate agent in Canada) that describes a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate (or real property as it is known elsewhere) and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy. In the United States, the relationship was originally established by reference to the English common law of agency with the broker having a fiduciary relationship with his clients. Estate agent is the term used in the United Kingdom to describe a person or organization whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients, but there are significant differences between the actions and liabilities of brokers and estate agents in each country. Beyond the United States, other countries take markedly different approaches to the marketing and selling of real property. In the United States, real estate brokers and their salespersons (commonly called "real estate agents" or, in some states, "brokers")[1] assist sellers in marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms. When acting as a Buyer's agent with a signed agreement (or, in many cases, verbal agreement, although a broker may not be legally entitled to his commission unless the agreement is in writing), they assist buyers by helping them purchase property for the lowest possible price under the best terms. Without a signed agreement, brokers may assist buyers in the acquisition of property but still represent the seller and the seller's interests. In most jurisdictions in the United States, a person must have a license before they may receive remuneration for services rendered as a real estate broker. Unlicensed activity is illegal, but buyers and sellers acting as principals in the sale or purchase of real estate are not required to be licensed. In some states, lawyers are allowed to handle real estate sales for compensation without being licensed as brokers or agents. Contents [hide] * 1 The difference between salespersons and brokers * 2 Agency relationships with clients versus non-agency relationships with customers o 2.1 Transaction brokers o 2.2 Dual or limited agency * 3 Types of services that a broker can provide * 4 General o 4.1 Services provided to both buyers and sellers * 5 Real estate brokers and sellers o 5.1 Services provided to seller as client o 5.2 The "listing" contract o 5.3 Brokerage commissions + 5.3.1 RESPA + 5.3.2 Lockbox o 5.4 Shared commissions with co-op brokers o 5.5 Potential points of contention for agents * 6 Real estate brokers and buyers o 6.1 Services provided to buyers * 7 The impact of globalization on real estate brokers' activities * 8 Education * 9 Organizations * 10 Changing industry * 11 See also * 12 References [edit] The difference between salespersons and brokers Before the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was introduced in 1967, when brokers (and their agents) only represented sellers, the term "real estate salesperson" may have been more apt than it is today, given the various ways that brokers and agents now help buyers through the process rather than merely "selling" them a property. Legally, however, the term "salesperson" is still used in many states to describe a real estate agent. Real estate education: To become licensed, most states require that an applicant take a minimum number of classes before taking the state licensing exam. Such education is often provided by real estate brokerages as a means to finding new agents. In many states, the real estate agent (acting as an agent of a broker) must disclose to prospective buyers and sellers who represents whom. See below for a broker/agent's relationship to sellers and their relationship to buyers. While some people may refer to any licensed real estate agent as a real estate broker, a licensed real estate agent is a professional who has obtained either a real estate salesperson's license or a real estate broker's license. In the United States, there are commonly two levels of real estate professionals licensed by the individual states, but not by the federal government: Real estate salesperson (or, in some states, Real estate broker):[2] When a person first becomes licensed to become a real estate agent, they obtain a real estate salesperson's license (some states use the term, "broker") from the state in which they will practice. To obtain a real estate license, the candidate must take specific coursework (of between 40 and 90 hours) and pass a state exam on real estate law and practice. To work, salespersons must be associated with (and act under the authority of) a real estate broker. Many states also have reciprocal agreements with other states, allowing a licensed individual from a qualified state to take the second state's exam without completing the course requirements, or, in some cases, take only a state law exam. Real estate broker (or, in some states, qualifying broker):[2] After gaining some years of experience in real estate sales, a salesperson may decide to become licensed as a real estate broker (or Principal/qualifying broker) in order to own, manage or operate their own brokerage. In addition, some states allow college graduates to apply for a broker license without years of experience. College graduates fall into this category once they have completed the state required courses as well. California allows licensed attorneys to become brokers upon passing the broker exam, without having to take the requisite courses required of agent.[3] Commonly more course work and a broker's state exam on real estate law must be passed. Upon obtaining a broker's license, a real estate agent may continue to work for another broker in a similar capacity as before (often referred to as a broker associate or associate broker) or take charge of his/her own brokerage and hire other salespersons (or broker) licensees. Becoming a branch office manager may or may not require a broker's license. Some states such as New York allow licensed attorneys to become real estate brokers without taking any exam. In some states, such as Colorado, there are no "salespeople", as all licensees are brokers. A Realtor is a real estate professional, usually a broker or salesperson, who is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). There are 1.3 million Realtors, mostly in the United States, and an additional 1 million licensed real estate agents who are not members of NAR and cannot use the term "realtor".[4] However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics claims only about 600,000 working brokers/salespersons.[5] [edit] Agency relationships with clients versus non-agency relationships with customers * Agency relationship: Traditionally, the broker provides a conventional full-service, commission-based brokerage relationship under a signed listing agreement with a seller or "buyer representation" agreement with a buyer, thus creating under common law in most states an agency relationship with fiduciary obligations. The seller or buyer is then a client of the broker. Some states also have statutes that define and control the nature of the representation. Agency relationships in residential real estate transactions involve the legal representation by a real estate broker (on behalf of a real estate company) of the principal, whether that person or persons is a buyer or a seller. The broker (and his/her licensed real estate agents) then becomes the agent of the principal. * Non-agency relationship: where no written agreement nor fiduciary relationship exists, a real estate broker (and his agents) works with a principal who is then known as the broker's customer. When a buyer, who has not entered into a Buyer Agency agreement with the broker, buys a property, then that broker functions as the sub-agent of the seller's broker. When a seller chooses to work with a transaction broker, there is no agency relationship created. [edit] Transaction brokers Some state Real Estate Commissions, notably Florida's[6] after 1992 (and extended in 2003) and Colorado's[7] after 1994 (with changes in 2003), created the option of having no agency nor fiduciary relationship between brokers and sellers or buyers. Having no more than a facilitator relationship, transaction brokers assists buyers, sellers, or both during the transaction without representing the interests of either party who may then be regarded as customers. As noted by the South Broward Board of Realtors, Inc. in a letter to State of Florida legislative committees:[8] "The Transaction Broker crafts a transaction by bringing a willing buyer and a willing seller together and assists with the closing of details. The Transaction Broker is not a fiduciary of any party, but must abide by law as well as professional and ethical standards." (such as NAR Code of Ethics) The result was that in 2003, Florida created a system where the default brokerage relationship had "all licensees ... operating as transaction brokers, unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is established, in writing, with the customer"[9][10] and the statute required written disclosure of the transaction brokerage relationship to the buyer or seller customer only through July 1, 2008. In both Florida[10] and Colorado's[7] case, dual agency and sub-agency (where both listing and selling agents represented the seller) no longer exist. [edit] Dual or limited agency Dual agency occurs when the same brokerage represents both the seller and the buyer under written agreements. Individual state laws vary and interpret dual agency rather differently. Many states no longer allow dual agency. Instead, "transaction brokerage" provides the buyer and seller with a limited form of representation, but without any fiduciary obligations (see Florida law). Buyers and sellers are generally advised to consult a licensed real estate professional for a written definition of an individual state's laws of agency, and many states require written Disclosures to be signed by all parties outlining the duties and obligations. * If state law allows for the same agent to represent both the buyer and the seller in a single transaction, the brokerage/agent is typically considered to be a Dual Agent. Special laws/rules often apply to dual agents, especially in negotiating price. * In some states (notably Maryland[11]), Dual Agency can be practiced in situations where the same brokerage (but not agent) represent both the buyer and the seller. If one agent from the brokerage has a home listed and another agent from that brokerage has a buyer-brokerage agreement with a buyer who wishes to buy the listed property, Dual Agency occurs by allowing each agent to be designated as "intra-company" agent. Only the broker himself is the Dual Agent. * Some states do allow a broker and one agent to represent both sides of the transaction as dual agents. In those situations, conflict of interest is more likely to occur, typically resulting in the loss of advocacy for both parties. [edit] Types of services that a broker can provide Since each state's laws may differ from others, it is generally advised that prospective sellers or buyers consult a licensed real estate professional. Some Examples: * Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) — an estimate of the home's value compared with others. This differs from an appraisal in that property currently for sale may be taken into consideration (competition for the subject property). * Exposure — Marketing the real property to prospective buyers. * Facilitating a Purchase — guiding a buyer through the process. * Facilitating a Sale — guiding a seller through the selling process. * FSBO document preparation — preparing necessary paperwork for "Sale By Owner" sellers. * Full Residential Appraisal — but only, in most states, if the broker is also licensed as an appraiser. * Home Selling Kits — guides to how to market and sell a property. * Hourly Consulting for a fee, based on the client's needs. * Leasing for a fee or percentage of the gross lease value. * Property Management. * Exchanging property. * Auctioning property. * Preparing contracts and leases. (Not in all states.) These services are also changing as a variety of real estate trends transform the industry. [edit] General The sellers and buyers themselves are the principals in the sale, and real estate brokers (and the broker's agents) are their agents as defined in the law. However, although a real estate agent commonly fills out the real estate contract form, agents are typically not given power of attorney to sign the real estate contract or the deed; the principals sign these documents. The respective real estate agents may include their brokerages on the contract as the agents for each principal. The use of a real estate broker is not a requirement for the sale or conveyance of real estate or for obtaining a mortgage loan from a lender. However, once a broker is used, the settlement attorney (or party handling closing) will ensure that all parties involved be paid. Lenders typically have other requirements, though, for a loan. [edit] Services provided to both buyers and sellers In addition to the services to sellers and buyers described below, most real estate agents coordinate various aspects of the closing. Real estate brokers (and their agents) typically do not provide title service such as title search or title insurance, do not conduct surveys or formal appraisals of the property such as those required by lenders, and do not act as lawyers for the parties, although they may "coordinate" these activities with the appropriate specialists. Some real estate brokers may be associated with loan officers who may help to finance buyers to make their purchase. Regardless of whether a real estate agent assists sellers or buyers of real estate, negotiating skills and knowledge of financing options are important. [edit] Real estate brokers and sellers [edit] Services provided to seller as client Upon signing a listing contract with the seller wishing to sell the real estate, the brokerage attempts to earn a commission by finding a buyer for the sellers' property for highest possible price on the best terms for the seller. In Canada, most provinces' laws require the real estate agent to forward all written offers to the seller for consideration or review. To help accomplish this goal of finding buyers, a real estate agency commonly does the following:[citation needed] * Listing the property for sale to the public, often on an MLS, in addition to any other methods. * Based on the law in several states, providing the seller with a real property condition disclosure form, and other forms that may be needed. * Preparing necessary papers describing the property for advertising, pamphlets, open houses, etc. * Generally placing a "For Sale" sign on the property indicating how to contact the real estate office and agent. * Advertising the property. Advertising is often the biggest outside expense in listing a property. * In some cases, holding an open house to show the property. * Being a contact person available to answer any questions about the property and to schedule showing appointments * Ensuring buyers are prescreened so that they are financially qualified to buy the property; the more highly financially qualified the buyer is, the more likely the closing will succeed. * Negotiating price on behalf of the sellers. The seller's agent acts as a fiduciary for the seller. This may involve preparing a standard real estate purchase contract by filling in the blanks in the contract form. * In some cases, holding an earnest payment cheque in escrow from the buyer(s) until the closing. In many states, the closing is the meeting between the buyer and seller where the property is transferred and the title is conveyed by a deed. In other states, especially those in the West, closings take place during a defined escrow period when buyers and sellers each sign the appropriate papers transferring title, but do not meet each other. [edit] The "listing" contract Several types of listing contracts exist between broker and seller. These may be defined as: * Exclusive right to sell In this type of agreement, the broker is given the exclusive right to market the property and represents the seller exclusively. This is referred to as seller agency. However, the brokerage also offers to co-operate with other brokers and agrees to allow them to show the property to prospective buyers and offers a share of the total real estate commission. * Exclusive agency An alternative form, "exclusive agency", allows only the broker the right to sell the property, and no offer of compensation is ever made to another broker. In that case, the property will never be entered into an MLS. Naturally, that limits the exposure of the property to only one agency. * Open listing This is an agreement whereby the property is available for sale by any real estate professional who can advertise, show, or negotiate the sale. Whoever first brings an acceptable offer would receive compensation. Real estate companies will typically require that a written agreement for an open listing be signed by the seller to ensure the payment of a commission if a sale should take place. Although there can be other ways of doing business, a real estate brokerage usually earns its commission after the real estate broker and a seller enter into a listing contract and fulfill agreed-upon terms specified within that contract. The seller's real estate is then listed for sale, frequently with property data entered into an MLS in addition to any other ways of advertising or promoting the sale of the property. In most of North America, where brokers are members of a national association (such as NAR in the United States or the Canadian Real Estate Association), a listing agreement or contract between broker and seller must include the following: starting and ending dates of the agreement; the price at which the property will be offered for sale; the amount of compensation due to the broker and how much, if any, will be offered to a co-operating broker who may bring a buyer. Without an offer of compensation to a co-operating broker (co-op percentage or flat fee), the property may not be advertised in the MLS system. Net listings: Property listings at an agreed-upon net price that the seller wishes to receive with any excess going to the broker as commission are not legal in most, if not all, states. [edit] Brokerage commissions In consideration of the brokerage successfully finding a satisfactory buyer for the property, a broker anticipates receiving a commission for the services the brokerage has provided. Usually, the payment of a commission to the brokerage is contingent upon finding a satisfactory buyer for the real estate for sale, the successful negotiation of a purchase contract between a satisfactory buyer and seller, or the settlement of the transaction and the exchange of money between buyer and seller. The median real estate commission charged to the seller by the listing (seller's) agent is 6% of the purchase price. Typically, this commission is split evenly between the seller's and buyer's agents, with the buyer's agent generally receiving a commission of 3% of the purchase price of the home sold. In North America commissions on real estate transactions are negotiable. Local real estate sales activity usually dictates the amount of commission agreed to. Real estate commission is typically paid by the seller at the closing of the transaction as detailed in the listing agreement. [edit] RESPA Real estate brokers who work with lenders may not receive any compensation from the lender for referring a residential client to a specific lender. To do so would be a violation of a United States federal law known as the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Commercial transactions are exempt from RESPA All lender compensation to a broker must be disclosed to all parties. A commission may also be paid during negotiation of contract base on seller and agent. [edit] Lockbox With the sellers' permission, a lockbox is placed on homes that are occupied and, after arranging an appointment with the home owner, agents can show the home. When a property is vacant or where a seller may be living elsewhere, a lockbox will generally be placed on the front door. The listing broker helps arrange showings of the property by various real estate agents from all companies associated with the MLS. The lockbox contains the key to the door of the property and the box can only be opened by licensed real estate agents (often only with authorization from the listing brokerage), by using some sort of secret combination or code provided by the brokerage or the issuer of the lockbox. [edit] Shared commissions with co-op brokers If any buyer's broker (or any of his/her agents) brings the buyer for the property, the buyer's broker would typically be compensated with a co-op commission coming from the total offered to the listing broker, often about half of the full commission from the seller. If an agent or salesperson working for the buyer's broker brings the buyer for the property, then the buyer's broker would commonly compensate his agent with a fraction of the co-op commission, again as determined in a separate agreement. A discount brokerage may offer a reduced commission in the event no other brokerage firm is involved and no co-op commission is paid out. If there is no co-commission to pay to another brokerage, the listing brokerage receives the full amount of the commission minus any other types of expenses. [edit] Potential points of contention for agents Controversy exists around how commissions paid to real estate agents are disclosed to buyers and the effect additional seller incentives may have on the negotiation process and final purchase price.[12] If a listing agent sells a property above the listed price, they make additional income. In theory, this motivates them to get top dollar for the seller. However, if an agent representing a buyer obtains a lower sales price for their client, then they make a lower commission. Thus, it could be considered to be in the agent's best interest to advise his client to purchase the property at a higher price. Another potential conflict of interest exists when a listing agent in a very active real estate market sells properties quickly at low prices to benefit from high sales volume. [edit] Real estate brokers and buyers [edit] Services provided to buyers * Buyers as clients With the increase in the practice of buyer brokerage in the United States, especially since the late 1990s in most states, agents (acting under their brokers) have been able to represent buyers in the transaction with a written "Buyer Agency Agreement" not unlike the "Listing Agreement" for sellers referred to above. In this case, buyers are clients of the brokerage. Some brokerages represent buyers only and are known as exclusive buyer agents (EBAs). Consumer Reports states, "You can find a true buyer's agent only at a firm that does not accept listings."[13] The advantages of using an Exclusive Buyer Agent is that they avoid conflicts of interest by working in the best interests of the buyer and not the seller, avoid homes and neighborhoods likely to fare poorly in the marketplace, ensure the buyer does not unknowingly overpay for a property, fully informs the buyer of adverse conditions, encourages the buyer to make offers based on true value instead of list price, which can sometimes be overstated, and works to save the buyer money. A buyer agency firm commissioned a study that found EBA purchased homes were seventeen times less likely to go into foreclosure.[citation needed] A real estate brokerage attempts to do the following for the buyers of real estate only when they represent the buyers with some form of written buyer-brokerage agreement: * Find real estate in accordance with the buyers needs, specifications, and cost. * Takes buyers to and shows them properties available for sale. * When deemed appropriate, prescreens buyers to ensure they are financially qualified to buy the properties shown (or uses a mortgage professional, such a bank's mortgage specialist or alternatively a Mortgage broker, to do that task). * Negotiates price and terms on behalf of the buyers and prepares standard real estate purchase contract by filling in the blanks in the contract form. The buyer's agent acts as a fiduciary for the buyer. Due to the importance of the role of representing buyers' interests, many brokers who seek to play the role of client advocate are now seeking out the services of Certified Mortgage Planners, industry experts that work in concert with Certified Financial Planners to align consumers' home finance positions with their larger financial portfolio(s). * Buyers as customers In most states, until the 1990s, buyers who worked with an agent of a real estate broker in finding a house were customers of the brokerage, since the broker represented only sellers. Today, state laws differ. Buyers and/or sellers may be represented. Typically, a written "Buyer Brokerage" agreement is required for the buyer to have representation (regardless of which party is paying the commission), although by his/her actions, an agent can create representation. * Find real estate in accordance with the buyers' needs, specifications, and affordability. * Take buyers to and shows them properties available for sale. * When deemed appropriate, prescreen buyers to ensure they are financially qualified to buy the properties shown (or uses a mortgage professional to do that task). * Assist the buyer in making an offer for the property. [edit] The impact of globalization on real estate brokers' activities Globalization has had an immediate and powerful impact on real estate markets, making them an international working place. The rapid growth of the Internet has made the international market accessible to millions of consumers. A look at recent changes in homeownership rates illustrates this. Minority homeownership jumped by 4.4 million during the 1990s, reaching 12.5 million in 2000, according to the Fannie Mae Foundation. Foreign direct investment in U.S. real estate has increased sharply from $38 billion in 1997 more than $50 billion in 2002 according to U.S. 2000 Census data. Most local real estate agents view the foreign market as a significant revenue potential and may have already worked with international clients in their local market, new immigrants or more sophisticated investors from different cultures and from other countries. For example, they provide value-added services that help overseas relocation employees figure out which inoculations their children need and how to register a car in the United States. Real estate brokers want to keep central to the transaction, protect the best interests of their members and address the unique needs of each multicultural global client by acquiring specialized training and designations. (See below for more) In 2007 the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals in Mexico, AMPI, and the NAR, National Association of Realtors in the United States, signed a bilateral contract for international real estate business cooperation. Also at the local level, many other state and local associations are helping other countries achieve the same result. For instance, in New Mexico, a historically multicultural state, under the RANM, Realtor Association of New Mexico and the President's Advisory Council, is looking into forming an ambassador association to help a foreign country into signing a bilateral agreement with the NAR. In New Mexico, there are 4500 licensed real estate professionals and only 14 or 15 CIPS designees, out of whom, only six speak a language other than English. A "Management Guide For Real Estate Associations" exists, which is a publication of the International Real Property Foundation (IRPF), which was funded by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Reaume Foundation.The IRPF, in its Web site, regarding The Caux Round Table (CRT) principles, states that: "Ethical perceptions and international business is highly influenced by cultural differences. Because of cultural and ethical relativism, real estate business that is conducted across national boundaries may discover ethical conflicts. Major ethical issues that complicate international business activities include sexual and racial discrimination, price discrimination, bribery, harmful products, and telecommunications (enforcement of country-specific laws, copyrights, and questionable financial activities). A good document for reference in developing an association Code of Ethics in conjunction with such principles is "The Caux Round Table Business Principles of Ethics" (1995) (www.cauxroundtable.org). Because of the particularities and the nature of international transactions between real estate agents of different countries, the Real Estate Code of Ethics of each country are excellent to regulate the ethics of each member in its own jurisdiction, but in the case of complex international real estate transactions were sometimes ethical conflicts arise, there is a need to have a group of principles more adjusted to international transactions were two or more real estate agents of different countries participate in real estate brokerage businesses. For example, in the NAR-FECEPAC MOU of February 2003, a commitment was set to promote and adopt the respective code of ethics,standards and norms, but there is nothing specific mentioned for complex ethical matters in international transactions. There was surely a commitment to cooperate with a foreign agent to work in local markets different from the foreign agents market. As an example, it can be noticed that the NAR-CSBR Bilateral Cooperation Agreement of November 12, 2001 also created a commitment to promote and enforce mutually acceptable codes of ethics (Code of Ethics meaning those that been promulgated by the cooperating associations for use in their respective countries, each of which is acknowledged to be acceptable to the other). Again, as the IRPF says "Ethical perceptions and international business is highly influenced by cultural differences. Because of cultural and ethical relativism, real estate business that is conducted across national boundaries may discover ethical conflicts". There is also nothing specific mentioned for complex ethical matters in international transactions, whilst the agreements do provide to seek to facilitate business opportunities for members of the cooperating associations who may be working in each others markets, and also initiating and hosting trade missions. The bilateral agreement between NAR and CSBR also states that both parties agree to enforce their respective codes and advice the other of subsequent modifications to its code of ethics. Some association members of Central American Real Estate Associations who are practicing agents and are involved in real life transactions on a daily basis have expressed their concern in the sense that at the moment of ethical conflicts with foreign colleagues, they have not had at hand any practical instrument that can serve to resolve ethical conflicts (even though agreements that make reference to code of ethics do exist). Because the Caux Round Table principles are designed by corporate leaders and provide a model of how a good corporate citizen behaves in the countries and markets where it penetrates being a foreign entity, this principles could serve to reduce the fear of local brokers to foreign competition, provide an ethical framework against asymmetry of participants in free trade of services in our industry, and will permit that Central American association members that see an advantage in opening their country markets to competition, and that see advantages in having foreign strategic partners to work our their own local markets (e.g.: local Central American brokers partnering with United States brokers to work Central American Markets), keep promoting competition, globalization of business, and free trade of services. [edit] Education A person may attend a pre-license course lasting 60 hours and then be tested by the state for a real estate agent's license. Upon passing, the new licensee must place their license with an established real estate firm, managed by a broker. Requirements vary by state but after some period of time working as an agent, one may return to the classroom and test to become a broker. Brokers may manage or own firms. Each branch office of a larger real estate firm must be managed by a broker. States issue licenses for a multi year period and require real estate agents and brokers to complete continuing education prior to renewing their licenses. Many states recognize licenses from other states and issue licenses upon request to existing agents and firms upon request without additional education or testing however the license must be granted before real estate service is provided in the state. California does not have license reciprocity with other states. An applicant for licensure is not, however, required to be a resident of California to obtain a license.[14] [edit] Organizations Several notable groups exist to promote the industry and to assist members who are in it. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is the largest real estate organization and one of the largest trade groups anywhere. Their membership exceeds one million. NAR also has state chapters as well as thousands of local chapters. Upon joining a local chapter, a new member is automatically enrolled into the state and national organizations. When the principals of a firm join, all licensed agents in that firm must also belong. An advantage of membership is access to the local MLS (sometimes county-wide, sometimes broader in coverage) which exists for the benefit of members and which provides access following the payment of additional dues to the local system. The Realtor Political Action Committee (RPAC) is a separate entity, and also the lobbying arm of NAR. In 2005, they were considered the largest PAC in the United States. According to realtor.org, RPAC is the largest contributor of direct contributions to federal candidates. The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents is a group of agents and brokers who work in firms that represent buyers only. They assist in locating exclusive buyer agents for home buyers through the Web site www.naeba.org. The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) was founded in 1947 as an alternative for African Americans who were excluded from the dominant NAR. Both groups allow members to join without regard to race. However, NAREB has historically been an African American-centric group with a focus on developing housing resources for intercity populations. [edit] Changing industry Compensation has traditionally been based on a percentage of the sales price, split between the buying and selling brokers, and then between the agent(s) and his/her real estate agency. While a split based on the percentage received by the broker is generally normal, in some brokerages agents may pay a monthly "desk fee" for office costs, monthly fee, etc., and then retain 100% of the commission received. [edit] See also * Buyer brokerage * Estate agent * Flat fee MLS * Independent contractor * List of real estate topics * Real estate * Real estate trends * Exclusive Buyer Agent [edit] References 1. ^ For example, New Mexico has repealed the use of the term "agents" in favor of the term "broker" 2. ^ a b For example, in New Mexico 3. ^ Education in lieu of experience 4. ^ http://www.realtor.org/ 5. ^ http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos120.htm 6. ^ >2005->Ch0475->Section%20278#0475.278 State of Florida's Transaction Brokerage proposal 7. ^ a b Outline of types of representation available in Colorado, including Transaction Brokerage 8. ^ Florida's South Broward Board proposal 9. ^ Blanche Evans, "Florida Implements Default Transaction Brokerage Statute", Realty Times online 10. ^ a b The 2007 Florida Statutes. Chapter 475 Real Estate Brokers — Part I; Real Estate Brokers, Sales Associates, and Schools (ss. 475.001-475.5018), Section 475.278 Authorized brokerage relationships; presumption of transaction brokerage; required disclosures (1) Brokerage Relationships: (a) Authorized brokerage relationships. — A real estate licensee in this state may enter into a brokerage relationship as either a transaction broker or as a single agent with potential buyers and sellers. A real estate licensee may not operate as a disclosed or non-disclosed dual agent ... (b)Presumption of transaction brokerage. — It shall be presumed that all licensees are operating as transaction brokers unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is established, in writing, with a customer." 11. ^ Maryland's Agency Disclosure form with types of agency allowed{[dead link] 12. ^ Peter Coy,"Home Buyer, Beware: Desperate sellers are paying brokers super-sized commissions, which get incorporated into the price ultimately paid by buyers", Business Week online, 14 December 2006 Retrieved 28 April 2008 13. ^ Consumer Reports, May 2005 14. ^ Allied Schools. "California Real Estate License Requirements". http://www.realestatelicense.com/real-estate-license-ca/get-license-requirements.aspx. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_broker/agent"

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Estate agent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search A house for sale in London An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of property/properties, and other buildings, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate Agents are mainly engaged in the marketing of property available for sale and a solicitor or licensed conveyancer is used to prepare the legal documents. In Scotland, however, many solicitors also act as estate agents, a practice that is rare in England and Wales. It is customary in the United Kingdom and in Ireland to refer to real estate or real property simply as property. Contents [hide] * 1 Origin * 2 Regulation * 3 Industrial structure * 4 Fees o 4.1 Lettings o 4.2 Selling o 4.3 Other approaches * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 External links [edit] Origin The term originally referred to a person responsible for managing a landed estate, while those engaged in the buying and selling of homes were "House Agents", and those selling land were "Land Agents". However, in the 20th century, "Estate Agent" started to be used as a generic term, perhaps because it was thought to sound more impressive. Estate Agent is roughly synonymous in the United States with the term real estate broker. The job of the agent is to know his or her community and local factors that can increase or decrease property prices. i.e. if a new road or airport is to be built this can blight houses nearby. Equally, the closing of a quarry or improvement of an area can enhance prices. It is the job of the agent to value based on what has, or has not sold in comparison and to achieve the best price for their client. [edit] Regulation The full legal term and definition of an estate agent within the UK can be found on the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) website. Enforcement of these regulations is also the responsibility of the OFT. In the United Kingdom, residential Estate Agents are regulated by the Estate Agents Act 1979 and the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991, as well as, the more recently enacted Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.[1] Some Estate Agents are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the principal body for UK property professionals, dealing with both residential, commercial and agricultural property. Members, known as "Chartered Surveyors", are elected based on examination and are required to adhere to a code of conduct, which includes regulations about looking after their clients' money and professional indemnity insurance in case of error or negligence. For residential property, there is also a trade association, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). The Ombudsman for Estate Agents Scheme,[2] which obtained OFT approval for the Code of Practice for Residential Sales in 2005 and, as of November 2006, claims to have 2532 member agencies. There is a legal requirement to belong to either organisation to trade as an Estate Agent. Agents can be fined if they are not a member of a redress scheme. The redress scheme was brought in alongside and to govern agents in reference to the HIP (Home Information Pack). [edit] Industrial structure A handful of national residential Estate Agents chains exist, such as Connells, with the majority being locally or regionally specialised companies. Several multi-national commercial agencies exist, typically being Anglo-American, pan-European or global. These firms all seek to provide the full range of property advisory services, not just agency. Only a handful of large firms trade in both commercial and residential property. [edit] Fees [edit] Lettings Estate agents who handle lettings of commercial property normally charge between 7–10% of the first years rent as fees, in addition to taking the first month's rent in its entirety. If two agents are charging 10%, they will split the fee between them. Estate agents selling commercial property (known as investment agents) typical charge 1% of the sale price. The fees charged by residential Letting Agents vary, depending on whether the agent manages the property or simply arranges for new tenants. Charges to prospective tenants can vary from zero to £300 in non-refundable fees usually described as "Application", "Administration" or "Processing" fees (or all three). There are no guidelines for Letting Agents on charges, except that they are forbidden by law to charge a fee for a list of properties. Otherwise, they are free to charge as they please. The first month's rent in advance plus a refundable bond (usually equal to one month's rent) is also generally required. Most residential lettings in the UK are governed by "Assured Shorthold Tenancy" contracts. Assured Shorthold Tenancies (generally referred to simply as "Shorthold") give less statutory protection than earlier, mostly obsolete, types of residential lettings. Shorthold Tenancy Agreements are standard contracts generally available from legal stationers and the internet for around £1, although most Lettings Agent will charge £30 to provide one. It is important that tenant referencing checks are in place prior to a tenant moving into a property. The credit check can be run using credit history data from Equifax, Experian or Call Credit (the three main UK providers) using an in-house website system or a managed referencing service. A reputable agent will also ask for an employment reference and a previous landlord reference to verify that the tenant can afford the rental on the property and that there were no serious problems with the previous agent. It is also essential that proof of ID and proof of residency are also collected and filed. [edit] Selling Estate agents selling residential property generally charge between 1% to 2% of the sales price plus VAT (Value Added Tax) Additional marketing charges are also applied for advertising, in media such as newspapers and websites.[3] [edit] Other approaches Since around 2000, Online Estate Agents have provided an alternative to the traditional fee structure, claiming cheaper, fixed fee selling packages. These online Estate Agents claim to give private property sellers the ability to market their property via the major property portals (the preferred medium used by traditional high street Estate Agents) for a fraction of the cost of the traditional estate agency. new models have been introduced, which uses digital media screens in place of the agents traditional High Street window. These screens allow agents to take their listings into remote locations where an office may otherwise not be available. A report in 2010[4] showed that Online Estate agents typically charge a fixed fee between £400 - £1000 with some charging a further commission on sale and many charging additional fees for extra services such as the supply of a For Sale sign, professionally taken photographs and accompanied viewings. In February 2010 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced that a change in the legislation for estate agents has led to a shake up in the way homes are sold, allowing cheaper online agents to become more established than they could before.[5] New types of property portals based in the United Kingdom have started to encourage UK and worldwide estate agents to collaborate by showing all their properties, thus allowing site visitors to see a vast array of UK and overseas properties all on one website. Many estate agents are using estate agency software to assist in the sale of houses. The latest technology enables home buyers to receive property details while outside a house, visit estate agents websites for the latest listings and display properties for sale in the local vicinity using location based applications on mobile phones. A lot of property advertising is now automated for the agents using estate agents software. The industry standard for agents digital windows is commonly called *[www.RemoteAgent.co.uk] which fully integrates with the INEA's UK free to agents MLS property sharing system, where main agents can collaborate on a main/sub agent basis. MLS is growing in the UK and is the .ain system used in @ountries such as the USA and New Zealand. Research undertaken in 2007 said that the most effective way of selling property is via 'For Sale' signs, 28% of customers had seen the estate agent's For Sale signs before researching more in depth into the properties. Searching for houses via the internet came in a close second (21%), with newspapers third at (17%). The fourth most effective way, and the most traditional, was customers visiting an estate agent's office (15%). However now in 2010 80/90%% of properties are found via the internet and agents see less people walking into their offices. Boards are still very effective, but many agents are now cutting out paper advertising and moving just to digital such as eMags and just the web. Other methods included auctions (11%), word of mouth (3%) and leaflets (2%). [edit] See also * Real estate broker/agent * Buying agent * Price on application [edit] References 1. ^ Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform 2. ^ Ombudsman for Estate Agents Scheme explained and SOS (Surveyors Ombudsman Scheme) 3. ^ Selling arrangements 4. ^ Comparison of Online Estate agents 5. ^ Office of Fair Trading Website, http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2010/18-10 [edit] External links * Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors * The Independent Network of Estate Agents * National Association of Estate Agents * Ombudsman for Estate Agents * Association of Residential Lettings Agents Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_agent"

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Restaurant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Resturant) Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Restaurant (disambiguation). A restaurant in Manhattan, New York City A restaurant prepares and serves food, drink and dessert to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance and offerings, including a wide variety of the main chef's cuisines and service models. While inns and taverns were known from antiquity, these were establishments aimed at travellers, and in general locals would rarely eat there. Modern restaurants, as businesses dedicated to the serving of food, and where specific dishes are ordered by the guest and generally prepared according to this order, emerged only in 18th-century Europe, although similar establishments had also developed in China. A restaurant owner is called a restaurateur; both words derive from the French verb restaurer, meaning "to restore". Professional artisans of cooking are called chefs, while preparation staff and line cooks prepare food items in a more systematic and less artistic fashion. Contents [hide] * 1 History o 1.1 China o 1.2 Europe o 1.3 North America * 2 Types of restaurants * 3 Restaurant regulations * 4 Restaurant guides * 5 Economics o 5.1 United States o 5.2 Canada * 6 See also * 7 References o 7.1 Notes o 7.2 Bibliography [edit] History [edit] China Further information: Culture of the Song Dynasty#Food and cuisine A Song Dynasty teahouse from the painting Along the River During Qingming Festival, by artist Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) Food catering establishments which may be described as restaurants were known since the 11th century in Kaifeng, China's northern capital during the first half of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). With a population of over 1,000,000 people, a culture of hospitality and a paper currency, Kaifeng was ripe for the development of restaurants. Probably growing out of the tea houses and taverns that catered to travellers, Kaifeng's restaurants blossomed into an industry catering to locals as well as people from other regions of China.[1] Stephen H. West argues that there is a direct correlation between the growth of the restaurant businesses and institutions of theatrical stage drama, gambling and prostitution which served the burgeoning merchant middle class during the Song Dynasty.[2] Restaurants catered to different styles of cuisine, price brackets, and religious requirements. Even within a single restaurant much choice was available, and people ordered the entree they wanted from written menus.[1] An account from 1275 writes of Hangzhou, the capital city for the last half of the dynasty: "The people of Hangzhou are very difficult to please. Hundreds of orders are given on all sides: this person wants something hot, another something cold, a third something tepid, a fourth something chilled; one wants cooked food, another raw, another chooses roast, another grill".[3] The restaurants in Hangzhou also catered to many northern Chinese who had fled south from Kaifeng during the Jurchen invasion of the 1120s, while it is also known that many restaurants were run by families formerly from Kaifeng.[4] [edit] Europe Restaurant in Bath, Somerset. J. Henry Dunant III restaurant in The Netherlands According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Sobrino de Botin[5] in Madrid, Spain, is the oldest true restaurant in existence today. It claims to have opened in 1725,[6] though in a different location. The restaurant Tavares, in Lisbon, Portugal, continuously open since 1784 in the same location (though not the same building), claims to be the second oldest in the Iberian Peninsula.[7] There is, however, evidence that Henry III of France ate at the still-extant Tour d'Argent,[8] in Paris, France, on March 4, 1582.[9][10] Another claim to be the world's oldest restaurant is made by Stiftskeller St. Peter, in Salzburg, Austria, which has been in existence since 803 AD, since the time of emperor Charlemagne, as an inn.[11] Zum Franziskaner, a German restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, claims to have been in operation at the same address, but in three different houses, since 1421.[12] There are several other establishments that may have claims to be the oldest restaurants in the world. [13] The term restaurant (from the French restaurer, to restore) first appeared in the 16th century, meaning "a food which restores", and referred specifically to a rich, highly flavoured soup. It was first applied to an eating establishment in around 1765 founded by a Parisian soup-seller named Boulanger. The first restaurant in the form that became standard (customers sitting down with individual portions at individual tables, selecting food from menus, during fixed opening hours) was the Grand Taverne de Londres (the "Great Tavern of London"), founded in Paris in 1782 by a man named Antoine Beauvilliers, a leading culinary writer and gastronomic authority[14] who achieved a reputation as a successful restaurateur. He later wrote what became a standard cookbook, L'Art du cuisinier (1814). Actual taverns in London, though, had been offering dinner menus for quite some time. On May 10, 1663, Samuel Pepys ate (and recorded in his diary) at a tavern that offered an "ordinary", a prix-fixe lunch menu. He thought that prix-fixe menus were "very convenient, because a man knows what he hath to pay" -- but he opined that customers should be permitted to bargain over the price before eating.[15] A leading restaurant of the Napoleonic era was the Véry, which was lavishly decorated and boasted a menu with extensive choices of soups, fish and meat dishes, and scores of side dishes. Balzac often dined there.[16] Although absorbed by a neighboring business in 1869, the resulting establishment Le Grand Véfour is still in business. The restaurant described by Britannica as the most illustrious of all those in Paris in the 19th century was the Café Anglais (the "English coffee-shop") on the Boulevard des Italiens, showing for a second time the high regard that Parisians evidently had for London, England, and the English — at least when it came to naming their restaurants. [edit] North America Diners eating at Katz's Delicatessen in New York City. Restaurants then spread rapidly across the world, with the first in the United States (Jullien's Restarator) opened in Boston in 1794. The oldest restaurant in continuous operation in the United States, Union Oyster House is also in Boston and has been open since 1826.[17] Most restaurants continued on the standard approach of providing a shared meal on the table to which customers would then help themselves (Service à la française, commonly called "family style" restaurants), something which encouraged them to eat rather quickly. Another formal style of dining, where waiters carry platters of food around the table and diners serve themselves, is known as Service à la russe, as it is said to have been introduced to France by the Russian Prince Kurakin in the 1810s, from where it spread rapidly to England and beyond. [edit] Types of restaurants Main article: Types of restaurants Restaurants in Greek islands are often situated right on the beach. This is an example from Astipalea. Restaurants range from unpretentious lunching or dining places catering to people working nearby, with simple food served in simple settings at low prices, to expensive establishments serving refined food and wines in a formal setting. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing. In the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal, or even in rare cases formal wear. Typically, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, who brings the food when it is ready, and the customers pay the bill before leaving. In finer restaurants there will be a host or hostess or even a maître d'hôtel to welcome customers and to seat them. Other staff waiting on customers include busboys and sommeliers. Restaurants often specialize in certain types of food or present a certain unifying, and often entertaining, theme. For example, there are seafood restaurants, vegetarian restaurants or ethnic restaurants. Generally speaking, restaurants selling food characteristic of the local culture are simply called restaurants, while restaurants selling food of foreign cultural origin are called accordingly, for example, a Chinese restaurant and a French restaurant. [edit] Restaurant regulations See also: Food safety Depending on local customs and the establishment, restaurants may or may not serve alcohol. Restaurants are often prohibited from selling alcohol without a meal by alcohol sale laws; such sale is considered to be activity for bars, which are meant to have more severe restrictions. Some restaurants are licensed to serve alcohol ("fully licensed"), and/or permit customers to "bring your own" alcohol (BYO / BYOB).[citation needed] In some places restaurant licenses may restrict service to beer, or wine and beer.[citation needed] [edit] Restaurant guides Restaurants offering ethnic food have increased in North America, the UK and Australia in the past few decades. One of many Italian restaurants in the Heights commercial district of North Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Main article: Restaurant rating Restaurant guides review restaurants, often ranking them or providing information for consumer decisions (type of food, handicap accessibility, facilities, etc). In 12th century Hangzhou (mentioned above as the location of the first restaurant), signs could often be found posted in the city square listing the restaurants in the area and local customer's opinions of the quality of their food. This was an occasion for bribery and even violence.[citation needed] One of the most famous contemporary guides, in Western Europe, is the Michelin series of guides which accord from 1 to 3 stars to restaurants they perceive to be of high culinary merit. Restaurants with stars in the Michelin guide are formal, expensive establishments; in general the more stars awarded, the higher the prices. The main competitor to the Michelin guide in Europe is the guidebook series published by Gault Millau. Unlike the Michelin guide which takes the restaurant décor and service into consideration with its rating, Gault Millau only judges the quality of the food. Its ratings are on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. In the United States, the Forbes Travel Guide (previously the Mobil travel guides) and the AAA rate restaurants on a similar 1 to 5 star (Forbes) or diamond (AAA) scale. Three, four, and five star/diamond ratings are roughly equivalent to the Michelin one, two, and three star ratings while one and two star ratings typically indicate more casual places to eat. In 2005, Michelin released a New York City guide, its first for the United States. The popular Zagat Survey compiles individuals' comments about restaurants but does not pass an "official" critical assessment. In the United Kingdom, diners can freely express their opinion on where they eat in The people's UK restaurant guide. In the United States Gault Millau is published as the Gayot guide, after founder Andre Gayot. Its restaurant ratings use the same 20 point system, and are all published online. The Good Food Guide, published by the Fairfax Newspaper Group in Australia, is the Australian guide listing the best places to eat. Chefs Hats are awarded for outstanding restaurants and range from one hat through three hats. The Good Food Guide also incorporates guides to bars, cafes and providers. The Good Restaurant Guide is another Australian restaurant guide that has reviews on the restaurants as experienced by the public and provides information on locations and contact details. Any member of the public can submit a review. Nearly all major American newspapers employ food critics and publish online dining guides for the cities they serve. A few papers maintain a reputation for thorough and thoughtful review of restaurants to the standard of the good published guides, but others provide more of a listings service. More recently Internet sites have started up that publish both food critic reviews and popular reviews by the general public. Their major competition comes from bloggers, particularly publishers of food blogs, also called foodies. These writers and publishers represent the common dining aficionado rather than the gourmet, and thus do not provide "official" reviews, but nonetheless are capable of garnering large, loyal followings. [edit] Economics Globe icon. The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (November 2008) Lunch at a restaurant on Queen Street in Toronto, Canada [edit] United States As of 2006, there are approximately 215,000 full-service restaurants in the United States, accounting for $298 billion, and approximately 250,000 limited-service (fast food) restaurants, accounting for $260 billion.[clarification needed][18] One study of new restaurants in Cleveland, Ohio found that 1 in 4 changed ownership or went out of business after one year, and 6 out of 10 did so after three years, that is over half. (Not all changes in ownership are indicative of financial failure.)[19] The three-year failure rate for franchises was nearly the same.[20] [edit] Canada There are 86,915 commercial foodservice units in Canada, or 26.4 units per 10,000 Canadians. By segment, there are:[21] * 38,797 full-service restaurants * 34,629 limited-service restaurants * 741 contract and social caterers * 6,749 drinking places Fully 63% of restaurants in Canada are independent brands. Chain restaurants account for the remaining 37%, and many of these are locally owned and operated franchises.[22]

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For the American psychedelic pop band, see Real Estate (band). Mergefrom.svg It has been suggested that Immovable property be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Mergefrom.svg It has been suggested that Real property be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Scales of justice Property law Part of the common law series Acquisition Gift · Adverse possession · Deed Conquest · Discovery · Accession Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property Treasure trove · Bailment · License Alienation Estates in land Allodial title · Fee simple · Fee tail Life estate · Defeasible estate Future interest · Concurrent estate Leasehold estate · Condominiums Conveyancing Bona fide purchaser Torrens title · Strata title Estoppel by deed · Quitclaim deed Mortgage · Equitable conversion Action to quiet title · Escheat Future use control Restraint on alienation Rule against perpetuities Rule in Shelley's Case Doctrine of worthier title Nonpossessory interest Easement · Profit Covenant Equitable servitude Related topics Fixtures · Waste · Partition Riparian water rights Prior-appropriation water rights Lateral and subjacent support Assignment · Nemo dat Property and conflict of laws Other common law areas Contract law · Tort law Wills, trusts and estates Criminal law · Evidence v • d • e Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, USA and The Bahamas) that encompasses land along with improvements to the land, such as buildings, fences, wells and other site improvements that are fixed in location—immovable.[1] Real estate law is the body of regulations and legal codes which pertain to such matters under a particular jurisdiction and include things such as commercial and residential real property transactions. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (sometimes called chattel or personalty under chattel law or personal property law). However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property", referring to ownership of land and appurtenances, including anything of a permanent nature such as structures, trees, minerals, and the interest, benefits, and inherent rights thereof. Real property is typically considered to be Immovable property[2] The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property. Contents [hide] * 1 Etymology * 2 Real estate terminology and practice outside the United States (around the world) o 2.1 Real estate as "real property" in the U.K. o 2.2 Real estate in Mexico and Central America * 3 Business sector * 4 Residential real estate * 5 Market sector value * 6 Mortgages in real estate * 7 See also * 8 References * 9 External links [edit] Etymology In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"),[3] as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666.[3] This use of "real" also reflects the ancient and feudal preference for land, and the ownership (and owners) thereof. Some people have claimed that the word real in this sense is descended (like French royal and Spanish real) from the Latin word for 'king'. In the feudal system (which has left many traces in the common law) the king was the owner of all land, and everyone who occupied land paid him rent directly or indirectly (through lords who in turn paid the king), in cash, goods or services (including military service). Property tax, paid to the state, can be seen as a relic of that system, as is the term fee simple. However, this derivation of real is a misconception.[4] [edit] Real estate terminology and practice outside the United States (around the world) [edit] Real estate as "real property" in the U.K. In British usage, "real property", often shortened to just "property", generally refers to land and fixtures, while the term "real estate" is used mostly in the context of probate law, and means all interests in land held by a deceased person at death, excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land.[5] See Real property for a definition and Estate agent for a description of the practice in the UK. [edit] Real estate in Mexico and Central America This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) The real estate businesses in Mexico and Central America are different from the way that they are conducted in the United States. Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities (with professionals such as real estate agents generally employed to assist the buyer); taxes need to be paid (but typically less than those in U.S.); legal paperwork will ensure title; and a neutral party such as a title company will handle documentation and money to make the smooth exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America. Prices are often much cheaper than most areas of the U.S., but in many locations, prices of houses and lots are as expensive as the U.S., one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Latin American countries. One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners cannot buy land or homes within 50 km (31 mi) of the coast or 100 km (62 mi) from a border unless they hold title in a Mexican Corporation or a Fideicomiso (a Mexican trust).[6] In Honduras, however, they may buy beach front property directly in their name. There are different rules regarding certain types of property: ejidal land – communally held farm property – can only be sold after a lengthy entitlement process, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale. In Costa Rica, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a lawyer. [edit] Business sector Question book-new.svg This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business, commonly referred to as commercial real estate. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions. Some kinds of real estate businesses include: * Appraisal: Professional valuation services * Brokerages: A mediator who charges a fee to facilitate a real estate transaction between the two parties. * Development: Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildings * Net leasing[7] * Property management: Managing a property for its owner(s) * Real estate marketing: Managing the sales side of the property business * Real estate investing: Managing the investment of real estate * Relocation services: Relocating people or business to a different country * Corporate Real Estate: Managing the real estate held by a corporation to support its core business—unlike managing the real estate held by an investor to generate income Within each field, a business may specialize in a particular type of real estate, such as residential, commercial, or industrial property. In addition, almost all construction business effectively has a connection to real estate. Professional university-level education in real estate is primarily focused at the graduate level. Focus in towards the commercial real estate sector, primarily real estate development or investment rather than residential real estate sales conducted by a REALTOR. See also graduate real estate education for a discussion and list of university-level real estate programs. "Internet real estate" is a term coined by the internet investment community relating to ownership of domain names and the similarities between high quality internet domain names and real-world, prime real estate. [edit] Residential real estate The legal arrangement for the right to occupy a dwelling is known as the housing tenure. Types of housing tenure include owner occupancy, Tenancy, housing cooperative, condominiums (individually parceled properties in a single building), public housing, squatting, and cohousing. The occupants of a residence constitute a household. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighboring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns. 'Single-family detached home' Major physical categories in North America and Europe include: * Attached / multi-unit dwellings o Apartment - An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings. o Multi-family house - Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit. o Terraced house (a.k.a. townhouse or rowhouse) - A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space. o Condominium - Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well. o Cooperative (a.k.a. "co-op) - A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multiunit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit. * Semi-detached dwellings o Duplex - Two units with one shared wall. * Single-family detached home * Portable dwellings o Mobile homes - Potentially a full-time residence which can be (might not in practice be) movable on wheels. o Houseboats - A floating home o Tents - Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material. Major categories in India and Asian Subcontinent include * Housing Societies.( CGHS) * Condominiums. * [JJ Colonies Jughi Jhopri Hutments]. * [Builder Flats]. * [Chawls]. * [Havelis]. * [Lal Dora]- where people carry out commercial and residential activities both. the size is measures in Gaz (square yards) Quila , Marla , Beegha, and acre. The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States, this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe may report the total area of the walls enclosing the home, thus including any attached garage and non-living spaces, which makes it important to inquire what kind of surface definition has been used. It can be described more roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a single bedroom with no living room (possibly a separate kitchen). A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom. Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. (A bedroom is defined as a room with a closet for clothes storage.) See List of house types for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market and house or home for more general information. [edit] Market sector value Question book-new.svg This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2002 were the following: * Residential property: $48 trillion; * Commercial property: $14 trillion; * Equities: $20 trillion; * Government bonds: $20 trillion; * Corporate bonds: $13 trillion; * Total: $115 trillion. That makes real estate assets 54% and financial assets 46% of total stocks, bonds, and real estate assets. Assets not counted here are bank deposits, insurance "reserve" assets, natural resources, and human assets. It is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bond. [edit] Mortgages in real estate In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich and poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them to take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.[citation needed] But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes. [edit] See also * 1031 exchange * Buyer brokerage (in the USA) * Buying agent (in the UK) * Estate (house) * Estate agent (in the UK) * Real estate broker (in the USA) * Housing bubble * International real estate * Investment Rating for Real Estate * List of real estate topics * Mortgage loan * Net lease * Private Equity Real Estate * Property rights * Real estate broker (in the USA) * Estate agent (in the UK) * Real estate appraisal * Real estate broker * Real estate economics * Real estate developer * Real estate investment trust * Real estate pricing * Real estate transaction * Real estate transfer tax * Real estate trends * Real property * Realtor * Short sale (real estate) * Subprime mortgage crisis * Real estate owned * Real estate in the People's Republic of China [edit] References 1. ^ "Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Dictionary.com Retrieved July 12, 2008 2. ^ "Real Estate and Mortgage Glossary / Definitions - terms beginning with "R"" Real Estate ABC - Information on Buying and Selling A Home. Web. 10 Aug. 2009. <http://www.realestateabc.com/glossary/glossaryR.htm>. 3. ^ a b "Real" – Online Etymological Dictionary Retrieved July 12, 2008 4. ^ "Real" – The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Dictionary.com Retrieved July 12, 2008 5. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Law (4th edition), New York: Oxford University Press, 1997; See also Estate in land 6. ^ Mexico and Direct Foreign Ownership of Coastal Property, MexiData.info (April 12, 2010) http://www.mexidata.info/id2615.html 7. ^ Hipp, Jonathan W. (2008-11-28). "What You Need to Know to Invest in Single-tenant, Net-leased Properties". Calkain Companies, Inc.. http://calkain.com/exchange-toolbox/industry_expert_articles/netlease101.php. [edit] External links Look up real estate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. * FRB: Z.1 Release- Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate" Categories: Real estate

homes Return to the top

A home is a place of residence or refuge.[1] When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or in a domesticated environment. "Home" is also used to refer to the geographical area (whether it be a suburb, town, city or country) in which a person grew up or feels they belong, or it can refer to the native habitat of a wild animal. As an alternative to the definition of "home" as a physical locale, home may be perceived to have no physical definition—instead, home may relate instead to a mental or emotional state of refuge or comfort.[citation needed] There are cultures in which members lack permanent homes, such as with nomadic people. Contents [hide]

relocation Return to the top

Relocation, also known as moving is the process of vacating a fixed location (such as a residence or business) and settling in a different one. A move can be to a nearby location within the same neighborhood, a much farther location in a different city, or sometimes a different country. On the Holmes and Rahe stress scale for adults, "change of residence" is considered a stressful activity, assigned 20 points (with death of spouse being ranked the highest at 100)[1], although other changes on the scale (e.g. "change in living conditions", "change in social activities") often occur as a result of relocating, making the overall stress level potentially higher. Various studies have found that moving house is often particularly stressful for children and is sometimes associated with long-term problems.[2][3][4] Expatriate's Relocation Often big corporations relocate their employees for short- to long-term assignments abroad. Quite often such relocation is supported by a special relocation agency, who help internationally assigned personnel to look for a new house, school for children, conduct local culture training and in general terms support in integration into new society.[5]

for sale Return to the top

sale    /seɪl/ Show Spelled[seyl] Show IPA –noun 1. the act of selling. 2. a quantity sold. 3. opportunity to sell; demand: slow sale. 4. a special disposal of goods, as at reduced prices. 5. transfer of property for money or credit. 6. an auction. —Idioms 7. for sale, offered to be sold; made available to purchasers. 8. on sale, able to be bought at reduced prices. Use for sale in a Sentence See images of for sale Search for sale on the Web Origin: bef. 1050; ME; late OE sala; c. ON, OHG sala. Cf. sell1 —Related forms in·ter·sale, noun non·sale, noun subsale, noun Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011. Cite This Source | Link To for sale Explore the Visual Thesaurus » Related Words for : for sale purchasable View more related words » Find Real Estate Listings Search Real Estate Listings by Zip. Find Affordable Real Estate Now! RealEstate.ConnectWithLife.com Edina Realty Rick Patti Serving Western WI For all your Real Estate Needs pattikatzmark.edinarealty.com Word Origin & History sale late O.E. sala "a sale," from O.N. sala "sale," from P.Gmc. *salo (cf. O.H.G. sala, Swed. salu, Dan. salg ), from root *sal-, source of *saljan (cf. O.E. sellan; see sell). Sense of "a selling of shop goods at lower prices than usual" first appeared 1866. Salesman is from 1523; salesmanship first attested 1880. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Cite This Source Legal Dictionary Main Entry: sale Function: noun 1 a : the transfer of title to property from one party to another for a price; also : the contract of such a transaction —see also SHORT 2 —compare BARTER, DONATION, EXCHANGE, GIFTabsolute sale : a sale that takes place without conditions and with title simply passing to the buyer upon payment of the price —compare CONDITIONAL SALE in this entry bulk sale : a sale not in the ordinary course of the seller's business of more than half of the seller's inventory called also bulk transfer NOTE: Article 6 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs bulk sales. Under section 6-102(c), in order for a sale to be considered a bulk sale, the buyer (or an auctioneer or liquidator if the sale is an auction) must have been given notice or been able upon reasonable inquiry to have had notice that the seller will not afterward continue to operate the same or a similar kind of business. cash sale : a sale in which payment must be made in cash NOTE: Under U.C.C. section 2-310, payment must be made in cash at the time and place that the buyer receives the goods unless there is a prior agreement between the parties for a sale on credit. conditional sale : a sale that is complete only when one or more conditions are met; specifically : a sale in which the seller extends credit to the buyer to purchase the item and takes a security interest in the item with the buyer receiving title when the debt has been fully paid off —compare ABSOLUTE SALE in this entry execution sale : a sale carried out to execute a judgment under authority of a judicial officer (as a court clerk) but not by court order forced sale : a sale of property ordered by a court in order to satisfy a creditor's judgment against a debtor foreclosure sale : a sale of property upon default of a mortgage to satisfy the debt judicial sale : a sale of property conducted by an authorized official by order of a court : FORCED SALE in this entry private sale : an often unadvertised sale of property that is not open to the general public and does not take place at a set time or place public sale : a sale (as an auction) that is publicly advertised and that takes place at a location open to the public sale in gross : a sale of a tract of land that is not made with a guarantee as to the exact amount of land involved; also : the sale of an undivided property (as in execution of a judgment) sale on ap·prov·al : a conditional sale whose completion depends on acceptance of the goods by a buyer (as a consumer) receiving them primarily for use with the option to return them if they do not meet his or her approval even though they conform to contract sale or return : a conditional sale whose completion depends on acceptance of the goods by a buyer (as a merchant) receiving them primarily for resale with the option to return them if they are not resold even though they conform to contract sheriff's sale : a forced sale of property by a sheriff or deputy sheriff tax sale : a forced sale of property resulting from nonpayment of taxes by the owner —compare tax lien at LIEN b : a contract for selling or disposing of a security or an interest in a security for value —see also SHORT 2b, WASH SALE 2 : the transfer of a controlled substance to another person for money or other consideration 3 : a selling of goods at lower than usual prices 4 plural a : operations and activities involved in promoting and selling goods and services sale s > b : gross receipts c : income calculated under the accrual basis of accounting Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc. Cite This Source Famous Quotations sale "And for the citation of so many authors, 'tis the easie..." "And in the shops nothing For people to eat; N..." "Not even New Hampshire farms are much for sale. Th..." "A generation which has passed through the shop has abso..." "If you want to buy my wares Follow me and climb th..." More Quotes

entertainment Return to the top

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as recreations or sports, are more often considered to be recreation.[1] Activities such as personal reading or practicing a musical instrument are considered to be hobbies. Entertainment also provides a lot of fun, enjoyment, laughter.The industry that provides entertainment is called the entertainment industry. There are many forms of entertainment for example: cinema, theatre, sports, games and social dance. Puppets, clowns, pantomimes and cartoons tend to appeal to children, though adults may also find them enjoyable. Contents [hide] * 1 Forms of entertainment o 1.1 Animation o 1.2 Cinema and theater o 1.3 Comedy o 1.4 Comics o 1.5 Dance and music o 1.6 Games o 1.7 Other forms of entertainment * 2 See also * 3 Footnotes * 4 External links [edit] Forms of entertainment [edit] Animation An animated cartoon horse Some people find animation to be entertaining. Similarly, some people find cartoons to be entertaining.[2] [edit] Cinema and theater Many people find cinema /or theater and other live performance such as circus, plays, musicals, farces, monologues and pantomimes to be entertaining. [edit] Comedy Comedy provides laughter and amusement. The audience is taken by surprise, by the parody or satire of an unexpected effect or an opposite expectations of their cultural beliefs. Slapstick film, one-liner joke, observational humor are forms of comedy which have developed since the early days of jesters and traveling minstrels.[3] [edit] Comics Felix the Cat comic strip Comics contain text and drawings which convey an entertaining narrative.[4] Several famous comics revolve around super heroes such as Superman and Batman. Marvel Comics and DC Comics are two publishers of comic books. Manga is the Japanese word for comic and print cartoons. Caricature is a graphical entertainment. The purpose may vary from merely putting smile on the viewers face, to raising social awareness, to highlighting the moral vices of a person being caricatured. [edit] Dance and music Many people find involvement in social dance to be entertaining. Some people listen to or watch musical entertainment. [edit] Games Bingo Games provide relaxation and diversion. Games may be played by one person for their own entertainment, or by a group of people. Games may be played for achievement or money such as gambling or bingo. Racing, chess or checkers may develop physical or mental prowess. Games may be geared for children, or may be played outdoors such as lawn bowling. Equipment may be necessary to play the game such as a deck of cards for card games, or a board and markers for board games such as Monopoly, or backgammon.[5] This can include ball games, Blind man's bluff, board games, card games, children's games, croquet, Frisbee, hide and seek, number games, paintball and video games.

recreation Return to the top

Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time.[1] The "need to do something for recreation" seems to be an essential element of human biology and psychology.[2] Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun". The term "recreation" implies participation to be healthy refreshing mind and body. It is also very entertaining and great to pass time. Contents [hide] * 1 Etymology * 2 Leisure as a prerequisite * 3 Play, recreation and work * 4 Recreational activities * 5 Organized recreation * 6 Health and recreation * 7 Recreation as a career * 8 See also * 9 References * 10 External links [edit] Etymology The term "recreation" appeared to have been used in English first in the late 14th century, first in the sense of "refreshment or curing of a sick person",[3] and derived from Old French, in turn from Latin (re: again, creare: to create. bring forth, beget). [edit] Leisure as a prerequisite Humans spend their time in activities of daily living, work, sleep, social duties, and leisure, the latter time being free from prior commitments to physiologic or social needs,[4] a prerequisite of recreation. Leisure has increased with increased longevity and, for many, with decreased hours spend for physical and economic survival, yet others argue that time pressure has increased for modern people, as they are committed to too many tasks.[5] Other factors that account for an increased role of recreation are affluence, population trends, and increased commercialization of recreational offerings.[6] While one perception is that leisure is just "spare time", time not consumed by the necessities of living, another holds that leisure is a force that allows individuals to consider and reflect on the values and realities that are missed in the activities of daily life, thus being an essential element of personal development and civilization.[1] This direction of thought has been even extended to the view that leisure is the purpose of work, and a reward in itself,[1] and "leisure life" reflects the values and character of a nation.[6] Leisure is considered a human right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[7] [edit] Play, recreation and work Recreation is difficult to separate from the general concept of play, - play usually the term for children’s recreational activity. Children may playfully imitate activities that reflect the realities of adult life. It has been proposed that play or recreational activities are outlets of or expression of excess energy, channeling it into socially acceptable activities that fulfill individual as well as societal needs, without need for compulsion, and providing satisfaction and pleasure for the participant.[8] A traditional view holds that work is supported by recreation, recreation being useful to "recharge the battery" so that work performance is improved. Work, an activity generally performed out of economic necessity and useful for society and organized within the economic framework, however can also be pleasurable and may be self-imposed thus blurring the distinction to recreation. Many activities may be work for one person and recreation for another, or, at an individual level, over time recreational activity may become work, and vice-versa. Thus, for a musician, playing an instrument may be at one time a profession, and at another a recreation. [edit] Recreational activities Recreation is an essential part of human life and finds many different forms which are shaped naturally by individual interests but also by the surrounding social construction.[2] Recreational activities can be communal or solitary, active or passive, outdoors or indoors, healthy or harmful, and useful for society or detrimental. A list of typical activities could be almost endless including most human activities, a few examples being reading, playing or listening to music, watching movies or TV, gardening, hunting, hobbies, sports, studies, and travel. Not all recreational activities can be considered wise, healthy, or socially acceptable or useful - examples are gambling, drinking, or delinquent activities. Recreational drugs are being used to enhance the recreational experience, a wide-ranging and controversial subject as some drugs are accepted or tolerated by society within limits, others not and declared illegal. Public space such as parks and beaches are essential venues for many recreational activities. Tourism has recognized that many visitors are specifically attracted by recreational offerings.[9] In support of recreational activities government has taken an important role in their creation, maintenance, and organization, and whole industries have developed merchandise or services. Recreation-related business is an important factor in the economy; it has been estimated that outdoor recreation sector alone contributes $730 billion annually to the US economy and generates 6.5 million jobs.[10] [edit] Organized recreation Many recreational activities are organized, typically by public institutions, voluntary group-work agencies, private groups supported by membership fees, and commercial enterprises.[11] Examples of each of these are the National Park Service, the YMCA, the Kiwanis, and Disney World. [edit] Health and recreation Recreation has many health benefits, and, accordingly, recreational therapy has been developed to take advantage of this effect. Such therapy is applied in rehabilitation, and in the care of the elderly, the disabled, or people with chronic diseases. Recreational physical activity is important to reduce obesity, and the risk of osteoporosis[12] and of cancer, most significantly in men that of colon and prostate,[13] and in women that of the breast;[14] however, not all malignancies are reduced as outdoor recreation has been linked to a higher risk of melanoma.[13] Extreme adventure recreation naturally carries its own hazards. [edit] Recreation as a career A recreation specialist would be expected to meet the recreational needs of a community or assigned interest group. Educational institutions offer courses that lead to a degree as a bachelor of arts in recreation management. People with such degrees often work in parks and recreation centers in towns, on community projects and activities. Networking with instructors, budgeting, and evaluation of continuing programs are common job duties. In the United States, most states have a professional organization for continuing education and certification in recreation management. The National Recreation and Park Association administers a certification program called the CPRP (Certified Park and Recreation Professional)[15] that is considered a national standard for professional recreation specialist practices.

community Return to the top

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing a populated environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. In sociology, the concept of community has led to significant debate, and sociologists are yet to reach agreement on a definition of the term. There were ninety-four discrete definitions of the term by the mid-1950s.[1] Traditionally a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household. The word can also refer to the national community or global community. The word "community" is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift"), a broad term for fellowship or organized society.[2] Since the advent of the Internet, the concept of community no longer has geographical limitations, as people can now virtually gather in an online community and share common interests regardless of physical location. Contents [hide] * 1 Perspectives from various disciplines o 1.1 Sociology + 1.1.1 Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft + 1.1.2 Social capital o 1.2 Psychology + 1.2.1 Sense of community o 1.3 Anthropology + 1.3.1 Cultural or social anthropology + 1.3.2 Archaeology o 1.4 Social philosophy + 1.4.1 Communitarianism o 1.5 Business and communications + 1.5.1 Organizational communication o 1.6 Ecology * 2 Interdisciplinary perspectives o 2.1 Socialization * 3 Community development o 3.1 Community building and organizing + 3.1.1 Community currencies o 3.2 Community service * 4 Types of community o 4.1 Location o 4.2 Identity o 4.3 Overlaps o 4.4 Internet communities * 5 Special nature of human community * 6 See also * 7 Notes * 8 References * 9 External links [edit] Perspectives from various disciplines [edit] Sociology Sociology Social Network Analysis diagram Portal Theory and History Positivism · Antipositivism Functionalism · Conflict theory Middle-range · Mathematical Critical theory · Socialization Structure and agency Research methods Quantitative · Qualitative Computational · Ethnographic Topics and Subfields cities · class · crime · culture deviance · demography · education economy · environment · family gender · health · industry · internet knowledge · law · medicine politics · mobility · race & ethnicity rationalization · religion · science secularization · social networks social psychology · stratification Categories and lists [show] Journals · Publications · Outline List of sociologists · Index v · d · e [edit] Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Main article: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies distinguished between two types of human association: Gemeinschaft (usually translated as "community") and Gesellschaft ("society" or "association"). In his 1887 work, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Tönnies argued that Gemeinschaft is perceived to be a tighter and more cohesive social entity, due to the presence of a "unity of will."[3] He added that family and kinship were the perfect expressions of Gemeinschaft, but that other shared characteristics, such as place or belief, could also result in Gemeinschaft. This paradigm of communal networks and shared social understanding has been applied to multiple cultures in many places throughout history.[4] Gesellschaft, on the other hand, is a group in which the individuals who make up that group are motivated to take part in the group purely by self-interest. He also proposed that in the real world, no group was either pure Gemeinschaft or pure Gesellschaft, but, rather, a mixture of the two. [edit] Social capital Main article: Social capital If community exists, both freedom and security may exist as well. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people become free enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense of connectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.[5] Social capital is defined by Robert D. Putnam as "the collective value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (norms of reciprocity)."[6] Social capital in action can be seen in all sorts of groups, including neighbors keeping an eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capital has been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past 25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, family dinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45 percent.[7] The same patterns are also evident in many other western countries. Western cultures are thus said to be losing the spirit of community that once were found in institutions including churches and community centers. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg states in The Great Good Place that people need three places: 1) the home, 2) the office, and, 3) the community hangout or gathering place.[8] With this philosophy in mind, many grassroots efforts such as The Project for Public Spaces are being started to create this "Third Place" in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores, coffeehouses, local pubs, and through many innovative means to create the social capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community.[9] [edit] Psychology [edit] Sense of community Main article: Sense of community To what extent do participants in joint activities experience a sense of community? In a seminal 1986 study, McMillan and Chavis identify four elements of "sense of community": 1) membership, 2) influence, 3) integration and fulfillment of needs, and 4) shared emotional connection. They give the following example of the interplay between these factors: Someone puts an announcement on the dormitory bulletin board about the formation of an intramural dormitory basketball team. People attend the organizational meeting as strangers out of their individual needs (integration and fulfillment of needs). The team is bound by place of residence (membership boundaries are set) and spends time together in practice (the contact hypothesis). They play a game and win (successful shared valent event). While playing, members exert energy on behalf of the team (personal investment in the group). As the team continues to win, team members become recognized and congratulated (gaining honor and status for being members), Influencing new members to join and continue to do the same. Someone suggests that they all buy matching shirts and shoes (common symbols) and they do so (influence).[10] A Sense of Community Index (SCI) has been developed by Chavis and colleagues and revised and adapted by others. Although originally designed to assess sense of community in neighborhoods, the index has been adapted for use in schools, the workplace, and a variety of types of communities.[11] Studies conducted by the APPA show substantial evidence that young adults who feel a sense of belonging in a community, particularly small communities, develop fewer psychiatric and depressive disorders than those who do not have the feeling of love and belonging.[citation needed] [edit] Anthropology Community and its features are central to anthropological research. Some of the ways community is addressed in anthropology include the following: [edit] Cultural or social anthropology Cultural (or social) anthropology has traditionally looked at community through the lens of ethnographic fieldwork and ethnography continues to be an important methodology for study of modern communities. Other anthropological approaches that deal with various aspects of community include cross-cultural studies and the anthropology of religion. Cultures in modern society are also studied in the fields of urban anthropology, ethnic studies, ecological anthropology, and psychological anthropology. Since the 1990s, internet communities have increasingly been the subject of research in the emerging field of cyber anthropology. [edit] Archaeology Archaeological studies of social communities. The term “community” is used in two ways in archaeology, paralleling usage in other areas. The first is an informal definition of community as a place where people used to live. In this sense it is synonymous with the concept of an ancient settlement, whether a hamlet, village, town, or city. The second meaning is similar to the usage of the term in other social sciences: a community is a group of people living near one another who interact socially. Social interaction on a small scale can be difficult to identify with archaeological data. Most reconstructions of social communities by archaeologists rely on the principle that social interaction is conditioned by physical distance. Therefore a small village settlement likely constituted a social community, and spatial subdivisions of cities and other large settlements may have formed communities. Archaeologists typically use similarities in material culture—from house types to styles of pottery—to reconstruct communities in the past. This is based on the assumption that people or households will share more similarities in the types and styles of their material goods with other members of a social community than they will with outsiders.[12] [edit] Social philosophy [edit] Communitarianism Main article: Communitarianism Communitarianism as a group of related but distinct philosophies (or ideologies) began in the late 20th century, opposing classical liberalism and capitalism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. Not necessarily hostile to social liberalism, communitarianism rather has a different emphasis, shifting the focus of interest toward communities and societies and away from the individual. The question of priority, whether for the individual or community, must be determined in dealing with pressing ethical questions about a variety of social issues, such as health care, abortion, multiculturalism, and hate speech. Gad Barzilai has critically examined both liberalism and communitarianism and has developed the theory of critical communitarianism. Barzilai has explicated how non-ruling communities are constructing legal cultures while interacting with various facets of political power. Being venues of identity construction justifies collective protections of communities in law, while the boundaries with other communities, states, and global forces should be sensitive to preservation of various cultures. Gad Barzilai has accordingly offered how to protect human rights, individual rights, and multiculturalism in inter-communal context that allows to generating cultural relativism. [edit] Business and communications [edit] Organizational communication Main article: Organizational communication Effective communication practices in group and organizational settings are very important to the formation and maintenance of communities. The ways that ideas and values are communicated within communities are important to the induction of new members, the formulation of agendas, the selection of leaders and many other aspects. Organizational communication is the study of how people communicate within an organizational context and the influences and interactions within organizational structures. Group members depend on the flow of communication to establish their own identity within these structures and learn to function in the group setting. Although organizational communication, as a field of study, is usually geared toward companies and business groups, these may also be seen as communities. The principles of organizational communication can also be applied to other types of communities. [edit] Ecology Main article: Community (ecology) In ecology, a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another. Community ecology is the branch of ecology that studies interactions between and among species. It considers how such interactions, along with interactions between species and the abiotic environment, affect community structure and species richness, diversity and patterns of abundance. Species interact in three ways: competition, predation and mutualism. Competition typically results in a double negative—that is both species lose in the interaction. Predation is a win/lose situation with one species winning. Mutualism, on the other hand, involves both species cooperating in some way, with both winning. [edit] Interdisciplinary perspectives [edit] Socialization Main article: Socialization Lewes Bonfire Night procession commemorating 17 Protestant martyrs burnt at the stake from 1555 to 1557. The process of learning to adopt the behavior patterns of the community is called socialization. The most fertile time of socialization is usually the early stages of life, during which individuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the roles necessary to function within their culture and social environment.[13] For some psychologists, especially those in the psychodynamic tradition, the most important period of socialization is between the ages of one and ten. But socialization also includes adults moving into a significantly different environment, where they must learn a new set of behaviors.[14] Socialization is influenced primarily by the family, through which children first learn community norms. Other important influences include school, peer groups, people, schools, mass media, the workplace, and government. The degree to which the norms of a particular society or community are adopted determines one's willingness to engage with others. The norms of tolerance, reciprocity, and trust are important "habits of the heart," as de Tocqueville put it, in an individual's involvement in community.[15] [edit] Community development Azadi Tower is a town square in modern Iran Main article: Community development Community development, often linked with Community Work or Community Planning, is often formally conducted by non-government organisations (NGOs), universities or government agencies to progress the social well-being of local, regional and, sometimes, national communities. Less formal efforts, called community building or community organizing, seek to empower individuals and groups of people by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities.[16] These skills often assist in building political power through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda. Community development practitioners must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities' positions within the context of larger social institutions. Formal programs conducted by universities are often used to build a knowledge base to drive curricula in sociology and community studies. The General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and the Saguaro Seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University are examples of national community development in the United States. In The United Kingdom, Oxford University has led in providing extensive research in the field through its Community Development Journal,[17] used worldwide by sociologists and community development practitioners. At the intersection between community development and community building are a number of programs and organizations with community development tools. One example of this is the program of the Asset Based Community Development Institute of Northwestern University. The institute makes available downloadable tools[18] to assess community assets and make connections between non-profit groups and other organizations that can help in community building. The Institute focuses on helping communities develop by "mobilizing neighborhood assets" — building from the inside out rather than the outside in.[19] [edit] Community building and organizing In The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace, Scott Peck argues that the almost accidental sense of community that exists at times of crisis can be consciously built. Peck believes that conscious community building is a process of deliberate design based on the knowledge and application of certain rules.[20] He states that this process goes through four stages:[21] 1. Pseudo-community: Where participants are "nice with each other", playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favourable sides of their personalities. 2. Chaos: When people move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their "shadow" selves. This stage places great demands upon the facilitator for greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that "organizations are not communities", and this pressure should be resisted. 3. Emptiness: This stage moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convert of the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledging their own woundedness and brokenness, common to us all as human beings. Out of this emptiness comes 4. True community: the process of deep respect and true listening for the needs of the other people in this community. This stage Peck believes can only be described as "glory" and reflects a deep yearning in every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows. More recently Peck remarked that building a sense of community is easy but maintaining this sense of community is difficult in the modern world.[22] Community building can use a wide variety of practices, ranging from simple events such as potlucks and small book clubs to larger–scale efforts such as mass festivals and construction projects that involve local participants rather than outside contractors. Community building that is geared toward citizen action is usually termed "community organizing."[23] In these cases, organized community groups seek accountability from elected officials and increased direct representation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faith negotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. The ARISE Detroit! coalition and the Toronto Public Space Committee are examples of activist networks committed to shielding local communities from government and corporate domination and inordinate influence. Community organizing is sometimes focused on more than just resolving specific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessible power structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equally throughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to build groups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groups facilitate and encourage consensus decision-making with a focus on the general health of the community rather than a specific interest group. The three basic types of community organizing are grassroots organizing, coalition building, and "institution-based community organizing," (also called "broad-based community organizing," an example of which is faith-based community organizing, or "congregation-based community organizing").[24] [edit] Community currencies Some communities have developed their own "Local Exchange Trading Systems" (LETS)[25] and local currencies, such as the Ithaca Hours system,[26] to encourage economic growth and an enhanced sense of community. Community Currencies have recently proven valuable in meeting the needs of people living in various South American nations, particularly Argentina, that recently suffered as a result of the collapse of the Argentinian national currency.[27] The anti-war affinity group "Collateral Damage" protesting the Iraq war [edit] Community service Main article: Community service Community service is usually performed in connection with a nonprofit organization, but it may also be undertaken under the auspices of government, one or more businesses, or by individuals. It is typically unpaid and voluntary. However, it can be part of alternative sentencing approaches in a justice system and it can be required by educational institutions. [edit] Types of community Participants in Diana Leafe Christian's "Heart of a Healthy Community" seminar circle during an afternoon session at O.U.R. Ecovillage A number of ways to categorize types of community have been proposed; one such breakdown is: 1. Geographic communities: range from the local neighbourhood, suburb, village, town or city, region, nation or even the planet as a whole. These refer to communities of location. 2. Communities of culture: range from the local clique, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious, multicultural or pluralistic civilisation, or the global community cultures of today. They may be included as communities of need or identity, such as disabled persons, or frail aged people. 3. Community organizations: range from informal family or kinship networks, to more formal incorporated associations, political decision making structures, economic enterprises, or professional associations at a small, national or international scale. Communities are nested; one community can contain another—for example a geographic community may contain a number of ethnic communities.[28] [edit] Location Possibly the most common usage of the word "community" indicates a large group living in close proximity. Examples of local community include: * A municipality is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a town or village. Wakefield, Ma. is an example of a small town which constitutes a local community. Although large cities are also municipalities, they are often thought of as a collection of communities, due to their diversity. * A neighborhood is a geographically localized community, often within a larger city or suburb. * A planned community is one that was designed from scratch and grew up more or less following the plan. Several of the world's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., in the United States, Canberra in Australia, and Brasília in Brazil. It was also common during the European colonization of the Americas to build according to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlier Amerindian cities. For more details on this topic, see Community of place. [edit] Identity For more details on this topic, see Community of interest. In some contexts, "community" indicates a group of people with a common identity other than location. Members often interact regularly. Common examples in everyday usage include: * A "professional community" is a group of people with the same or related occupations. Some of those members may join a professional society, making a more defined and formalized group. These are also sometimes known as communities of practice. * A virtual community is a group of people primarily or initially communicating or interacting with each other by means of information technologies, typically over the Internet, rather than in person. These may be either communities of interest, practice or communion. Research interest is evolving in the motivations for contributing to online communities. [edit] Overlaps For more details on this topic, see Intentional community. Some communities share both location and other attributes. Members choose to live near each other because of one or more common interests. * A retirement community is designated and at least usually designed for retirees and seniors—often restricted to those over a certain age, such as 56. It differs from a retirement home, which is a single building or small complex, by having a number of autonomous households. * An intentional community is a deliberate residential community with a much higher degree of social communication than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or spiritual vision and s

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Map From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Maps) Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Map (disambiguation). A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes. Many maps are static two-dimensional, geometrically accurate (or approximately accurate) representations of three-dimensional space, while others are dynamic or interactive, even three-dimensional. Although most commonly used to depict geography, maps may represent any space, real or imagined, without regard to context or scale; e.g. Brain mapping, DNA mapping, and extraterrestrial mapping. Contents [hide] * 1 Geographic maps o 1.1 Orientation of maps o 1.2 Scale and accuracy o 1.3 Map types and projections o 1.4 Electronic maps * 2 Conventional signs o 2.1 Labeling * 3 Non geographical spatial maps * 4 Non spatial maps * 5 See also * 6 Footnotes * 7 References * 8 External links [edit] Geographic maps A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit. Cartography, or map-making is the study, and often practice of crafting representations of the Earth upon a flat surface (see History of cartography), and one who makes maps is called a cartographer. Road maps are perhaps the most widely used maps today, and form a subset of navigational maps, which also include aeronautical and nautical charts, railroad network maps, and hiking and bicycling maps. In terms of quantity, the largest number of drawn map sheets is probably made up by local surveys, carried out by municipalities, utilities, tax assessors, emergency services providers, and other local agencies. Many national surveying projects have been carried out by the military, such as the British Ordnance Survey (now a civilian government agency internationally renowned for its comprehensively detailed work). In addition to location information maps may also be used to portray contour lines (isolines) indicating constant values of elevation, temperature, rainfall etc. [edit] Orientation of maps The Hereford Mappa Mundi, about 1300, Hereford Cathedral, England. A classic "T-O" map with Jerusalem at centre, east toward the top, Europe the bottom left and Africa on the right. The orientation of a map is the relationship between the directions on the map and the corresponding compass directions in reality. The word "orient" is derived from Latin oriens, meaning East. In the Middle Ages many maps, including the T and O maps, were drawn with East at the top (meaning that the direction "up" on the map corresponds to East on the compass). Today, the most common – but far from universal – cartographic convention is that North is at the top of a map. Several kinds of maps are often traditionally not oriented with North at the top: * Maps from non-Western traditions are oriented a variety of ways. Old maps of Edo show the Japanese imperial palace as the "top", but also at the centre, of the map. Labels on the map are oriented in such a way that you cannot read them properly unless you put the imperial palace above your head.[citation needed] * Medieval European T and O maps such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi were centred on Jerusalem with East at the top. Indeed, prior to the reintroduction of Ptolemy's Geography to Europe around 1400, there was no single convention in the West. Portolan charts, for example, are oriented to the shores they describe. * Maps of cities bordering a sea are often conventionally oriented with the sea at the top. * Route and channel maps have traditionally been oriented to the road or waterway they describe. * Polar maps of the Arctic or Antarctic regions are conventionally centred on the pole; the direction North would be towards or away from the centre of the map, respectively. Typical maps of the Arctic have 0° meridian towards the bottom of the page; maps of the Antarctic have the 0° meridian towards the top of the page. * Reversed maps, also known as Upside-Down maps or South-Up maps, reverse the "North is up" convention and have South at the top. * Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion maps are based on a projection of the Earth's sphere onto an icosahedron. The resulting triangular pieces may be arranged in any order or orientation. * Modern digital GIS maps such as ArcMap typically project north at the top of the map, but use math degrees (0 is east, degrees increase counter-clockwise), rather than compass degrees (0 is north, degrees increase clockwise) for orientation of transects. Compass decimal degrees can be converted to math degrees by subtracting them from 450. [edit] Scale and accuracy A 'global view map' of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Many, but not all, maps are drawn to a scale, expressed as a ratio such as 1:10,000, meaning that 1 of any unit of measurement on the map corresponds exactly, or approximately, to 10,000 of that same unit on the ground. The scale statement may be taken as exact when the region mapped is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, for example in a town planner's city map. Over larger regions where the curvature cannot be ignored we must use map projections from the curved surface of the Earth (sphere or ellipsoid) to the plane. The impossibility of flattening the sphere to the plane implies that no map projection can have constant scale: on most projections the best we can achieve is accurate scale on one or two lines (not necessarily straight) on the projection. Thus for map projections we must introduce the concept of point scale, which is a function of position, and strive to keep its variation within narrow bounds. Although the scale statement is nominal it is usually accurate enough for all but the most precise of measurements. Large scale maps, say 1:10,000, cover relatively small regions in great detail and small scale maps, say 1:10,000,000, cover large regions such as nations, continents and the whole globe. The large/small terminology arose from the practice of writing scales as numerical fractions: 1/10000 is larger than 1/10000000. There is no exact dividing line between large and small but 1/100000 might well be considered as a medium scale. Examples of large scale maps are the 1:25000 maps produced for hikers; on the other hand maps intended for motorists at 1:250,000 or 1:1,000,000 are small scale. It is important to recognise that even the most accurate maps sacrifice a certain amount of accuracy in scale to deliver a greater visual usefulness to its user. For example, the width of roads and small streams are exaggerated when they are too narrow to be shown on the map at true scale; that is, on a printed map they would be narrower than could be perceived by the naked eye. The same applies to computer maps where the smallest unit is the pixel. A narrow stream say must be shown to have the width of a pixel even if at the map scale it would be a small fraction of the pixel width. Cartogram: The EU distorted to show population distributions. Some maps, called cartograms, have the scale deliberately distorted to reflect information other than land area or distance. For example, this map of Europe has been distorted to show population distribution, while the rough shape of the continent is still discernable. Another example of distorted scale is the famous London Underground map. The basic geographical structure is respected but the tube lines (and the River Thames) are smoothed to clarify the relationships between stations. Near the center of the map stations are spaced out more than near the edges of map. Further inaccuracies may be deliberate. For example, cartographers may simply omit military installations or remove features solely in order to enhance the clarity of the map. For example, a road map may not show railroads, smaller waterways or other prominent non-road objects, and even if it does, it may show them less clearly (e.g. dashed or dotted lines/outlines) than the main roads. Known as decluttering, the practice makes the subject matter that the user is interested in easier to read, usually without sacrificing overall accuracy. Software-based maps often allow the user to toggle decluttering between ON, OFF and AUTO as needed. In AUTO the degree of decluttering is adjusted as the user changes the scale being displayed. [edit] Map types and projections Main article: World map Map of large underwater features. (1995, NOAA) Maps of the world or large areas are often either 'political' or 'physical'. The most important purpose of the political map is to show territorial borders; the purpose of the physical is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Geological maps show not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures. Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator projection, originally designed as a form of nautical chart. Aeroplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the section of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are chosen as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plot a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart. * Azimuthal or Gnomonic map projections are often used in planning air routes due to their ability to represent great circles as straight lines. * Richard Edes Harrison produced a striking series of maps during and after World War II for Fortune magazine. These used "bird's eye" projections to emphasise globally strategic "fronts" in the air age, pointing out proximities and barriers not apparent on a conventional rectangular projection of the world. [edit] Electronic maps A USGS digital raster graphic. From the last quarter of the 20th century, the indispensable tool of the cartographer has been the computer. Much of cartography, especially at the data-gathering survey level, has been subsumed by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The functionality of maps has been greatly advanced by technology simplifying the superimposition of spatially located variables onto existing geographical maps. Having local information such as rainfall level, distribution of wildlife, or demographic data integrated within the map allows more efficient analysis and better decision making. In the pre-electronic age such superimposition of data led Dr. John Snow to discover the cause of cholera. Today, it is used by agencies of the human kind, as diverse as wildlife conservationists and militaries around the world. Relief map Sierra Nevada Even when GIS is not involved, most cartographers now use a variety of computer graphics programs to generate new maps. Interactive, computerised maps are commercially available, allowing users to zoom in or zoom out (respectively meaning to increase or decrease the scale), sometimes by replacing one map with another of different scale, centered where possible on the same point. In-car global navigation satellite systems are computerised maps with route-planning and advice facilities which monitor the user's position with the help of satellites. From the computer scientist's point of view, zooming in entails one or a combination of: 1. replacing the map by a more detailed one 2. enlarging the same map without enlarging the pixels, hence showing more detail by removing less information compared to the less detailed version 3. enlarging the same map with the pixels enlarged (replaced by rectangles of pixels); no additional detail is shown, but, depending on the quality of one's vision, possibly more detail can be seen; if a computer display does not show adjacent pixels really separate, but overlapping instead (this does not apply for an LCD, but may apply for a cathode ray tube), then replacing a pixel by a rectangle of pixels does show more detail. A variation of this method is interpolation. A world map in PDF format. For example: * Typically (2) applies to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file or other format based on vector graphics. The increase in detail is, of course, limited to the information contained in the file: enlargement of a curve may eventually result in a series of standard geometric figures such as straight lines, arcs of circles or splines. * (2) may apply to text and (3) to the outline of a map feature such as a forest or building. * (1) may apply to the text as needed (displaying labels for more features), while (2) applies to the rest of the image. Text is not necessarily enlarged when zooming in. Similarly, a road represented by a double line may or may not become wider when one zooms in. * The map may also have layers which are partly raster graphics and partly vector graphics. For a single raster graphics image (2) applies until the pixels in the image file correspond to the pixels of the display, thereafter (3) applies. See also: Webpage (Graphics), PDF (Layers), MapQuest, Google Maps, Google Earth, OpenStreetMap or Yahoo! Maps. [edit] Conventional signs The various features shown on a map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads. These signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet.[1] [edit] Labeling To communicate spatial information effectively, features such as rivers, lakes, and cities need to be labeled. Over centuries cartographers have developed the art of placing names on even the densest of maps. Text placement or name placement can get mathematically very complex as the number of labels and map density increases. Therefore, text placement is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so cartographers and GIS users have developed automatic label placement to ease this process.[2][3] [edit] Non geographical spatial maps Maps exist of the solar system, and other cosmological features such as star maps. In addition maps of other bodies such as the Moon and other planets are technically not geological maps. [edit] Non spatial maps Many diagrams such as Gantt charts display logical relationships between items, and do not display spatial relationships at all. Many maps are topological in nature, and the distances are completely unimportant, and only the connectivity is significant. [edit]

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mul·ti·ple    /ˈmʌltəpəl/ Show Spelled[muhl-tuh-puhl] Show IPA –adjective 1. consisting of, having, or involving several or many individuals, parts, elements, relations, etc.; manifold. 2. Electricity . a. (of circuits) arranged in parallel. b. (of a circuit or circuits) having a number of points at which connection can be made. 3. Botany . (of a fruit) collective. –noun 4. Mathematics . a number that contains another number an integral number of times without a remainder: 12 is a multiple of 3. 5. Electricity . a group of terminals arranged to make a circuit or group of circuits accessible at a number of points at any one of which connection can be made. Use multiple in a Sentence See images of multiple Search multiple on the Web Origin: 1570–80; < F < LL multiplus manifold. See multi-, duple —Related forms non·mul·ti·ple, adjective, noun Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011. Cite This Source | Link To multiple World English Dictionary multiple (ˈmʌltɪp ə l) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide] — adj 1. having or involving more than one part, individual, etc: he had multiple injuries 2. ( US ), ( Canadian ) electronics (of a circuit) having a number of conductors in parallel — n 3. the product of a given number or polynomial and any other one: 6 is a multiple of 2 4. telephony an electrical circuit accessible at a number of points to any one of which a connection can be made 5. short for multiple store [C17: via French from Late Latin multiplus, from Latin multiplex ] 'multiply — adv Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 Cite This Source Word Origin & History multiple 1640s, from Fr. multiple , from L.L. multiplus "manifold," from L. multi- "many, much" + -plus "fold," from base of plicare "to fold, twist;" see ply (v.)). Multiple exposure first recorded 1923. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Cite This Source Medical Dictionary mul·ti·ple definition Pronunciation: /ˈməl-tə-pəl/ Function: adj 1 : consisting of, including, or involving more than one < multiple births> 2 : affecting many parts of the body at once Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc. Cite This Source Science Dictionary multiple (mŭl'tə-pəl) Pronunciation Key A number that may be divided by another number with no remainder. For example, 4, 10, and 32 are multiples of 2. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Cite This Source Famous Quotations multiple "The true story is vicious and multiple and untrue<..." "Combining paid employment with marriage and motherhood ..." "the ocean, multiple to a blinding oneness" "The knowledge that for women in middle adulthood, multi..." "The aura of the theocratic death penalty for adultery s..." More Quotes Popular Subjects:

listing Return to the top

list·ing 1    /ˈlɪstɪŋ/ Show Spelled[lis-ting] Show IPA –noun 1. a list; record; catalog. 2. the act of compiling a list. 3. something listed or included in a list: a listing in the telephone directory. Use listing in a Sentence See images of listing Search listing on the Web Origin: 1635–45; list1 + -ing1 Explore the Visual Thesaurus » Related Words for : listing list, itemisation, itemization View more related words » list·ing 2    /ˈlɪstɪŋ/ Show Spelled[lis-ting] Show IPA –noun material, as bark or sapwood, that is trimmed from a board. Origin: 1400–50; late ME; see list2 , -ing1 list 1    /lɪst/ Show Spelled[list] Show IPA –noun 1. a series of names or other items written or printed together in a meaningful grouping or sequence so as to constitute a record: a list of members. 2. list price. 3. Computers . a series of records in a file. 4. a complete record of stocks handled by a stock exchange. 5. all of the books of a publisher that are available for sale. –verb (used with object) 6. to set down together in a list; make a list of: to list the membership of a club. 7. to enter in a list, directory, catalog, etc.: to list him among the members. 8. to place on a list of persons to be watched, excluded, restricted, etc. 9. Computers . to print or display in a list: Let's list the whole program and see where the bug is. 10. to register (a security) on a stock exchange so that it may be traded there. 11. Archaic . enlist. –verb (used without object) 12. to be offered for sale, as in a catalog, at a specified price: This radio lists at $49.95. 13. Archaic . enlist. Origin: 1595–1605; special use of list2 (roll of names, perh. orig. of contestants in the lists); cf. F liste < It lista roll of names, earlier, band, strip (e.g., of paper), border < OHG (G Leiste ) —Synonyms 1. register. List, catalog, inventory, roll, schedule imply a definite arrangement of items. List denotes a series of names, items, or figures arranged in a row or rows: a list of groceries. Catalog adds the idea of alphabetical or other orderly arrangement, and, often, descriptive particulars and details: a library catalog. An inventory is a detailed descriptive list of property, stock, goods, or the like made for legal or business purposes: a store inventory. A roll is a list of names of members of some defined group often used to ascertain their presence or absence: a class roll. A schedule is a methodical (esp. official) list, often indicating the time or sequence of certain events: a train schedule. 6. record, catalog. 7. enroll. list 2    /lɪst/ Show Spelled[list] Show IPA –noun 1. a border or bordering strip, usually of cloth. 2. a selvage. 3. selvages collectively. 4. a strip of cloth or other material. 5. a strip or band of any kind. 6. a stripe of color. 7. a division of the hair or beard. 8. one of the ridges or furrows of earth made by a lister. 9. a strip of material, as bark or sapwood, to be trimmed from a board. 10. fillet ( def. 6a ) . –adjective 11. made of selvages or strips of cloth. –verb (used with object) 12. to produce furrows and ridges on (land) with a lister. 13. to prepare (ground) for planting by making ridges and furrows. 14. to cut away a narrow strip of wood from the edge of (a stave, plank, etc.). 15. Obsolete . to apply a border or edge to. Origin: bef. 900; ME lista, OE līst border; c. D lijst, G Leiste (OHG līsta ) list 3    /lɪst/ Show Spelled[list] Show IPA –noun 1. a careening, or leaning to one side, as of a ship. –verb (used without object) 2. (of a ship or boat) to incline to one side; careen: The ship listed to starboard. –verb (used with object) 3. to cause (a vessel) to incline to one side: The shifting of the cargo listed the ship to starboard. Origin: 1620–30; orig. uncert. —Synonyms 2, 3. tilt, slant, heel. list 4    /lɪst/ Show Spelled [list] Show IPA Archaic . –verb (used with object) 1. to please. 2. to like or desire. –verb (used without object) 3. to like; wish; choose. Origin: bef. 900; ME listen, lusten, OE ( ge ) lystan to please; c. G gelüsten, ON lysta to desire, akin to Goth lustōn to desire. See lust list 5    /lɪst/ Show Spelled [list] Show IPA Archaic . –verb (used without object) 1. to listen. –verb (used with object) 2. to listen to. Origin: bef. 900; ME listen, OE hlystan to listen, hear, deriv. of hlyst ear; c. Sw lysta; akin to ON hlusta to listen. See listen Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011. Cite This Source | Link To listing World English Dictionary listing (ˈlɪstɪŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide] — n 1. a list or an entry in a list 2. computing a printed copy of a program or file in a form that can be read by humans 3. a place on the Official List of Securities of the London Stock Exchange obtained by a company that has fulfilled the listing requirements and whose shares are quoted on the main market 4. ( plural ) lists of concerts, films, and other events printed in newspapers or magazines, showing details, such as times and venues Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 Cite This Source Word Origin & History list "hear, hearken," now poetic or obsolete, from O.E. hlystan "hear, hearken," from hlyst "hearing," from P.Gmc. *khlustiz , from PIE *kleu- "to hear" (see listen). Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper Cite This Source Legal Dictionary Main Entry: list Function: noun : CALENDAR Main Entry: list·ing Function: noun 1 : an arrangement, agreement, or contract for the marketing of real property through one or more real estate agents usually for a specific period called also listing agreement exclusive agency listing : a listing under which only one agent may sell the property but without the right to a commission if the owner sells it directly NOTE: An agent is usually still entitled to a commission if the owner sells directly to a buyer who was introduced into the process by the agent, even if the sale occurs after the agreement expires. exclusive right to sell listing : a listing under which only one agent may sell the property and is entitled to a commission if the owner sells it directly to any party multiple listing : an agreement or arrangement under which real property is marketed through a service or association composed of several agents with a commission from the sale of a property shared between the selling agent and the agent that initiates the listing of it net listing : a listing under which the agent that sells a property retains as compensation the amount of the selling price that exceeds a specified sum open listing : a listing that does not preclude the use of multiple agents or a direct sale by the owner with no commission paid to an agent called also nonexclusive listing 2 a : a record of a property or properties available through a real estate agent b : a property listed in such a record Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc. Cite This Source Famous Quotations listing "The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comed..." More Quotes

finance Return to the top

Finance is the science of funds management.[1] The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance.[2] Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money, risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted. One facet of finance is through individuals and business organizations, which deposit money in a bank. The bank then lends the money out to other individuals or corporations for consumption or investment and charges interest on the loans. Loans have become increasingly packaged for resale, meaning that an investor buys the loan (debt) from a bank or directly from a corporation. Bonds are debt instruments sold to investors for organizations such as companies, governments or charities.[3] The investor can then hold the debt and collect the interest or sell the debt on a secondary market. Banks are the main facilitators of funding through the provision of credit, although private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other organizations have become important as they invest in various forms of debt. Financial assets, known as investments, are financially managed with careful attention to financial risk management to control financial risk. Financial instruments allow many forms of securitized assets to be traded on securities exchanges such as stock exchanges, including debt such as bonds as well as equity in publicly traded corporations.[dubious – discuss] Central banks, such as the Federal Reserve System banks in the United States and Bank of England in the United Kingdom, are strong players in public finance, acting as lenders of last resort as well as strong influences on monetary and credit conditions in the economy.[4] Contents [hide] * 1 Overview of techniques and sectors of the financial industry * 2 Personal finance * 3 Corporate finance o 3.1 Capital o 3.2 The desirability of budgeting + 3.2.1 Capital budget + 3.2.2 Cash budget o 3.3 Management of current assets + 3.3.1 Credit policy # 3.3.1.1 Advantages of credit trade # 3.3.1.2 Disadvantages of credit trade # 3.3.1.3 Forms of credit # 3.3.1.4 Factors which influence credit conditions # 3.3.1.5 Credit collection * 3.3.1.5.1 Overdue accounts * 3.3.1.5.2 Effective credit control * 3.3.1.5.3 Sources of information on creditworthiness * 3.3.1.5.4 Duties of the credit department + 3.3.2 Stock + 3.3.3 Cash # 3.3.3.1 Reasons for keeping cash # 3.3.3.2 Advantages of sufficient cash o 3.4 Management of fixed assets + 3.4.1 Depreciation + 3.4.2 Insurance o 3.5 Shared Services * 4 Finance of public entities * 5 Financial economics * 6 Financial mathematics * 7 Experimental finance * 8 Behavioral finance * 9 Intangible Asset Finance * 10 Related professional qualifications * 11 See also * 12 References * 13 External links [edit] Overview of techniques and sectors of the financial industry Main article: Financial services An entity whose income exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest the excess income. On the other hand, an entity whose income is less than its expenditure can raise capital by borrowing or selling equity claims, decreasing its expenses, or increasing its income. The lender can find a borrower, a financial intermediary such as a bank, or buy notes or bonds in the bond market. The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary earns the difference for arranging the loan. A bank aggregates the activities of many borrowers and lenders. A bank accepts deposits from lenders, on which it pays interest. The bank then lends these deposits to borrowers. Banks allow borrowers and lenders, of different sizes, to coordinate their activity. Finance is used by individuals (personal finance), by governments (public finance), by businesses (corporate finance) and by a wide variety of other organizations, including schools and non-profit organizations. In general, the goals of each of the above activities are achieved through the use of appropriate financial instruments and methodologies, with consideration to their institutional setting. Finance is one of the most important aspects of business management and includes decisions related to the use and acquisition of funds for the enterprise. In corporate finance, a company's capital structure is the total mix of financing methods it uses to raise funds. One method is debt financing, which includes bank loans and bond sales. Another method is equity financing - the sale of stock by a company to investors. Possession of stock gives the investor ownership in the company in proportion to the number of shares the investor owns. In return for the stock, the company receives cash, which it may use to expand its business or to reduce its debt.[5] Investors, in both bonds and stock, may be institutional investors - financial institutions such as investment banks and pension funds - or private individuals, called private investors or retail investors [edit] Personal finance Main article: Personal finance Questions in personal finance revolve around * How much money will be needed by an individual (or by a family), and when? * How can people protect themselves against unforeseen personal events, as well as those in the external economy? * How can family assets best be transferred across generations (bequests and inheritance)? * How does tax policy (tax subsidies or penalties) affect personal financial decisions? * How does credit affect an individual's financial standing? * How can one plan for a secure financial future in an environment of economic instability? Personal financial decisions may involve paying for education, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars, buying insurance, e.g. health and property insurance, investing and saving for retirement. Personal financial decisions may also involve paying for a loan, or debt obligations. [edit] Corporate finance Main article: Corporate finance Managerial or corporate finance is the task of providing the funds for a corporation's activities. For small business, this is referred to as SME finance (Small and Medium Enterprises). It generally involves balancing risk and profitability, while attempting to maximize an entity's wealth and the value of its stock. Long term funds are provided by ownership equity and long-term credit, often in the form of bonds. The balance between these elements forms the company's capital structure. Short-term funding or working capital is mostly provided by banks extending a line of credit. Another business decision concerning finance is investment, or fund management. An investment is an acquisition of an asset in the hope that it will maintain or increase its value. In investment management – in choosing a portfolio – one has to decide what, how much and when to invest. To do this, a company must: * Identify relevant objectives and constraints: institution or individual goals, time horizon, risk aversion and tax considerations; * Identify the appropriate strategy: active v. passive – hedging strategy * Measure the portfolio performance Financial management is duplicate with the financial function of the Accounting profession. However, financial accounting is more concerned with the reporting of historical financial information, while the financial decision is directed toward the future of the firm. [edit] Capital Main article: Financial capital Capital, in the financial sense, is the money that gives the business the power to buy goods to be used in the production of other goods or the offering of a service. (The capital has two types resources Equity and Debt) [edit] The desirability of budgeting Budget is a document which documents the plan of the business. This may include the objective of business, targets set, and results in financial terms, e.g., the target set for sale, resulting cost, growth, required investment to achieve the planned sales, and financing source for the investment. Also budget may be long term or short term. Long term budgets have a time horizon of 5–10 years giving a vision to the company; short term is an annual budget which is drawn to control and operate in that particular year. [edit] Capital budget This concerns proposed fixed asset requirements and how these expenditures will be financed. Capital budgets are often adjusted annually and should be part of a longer-term Capital Improvements Plan. [edit] Cash budget Working capital requirements of a business should be monitored at all times to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to meet short-term expenses. The cash budget is basically a detailed plan that shows all expected sources and uses of cash. The cash budget has the following six main sections: 1. Beginning Cash Balance - contains the last period's closing cash balance. 2. Cash collections - includes all expected cash receipts (all sources of cash for the period considered, mainly sales) 3. Cash disbursements - lists all planned cash outflows for the period, excluding interest payments on short-term loans, which appear in the financing section. All expenses that do not affect cash flow are excluded from this list (e.g. depreciation, amortization, etc.) 4. Cash excess or deficiency - a function of the cash needs and cash available. Cash needs are determined by the total cash disbursements plus the minimum cash balance required by company policy. If total cash available is less than cash needs, a deficiency exists. 5. Financing - discloses the planned borrowings and repayments, including interest. 6. Ending Cash balance - simply reveals the planned ending cash balance. [edit] Management of current assets [edit] Credit policy Credit gives the consumer the opportunity to buy, purchase or acquire goods and services, and pay for them at a later date. This has its advantages and disadvantages as follows: [edit] Advantages of credit trade * Usually results in more customers than cash trade. * Can charge more for goods to cover the risk of bad debt. * Gain goodwill and loyalty of customers. * People can buy goods and pay for them at a later date. * Farmers can buy seeds and implements, and pay for them only after the harvest. * Stimulates agricultural and industrial production and commerce. * Can be used as a promotional tool. * Increase the sales. * Modest rates to be filled. * can be a marketing tool [edit] Disadvantages of credit trade * Risk of bad debt. * High administration expenses. * People can buy more than they can afford. * More working capital needed. * Risk of Bankruptcy. [edit] Forms of credit * Suppliers credit: * Credit on ordinary open account * Installment sales * Bills of exchange * Credit cards * Contractor's credit * Factoring of debtors * Cash credit * Cpf credits * Exchange of product [edit] Factors which influence credit conditions * Nature of the business's activities * Financial position * Product durability * Length of production process * Competition and competitors' credit conditions * Country's economic position * Conditions at financial institutions * Discount for early payment * Debtor's type of business and financial position [edit] Credit collection [edit] Overdue accounts * Attach a notice of overdue account to statement. * Send a letter asking for settlement of debt. * Send a second or third letter if first is ineffectual. * Threaten legal actions. [edit] Effective credit control * Increases sales * Reduces bad debts * Increases profits * Builds customer loyalty * Builds confidence of financial industry * Increase company capitalisation * Increase the customer relationship [edit] Sources of information on creditworthiness * Business references * Bank references * Credit agencies * Chambers of commerce * Employers * Credit application forms [edit] Duties of the credit department * Legal action * Taking necessary steps to ensure settlement of account * Knowing the credit policy and procedures for credit control * Setting credit limits * Ensuring that statements of account are sent out * Ensuring that thorough checks are carried out on credit customers * Keeping records of all amounts owing * Ensuring that debts are settled promptly * Timely reporting to the upper level of management for better management. [edit] Stock Purpose of stock control * Ensures that enough stock is on hand to satisfy demand. * Protects and monitors theft. * Safeguards against having to stockpile. * Allows for control over selling and cost price. Stockpiling Main article: Cornering the market This refers to the purchase of stock at the right time, at the right price and in the right quantities. There are several advantages to the stockpiling, the following are some of the examples: * Losses due to price fluctuations and stock loss kept to a minimum * Ensures that goods reach customers timeously; better service * Saves space and storage cost * Investment of working capital kept to minimum * No loss in production due to delays There are several disadvantages to the stockpiling, the following are some of the examples: * Obsolescence * Danger of fire and theft * Initial working capital investment is very large * Losses due to price fluctuation Rate of stock turnover This refers to the number of times per year that the average level of stock is sold. It may be worked out by dividing the cost price of goods sold by the cost price of the average stock level. Determining optimum stock levels * Maximum stock level refers to the maximum stock level that may be maintained to ensure cost effectiveness. * Minimum stock level refers to the point below which the stock level may not go. * Standard order refers to the amount of stock generally ordered. * Order level refers to the stock level which calls for an order to be made. [edit] Cash [edit] Reasons for keeping cash * Cash is usually referred to as the "king" in finance, as it is the most liquid asset. * The transaction motive refers to the money kept available to pay expenses. * The precautionary motive refers to the money kept aside for unforeseen expenses. * The speculative motive refers to the money kept aside to take advantage of suddenly arising opportunities. [edit] Advantages of sufficient cash * Current liabilities may be catered for meeting the current obligations of the company * Cash discounts are given for cash payments. * Production is kept moving * Surplus cash may be invested on a short-term basis. * The business is able to pay its accounts in a timely manner, allowing for easily obtained credit. * Liquidity * Quick upfront pay. [edit] Management of fixed assets [edit] Depreciation Depreciation is the allocation of the cost of an asset over its useful life as determined at the time of purchase. It is calculated yearly to enforce the matching principle [edit] Insurance Main article: Insurance Insurance is the undertaking of one party to indemnify another, in exchange for a premium, against a certain eventuality. Uninsured risks * Bad debt * Changes in fashion * Time lapses between ordering and delivery * New machinery or technology * Different prices at different places Requirements of an insurance contract * Insurable interest o The insured must derive a real financial gain from that which he is insuring, or stand to lose if it is destroyed or lost. o The item must belong to the insured. o One person may take out insurance on the life of another if the second party owes the first money. o Must be some person or item which can, legally, be insured. o The insured must have a legal claim to that which he is insuring. * Good faith o Uberrimae fidei refers to absolute honesty and must characterise the dealings of both the insurer and the insured. [edit] Shared Services There is currently a move towards converging and consolidating Finance provisions into shared services within an organization. Rather than an organization having a number of separate Finance departments performing the same tasks from different locations a more centralized version can be created. [edit] Finance of public entities Main article: Public finance Public finance describes finance as related to sovereign states and sub-national entities (states/provinces, counties, municipalities, etc.) and related public entities (e.g. school districts) or agencies. It is concerned with: * Identification of required expenditure of a public sector entity * Source(s) of that entity's revenue * The budgeting process * Debt issuance (municipal bonds) for public works projects [edit] Financial economics Main article: Financial economics Financial economics is the branch of economics studying the interrelation of financial variables, such as prices, interest rates and shares, as opposed to those concerning the real economy. Financial economics concentrates on influences of real economic variables on financial ones, in contrast to pure finance. It studies: * Valuation - Determination of the fair value of an asset o How risky is the asset? (identification of the asset-appropriate discount rate) o What cash flows will it produce? (discounting of relevant cash flows) o How does the market price compare to similar assets? (relative valuation) o Are the cash flows dependent on some other asset or event? (derivatives, contingent claim valuation) * Financial markets and instruments o Commodities - topics o Stocks - topics o Bonds - topics o Money market instruments- topics o Derivatives - topics * Financial institutions and regulation Financial Econometrics is the branch of Financial Economics that uses econometric techniques to parameterise the relationships. [edit] Financial mathematics Main article: Financial mathematics Financial mathematics is a main branch of applied mathematics concerned with the financial markets. Financial mathematics is the study of financial data with the tools of mathematics, mainly statistics. Such data can be movements of securities—stocks and bonds etc.—and their relations. Another large subfield is insurance mathematics. This is also known as quantitative finance, practitioners as Quantitative analysts. [edit] Experimental finance Main article: Experimental finance Experimental finance aims to establish different market settings and environments to observe experimentally and provide a lens through which science can analyze agents' behavior and the resulting characteristics of trading flows, information diffusion and aggregation, price setting mechanisms, and returns processes. Researchers in experimental finance can study to what extent existing financial economics theory makes valid predictions, and attempt to discover new principles on which such theory can be extended. Research may proceed by conducting trading simulations or by establishing and studying the behaviour of people in artificial competitive market-like settings. [edit] Behavioral finance Main article: Behavioral finance Behavioral Finance studies how the psychology of investors or managers affects financial decisions and markets. Behavioral finance has grown over the last few decades to become central to finance. Behavioral finance includes such topics as: 1. Empirical studies that demonstrate significant deviations from classical theories. 2. Models of how psychology affects trading and prices 3. Forecasting based on these methods. 4. Studies of experimental asset markets and use of models to forecast experiments. A strand of behavioral finance has been dubbed Quantitative Behavioral Finance, which uses mathematical and statistical methodology to understand behavioral biases in conjunction with valuation. Some of this endeavor has been led by Gunduz Caginalp (Professor of Mathematics and Editor of Journal of Behavioral Finance during 2001-2004) and collaborators including Vernon Smith (2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics), David Porter, Don Balenovich, Vladimira Ilieva, Ahmet Duran). Studies by Jeff Madura, Ray Sturm and others have demonstrated significant behavioral effects in stocks and exchange traded funds. Among other topics, quantitative behavioral finance studies behavioral effects together with the non-classical assumption of the finiteness of assets. [edit] Intangible Asset Finance Main article: Intangible asset finance Intangible asset finance is the area of finance that deals with intangible assets such as patents, trademarks, goodwill, reputation, etc. [edit] Related professional qualifications There are several related professional qualifications in finance, that can lead to the field: * Accountancy: o Qualified accountant: Chartered Accountant (ACA - UK certification / CA - certification in Commonwealth countries), Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA, UK certification), Certified Public Accountant (CPA, US certification),ACMA/FCMA ( Associate/Fellow Chartered Management Accountant) from Chartered Institute of Management Accountant(CIMA) ,UK. o Non-statutory qualifications: Chartered Cost Accountant CCA Designation from AAFM * Business qualifications: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Business Management (BBM), Master of Commerce (M.Comm), Master of Science in Management (MSM), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) * Generalist Finance qualifications: o Degrees: Masters degree in Finance (MSF), Master of Financial Economics, Master of Finance & Control (MFC), Master Financial Manager (MFM), Master of Financial Administration (MFA) o Certifications: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA),Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA), ,Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT), Certified Market Analyst (CMA/FAD) Dual Designation, Corporate Finance Qualification (CF) * Quantitative Finance qualifications: Master of Science in Financial Engineering (MSFE), Master of Quantitative Finance (MQF), Master of Computational Finance (MCF), Master of Financial Mathematics (MFM), Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF). [edit] See also Main article: Outline of finance Book:Finance Books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. * Financial crisis of 2007–2010 [edit] References 1. ^ Gove, P. et al. 1961. Finance. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam Company. 2. ^ finance. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Finance 3. ^ Charitytimes.com 4. ^ Board of Governors of Federal Reserve System of the United States. Mission of the Federal Reserve System. Federalreserve.gov Accessed: 2010-01-16. (Archived by WebCite at Webcitation.org) 5. ^ Business.timesonline.co.uk [edit] External links Look up finance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikiversity has learning materials about Finance * OECD work on financial markets Observation of UK Finance Market * Wharton Finance Knowledge Project - aimed to offer free access to finance knowledge for students, teachers, and self-learners. * Professor Aswath Damodaran (New York University Stern School of Business) - provides resources covering three areas in finance: corporate finance, valuation and investment management and syndicate finance.

condo Return to the top

A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate (usually of an apartment house) is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights associated with the individual ownership and controlled by the association of owners that jointly represent ownership of the whole piece. Colloquially, the term is often used to refer to the unit itself in place of the word "apartment". A condominium may be simply defined as an "apartment" that the resident "owns" as opposed to rents. Condominium is the legal term used in the United States and in most provinces of Canada. In Australia and the Canadian province of British Columbia it is referred to as strata title. In Quebec the term "divided co-property" (French: co-propriété divisée) is used, although the colloquial name remains 'condominium'. In France the equivalent is called copropriété (co-ownership), usually managed by the syndic. In New Zealand an "apartment" refers to a unit that is owned, while a rented unit is referred to as a "flat". Contents [hide] * 1 Overview * 2 Non-residential uses * 3 By jurisdiction o 3.1 United States o 3.2 Ontario, Canada o 3.3 Denmark o 3.4 Norway o 3.5 England and Wales o 3.6 India o 3.7 Singapore o 3.8 Sweden o 3.9 Australia * 4 See also * 5 References * 6 External links [edit] Overview The difference between a condominium and an apartment is purely legal: there is no way to know a condo from an apartment simply by looking at or visiting the building. What defines a condominium is the form of ownership. The same building developed as a condominium (and sold as individual units to different owners) could actually be built someplace else as an apartment building (the developers would retain ownership and rent individual units to different tenants). Technically, a condominium is a collection of individual home units along with the land upon which they sit. Individual home ownership within a condominium is construed as ownership of only the air space confining the boundaries of the home (Anglo-Saxon law systems; different elsewhere). The boundaries of that space are specified by a legal document known as a Declaration, filed of record with the local governing authority. Typically these boundaries will include the drywall surrounding a room, allowing the homeowner to make some interior modifications without impacting the common area. Anything outside this boundary is held in an undivided ownership interest by a corporation established at the time of the condominium’s creation. The corporation holds this property in trust on behalf of the homeowners as a group–-it may not have ownership itself. Typically, a condominium consists of multi-unit dwellings (i.e., an apartment or a development) where each unit is individually owned and the common areas, such as hallways and recreational facilities, are jointly owned (usually as "tenants in common") by all the unit owners in the building. A condominium also consists of bylaws that all the home owners are supposed to follow such as indoor noise control. It is also possible for condominiums to consist of single family dwellings: so-called "detached condominiums" where homeowners do not maintain the exteriors of the dwellings, yards, etc. or "site condominiums" where the owner has more control and possible ownership (as in a "whole lot" or "lot line" condominium) over the exterior appearance. These structures are preferred by some planned neighborhoods and gated communities. A homeowners association (HOA), consisting of all the members, manages the condominium through a board of directors elected by the membership. The same concept exists under different names depending on the jurisdiction, such as "unit title", "sectional title", "commonhold," "strata council," or "tenant-owner's association", "body corporate", "Owners Corporation", "condominium corporation" or "condominium association." Another variation of this concept is the "time share" although not all time shares are condominiums, and not all time shares involve actual ownership of (i.e., deeded title to) real property. Condominiums may be found in both civil law and common law legal systems as it is purely a creation of statute. The Cosmopolitan, a condominium in Singapore The description of the condominium units and the common areas and any restrictions on their use is established in a document commonly called a "Master Deed" (also known as the "Enabling Declaration", the "Declaration of Conditions", or the "Condominium Document") which authorizes a board of directors to administer the condominium affairs and to assess the owners for adequate maintenance. Rules of governance are usually covered under a separate set of Bylaws which generally govern the internal affairs of the condominium. Condominium bylaws usually establish the responsibilities of the owners' association; the voting procedures to be used at association meetings; the qualifications, powers, and duties of the board of directors; the powers and duties of the officers; and the obligations of the owners with regard to assessments, maintenance, and use of the units and common areas. Finally, a set of Rules and Regulations providing specific details of restrictions and conduct are established by the Board and are more readily amendable than the Declaration or Bylaws. Typical rules include mandatory maintenance fees (perhaps collected monthly), pet restrictions, and color/design choices visible from the exterior of the units. Generally, these sets of rules and regulations are made available to residents and or as a matter of public record via a condo or homeowners association website, or through public files depending on the state and its applicable laws. Condominiums are usually owned in fee simple title, but can be owned in ways that other real estate can be owned, such as title held in trust. In some jurisdictions, such as Ontario, Canada or Hawaii USA, there are "leasehold condominiums" where the development is built on leased land. In general, condominium unit owners can rent their home to tenants, similar to renting out other real estate, although leasing rights may be subject to conditions or restrictions set forth in the declaration (such as a rental cap for the total number of units in a community that can be leased at one time) or otherwise as permitted by local law. [edit] Non-residential uses Condominium ownership is also used, albeit less frequently, for non-residential land uses: offices, hotel rooms, retail shops, group housing facilities (retirement homes or dormitories), and storage. The legal structure is the same, and many of the benefits are similar; for instance, a nonprofit corporation may face a lower tax liability in an office condominium than in an office rented from a taxable, for-profit company. However, the frequent turnover of commercial land uses in particular can make the inflexibility of condominium arrangements problematic. [edit] By jurisdiction [edit] United States Aqua waterfront condos in Long Beach, California, United States The interior of a loft condominium A historic mansion converted into luxury condominiums in Chicago, United States The first condominium law passed in the United States was in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1958.[1] English Common law tradition holds that real property ownership must involve land, whereas the French civil law tradition recognized condominium ownership as early as the 1804 Napoleonic Code; thus, it is notable that condominiums evolved in the United States via a Caribbean government with a hybrid common-civil legal system. In 1960, the first condominium in the Continental United States was built in Salt Lake City, Utah.[citation needed] Initially designed as a housing cooperative (Co-op), the Utah Condominium Act of 1960 made it possible for "Graystone Manor" (2730 S 1200 East) to be built as a condominium. The legal counsel for the project, Keith B. Romney is also credited with authoring the Utah Condominium act of 1960. Romney also played an advisory role in the creation of condominium legislation with every other legislature in the U.S. Business Week hailed Romney as the "Father of Condominiums".[citation needed] He soon after formed a partnership with Don W. Pihl called "Keith Romney Associates", which was widely recognized throughout the 1970s as America's preeminent condominium consulting firm.[2] Although often mistakenly credited with coining the term "condominium", Romney has always been quick to point out that it harks back to Roman times, and that he merely borrowed it.[citation needed] Nowadays, the leadership of the industry is dominated by Community Associations Institute or CAI.[citation needed] Section 234 of the 1961 National Housing Act allowed the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages on condominiums, leading to a vast increase in the funds available for condominiums, and to condominium laws in every state by 1969. Many Americans' first widespread awareness of condominium life came not from its largest cities but from south Florida, where developers had imported the condominium concept from Puerto Rico and used it to sell thousands of inexpensive homes to retirees arriving flush with cash from the urban Northern U.S.[citation needed] The primary attraction to this type of ownership is the ability to obtain affordable housing in a highly desirable area that typically is beyond economic reach. Additionally, such properties benefit from having restrictions that maintain and enhance value, providing control over blight that plagues some neighborhoods. Major American cities, including Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., have abundant condo development. In recent years, the residential condominium industry has been booming in all of the major metropolitan areas such as Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, and New York. It is now in a slowdown phase.[citation needed] According to Richard Swerdlow, CEO of Condo.com, "You're not going to see this giant overbuild again. It's hard to imagine that you'd see in the next decade what we just saw. Real estate brokers and the developers were in almost a ticket-collecting mode. They were processing orders because there was so much business to go around. Now that sort of investor phenomenon has gone away." He added, "That phenomenon has stopped." An alternative form of ownership, popular in the United States but found also in other common law jurisdictions, is the "cooperative" corporation, also known as "company share" or "co-op", in which the building has an associated legal company and ownership of shares gives the right to a lease for residence of a unit. Another form is leasehold or ground rent in which a single landlord retains ownership of the land on which the building is constructed in which the lease renews in perpetuity or over a very long term such as in a civil law emphyteutic lease. Another form of civil law joint property ownership is undivided co-ownership where the owners own a percentage of the entire property but have exclusive possession of a specific part of the property and joint possession of other parts of the property; distinguished from joint tenancy with right of survivorship or a tenancy in common of common law. [edit] Ontario, Canada In Ontario, condominiums are governed by the Condominium Act, 1998[3] with each development establishing a corporation to deal with day-to-day functions (maintenance, repairs, etc.). A board of directors is elected by the owners of units (or, in the case of a common elements condominium corporation, the owners of the common interest in the common elements) in the development on at least a yearly basis. A general meeting is held annually to deal with board elections and the appointment of an auditor (or waiving of audit). Other matters can also be dealt with at the Annual General Meeting, but special meetings of the owners can be called by the board and, in some cases, by the owners themselves, at any time. In recent years the condo industry has been booming in Canada, with dozens of new condo towers being erected each year. Toronto is the centre of this boom, with 17,000 new units being sold in 2005, more than double second place Miami's 7,500 units.[1] Outside of Toronto, the most common forms of condominium have been townhomes rather than highrises, although that trend may be altered as limitations are placed on "Greenfields" (see Greenfield land) developments in those areas (in turn, forcing developers to expand upward rather than outward and to consider more condominium conversions instead of new housing). Particular growth areas are in Kitchener/Waterloo, Barrie, and London. In fact, after Toronto, the Golden Horseshoe Chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute is one of that organization's most thriving chapters.[2] The Ontario Condominium Act, 1998 provides an effectively wide range of development options, including Standard, Phased, Vacant Land, Common Element and Leasehold condominiums. Certain existing condominiums can amalgamate, and existing properties can be converted to condominium (provided municipal requirements for the same are met). Accordingly, the expanded and expanding use of the condominium concept is permitting developers and municipalities to consider newer and more interesting forms of development to meet social needs.[citation needed] On this issue, Ontario condominium lawyer Michael Clifton writes, "Condominium development has steadily increased in Ontario for several years. While condominiums typically represent attractive lifestyle and home-ownership alternatives for buyers, they also, importantly, introduce a new approach to community planning for home builders and municipal approval authorities in Ontario. …[There are] opportunities for developers to be both creative and profitable in building, and municipalities more flexible and imaginative in planning and approving, developments that will become sustainable communities."[4] [edit] Denmark Condominiums (Danish ejerlejlighed, literally "owner-apartment") comprise some 5 % of Danish homes.[5] They are traded and mortgaged on the same markets as free-standing houses, and are treated legally much like other forms of real estate. Each owner-tenant directly owns his own apartment; the rest of the building and the ground on which it stands is owned jointly by the apartment owners who execute their joint ownership through an owner's association. The expenses of maintaining the joint property is shared pro rata among the owners. Another 5 % of Danish homes are in housing cooperatives (Danish andelsbolig), which occupy a legal position intermediate between condominiums and housing associations. The entire property is legally owned by a non-profit corporation in which the tenants own shares; each share carries the right and duty to lease an apartment from the cooperative. Shares can be bought and sold, but often the cooperative's rules strictly limit the price for which they may change hand. (In contrast, condominiums are traded on a free market). Because the official share prices are often lower than the market value and sellers often retain freedom to select whom to sell to, under-the-table payments are common.[5] Current public policy favors condominiums over housing cooperatives, and recent legislation have aimed ad making the latter more condominium-like. For example, since 2005, cooperative shares may be used to secure bank loans. (However, Danish mortgage banks still may not mortgage individual housing cooperative apartments). [edit] Norway Condominiums (Norwegian Eierseksjon) was formally introduced in 1983. Some 19 % of Norwegian homes are condominiums, as approximately 50 % of the owner-occupied flats and duplexes, approximately 30 % of the rowhouses and 2,5 % of the detatched houses are organised as condominiums. [edit] England and Wales Main article: Commonhold In England and Wales the equivalent of condominium is commonhold, a form of ownership introduced in September 2004. As of 3 June 2009, there were 12 commonhold residential developments comprising 97 units in England and one commonhold residential development, comprising 30 units, in Wales.[6] [edit] India Condominiums are more commonly known as "flats" in India. This type of housing is very common in larger cities like Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Bengaluru (Bangalore) and Hyderabad and but are not commonly found in rural areas. In India, they are registered as "co-operative housing society" rather than condominiums in that the owners actually have a share of the co-op and not the actual real estate itself. Owners can sell the "share" in the open market, but they must receive approval from the co-op to complete the transaction. [edit] Singapore A condominium complex in Singapore near next to the Kallang River In Singapore, "Condo" or "Condominium" are terms used for housing buildings with some special luxury features like security guards, swimming pools or tennis courts. Most housings without such features is built by the governmental Housing Development Board ("HDB"), and such HDB units can be possessed for rent or individually bought from the government. Condominiums and HDB flats make up the overwhelming majority of available residential housing in the country. [edit] Sweden On 1 May 2009 condominiums (ägarlägenheter) became available for the first time under Swedish law.[7] Of the 14,447 newly built apartments completed in 2009, only six were condos.[8] [edit] Australia In Australia, condominiums are known as "community title schemes".[citation needed] [edit] See also

professional Return to the top

A professional is a member of a vocation founded upon specialised educational training. The word professional traditionally means a person who has obtained a degree in a professional field. The term professional is used more generally to denote a white collar working person, or a person who performs commercially in a field typically reserved for hobbyists or amateurs. In western nations, such as the United States, the term commonly describes highly educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work.[1][2][3][4] Less technically, it may also refer to a person having impressive competence in a particular activity.[5] Because of the personal and confidential nature of many professional services and thus the necessity to place a great deal of trust in them, most professionals are held up to strict ethical and moral regulations. Contents [hide] * 1 Work o 1.1 Definition o 1.2 Trades * 2 Sports * 3 See also * 4 References [edit] Work [edit] Definition Main criteria for professional include the following: 1. A professional is a person that is paid for what they do. Qualifications have little to do with being a professional as the world's "oldest profession" is strictly a monetary gain career. An amateur maybe more qualified than a professional but they are not paid, thus they are an amateur. 2. Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally.[6] 3. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.[7] 4. High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing or other work endeavors. 5. A high standard of professional ethics, behavior and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.). The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests. 6. Reasonable work moral and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism. 7. Participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return[6] 8. Appropriate treatment of relationships with colleagues. Special respect should be demonstrated to special people and interns. An example must be set to perpetuate the attitude of one's business without doing it harm. 9. Professional Attire - Including but not limited to, dress slacks, long-sleeve button down shirt, tie, dress shoes, etc. 10. professional is an expert who is master in a specific field. In Britain and elsewhere, professionalism is often designated by Royal Charter. 11.Pro Darwin and Pro Denus are examples. [edit] Trades In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Although sometimes referred to as professions, such occupations as skilled construction work are more generally thought of as trades or crafts. The completion of an apprenticeship is generally associated with skilled labor or trades such as carpenter, electrician, plumber, bricklayer and other similar occupations. A related (though not always valid) distinction would be that a professional does mainly mental or administrative work, as opposed to engaging in physical work. Many companies include the word professional in their store name to signify the quality of their workmanship or service. [edit] Sports Main article: Professional sport In sports, a professional is someone who receives monetary compensation for participating. The opposite is an amateur, meaning a person who does not receive monetary compensation. The term "professional" is not commonly used incorrectly when referring to sports, as the distinction simply refers to how the athlete is funded, and not necessarily competitions or achievements. Sometimes the professional status of an activity is controversial; for example, there is debate as to whether professionals should be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. The motivation for money (either in rewards, salaries or advertising revenue) is sometimes seen as a corrupting influence, tainting a sport. It has been suggested that the crude, all or nothing categories, of professional or amateur should be reconsidered. A historical shift is occurring with the rise of Pro-Ams, a new category of people that are pursuing amateur activities to professional standards. [edit] See also Look up professional in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. * List of professions * Profession o Practice-based professional learning o Professional development o First professional degree * Professional sport o Professional amateurs * Paraprofessional * Professional abuse * Professional ethics * Professional identification * Professional negligence in English Law * Professional responsibility

houses Return to the top

A house is a home, building or structure that is a dwelling or place for habitation by human beings. The term house includes many kinds of dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures.[1] In some contexts, "house" may mean the same as dwelling, residence, home, abode, lodging, accommodation, or housing, among other meanings. The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household. Most commonly, a household is a family unit of some kind, though households can be other social groups, such as single persons, or groups of unrelated individuals. Settled agrarian and industrial societies are composed of household units living permanently in housing of various types, according to a variety of forms of land tenure. English-speaking people generally call any building they routinely occupy "home". Many people leave their houses during the day for work and recreation, and return to them to sleep and for other activities. Contents [hide] * 1 Inside the house o 1.1 Layout o 1.2 Parts * 2 Construction o 2.1 Energy-efficiency o 2.2 Earthquake protection * 3 Legal issues o 3.1 United Kingdom o 3.2 United States and Canada * 4 Identifying houses * 5 Animal houses * 6 Shelter * 7 Houses and symbolism o 7.1 Heraldry * 8 See also * 9 References * 10 External links [edit] Inside the house [edit] Layout Example of an early Victorian "Gingerbread House" in Connecticut, United States, built in 1855 Main article: House plan Ideally, architects of houses design rooms to meet the needs of the people who will live in the house. Such designing, known as "interior design", has become a popular subject in universities. Feng shui, originally a Chinese method of moving houses according to such factors as rain and micro-climates, has recently expanded its scope to address the design of interior spaces with a view to promoting harmonious effects on the people living inside the house. Feng shui can also mean the "aura" in or around a dwelling. Compare the real-estate sales concept of "indoor-outdoor flow". The square footage of a house in the United States reports the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe reports the area of the walls enclosing the home, and thus includes any attached garage and non-living spaces.[citation needed] [edit] Parts Floor plan of a "foursquare" house Many houses have several rooms with specialized functions. These may include a living/eating area, a sleeping area, and (if suitable facilities and services exist) washing and lavatory areas. Additionally, spa room, indoor pool, indoor basketball goal, and so forth. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as chickens or larger livestock (like cattle) often share part of the house with human beings. Most conventional modern houses will at least contain a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen (or kitchen area), and a living room. A typical "foursquare house" (as pictured) occurred commonly in the early history of the United States of America where they were mainly built, with a staircase in the center of the house, surrounded by four rooms, and connected to other sections of the house (including in more recent eras a garage). The names of parts of a house often echo the names of parts of other buildings, but could typically include: * Atrium * Attic * Alcove * Basement/cellar * Bathroom (in various senses of the word) * Bath/shower * Toilet * Bedroom (or nursery, for infants or small children) * Box-room / storage room * Conservatory * Dining room * Family room or den * Fireplace (for warmth during winter; generally not found in warmer climates) * Foyer * Front room (in various senses of the phrase) * Garage * Hallway / passage / Vestibule * Hearth – often an important symbolic focus of family togetherness * Kitchen * Larder * Laundry room * Library * Living room * Loft * Nook * Window * Office or study * Pantry * Parlour * Pew/porch * Recreation room / rumpus room / television room * Shrines to serve the religious functions associated with a family * Stairwell * Sunroom * Workshop Some houses have a pool in the background, or a trampoline, or a playground. See also: Room (architecture) [edit] Construction The structure of the house (under demolition). This house is constructed from bricks and wood and was later covered by insulating panels. The roof construction is also seen. In the United States, modern house-construction techniques include light-frame construction (in areas with access to supplies of wood) and adobe or sometimes rammed-earth construction (in arid regions with scarce wood-resources). Some areas use brick almost exclusively, and quarried stone has long provided walling. To some extent, aluminum and steel have displaced some traditional building materials. Increasingly popular alternative construction materials include insulating concrete forms (foam forms filled with concrete), structural insulated panels (foam panels faced with oriented strand board or fiber cement), and light-gauge steel framing and heavy-gauge steel framing. The Saitta House, Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York, United States built in 1899 is made of and decorated in wood.[2] More generally, people often build houses out of the nearest available material, and often tradition and/or culture govern construction-materials, so whole towns, areas, counties or even states/countries may be built out of one main type of material. For example, a large fraction of American houses use wood, while most British and many European houses utilize stone or brick. In the 1900s, some house designers started using prefabrication. Sears, Roebuck & Co. first marketed their Sears Catalog Homes to the general public in 1908. Prefab techniques became popular after World War II. First small inside rooms framing, then later, whole walls were prefabricated and carried to the construction site. The original impetus was to use the labor force inside a shelter during inclement weather. More recently builders have begun to collaborate with structural engineers who use computers and finite element analysis to design prefabricated steel-framed homes with known resistance to high wind-loads and seismic forces. These newer products provide labor savings, more consistent quality, and possibly accelerated construction processes. Lesser-used construction methods have gained (or regained) popularity in recent years. Though not in wide use, these methods frequently appeal to homeowners who may become actively involved in the construction process. They include: * Cannabrick construction * Cordwood construction * Geodesic domes * Straw-bale construction * Wattle and daub Thermographic comparison of traditional (left) and "passivhaus" (right) buildings [edit] Energy-efficiency In the developed world, energy-conservation has grown in importance in house-design. Housing produces a major proportion of carbon emissions (30% of the total in the UK, for example).[citation needed] Development of a number of low-energy building types and techniques continues. They include the zero-energy house, the passive solar house, the autonomous buildings, the superinsulated and houses built to the Passivhaus standard. [edit] Earthquake protection One tool of earthquake engineering is base isolation which is increasingly used for earthquake protection. Base isolation is a collection of structural elements of a building that should substantially decouple it from the shaking ground thus protecting the building's integrity[3] and enhancing its seismic performance. This technology, which is a kind of seismic vibration control, can be applied both to a newly designed building and to seismic upgrading of existing structures.[4] Normally, excavations are made around the building and the building is separated from the foundations. Steel or reinforced concrete beams replace the connections to the foundations, while under these, the isolating pads, or base isolators, replace the material removed. While the base isolation tends to restrict transmission of the ground motion to the building, it also keeps the building positioned properly over the foundation. Careful attention to detail is required where the building interfaces with the ground, especially at entrances, stairways and ramps, to ensure sufficient relative motion of those structural elements. [edit] Legal issues Buildings with historical importance have restrictions. [edit] United Kingdom New houses in the UK are not covered by the Sale of Goods Act. When purchasing a new house the buyer has less legal protection than when buying a new car. New houses in the UK may be covered by a NHBC guarantee but some people feel that it would be more useful to put new houses on the same legal footing as other products.[citation needed] [edit] United States and Canada In the US and Canada, many new houses are built in housing tracts, which provide homeowners a sense of "belonging" and the feeling they have "made the best use" of their money. However, these houses are sometimes built as cheaply and quickly as possible by large builders seeking to maximize profits. Many environmental health issues may be ignored or minimized in the construction of these structures. In one case in Benicia, California, a housing tract was built over an old landfill. Home buyers were never told, and only found out when some began having reactions to high levels of lead and chromium. [edit] Identifying houses With the growth of dense settlement, humans designed ways of identifying houses and/or parcels of land. Individual houses sometimes acquire proper names; and those names may acquire in their turn considerable emotional connotations: see for example the house of Howards End or the castle of Brideshead Revisited. A more systematic and general approach to identifying houses may use various methods of house numbering. [edit] Animal houses Humans often build "houses" for domestic or wild animals, often resembling smaller versions of human domiciles. Familiar animal houses built by humans include bird-houses, hen-houses/chicken-coops and doghouses (kennels); while housed agricultural animals more often live in barns and stables. However, human interest in building houses for animals does not stop at the domestic pet. People build bat-houses, nesting-sites for wild ducks and other birds, bee houses, giraffe houses, kangaroo houses, worm houses, hermit crab houses, as well as shelters for many other animals. [edit] Shelter A modern style house in Canberra, Australia Forms of (relatively) simple shelter may include: * Bus stop * Camper * Chalet * Cottage * Izba * Dugout * Gazebo * Hangar * Houseboat * Hut * Lean-to * Log Cabin * Nuclear Bunkers * Shack * Tent (see also camp) * Caravan * Umbrella * Yaodong [edit] Houses and symbolism Houses may express the circumstances or opinions of their builders or their inhabitants. Thus a vast and elaborate house may serve as a sign of conspicuous wealth, whereas a low-profile house built of recycled materials may indicate support of energy conservation. Houses of particular historical significance (former residences of the famous, for example, or even just very old houses) may gain a protected status in town planning as examples of built heritage and/or of streetscape values. Commemorative plaques may mark such structures. Home ownership provides a common measure of prosperity in economics. Contrast the importance of house-destruction, tent dwelling and house rebuilding in the wake of many natural disasters. Peter Olshavsky's House for the Dance of Death provides a 'pataphysical variation on the house. [edit] Heraldry The house occurs as a rare charge in heraldry. [edit] See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Houses Institutions * U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development o Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse o HUD USER Economics * Affordable housing * Housing bubble o United States housing bubble * Housing tenure Functions * Building science * Mixed-use development * Visitability Types * Boarding house * Earth sheltering * Home automation * Housing estate * Housing in Japan * Hurricane proof house * Lodging * Lustron house * Mobile home * Modular home Miscellaneous * Domestic robot * Housewarming party * Squatting Lists * List of famous American Houses * List of house styles * List of house types * List of human habitation forms * List of real estate topics [edit] References 1. ^ Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). 6,000 Years of Housing (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). 2. ^ Saitta House - Report Part 1 3. ^ YouTube - Testing of a New Line of Seismic Base Isolators

apartments Return to the top

An apartment (in American English) or flat (in British English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building, apartment house or mansion block (in British English), especially if it consists of many apartments for rent. Apartments may be owned by an owner/occupier or rented by tenants (two types of housing tenure). The term apartment is favored in North America, whereas the term flat is commonly, but not exclusively, used in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong and most Commonwealth countries. In Malaysian English, flat often denotes a housing block of lesser quality meant for lower-income groups, while apartment is more generic and may also include luxury condominiums. In New Zealand English, the two terms are independent: apartment has the US sense, while flat usually refers to any rental property, but especially one shared by students or another non-family group. Tenement law refers to the feudal basis of permanent property such as land or rents. May be found combined as in "Messuage or Tenement" to encompass all the land, buildings and other assets of a property. In the US and Canada, some apartment-dwellers own their own apartments, either as co-ops, in which the residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment connotes a residential unit or section in a building. In some locations, particularly the United States, the word denotes a rental unit owned by the building owner, and is not typically used for a condominium. In the UK, some flat owners own a share in the company that owns the freehold of the building. This is commonly known as a "share of freehold" flat. The freehold company has the right to collect annual ground rents from each of the flat owners in the building. The freeholder can also develop or sell the building, subject to the usual planning and restrictions that might apply. In some countries the word unit is a more general term referring to both apartments and rental business suites. The word is generally used only in the context of a specific building; e.g., "This building has three units" or "I'm going to rent a unit in this building", but not "I'm going to rent a unit somewhere." In Australia, a unit refers to flats, apartments or even semi-detached houses. Some buildings can be characterized as mixed use buildings, meaning part of the building is for commercial, business, or office use, usually on the first floor or first couple floors, and there are one or more apartments in the rest of the building, usually on the upper floors. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the apartment owner or landlord is said to have a vacancy. For apartment landlords, each vacancy represents a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant (i.e., unoccupied). Landlords' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate for their units. The owner of the apartment, typically when transferring possession to the occupant, gives him/her the key to the apartment entrance and any other keys needed, such as a common key to the building or any other common areas and a mailbox key. When the occupant(s) move out, these keys are typically returned to the owner. Contents [hide] * 1 Apartment types and characteristics o 1.1 Property classes * 2 History o 2.1 Rome o 2.2 Egypt o 2.3 England o 2.4 Scotland o 2.5 Yemen o 2.6 United States and Canada o 2.7 Australia * 3 Advantages o 3.1 High security o 3.2 Real estate investment o 3.3 Disposable income o 3.4 Social * 4 Disadvantages o 4.1 Energy use o 4.2 Climate factors * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 External links [edit] Apartment types and characteristics Samsung Tower Palace in Seoul, South Korea. They are the tallest luxury apartments in East Asia. Upmarket flats in Bristol, England, UK Garden apartments in Seattle, Washington, US. An apartment in the Philippines. Low income housing of the St. James Town neighborhood in Toronto, Canada. Apartment in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil Buildings between montonhas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil High rise flat in Bukit Batok, Singapore Apartments can be classified into several types. In North America the typical terms are a studio or bachelor apartment (efficiency or bedsit in the UK). These all tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller separate room. Moving up from the bachelors/efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments, in which one bedroom is separate from the rest of the apartment. Then there are two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments (Apartments with more than three bedrooms are rare). Small apartments often have only one entrance. Large apartments often have two entrances, perhaps a door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the entrance doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside, such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in with their own furniture. A garden apartment complex consists of low-rise apartment buildings built with landscaped grounds surrounding them.[1] The apartment buildings are often arranged around courtyards that are open at one end. A garden apartment has some characteristics of a townhouse: each apartment has its own building entrance, or just a few apartments share a small foyer or stairwell at each building entrance. Unlike a townhouse, each apartment occupies only one level. Modern garden apartment buildings are never more than three stories high, since they typically don't have elevators/lifts. However, the first "garden apartment" buildings in the United States, developed in the early 20th century, were five stories high.[2][3] Some garden apartment buildings place a one-car garage under each apartment. The grounds are more landscaped than for other modestly scaled apartments. Another definition of "garden apartment" is a unit built half below grade or at ground level.[4] The implication is that there is a view or direct access to a garden from the apartment, but this is not necessarily the case. Laundry facilities may be found in a common area accessible to all the tenants in the building, or each apartment may have its own facilities. Depending on when the building was built and the design of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electricity may be common for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are extra also. Parking space(s), air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location accessible to the public and, thus, to the mail carrier too. Every unit typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or three-flats, or even four-flats, rubbish is often disposed of in trash containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, rubbish is often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in an apartment. In some parts of the world, the word apartment refers to a new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly called a loft, although some modern lofts are built by design. An apartment consisting of the top floor of a high apartment building can be called a penthouse. When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites or "mother-in-law suites." A maisonette is an apartment with more than one floor. In Milwaukee vernacular architecture, a Polish flat is an existing small house or cottage that has been lifted up to accommodate the creation of a new basement floor housing a separate apartment, then set down again; thus becoming a modest two-story flat.[5] In Russia, a communal apartment («коммуналка») is a room with a shared kitchen and bath. A typical arrangement is a cluster of five or so apartments with their common kitchen and bathroom and their own front door, occupying a floor in a pre-Revolutionary mansion. Traditionally a room is owned by the government and assigned to a family on a semi-permanent basis. It is possible to "privatize" a room (privatization is free - http://www.cityrealtyrussia.com/real_estate_in_russia.html#Q7); then it can legally be sold. [edit] Property classes In every community there are several types of multi-family housing, properties are typically put into one of four property classes.[6] Each "class" of properties has a letter grade. These grades are used to help investors and real estate brokers speak a common language so they can understand a property's characteristics and condition quickly. They are as follows: Class A properties are luxury units. They are usually less than 10 years old and are often new, upscale apartment buildings. Average rents are high, and they are generally located in desirable geographic areas. White-collar workers live in them and are usually renters by choice. Class B properties can be 10 to 25 years old. They are generally well maintained and have a middle class tenant base of both white and blue-collar workers. Some are renters by choice, and others by necessity. Class C properties were built within the last 30 to 40 years. They generally have blue-collar and low- to moderate-income tenants, and the rents are below market. This is where you'll find many tenants that are renters "for life." On the other hand, some of their tenants are just starting out. And as they get better jobs, they work their way up the rental scale. Class D properties are where you'll find many Section 8 in the US or government-subsidized housing tenants. They are generally positioned in lower socioeconomic areas. [edit] History [edit] Rome In ancient Rome, the insulae (singular insula) were large apartment buildings where the lower and middle classes of Romans (the plebs) dwelled. The floor at ground level was used for tabernas, shops and businesses with living space on the higher floors. Ancient Roman insulae in Rome and other imperial cities reached up to 10 and more stories,[7] some with more than 200 stairs.[8] Several emperors, beginning with Augustus (r. 30 BC-14 AD), attempted to establish limits of 20–25 m for multi-storey buildings, but met with only limited success.[9][10] The lower floors were typically occupied by either shops or wealthy families, while the upper stories were rented out to the lower classes.[7] Surviving Oxyrhynchus Papyri indicate that seven-story buildings even existed in provincial towns, such as in 3rd century Hermopolis in Roman Egypt.[11] [edit] Egypt During the medieval Arabic-Islamic period, the Egyptian capital of Fustat (Old Cairo) housed many high-rise residential buildings, some seven stories tall that could reportedly accommodate hundreds of people. In the 10th century, Al-Muqaddasi described them as resembling minarets,[12] and stated that the majority of Fustat's population lived in these multi-storey apartment buildings, each one housing over 200 people.[13] In the 11th century, Nasir Khusraw described some of these apartment buildings rising up to fourteen stories, with roof gardens on the top storey complete with ox-drawn water wheels for irrigating them.[12] By the 16th century, the current Cairo also had high-rise apartment buildings, where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants.[14] [edit] England In the late 19th and early 20th century, the concept of the flat was slow to catch-on amongst the English middle-classes. Those who lived in these flats were assumed to be adaptable and ‘different’. In London, everyone who could afford it occupied an entire house – even if a small one. During the last quarter of the 19th Century, ideas began to change. Both urban growth and the increase in population meant that more imaginative housing concepts were going to be needed if the middle and upper classes were to maintain a Pied-à-terre in the capital. The traditional London town house was becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Especially for male and female bachelors, the idea of renting a modern mansion flat came increasingly into vogue. The first mansion flats in England were: * Albert Mansions, who was developed by Philip Flower and designed by James Knowles (architect). These flats were constructed between 1876 and 1870, and was one of the earliest blocks of flats to fill the vacant spaces of the newly-laid out Victoria Street at the end of the 1860s. Today, only a slither of the building remains, next to the Victoria Palace Theatre. Albert Mansions was really 19 separate ‘houses’, each with a staircase serving one flat per floor. Its tenants included Alfred, Lord Tennyson, whose connections with the developer's family were long-standing. Philip Flower's son was Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea developed most of the mansion blocks on Prince of Wales Drive, London. * Albert Hall Mansions, designed by Richard Norman Shaw in 1876. Because this was of a new type, risks were reduced as much as possible, each block was planned as a separate project with the building of each separate part contingent on the successful occupation of every flat in the previous block. The gamble paid off and the scheme was a success. [edit] Scotland Tenement in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK built in 1882 In Scotland, the term 'tenement' lacks the pejorative connotations it carries elsewhere, and refers simply to any block of flats sharing a common central staircase and lacking an elevator, particularly those constructed prior to 1919. Tenements were, and continue to be, inhabited by a wide range of social classes and income groups. During the 19th century tenements became the predominant type of new housing in Scotland's industrial cities, although they were very common in the Old Town in Edinburgh from the 15th century where they reached ten or eleven storeys high and in one case fourteen storeys. Built of sandstone or granite, Scottish tenements are usually three to five storeys in height, with two to four flats on each floor. (In contrast, industrial cities in England tended to favour "back-to-back" terraces of brick.) Scottish tenements are constructed in terraces of tenements, and each entrance within a block is referred to as a close or stair — both referring to the shared passageway to the individual flats. Flights of stairs and landings are generally designated common areas, and residents traditionally took turns to sweep clean the floors, and in Aberdeen in particular, took turns to make use of shared laundry facilities in the "back green" (garden or yard). It is now more common for cleaning of the common ways to be contracted out through a managing agent or "factor". Tenements today are bought by a wide range of social types, including young professionals, older retiring people, and by absentee landlords, often for rental to students after they leave halls of residence managed by their institution. The National Trust for Scotland Tenement House Museum in Glasgow offers an insight into the lifestyle of tenement dwellers. Many multi-storey tower blocks were built in the UK after the Second World War. A number of these are being demolished and replaced with low-rise buildings or housing estates known in Scotland as housing schemes, often modern interpretations of the tenement. In Glasgow, where Scotland's highest concentration of tenement dwellings can be found, the urban renewal projects of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s brought an end to the city's slums, which had primarily consisted of older tenements built in the early 19th century in which large extended families would live together in cramped conditions. They were replaced by high-rise blocks that, within a couple of decades, became notorious for crime and poverty. The Glasgow Corporation made many efforts to improve the situation, most successfully with the City Improvement Trust, which cleared the slums of the old town, replacing them with what they thought of as a traditional high street, which remains an imposing townscape. (The City Halls and the Cleland Testimonial were part of this scheme). National government help was given following World War I when Housing Acts sought to provide "homes fit for heroes". Garden suburb areas, based on English models, such as Knightswood were set up. These proved too expensive, so a modern tenement, three stories high, slate roofed and built of reconstituted stone, was re-introduced and a slum clearance programme initiated to clear areas such as the Calton and the Garngad. Post Second World War, more ambitious plans, known as the Bruce Plan, were made for the complete evacuation of slums to modern mid-rise housing developments on the outskirts of the city. However, central government refused to fund the plans, preferring instead to depopulate the city to a series of New Towns[15][16] Again, economic considerations meant that many of the planned "New Town" amenities were never built in these areas. These housing estates, known as "schemes", came therefore to be widely regarded as unsuccessful; many, such as Castlemilk, were just dormitories well away from the centre of the city with no amenities, such as shops and public houses ("deserts with windows", as Billy Connolly once put it). High rise living too started off with bright ambition - the Moss Heights are still desirable - (1950–1954) but fell prey to later economic pressure. Many of the later tower blocks were poorly designed and cheaply built and their anonymity caused some social problems. In 1970 a team from Strathclyde University demonstrated that the old tenements had been basically sound, and could be given new life with replumbing with kitchens and bathroom.[15] The Corporation acted on this principle for the first time in 1973 at the Old Swan Corner, Pollokshaws. Thereafter, Housing Action Areas were set up to renovate so-called slums. Later, privately owned tenements benefited from government help in "stone cleaning", revealing a honey-coloured sandstone behind the presumed "grey" tenemental facades. The policy of tenement demolition is now considered to have been short-sighted, wasteful and largely unsuccessful. Many of Glasgow's worst tenements were refurbished into desirable accommodation in the 1970s and 1980s[17] and the policy of demolition is considered to have destroyed fine examples of a "universally admired architectural" style. The Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council on 7 March 2003, and has begun a £96 million clearance and demolition programme to clear and demolish many of the high-rise flats.[18] [edit] Yemen High-rise apartment buildings were built in the Yemeni city of Shibam in the 16th century. The houses of Shibam are all made out of mud bricks, but about 500 of them are tower houses, which rise 5 to 11 stories high,[19] with each floor having one or two apartments.[20][21] This technique of building was implemented in order to protect residents from Bedouin attacks. While Shibam has existed for around 2,000 years, most of the city's houses come mainly from the 16th century. Shibam is often called "the oldest skyscraper-city in the world" or "Manhattan of the desert", and is the earliest example of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction, as it was the first city to consist entirely of high-rise residential buildings.[21] Some of them were over 100 feet (30 m) high, thus being the tallest mudbrick apartment buildings in the world to this day.[22] [edit] United States and Canada Apartment buildings lining the residential stretch of East 57th Street between First Avenue and Sutton Place in New York. Tenement buildings in Manhattan's Lower East Side, United States Marina City in Chicago, Illinois, United States built in 1959 was a landmark in apartment construction In the 10th century, the Chacoan people constructed large, multi-room dwellings, some comprising more than 900 rooms, in the Chaco Canyon area of what is now northwest New Mexico. In 1839, the first New York City tenement was built, housing mainly poor immigrants. The tenements were breeding grounds for outlaws, juvenile delinquents, and organized crime. Muckraker journalist Jacob Riis wrote in How the Other Half Lives: The New York tough may be ready to kill where his London brother would do little more than scowl; yet, as a general thing he is less repulsively brutal in looks. Here again the reason may be the same: the breed is not so old. A few generations more in the slums, and all that will be changed. Tenements were also known for their price gouging rent. How the Other Half Lives notes one tenement district: Blind Man's Alley bear its name for a reason. Until little more than a year ago its dark burrows harbored a colony of blind beggars, tenants of a blind landlord, old Daniel Murphy, whom every child in the ward knows, if he never heard of the President of the United States. "Old Dan" made a big fortune--he told me once four hundred thousand dollars-- out of his alley and the surrounding tenements, only to grow blind himself in extreme old age, sharing in the end the chief hardship of the wretched beings whose lot he had stubbornly refused to better that he might increase his wealth. Even when the Board of Health at last compelled him to repair and clean up the worst of the old buildings, under threat of driving out the tenants and locking the doors behind them, the work was accomplished against the old man's angry protests. He appeared in person before the Board to argue his case, and his argument was characteristic. "I have made my will," he said. "My monument stands waiting for me in Calvary. I stand on the very brink of the grave, blind and helpless, and now (here the pathos of the appeal was swept under in a burst of angry indignation) do you want me to build and get skinned, skinned? These people are not fit to live in a nice house. Let them go where they can, and let my house stand." In spite of the genuine anguish of the appeal, it was downright amusing to find that his anger was provoked less by the anticipated waste of luxury on his tenants than by distrust of his own kind, the builder. He knew intuitively what to expect. The result showed that Mr. Murphy had gauged his tenants correctly. The Dakota (1884) was one of the first luxury apartment buildings in New York City. The majority, however, remained tenements. Many reformers, such as Upton Sinclair and Jacob Riis, pushed for reforms in tenement dwellings. As a result in 1901, New York state passed a law called the New York State Tenement House Act to improve the conditions in tenements. More improvements followed. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed the Housing Act of 1949 to clean slums and reconstruct housing units for the poor. Some significant developments in architectural design of apartment buildings came out of the 1950s and 60s. Among them were groundbreaking designs in the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1951), New Century Guild (1961), Marina City (1964) and Lake Point Tower (1968). Apartment buildings are multi-story buildings where three or more residences are contained within one structure. In more urban areas, apartments close to the downtown area have the benefits of proximity to jobs and/or public transportation. However, prices per square foot are often much higher than in suburban areas. The distinction between rental apartments and condominiums is that while rental buildings are owned by a single entity and rented out to many, condominiums are owned individually, while their owners still pay a monthly or yearly fee for building upkeep. Condominiums are often leased by their owner as rental apartments. A third alternative, the cooperative apartment building (or "co-op"), acts as a corporation with all of the tenants as shareholders of the building. Tenants in cooperative buildings do not own their apartment, but instead own a proportional number of shares of the entire cooperative. As in condominiums, cooperators pay a monthly fee for building upkeep. Co-ops are common in cities such as New York, and have gained some popularity in other larger urban areas in the U.S. In the United States, tenement is a label usually applied to the less expensive, more basic rental apartment buildings in older sections of large cities. Many of these apartment buildings are "walk-ups" without an elevator, and some have shared bathing facilities, though this is becoming less common. Apartments were popular in Canada, particularly in urban centres like Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal in the 1950s to 1970s. By the 1980s, many multi-unit buildings were being constructed as condominiums instead of apartments, and both are now very common. In Toronto and Vancouver, high-rise apartments and condominiums have been spread around the city, giving even the major suburbs a skyline. The slang term dingbat has been coined to describe cheap urban apartment buildings from the 1950s and 1960s with unique and often wacky façades to differentiate themselves within a full block of apartments. They are often stilted, and with parking spots underneath. [edit] Australia The skyline of the Gold Coast in Queensland is dominated by apartments. The Canterbury in St Kilda, Victoria is one of the earliest surviving apartment buildings in Australia Modern apartment complex in St Leonards, Sydney, Australia Many luxury apartments at New Quay in Melbourne Docklands, Australia come with boat moorings In Australia, the term "flat" and "apartment" are largely used interchangeably. Newer high-rise buildings are more often marketed as "apartments", as the term "flats" can carry negative connotations of public housing. The term condominium or condo is rarely used in Australia despite attempts by developers to market it. A high-rise apartment building is commonly referred to as a residential tower, apartment tower, or bloc of flats in Australia. Apartment buildings in Australia are typically managed by a body corporate or "owners corporation" in which owners pay a monthly fee to provide for common maintenance and help cover future repair. Many apartments are owned through strata title. Due to legislation, Australian banks will either apply loan to value ratios of over 70% for strata titles of less than 50 square metres, the big four Australian banks will not loan at all for strata titles of less than 30 square metres. These are usually classified as studio apartments or student accommodation. Australian legislation enforces a minimum 2.4m floor-ceiling height which differentiates apartment buildings from office buildings. In Australia, apartment living is a popular lifestyle choice for DINKY, yuppies, university students and more recently empty nesters, however rising land values in the big cities in recent years has seen an increase in families living in apartments. In Melbourne and Sydney apartment living is sometimes not a matter of choice for the many socially disadvantaged people who often end up in public housing towers. Australia has a relatively recent history in apartment buildings. Terrace houses were the early response to density development, though the majority of Australians lived in fully detached houses. Apartments of any kind were legislated against in the Parliament of Queensland as part of the Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act 1885. The earliest apartment buildings were in the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne as the response to fast rising land values. Melbourne Mansions on Collins Street, Melbourne (now demolished), built in 1906 for mostly wealthy residents is believed by many to be the earliest. Today the oldest surviving self-contained apartment buildings are in the St Kilda area including the Fawkner Mansions (1910), Majestic Mansions (1912 as a boarding house) and the Canterbury (1914 - the oldest surviving buildings contained flats).[23] Kingsclere, built in 1912 is believed to be the earliest apartment building in Sydney and still survives.[24] During the interwar years, apartment building continued in inner Melbourne (particularly in areas such as St Kilda and South Yarra), Sydney (particularly in areas such as Potts Point, Darlinghust and Kings Cross) and in Brisbane (in areas such as New Farm, Fortitude Valley and Spring Hill). Post World War II, with the Australian Dream apartment buildings went out of vogue and flats were seen as accommodation only for the poor. Walk-up "flats" (without a lift) of two to three storeys however were common in the middle suburbs of cities for lower income groups. The main exceptions were Sydney and the Gold Coast, Queensland where apartment development continued for more than half a century. In Sydney a limited geography and highly sought after waterfront views (Sydney Harbour and beaches such as Bondi) made apartment living socially acceptable. While on the Gold Coast views of the ocean, proximity to the beach and a large tourist population made apartments a popular choice. Since the 1960s, these cities maintained much higher population densities than the rest of Australia through the acceptance of apartment buildings. In other cities apartment building was almost solely restricted to public housing. Public housing in Australia was common in the larger cities, particularly in Melbourne (by the Housing Commission of Victoria) where a huge number of hi-rise housing commission flats were built between the 1950s and 1970s by successive governments as part of an urban renewal program. Areas affected included Fitzroy, Flemington, Collingwood, Carlton, Richmond and Prahran. Similar projects were run in Sydney's lower socio economic areas like Redfern. In the 1980s, modern apartment buildings sprang up in riverside locations in Brisbane (along the Brisbane River) and Perth (along the Swan River). In Melbourne in the 1990s a trend began for apartment buildings without the requirement of spectacular views. As a continuation of the gentrification of the inner city, a fashion became New York "loft" style apartments and a large stock of old warehouses and old abandoned office buildings in and around the CBD became the target of developers. The trend of adaptive reuse extended to conversion of old churches and schools. Similar warehouse conversions and gentrification began in Brisbane suburbs such as Teneriffe, Queensland and Fortitude Valley and in Sydney in areas such as Ultimo. As supply of buildings for conversion ran out, reproduction and post modern style apartments followed. The popularity of these apartments also stimulated a boom in the construction of new hi-rise apartment buildings in inner cities. This was particularly the case in Melbourne which was fuelled by official planning policies (Postcode 3000), making the CBD the fastest growing, population wise in the country. Apartment building in the Melbourne metropolitan area has also escalated with the advent of the Melbourne 2030 planning policy. Urban renewal areas like Docklands, Southbank, St Kilda Road and Port Melbourne are now predominately apartments. There has also been a sharp increase in the amount of student apartment buildings in areas such as Carlton in Melbourne. Despite their size, other smaller cities including Canberra, Darwin, Newcastle, Adelaide and Geelong have begun building apartments in the 2000s. Today, residential buildings Eureka Tower and Q1 are the tallest in the country. In many cases, apartments in inner city areas of the major cities can cost much more than much larger houses in the outer suburbs. There are Australian cities, such as Gold Coast, Queensland, which are inhabited predominately by apartment dwellers. [edit] Advantages [edit] High security Some apartment buildings have high levels of security. For example, to enter a high-security building, a person must validate their smartcard at the door. In some apartments while at the lift the smartcard would be used again to be able to press the button for lift access. Finally, the person walks towards apartment and uses their key to unlock the entrance door. This 2 or 3-tier security will in most cases prevent home invasions and theft. Some buildings may have a doorman to guard the premises. Many middle and upper tier apartments have video phones, whereby residents can see and verify who is at the main entrance before allowing access to the building. Apartments are also more convenient than owning a house as the general maintenance and landscaping is taken care of by the owner. This is particularly the case in regions with climate extremes, such as the long and snowy winters in the Nordic countries of northern Europe where there is much snow clearing work for house residents. [edit] Real estate investment The total cost for the construction of an apartment is much less than the cost invested in the construction of a single house. When the cost of a single unit in the apartment is compared to a single house of the same dimension, the difference in cost is very large. The cost of land is shared by all the owners of the apartment. But the price at which the flats are sold is not exactly proportional to the difference, but the real estator makes a big share of profits because the price at which the flats are sold are almost equal to the price of the houses in specific areas of the city. In this way apartment construction is an advantage to the real estator.[citation needed] [edit] Disposable income In Scandinavian countries apartment dwelling and renting through non-profit housing co-operatives is common place. Apartment users are allowed to modify the interior of the apartment to suit their wishes. Often the extended families have a shared holiday house in the countryside. The investment in real estate for a family is reduced leading to greater disposable income for quality of daily of life. [edit] Social The potential for social interaction, shared facilities as witnessed in the Co-housing movement is particularly significant. [edit] Disadvantages This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010) [edit] Energy use Buildings over 4 to 7 stories have a lower energy footprint / m2 than mid /high rise greater than 7 stories. There seems to be a tradeoff with many other variable in a life cycyle analysis which would suggest that 7 stories (around 50 dwelling units per hectare for optimum transport petroleum use (Kenworthy) ) is the optimum density in T1 urban areas, the city of Paris being an example (Mehaffy). Buildings not requiring lifts (around 4 floors though it could be 5 with a final 2 storey apartment (maisonette)) are normally more energy efficient. Note this is dependant on the particular countries disable access provisions. [edit] Climate factors High rise buildings cast a significant shadow over nearby buildings reducing solar energy harvesting. They also cast shadows over public spaces, reducing their amenity value and which are a very valuable resource in mid-density cities. Wind turbulence can also be a significant problem at ground level if design provisions are not made. The prevailing cooling breezes in summer can be disrupted for nearby buildings also.[citation needed] [edit] See also * Apartment hotel * Apartment Ratings * Basement apartment * Insulae, an apartment building in ancient Rome * List of house types * Penthouse apartment * Pied-à-terre * Studio apartment * Tower block * Triple decker [edit] References

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In finance, short selling (also known as shorting or going short) is the practice of selling assets, usually securities, that have been borrowed from a third party (usually a broker) with the intention of buying identical assets back at a later date to return to the lender. It is a form of reverse trading. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the price of the assets between the sale and the repurchase, as the seller will pay less to buy the assets than the seller received on selling them. Conversely, the short seller will incur a loss if the price of the assets rises. Other costs of shorting may include a fee for borrowing the assets and payment of any dividends paid on the borrowed assets. "Shorting" and "going short" also refer to entering into any derivative or other contract under which the investor profits from a fall in the value of an asset. Going short can be contrasted with the more conventional practice of "going long", whereby an investor profits from any increase in the price of the asset. Contents [hide] * 1 Concept o 1.1 Worked examples + 1.1.1 Profitable trade + 1.1.2 Loss-making trade o 1.2 Comparison with long positions * 2 History o 2.1 Short selling restrictions in 2008 * 3 Mechanism o 3.1 Shorting stock in the U.S. o 3.2 Securities lending o 3.3 Sources of short interest data o 3.4 Short selling terms + 3.4.1 Major lenders o 3.5 Naked short selling * 4 Fees * 5 Dividends and voting rights * 6 Markets o 6.1 Futures and options contracts o 6.2 Currency * 7 Risk * 8 Strategies o 8.1 Hedging o 8.2 Arbitrage o 8.3 Against the box * 9 The regulatory response * 10 Views of short selling * 11 See also * 12 References * 13 External links and sources [edit] Concept Finance Financial markets[show] Bond market Stock market (equity market) Foreign exchange market Derivatives market Commodity market Money market Spot market (cash market) Over the counter Real estate Private equity Financial market participants: Investor and speculator Institutional and retail Financial instruments[show] Cash: Deposit Option (call or put) Loans Security Derivative Stock Time deposit or certificate of deposit Futures contract Exotic option Corporate finance[show] Structured finance Capital budgeting Financial risk management Mergers and acquisitions Accountancy Financial statement Audit Credit rating agency Leveraged buyout Venture capital Personal finance[show] Credit and debt Student financial aid Employment contract Retirement Financial planning Public finance[show] Government spending: Transfer payment (Redistribution) Government operations Government final consumption expenditure Government revenue: Taxation Non-tax revenue Government budget Government debt Surplus and deficit deficit spending Warrant (of payment) Banks and banking[show] Fractional-reserve banking Central Bank List of banks Deposits Loan Money supply Financial regulation[show] Finance designations Accounting scandals Standards[show] ISO 31000 International Financial Reporting Economic history[show] Stock market bubble Recession Stock market crash History of private equity v · d · e To profit from a decrease in the price of a security, a short seller can borrow the security and sell it expecting that it will be cheaper to repurchase in the future. When the seller decides that the time is right (or when the lender recalls the securities), the seller buys equivalent securities and returns them to the lender. The process relies on the fact that the securities (or the other assets being sold short) are fungible; the term "borrowing" is therefore used in the sense of borrowing $10, where a different $10 note can be returned to the lender (as opposed to borrowing a car, where the same car must be returned). A short seller typically borrows through a broker, who is usually holding the securities for another investor who owns the securities; the broker itself seldom purchases the securities to lend to the short seller.[1] The lender does not lose the right to sell the securities while they have been lent, as the broker will usually hold a large pool of such securities for a number of investors which, as such securities are fungible, can instead be transferred to any buyer. In most market conditions there is a ready supply of securities to be borrowed, held by pension funds, mutual funds and other investors. The act of buying back the securities that were sold short is called "covering the short" or "covering the position". A short position can be covered at any time before the securities are due to be returned. Once the position is covered, the short seller will not be affected by any subsequent rises or falls in the price of the securities, as he already holds the securities required to repay the lender. The terms shorting and going short are also used as blanket terms for tactics that allow an investor to gain from the decline in price of a security. Such tactics are generally based on a derivative contract, such as an option, a future or a similar synthetic position. For example, a put option consists of the right to sell an asset at a given strike price; the owner of the option therefore benefits when the market price of the asset falls below that price, as he can buy the asset at the lower price and sell it under the option at the strike price. Similarly, a short position in a futures contract means the holder of the position has an obligation to sell the underlying asset later at a given price; if the price falls below the given price, the person with the short position can buy the asset at the lower price and sell it under the future at the higher price. [edit] Worked examples [edit] Profitable trade Shares in C & Company currently trade at $10 per share. 1. A short seller borrows 100 shares of C & Company and immediately sells them for a total of $1,000. 2. Subsequently, the price of the shares falls to $8 per share. 3. Short seller now buys 100 shares of C & Company for $800. 4. Short seller returns the shares to the lender, who accepts the return of the same number of shares as was lent, despite the fact that the market value of the shares has decreased. 5. Short seller retains as profit the $200 difference (minus borrowing fees) between the price at which he sold the shares he borrowed and the lower price at which he was able to purchase the shares he returned. [edit] Loss-making trade Shares in C & Company currently trade at $10 per share. 1. A short seller borrows 100 shares of C & Company and immediately sells them for a total of $1,000. 2. Subsequently the price of the shares rises to $25. 3. Short seller is required to return the shares and to meet the obligation, is compelled to buy 100 shares of C & Company for $2,500. 4. Short seller return the shares to the lender who accepts the return of the same number of shares as was lent. 5. Short seller incurs as a loss the $1,500 difference between the price at which he sold the shares he borrowed and the higher price at which he had to purchase the shares he returned (plus borrowing fees). [edit] Comparison with long positions Short selling is the opposite of "going long". A short seller takes a negative, or "bearish", stance, believing that the price of a security will fall. Investors who employ short selling often use it to allow them to profit on trading in securities which they believe are overvalued, just as traditional long investors attempt to profit on securities which are undervalued by buying them. Because a short position is the opposite of a long position, many features of the position are reversed in comparison. In particular, the profit (rather than the loss) is limited to the value of the security, but the loss (rather than the profit) is theoretically unlimited. In practice, as the price of a security rises the short seller will receive a margin call from the broker, demanding that the short seller either cover his short position (by purchasing the security) or provide additional cash in order to meet the margin requirement for the security, which effectively places a limit on the amount that can be lost. [edit] History Some theories hold that the practice was invented in 1609 by Dutch trader Isaac Le Maire, a big shareholder of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). In 1602, he invested about 85,000 guilders in the VOC. By 1609, the VOC still was not paying dividend, and Le Maire's ships on the Baltic routes were under constant threats of attack by English ships due to trading conflicts between the British and the VOC. Le Maire decided to sell his shares and sold even more than he had. The notables spoke of an outrageous act and this led to the first real stock exchange regulations: a ban on short selling. The ban was revoked a couple of years later.[2] Short selling has been a target of ire ever since. In the eighteenth century, England banned it outright.[3] The London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down collapsed in June 1772, precipitating a major banking crisis which included the collapse of almost every private bank in Scotland, and a liquidity crisis in the two major banking centres of the world, London and Amsterdam. The bank had been speculating by shorting East India Company stock on a massive scale, and apparently using customer deposits to cover losses. It was perceived as having a magnifying effect in the violent downturn in the Dutch tulip market in the seventeenth century. In another well-referenced example, George Soros became notorious for "breaking the Bank of England" on Black Wednesday of 1992, when he sold short more than $10 billion worth of pounds sterling. The term "short" was in use from at least the mid-nineteenth century. It is commonly understood that "short" is used because the short seller is in a deficit position with his brokerage house. Jacob Little was known as The Great Bear of Wall Street who began shorting stocks in the United States in 1822.[4] Short sellers were blamed for the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[5] Regulations governing short selling were implemented in the United States in 1929 and in 1940.[citation needed] Political fallout from the 1929 crash led Congress to enact a law banning short sellers from selling shares during a downtick; this was known as the uptick rule, and this was in effect until July 3, 2007 when it was removed by the SEC (SEC Release No. 34-55970).[6] President Herbert Hoover condemned short sellers and even J. Edgar Hoover said he would investigate short sellers for their role in prolonging the Depression. Legislation introduced in 1940 banned mutual funds from short selling (this law was lifted in 1997).[citation needed] A few years later, in 1949, Alfred Winslow Jones founded a fund (that was unregulated) that bought stocks while selling other stocks short, hence hedging some of the market risk, and the hedge fund was born.[7] Some typical examples of mass short-selling activity are during "bubbles", such as the Dot-com bubble.[citation needed] At such times, short-sellers typically hope to profit from a market correction. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcements approving a drug often cause the market to react irrationally due to media attention; short sellers use the opportunity to sell into the buying frenzy and wait for the exaggerated reaction to subside before covering their position.[citation needed] Negative news, such as litigation against a company, may also entice professional traders to sell the stock short. During the Dot-com bubble, shorting a start-up company could backfire since it could be taken over at a price higher than the price at which speculators shorted. Short-sellers were forced to cover their positions at acquisition prices, while in many cases the firm often overpaid for the start-up. [edit] Short selling restrictions in 2008 In September 2008 short selling, exacerbated by naked short selling,[8] was seen as a contributing factor to undesirable market volatility, and it was subsequently prohibited by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for 799 financial companies for three weeks in an effort to stabilize those companies.[9] At the same time the U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA) prohibited short selling for 32 financial companies.[10] On September 22, Australia enacted even more extensive measures with a total ban of short selling.[11] Also on September 22, the Spanish market regulator, CNMV, required investors to notify it of any short positions in financial institutions, if they exceed 0.25% of a company's share capital, and it also restricted naked shorting.[12] In an interview with the Washington Post in late December 2008, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said the decision to impose a three-week ban on short selling of financial company stocks was taken reluctantly, but that the view at the time, including from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke, was that "if we did not act and act at that instant, these financial institutions could fail as a result and there would be nothing left to save." Later he changed his mind and thought the ban unproductive.[13] In a December 2008 interview with Reuters, he explained that the SEC's Office of Economic Analysis was still evaluating data from the temporary ban, and that preliminary findings point to several unintended market consequences and side effects. "While the actual effects of this temporary action will not be fully understood for many more months, if not years," he said, "knowing what we know now, I believe on balance the Commission would not do it again.”[14] [edit] Mechanism Short selling stock consists of the following: * The investor instructs the broker to sell the shares and the proceeds are credited to his broker's account at the firm upon which the firm can earn interest. Generally, the short seller does not earn interest on the short proceeds. * Upon completion of the sale, the investor has 3 days (in the US) to borrow the shares. If required by law, the investor first ensures that cash or equity is on deposit with his brokerage firm as collateral for the initial short margin requirement. Some short sellers, mainly firms and hedge funds, participate in the practice of naked short selling, where the shorted shares are not borrowed or delivered. * The investor may close the position by buying back the shares (called covering). If the price has dropped, he makes a profit. If the stock advanced, he takes a loss. * Finally, the investor may return the shares to the lender or stay short indefinitely. * At any time, the lender may call for the return of his shares e.g. because he wants to sell them. The borrower must buy shares on the market and return them to the lender (or he must borrow the shares from elsewhere). When the broker completes this transaction automatically, it is called a 'buy-in'. [edit] Shorting stock in the U.S. In the U.S., in order to sell stocks short, the seller must arrange for a broker-dealer to confirm that it is able to make delivery of the shorted securities. This is referred to as a "locate.” Brokers have a variety of means to borrow stocks in order to facilitate locates and make good delivery of the shorted security. The vast majority of stocks borrowed by U.S. brokers come from loans made by the leading custody banks and fund management companies (see list below). Institutions often lend out their shares in order to earn a little extra money on their investments. These institutional loans are usually arranged by the custodian who holds the securities for the institution. In an institutional stock loan, the borrower puts up cash collateral, typically 102% of the value of the stock. The cash collateral is then invested by the lender, who often rebates part of the interest to the borrower. The interest that is kept by the lender is the compensation to the lender for the stock loan. Brokerage firms can also borrow stocks from the accounts of their own customers. Typical margin account agreements give brokerage firms the right to borrow customer shares without notifying the customer. In general, brokerage accounts are only allowed to lend shares from accounts for which customers have "debit balances", meaning they have borrowed from the account. SEC Rule 15c3-3 imposes such severe restrictions on the lending of shares from cash accounts or excess margin (fully paid for) shares from margin accounts that most brokerage firms do not bother except in rare circumstances. (These restrictions include that the broker must have the express permission of the customer and provide collateral or a letter of credit.) Most brokers will allow retail customers to borrow shares to short a stock only if one of their own customers has purchased the stock on margin. Brokers will go through the "locate" process outside their own firm to obtain borrowed shares from other brokers only for their large institutional customers. Stock exchanges such as the NYSE or the NASDAQ typically report the "short interest" of a stock, which gives the number of shares that have been legally sold short as a percent of the total float. Alternatively, these can also be expressed as the short interest ratio, which is the number of shares legally sold short as a multiple of the average daily volume. These can be useful tools to spot trends in stock price movements but in order to be reliable, investors must also ascertain the number of shares brought into existence by naked shorters. Investors are cautioned to remember that for every share that has been shorted (owned by a new owner), a 'shadow owner' exists (i.e. the original owner) who also is part of the universe of owners of that stock, i.e. Despite not having any voting rights, he has not relinquished his interest and some rights in that stock. [edit] Securities lending Main article: Securities lending When a security is sold, the seller is contractually obligated to deliver it to the buyer. If a seller sells a security short without owning it first, the seller needs to borrow the security from a third party to fulfill its obligation. Otherwise, the seller will "fail to deliver," the transaction will not settle, and the seller may be subject to a claim from its counterparty. Certain large holders of securities, such as a custodian or investment management firm, often lend out these securities to gain extra income, a process known as securities lending. The lender receives a fee for this service. Similarly, retail investors can sometimes make an extra fee when their broker wants to borrow their securities. This is only possible when the investor has full title of the security, so it cannot be used as collateral for margin buying. [edit] Sources of short interest data Time delayed short interest data (for legally shorted shares) is available in a number of countries, including the US, the UK, Hong Kong, and Spain. The amount of stocks being shorted on a global basis has increased in recent years for various structural reasons (e.g. the growth of 130/30 type strategies, short or bear ETFs). The data is typically delayed; for example, the NASDAQ requires its broker-dealer member firms to report data on the 15th of each month, and then publishes a compilation eight days later.[15] Some market data providers (like Data Explorers and SunGard Financial Systems[16]) believe that stock lending data provides a good proxy for short interest levels (excluding any naked short interest). SunGard provides daily data on short interest by tracking the proxy variables based on borrowing and lending data which it collects.[17] [edit] Short selling terms Days to Cover (DTC) is a numerical term that describes the relationship between the amount of shares in a given equity that have been legally short sold and the number of days of typical trading that it would require to 'cover' all legal short positions outstanding. For example, if there are ten million shares of XYZ Inc. that are currently legally short sold and the average daily volume of XYZ shares traded each day is one million, it would require ten days of trading for all legal short positions to be covered (10 million / 1 million). Short Interest is a numerical term that relates the number of shares in a given equity that have been legally shorted divided by the total shares outstanding for the company, usually expressed as a percent. For example, if there are ten million shares of XYZ Inc. that are currently legally short sold, and the total number of shares issued by the company is one hundred million, the Short Interest is 10% (10 million / 100 million). If however, shares are being created through naked short selling, "fails" data must be accessed to assess accurately the true level of short interest. [edit] Major lenders * Merrill Lynch (New Jersey) * State Street Corporation (Boston) * JP Morgan Chase (New York) * Northern Trust (Chicago) * Fortis (Amsterdam, now defunct) * Citibank (New York) * Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (New York) * UBS AG (Zurich, Switzerland) [edit] Naked short selling Main article: Naked short selling A naked short sale occurs when a security is sold short without borrowing the security within a set time, 3 days (T+3) in the US. This means that the buyer of such a short is buying the short-seller's promise to deliver a share, rather than buying the share itself. The short-seller's promise is known as a hypothecated share. When the holder of the underlying stock receives a dividend, the holder of the hypothecated share would receive an equal dividend from the short seller. Naked shorting has been made illegal except where allowed under limited circumstances by market makers. It is detected by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (in the US) as a "failure to deliver" or simply "fail.” While many fails are settled in a short time, some have been allowed to linger in the system. In the US, arranging to borrow a security before a short sale is called a locate. In 2005, to prevent widespread failure to deliver securities, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) put in place Regulation SHO, intended to prevent investors from selling some stocks short before doing a locate. Requirements that are more stringent were put in place in September 2008, ostensibly to prevent the practice from exacerbating market declines. The rules were made permanent in 2009. Some[who?] have defended the practice of naked short selling against these restrictions. [edit] Fees When a broker facilitates the delivery of a client's short sale, the client is charged a fee for this service, usually a standard commission similar to that of purchasing a similar security. If the short position begins to move against the holder of the short position (i.e., the price of the security begins to rise), money will be removed from the holder's cash balance and moved to his or her margin balance. If short shares continue to rise in price, and the holder does not have sufficient funds in the cash account to cover the position, the holder will begin to borrow on margin for this purpose, thereby accruing margin interest charges. These are computed and charged just as for any other margin debit. When a security's ex-dividend date passes, the dividend is deducted from the shortholder's account and paid to the person from whom the stock was borrowed. For some brokers, the short seller may not earn interest on the proceeds of the short sale or use it to reduce outstanding margin debt. These brokers may not pass this benefit on to the retail client unless the client is very large. This means an individual short-selling $1000 of stock will lose the interest to be earned on the $1000 cash balance in his or her account. [edit] Dividends and voting rights Where shares have been shorted and the company which issues the shares distributes a dividend, the question arises as to who receives the dividend. The new buyer of the shares, who is the "holder of record" and holds the shares outright, will receive the dividend from the company. However, the lender, who may hold its shares in a margin account with a prime broker and is unlikely to be aware that these particular shares are being lent out for shorting, also expects to receive a dividend. The short seller will therefore pay to the lender an amount equal to the dividend in order to compensate, though as this payment does not come from the company it is not technically a dividend as such. The short seller is therefore said to be "short the dividend". A similar issue comes up with the voting rights attached to the shorted shares. Unlike a dividend, voting rights cannot legally be synthesized and so the buyer of the shorted share, as the holder of record, controls the voting rights. The owner of a margin account from which the shares were lent will have agreed in advance to relinquish voting rights to shares during the period of any short sale.[18] As noted earlier, victims of Naked Shorting attacks sometimes report that the number of votes cast is greater than the number of shares issued by the company.[19] [edit] Markets [edit] Futures and options contracts When trading futures contracts, being 'short' means having the legal obligation to deliver something at the expiration of the contract, although the holder of the short position may alternately buy back the contract prior to expiration instead of making delivery. Short futures transactions are often used by producers of a commodity to fix the future price of goods they have not yet produced. Shorting a futures contract is sometimes also used by those holding the underlying asset (i.e. those with a long position) as a temporary hedge against price declines. Shorting futures may also be used for speculative trades, in which case the investor is looking to profit from any decline in the price of the futures contract prior to expiration. An investor can also purchase a put option, giving that investor the right (but not the obligation) to sell the underlying asset (such as shares of stock) at a fixed price. In the event of a market decline, the option holder may exercise these put options, obliging the counterparty to buy the underlying asset at the agreed upon (or "strike") price, which would then be higher than the current quoted spot price of the asset. [edit] Currency Selling short on the currency markets is different from selling short on the stock markets. Currencies are traded in pairs, each currency being priced in terms of another. In this way, selling short on the currency markets is identical to going long on stocks. Novice traders or stock traders can be confused by the failure to recognize and understand this point: a contract is always long in terms of one medium and short another. When the exchange rate has changed, the trader buys the first currency again; this time he gets more of it, and pays back the loan. Since he got more money than he had borrowed initially, he makes money. Of course, the reverse can also occur. An example of this is as follows: Let us say a trader wants to trade with the US dollar and the Indian rupee currencies. Assume that the current market rate is USD $1 to Rs.50 and the trader borrows Rs.100. With this, he buys USD $2. If the next day, the conversion rate becomes USD $1 to Rs.51, then the trader sells his USD $2 and gets Rs.102. He returns Rs.100 and keeps the Rs.2 profit (minus fees). One may also take a short position in a currency using futures or options; the preceding method is used to bet on the spot price, which is more directly analogous to selling a stock short. [edit] Risk Question book-new.svg This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009) Note: this section does not apply to currency markets. It is important to note that buying shares (called "going long") has a very different risk profile from selling short. In the former case, losses are limited (the price can only go down to zero) but gains are unlimited (there is no limit, in theory, on how high the price can go). In short selling, this is reversed, meaning the possible gains are limited (the stock can only go down to a price of zero), and the seller can lose more than the original value of the share, with, in theory, no upper limit. For this reason, short selling is usually used as part of a hedge rather than as an investment in its own right. Many short sellers place a "stop order" with their stockbroker after selling a stock short. This is an order to the brokerage to cover the position if the price of the stock should rise to a certain level, in order to limit the loss and avoid the problem of unlimited liability described above. In some cases, if the stock's price skyrockets, the stockbroker may decide to cover the short seller's position immediately and without his consent, in order to guarantee that the short seller will be able to make good on his debt of shares. The risk of large potential losses through short selling inspired financier Daniel Drew to warn: "He who sells what isn't his'n, Must buy it back or go to pris'n" Short selling is sometimes referred to as a "negative income investment strategy" because there is no potential for dividend income or interest income. One's return is strictly from capital gains. Short sellers must be aware of the potential for a short squeeze. When the price of a stock rises significantly, some people who are shorting the stock will cover their positions to limit their losses (this may occur in an automated way if the short sellers had stop-loss orders in place with their brokers); others may be forced to close their position to meet a margin call; others may be forced to cover, subject to the terms under which they borrowed the stock, if the person who lent the stock wishes to sell and take a profit. Since covering their positions involves buying shares, the short squeeze causes an ever further rise in the stock's price, which in turn may trigger additional covering. Because of this, most short sellers restrict their activities to heavily traded stocks, and they keep an eye on the "short interest" levels of their short investments. Short interest is defined as the total number of shares that have been legally sold short, but not covered. A short squeeze can be deliberately induced. This can happen when large investors (such as companies or wealthy individuals) notice significant short positions, and buy many shares, with the intent of selling the position at a profit to the short sellers who will be panicked by the initial uptick or who are forced to cover their short positions in order to avoid margin calls. Another disadvantage is that if a stock becomes "hard to borrow", which is defined by the SEC and based on lack of availability, a broker will charge a hard to borrow fee daily, for any day the SEC declares a share is hard to borrow. This occurs without any notification to short sellers. Additionally, a broker may be required to cover a short seller's position at any time ("buy in"). The short seller receives a warning from the broker that they are "failing to deliver" stock, which will then lead to the buy-in.[20] Short sellers have to deliver the securities to their broker eventually. At that point, they will need money to buy them, so there is a credit risk for the broker. To reduce this, the short seller has to keep a margin with the broker. Short sellers tend to temper overvaluation by selling into exuberance. Likewise, short sellers are said to provide price support by buying when negative sentiment is exacerbated after a significant price decline. Short selling can have negative implications if it causes a premature or unjustified share price collapse when the fear of cancellation due to bankruptcy becomes contagious.[21] [edit] Strategies [edit] Hedging Further information: Hedge (finance) Hedging often represents a means of minimizing the risk from a more complex set of transactions. Examples of this are: * A farmer who has just planted his wheat wants to lock in the price at which he can sell after the harvest. He would take a short position in wheat futures. * A market maker in corporate bonds is constantly trading bonds when clients want to buy or sell. This can create substantial bond positions. The largest risk is that interest rates overall move. The trader can hedge this risk by selling government bonds short against his long positions in corporate bonds. In this way, the risk that remains is credit risk of the corporate bonds. * an options trader may short shares in order to remain delta neutral so that he is not exposed to risk from price movements in the stocks that underlie his options [edit] Arbitrage Further information: Arbitrage A short seller may be trying to benefit from market inefficiencies arising from the mispricing of certain products. Examples of this are * An arbitrageur who buys long futures contracts on a US Treasury security, and sells short the underlying US Treasury security. [edit] Against the box One variant of selling short involves a long position. "Selling short against the box" consists of holding a long position on which the shares have already risen, whereupon one then enters a short sell order for an equal amount of shares. The term box alludes to the days when a safe deposit box was used to store (long) shares. The purpose of this technique is to lock in paper profits on the long position without having to sell that position (and possibly incur taxes if said position has appreciated). Once the short position has been entered, it serves to balance the long position taken earlier. Thus, from that point in time, the profit is locked in (less brokerage fees and short financing costs), regardless of further fluctuations in the underlying share price. For example, one can ensure a profit in this way, while delaying sale until the subsequent tax year. U.S. investors considering entering into a "short against the box" transaction should be aware of the tax consequences of this transaction. Unless certain conditions are met, the IRS deems a "short against the box" position to be a "constructive sale" of the long position, which is a taxable event. These conditions include a requirement that the short position be closed out within 30 days of the end of the year and that the investor must hold their long position, without entering into any hedging strategies, for a minimum of 60 days after the short position has been closed.[22] [edit] The regulatory response In the US, Regulation SHO was the SEC's first update to short selling restrictions since 1938. It established "locate" and "close-out" requirements for broker-dealers, in an effort to curb naked short selling. Compliance with the regulation began on January 3, 2005.[23] In the US, initial public offerings (IPOs) cannot be sold short for a month after they start trading. This mechanism is in place to ensure a degree of price stability during a company's initial trading period. However, some brokerages that specialize in penny stocks (referred to colloquially as bucket shops) have used the lack of short selling during this month to pump and dump thinly traded IPOs. Canada and other countries do allow selling IPOs (including U.S. IPOs) short. In the UK, the Financial Services Authority had a moratorium on short selling 29 leading financial stocks, effective from 2300 GMT, 19 September 2008 until 16 January 2009.[24] After the ban was lifted, John McFall, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, House of Commons, made clear in public statements and a letter to the FSA that he believed it ought to be extended. In the US, a similar response was made by the Securities and Exchange Commission with a ban on short selling on 799 financial stocks from 19 September 2008 until 2 October 2008. Greater penalties for naked shorting, by mandating delivery of stocks at clearing time, were also introduced. Some state governors have been urging state pension bodies to refrain from lending stock for shorting purposes.[25] Soon thereafter, between 19 and 21 September 2008, Australia temporarily banned short selling,[26] and later placed an indefinite ban on naked short selling.[27] The ban on short selling was further extended for another 28 days on 21 October 2008.[28]Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Canada banned short selling leading financial stocks,[29] and France, the Netherlands and Belgium banned naked short selling leading financial stocks.[30] By contrast, Chinese regulators have responded by allowing short selling, along with a package of other market reforms.[31] An assessment of the effect of a ban on short-selling that was enacted in many countries in the fall of 2008 showed that it had only "little impact" on the movements of stocks, with stock prices moving in the same way as they would have moved anyhow, but the ban reduced volume and liquidity.[32] By December, countries in Europe were considering to remove the ban, while the ban in the US was already lifted in October 2008. The SEC proposed new restrictions on short selling in April 2009. [edit] Views of short selling Wiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion. Advocates of short selling say that the practice is an 'essential' part of the price discovery mechanism.[33] Financial researchers at Duke University said in a study that short interest is an indicator of poor future stock performance (the self fulfilling aspect) and that short sellers exploit market mistakes about firms' fundamentals.[34] Such noted investors as Seth Klarman and Warren Buffett have said that short sellers help the market. Klarman argued that short sellers are a useful counterweight to the widespread bullishness on Wall Street,[35] while Buffett believes that short sellers are useful in uncovering fraudulent accounting and other problems at companies.[36] Shortseller James Chanos received widespread publicity when he was an early critic of the accounting practices of Enron Corp.[37] Chanos responds to critics of short-selling by pointing to the critical role they played in identifying problems at Enron, Boston Market and other "financial disasters" over the years.[38] Commentator Jim Cramer has expressed concern about short selling and started a petition calling for the reintroduction of the uptick rule.[39] but books like Don't Blame the Shorts by Robert Sloan and Fubarnomics by Robert E. Wright suggest that Cramer exaggerated the costs of short selling and underestimated the benefits, which may include the ex ante identification of asset bubbles. Individual short sellers have been subject to criticism and even litigation. Short seller Manuel P. Asensio engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the pharmaceutical manufacturer Hemispherx Biopharma.[40] Short seller Anthony Elgindy was subjected to regulatory sanctions before he was sentenced to prison in 2005 for racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and extortion. His conviction and sentence was later upheld by an appeals court in New York.[41][42] [edit] See also * Inverse exchange-traded fund * Joseph Parnes * Long (finance) * James Chanos * Magnetar Capital * Manuel P. Asensio * Repurchase agreement * Securities lending * Short ratio * Socially responsible investing * Speculation * Straddle * Uptick rule * Anthony Elgindy * Short-and-distort [edit] References 1. ^ Understanding Short Selling - A Primer 2. ^ NRC Handelsblad - Naked short selling is an old-Dutch trick (in Dutch only) 3. ^ (Charlie Fell) 4. ^ [1] 5. ^ "Short sellers have been the villain for 400 years". Reuters. 2008-09-26. http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSTRE48P7CS20080926?PageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 6. ^ http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2007/34-55970.pdf SEC Release No. 34-55970 7. ^ New York Magazine - The Creation of the Hedge Fund 8. ^ "EMERGENCY ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(k)(2) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 TAKING TEMPORARY ACTION TO RESPOND TO MARKET DEVELOPMENTS. Release NO. 34-58592". September 18, 2008. http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/2008/34-58592.pdf 9. ^ "SEC Halts Short Selling of Financial Stocks to Protect Investors and Markets". '. 2008-09-19. http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-211.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-19. 10. ^ "FSA statement on short positions in financial stocks". FSA. 2008-09-18. http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2008/102.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-19. 11. ^ "Australian short selling ban goes further than other bourses". NBR. 2008-09-22. http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/australian-short-selling-ban-goes-further-other-bourses-35494. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 12. ^ "La CNMV también estrecha el cerco a las posiciones bajistas". Expansión. 2008-09-22. http://www.expansion.com/2008/09/22/inversion/1167625.html. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 13. ^ Paley, Amit R.; Hilzenrath, David S. (2008-12-24). "SEC Chair Defends His Restraint During Financial Crisis". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/23/AR2008122302765.html?sid=ST2008122302866&s_pos=. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 14. ^ "SEC chief has regrets over short-selling ban". Reuters. 2008-12-31. http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE4BU3FL20081231. 15. ^ NASDAQ. About the Short Interest Page. 16. ^ SunGard's ShortSide.com discusses the product. 17. ^ SunGard. SunGard Launches Borrow Indices; First Proxy for Measuring Short Interest on a Daily Basis. Business Wire. 18. ^ "What happens to the voting rights on shares when the shares are used in a short sale transaction?". Investopedia. http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/05/shortsalevotingrights.asp. Retrieved 4 December 2008. 19. ^ Over-voting at Taser in 2005 20. ^ http://www.thestreet.com/story/862233/1/knowing-the-rules-of-the-shorting-game.html 21. ^ The Theory and Practice of Short Selling, Chapter 9, Conclusions and Implications for Investors by Frank J. Fabozzi, Editor 22. ^ United States IRS Publication 550 Investment Income and Expenses 23. ^ U.S. SEC (April 11, 2005). "Division of Market Regulation: Key Points about Regulation SHO". http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/keyregshoissues.htm. 24. ^ BBC (2008-09-18). "FSA clamps down on short-selling". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7624012.stm. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 25. ^ Bloomberg (2008-09-19). "Short Sellers under Fire in U.S., U.K. After AIG Fall". http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTHLqfgpnFYw&refer=home. 26. ^ . http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24432750-5014000,00.html. [dead link] 27. ^ "ASX ban on short selling is indefinite". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2008-10-03. http://news.smh.com.au/business/asx-ban-on-short-selling-is-indefinite-20081003-4t16.html. 28. ^ http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/08-210+ASIC+extends+ban+on+covered+short+selling?openDocument 29. ^ http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/australian-short-selling-ban-goes-further-other-bourses-35494 30. ^ Ram, Vidya (2008-09-22). "Europe Spooked By Revenge Of The Commodities". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/09/22/briefing-europe-update-markets-equity-cx_vr_0922markets12.html. 31. ^ "UPDATE 2-China to launch stocks margin trade, short sales". Reuters. 2008-10-05. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSSHA10179120081005. 32. ^ Oakley D (2008-12-18). "Short-selling ban has minimal effect.". Financial Times: 27. 33. ^ Short Sale Constraints And Stock Returns by C.M Jones and O.A. Lamont 34. ^ Do Short Sellers Convey Information About Changes in Fundamentals or Risk? 35. ^ ‘‘Margin of safety (1991), by Seth Klarman. ISBN 0-88730-510-5 36. ^ 2006 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Q&A with Warren Buffett 37. ^ Peterson, Jim (2002-07-06). "Balance Sheet : The silly season isn't over yet". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/06/your-money/06iht-maccount06_ed3_.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09. [dead link] 38. ^ Contrarian Investor Sees Economic Crash in China 39. ^ http://www.thestreet.com/petition 40. ^ Nelson, Brett (2001-11-26). "Short Story". Forbes. http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2001/1126/216.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09. 41. ^ DOJ Press Release, 0ct 2006 42. ^ http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/064081p.pdf * Sloan, Robert. Don't Blame the Shorts: Why Short Sellers Are Always Blamed for Market Crashes and Why History Is Repeating Itself, (new York: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2009). ISBN 978-0-07-163686-5 * Wright, Robert E. Fubarnomics: A Lighthearted, Serious Look at America's Economic Ills, (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus, 2010). ISBN 978-1-61614-191-2 [edit] External links and sources

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Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgagee, or other lien holder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of a mortgagor's equitable right of redemption.[clarification needed] Usually a lender obtains a security interest from a borrower who mortgages or pledges an asset like a house to secure the loan. If the borrower defaults and the lender tries to repossess the property, courts of equity can grant the borrower the equitable right of redemption if the borrower repays the debt. While this equitable right exists, the lender cannot be sure that it can successfully repossess the property, thus the lender seeks to foreclose the equitable right of redemption. Other lien holders can also foreclose the owner's right of redemption for other debts, such as for overdue taxes, unpaid contractors' bills or overdue homeowners' association dues or assessments. The foreclosure process as applied to residential mortgage loans is a bank or other secured creditor selling or repossessing a parcel of real property (immovable property) after the owner has failed to comply with an agreement between the lender and borrower called a "mortgage" or "deed of trust". Commonly, the violation of the mortgage is a default in payment of a promissory note, secured by a lien on the property. When the process is complete, the lender can sell the property and keep the proceeds to pay off its mortgage and any legal costs, and it is typically said that "the lender has foreclosed its mortgage or lien". If the promissory note was made with a recourse clause then if the sale does not bring enough to pay the existing balance of principal and fees the mortgagee can file a claim for a deficiency judgment. Contents [hide] * 1 Types of foreclosure * 2 Acceleration * 3 Process o 3.1 Strict foreclosure o 3.2 Nonjudicial foreclosure o 3.3 Defenses o 3.4 Equitable foreclosure o 3.5 Title search and tax lien issues * 4 Contesting a foreclosure * 5 Foreclosure auction * 6 Further borrower's obligations * 7 Renegotiation alternative * 8 Countries other than the USA * 9 See also * 10 References * 11 Further reading [edit] Types of foreclosure The mortgageholder can usually initiate foreclosure at a time specified in the mortgage documents, typically some period of time after a default condition occurs. Within the United States, Canada and many other countries, several types of foreclosure exist. In the U.S., two of them – namely, by judicial sale and by power of sale – are widely used, but other modes of foreclosure are also possible in a few states. Foreclosure by judicial sale, more commonly known as judicial foreclosure, which is available in every state (and required in many), involves the sale of the mortgaged property under the supervision of a court, with the proceeds going first to satisfy the mortgage; then other lien holders; and, finally, the mortgagor/borrower if any proceeds are left. Under this system, the lender initiates foreclosure by filing a lawsuit against the borrower. As with all other legal actions, all parties must be notified of the foreclosure, but notification requirements vary significantly from state to state. A judicial decision is announced after the exchange of pleadings at a (usually short) hearing in a state or local court. In some rather rare instances, foreclosures are filed in federal courts. Foreclosure by power of sale, also known as nonjudicial foreclosure, is authorized by many states if a power of sale clause is included in the mortgage or if a deed of trust with such a clause was used, instead of an actual mortgage. In some states, like California, nearly all so-called mortgages are actually deeds of trust. This process involves the sale of the property by the mortgage holder without court supervision (as elaborated upon below). This process is generally much faster and cheaper than foreclosure by judicial sale. As in judicial sale, the mortgage holder and other lien holders are respectively first and second claimants to the proceeds from the sale. Other types of foreclosure are considered minor because of their limited availability. Under strict foreclosure, which is available in a few states including Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont, suit is brought by the mortgagee and if successful, a court orders the defaulted mortgagor to pay the mortgage within a specified period of time. Should the mortgagor fail to do so, the mortgage holder gains the title to the property with no obligation to sell it. This type of foreclosure is generally available only when the value of the property is less than the debt ("under water"). Historically, strict foreclosure was the original method of foreclosure. [edit] Acceleration The concept of acceleration is used to determine the amount owed under foreclosure. Acceleration allows the mortgage holder to declare the entire debt of a defaulted mortgagor due and payable, when a term in the mortgage has been broken. If a mortgage is taken, for instance, on a $100,000 property and monthly payments are required, the mortgage holder can demand the mortgagor make good on the entire $100,000 if the mortgagor fails to make one or more of those payments. The mortgage holder will also include any unpaid property taxes and delinquent payments in this amount, so if the borrower does not have significant equity they will owe more than the original amount of the mortgage. Lenders may also accelerate a loan if there is a transfer clause, obligating the mortgagor to notify the lender of any transfer, whether; a lease-option, lease-hold of 3 years or more, land contracts, agreement for deed, transfer of title or interest in the property. The vast majority (but not all) of mortgages today have acceleration clauses. The holder of a mortgage without this clause has only two options: either to wait until all of the payments come due or convince a court to compel a sale of some parts of the property in lieu of the past due payments. Alternatively, the court may order the property sold subject to the mortgage, with the proceeds from the sale going to the payments owed the mortgage holder. [edit] Process The process of foreclosure can be rapid or lengthy and varies from state to state. Other options such as refinancing, a short sale, alternate financing, temporary arrangements with the lender, or even bankruptcy may present homeowners with ways to avoid foreclosure. Websites which can connect individual borrowers and homeowners to lenders are increasingly offered as mechanisms to bypass traditional lenders while meeting payment obligations for mortgage providers. [edit] Strict foreclosure In the United States, there are two types of foreclosure in most common law states. Using a "deed in lieu of foreclosure," or "strict foreclosure", the noteholder claims the title and possession of the property back in full satisfaction of a debt, usually on contract. In the proceeding simply known as foreclosure (or, perhaps, distinguished as "judicial foreclosure"), the property is subject to auction by the county sheriff or some other officer of the court. Many states require this sort of proceeding in some or all cases of foreclosure to protect any equity the debtor may have in the property, in case the value of the debt being foreclosed on is substantially less than the market value of the immovable property (this also discourages strategic foreclosure). In this foreclosure, the sheriff then issues a deed to the winning bidder at auction. Banks and other institutional lenders may bid in the amount of the owed debt at the sale but there are a number of other factors that may influence the bid, and if no other buyers step forward the lender receives title to the immovable property in return. [edit] Nonjudicial foreclosure Historically, the vast majority of judicial foreclosures have been unopposed, since most defaulting borrowers have no money to hire counsel. Therefore, the U.S. financial services industry has lobbied since the mid-19th century for faster foreclosure procedures that would not clog up state courts with uncontested cases, and would lower the cost of credit (because it must always have the cost of recovering collateral built-in). In response, a slight majority of U.S. states have adopted nonjudicial foreclosure procedures in which the mortgagee, or more commonly the mortgagee's servicer's attorney or designated agent, gives the debtor a notice of default (NOD) and the mortgagee's intent to sell the immovable property in a form prescribed by state statute; the NOD in some states must also be recorded against the property. This type of foreclosure is commonly referred to as "statutory" or "nonjudicial" foreclosure, as opposed to "judicial", because the mortgagee does not need to file an actual lawsuit to initiate the foreclosure. A few states impose additional procedural requirements such as having documents stamped by a court clerk; Colorado requires the use of a county "public trustee," a government official, rather than a private trustee specializing in carrying out foreclosures. However, in most states, the only government official involved in a nonjudicial foreclosure is the county recorder. In this "power-of-sale" type of foreclosure, if the debtor fails to cure the default, or use other lawful means (such as filing for bankruptcy to temporarily stay the foreclosure) to stop the sale, the mortgagee or its representative conduct a public auction in a manner similar to the sheriff's auction. Notably, the lender itself can bid for the property at the auction, and is the only bidder that can make a "credit bid" (a bid based on the outstanding debt itself) while all other bidders must be able to immediately present the auctioneer with cash or a cash equivalent like a cashier's check. The highest bidder at the auction becomes the owner of the immovable property, free and clear of interest of the former owner, but possibly encumbered by liens superior to the foreclosed mortgage (e.g., a senior mortgage or unpaid property taxes). Further legal action, such as an eviction, may be necessary to obtain possession of the premises if the former occupant fails to voluntarily vacate. [edit] Defenses In some states, particularly those where only judicial foreclosure is available, the constitutional issue of due process has affected the ability of some lenders to foreclose. In Ohio, the Federal District Court has dismissed numerous foreclosure actions by lenders because of the inability of the alleged lender to prove that they are the real party in interest.[1] In June 2008, a Colorado district court judge also dismissed a foreclosure action because of failure of the alleged lender to prove they were the real party in interest.[2][3] In contrast, in nonjudicial foreclosure states like California, due process has already been judicially determined to be a frivolous defense. The entire point of nonjudicial foreclosure is that there is no state actor (i.e., a court) involved.[4] The constitutional right of due process protects people only from violations of their civil rights by state actors, not private actors. A further rationale is that under the principle of freedom of contract, if debtors wish to enjoy the additional protection of the formalities of judicial foreclosure, it is their burden to find a lender willing to provide a traditional conventional mortgage loan instead of a deed of trust with a power of sale. The difficulty in finding such a lender in nonjudicial foreclosure states is not the state's problem. Courts have also rejected as frivolous the argument that the mere legislative act of authorizing the nonjudicial foreclosure process thereby transforms the process itself into state action.[4] In turn, since there is no right to due process in nonjudicial foreclosure, it has been held that it is irrelevant whether the borrower had actual notice of the foreclosure, as long as the foreclosure trustee performed the tasks prescribed by statute in an attempt to give notice.[5] [edit] Equitable foreclosure "Strict foreclosure" is an equitable right available in some states. The strict foreclosure period arises after the foreclosure sale has taken place and is available to the foreclosure sale purchaser. The foreclosure sale purchaser must petition a court for a decree that cuts off any junior lien holder's rights to redeem the senior debt. If the junior lien holder fails to do so within the judicially established time frame, his lien is canceled and the purchaser's title is cleared. This effect is the same as the strict foreclosure that occurred at common law in England's courts of equity as a response to the development of the equity of redemption. [edit] Title search and tax lien issues In most jurisdictions it is customary for the foreclosing lender to obtain a title search of the immovable property and to notify all other persons who may have liens on the property, whether by judgment, by contract, or by statute or other law, so that they may appear and assert their interest in the foreclosure litigation. This is accomplished through the filing of a lis pendens as part of the lawsuit and recordation of it in order to provide public notice of the pendency of the foreclosure action. In all U.S. jurisdictions a lender who conducts a foreclosure sale of immovable property which is the subject of a federal tax lien must give 25 days' notice of the sale to the Internal Revenue Service: failure to give notice to the IRS results in the lien remaining attached to the immovable property after the sale. Therefore, it is imperative the lender search local federal tax liens so if parties involved in the foreclosure have a federal tax lien filed against them, the proper notice to the IRS is given. A detailed explanation by the IRS of the federal tax lien process can be found.[6] [edit] Contesting a foreclosure Because the right of redemption is an equitable right, foreclosure is an action in equity. To keep the right of redemption, the debtor may be able to petition the court for an injunction. If repossession is imminent the debtor must seek a temporary restraining order. However, the debtor may have to post a bond in the amount of the debt. This protects the creditor if the attempt to stop foreclosure is simply an attempt to escape the debt. A debtor may also challenge the validity of the debt in a claim against the bank to stop the foreclosure and sue for damages. In a foreclosure proceeding, the lender also bears the burden of proving they have standing to foreclose. One note-worthy but legally meaningless court case questions the legality of the foreclosure practice is sometimes cited as proof of various claims regarding lending. In the case First National Bank of Montgomery vs Jerome Daly Jerome Daly claimed that the bank didn't offer a legal form of consideration because the money loaned to him was created upon signing of the loan contract. The myth reports that Daly won, and the result was that he didn't have to repay the loan, and the bank couldn't repossess his property. In fact, the "ruling" (widely referred to as the "Credit River Decision") was ruled a nullity by the courts.[7] [edit] Foreclosure auction When the entity (in the US, typically a county sheriff or designee) auctions a foreclosed property the noteholder may set the starting price as the remaining balance on the mortgage loan. However, there are a number of issues that affect how pricing for properties is considered, including bankruptcy rulings. In a weak market the foreclosing party may set the starting price at a lower amount if it believes the real estate securing the loan is worth less than the remaining principal of the loan. In the case where the remaining mortgage balance is higher than the actual home value the foreclosing party is unlikely to attract auction bids at this price level. A house that went through a foreclosure auction and failed to attract any acceptable bids may remain the property of the owner of the mortgage. That inventory is called REO (real estate owned). In these situations the owner/servicer tries to sell it through standard real estate channels. [edit] Further borrower's obligations The mortgagor may be required to pay for Private Mortgage Insurance, or PMI, for as long as the principal of his primary mortgage is above 80% of the value of his property. In most situations, insurance requirements are sufficient to guarantee that the lender gets some pre-defined percentage of the loan value back, either from foreclosure auction proceeds or from PMI or a combination thereof. Nevertheless, in an illiquid real estate market or following a significant drop in real estate prices, it may happen that the property being foreclosed is sold for less than the remaining balance on the primary mortgage loan, and there may be no insurance to cover the loss. In this case, the court overseeing the foreclosure process may enter a deficiency judgment against the mortgagor. Deficiency judgments can be used to place a lien on the borrower's other property that obligates the mortgagor to repay the difference. It gives lender a legal right to collect the remainder of debt out of mortgagor's other assets (if any). There are exceptions to this rule, however. If the mortgage is a non-recourse debt (which is often the case with owner-occupied residential mortgages in the U.S.), lender may not go after borrower's assets to recoup his losses. Lender's ability to pursue deficiency judgment may be restricted by state laws. In California and some other states, original mortgages (the ones taken out at the time of purchase) are typically non-recourse loans; however, refinanced loans and home equity lines of credit aren't. If the lender chooses not to pursue deficiency judgment—or can't because the mortgage is non-recourse—and writes off the loss, the borrower may have to pay income taxes on the unrepaid amount if it can be considered "forgiven debt." However, recent changes in tax laws may change the way these amounts are reported.[citation needed] Any liens resulting from other loans taken out against the property being foreclosed (second mortgages, HELOCs) are "wiped out" by foreclosure, but the borrower is still obligated to pay those loans off if they are not paid out of the foreclosure auction's proceeds. [edit] Renegotiation alternative In the wake of the United States housing bubble and the subsequent subprime mortgage crisis there has been increased interest in renegotiation or modification of the mortgage loans rather than foreclosure, and some commentators have speculated that the crisis was exacerbated by the "unwillingness of lenders to renegotiate mortgages".[8] Several policies, including the U.S. Treasury sponsored HopeNow initiative and the 2009 "Making Home Affordable" plan have offered incentives to renegotiate mortgages. Renegotiations can include lowering the principal due or temporarily reducing the interest rate. A 2009 study by Federal Reserve economists found that even using a broad definition of renegotiation, only 3% of "seriously delinquent borrowers" received a modification. The leading theory attributes the lack of renegotiation to securitization and a large number of claimants with security interest in the mortgage. There is some support behind this theory, but an analysis of the data found that renegotiation rates were similar among unsecuritized and securitized mortgages. The authors of the analysis argue that banks don't typically renegotiate because they expect to make more money with a foreclosure, as renegotiation imposes "self-cure" and "redefault" risks.[8] [edit] Countries other than the USA * Australia and New Zealand: Foreclosures are generally referred to as Mortgagee sales or Mortgagee auctions. In those cases, the bank or lender ("Mortgagee") sells under the terms of the mortgage. In both of these countries statutory reform has altered the manner in which real property dealings are conducted. What is termed a "mortgage" is a charge that is registered against the title of the property. Since in both countries, the Torrens title system of land registration is used, being registered as proprietor or as a mortgagee creates an indefeasible interest (unless the acquisition of the registration was by land transfer fraud). The mortgagee therefore never holds any title documents, and there is a statutory process for initiating and conducting a mortgagee sale in the event that the mortgagor defaults. In New Zealand, the land title database is now electronic so there are no paper "title documents". * United Kingdom: Foreclosure is a little used remedy which vests the property in the mortgagee with the mortgagor having no right to any surplus from the sale. Because this remedy can be harsh, courts almost never allow it. Instead, they usually grant an order for possession and an order for sale, which mitigates some of the harshness of the repossession by allowing the sale. * Ireland: Foreclosure has been abolished by the Land and Conveyancing Reform Act 2009. * Switzerland: Foreclosure takes place as a form of debt enforcement proceedings under Swiss insolvency law. * People's Republic of China: Foreclosure takes place as a form of debt enforcement proceedings under strict judicial foreclosure, which is only allowed by law of guarantee and law of property right. * Philippines: There are two modes of foreclosure in the Philippines. A mortgagee may foreclose either judicially or extrajudicially, as governed by Rule 68 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure and Act. No. 3135, respectively. A judicial foreclosure is done by filing a complaint in the Regional Trial Court of the place where the property is located.[9] The judge renders judgment, ordering the mortgagor to pay the debt within a period of 90–120 days. If the debt is not paid within the said period, a foreclosure sale satisfies the judgment.[10] In an extrajudicial foreclosure, the mortgagee need not initiate an action in court but may simply file an application before the Clerk of Court to secure attendance of the Sheriff who conducts the public sale.[11] This is done pursuant to a power of sale.[12] Note that these two modes specifically apply to real estate mortgages. Foreclosure of chattel mortgages (mortgage of movable property) are governed by Sec. 14 of Act No. 1506, which gives the mortgagee the right to sell the chattel at a public sale. It has also been held that as regards chattel mortgages, the law does not prohibit that the foreclosure sale be done privately if it is agreed upon by the parties.[13] * South Africa: For a developing country, there is a high rate of foreclosures in South Africa because of the privatisation of housing delivery. One of the biggest opponents of foreclosures is the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign which sees foreclosures as unconstitutional and a particular burden on vulnerable poor populations.[14][15]

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• Wilmington Manor, Delaware, United States of America
• Alachua, Florida, United States of America
• Altamonte Springs, Florida, United States of America
• Altha, Florida, United States of America
• Andover, Florida, United States of America
• Anna Maria, Florida, United States of America
• Apalachicola, Florida, United States of America
• Apollo Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Apopka, Florida, United States of America
• Arcadia, Florida, United States of America
• Astor, Florida, United States of America
• Atlantic Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Auburndale, Florida, United States of America
• Aventura, Florida, United States of America
• Avon Park, Florida, United States of America
• Azalea Park, Florida, United States of America
• Bagdad, Florida, United States of America
• Bal Harbour, Florida, United States of America
• Baldwin, Florida, United States of America
• Bartow, Florida, United States of America
• Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, United States of America
• Bay Hill, Florida, United States of America
• Bay Lake, Florida, United States of America
• Bayport, Florida, United States of America
• Chokoloskee, Florida, United States of America
• Christmas, Florida, United States of America
• Chuluota, Florida, United States of America
• Citrus Park, Florida, United States of America
• Citrus Springs, Florida, United States of America
• Clearwater, Florida, United States of America
• Clermont, Florida, United States of America
• Clewiston, Florida, United States of America
• Cocoa, Florida, United States of America
• East Pensacola Heights, Florida, United States of America
• Eglin Village, Florida, United States of America
• Conway, Florida, United States of America
• Cooper City, Florida, United States of America
• Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
• Coral Springs, Florida, United States of America
• Coral Terrace, Florida, United States of America
• Country Club, Florida, United States of America
• Crescent City, Florida, United States of America
• Crestview, Florida, United States of America
• Crystal Lake, Florida, United States of America
• Crystal River, Florida, United States of America
• Cudjoe Key, Florida, United States of America
• Cutler, Florida, United States of America
• Cutler Ridge, Florida, United States of America
• Dade City, Florida, United States of America
• Dania Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Davenport, Florida, United States of America
• Davie, Florida, United States of America
• Daytona Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, United States of America
• De Funiak Springs, Florida, United States of America
• DeLand, Florida, United States of America
• DeBary, Florida, United States of America
• Deerfield Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Delray Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Deltona, Florida, United States of America
• Destin, Florida, United States of America
• Doctor Phillips, Florida, United States of America
• Doral, Florida, United States of America
• Dover, Florida, United States of America
• Duck Key, Florida, United States of America
• Dundee, Florida, United States of America
• Dunedin, Florida, United States of America
• Dunnellon, Florida, United States of America
• Eagle Lake, Florida, United States of America
• Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, United States of America
• East Lake, Florida, United States of America
• Eatonville, Florida, United States of America
• Edgewater, Florida, United States of America
• El Portal, Florida, United States of America
• Englewood, Florida, United States of America
• Fountainebleau, Florida, United States of America
• Glen Saint Mary, Florida, United States of America
• Golfview, Florida, United States of America
• Greenacres City, Florida, United States of America
• Estero, Florida, United States of America
• Eustis, Florida, United States of America
• Everglades City, Florida, United States of America
• Fernandina Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Fish Hawk, Florida, United States of America
• Fisher Island, Florida, United States of America
• Floral City, Florida, United States of America
• Florida City, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Meade, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Myers, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Myers Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Pierce, Florida, United States of America
• Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Fort White, Florida, United States of America
• Frostproof, Florida, United States of America
• Fruitland Park, Florida, United States of America
• Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
• Hillcrest Heights, Florida, United States of America
• Hilliard, Florida, United States of America
• Hillsboro Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Hobe Sound, Florida, United States of America
• Holiday, Florida, United States of America
• Holly Hill, Florida, United States of America
• Hollywood, Florida, United States of America
• Holmes Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Homestead, Florida, United States of America
• Homosassa, Florida, United States of America
• Hudson, Florida, United States of America
• Hunters Creek, Florida, United States of America
• Immokalee, Florida, United States of America
• Indialantic, Florida, United States of America
• Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Panasoffkee, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Park, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Placid, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Mary, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Wales, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Worth, Florida, United States of America
• Lake Worth Corridor, Florida, United States of America
• Lakeland, Florida, United States of America
• Lakeland Highlands, Florida, United States of America
• Land O' Lakes, Florida, United States of America
• Oviedo, Florida, United States of America
• Pace, Florida, United States of America
• Largo, Florida, United States of America
• Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, United States of America
• Lauderhill, Florida, United States of America
• Laurel Hill, Florida, United States of America
• Layton, Florida, United States of America
• Rangeley, Maine, United States of America
• Leesburg, Florida, United States of America
• Lehigh Acres, Florida, United States of America
• Leisure City, Florida, United States of America
• Lighthouse Point, Florida, United States of America
• Live Oak, Florida, United States of America
• Longboat Key, Florida, United States of America
• Longwood, Florida, United States of America
• Loughman, Florida, United States of America
• Lutz, Florida, United States of America
• Madison, Florida, United States of America
• Maitland, Florida, United States of America
• Manalapan, Florida, United States of America
• North Miami Beach, Florida, United States of America
• North Palm Beach, Florida, United States of America
• North Port, Florida, United States of America
• Oak Hill, Florida, United States of America
• Richmond West, Florida, United States of America
• Rio, Florida, United States of America
• Riverview, Florida, United States of America
• Riviera Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Rockledge, Florida, United States of America
• Rotonda, Florida, United States of America
• Royal Palm Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Ruskin, Florida, United States of America
• Safety Harbor, Florida, United States of America
• Saint Augustine, Florida, United States of America
• Saint Augustine Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Saint Cloud, Florida, United States of America
• Saint Marks, Florida, United States of America
• Saint Petersburg, Florida, United States of America
• Sanibel, Florida, United States of America
• Sanford, Florida, United States of America
• Sarasota, Florida, United States of America
• Satellite Beach, Florida, United States of America
• Sea Ranch Lakes, Florida, United States of America
• Seaside, Florida, United States of America
• Sebastian, Florida, United States of America
• Sebring, Florida, United States of America
• Seffner, Florida, United States of America
• Seminole, Florida, United States of America
• Shalimar, Florida, United States of America
• Siesta Key, Florida, United States of America
• Buford, Georgia, United States of America
• Cairo, Georgia, United States of America
• Calhoun, Georgia, United States of America
• Camilla, Georgia, United States of America
• Canton, Georgia, United States of America
• Carrollton, Georgia, United States of America
• Cartersville, Georgia, United States of America
• Cave Spring, Georgia, United States of America
• Cedartown, Georgia, United States of America
• Centerville, Georgia, United States of America
• Chamblee, Georgia, United States of America
• Chatsworth, Georgia, United States of America
• Raymond, Maine, United States of America
• Dillard, Georgia, United States of America
• Donalsonville, Georgia, United States of America
• Doraville, Georgia, United States of America
• Douglas, Georgia, United States of America
• Douglasville, Georgia, United States of America
• Druid Hills, Georgia, United States of America
• Dublin, Georgia, United States of America
• Duluth, Georgia, United States of America
• Dunwoody, Georgia, United States of America
• East Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America
• Hampton, Georgia, United States of America
• Hapeville, Georgia, United States of America
• Linwood, Georgia, United States of America
• Hartwell, Georgia, United States of America
• Hawkinsville, Georgia, United States of America
• Helen, Georgia, United States of America
• Hephzibah, Georgia, United States of America
• Hinesville, Georgia, United States of America
• Hogansville, Georgia, United States of America
• Homer, Georgia, United States of America
• Marietta, Georgia, United States of America
• Martinez, Georgia, United States of America
• McCaysville, Georgia, United States of America
• McDonough, Georgia, United States of America
• McRae, Georgia, United States of America
• Pembroke, Georgia, United States of America
• Perry, Georgia, United States of America
• Pine Lake, Georgia, United States of America
• Pine Mountain, Georgia, United States of America
• Plains, Georgia, United States of America
• Pooler, Georgia, United States of America
• Port Wentworth, Georgia, United States of America
• Poulan, Georgia, United States of America
• Powder Springs, Georgia, United States of America
• Quitman, Georgia, United States of America
• Oil City, Louisiana, United States of America
• West Point, Georgia, United States of America
• Winder, Georgia, United States of America
• Bone Gap, Illinois, United States of America
• Bonnie, Illinois, United States of America
• Breese, Illinois, United States of America
• Bridgeport, Illinois, United States of America
• Brighton, Illinois, United States of America
• Brooklyn, Illinois, United States of America
• Bunker Hill, Illinois, United States of America
• Cahokia, Illinois, United States of America
• Cairo, Illinois, United States of America
• Calhoun, Illinois, United States of America
• Cambria, Illinois, United States of America
• Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
• Carlinville, Illinois, United States of America
• Carlyle, Illinois, United States of America
• Carmi, Illinois, United States of America
• Carrier Mills, Illinois, United States of America
• Carrollton, Illinois, United States of America
• Carterville, Illinois, United States of America
• Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, United States of America
• Centralia, Illinois, United States of America
• Shelbyville, Illinois, United States of America
• Shiloh, Illinois, United States of America
• Washington Park, Illinois, United States of America
• Waterloo, Illinois, United States of America
• West City, Illinois, United States of America
• West Frankfort, Illinois, United States of America
• West Salem, Illinois, United States of America
• Westfield, Illinois, United States of America
• Centerville, Indiana, United States of America
• Charlestown, Indiana, United States of America
• Clarksville, Indiana, United States of America
• Clayton, Indiana, United States of America
• Clinton, Indiana, United States of America
• Columbus, Indiana, United States of America
• Connersville, Indiana, United States of America
• Corydon, Indiana, United States of America
• Cumberland, Indiana, United States of America
• Dale, Indiana, United States of America
• Dana, Indiana, United States of America
• Danville, Indiana, United States of America
• Darmstadt, Indiana, United States of America
• Dillsboro, Indiana, United States of America
• Dugger, Indiana, United States of America
• Edinburgh, Indiana, United States of America
• Elizabeth, Indiana, United States of America
• English, Indiana, United States of America
• Evansville, Indiana, United States of America
• Fairland, Indiana, United States of America
• Ferdinand, Indiana, United States of America
• Fishers, Indiana, United States of America
• Fort Branch, Indiana, United States of America
• Francisco, Indiana, United States of America
• French Lick, Indiana, United States of America
• Georgetown, Indiana, United States of America
• Grandview, Indiana, United States of America
• Greencastle, Indiana, United States of America
• Greenfield, Indiana, United States of America
• Greensburg, Indiana, United States of America
• Greenville, Indiana, United States of America
• Greens Fork, Indiana, United States of America
• Hagerstown, Indiana, United States of America
• Hanover, Indiana, United States of America
• Cedar, Kansas, United States of America
• Cedar Point, Kansas, United States of America
• Chanute, Kansas, United States of America
• Chapman, Kansas, United States of America
• Cherryvale, Kansas, United States of America
• Clay Center, Kansas, United States of America
• Climax, Kansas, United States of America
• Galena, Kansas, United States of America
• Galva, Kansas, United States of America
• Frontenac, Kansas, United States of America
• Gardner, Kansas, United States of America
• Garnett, Kansas, United States of America
• Gas, Kansas, United States of America
• Geuda Springs, Kansas, United States of America
• Girard, Kansas, United States of America
• Glasco, Kansas, United States of America
• Goddard, Kansas, United States of America
• Goessel, Kansas, United States of America
• Gorham, Kansas, United States of America
• Great Bend, Kansas, United States of America
• Greeley, Kansas, United States of America
• Greensburg, Kansas, United States of America
• Lecompton, Kansas, United States of America
• Lehigh, Kansas, United States of America
• Lenexa, Kansas, United States of America
• Hollandale, Minnesota, United States of America
• Durand, Wisconsin, United States of America
• Hopkins, Minnesota, United States of America
• Houston, Minnesota, United States of America
• Hugo, Minnesota, United States of America
• Hutchinson, Minnesota, United States of America
• International Falls, Minnesota, United States of America
• Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, United States of America
• Lake Saint Croix Beach, Minnesota, United States of America
• Jackson, Minnesota, United States of America