Pass by a statue in the park, and odds are that it’s a bronze sculpture, which rank among the most common of cast metal works because of a naturally occurring trait that can make it more convenient to fashion than numerous other materials. Bronze alloys expand a little prior to being set, and this helps to ensure that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Moreover, bronze sculptures are strong while not being brittle, a quality recognized as ductibility, so that works may be fashioned that express actions performed mid-sequence, as if frozen in time, such as leaps and flights, simply because the needed supports require will smaller and thus less obvious (that is, visually intrusive) cross-sections.

Few examples from antiquity exist relative to those sculpted of stone and ceramics due to the precious nature of the metal. In instances of war, such art was simply melted down for arms, or victorious conquerors melting them down for recasting and to produce new statues.

Few bronze statues survived from ancient times, and those which do are usually not in good condition. The originals on display in museums have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable enough for exhibition but even the naked eye can still easily discern traces of wear and tear.

Modern-day works are normally some ninety percent cooper and ten percent tin, though in ages past other materials figured into the alloy, elements like phosphorus and manganese and aluminum and silicon. But reactive chemicals are frequently added nowadays to be able to accomplish novel effects such as a marble-like luster.

This kind of corrosive materials are applied after final polishing in order to form a patina or film, establishing for the sculptor a degree of control over the color and finish. As could be imagined, working properly with bronze requires a high degree of technical skill.

Wine holders can make excellent wedding gifts. After all, somebody is sure to give a set of wine glasses, and others are sure to give some bottles of wine! So why not beautiful wine holders to showcase it all while offering a degree of protection.

Getting the right wedding gifts can be quite the chore, and playing it safe by resorting to previous stand-bys can be a time-efficient, cost-effective way to fulfill social expectations tastefully and respectfully enough.

Neither is it cynical to present a newly wedded couple elegant wine holders, especially if they are customized to uniquely reflect the matrimonial occasion. A paralyzingly rich cornucopia of designs exist, constructed of any number of materials now. Indeed, the marketplace is full of such innovative aesthetics that it is arguable that they even help accentuate the taste of fine wine!

That’s because unlike the case with beer, one expects a certain elegance with wine. And even though hip trendy shapes have invaded the formerly neo-classical sensibilities of the wine holder world, most would most likely still prefer good old-fashioned looks for one presented as commemorative a wedding gift. But there’s no shortage of such designs, which are nearly certain to stay ever popular.

When looking for the right wine holder to give as a wedding present, it is essential to keep the couple in mind at all times. Do they even drink? Of course, one may employ wine racks and holders as purely aesthetic props of a sort, but it is always good to keep the recipients of a present in thoughts when shopping!

Weddings can be stressful enough. A quality wine rack or holder is really a safe way to calmly fulfill the social obligation of not arriving empty-handed while not presenting a thing which might prove , even embarrassing, in the case of those overly religious.

Museum replicas allow artwork lovers to indulge their fantasies without spending a fortune. Of course, even with all of the money in the world, some treasures might simply not be available for purchase, such as Greek vases of proven antiquity and aesthetic merit.

The art of ancient Greece consists of some of the most amazing ever produced by man, and museum replicas make available to everyone a little of the joy involved in owning art.

Museum replicas are usually handmade, as well, so that the verisimilitude can be strikingly inconspicuous in the case of one-to-one scale reproductions or amazingly faithful in any other proportion. This kind of a Greek vase, however, may be surprisingly affordable given the quality, so that it is possible to own a entire collection of them, just like a genuine well-heeled conoisseur.

In fact, some are so faithfully reproduced as to fool even professional appraisers! For such reasons, replica Greek vases make fantastic gifts as well, thoughtful and possibly a bit out of the ordinary. And due to the fact they are replicas, they are practical, able to be used as real vases.

Imagine how charming that would be, to see real live flowers in one, as if restoring it to life after so many centuries! And of course, it’s simply fun to walk through a museum picking out pieces of which you own a copy. Having such lovely objects of art bear witness to the elegance of one’s own soul, too, expressing one’s highest hopes and deepest desires.

They also link us to a glorious golden age of Western Civilization, lending an elegant gravitas to any setting, an air of tradition and authority that feels at once austere and light. Such are the attractions of art and the potentially practical applications of museum replicas. They’re joys now obtainable for one and all.

A recent survey observed that delinquencies are down just when they should have gone up, even during prosperous times. Is this the beginning of the long-awaited recovery?

A mortgage is a loan made to buy a house. A house is the single most expensive purchase most individuals will ever make in their entire lives, and often costs way above several times one’s annual income. Thus, a loan is necessary, and mortgages are usually paid back over a long length of time, typically of up to thirty years.

However, if payments are not met, accounts are considered delinquent. Delinquency is a big problem for the industry, and no more so than this very moment, in the midst of an extremely severe economic crisis. Indeed, it was mortgage delinquencies which caused the current malaise! As payments were missed on properties that lost value, homeowners wound up owing more than their houses were worth, an untenable situation whose vicious cycle seems to know no end.

Thus it was that the slight decline in the rate of delinquency late last year caught many industry observers such as Isaac Toussie by surprise. A recent industry survey found that at a time when delinquency has traditionally risen, even in good years, due to increased expenses associated with winter heating and holiday shopping, the rate at which mortgage payments have fallen behind has slowed down a little during the fourth quarter of 2009. Optimists hoped that this could be a sign that the foreclosure crisis may be finally attempting to timidly come around to something of an end.

Well, don’t you believe it. Remember that economists predict that foreclosures could reach their highest levels by the end of this year, especially if unemployment rates peak in the middle of the year. Worse yet, foreclosure rates will likely stay at those heightened levels as borrowers continue to struggle in regions where drastic price declines have made many homes worth far less than the money owed on them. Also, the big problem is that way too many people have missed at least three payments, and these are precisely those who are least amendable to the variety of mortgage relief strategies available. These are the very people who will be going into foreclosure. In fact, many borrowers have problems that cannot easily lend themselves to tidy remedies.

Naturally, there are also those economists and other such experts like Isaac Toussie who believe that the situation is still extremely dire as there are still record numbers of homeowners in financial distress. In recognition, the government has again stepped in on behalf of those with little or no equity in their homes, extending a refinancing program that has posted little progress in over a year. Many experts express skepticism. After all, it’s been well over two years into the economic debacle and still no one has any evidence at all as of yet that the end is in sight, or even could be right now.

Numbers improve, certainly, and trendlines offer some cause for hope. And surely the proverbial sun will rise again – but in the here and now, there is a lot more “night” to get through before that “morning.”

During those bygone halcyon days of console gaming, when a system failed, the oft reaction was to raise one’s hands toward the sky and curse the God’s of each and every pantheon for having smote your system. There was little in the way of diagnostic alternatives leaving most to wonder vainly what condition had stricken their beloved console, snatching it from this mortal coil. The power would be activated and nothing would happen and there’d be little choice beyond cursing nefarious fortune and her ambiguous design, often plunging into a void of existential woe. Nevertheless, with the most recent generation of consoles, there’s at least some onboard indication of what evils have befallen your system, most infamously the X-box 360 and the Red Ring of Death.

One can’t help but wonder if this knowledge has been of greater use to mankind, or if the question of console death is one best left unanswered, for where tragedy once came like a breath of wind and left as little trace, it now bears a face and a name to be loathed by mortals. Four times divided, each of the ring’s quadrants on the face of the X-box 360 displays a vibrant green hue when in good health. However, when hardware failure or pestilence or an ancient curse has marked a console with its wicked taint, the four lights will glow a hellish fiery red to indicate the source of its ailment. The configurations of these cursed runes are telling of the specific affliction and are interpreted as follows.

When the ring is solely aflame in its southeastern most quadrant, facing the exact same direction as the flight from the migratory birds, the X-box 360 is then victim of hardware failure, the exact nature of which is alluded to only by the apocryphal two-digit sequence of symbols that appear upon the linked display. When the ring is cleft in twain from scalp to groin by the pink hue, a fantastic fever has taken your console causing its components to overheat.

When cloaked entirely in the Masque of the Red Death, you probably just forgot to plug the AV cables in, jackass. Or some greater malevolence has seized some vital component to your console, for which you may seek the guidance of a soothsayer, an apothecary, or even… Microsoft. But seriously, just check to make sure it’s plugged in. Most feared, nonetheless, among we mere puppets on this earthly stage are the red lights that seize the ring in all quadrants save for that between north and east.

Glance but for only a moment to confirm your sickly apprehensions, then avert thine eyes for what stares back is the eye of the devil whose red gaze will indelibly sear the soul. General Hardware Failure, plight of men and Gods alike and bane of all things good and sacred, has corrupted your X-box. Abandon all hope, for even among sorcerer’s alchemy and mystic’s incantations there is naught that men of earthly constitution can summon.

But one option remains, to give up your console to the ethereal high court of Microsoft or maybe a trusted third party hardware technician whose tangible connection to the divine can provide the steel of nerve, the authority of conviction, the edge of wit, the fortitude of soul required to perform the ritual exorcism which will rid your X-box of its demons. Please allow two to three weeks for repairs.

College flags list amongst the most valuable of memorabilia, with a wide variety of designs that reflect the unique heritage of each individual institution. Officially licensed college flags and pennants ensure authentic insignia as well as quality construction, and they provide a source of revenue that goes back to support the school. You can purchase flags or pennants to hang by the door of one’s house or show in one’s garden as well as banners that may be streamed over an entrance or across the yard. Two-ply constructions allow designs to be viewed correctly from either side.

But most kinds of college flags are usually to be found at intercollegiate games, especially football games. They are utilized by the fans to cheer on their team, and waving them is a symbol of the school spirit. One popular activity while waving them is to sing the school’s fight song en masse. In fact, it is hard to conceive of a college flag apart from that college’s fight song. One would seem incomplete without the other.

Thus, you can find hundreds of fight songs, just as there are hundreds of flags. At times both are equally old and hallowed, and sometimes each is of vastly different vintage. The earliest fight song in generally recognized to be Boston College’s “For Boston” of 1885, but it is not certain which is the oldest college flag. Indeed, it is not certain when the tradition of college flags and pennants began, though one may safely imagine that their origins roughly coincided.

Speaking of origins, a lot of flags have changed over the years owing to cultural advances that made it unacceptable to feature mascots based on racial stereotypes or designs incorporating the old Confederate Battle Flag. Many alumni protest, but eventually new generations of students with no sentimental attachment to old symbols make the revised styles their own.

Working capital is one of those business school topics that has real-world relevance for the small business owner with no formal training, operating mostly on his or her own common sense, such as Zalman Silber, serial entrepreneur and success story. In business management theory, working capital is a way to measure finances, in particular those readily available to a business. Working capital is thus an indication of operational liquidity, as simply derived by subtracting the amount of current liabilities from the amount of current assets. When current assets are less than current liabilities, a condition of working capital deficiency exists, also known as a working capital deficit.

All such individuals know about working capital, however, comes from having dealt with inventory and accounting day in, day out. But when these small-time businessmen and women think of the matter, they are likely only envisioning two things, borrowing money or putting more equity in their business – the traditional sources of business capital.

Yet most business owners don’t understand that one of the best ways to get working capital is to let their suppliers do it for them! There’s no need for a small business loan when the money is already there. One must “think outside the bank” to realize this strategy, but if you think about it, working capital finance is easy when carried on the backs of your suppliers.

Generally, banks are not the most appropriate options for problematic situations concerning working capital. They can really jam up the works when all you want is to know whether they will lend you money. Bureaucratic red tape is inevitable, as is being nickeled and dimed on every little thing when it comes to banks. And now in these recessionary times, the typical business will also find whole lines of credit eliminated outright.

Instead, why not just let your suppliers finance your assets? If you think about it, suppliers typically finance working capital already, insofar as they provide and deliver supplies but only receive payment for them at the end of the month (or even later, in some cases). Such a situation in effect frees up your money for other purposes, money that is literally working capital!

They’re already participating, whether they’re aware of it or not, and since you’re only taking advantage of a system that’s already in place, you don’t have to worry about any legal ramifications. What you do need to do is find a formula for calculating your supplies-to-finances ratio right now so that you can increase and maximize it to your advantage. One easy-to-understand formula for supplier-financed working capital is to multiply your total assets by a hundred (to get an answer in percentage form) and then divide by the amount of your accounts payable (whether monthly or whatever terms you have secured).

Then you too can be a Zalman Silber!

Heard the good news that unlocked cell phones have received something of a major nod from the American judiciary lately, thanks to a judgment that allows for the unlocking of a person’s own handset totally legal. Cell service providers generally lock the handsets they give their subscribers so that those cell phones will exclusively function using the provider’s network. The result of it all is that wireless phones are immediately made worthless whenever individuals switch carriers, and so a cottage industry has matured around those end users who would like to take their smartphones with them to a new carrier. And right now the courts just provided this practice its blessings, but with one fatal caveat – while unlocking cell phones is allowed, the means mandatory to accomplish it is not!

Online residual cashflow is the name of the game when it comes to making money off websites. The term “residual income” refers to being continuously paid for work that’s performed only once; for example, a single song that is played over and over again on the radio makes money each and every time it’s broadcasted.

To get residual income on the worldwide web indicates, for most people, creating made-for-Adsense sites that use Google’s Adsense program to sell advertising space. If you have a popular site, you’re almost guaranteed to make plenty of money – many, many times over!

To get residual income this way means a web site that is interesting to the greatest number of people possible. This is key, simply because, as in the case with so-called “old media” like newspapers and television, it’s all about the number of eyeballs you can offer an advertiser. Individuals don’t put up signs in the middle of nowhere, after all, and neither will someone pay money to promote their company on a corner of the internet no one else visits.

That’s why eyeballs are so important. But how to get a sizable audience, then? S.E.O., or Search Engine Optimization. That is the first step in a series. S.E.O. helps your website to be found in the first place. It’s what causes your web site to rank highly. Successful S.E.O. indicates increased earnings and is an indispensable part of business on the web.

Another fantastic way to make money with the web is through affiliate marketing. Like hosting a popular MFA site, affiliate marketing is commission-based, where you only make money if you make a sale. The power of the internet exponentially increases the reach and scope of any effort, but it’s still a good old-fashioned numbers game, and S.E.O. can help in this area, too.

It’s important to go with the correct equipment when in the great outdoors. Though amazing, Mother Nature could be deadly – easily. One important part of anyone’s gear when experiencing our national parks ought to be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Some thing like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They are created from dye-free fabric that’s breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everyone dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process which is environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles usually require two really toxic chemical substances as a component of the anodizing process. However the Big Agnes tent are created from a unique method that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because with out employing these toxic chemicals, any rinsing water which is used can be safely recycled. Of course, there are numerous reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Top quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And the company’s reputation for other products is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the whole Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the business is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike conventional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an integrated sleeve based at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual but the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its capability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For many folks, such details don’t actually matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is essential.

Taxes and all of those forms… Why don’t we face it, tax forms can normally be confusing. There are quite a few questions folks ask when they receive or need to send out tax forms. One of the more sought after questions is, if you receive a W9 form request, just what exactly should you do with it?

Well if you receive a W9 request then according to the Internal Revenue Service you will have to answer it, given that that person seeking it is responsible to give you a 1099 form (this is an information return). If they are not required to give you a 1099 form (information return), well that is a entirely different story.

So what happens if you never reply to the tax form W9 request?

If you don’t reply to the form W9 request you will be subject to a penalty of $50 as well as future backup withholding. Backup withholding? you might probably ask, well if choose not to give the data needed to a required filer of an 1099 Form (information return, not to be confused with a 1040 form) they are required to withhold up to twenty eight percent which is remitted to the government.

A swimmer needs to practice every day, that is why the occasional swimming pool resurfacing could be so devastating to an athlete. But while conventional methods can take entire days, now there’s a far better way to do things, one which doesn’t even require hired help.

That’s correct, do-it-yourself swimming pool resurfacing is now achievable thanks to the miracles of modern technology. It’s a straightforward procedure which will have the pool ready for business in a few fairly short hours, a real godsend for swimmers who have to work hard daily to maintain their fitness. Not just swimmers who require the practice time will benefit, of course.

To have a pool without water in it is pretty depressing, least of which is due to the fact that swimming pools in need of renovation do not generally look too good anyway.

Naturally, it is possible to do your swimming pool resurfacing in the fall, after all of the barbecues and other poolside gatherings. But in any case, it’s now a fairly simple matter involving just a few hours, so why spends hundreds or even thousands to hire others?

Swimming pools have been around since ancient times. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro around five thousand years ago was covered by a tar-based sealant. Heated pools were known to the ancient Romans who could afford them. But it seemed to have been the British of the mid-nineteenth century who most popularized swimming pools, and ever since then resurfacing has been one of the primary maintenance tasks.

For the individual homeowner, modern advances have made such upkeep a lot easier. Readily available in the form of a gel coating that could be applied to gunite, conrete, or fiberglass surfaces, modern resurfacing is now just a once-in-a-while type of chore, with each application lasting up to thirty years or more!

Soundproofing walls often indicates the use of soundproofing drywall, a unique type of insulation product created to damper sound. Soundproofing refers to any means of reducing sound pressure by employing sound reduction and sound absorption.

The former term involves blocking the passage of sound, usually through prolonged distances and also the use of obstacles along the path of a sound. The latter operates by altering the sound itself, usually through the suppression of characteristics like resonance and reverberation.

Cheap soundproofing has traditionally been a misnomer, as the technologies employed are typically state-of-the-art: after all, few have the money for a nusiance that’s usually considered part of the price of living in modern society. But recent advances have made it possible for some true “bang-for-the-buck” bargains, specifically with regards to windows.

The main focus of residential soundproofing plans is the windows. Unless building from scratch, the windows will be the most practical point of focus, as it presents the most cost-efficient opportunities. For starters, specially designed curtains are available that use honeycomb-like air chambers to dampen sounds. Then there are double-pane windows, as well as the installation of a second, or interior, window.

But if you’re due for a renovation, or are newly constructing, be sure to check out the new soundproofing technologies built-into modern sheetrock specially designed to dampen sound. These products save not only money but floorspace as well, fully replacing standard techniques involving resilient channels and mass-loaded vinyl.

Such innovative drywall meet all the usual safety and performance standards that govern their regular cousins on the market, and are available in common sizes and thicknesses. Plus, despite their added capabilities, they’re just as easy to use. Residential or commercial, soundproof drywalls usher in a new era of sound reduction and elimination.

When in the market for a self study CPE course, here are three consumer suggestions that may save you time and money. First, ensure that the credits you would earn are even acceptable to whatever certifying body governs your professional license.

It might seem absurd, but there are actual instances on record of people – otherwise fully qualified professionals – who have overlooked such a minor detail and gone on to take a course and earn credits that turn out not to be recognized by the board with jurisdiction over their licensure.

Secondly, inquire whether there are any pilot CPE courses, programs which are experimental in nature for which tuition is totally free (or drastically reduced) in exchange for, typically, some kind of student suggestions at the end. Such trial courses, nonetheless, bear actual credits.

The principal stipulation typical to such pilot programs is that students actually complete the course. Occasionally, the only other obligation is that detailed suggestions be provided to help enhance the program for full-fledged deployment. Other times, all the information that course-designers want to know are test scores and the like, with no other feedback necessary. Whatever the case, pilot programs are a win-win scenario for all concerned.

Last but not least, think about an online CPE instead of conventional correspondence through the mail. Some of these web-based courses might even consist of familiar fare for example workbooks and the like, but more often than not everything is online, instantly accessible and available at a much lower cost as a result of not needing to print and bind materials and pay for the postage to send them to a student.

Technology even makes such programs much better, with multimedia and interactivity frequently built into the design of the program, allowing for more interesting and pedagogically helpful presentations. Perhaps best of all, test results are virtually always instantaneous!

To make money by blogging, you need to find explosive niches to blog, topics folks care about – lots of folks. The easiest thing to do, if all you actually care about is money, is to start up an MFA website. No, this isn’t a Master of Fine Arts website, but a made-for-Adsense website. A site designed specifically for Google’s Adsense program, where you place interactive advertisements that pay you for each click made on them!

Each click from a unique visitor, as determined by a unique IP address, usually. That’s why it’s so crucial to find explosive niches to blog about, since you’ll only be making money if enough folks click on the ads you put up on your site. Of course, you now come to the next problem to be solved: how to attract all those folks?

First off, know that you’ll want to appeal to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of guests to your site – each day. That’s right; each day, your web site needs to have enough traffic for you to make money, given that every click will usually only yield pennies – yes, pennies! So you’ll need thousands of people clicking those ads to be able to make a decent amount of money each day. That’s how you blog residual cash to your business, by getting commission off of referrals!

But conversion rates, the number of folks who really generate income for you, are generally around three percent. That means for every hundred visitors, chances are only three or four – or two or one! – will actually click on an ad, netting you less than ten cents, generally. That is why it is so crucial to find topics which will interest the greatest number of individuals! Blogging popular television shows is a great way to go in many instances.

I had some online CPE courses to do the other day. As a lawyer, it’s mandatory that we take continuing professional education. Online CPE courses are fantastic, because I usually get do attend on my own schedule. There are some classes which are available live only, nearly the same as a normal course taken at a college except conducted over the internet, taking advantage of that medium’s exponentially greater reach but little else.

But these are quite the exception, and generally only available this way because of copyright concerns. I generally avoid these kinds of continuing professional education courses unless the lecturer happens to be some hot-shot lawyer or the material is especially interesting to me.

To me, the primary advantage of online CPE courses is how it is possible to go at one’s personal pace. And as a third-year associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the world, believe me when I say how much I appreciate that convenience! I work sixty to seventy-hour weeks, including weekends of course, and that’s not even considering all the years of studying I’ve already gone through: by now I have twenty-some-odd years of schooling – significantly a lot more than two whole thirds of my life!

So anything at all that lets me take it easy a little is most desired, and being able to pursue continuing professional education over the worldwide web makes a bad situation a little better.

I mean, I really don’t want to do it – but it is a requirement for periodic relicensing as an attorney, and i am not ready to quit the profession just yet, if ever – so being able to at least take my time with it takes some of the onerousness out of it all. Plus, sometimes it’s free if it is a pilot course, an experimental course for which I receive free CPE credits in exchange for offering some feedback, making things even less onerous!

With media attention principally targeted on foreclosed homeowners, this article will take a brief look to consider the effects on homebuilders such as Isaac Toussie.

Embittered homeowners who have been foreclosed upon have taken to trashing the property before getting kicked out, with anecdotal estimates by real estate agents putting the number of such vandalized properties at up to one half of all such units. But given all the media coverage of foreclosed homeowners, it’s time to take a look now at how the same crisis is affecting homebuilders like Isaac Toussie. After all, many of the small-time businessmen had to take out loans in order to finance their housing developments. Of course, there are no such developers out on the street, and their cases, unfortunate in themselves, are not anywhere near comparable to that of homeowners who have nowhere to go at all. But it’s fascinating to see how things can turn out for businessmen and women caught up in the same economic typhoon, and how responses can differ – or not.

For instance, many small homebuilders have had to dip into personal savings just to keep their companies afloat, a familiar predicament to many homeowners. Buyers were disappearing with cash deposits of several thousand left on the table, proof that local residential property markets had turned ice-cold. Even more unfortunately, many homebuilders have proceeded since then to file for bankruptcy protection, with vast sums owed not only to their lenders but also their subcontractors and workers. But still worse yet, these small-time builders have often financed their businesses with so-called recourse debt which allows banks to seize homes, cars, and other personal assets in case of default – again, quite a familiar scenario comparable to that faced by many homeowners.

Such circumstances have increased and are now considered widespread across the country. Many a builder has been left with unsold units and land, falling behind on interest payments and facing foreclosures. And in a very bad sign of the extent of the destruction involved, even very large homebuilders are in trouble, with legendary builders such as Levitt & Sons, founders of Levittown, New York on Long Island, famous for epitomizing postwar suburbia, forced into bankruptcy like some small unlucky start-up.

It’s gotten so bad that once solid partnerships and friendships have frayed as an every-man-for-himself mentality creeps into the proceedings. Contractors and subcontractors have had to take out liens on the property they build in order to protect themselves. And it is in this regard that the problems of homeowners and homebuilders differ: the latter have almost no hope of any governmental assistance whatsoever, despite being affected by the same subprime mortgage industry shenanigans that’s made owning a home so suddenly burdensome.

Legal Disclaimer: Be advised that such information as has been presented so far only constitutes mere opinion and should under no circumstances be misconstrued for professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult those properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified when it comes to making business decisions of any financial importance.

With media attention usually concentrated on foreclosed homeowners, this article will take a brief look to consider the impact on homebuilders such as Isaac Toussie.

Embittered homeowners who have been foreclosed upon have taken to trashing the premises before getting kicked out, with anecdotal estimates by real estate agents putting the number of such vandalized properties at up to one half of all such units. But given all the media coverage of foreclosed homeowners, it’s time to take a look now at how the same crisis is affecting homebuilders like Isaac Toussie. After all, many of the small-time businessmen had to take out loans in order to finance their housing developments. Of course, there are no such developers out on the street, and their cases, unfortunate in themselves, are not anywhere near comparable to that of homeowners who have nowhere to go at all. But it’s intriguing to see how things can turn out for businessmen and women caught up in the same economic catastrophe, and how responses can differ – or not.

For instance, many small homebuilders have had to dip into personal savings just to keep their companies afloat, a familiar scenario to many homeowners. Buyers were disappearing with cash deposits of several thousand left on the table, proof that local residential property markets had turned ice-cold. Even more unfortunately, many homebuilders have proceeded since then to file for bankruptcy protection, with vast sums owed not only to their lenders but also their subcontractors and workers. But still worse yet, these small-time builders have often financed their businesses with so-called recourse debt which allows banks to seize homes, cars, and other personal assets in case of default – again, quite a familiar scenario comparable to that faced by many homeowners.

Such scenarios have increased and are now considered commonplace across the country. Many a builder has been left with unsold units and land, falling behind on interest payments and facing foreclosures. And in a very bad sign of the extent of the destruction involved, even very large homebuilders are in trouble, with legendary builders such as Levitt & Sons, founders of Levittown, New York on Long Island, famous for epitomizing postwar suburbia, forced into bankruptcy like some small unlucky start-up.

It’s gotten so bad that once solid partnerships and friendships have frayed as an every-man-for-himself mentality creeps into the proceedings. Contractors and subcontractors have had to take out liens on the property they build in order to protect themselves. And it is in this respect that the ordeals of homeowners and homebuilders differ: the latter have almost no hope of any governmental assistance whatsoever, despite being affected by the same subprime mortgage industry shenanigans that’s made owning a home so suddenly burdensome.

Legal Disclaimer: Be advised that such information as has been presented so far only constitutes mere opinion and should under no circumstances be misconstrued for professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult those properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified when it comes to making business decisions of any financial importance.