Author: Daniel Bortz

‘Mini-moons’ give couples a vacation appetizer

Posted in USA TodayTagged , ,

After Kylie and Jacob Kemper got married roadtripin June in York, Pa., the newlyweds took only two days to unwind at a bed-and-breakfast on Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. Having closed on a house a month before their wedding, the couple was looking for an inexpensive way to celebrate their nuptials, so they planned a “mini-moon” to the scenic Lake Pointe Inn.

“We really wanted to take a full-blown honeymoon to a tropical all-inclusive resort,” said Kylie, 25. “We met with a travel agent and everything, but in the end we had to allocate our money to other things.”

Today, roughly 82% of newlyweds take a mini-moon after their wedding, according to The Knot’s 2016 Romance Travel Study. A typical mini-moon consists of a two- to five-day romantic getaway that’s within close proximity by drive or flight to a couple’s home or wedding venue, says Kristen Maxwell Cooper, editor in chief at The Knot.

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Learn how to get a high-paying job

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , ,

Want a bigger paycheck? Of course you do. Business woman climbing up on hand drawn staircase conceptThere’s nothing wrong with wanting to get a job where you can make money—lots of it. In fact, 63% of workers said compensation was “very important” to their overall job satisfaction, a recent Society for Human Resource Management survey found.

Unfortunately, the average raise is only 3%, according to WorldatWork’s 2017 Salary Budget Survey. So how can you make money fast instead of waiting for your salary to grow over time? By revving up your job search to focus on jobs that pay well. Yeah, that sounds obvious, but there’s actually a science behind it.

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How to Get a Mortgage With No Credit

Posted in Realtor.comTagged , , ,

Trying to buy a home with bad credit is hard. 635699433608611976-credit-score_2513595_ver1.0But what about trying to buy a home with no credit at all?

There’s a name for these people: “credit invisibles.” It means they don’t have a credit report or score on file with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), usually because they don’t have a traditional credit trail such as a credit card or college loan. Far from being anomalies lurking on the fringes of society, credit invisibles are shockingly common.

According to a recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, roughly 45 million Americans are characterized as credit invisible. Meanwhile, 19.4 million are known by another equally ominous label: “credit unscorable.” That means they have some credit history, but not enough to generate a score. For example, they might have had credit cards or loans at one point but then stopped, usually due to financial difficulties.

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How to stop workplace gossip

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , , ,

No one likes a gossip queen (or king), Gossip-3but rest assured, every office has one.

Blame human nature, says career and business etiquette speaker Karen Litzinger. “People like to gossip,” she says. “It can be cathartic. It can also be a bonding experience” to commiserate with a co-worker. As the saying goes, misery loves company.

Obviously, office gossip can have some big repercussions. “It can damage not only your relationships with your colleagues, but also hurt your own reputation,” Litzinger says.

So, if you’re someone who’s doing the gossiping, it’s time to keep your lips sealed. But you also have to be mindful of what you say about co-workers over digital channels, like Slack, Gchat, or email.

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The worst career change mistakes to avoid

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , ,

Changing careers is never easy—but20178074_ml-e1423739122500 it is absolutely possible. Just because you’re on a dedicated career path doesn’t mean you have to stay on it forever.

Sure, your family and friends may think you’ve lost your marbles when you announce plans for a midlife career change, but take heart: 59% of working adults say they’re interested in taking the leap, a recent survey from the University of Phoenix School of Business found.

Whether you’re bored at work, burned out on a job, or simply want a fresh challenge, there are a number of considerations that go into a successful career change. Ignore them, and you’re apt to succumb to one of the following common mistakes.

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Difficult interview questions and the answers to get you hired

Posted in Monster.comTagged , , ,

If you feel like the job interview process is a interview-questions-1024x576complex combination of mind games that are intended to leave you clueless as to how to answer interview questions, you couldn’t be more wrong.

Time is of the essence; employers want to hire someone yesterday. As such, they’re not into playing games. The typical interview questions they ask are designed to cut to the chase and give you the best chance to sell yourself to them.

Your challenge as a job seeker, therefore, is to anticipate tough interview questions and knock your answers out of the park.

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Beware of These Hidden Hotel Fees

Posted in Budget TravelTagged , ,

Last year U.S. hotels collected more than Hotel service bell$2.5 billion in fees and surcharges, up from $2.45 billion in 2015 according to research by Bjorn Hanson, a professor at New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism.

Hanson credits the uptick to the nation’s thriving travel industry. “When times are financially difficult, hotels are more concerned about offending guests with extra charges, but when the economy is doing well hotels feel more confident about increasing their fees,” says Hanson, who has tracked U.S. hotel fees and surcharges data since 2000.

Unfortunately for travelers, many hotel fees are often buried in lengthy disclosure statements or tucked into bill summaries at checkout.

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5 Things Sellers Should Never, Ever Say When Closing a Home Sale

Posted in Realtor.comTagged , , ,

Selling your home, as we all know, Giving house keysis a process: months of hard work alongside your listing agent to primp your place, market the property, and reel in a buyer. So by the time the big day arrives to close the deal and hand over the keys, you’re probably so ready to be done—which is all the more reason to tread carefully during this final step of the process.

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How to Decode an Airbnb Review

Posted in Budget TravelTagged , , ,

The average Airbnb rating is a whopping 4.7 do-you-want-5-starsout of 5 stars, according to a recent study by Georgios Zervas, an assistant professor of marketing at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. That’s a surprisingly high number when compared to hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, where the average rating is only 3.9 out of 5 stars for hotels with more than 100 reviews, a Cornell survey found.

Zervas suspects there’s a psychological component at play. “People might feel bad leaving a negative review because they know that many hosts are using Airbnb to supplement their income and help support their family,” says Zervas.

Some Airbnb customers might also be hesitant to write a negative review because they fear repercussions. “Hosts also review guests, and future hosts can see every review you leave,” says Emily McNutt, an editor at ThePointsGuy.com. Translation: “if you write a scathing review, a future host might be less inclined to let you stay at their place,” McNutt says.

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