Did you ever consider a retirement home as a business opportunity? Did you know that it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the market. Obviously, this is due to the aging population. And, the demand for space in retirement homes will continue to grow.

You should be aware that retirement homes unlike Homes for the Aged, Nursing Homes and Private Hospitals are somewhat unregulated. Space, accommodation and the services provided are all subject to the market forces of supply and demand. A good and successful facility will house a good mix of people. It will have a reasonable division between private areas and common areas. There should be plenty of places to sit and relax, and simply catch up on one’s reading. If you don’t have the time to read in your retirement, then just when are you going to read?

There is also a need for physical activities. Today’s aging population is far more active than were previous generations. A place for a gym, yoga class or dance class would work well. Playing cards and pottery classes are becoming less popular.

If you are considering starting a retirement home or acquiring an existing one, you should think about the maturation of the home population over time. A retirement home which opens up to new residents, will soon fill up with the young elderly. These are people in their seventies, often with an average age around 75. However, as time goes on, the retirement home will find that its average age increases with its residents. In 10 years, the home will have a population of 85 year olds, and in a further decade the average age will be 95.

Now, of course, there’s attrition. Some residents will move, some will become ill and require a nursing home and others will pass away. But, the important matter to note is that the average age is increasing. As new residents move in, they are likely to be attracted to a home with an average age close to their own. So, if your average age has increased to 85, then you are likely to attract 85 year olds. The 75 year olds will go elsewhere. That issue becomes the most difficult matter to manage when you are running a retirement home. So, what’s the solution?

Actually, the solution is obvious. You expand! You continue to build onto your existing facility. You need to attract the young elderly and in order to do so, you will have to offer relatively new facilities catering to the young elderly.

So, when you are looking for a facility you will need to ensure that there’s lots of room for expansion. You need to have a 20 year strategic building plan.

To simply acquire an existing facility and hope that the business will maintain itself would be rather foolhardy. Your business success is in the “mix’. The changes in demand for services will never be greater than the 75 to 95 age range. Residents will become more and more dependent and require more and more services to assist them in their daily living routines. Each of these additional services becomes an additional profit centre.

So, if you’re thinking about buying a retirement home, be sure you know the average age of the residents and be sure that you have room to expand.

http://ontariorealestatesource.blogspot.com/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander,  Canadian funding corp CEO

The common law Doctrine of Privity as it relates to contracts provides that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person or agent except the parties to it. In essence, the Doctrine of Privity of Contracts simply states, that only the parties to a contract have the right to sue or be sued under it. This means, generally speaking, that third parties who get a benefit under a contract do not have the right to go against the parties to the contract beyond the entitlement to such benefit. An example of this occurs when a manufacturer sells a product to a distributor and the distributor sells the product to a retailer. The retailer then sells the product to a consumer. There is no privity of contract between the manufacturer and the consumer.

However, one exception to this doctrine is that for contracts, which create an interest in land. Contracts involving real property run with the land, so that a new property owner can sue or be sued on a contract, even though he was not a party to it. A second exception to the Doctrine of Privity is an assignment

In an assignment, a person (called the assignor) can assign to a third party (the assignee) his entitlement to benefits arising out of a contract. If he does so, the third party has the right to sue to enforce those benefits. Obviously, a person cannot assign liabilities under a contract.

There are two types of assignments: statutory and equitable. A statutory assignment has three essentials:

[ ] The assignment is in writing.

[ ] The assignment is absolute, that is for the whole amount, and unconditional.

[ ] Notice of the assignment has been given in writing to the original promissor.

If any of the foregoing essentials is missing, the assignment might still be equitable. Statutory and equitable assignments are enforced differently by the Courts. In an equitable assignment all three parties must be named as parties in a court action to recover the amount outstanding. In a statutory assignment, on the other hand, only the original promissor and the assignee are named as parties to the action. The assignor is not a party to it.

An assignment does not alter the rights of the parties to the original contract. The assignee has no better legal position than the assignor had. More specifically, he receives the assignment subject to any defenses, which could have been raised between the original parties. If the assignor has properly assigned his rights, he is free from any further liabilities. It is now up to the assignee to collect the benefits of the original contract. Should the assignee fail, he cannot sue the assignor for it.

Finally, the original promissor does not have to make payments to the assignee until he receives proper notice. Once this notice is received, the original promissor must pay to the assignee and not the assignor even though he has not consented to the assignment.

Although no one can assign his liabilities under a contract, as stated above, a promissor can have his obligations performed by someone else. For instance, a promissor can require his employee or sub-contractor to perform his obligations under a building construction contract. Where a promissor has someone else perform his obligations under a contract, it is called vicarious performance. Vicarious performance is not an assignment, in that it does not result in the substitution of one the original contracting parties for another.

In the aforesaid example of a building construction agreement, the original contractor (promissor) is still liable to the other contracting party. In addition, the sub-contractor who performs vicariously cannot be sued by the other contracting party for non-performance. Only the building contractor can sue the sub-contractor, and this is so because of the privy of contract intercurrent between the two of them.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

http://houseenergy.blogspot.com/2009/07/assignees-nominees-and-other-extra.html

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, canadian funding corp CEO

Insurance Coverages You Need:

If you haven’t updated your insurance coverage in some time, your Hamill, North Dakota Mobile Home Parts may be vastly underinsured. For example, if your home is worth $150,000 on the real estate market, how Sterling, Nebraska Log Home Floor Plans insurance should you carry? $150,000? $75,000? $300,000? While your mortgage broker may require a specific amount of insurance (usually the value of the mortgage), the real answer depends on how much it would cost to rebuild the home. If it will cost $200,000 to rebuild your home, then you will need at least that much coverage; otherwise, you’ll come up short.

In general, you will need enough insurance to cover: Powder River, Wyoming Skyline Double Wide your home, replacing your personal property, paying for temporary living expenses during repairs, and covering your liability to others.

When it comes to covering your rebuilding your home, multiply the square footage of your home by local “per square foot” construction costs. Contact the local building association, a realtor, or your insurance agent to obtain the local construction cost figure.

Insuring your possessions is trickier than simply saying, “I’ll take $50,000 in coverage.” First, go room through room and document your belongings. Include dollar figures of how much it would cost to replace each item. Make sure that your policy uses “replacement cost” rather than “actual cash value.” In addition, be aware of the limitations of your policy. For example, fine jewelry, fur, silverware, artwork, coin collections, electronics, cash, and guns (as well as other items) often have maximum limits. If you have valuables exceeding these limits, you will need to obtain an endorsement or rider.

Buy enough liability to cover your assets. For example, if you have $1 million in savings and other assets, yet only have $300,000 in liability insurance and are involved in a liability lawsuit, the plaintiff may pursue your additional assets above and beyond your liability limits.

If you live in an area where the risk of floods or earthquakes is of concern, you may want to consider optional flood or earthquake insurance as these perils are excluded from typical insurance policies. In addition, if you have a swimming pool or a dog, you might need additional coverage addressing these increased risks.

Insurance Coverages You Don’t Need:

Reviewing your policy each year helps ensure that you aren’t paying for coverages you do not need. For example, if you had purchased a rider adding coverage because you owned a pit bull and the dog has since died, you can drop coverage. Likewise, if you’ve sold your jewelry or art collection, why continue to insure it with an expensive rider? Look at your coverages, endorsements, riders, and limits with an eye for whether that coverage is still necessary. In addition, look at the dollar figures. A few years ago, it may have made sense to pay an extra $100 per year to add a rider protecting your computer from household mishaps, but now that you can buy a comparable computer for a few hundred dollars as opposed to thousands, the coverage may no longer be worth the price.

Finally, while examining your insurance policy, schedule a consultation with your insurance company or agent and ask how you can reduce your costs while maintaining adequate coverage. For example, by installing deadbolt locks or a security system, you may reap a large discount.

By: Mr. Mark Decherd

http://modular-housing28418.blogspot.com/2009/07/insurance-coverage-what-you-need-and.html

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Canadian Funding Corp was very pleased that the Halifax YWCA also recognized that if the existing network of shelters could not meet the long-term needs of these “hardest to house” women, the YWCA would have to do more than just provide another shelter. Building on a model successfully implemented by the YWCA in the Niagara Region, the Halifax YWCA used anonymous surveys and one-on-one interviews to seek input from current and previous residents about their housing needs and the barriers they face.

Many of the women reported that credit problems, an inability to present well and a lack of support prevented them from finding or maintaining their own apartments. Some of the women observed that the locations of the existing shelters kept them too close to the people and the neighbourhoods that perpetuated the challenges they faced. To heal over time, they needed a safe place and some measure of privacy, while retaining access to the individual support they needed. Above all, the women wanted a place they could call their own.

Lacking a single facility to help these women, the YWCA arrived at a solution by securing 24 single-bedroom units at below market rent, dispersed across three separate areas of the city. Called the Women in Supported Housing (WISH) Program, its purpose is to prevent and alleviate homelessness for hard-to-house women in the municipality. The needs that the women had clearly identified helped the YWCA make its case to the provincial government–as did support from several local women’s shelters, which highlighted the fact that the YWCA’s model of support was both necessary and unique. The Nova Scotia Department of Community Services agreed to a daily amount for the support services provided to each woman in WISH. Once the agreement was in place, it elicited donations, such as small kitchen appliances, furniture and other household goods–enough to fully furnish 24 units. Donations continue to arrive almost daily.

YWCA launched WISH in November 2005, and has since provided more than 60 women with stability, a safe place to call home, a support network and access to the specialized resources they need, such as referrals to addiction-treatment programs, volunteer positions and resources, mental-health supports, food bank services, and educational and vocational programs. With this support, and time to heal, many of the women have since moved on to independent living or secure housing elsewhere.