More Young People Buying Homes but Settling ... - AOL Real Estate

The economic recovery has brought with it significant improvements in the national housing market. And now many consumers are in a better position to buy a home after dealing with many financial problems just a few years ago.

But with that change comes shifting demographics of who homebuyers generally are, according to the inaugural Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report from the National Association of Realtors. Today, millennials and those in generation X make up the majority of homebuyers, comprising a combined 59 percent of all purchases between July 2011 and June 2012. Millennials in particular though made up 28 percent of all such purchases, and generally tended to be more optimistic than the average buyer about their chances to build wealth through rising home values (85 percent, compared with 80 percent overall). Their purchase rate was just behind that of gen-Xers, who led the way with 31 percent of homes bought.

"Homeownership is an investment in your future, and is how many younger American families begin to accumulate wealth," said Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research. "The oldest of the millennial generation are now entering the years in which people typically buy a first home, and despite the recent downturn, homeownership still matters to them. The sheer size of the millennial generation, the largest in history after baby boomers, is expected to give a powerful boost to long-run housing demand, though in the short-term mortgage accessibility and student debt repayment remain challenges."

When it comes to which millennials are buying homes, the median person in this demographic was 28 years old, compared to 39 for generation X, with an annual income of $66,200, well below the $93,100 of the age group before them, the report said. Perhaps understandably, then, they tended to buy smaller homes (1,700 square feet versus 2,100), with substantially lower price tags. Millennials paid a median cost of $165,000 for their properties, while Gen Xers' were valued at $235,000.

However, those who are looking to buy a home in the near future may want to do so quickly. The combination of rising prices and rapidly growing interest rates could combine to price some would-be buyers out of the market in the near future, thus time is of the essence for those looking to find a good deal.

More on Credit.com:
The First Thing to Do Before Buying a Home
How Can I Get a Mortgage After Credit Problems?
The Biggest Mortgage Mistake You Can Make

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/07/15/young-homebuyers-house-sales/

Who Won The Superbowl

Halle Berry ties knot at French chateau

PARIS (AP) ? Halle Berry married her fianc?, French actor Olivier Martinez, in a weekend ceremony in a village church where princes are buried in France's Burgundy region.

The owner of the Chateau de Vallery, where the couple stayed with their 60 guests, said on Sunday that the betrothal a day earlier ended with a dinner and an unusual fireworks display ? of water, fire and snow ? in the chateau gardens. A wedding cake followed.

Patrice Vansteenberghe said the actress ? 46 and pregnant ? and her 47-year-old husband "were very beautiful and very happy."

Berry's publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, confirmed the marriage.

Vansteenberghe would not say who attended the gala wedding. But he said the bride was coy about her long, white dress, wanting to keep it from public view.

"All I can say is that it was a dress with a deeply plunging back," Vansteenberghe said. He added that The event was "confidential" because "she wanted to be left alone on the day of her marriage."

Berry, who has a five-year-old daughter, is expecting her first child with Martinez. While there was no sign of a baby bump when The Associated Press interviewed the Oscar-winning star in early April, Vansteenberghe said that "she is very pregnant."

The princes and princesses of the Conde line from the 16th to early 18th century, are buried in the church facing the chateau and its chapel until the late 19th century, when it was given to the village of Vallery.

The couple apparently spent two days at the Chateau de Vallery ? the standard rental period for weddings and other grand events, the owner said.

Vansteenberghe noted that the chateau's pigeon room, an outbuilding once used to house pigeons, is a preferred room for newly married couples, but he hedged about whether Berry and Martinez stayed there.

The oldest part of the chateau dates to the Middle Ages, but much of it was built during the Renaissance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/halle-berry-ties-knot-french-chateau-163642143.html

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Staying Healthy And Vibrant As You Age! | Anti Aging Practices

TIP! Do not dwell on your nonessential numbers in life. It?s a doctor?s job to focus on your weight, height and age.

Some people don?t know how to cope with the idea of growing older. This article will show you take action to age naturally and gracefully. You can also prevent getting older and how to control the speed you want to age.

TIP! Home improvement is a great way to personalize your house. As you age, you may find that you cannot stay in the place you thought you would be forever.

Studies on the anti-growing older effects of calorie-restricted diets are promising and ongoing.Resveratrol is a compound naturally found in both grapes and nuts.Reveratrol can be found naturally within the roots of plants like Japanese knotweed roots. Another source of reservatrol is within the roots of the South American shrub Senna quinquangulata.

TIP! As you age, you should look into switching to different makeup options other than heavy foundations and powders. Hydration only gets more important as your skin ages, so the effects get more severe.

Eating a healthy diet is the most important thing that you can do to age well.Your diet should consist mainly of fruits, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and other sources of natural fiber. This will keep your body full of the nutrients it needs to be strong and healthy.

Learning is an important in your life.

TIP! Don?t forget about the health of your eyes while aging. Some decrease in your vision is natural with aging, but regular eye exams can detect any serious conditions before they do too much damage.

There may come a point in which we cannot properly take care of them because they can no longer do it themselves. This would be the time to consider moving into a nursing home. While this can be an unpleasant thought for some, it could be the best option.

As the years pass, most find their home to be a place of solstice. Your home is always there waiting to welcome you at the end of each day.

TIP! To prevent heart disease, eat less red meat and more fish. The fat contained in meat will eventually clog your vessels and arteries.

Staying in the heat or cold for 12 hours at a time can do damage to your skin. This can cause premature growing older but much more damaging problems like skin cancer.

Eating a healthy, and keep you going throughout the day.

Look for ways to enjoy every day as if it was your last.

Make sure you are drinking enough water.Older people are more likely to be dehydrated, so be sure to drink eight to ten glasses of water daily.

TIP! If you are a smoker, you should stop as soon as possible in order to stay looking youthful and healthy. Smoking will not only thin out your lips, it will also add wrinkles to your skin.

Be very careful and avoid falling down. Falling down is the main source of serious damage to getting older bodies.Walking three times a week, three times weekly aids your balance, is a great way to improve balance and maintain physical fitness. To lower your risk of getting a fracture, use weight training, calcium and vitamin D.

Blood Pressure

TIP! Always file your medical records. If you see another doctor or visit a specialist, it?s helpful to have your own set of records to show them.

Make sure to check your blood pressure is within the normal range.High blood pressure is often called ?the silent killer? because you can cause fatal problems without even showing a single symptom. You will have to be careful to have your blood pressure checked often since your cardiovascular structure break down as you get older. If you know about high blood pressure early, you can deal with them immediately.

Many people gain weight as they grow older. Eating right and exercising will help your body maintain a healthy weight.

Improving your diet will make a great way to combat aging. Eat healthily; a variety of meats, dairy products, vegetables, and natural sugars to get what you need. Have three or four smaller meals every day, and don?t eat many snacks.

TIP! Anti-oxidants should be taken daily. They help fight against free radicals.

Always have a complete list of current medications you need. This is important whenever you get your medications and supplements from different pharmacy. This list will enable pharmacists cross-reference your medicine for side effects and interaction warnings.

TIP! You should consider injection therapy. Injection therapy is a treatment that is used to fight wrinkles.

Save money for retirement when you can, but keep savings on hand for health issues. You have to be able to deal with health problem you do not have the reserves to pay for.

Try laughing as often as you can.

TIP! Use a primer before applying makeup. It is a silicone based product, and is relatively new to the market.

There comes a point where it is not a good idea to live by oneself. You should have a meeting with someone who loves you and discuss what your different options. If there are no family members who are able to take you in, look into an elderly care facility. If you are able to live on your own, you?ll find that there are many retirement communities where you can live independently, look into independent living facilities.

TIP! As your skin ages, you need to develop good concealing skills. Put on foundation, and then use a concealer a couple shades lighter than the foundation, preferably with moisturizing properties.

It is good idea to consume lots of anti-oxidants into your diet as you can.Experts recommend you do this in order to rid yourself of the free radicals from causing problems.

Injection Therapy

TIP! As you get older, it is important that you add physical activities to your schedule to age well. As they grow older, people tend to leave the playing field for the bleachers, growing generally more sedentary.

Injection therapy is a proven and highly effective way to get rid of unwanted wrinkles. This process works by targeting the muscles in your face. Injection therapy is also believed to be a safe alternative to the invasive surgical solutions available for wrinkle reduction.It is important to remember, though, you will need to go for multiple treatments.

TIP! It is very challenging giving full-time care to an aged family member. It is stressful and can take up your whole life.

Growing older is inevitable, even though some folks will not or cannot admit it. Using the above tips, you can unlock the secret to growing older well. You can also utilize these ideas to prevent the bad things associated with aging and feel more in control.

By: Anti Aging Practices

About Anti Aging Practices

I live in San Buenaventura. I am turning 32. I study at The Bumpy Academy of Sturdy People in Santa Ana. I am self employed as a Insurer. My hobby is Wood Carving.

Source: http://antiagingpractices.com/staying-healthy-and-vibrant-as-you-age/

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Williams, Djokovic show who's No. 1 at Wimbledon

Serena Williams of the United States greets supporters after she defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan during their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States greets supporters after she defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan during their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States reacts after winning a point as she plays Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan during their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States plays a return to Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan during their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Serena Williams of the United States speaks with Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan after winning their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan plays a return to Serena Williams of the United States during their Women's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Saturday, June 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

LONDON (AP) ? As the sun set on the opening week of Wimbledon, just about the only seeding that truly signified something was No. 1.

That's the number beside the names of Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, who turned in nearly perfect performances back-to-back Saturday on Centre Court to cap nearly perfect runs to the fourth round at the All England Club, while chaos reigned all around them.

In the final match of the fortnight's first half, played with the roof closed and lights glowing to make sure it would get done as darkness approached, defending champion Williams used eight aces and 11 return winners to power past 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-2, 6-0 in 61 minutes.

"She didn't lose energy, and her game, I think, is getting better, day after day. Not better in general, but adapting to the surface. Everything is getting better," said French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been working with Williams over the past year, when she is 77-3. "So now let's enter into the most important part of the tournament. ... Now the matches are going to get tougher and tougher."

Might not necessarily have been a fair fight, considering that Date-Krumm is ranked 84th and was the oldest woman to reach the third round at Wimbledon in the 45-year Open era. Never better than a semifinalist at a Grand Slam tournament, she played Williams evenly for about three games, before the 16-time major champion took over.

"She has so much power, speed," Date-Krumm said. "She has everything."

Williams' easy win followed the 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 28th-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France turned in by 2011 champion Djokovic, who compiled a remarkable ratio of 38 winners to three unforced errors. The Serb's initial miscue of his own doing did not come until the third set's sixth game, when he double-faulted while ahead 4-1, 40-love.

"Everything went my way," Djokovic said. "I did everything I wanted to do."

Both he and Williams could say that about the way they handled matters throughout Week 1.

Williams has won all six sets she's played, allowing her opponents a total of 11 games. Djokovic has won all of his nine sets, dropping 29 games.

"You don't want to play your best tennis in the first round and continue to go down. I feel like I try to play better as each match goes on," said Williams, whose 34-match winning streak is the longest for a woman since older sister Venus had a run of 35 in 2000. "I try to find out something I can improve on from each match so I can do it better in the next round."

In other words: Look out, Sabine Lisicki, the 23rd-seeded German who will meet Williams on Monday for a quarterfinal berth.

Up next for Djokovic after the middle Sunday's traditional day of rest is another German, 13th-seeded Tommy Haas, the 35-year-old who is enjoying a career renaissance and eliminated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.

How certain was Lisicki that she would be dealing with Williams and not Date-Krumm? Lisicki tweeted a photo of her with Haas early in the second set of Williams' match, writing: "Last Germans standing" and "We both play the no1's next."

Take a glance around, and a high seeding has mattered very little, with the notable exception of No. 2 Andy Murray, Djokovic's potential foe in the final. Indeed, in many cases, any seeding at all has guaranteed nothing whatsoever. The men's Nos. 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 are all gone, including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with their 29 combined Grand Slam titles. The women's Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 are out, too, including four-time major champion Maria Sharapova and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka.

Even during a pair of victories Saturday, both No. 4-seeded players, David Ferrer and Agnieszka Rawdwanska, looked shaky. Ferrer, the French Open runner-up this month, was treated for blisters on his right foot while coming back to beat No. 26 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Radwanska, who lost to Williams in last year's Wimbledon final, was pushed to three sets by 18-year-old American Madison Keys before winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

"I'm very happy to be a little bit better," Radwanska said. "It was really close. Every set was really tight."

The highest-seeded man other than Murray on his half of the field is No. 20 Mikhail Youzhny, who will play the 2012 U.S. Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up after defeating Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Otherwise, Saturday's winners on that side of the men's draw were 130th-ranked Lukasz Kubot of Poland, who beat No. 25 Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-3, 6-4; 80th-ranked Kenny de Schepper of France, who defeated No. 22 Juan Monaco 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-4; and 54th-ranked Fernando Verdasco of Spain, a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 winner against Ernests Gulbis.

Things have generally been less hectic on Djokovic's portion of the tournament, but No. 9 Richard Gasquet lost 7-6 (7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) to 20-year-old Bernard Tomic, whose father has been barred from tournaments after being accused of head-butting Tomic's hitting partner. No. 23 Andreas Seppi of Italy, meanwhile, won his seventh consecutive five-setter, edging No. 12 Kei Nishikori 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4, and 49th-ranked Ivan Dodig of Croatia moved on when Igor Sijsling retired while trailing 6-0, 6-1, 1-0, the 13th player to stop mid-match or withdraw before one, equaling a tournament high.

For a moment, it looked as if there might be a 14th when No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro hyperextended his left knee as chased a ball late in his 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-0 defeat of Grega Zemlja. The 2009 U.S. Open went champion sprawling face-forward into the players' chairs and racket bags on the sideline.

"It was really painful," del Potro said. "I was a little scared."

Del Potro and Murray each own one Grand Slam title, the only two of the last 33 not claimed by Federer, Nadal or Djokovic.

There isn't a lot of company for Williams in the major championship department, either. Two women with one apiece advanced Saturday, though: 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and 2011 French Open winner Li Na.

Otherwise, just as with the men, there are some fresh faces among the women. That includes 19-year-old Laura Robson, the first British woman to reach Wimbledon's fourth round since 1998; 19-year-old Monica Puig of Puerto Rico; and 20-year-old Sloane Stephens of the U.S., who'll face Puig on Monday.

That matchup prompted this question for Stephens from a reporter: Is there pressure for you when you're playing someone in the next round who you're older than?

"Like a year, OK," Stephens said. "No, not really."

At 31, Williams is the oldest No. 1 in WTA rankings history, but she's still more than a decade Date-Krumm's junior.

"I honestly never thought I would play until my 30s, to be honest. I don't see my stopping any time soon," she said. "However, I don't see myself playing into my 40s. That's why I have so much respect for Kimiko."

They spent a good chunk of the early evening wondering where and when they would play, because their match was scheduled to be last on Court 1, where Ferrer and Dolgopolov went to a fifth set. It wasn't until 7:59 p.m., minutes after Djokovic's match ended, that the Wimbledon referee's office announced it was shifting Williams' match to Centre Court, with the roof shut and lights on.

Williams was rather dominant serving and receiving. In the first set, she delivered seven aces at up to 116 mph, at least one in each of her four services game, and hit nine return winners, at least one in each of Date-Krumm's four service games.

When it was over, Williams wagged an index finger in the air, as if to remind all she is No. 1, then exchanged high-fives with some fans.

"Every time I go out there, I tell you, I feel like anything can happen. I don't feel invincible. I feel like anything can happen," she said. "More than anything, that keeps me completely motivated."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-29-Wimbledon/id-68e8c81416c046bfa71e3723df4352fa

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Beware: Those Instagrams of Fruit Want to Hijack Your Account

Heads up: Instagram is weathering a bit of a spam attack right now, and as you may have noticed, it's drowning in fruit. This rather large wave of juicy spam seems to be pushing some sort of "miracle fruit diet" and it could mess up your account if you fall for it.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/v_NMDnOosQs/beware-those-instagrams-of-fruit-want-to-hijack-your-a-620366687

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Poll shows split in approval for outgoing Mayor Villaraigosa

As Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa leaves office, the city's voters are deeply split over his tumultuous eight-year tenure, according to a new USC Price/Los Angeles Times poll.

Villaraigosa will turn over the reins of the city Sunday night to Eric Garcetti in a markedly different environment from the euphoric one that greeted him in 2005, when he was elected the first Latino mayor in the city's modern history. He came into office with soaring marks ? nearly two-thirds of the city's voters viewed him favorably.

Voters surveyed in recent days do not look as kindly upon him, with 47% giving him a favorable rating and 40% disapproving of his time in office.

"The mayor's leaving office with some very mixed voter opinions of his accomplishments," said Jeff Harrelson, a partner at M4 Strategies, the Republican firm on the bipartisan polling team that conducted the survey for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and The Times. Still, he said, "it's not overall all that bad for someone whose time in office included a national recession."

Villaraigosa's two terms in office coincided with high unemployment and the crash of the housing market across the nation, both of which hit California and Los Angeles particularly hard.

"Given the length and the severity of the state's and region's recession, these are very good numbers for an outgoing mayor," said poll director Dan Schnur, head of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and a former GOP operative.

Demographic and partisan divides drove poll respondents' feelings about Villaraigosa. Latinos, younger voters and Democrats tended to have more favorable views of Villaraigosa; less favorable views came from whites, Republicans, older voters and those who had lived in the city for three decades or more.

The contrast among white and Latino voters was the starkest. Villaraigosa was effectively tied among white voters, whereas 58% of Latinos viewed him favorably and only 33% viewed him unfavorably.

Several Latino poll respondents who approved of the mayor's performance said Villaraigosa's ethnicity did not affect their views.

"That doesn't matter to me," Adriana Navarro, a 43-year-old grocery store supervisor, said in a follow-up interview.

The Winnetka resident, a Democrat, said she especially appreciated the improvements under Villaraigosa in public transportation and development in downtown Los Angeles, which she enjoys visiting.

"He did a lot of good things in the downtown, and I like that because I'm a downtown girl," Navarro said.

As expected, Villaraigosa did as well among Democrats as with Latinos, with 58% viewing him favorably.

"As his term has gone on, he's become more visible on the national stage," said Amy Levin of Benenson Strategy Group, the Democratic firm that worked on the poll. "There's more of a partisan split going on here than there has been in the past."

Republicans widely viewed Villaraigosa unfavorably. In interviews, some said that was due to their perception that he paid greater attention to raising his profile ? chairing the Democratic Party's 2012 presidential convention, making the rounds on cable television to support President Obama and self-aggrandizing, they said ? than to his duties at home.

"He spent more time out of the office than in the office, always on TV, always at sports games," said Don Gray, who lives in West Los Angeles and identified himself as a "strong Republican."

"Villaraigosa's a very good talker, and he can be likable to a certain extent, but when it comes to actually putting your foot down and doing what's necessary, he shakes."

Villaraigosa won the highest marks for his work on public transportation and public safety, and his lowest grades on education, the city's gaping budget deficit and job creation.

His standing on education marked a repudiation because one of the hallmarks of Villaraigosa's tenure was his effort to shake up the city's schools. Twenty-two percent of poll respondents said schools had declined the most during the last eight years, making it their greatest concern.

Villaraigosa sought unsuccessfully to take over the schools, took a strong stance against the city's teachers union, shaped the school board through his support of candidates and took over some of the city's most struggling campuses, with mixed results.

Navarro, who gave Villaraigosa a "very favorable" rating, said that during his tenure she was most disappointed in the performance of the city's schools. Her two children both attended public school, and she saw steady declines in services, from music education to after-school tutoring.

"A lot of the sports got cut. Now we have to pay; the parents need to pay and donate time for the programs to continue. We have to raise money," she said.

Schnur, of USC's Unruh Institute, noted that many voters do not realize that the mayor has no formal authority over the schools. Funding was slashed in recent years by lawmakers in Sacramento.

Typically, perceptions of mayoral tenures are most affected by economic conditions, which are largely out of mayors' control. In Villaraigosa's case, his two terms were hobbled in some voters' minds by the national recession.

Alexandria Polsky-Bethune, a self-described moderate Democrat who gave Villaraigosa a "very unfavorable" rating, said many of her classmates at Cal State Northridge have graduated but not been able to find work.

"I'm worried," said the 21-year-old communications major, who will start her senior year in the fall. "Most of them move back home with no jobs. I love my family, but I don't plan on moving back home."

The poll, which interviewed 500 registered voters by telephone, was conducted June 24-26. The survey has an overall margin of error of 4.4 percentage points in either direction, with a higher margin of error for subgroups.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/la-me-poll-villaraigosa-20130630,0,6805531.story?track=rss

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Opening the frontiers of International business in the east - Vanguard

By Moses Nosike

President Goodluck Jonathan?s gigantic steps to improving agriculture in the country are getting a boost with the recent establishment of an Agricultural International Market in Enugu State.? The market which is a sole venture from a reputable industrial outfit based in Lagos, Eugene-Rose, will surely break the much needed barrier in the growth of commerce and industry in the south eastern part of Nigeria.

Coming at a time when clarion calls for such ventures by the enterprising and business-inclined men and women from that part of the country have fallen on deaf ears, the new International market will surely fill the much needed yawning gap created by negligence or abandonment. Chief Executive Officer of Eugene-Rose, the company pioneering the gigantic stride, Chief Eugene Ngozichukwuka Ibeaham spoke exhaustively on the project. Excerpts:

Background: I started manufacturing in 1994 after a stint in buying and selling in Lagos. During that time, I ventured into producing nylon, before I started processing water and toilet roll.? That was the two major things I was producing then, but because of the competitive nature of toilet roll, we had to leave it and faced water both in sachet and in bottle. After that, we went into? estate development. That is what we have been doing till date.

Secret of success in business

I have tried as much as possible not to engage in any shoddy deal while doing my business.? I always ensure that what we do is legal, no manoeuvreings and no faking.? We go for the best in quality.? People should avoid using other people?s wealth or ingenuity to make money.? We all know that God comes first if you want to achieve success but we must endeavour to avoid the temptation to get involved in criminal deals.

New stride

We have started investing at home, trying to encourage people especially Igbos to look inwards.? If you look around now, I can say our society, mostly in the Eastern region, we have been witnessing cases of kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal acts which is inimical to the development of any society.

The once applauded economic prowess of the people from the East has gone down while criminality has taken over.? We all know that kidnapping is a curse and it is anathema for any society to be known for that.? It is just like dealing in slave trade in those days and we are all witnesses to the curse it brought to the perpetrators.

So, after thinking about all these ugly development, I decided to engage in meaningful ventures that will, to a large extent, checkmate the rising spate of these crimes in our area.? God has given us that commercial ability to progress in this country.

In the North, God gave them very fertile land; they cultivate any type of crop all year round.? In the east, what we have is commerce, we know how to trade.? Even when an Igbo man packs sand, he will sell it. So, we have to start on that line of market.? In realization of this fact, we decided to build a very big international market in the east.? The name is Agric. International Market.

It is situated along Enugu- Onitsha express way, Ugwu- Oba -Aniocha-Oji River in Enugu state.?? The land mark is very big. The plot we are using now is more than a hundred and fifty.? It is located in a very large expanse of land and we anticipate that in future, it may even extend to Ninth-Mile.

The good thing is that we have enough land for any kind of expansion and development. We are calling all Igbo sons and daughters at home and abroad to come, because as the saying goes, ?one man doesn?t stay in the bush?. So, we are calling on every one, both male and female investors to join us.

For now, the market has kicked off with my personal financial commitment but I expect all that have the good interest of the people of the South east at heart to come and invest there.? From what we are seeing now, it will turn out to be the widest and prosperous investment in the East of the Niger in future.

The first block was laid in 2012, around February.?? We are about one year plus now and if you go to the market, you will see a lot of structures on ground; blocks of shop, hotels, security posts and other things. People are even coming in, trading in a small capacity as they can, and I believe that more people will be coming.

How it all started?

Before we entered into the business, we advertized, shared and distributed fliers calling on interested people to come; we sold our forms for N10,000.00 and all that.? The initial problem we had was skepticism on the part? of would-be investors.

You know in the east, we have had such markets but they failed to flourish or develop well.?? However, we convinced investors by telling them the difference in our own which is that normal business will kick-start without delay and that we will not wait for the completion of the entire structures before swinging into action.

Our style is that if it is one shop we build, we start from there. If it?s two, we progress. We are not going to wait until every where and every bank comes over before we can start it.? Big markets like Alaba in Lagos started that way.

Initially, people thought it was a fraudulent venture but when they saw structures rising up in the market and activities started booming, they now realized that we are serious.? We equally assured investors that they can pay gradually until they are able to own the structures after completing their payments.

Sponsors

To be frank with you, up till this moment I am talking, no government has? asked us how we are doing or what we are? doing there?? only the Local Government Chairman came to see what we are doing and he commended us. We are planning to meet them because we have just completed the security post? inside the market which will be opened soon.

We want to hand it over to the army for now.? This will show you the type of efforts we have made towards securing the market.?? So far, I have been sponsoring the project single-handedly. It is very difficult to say the exact amount of money we have put into the project so far but I can tell you? it is quite enormous.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/opening-the-frontiers-of-international-business-in-the-east/

Super Moon June 2013