Author: Daniel Bortz

How to Keep Your Proposal a Surprise (Hint: Ditch the Box)

Posted in The New York TimesTagged , ,

When Steve Zimmermann, 39, thought about proposing to Kailey Smith, 37, the Toronto native wanted everything to be set up perfectly, and most importantly it had to be a surprise. The couple, who met while they were working at Homeguard Funding, an independent mortgage brokerage firm in Newmarket, Ontario, were engaged at the Ladies Pavilion in Central Park this past December. The proposal included a blanket, two mugs of hot cocoa, a pavilion glowing with string lights, and a photographer hiding nearby to capture the moment. And, to pull off the surprise, Mr. Zimmermann kept the engagement ring discretely hidden in his pocket using Ring Stash, a compact box designed to conceal an engagement ring.

“The box that the ring came in was large, and if I had it in my pocket Kailey might have spotted it ahead of time,” said Mr. Zimmermann.

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Meet your deadlines with these tips

Posted in Monster.comTagged , ,

Ah, deadlines. Some professionals thrive on them, yet many people find them the most vexing of time-management tools. Nonetheless, when the clock is counting down on an assignment, you need to deliver—not crack under pressure.

“A client, co-worker, or boss isn’t just throwing out any old date of when they need something,” says Andrea Kay, a career consultant based in Cincinnati and author of This Is How to Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want. “Your contribution fits into a bigger project and the pieces need to come together. So take your deadline seriously.”

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Here’s How to Buy a Home If You Can’t Save for a Down Payment

Posted in Money magazineTagged , , ,

With millions of Americans facing financial burdens like student loans and high rents, saving up to make the traditional 20% down payment on a first home can be daunting. There’s good news for prospective home owners: You don’t need to do it.

Forty-six percent of millennials and 40% of Americans overall cited affording a down payment as their greatest financial barrier to home ownership, a recent COUNTRY Financial group survey found.

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Wedding Insurance 101

Posted in The New York TimesTagged , ,

After a year and a half of careful wedding planning, Sally Niebuhr was ready to watch her oldest daughter, Kiki LaCroix, walk down the aisle at a winery in Sonoma, Calif., last October. But Mother Nature had other plans.

When the Kincade fire struck the area just a few days before the wedding was scheduled to take place, causing widespread evacuations, their dreams of a wine-country wedding were crushed.

The good news? Ms. Niebuhr had bought a wedding insurance policy for $350 from Travelers Insurance that provided $7,500 of cancellation coverage. She was refunded the $6,500 deposit she paid for the venue. The money was then used to book another place in San Francisco on Oct. 26, her original wedding date and just three days after the wildfires hit Sonoma.

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Booking Hotel Rooms for a Group? Here Are Some Tips

Posted in The New York TimesTagged , ,

No one told my wife and me that planning a wedding would be easy, but we thought reserving a hotel block — a cluster of 10 rooms or more, at a reduced rate, at a hotel where our out-of-town guests could stay — would be a cinch.

Things started out smoothly. We found a modern hotel from a big hotel chain that had more than enough rooms to accommodate our guests. The hotel was only a couple of blocks away from our wedding location. It offered a competitive room block rate of 10 percent off the regular rate (which at the time we thought was a good deal). It had four stars on TripAdvisor. So we signed a contract.

I wish we hadn’t.

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Presale Renovations Take Off

Posted in REALTOR magazineTagged , , ,

A couple in Cambridge, Mass., were looking to sell a two-bedroom condo. The property had been rented out to three college students and needed work if the sellers were going to get top dollar for it, says Carol Kelly, a Compass real estate agent based in Cambridge.

“[The couple] didn’t want to reach into their own pocket to pay for the renovations,” Kelly says. “They didn’t want the stress of investing their own money into the property.”

So Kelly recommended Compass Concierge, a service the brokerage rolled out in 2018 to pay for presale renovations. Sellers pay back the money using the proceeds of their sale. Compass put $17,000 worth of improvements into the Cambridge condo, installing new flooring, painting the kitchen cabinets, and power-washing the house. It paid off: The condo, which was listed at $589,000, sold for $640,000, enabling the sellers to repay Compass and eke out bigger gains from their investment.

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10 important maintenance tasks that experts say many homeowners miss

Posted in The Washington PostTagged , ,

If you pride yourself on keeping your home in tiptop shape, you’re the kind of homeowner who takes the necessary steps to keep your house running like a well-oiled machine — or at least you think you’re taking all of the right steps. The hard truth, though, is that many people overlook a number of important home maintenance tasks.

“There is so much many homeowners just don’t know to do,” says Melissa Mitchell, director of operations at GrayWolf Residential Services, a preventive home maintenance company based in Beachwood, Ohio.

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Career risks you should never take

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , ,

Congratulations: You’re awesome at what you do. But don’t prolong the celebration. To continue to learn, sharpen your skills, and advance in your career, you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and tackle new ground. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself on the equivalent of a hamster wheel.

“Risks are a fundamental part of career progression,” says Denver-based career coach Jennifer DeWall. “If you never take risks, you won’t reach your full potential.”

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How to deal with difficult customers

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , ,

Just hearing the words “customer service” can make retailers and consumers cringe. Yet providing quality customer care is often what differentiates a company from its rivals. And when you have an angry customer, your skills (and patience) are put to the test. Time to pass that test with flying colors.

“With the digital disruption we’re having today, customer loyalty is really dropping for a lot of businesses,” says John DiJulius, a customer service consultant and author of The Relationship Economy: Building Stronger Customer Connections in the Digital Age. “The best differentiator you can make is to form an emotional connection with your customer. And when you think about the great customer service giants that are out there—[companies like] Disney, Southwest, Nordstrom, Apple—those companies do drop the ball on occasion, but when they make a mistake they make it right for their customers.”

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The 10 Coolest Helicopter Tours in the World

Posted in Budget TravelTagged , ,

Some destinations just look better from the air – and for adventurous travelers, a helicopter tour offers the ultimate sightseeing experience.

We set out to find the most breathtaking helicopter excursions, from beautiful coral reefs and active volcanoes to stunning waterfalls and iconic city skylines. Here are our top ten helicopter tours.

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