Discovering The Art of Bending Your Mindset And Manifesting Your Multiple Intelligences
September 30, 2005
Discovering the Art of Bending Your Mindset and Manifesting your Multiple Intelligences in selling.
Doctor’s cant’ sell Real Estate! What’s your mindset? A number of people related this statement to me when I first decided to get into sellingreal estate over 20 years ago. And you know they were right!
It really depends on your experience, attitude and mindset! But what an exciting and challenging profession! Especially, the privilege of meeting so many interesting and fascinating people! A top producer once told me, “What’s a nice Doctor like you doing Swimming with The Sharks”? I replied, “I don’t swim with the Sharks, I just out service and out race them! And I know a lot of nice people in Real Estate, including you”!
It all depends on your mindset, attitude, flexibility and adaptability, which we all have. But mindset adjustment takes time and a lot of effort. Yes, learning to use our inherent Multiple Intelligences. Having been a real estate broker for over 20 years, I can now understand why they ask how long you have been in the business? The real estate sales business is incredibly competitive. All agents are working for themselves. This of course simulates your creativity and innovation; otherwise you’re not going to eat.
The techniques about maneuvering within the sales system are critical for survival as a Real Estate Professional. The reason is everybody is competing for customers, clients and contacts. It took me three years to understand some of techniques that are utilized by successful real estate professionals. Having been a Doctor, as a practicing Podiatrist, for over 38 years, including selling real estate has been a series of fascinating adventures, but not easy.
At the time I couldn’t find one Doctor to be my Mentor, in the entire country. Finding any Doctor who had transcended from Doctoring into successful Real Estate Sales? Oh, lots invested in Real Estate but with a third party decision maker. Which at times resulted in loss of funds, while the entrepreneurs usually worked with the Doctor’s money. Sometimes I would become very angry as to the competitive tactics, techniques and aggressiveness in the field but this was because of my inexperience. Finally, after counseling with a number of successful Real Estate Professionals, I realized it was a System of Selling. It was a matter of marketing and looking at it as a roller coaster ride, and making the decision along with the excitement and sometimes confusion
Real Estate Clients/Customers aren’t going to be flocking to your office, as a Doctor. Your earned professional integrity, knowledge and expertise over the years brought the marvelous world of referrals. Not only from patients, colleagues but the world. But that world is partially an illusion in Real Estate. Also your status position is a community is relegated to the perception people have of Real Estate Professionals, as compared to a Doctor. This perception is real, no different to being compared as discerning an Attorney and a Doctor. What really matters is Your Perception of Yourself, especially during the Mindset Transitional Stage. And I might add the utilization of your inherent Multiple Intelligences.
Discovering on Bending Your Mindset
I really began to like this competitive feeling after a few years, especially since I was now selling, and understanding the sellers and buyers problems and needs. This is in addition to improving the sales agents techniques and systems of selling. My one objection with home sales was the constant driving and traveling but I soon learned how to qualify and comprehend the motives, wants and needs of many of the sellers and buyers. This only comes with actual experience in the arena
Essentially, diagnosing the best way to help fulfill clients/customers needs. They really appreciated this professionalism rather than just trying to sell them a piece of property. Besides the property doesn’t buy or sell itself, people do! It’s interesting but there is a nasty word such as recession, especially if it involves your own properties! The taxes, mortgage payments and insurance continue. In order to avoid bankruptcy and financial disaster, I actually went back to auctioneering school, and became a Professional Auctioneer to auction off my own properties. I’m still an auctioneer. Again illustrating how adaptable, resilient and flexible we are.
And what does this Doctor, Broker and Auctioneer do today, in addition to other adventures, like still playing my bagpipes? I now devote much of my time, to profitable networking within the massive cooperative market of professionals in the mentioned fields of interests. Become a Master of Delegation and Cooperative Sharing with all Top Professionals in each field.
Copyright © 2004 Ted Borgeas, All Rights Reserved
Ted Borgeas, Author, 35 years Self-Coaching Yourself.
Helps people get insight on Career & Life Transitions.
E-mail: for free 30 minute introductory phone coaching session.
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E-mail: ted@atborgeas.com
website: www.atborgeas.com
Phone: 619-235-9393, PO Box, 3022, La Jolla, CA 92038-3022
You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the byline is included. You may not use this article in any publication that is not-optin (spam). A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
Dr. Ted Borgeas is a 75 year old retired Foot Surgeon-Podiatrist who is a master of transcending through life transitions and piggybacking careers and attitudes to success.
He limits his coaching to Doctors and other professionals. Dr. Ted had been a Podiatric consultant inside a Federal Prison for 15 years and inside a state mental hospital for 7 years. The author of 11 books. Keynote speaker and lecturer. Most business gurus will stress using “Other Peoples Money” But Dr. Ted believes and lives on the premise cultivate and enlighten “Other Peoples Youth” it nourishes your own youth.
Dr. Ted’s mutiple careers include being a prominent Real Estate Broker-Consultant for over 20 years and an Auctioneer for 10 years. A proponent of “It ain’t Braggin’ If you’ver done it” one of his books. His latest book is “Grandpa is a Giggle” How to turn Adversities into Adventures! 8 books are on amazon.com under Borgeas. Loves to hear from everybody and answers all mail.
Email: ted@atborgeas.com
Website : http://www.atborgeas.com
Spanking Children
September 30, 2005
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Results of the Spanking Poll on Rexanne.com: Voters - 233
Percentage of readers who do not spank their children: 37%
Percentage of readers who spank their children: 62%
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I am completely opposed to spanking. I know that almost twice as many of you spank your children as don’t. At the risk of alienating 62 percent of my subscribers, I cannot, in good conscience, keep my opinions to myself. 
I feel we have evolved enough as a society to understand that violence breeds violence. Hitting is physically violent. So is spanking. I do not believe spanking children teaches them to mind their parents or caretakers any better than other forms of constructive discipline. If it is unacceptable to hit an adult, what makes it acceptable to hit a child? Taking into consideration the parent or caretaker is most likely three times the size of the child, doesn’t this bring up issues of bullying? Many of the comments left on the spanking poll mentioned a biblical reference, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” When we consider that the bible was written thousands of years ago, we must also take into consideration that we may have advanced to the point where biblical interpretations are probably not to be taken as literally as they once were. I do not believe parents should spank their children into submission, any more than I believe criminals should be stoned to death by the masses, as was the custom so many years ago.
Many parents (myself included) have neglected to replace spanking with another solid form of discipline. Refraining from spanking our kids does not negate disciplining them. We have created a generation of children without boundaries in our zeal to adopt a kinder, gentler parenting style. While I am thoroughly delighted that many parents have decided not to spank their children, I am saddened by the lack of respect for authority in so many children today. Without limits, children are insecure, always testing the boundaries … begging to be corralled for their own safety. In removing physical punishment, we need to find a healthy replacement.
Another comment mentioned often in the spanking poll had to do with spanking a child “out of love.” I think this means the parent is disciplining their child because they love them. Yes, by all means, discipline your child when needed. My only request is that you consider not raising a hand or your voice to them in order to accomplish this. My methods have been to remove a privilege, after a warning. It might not be the best form of imposing limits on children but it works pretty well with my daughters … most of the time.
One interesting comment was from a mother who said she only spanked her child when the kid was outright defiant. Well, you know, I wanted to consider that option for about two seconds! When my older daughter is defiant, my immediate instinct is to smack her … but I don’t. She is now an inch taller than I am and almost outweighs me. Not a good time to start swatting her butt. She’d either laugh at me or hit me back. Neither option seems conducive to maintaining authority! As much as that option sounded tempting, it is not the answer. If we are to grow as a people, we need to adopt more humane methods of teaching our children to behave.
The comment that disturbed me most was from parents who said they did not spank their child “right away.” The child is told they are going to be spanked while the parent goes somewhere else to “calm down” before doling out the dreaded punishment. Sorry, this one gives me the willies. To me, this is a method of psychological torture. Imagining a small child, probably a toddler (or an adolescent reduced to a toddler’s fears) in this situation tears at my heart. If I were a child, waiting patiently for a spanking, I think I would seriously consider running away. Why stick around for a parent who is going to come back, irrationally calm in the face of my utter terror, and let them hurt me? I do not think this is a good idea, no matter what the circumstance. I would rather see a parent swat a kid on the butt from sheer frustration, as in the situation with a defiant child, than meditate on it a while and then do the deed. I’m sure I have just contradicted parenting advice many of you have heard by experts. These experts do not rate one inch in my life. I cannot imagine a competent child psychologist thinking that this is OK.
I am 100% committed to a no-spanking philosophy. I believe spanking will be outlawed in most countries within a few years. This practice has been a traditional tool of discipline for far too long.
Please, my dearest readers who do not share my opinion, I ask that you consider the alternatives. Many parents spank, simply for lack of a better solution. There are other solutions. It’s not always easy, I know. Spanking is probably the easiest method of momentarily whipping a child in line, however, if we are armed with alternate choices that really work, we will be better parents.
Copyright 2000 ? 2005 ? Rexanne Mancini
Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com ? http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html
How to Halt the Train of Aging
September 30, 2005
Aging would not be so bad if it did not tell on us at every encounter. As we hug one another, we register the love handles on the other’s waist, the flab on their arms and the sag on their cheeks. We stare into each other’s faces. After all, only saints find no pleasure in the wrinkles of their peers. We are not inexcusable sinners; we are checking to see how well we are holding up. Estimating someone’s age and deciding how well that person has aged tells us a lot. Looking and feeling younger than chronological age has increasingly becomes a yardstick of success. Preoccupation with age is a reality for our rapidly aging society. It is part of our resume and every bit as important as our employment records.
We may be justified in our dismay at aging, even scientists are puzzled by the purposelessness of the process. Every biological event in the human body, from conception to puberty to maturity, has a purpose except aging. Aging makes no sense. Scientists are baffled as to why mammals have much shorter life spans than more primitive species. We don’t live nearly as long as the Galapagos turtle but we usually wind up looking like one.
Nowadays, researchers hunt for the gene that causes aging. If they find it, they will look for a pill to disable it, as though it were a virus. They face an appalling task. A cell, the simplest form of life, is more complex than Mexico City, the largest city in the world. No one gene or any one hormone is responsible for health and youth. It is the ideal work of all the cells and organs functioning together in complete harmony to prevent the breakdown of the body. What makes us think we can think stop aging just by turning a switch in the body?
The signs of deterioration that we consider the signs of aging are the result of waste overload on the cellular level. When our actions are in opposition to nature, the results are different types of bodily ills, deformities, and ugliness. Eating denatured and devitalized food leaves residues the body cannot utilize, and they are deposited in places our Creator never intended. Whatever the body cannot use, becomes toxic accumulations that steal our health and our youth.
Body acids enter in chemical reactions with waste products causing calcification of the soft tissue. Now tissues of vital organs and glands become burdened with mineral salts and crystalline deposits. Overloaded with waste, they not only can no longer function normally but also become more responsive to gravity’s pull. As every tissue elongates and sags, drooping jowls and sagging cheeks begin to drape on both sides of the mouth, and the eyebrows begin to hang over the eyes.
External deformities are direct manifestations of internal pathologies. Ugly ropes of varicose veins, puffy faces, and cellulite are telling tales about your inside condition. Every pimple, psoriasis, or pigment change on your skin is in fact a reflection of some organ struggling to do its job. Every bulge, boil, or swelling is a sign that the body is pushing out some toxins in its effort to protect itself.
Most of us feel our appearance lacks something. In reality, ugliness is more about excess. Toxic accumulations in our bodies are responsible for stealing our health and attractiveness. Beauty lies latent under cushions of retained fluids, deposits of fat, and sick tissues. Your beauty is buried alive, but in most cases it can be revived in a version that will be satisfactory to you. You must take immediate action to revitalize it. When you do, your uncovered beauty will surprise and delight you
Some physical characteristics of our face and body we cannot change–they were determined prior to our birth. But the consumption of the raw plant diet as an adult will make a difference in the texture of skin and hair, the health of nails, weight and complexion. All of these traits and more are determined by daily choices, with food being one of the most important and, luckily, the one we can fully control.
Since there can be no natural health without eating 100 percent natural food, most of people have never explored optimum health. In my book Your Right to Be Beautiful, I advocate a diet made up solely of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds-Rawsome Diet. No, you will not be asked to graze the garden, dig up the squirrel’s nuts or dine out on the birdfeeder, but you will be introduced to an unexplored world of preparation techniques that allow you to create not only the most nutritious meals, but also dishes that are delicious, filling and satisfying. Some raw food recipes even mimic traditional cuisine and make the transition to the Rawsome diet easier. There are 100s of different kinds of fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds with a variety of tastes and flavors, which awakened taste buds will begin to appreciate. If you combine only two or three ingredients at each meal, then the number of dish combinations is endless.
The ability to renew cells is built into your body, and the body itself is capable of making you look more attractive. After all, we were designed to bloom continuously as old cells get replaced by new ones. The Rawsome diet makes the most of this rejuvenating ability of our bodies. Rawsome beauty is not manufactured from the outside but cultivated from the inside by nutritionally charged food. Whole raw food restores the integrity of every cell and facilitates the optimal operation of every organ inside and out. The body, having been awakened by the improved diet, in its wisdom, will reach out to the places where health was lacking, and you will gradually see your beauty surfacing. The Rawsome diet will eliminate all the toxins on a deeper level and bring amazing changes to your appearance.
Only the body sustained on raw food will host natural beauty, or should we say Rawsome beauty. The body becomes transcended and will unfold from the inside out. While your non-raw eating peers discover new blemishes, blotches, and moles on a nearly daily basis, you will see your own skin irregularities gradually fade or disappear. Feeding your body raw food will make eyes, once sunken in bulbous flesh, look larger and more round by eliminating the surrounding puffiness and by firming the eyelids. Eyebrows that were beginning to form an awning over the eyes will regain their youthful arch. As natural collagen production improves, it will fill in the places where it is needed as in hollow cheeks. It will not just patch your face, but every one of your 3,000 square inches of skin will improve.
The landscape of the body will change. The surface of the skin will become soft and smooth but still firm and supple. Visible pores will diminish. A sallow skin with a yellow pallor will turn into a porcelain-like complexion. The whites of eyes, once red, will become bright with a bluish tinge. Raw food eating will clarify and refine your features and bring delicacy to your face.
People who have been on the raw food lifestyle for several years begin to have a glow, the kind not often seen in middle-aged people. Optimal health is recognized by an emerging radiance. Glow is hard to fake because it is internal. It comes from an abundance of clear, pink, almost transparent cells that light up the face. Only superior blood circulation can bring this transfiguring glow. Several years on the raw food diet will make you look as though you just stepped out of a painting by Renoir–the impressionist best known for his preoccupation with light.
Colette, France’s greatest woman writer, once wrote: "The fear of aging, a commonplace neurosis, does not usually wait for age and spares neither sex." But aging is full of mercy towards people on the raw food diet. This diet will allow you to ripen, not to decay. Beauty does not have to erode or disappear with age. You will be lithe and limber and keep your loveliness for a long time. It is like winning the Jack Pot in the Age Game. You become age-proof. When you discover The Most Beautiful You, old age will lose its sting, and you will have victory over the ravages of time.
Even on the 100 percent raw food diet, no one lives forever. For individuals who follow this diet for many years, aging comes a week or two before death. Deterioration takes place rapidly. Perennial youth is a perpetual dream. The raw food lifestyle is the closest anyone can come to reaching the maximum life span with the quality of life intact. The diet allows the body to mature gracefully. It produces an alliance of character and health. The Rawsome Diet allows everyone to live as long as God intended and look as God envisioned.
Excerpted from the book "Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You" by Tonya Zavasta. The book is available at: http://www.beautifulonraw.com/html/righttobe.html
© 2004 Tonya Zavasta
This article may be freely reprinted in its entirety as long as the entire article, byline and URL are included.
About The Author
Tonya Zavasta is the author of the book "Your Right to Be Beautiful: How to Halt the Train of Aging and Meet the Most Beautiful You" and of the soon to be published its sequel "Beautiful on Raw". In these books Tonya comes across as an ambassador for plain looking women in their quest for physical beauty. Tonya knows firsthand what it is to be humiliated, face adversity and meet the complex obstacles of daily living with a congenital disability. In her forties facing several reconstructive hip surgeries to enable her to walk, she sought a way to offset the devastating effects of anesthetics on her health and appearance. She became convinced that the solution to her quest for health and beauty was to be found in the raw food lifestyle or the Rawsome Diet as she calls it.
To learn more about how you can uncover your Rawsome beauty, visit: www.beautifulonraw.com
Planning Permission Tips UK - Is Todays Popular Quest For Contemporary Design The New Bad Taste
September 30, 2005
Can you remember when people used to install slatted louvre windows as replacement units in their Victorian semis or the stone cladding revolution of the 1980’s.
We look back & ‘tut tut’ at these blunders with a comfortable glow of self satisfaction that we would never make such obvious design & development errors in our own projects - we have a far greater sense of good taste haven’t we?
Trends in the residential development world seem to go in huge swings of about 7 to 10 year cycles and it is often not until the end of one cycle we realise what the mistakes were which is usually triggered by the complete abandonment of the previous trend or methodology for another system.
We surge from brass to chrome light fittings, UPVC to aluminium & then back to real wood again for the windows. Carpets to laminates back to real wood block flooring back to laminates again when the real stuff shrinks, warps or splits.
The same is happening in the overall design & refurbishment of whole homes inside & out. We used to be conservation mad but now its total revamp of properties to something akin that we used to aspire to in the 70’s with simple glazed panels, uncomplicated detail and simple finishes.
The quest for the elusive & theoretically unique contemporary look for the monied home owner is now the new bandwagon for most property owners & developers trying to be that little bit different & wanting to make a statement about their lifestyles.
Teenagers tend do the same thing but they have piercings or a tattoos instead & it is only the more experienced in years amongst us that realise they are acting more like sheep rather than the individualists they are so desperate to attain.
Trying to define contemporary design is actually very hard and even harder to achieve. One definition that I like is a look that is clean, minimalist & unable to define as a year in which it was constructed - in other words free of all obvious identifiers & trends that would define its era. A design that would still retain its ‘contemporary’ badge in 40 years time - this is why I think obtaining a true contemporary design is so hard. The Oxford English dictionary defines contemporary as something belonging to the same age which I think is not too dissimilar from my definition of having a timeless feel.
So, am I against this new ‘heard’ mentality of trying to achieve a contemporary design or lifestyle for a dwelling house? Absolutely not! BUT there are qualifications. Firstly, nearly all aspects of contemporary design & lifestyle is attainable through internal design & alteration only. Those wishing to stamp their lifestyle choices to the wider majority through the external envelope of a dwelling should only consider this through either new build or carefully selected conversion projects (eg a 1950’s pumping station for example).
Regretfully, there is a ‘bandwagon’ mentality out their at present that is also set on externally converting superb period properties in sensitive areas into simplistic, boring & bland looking so called ‘contemporary’ properties that have been stripped of their unique softness, character & warmth that is totally out of place within their unique setting - all for the sake of of gratifying the ‘monied’ ego’s of people pursuing the latest design trend in urban living.
Some of the design treatments these ill-informed people are completing to their newly acquired homes consist of:-
1. Rendering over all the previous beautiful clay facing bricks.
2. Removing 18th century plain clay tile hanging for the dreaded ’smooth render’ look.
3. Adjusting window & door openings to inappropriate scale apertures with out of place joinery.
4. Adding galvanized steel or stainless steel features for canopies or porches that jar with the very character of the buildings heritage & stature.
The list goes on even to the point of them rendering over beautiful feature brick dental coursings or projections that form an intrinsic part of the local character all to attain that elusive ‘contemporary’ rendered characterless design icon of so called modern living that the occupiers wish to stamp upon the world to satisfy their own egos.
The damage they are creating to some of the most beautiful parts of the UK heritage housing is criminal in my view & they should be brought to book. Regretfully, the type of people who are doing these odious external ‘contemporary’ conversions are the usual ‘IT’ brigade with the usual ‘more money than sense’ attitude & the ’see it - want it now’ mentality - all because they can!
So the conclusion to my little rant on what is going on to some of our more important suburbs is this:
1. If you are seeking a ‘contemporary’ style of living & dwelling, DO NOT materially alter the external envelope of an existing dwelling - Most contemporary design living is achievable through internal alterations ONLY.
2. If you are insistent on pleasing your greater ego & require a design statement for the whole external world to see then PLEASE only do this though new build projects where the contemporary design is not compromised by an existing period property & you are not ‘murdering’ a previously beautiful building that added value to the local character & to the residents.
Two very simple rules that will ensure that your latest residential development WILL NOT become a bad taste mistake in 2015 - You have been warned!
Our ‘Maximum Build Planning Guide’ explains further the issues involved when extending or developing a property for planning permission.
http://www.planning-approval.co.uk
Learning Disabilities
September 30, 2005
There are so many learning labels floating around these days … A.D.D., A.D.H.D., Dyslexia, etc. Basically, these are labels pinned on children who are in some way learning disabled. I think most of these kids are learning advanced, but I’ll try to stick to the facts … somewhat …
Children who cannot sit still or are disruptive in a classroom environment are sometimes suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.) When they are also extremely hyper, they earn the tag of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (A.D.H.D.) When children are prone to twisting their letters and numbers around, they are often called Dyslexic.
There are definitely some children who need medication to control their out-of-control emotions or actions. There are some who have a serious chemical imbalance, preventing them from blending with others in a socially acceptable manner. And there are the kids who really have a hard time keeping numbers straight or learning to read in a typical classroom setting with standard teaching methods. These children are learning disabled in that they do need resources and other methods to help them learn basic lessons and needed skills such as reading, writing, adding and subtracting.
These wonderfully different kids are also usually very bright, artistic and unusual in amazing ways. They can be willful, temperamental and sad or they can be sweet, loving and joyful. I believe they are what we, their parents and caretakers, teach them they should be. I also believe they are a big part of our future, among the children of this world who will be our brightest stars. They are the kids who do not see everything in terms of black and white or up and down. They see blue, purple and fuchsia where everyone else sees the norm. They hear melodies not yet created. They envision buildings not yet designed. They are learning disabled only because they do not learn as the majority of us do. They see life through a set of eyes and ears not limited by structure or regimentation. They feel and capture life with fingers that expound the essence of velvet and toes that glorify the silkiness of sand. They feel sadness and joy through hearts that swell with the beauty of sunsets and melt with compassion for the underdog.
These children are the different ones among us. They should be honored for their uniqueness. Unfortunately, they are more likely to be labeled and boxed into a problem corner, snuffing out their bright lights and destroying their self-esteem at a tender age.
We have known and still know quite a few of these different kids. I don’t know one child who is not amazingly bright in one or more areas of life that most of us are stymied by. They are exceptional artists, musically genius, enormously big-hearted or mature beyond their years. One is on Ritalin and thanks his mother daily for giving him the chance to get straight ‘A’s as he always knew he could. One is an outstanding athlete who will most likely make the Olympic team in the not-too-distant future. Another is an accomplished pianist and songwriter at 12 years of age. All of these children have some pretty wicked learning disabilities and they are all just the best kids one could hope to know and love. They are awesome!
Some public schools have excellent resource programs for the learning disabled child. Most private schools do not have the room or the inclination to support a resource curriculum, however, there are private schools that cater only to learning disabled children. These schools can be frightfully expensive but many are the only hope some children will ever have for academic success. One girl we know came home from her first day at one of these high-priced schools elated and said: “I’m finally learning something!” Wow … her mother told me this with tears in her eyes. This school has a variety of classroom environments, each supporting a different learning style. Their philosophy is that children learn differently, be it auditory, visual (the normal school methods cater to visual) or tactile. The children are grouped with other like-learning kids to create auditory, visual or tactile-learning classrooms. Obviously, they are on to something.
Parents with learning disabled children need to work with their kids, helping with homework and assignments more than average. If you are the parent of a learning disabled child, there are resources available today that were not around just a few years ago. Know that there is help for your child and for you. Ask your child’s school about resource programs, recommended methods of working with your child at home and any other useful information they can and will give you. And remember that your child is probably going to grow up to become one of the more valued members of society if they are gently guided and helped through the beginning years of academic training.
Copyright ? 2000-2005 ? Rexanne Mancini
Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com ? http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html
Planning Permission Tips UK - Free Design Advice In The UK - How And Where To Get It
September 30, 2005
Isn’t it funny how people shelve projects for the new year - perhaps the new year feels like a fresh canvas or something - I don’t know. Many potential clients I saw in Q4 of last year our now coming through as confirmed commissions - it’s a funny old world with no rhyme or reason…
Providing advice to these potential clients is always a dilemma. On the one hand you want to be helpful & prove your metal in order to gain their trust but on the other hand you are also giving away the family silver without any prior commitment from them that they will actually be engaging your services. Ideas & suggestions on how to achieve a clients building objective is often all we have to offer. Sure there is the technical & craftsmanship element of your service but that’s often taken for granted. The creative element is often the bit that actually makes a good development work.
Fortunately, residential development isn’t exactly within the realms of Richard Rogers stature especially when developing an existing dwelling with well needed extensions.
So, where does the ordinary householder obtain good independent advice when they are considering an extension to their home? And, is this advice worthy when offered for free? Finally, who do they select as their final design Agent if they lack the necessary skills in producing the design onto paper?
Firstly, There are loads of ways to obtain design free advice. The first step is to consider worked examples already constructed within your street or local area. Be critical & analytical. Decide what works & is pleasing on the eye & what doesn’t. Decide what details can you transfer over to your own scheme.
Secondly, go to your council or research a few other councils web sites & download their readily available design guides especially if your property is within a conservation or sensitive rural area. Most councils now have quite good design guides amongst their simplistic do’s & don’t’s pamphlets. Read these design guides and do take on board their messages.
Thirdly (and after completing steps 1 & 2 above) invite a few professionals to come & take a look at your property with a view to perhaps engaging one of them.
These ‘professionals’ range in terms from Chartered Architects, Architectural Technicians, Surveyors & other Designers of various stature & background. I wont promote any one over another but a lot will depend upon what type of overall service you may be looking for & how much of your potential build budget you are happy to hive off in fees.
However, as a guide, the one to stay well away from is your ‘kitchen table top’ designer - you know the sort, pencil tracings at the weekends while he works for the Gas Board during the day. Bargain basement prices they may be but they will have little interest in ensuring a pleasing design is accomplished at the end.
Most professional building designers still don’t charge for their time at the initial site visit which is a shame in my view as this tends to instantly sort out the serious from the tire kickers. Invite 2 or 3 round for their opinions & gauge their reactions & comments. You will be amazed at the varying attitudes you will encounter. Hopefully all of your invited professionals will have been sourced from recommendations. If not then you have a little research to do.
In order to get the best advice out of these people it is important that you are clear on your objectives. It has been my experience that most homeowners do actually know what they want from their homes. Temper that with a degree of flexibility & an enquiring mind that will allow the building designer to input some of his/her own thoughts from their initial first impressions of what they see. As with everything else in life, there are always options to be explored - the obvious well trodden path through a wood main not be the prettiest.
Now test the designers metal by throwing in an obvious ‘no-no’. For example….talk about your idea for an extensive flat roof or an obvious overlooking side window. If he/she simply panders to your thoughts on these points then you know the advice is dubious. Conversely, if the Building Designer is not listening to your principal requirements & shooting off all manner of other design concepts or projects then you also know that you wont end up with a building that satisfies your main needs or budget.
Somewhere between the two is what you are seeking. Someone who can clearly latch on to achieving your space requirements but who is not afraid to question or challenge your preferred siting, materials or layout in order to gain a better overall external appearance & internal design solution.
You will probably discover that you will actually need a building designer to carefully present your scheme through Planning & for the detailed design & specification build up later on so the exercise was worthwhile. For those with rudimentary drawing skills & a passion for ‘doing it themselves’ they will also find the exercise worth while.
No matter which route you take, time invested in these three simple but often time consuming steps stated above is usually an invaluable part of obtaining a well considered final design for your residential development. Those that ‘crash in’ without seeking prior advice or without completing a little research will often have regrets either in an awkward looking development that they are having trouble selling or incurring abortive fees from having the scheme refused at Planning.
Our ‘Maximum Build Planning Guide’ explains further the issues involved when extending or developing a property for planning permission.
http://www.planning-approval.co.uk
