Stacey-Ann's Blog

Swine Flu, Known as H1N1 Influenza, Facts and symptoms

Swine Flu, officially known as H1N1 influenza , is having a far reaching effect on every one of us. The virus was first tracked in a small town in Mexico in May of 2009 and has spread to nearly every part of the world. The World Health Organization considers it a phase 6 pandemic. Individual cases have stopped being verified and reported as the numbers have increased exponentially. The death toll has nearly reached 3,000 and the fall flu season hasn't hit yet.

Symptoms of the H1N1 virus are similar to other strains of flu including muscle aches, upper respiratory infection, fever, nausea and general weakness. What makes this flu scary is that deaths have been reported in younger apparently healthy individuals. Usually the mortality rate for influenza is highest among the very young, old, and those in poor health. It's thought that the immune systems of younger healthy adults over react to the virus. The current flu vaccine is ineffective against this new H1N1 strain. Flu is caused by a virus.

the Difference between Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

Symptom	Cold	H1N1 Flu
Fever	Fever is rare with a cold.	Fever is usually present with the flu in up to 80% of all flu cases. A temperature of 100°F or higher for 3 to 4 days is associated with the flu.
Coughing	A hacking, productive (mucus- producing) cough is often present with a cold.	A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with the flu (sometimes referred to as dry cough).
Aches	Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold.	Severe aches and pains are common with the flu.
Stuffy Nose	Stuffy nose is commonly present with a cold and typically resolves spontaneously within a week.	Stuffy nose is not commonly present with the flu.
Chills	Chills are uncommon with a cold.	60% of people who have the flu experience chills.
Tiredness	Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold.	Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu.
Sneezing	Sneezing is commonly present with a cold.	Sneezing is not common with the flu.
Sudden Symptoms	Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days.	The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains.
Headache	A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.	A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases.
Sore Throat	Sore throat is commonly present with a cold.	Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu.
Chest Discomfort	Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold.	Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu.

The only way to stop the spread of the epidemic is to spread the awareness.

If your credit is good, it shows you take responsibility for yourself and will most likely make an excellent tenant. Property Management companies have the task of seeking occupants who will faithfully make monthly payments and exercise good housekeeping skills.

At times, available  rental homes will remain vacant too long because property managers refuse to take risks in selecting a candidate who has not shown evidence of wise credit usage which reflects on their report.  It's always a pleasure to present positive findings back to property owners.

Scores of 600 and up are considered to be good rental potentials.  Ratings of lesser points indicate troubling challenges, and could be reasons for denial of a rental home. 

Annual credit reports for consumers are available and offered FREE by three major credit reporting bureaus.  Credit scores can be obtained for a charge.  More information can be found online at: Annual Credit Report or by phone at:

• Trans Union:  800-916-8800
• Experian:  888-397-3742
• Equifax:  800-685-1111

If you are searching for a rental accommodation and possess good credit, the door is wide open with multiple choices in housing, while those with poor credit are limited.

 

Diane Rice is Broker/Owner of Rice Property Management & Realty, LLC., located in South Holland, Illinois with licenses in Indiana and Illinois.  Rental agents of the company can be reached at 708-862-7423.

© Copyright 2009 Rice Property Management, All rights reserved

These 10 Commandments home buyers must follow may seem like common sense to many. Buyers, however, can sometimes forget with all the excitement surrounding the buying of their new home. In the past couple of weeks, I have heard of two separate buyers who saw their home loan turned down, and their dream shattered, a few days before closing because they had bought furniture for their new home before it actually became their home. Both of them now have beautiful furniture with no home to put them in.

These two buyers were not my clients but it always hurts when I hear of transactions falling apart for reasons that could have been avoided. These 10 commandments are part of the buyer packet I give all my clients when we first meet and I always stress that once they get pre-approved and the process is started, they can't do anything that might affect their credit.

1. Thou shalt not change jobs, become self-employed or quit your job.

2. Thou shalt not buy a car, truck or van (or you may be living in it)!

3. Thou shalt not use credit cards excessively or let your accounts fall behind.

4. Thou shalt not spend money you have set aside for closing.

5. Thou shalt not omit debts or liabilities from your loan application.

6. Thou shalt not buy furniture.

7. Thou shalt not originate any inquiries into your credit.

8. Thou shalt not make large deposits without first checking with your loan officer.

9. Thou shalt not change bank accounts.

10. Thou shalt not co-sign a loan for anyone.

If you are in the process of buying a home, remember that your credit must not change or be affected in any way until you actually sign the paperwork and get possession of your new home. Lenders will not only look into your credit when you first get pre-approved, they will check it again (and sometimes again and again) before they let you sign the mortgage. If you want to buy new furniture for your home or change jobs, just be patient. There will always be time to do it after the closing.

This is a question this often on the minds of buyers.  Buyer's want to be sure they are to not going to lose their earnest money.

What is earnest money anyway?  It's like a deposit to show the seller that you really interested (earnestly) in buying their property. It's usually in the form of check made out to the escrow company and held in trust accounts until the transaction closes.  It can be in the form of promissory note or anything else the seller is willing to accept.  The full amount of the earnest money is credited toward the purchase price of the property at closing.  There is no standard amount of earnest money, it's commonly about 1 percent of the purchase price.  If the buyer really wants to impress the seller they will make it a lot higher to show them that they are really earnest about purchasing their property.  Or make it nonrefundable after certain conditions are met.

As far as getting the earnest money back goes, as long as the buyer is careful about meeting contract deadlines the earnest money is usually safe or refundable.  As a buyer you must be aware that you need to apply for financing (if there's a financing contingency) within five days of mutual acceptance (that's the date all timelines run from.) You to have your home inspection and response to the seller within ten days.  Usually the the first ten days is the easiest time to get your earnest money back because of that inspection contingency.  The contingency is subjective and you don't like something in the inspection report or even the color of the front door, you can check the box on the inspection response that says "Buyer' s inspection of Property is disapproved and the Agreement is terminated.  The Earnest Money shall be refunded to the buyer." As you can see you don't even have to give a reason.
After this ten days of buyers earnest money is usually in jeopardy of  being forfeited to the seller.
There are other circumstances where a buyer can get their earnest money back.  If there is a financing contingency and within 30 days the lender turns the buyer down for a loan they can get their earnest money back.  If the appraisal doesn't meet the purchase price and the seller is not willing to reduce the price or the buyer and seller can't come to some new agreement based on appraisal the buyer can get the earnest money back.
If the contract runs until closing and the buyer decides to walk away at  the last-minute and go to Costa Rica instead of purchasing the property, the seller is surely going to keep the earnest money.

If you have any other questions about earnest money or anything else to do with Bellingham real estate feel free to give me call at 360-739-6981