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You’re thinking of buying your perfect home? You’re prepared for the down payment as well as the loan and tax instalments and insurance. You’re sure you’ve thought of everything. But have you really anticipated everything?
Buying a home is not only a matter of making loan payments! It’s important to anticipate other expenses. And since these expenses can impact the amount you put down, you need to keep them in mind during the buying process. These expenses* can include:
- Appraisal fee ($350)
- Welcome tax ($2,000)
- School taxes ($500)
- Home inspection fee ($150)
- Municipal taxes ($2,000)
- Moving cost ($1,000)
- Home insurance ($400)
- Lawyer (notary) fees ($1,000)
- Loan insurance ($1,600)
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It was love at first sight. The pure eyed beauty is justice. Her admirer is architect Joseph Poelaert. His love for the beauty was so great that he built an immense palace for her. In reality it’s a monster. As the expression goes, it’s the thought that counts.
We will never really know what the architect was thinking at the time. Driven by his project, he died suddenly of a stroke, four years before the inaugural ceremony.
Today, Belgians have a palace of justice that is sometimes called the behemoth. It’s the colossal size of the building that makes tourists stop and ponder, not its esthetics. The interior is so vast that it’s said that dozens of rooms are empty. The doors have been closed for a long time.
The palace of justice is still incomplete, but the behemoth is still alive. Each day, hundreds of lawyers and employees pass through its doors to preserve the pureness of justice. And that doesn’t include visitors.
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Exterior of the Brussels Palace of Justice: Wikipedia Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Martin Mycielski (Stansfield)[/caption]
What happened?[……]
Having a service business, either alone or with partners, can offer many significant financial benefits. Seeing your income increase is a very real possibility. However, before undertaking this adventure, here are a few things to consider.
iStockphoto[/caption]
Take advantage of a mentor’s advice
Entrepreneurs often mistakenly believe that mentoring is only useful when a problem arises. Asking for advice from a mentor is not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, an entrepreneur who seeks the advice of a mentor from the very beginning will be better prepared to handle difficult situations and can benefit from the mentor’s experience to make more informed decisions.
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Germany impressed the whole world with its World Cup performance. A historical 7-1 victory against Brazil and the final victory against Argentina. The Germans were showered with accolades. What a team. They’re patient and methodical. No flash, but efficient playing. Therein lies the genius of the German culture: the practical and efficient before the esthetic.
But the Germans’ greatest victory remains the reunification of the two Germanys after the Wall fell in 1989. Two diametrically opposed ways of thinking had to be merged: the capitalist mode and the communist mode. A colossal undertaking that is coming to a painful end. Many people believe that only Germans could overcome such an obstacle thanks to their cult of efficiency.
One building symbolizes this legendary exploit: the Reichstag with its famous glass dome.[……]
Recently a friend claimed absolute freedom for his cat. He didn’t know that many municipalities don’t allow cats to roam free and ask owners to keep their pets in their yard or on a leash or they could be fined. Or worse says my friend, they could risk finding their cat at the Humane Society. Dead or alive. Another friend explained to him that not everyone likes the odour of cats. Your freedom doesn’t end where your neighbour’s begins. There’s nothing to do. Man cannot deprive his cat the pleasure of hunting and roaming.
There may be a solution: creating an indoor playground for the cat.
A European site, Goldtatze, offers a full line of products that blend very well with a rustic, chic or contemporary decor.
Bridges made of horizontal strips attached to levels or baskets mounted on the wall around the room. They go above doors and windows, toward the hanging bed in the centre of the ceiling or the branch wrapped in string sitting in the corner. All of the wood is rounded in curves, making it quite pleasant to look at.
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Goldtatze[/caption]
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You need three trump cards to win this game: the audacity card, the imagination card and the budget card. If you have all three, why not lay your cards down on the table right now?
You don’t have the budget? Limit yourself to one room. Maybe two. The pleasure will be just as great.
Americans love to play this decorative game. Graceland, Elvis’s home in Memphis, is the most popular example, despite the kitsch.
The Jungle Room, with its safari atmosphere, with reddish-brown as the dominant colour and the skin of feline on the floor has made the rounds in all the magazines. The same applies to the billiard room, where the sofa, walls and ceiling share the same motif, which gives it a bland, monochrome look.
In Brussels, go to the Cook and Book restaurant with an open mind. It’s divided into nine bookstores with a decorative them specific to each one. It’s a sign that ideas abound.[……]