Panthers’ Owner David Tepper Just Donated $22 Million To Help Fight COVID-19

Charlotte Stories
-
0
Panthers’ Owner David Tepper Just Donated $22 Million To Help Fight COVID-19

Carolina Panthers’ owner David Tepper has just contributed the largest individual donation in the Carolinas to help fight COVID-19.

According to Forbes, the billionaire hedge fund owner made a donation of $22 million to relief efforts for the virus. This is in addition to the $1 million gift he made last month to Charlotte’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

“Generally when you have a [hurricane], people have lost their possessions and everything else, but in a month or so, they’re back to work and there’s rebuilding that’s going on,” Tepper told Forbes. “Here, it’s people losing their ability to make money, and that time period doesn’t have a certain end, which also creates a specific challenge for what you do with any kind of philanthropy… You want to see how long this lasts, what the government response is, but there’s some things you know you need to do now, and some things you know that will not be covered.”

If you’d like to help the relief efforts, you can contribute to the COVID-19 Response Fund, by visiting HelpCharMeck.org.

Corporations and foundations that wish to make a donation may contact either Catherine Warfield, Senior Vice President of Philanthropic Advancement at FFTC, at 704.973.4515 or cwarfield@fftc.org; or Clint Hill, Chief Development Officer at United Way of Central Carolinas, at 704.371.6359 or chill@uwcentralcarolinas.org.

North Carolina Ranked The 9th Best State for Working from Home

Charlotte Stories
-
0
North Carolina Ranked The 9th Best State for Working from Home

With COVID-19 turning home into the workplace nationwide, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best States for Working from Home, in order to highlight which areas are thriving and which are struggling in this pandemic economy.

To identify which states are most conducive to working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of workers working from home before COVID-19 to internet cost and cybersecurity. We also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in the state. Together, these metrics show how feasible working from home is in terms of cost, comfort and safety. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a WalletHub Q&A.

Working from Home in North Carolina (1=Best, 25=Avg.):

  • 17th – Share of Population Working from Home (pre-COVID-19)
  • 28th – Share of Potential Telecommuters
  • 19th – Households’ Internet Access
  • 5th – Average Home Square Footage
  • 9th – Cybersecurity
  • 17th – Average Retail Price of Electricity

North Carolina was ranked 9th overall and South Carolina was ranked 28th overall.

Best States for Remote Work

Overall Rank
(1=Best)		 State Total Score ‘Work Environment’ Rank ‘Living Environment’ Rank
1 Delaware 68.17 2 7
2 Washington 64.08 9 3
3 New Hampshire 63.96 1 40
4 Colorado 63.80 3 24
5 Georgia 62.70 23 1
6 Arizona 62.45 8 13
7 Utah 62.23 6 23
8 Oregon 61.84 10 21
9 North Carolina 61.40 5 34
10 South Dakota 61.20 17 17
11 Virginia 61.19 24 5
12 Tennessee 61.03 25 4
13 Minnesota 60.97 14 25
14 New Jersey 60.84 11 28
15 Vermont 60.55 19 14
16 Idaho 60.34 20 20
17 Massachusetts 60.02 15 31
18 Nevada 59.89 28 6
19 Maryland 59.57 21 22
20 Florida 59.51 16 36
21 Pennsylvania 59.37 12 37
22 Texas 59.25 33 8
23 Ohio 59.07 27 18
24 Connecticut 58.91 13 39
25 Alabama 57.93 35 11
26 Indiana 57.78 37 12
27 Kentucky 57.49 26 32
28 South Carolina 57.25 40 9
29 Maine 56.89 7 49
30 Montana 56.63 43 2
31 California 55.96 22 45
32 New York 55.55 36 35
33 Wisconsin 55.25 29 43
34 New Mexico 54.71 42 19
35 Illinois 54.69 30 44
36 Michigan 54.66 34 41
37 Nebraska 54.56 46 10
38 Kansas 54.38 32 46
39 Louisiana 54.20 44 16
40 Missouri 54.04 39 38
41 West Virginia 54.03 41 30
42 District of Columbia 53.99 4 50
43 Wyoming 53.55 45 26
44 Iowa 53.49 38 42
45 Rhode Island 53.20 31 47
46 North Dakota 51.66 48 27
47 Oklahoma 51.61 47 33
48 Arkansas 49.53 49 29
49 Mississippi 47.45 50 15
50 Hawaii 46.84 18 51
51 Alaska 40.56 51 48

For the full report, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-from-home/72801/

How to Enter the Real Estate Market

Charlotte Stories
-
0
How to Enter the Real Estate Market

Real estate investment is becoming an increasingly common investment type among professional and amateur investors alike. If you’re looking to enter the world of real estate investing, you will need to understand all the different aspects of the real estate market. You can’t just apply what you’ve learned from stocks and bonds here, it’s a completely different ball game. 

Most mortgages require a 20-25% down payment while some might only require a mere 5%. In those cases, a low down payment emboldens investors as it makes their barriers to entry low. This guide will show you the 4 main ways that you can go about real estate investing, listing both pros and cons.  

Become a Landlord

While becoming a landlord sounds like an interesting and exciting role, it requires someone who has substantial up-front capital. You will first need to have the capital to buy a property before renovating it. Depending on how you want your property to look, you can opt to bring in a contractor or DIY. Next, you will need to source for tenants by conducting inspections and credit checks. For dull months where you don’t have any prospective tenants, you will also need enough capital to cover those. Furthermore, you will also need to conduct regular maintenance such as pest control, lawn mowing, etc. to make sure that the property is livable.  

Pros: 

Having a rental property brings in a regular flow of income. With the assumption that the value of homes appreciates over time, as with most properties, you will be able to hold a more valuable asset compared to what you first started with. Furthermore, most of the costs can be tax-deductible, which allows you to offset the amount using other investments that you might have. However, once the full mortgage has been paid, the majority of the rent collected will be considered profits. 

Cons: 

Managing an investment property on your own can be extremely troublesome, especially since you will also have to look over any administrative matters on tenants and maintenance. In some cases, you might even have to personally deal with uncooperative tenants which could lead to eviction. 

Thus, we recommend getting a property management company to help you with these matters, such as https://rentbottomline.com/property-management/.

Real Estate Investment Groups (REIGs)

REIGs are small mutual funds that invest in rental properties. Typically, investors will pump in capital through the company, owning as many units of the apartment/condo as they would like. As the investment property is managed by the company, the company will have the responsibility of handling maintenance, screening tenants, and taking care of other administrative duties. As such, a part of the monthly rent will be allocated to the company for helping with these duties. In order to guard against vacant rooms, the company will pool together investors’ capital. This means that as an investor, you will still receive some income even if it means that your unit is empty. Most of the time, the combined investors’ capital will be able to cover the costs of the occasional vacant properties  

Pros: 

Investing in REIGs will be a perfect choice for the investor that does not have time to entertain administrative duties. This is because all the work is done by the company, while you will continue receiving an income whether or not your unit is occupied or vacant. 

Cons:

You will need to be discerning and invest in properties where you personally trust the companies that own it. Furthermore, there is also a risk of there being more vacancies than the pool of investors’ capital can cover. This might put you in a potentially risky investment situation. 

Real Estate Trading

Real estate trading is more suitable for investors with bigger risk appetite. This is due to the fact that real estate traders usually plan to purchase undervalued properties and sell them off within 6 months of their purchase. Most real estate traders do not have enough cash on hand to last them through tough times to pay off their mortgage. Thus, if you are in a situation where you can’t unload a property, you might experience continued losses. There are other ways to go about real estate trading. For example, you could look at your investment as more long term – buying a property cheap and adding value by renovating it. 

Pros: 

When the market is doing well, you might be able to snag a good deal and gain significant rewards even within a short period of time. 

Cons: 

Not suitable for investors with small risk appetite. You will need a deep understanding and knowledge of the market as you will need to know when to buy and how to sell in order to make a good profit. You might even experience losses when times are bad and you aren’t able to sell your property. 

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

REITs allow anyone to own or finance properties in the same way shareholders benefit by owning stocks and other corporations. The stockholders of REITs earn a share of the income produced through real estate investment, and they can do so without having to go out and buy or finance the property. REITs often are classified into equity REITs or mortgage REITs. Equity REITs include offices, shopping centers, hotels, etc and derive most of their revenue from rent from those properties while mortgage REITS might finance both residential and commercial properties and derive their revenue from interest earned from their investments from interest or mortgage-backed securities. 

Pros: 

The purpose of REITs is to give ordinary investors access to commercial real estate. Not everyone can purchase a whole tower all by themselves and REITs allow you to own a share of it. 

Cons: 

REITs work best as long term investments. If you are looking to invest money that you might need within the next 5 years, it is not recommended that you invest in REITs due to its interest rate fluctuations. 

Now that you know the most common ways to invest in real estate, it’s time to find the right sponsor to handle your investments. Take time to do your research. A good place to start your search for a crowdfunding sponsor would be CrowdDD’s sponsor ratings and reviews page. Review platforms help ensure you find the right sponsors and crowdfunding platforms for real estate investments. They rate crowdfunding sponsors based on their track record, communication, and fees, making it easier for you to choose the right one to trust.

We hope that this guide gave you a deeper understanding of how to enter the real estate market. It might seem daunting at first, but once you’ve become a more experienced investor, don’t forget to credit us! 

Debt consolidation loan – What you need to know before applying for one?

Sarah Feldman
-
0
Debt consolidation loan – What you need to know before applying for one?

Personal or business finance management is essential to stay away from debt. Business conditions and life are always not the same. There are business losses and emergencies, as well. Not everyone is prepared with significant savings to pay for emergencies. It is here that people have to take a loan. Once the crisis gets mitigated, the time to repay the loans arrives. Here most people and business owners face a challenging time. There are times when they can’t pay for their business debts and fall into the vicious debt circle with increased interest. There are times when business owners and individuals have to pay more while repaying than the actual amount borrowed. It is here debt consolidation loan comes to help.

An understanding of the debt consolidation loan

Are you in debt? If yes, chances are you have to make multiple payments in a month. You might also be receiving several calls from your creditors. And each might have various repayment interest rates, which can difficult for you to remember as well as pay. Debt consolidation brings ease and organization to the repayment process. Here a bank or financial institution consolidates all the loans and merges it into one significant amount. The bank or financial institution pays off the amount on your behalf. After that, they fix a monthly payment amount at a given interest rate that you need to pay at a specific date and time. You need to make sure that you don’t miss out on the payment date. That way you might incur a penalty or a fine. To know more about this, you can check out Credit Ninja. 

Things you need to consider

Opting in for a debt consolidation loan will not make life debt-free! It might make it less stressful and help you to manage your debts better. Sometimes, people are lost as they don’t consider the essential aspects before opting in for a debt consolidation loan. Some of the crucial factors that you should consider are as follows: 

 

  • It is a loan

 

Most people opt-in or a debt consolidation loan, thinking that it will make life easier by 360 degrees. It is here that they need to make the correct reality check. It means that a debt consolidation loan is ultimately a loan. It will not waive off all the debts or loan amount you have already incurred. At best, it helps to break down your monthly payments to a reasonable amount that you can pay off without any hassles. Akin to any other loans, you will have a rate of interest as well. The interest rate depends on the loan amount as well as your credit score and history. The bank or the financial organization also fixes a repayment term and duration based on regular payments. You mustn’t forget the monthly date when you need to make the loan payment. Else, it might come in the way of you becoming completely debt-free.

 

  • Know that the repayment time is longer

 

Don’t assume that just because you opted-in for a debt consolidation loan, you will repay all your debts within a short period.  If your debt amount is high, then the repaying the consolidation loan can take about anything between five and twenty-five years. There are various reasons for that. It is because several consolidation companies end up charging from business owners and individuals an increased upfront cost. They also levy a high-interest rate. Hence, the overall interest payable then gets added to the debt amount, extending the repayment period. So, you might have lesser monthly payments, but you might have to keep repaying for a long-time.

 

  • Pre-payment might cost you a fee

 

It is essential to maintain the repayment date and time. Sometimes, borrowers think paying off early might be beneficial for them. But this has cost them more. The debt consolidation companies charge a fee for repaying the loan earlier than the date mentioned. Hence, when you are opting in for this loan, get very clear about the terms and conditions related to pre-payment and its repercussions.

 

  • Make sure to look for other options

 

If you are already in debt, then you don’t need extra money added to you. That indicates, ideally, the new loan you are opting in for should have a lesser interest. The monthly bills should be less as compared to the total bill cost that you had consolidated. It means you should opt-in for the first option that you come across. You should browse through more banks and debt consolidation companies and check out what they have to offer. The reduced interest rate all through your repayment tenure is beneficial. It will help you to stay regular with your payments and ensure that you gradually come out of debt. 

 

  • Your debt doesn’t get substituted

 

You need to be very clear about this! Many people think a debt consolidation loan completely replaces the mortgage. That’s when they have unrealistic expectations. This loan blends all your debt in one amount. Even when you are making the monthly payments, you are clearing off your debt. Hence, you shouldn’t incur any extra fees or credit card debts while you are in the repayment tenure, assuming that there is no debt. Some individuals have done that and have been at a considerable loss and prolonged liability.

Debt consolidation has its set of benefits as well, that makes it a popular choice amongst business owners and individuals. It helps you keep off from the creditor calls and messages. You can make your monthly repayments and focus on a correct business plan to follow after you are debt-free. But if you miss one payment, you might have to face the trouble of constant creditor calls and messages again. You need to be aware of both the advantages and other essential factors about a debt consolidation loan. Only then can you make an informed decision. Take your time to understand your loan requirements and browse through various companies. Read the online reviews and then arrive at a decision. Choose the loan and debt consolidation company that works best for you. 

Mecklenburg County Just Released The March 2020 Housing Report – More Sales and Less Listings

Charlotte Stories
-
0
Mecklenburg County Just Released The March 2020 Housing Report – More Sales and Less Listings

Mecklenburg County just released their latest housing report showing strong activity and a cautious forward outlook, with the response to COVID-19 and the March 26th ‘Stay at Home Order’ negatively impacting anticipated future activity.

The report showed our county putting up a year-over-year home sales increase of 7.7% last month, with 1,790 properties sold compared to 1,662 properties over the same period last year. Pending sales are down 10.9% for March with 1,843 this year compared to 2,069 last year. New listings were also down 3.8% with 2,289 properties up for sale compared to 2,380 properties in March of last year. The average home price was up 8.7% at $345,924 compared to $318,132 last year.

The county’s report noted that the data from this month (April 2020) will likely show a much bleaker outlook due to the COVID-19 response and stay at home order, including a reduction in sales activity.

According to the report, “Many expect a recession due to COVID-19, which would sideline potential buyers, and others may wait expecting home prices to fall. Finally, uncertainty and potential loss of income in the economy and wealth from the stock market will likely encourage more conservative behavior, and belief that the choice to buy or sell now would be financially unsound.”

What do you think about the housing market around Charlotte?

How to Get Real and Targeted Likes on Instagram in 2020

Charlotte Stories
-
0
How to Get Real and Targeted Likes on Instagram in 2020

Being popular on Instagram in 2020 is equal to having a successful brand and a powerful influence in any given niche. Your popularity results from the quality of likes that you get. To guarantee that you get maximum visibility, they have to be real and come from your target audience. 

Getting real and targeted likes for your Instagram posts may be difficult for some users. So, instead you can get and purchase free instagram followers for your profile.

Use Local Hashtags

If there is one target audience on which you can rely, it would have to include the Instagram users in your area. The people who are closest to you will follow and like your profile out of loyalty and community support.

To get the attention of people who live in your area you need to use local hashtags on all your posts. Tag your town, your local neighborhood and what gives your brand a regional sense of belonging. This way, you increase your chances of receiving likes from Insta users in your area.

Team Up with Other Users

Another way of getting likes from your target audience is to collaborate with other users in your niche. There are users out there that have similar brands to yours. They post relevant content, and you can relate to it through your photos and videos.

Look for some of the most successful Instagram users in your niche, regardless of what that is, and ask them to pitch in on one of your projects. This easy technique will increase your visibility among their followers, and you might get the targeted likes that you want. 

Get Real Likes Instantly

The easiest way to get real and targeted likes on Instagram in 2020 is to work with social media experts like Instagrowing. These professionals use all of their expertise in the field to raise the popularity of your profile almost instantly.

This service is simple to use and comes with essential long-term benefits. All kinds of brands use it from big companies to up-and-coming influencers. It is safe, quick and a guaranteed method of building social proof.

When you apply for expert support, you get likes from authentic accounts that are active and have real profile photos. Furthermore, these likes for your Instagram posts come from accounts in your target audience, so you get to build a strong, authority brand in your niche with minimal effort.

Run Giveaway Contests

You can increase the number of likes that you get from real accounts by engaging your followers in giveaway contests. This marketing technique is fairly simple to use, and you can activate it regardless of the niche in which you activate.

Let your followers know that you are willing to give one of your products or services for free. They can enter the contest to get it by liking a specific post on your profile. This way, you ensure that you get an avalanche of likes from your target audience.

Ask Followers for Help

Your followers can provide you with a substantial amount of likes even when you don’t have anything free to offer. If you have been on Instagram for a while, you have probably amassed a considerable audience. You can rely on their help to increase the number of positive impressions on your posts.

A simple way to get more real likes is to ask your followers to share your content with their followers. It is quite likely that the people who follow them are also interested in your brand, and they will like some of your posts.

Post User-Generated Content

Last, but not least, you can receive more targeted likes from real Instagram users by posting their content on your profile. If you have a reasonable number of followers, ask them to include references to your products or services in their posts.

Next, you take the best posts that contain your brand and publish them in your feed. Tag the original posters and thank them for their contribution. The positive effect that will result from this simple tactic will surprise you. Not only will you receive likes from the users who generated the content in the first place, but from their real followers as well.

Mecklenburg County Just Extended The ‘Stay at Home Order’ Until April 29th

Charlotte Stories
-
0
Mecklenburg County Just Extended The ‘Stay at Home Order’ Until April 29th

With a total of 1,098 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 21 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Mecklenburg County, area leaders have just made the decision to extend the county-wide stay at home order to April 29th.

The initial Mecklenburg County ‘Stay at Home Order‘ was set to expire on April 16th, however, “based upon the current trends and statistics it is necessary to extend the expiration date of the local Declaration”.

The language of the revision reads:

“This Amended and Revised Joint Proclamation be adopted and hereby incorporates all the terms and provisions of the local Proclamation entered on March 13, 2020 and the local Declaration entered March 26, 2020, which terms and provisions are incorporated herein by reference, including the terms and provisions of Executive Orders No. 121 and 131, and to the extent there are inconsistencies in the foregoing Proclamation and Executive Orders, the more restrictive provision controls , and extends the local Declaration to terminate on April 29, 2020 or thirty (30) days from March 30, 2020 consistent with the Governor’s Executive Order No. 121, or to such future date if further extended by Governor to coincide with any future extensions , unless sooner revised, amended or terminated.”

Given that Mecklenburg County recently announced the newly anticipated peak date to be June 8th, it seems likely that out local stay at home order may be extended again past April 29th.

What do you think about the stay at home order? 

North Carolina Zoo Asking For Public’s Help In Naming New Baby Rhino

Steve
-
0
North Carolina Zoo Asking For Public’s Help In Naming New Baby Rhino

The North Carolina Zoo is enlisting the public’s help to name the new female baby rhino born at the Zoo on February 24.

The new calf was born to mom Linda and dad Stormy. She weighed approximately 80-90 pounds at birth and the mom and calf are doing well. This was the second rhino birth just this year at the Zoo, and fourth in the last two years.

The public is asked to visit the online poll and rank four names, in order of their favorites, chosen by the Zoo’s rhino zookeepers.

  • Rubybelle (ru-bee-bell): name of a young female rhino rescued after her mother was poached in South Africa
  • Etosha (ee-toe-sha):  for Etosha National Park in Namibia where the Zoo has an anti-poaching conservation program.
  • Jojo (joe-joe): one of the keepers of rhino Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Jojo and Sudan’s story was featured in the documentary movie “Kifaru” which showed at RiverRun International Film Festival in 2019.
  • Kendi (ken-dee): African origin – means loved one in Swahili

Voting opens at 12 p.m. Fri., April 17 and closes at 4 p.m., Fri., April 24 (all EDT). The online poll  can be accessed through the Zoo’s website at nczoo.org or through the Zoo’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There is no charge to select a name.

A special surprise guest will announce the winning name on May 4. We can’t tell you who it is, here’s a hint — while this baby rhino is a “second,”  the special guest announcing the name is a “first.”

Students and UNC Charlotte Faculty Creating 11K Face Shields Per Day For COVID-19 Front Line

Charlotte Stories
-
0
Students and UNC Charlotte Faculty Creating 11K Face Shields Per Day For COVID-19 Front Line

Members of the UNC Charlotte community have teamed up with local high school students and manufacturers to produce recyclable protective shields designed to extend the life of the disposable face masks used by health care workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

What started as a homegrown effort using a host of 3-D printers producing about 250 shields per week quickly escalated. Since March 30, the group, known as Charlotte MEDI, has been working with manufacturers like Texlon Plastic Corp. and Caro-Poly to create shields via injection molding that allow for a more aggressive production timeline. The injection molder can make four shields per minute versus four every eight hours in a 3-D printer. The group is producing more than 11,000 face shields per day, and the recyclable shield effectively extends the life cycle of a mask that otherwise is a one-time-use item. To put that number in context, LEGO, one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers is creating 13,000 face shields per day.

So far, the group has delivered more than 70,000 shields for local and national frontline health care professionals and are sharing what they’ve learned with researchers across the country as they prepare for patient numbers in their states to climb. UNC Charlotte faculty members continue to explore technology options to accelerate production, and so far have shared their work with states including Maine, Iowa, Colorado and California and countries including Germany, India and Ireland. They will ship orders soon to seven states.

2020 Men of The Rail Trail Calendar Is Almost Here – Nominate Your Favorite Shirtless Male Runner

Charlotte Stories
-
0
2020 Men of The Rail Trail Calendar Is Almost Here – Nominate Your Favorite Shirtless Male Runner

If you love shirtless male runners, you’re in luck – the 2020 Men of The Rail Trail calendar is almost here!

This year, Third Rock Events has partnered with Glory Days Apparel to create the hottest charity calendar Charlotte has seen since Charlotte’s Fit Firefighter Calendar.

The Men of The Trail Calendar will benefit many of those hardest hit by the coronavirus shutdown – service industry workers. Proceeds from the calendar will go toward the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.

Third Rock will be collecting nominations between today and April 24th. The public will then have the chance to vote on their favorites out of 24 final nominees.

Please email three photos and a brief description of yourself or your nominee to info@3rdrockevents.com by April 24th. Once your nomination is received you will be sent a link to donate $5.00 to benefit the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.

The 12 winners will be contacted to schedule their professional photo shoot by 3rd Rock Events & Media.

The calendars will be available mid June online and at the Glory Days Apparel shop in South End and calendar sales proceeds will also benefit the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.

1...887888889...1,317Page 888 of 1,317