CBayless Associates business,education,garden,hospitality What are the most well-known driveway designs?

What are the most well-known driveway designs?

There are lots of options available to you when it comes to Private drives. A driveway can add substantial value to your house and make it a better place to live. Some choices will set you back more than others, but there is lots of choice available whether or not you’re on a tight budget or have more to invest. Talk to us for more Doncaster Landscaping

Tarmacadam driveways

Tarmac or asphalt private drives are also Highly economical and are recognized for their tough weather resistance. Driveways made from tarmac are also extremely long lasting, which makes them a great match for larger cars. They also have a smooth appearance, which means excellent skid resistance. Tarmac private drives can easily survive hail, ice and storms. Tarmac is also an ideal match for the eco-conscious due to the way that the material can be used infinitely. For a great solution visit Doncaster Landscaping

Block paving driveways

Block paving is based around interlocking, which gives you more strength. It can be designed in a range of patterns and you can simply switch out individual bricks if they are damaged. One other key benefit of block paving driveways is that they have great fade protection. A block paving driveway can last for up to twenty years. These driveways do not require top polishing, and there is normally no need to repaint them even years down the line. All you usually need to do to maintain a block paving driveway is to clean it with soap and water. Block paving private drives are also preferred due to the way that they can withstand extreme weather with ease.

Resin-bound and resin-bonded private drives

Resin-bound and resin-bonded private drives have become considerably well-liked over recent years. Resin-bound driveways are water-permeable. Whilst resin-bonded systems have resin spread across the surface with loose stone scattered on top of them, resin and stone are mixed together and shovelled into place to create resin-bound systems. These systems give you a great deal of choice when it comes to flexibility and colour.

Indian stone private drives

Indian stone driveways offer the look of natural sandstone, and there are plenty of patterns and shades to choose from. One of the key benefits of Indian Sandstone is that it doesn’t typically split, crack or peel. This stone also has non-slip qualities.

Natural stone driveways

Natural stone driveways are quick and simple to install and may be the perfect choice if you’re on a budget. A significant advantage of having a natural stone driveway put in is that you’ll be alerted when somebody pulls up on your driveway or walks across it. This means it can be a fantastic deterrent for trespassers. These driveways also require minimal upkeep.

Cobblestone and brick driveways

Even though they’re not as well-liked as they once were, cobblestone and brick private drives offer a highly distinctive, attractive appeal. These private drives offer good protection to freezing and are uncomplicated to take care of. They are also noted for their resilience and can be customised to your particular demands and preferences.

Pattern-imprinted cement private drives.

Pattern-imprinted concrete private drives are also known as stamped concrete and decorative concrete driveways. These private drives offer a highly long lasting surface and can easily withstand heavy weights. Another reason why these private drives are so popular is that they require minimal upkeep. There are many designs, styles, colours and patterns to choose from.
No matter what your tastes and preferences are, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a driveway style that fulfills your requirements.

If you have any queries visit Doncaster Landscaping for a free quote.

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Land Loans: Everything You Need To KnowLand Loans: Everything You Need To Know

What is a Land Loan? 

A land loan, also known as a plot or lot loan, is a financial option allowing individuals to purchase a piece of land using credit. This type of loan is suitable for those who intend to acquire land without immediate Construction plans. It’s important to note that land Loans differ from home loans or construction loans. It can be used for both residential and business purposes.

Types of Land Loans 

Land loans can be categorized based on the level of land development. Each type of land loan necessitates distinct preparations to convince lenders to provide financing. Let’s explore the different types:

  • LOAN FOR UNDEVELOPED LAND (RAW LAND LOAN) 
    • Undeveloped land refers to properties without road access, water supply, electricity, or sewer lines, rendering the land unsuitable for immediate construction. While raw land is the most economical option for purchase, it also requires higher down payments and interest rates to secure a loan. The Federal Deposit insurance Corp. (FDIC) sets a minimum down payment of 35% for undeveloped land. Additionally, to obtain a raw land loan, you’ll need a well-structured and detailed plan for the land’s development to convince lenders that it represents a calculated risk.
  • LOAN FOR SEMI-DEVELOPED LAND (UNIMPROVED LAND LOAN) 
    • Semi-developed or unimproved land typically possesses some basic infrastructure, although it may need more amenities such as phone boxes, natural gas, or electric meters. Financing a loan for unimproved land is less risky than undeveloped land but still requires a rigorous process. The FDIC’s minimum down payment standard for unimproved land is 25%.
  • LOAN FOR DEVELOPED LAND (IMPROVED LAND LOAN) 
    • Developed lands, often called lots, come with access roads and all the necessary utilities for residential construction. Although improved lots are more expensive, they tend to have comparatively lower land loan interest rates. Lenders are also more inclined to finance this type of loan, with the FDIC setting the minimum down payment for improved land loans at 15%.

image of draft of a house on raw land purchased with a raw land loan

Advantages of Taking a Land Loan 

Land loans offer several advantages for individuals who need more time to build on their purchased land. These advantages include:

  1. Flexibility: Land loans provide the flexibility to secure land for its potential, such as in areas with upcoming business opportunities or future development. You can hold the land until the timing is right for your construction project.
  2. “Blank Canvas”: Acquiring land before any construction allows you to start with a “blank canvas.” You can envision and create your dream home or commercial space according to your preferences and needs.
  3. Transition to Construction Loan: When you’re ready to build, your land loan can be seamlessly integrated with a construction loan to finance the land purchase and construction costs. Ultimately, this can transform your land loan into a standard mortgage when you’re ready to move in.

Disadvantages of Taking a Land Loan 

Despite the advantages, land loans come with certain disadvantages, mainly due to the higher risks involved:

  1. Limited Lender Options: Lenders for land loans can be limited in number due to the inherent risks, which may limit your choices when selecting a lender.
  2. Stricter Qualifications: To secure a land loan, you must meet more stringent qualifications than a standard mortgage.
  3. Higher Down Payments and Interest Rates: Land loans have higher down payment and interest rates than traditional mortgages. These additional costs are a result of the higher risks faced by lenders.

To mitigate these disadvantages, having a well-defined construction plan, including a set timeline and cost estimates, can increase your loan approval chances, is essential.

Land Loan vs. Other Land-Buying Options 

If you encounter difficulties meeting land loan qualifications, alternative methods exist to finance your land purchase. Some options cater to home-Building purposes, while others are designed for commercial space.

  • SELLER-FINANCING 
    • Seller financing is where the seller acts as your lender in a land contract. This arrangement can be more flexible and suitable for those who may not meet traditional bank loan requirements. It’s essential, however, to engage an attorney to review the land contract to ensure clarity and prevent potential gray areas or loopholes.
  • HOME EQUITY LOAN 
    • Another method for purchasing land is through a home equity loan, where you receive a lower interest rate against your home’s equity. It’s important to note that defaulting on this type of loan could lead to the risk of losing your home.
  • HOME EQUITY LINES OF CREDIT
    • Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) provide a flexible way to access funds over a specified timeframe using your home’s equity. You can use a HELOC as a down payment for a land loan and repay the HELOC amount and interest.
  • USDA LOAN 
    • The USDA offers a land and construction loan designed for low to moderate-income families planning to build a home in a qualified rural area. This option can particularly benefit those seeking a more affordable land and home construction path.
  • SBA LOAN 
    • Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are available to assist small business owners in financing raw land and construction costs for commercial buildings. The SBA 504 loan program provides fixed-rate financing with a 10% down payment, 40% loan financing through the Certified Development Loan, and 50% provided by a bank or credit union.
  • PERSONAL LOAN 
    • A personal loan can also finance your land purchase. While this approach can offer flexibility, it can have higher interest rates. You may also need to compare its shorter repayment periods with the rest.

Looking for a Land Loan? 

Securing a land loan can be more challenging than obtaining a standard mortgage. However, you can increase your chances of approval with proper preparation. A credit union consultant specializing in land financing can provide significant assistance in navigating the process and ensuring your specific needs are met when purchasing land. Explore your options and receive expert guidance by scheduling an appointment with us today.

Canopy Credit Union | Everything You Need to Know on Land Loans

Today’s RDH: Leveraging SimpleCert to Achieve Continuing Education Program SuccessToday’s RDH: Leveraging SimpleCert to Achieve Continuing Education Program Success

In the world of Dental Continuing Education, you don’t have to search very far before you will find Today’s RDH. Founded in 2018, Today’s RDH is a digital media and education company for Registered Dental Hygienists, dental hygiene students, and other dental professionals. Today’s RDH has become a leader in the dental industry by producing and publishing high-quality articles, videos, podcasts, live events, and online continuing education. For Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Ben Buzbee, the gratifying success of Today’s RDH also comes with that business-owner-stress of needing to find ways to scale and grow his company, without being overwhelmed by manual work and lengthy processes.

Given its reach and brand awareness, it was a clear business decision for Ben and the Today’s RDH team to become an approved Continuing Dental Education provider for both the American Dental Association (CERP) and the Academy of General Dentistry (PACE). Today’s RDH currently holds live virtual continuing education events, in addition to a variety of self-study CE courses.  

Proactive versus Reactive

It’s a saying we’ve all heard bantered around, and for good reason:  being proactive is an essential part of any growing business.  For Ben, looking through the entire CE workflow –  from the initial coursework and marketing, all the way to distributing individual Certificates of Completion –  led him to the realization that he needed a solution to streamline the certification process for potentially tens of thousands of certificates over the course of a year.  While searching for possible solutions, Ben discovered SimpleCert.    “I looked into over a dozen different solutions and SimpleCert was the only one that met all our requirements for what we were looking for, ”  says Ben.  “There were a lot of other solutions I looked at before, but none of them met our specific requirements of easy certificate design, easy uploading large lists of people to send the certificates to, and easy emailing & storage options. Every other potential solution I looked at seemed to meet just one of the requirements, not all of them like SimpleCert.” 

Building for Future Success, in 5 days or less

Having settled upon SimpleCert as their Certificate Management system, Ben and team turned their attention to onboarding, and setup of their process.  Ben estimates that it took less than a week to go from signing up for a test account in SimpleCert, to designing templates and then sending out their first course certificates.  Having completed the set up process, Today’s RDH can now reap the benefits of automation, time saving and automatic recordkeeping that SimpleCert provides.  “Once attendance has been verified that each attendee met the minimum amount of time to receive a CE certificate, it takes less than an hour to get certificates ready, realistically more like 20 minutes, ” says Ben, for an unlimited number of Attendee Records to be created, and automatically distributed to recipients. 

Room to Grow

Automation can bring time savings, and increased efficiency.  Increased efficiency and time savings can then be reinvested into other important aspects of your business.  With the utilization of SimpleCert, Ben and the Today’s RDH team have been able to focus their energy into scaling Today’s RDH, and continually improving their coursework – without getting buried by manual workflows that are a byproduct of his success.  “I can’t even imagine manually creating and emailing over 10, 000 certificates for each event, ” says Ben.  “I mean that would probably take months when now it is literally uploading our verified attendee lists and sending the certificates out.”

Hands typing on a laptop keyboard.

A true Measure of Success

Oftentimes the true measure of a successful CDE program is not just within the CE Providers’ eyes, but also in the overall experience for the dental professionals who take their coursework. Here too, the Today’s RDH program shines bright. “People really love the [Recipient Portal], where all their certificates are stored in one place, ” says Ben. “Now that we are seeing repeat attendees to our events, it is very useful for them to have all certificates from all events in one place.” Using a professional Certificate Management System like SimpleCert has enabled Today’s RDH to provide a 100% professional experience for their students, throughout their entire Continuing Education program.

A 75% Reduction in Support Response Times

By utilizing SimpleCert, Ben estimates he has reduced the amount of time his team spends on handling support related certificate inquires by a full 75%, compared to the time it would take without the SimpleCert platform. “A lot of the questions revolve around not receiving their CE certificates or not receiving all of them because they waited a few weeks, ” says Ben. “I can then easily lookup their email in SimpleCert to see if all their certificates were sent and then send them to the portal for them to download all of them. Saves a lot of time from having to lookup each course and downloading each individual certificate to send to the person requesting help.”

The Path Forward for Today’s RDH

Looking ahead to the future, Ben is eager to explore ways to further integrate and automate his business processes.  “I’m really looking forward to making Things a little more white label in terms of integrating directly with our website. I’m a huge fan of using SaaS products whenever possible because I don’t want to be in the software development business, ” says Ben. “I want to focus on our business and what we do best. Paying another company to handle all the intricacies of maintaining software is worth every penny because I don’t have to deal with any of the headaches that come with keeping the software updated and maintained. I just want something that works and I don’t have to think about – SimpleCert is exactly that!” 

SimpleCert

Why I’d Rather Buy Gold Monthly with Dollar-Cost Averaging than IndividuallyWhy I’d Rather Buy Gold Monthly with Dollar-Cost Averaging than Individually

The Benefits of Buying Gold Monthly Instead of Individually

One advantage of Benefits of Buying Gold Monthly instead of individually is the ability to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging. With this approach, buyers can spread out their purchases over time, reducing the impact of market fluctuations on their overall investment. By consistently buying a fixed amount of gold each month, regardless of its price, buyers can potentially lower their average cost per ounce over time.

Another benefit is the ease and convenience that comes with setting up a monthly gold subscription. Instead of constantly monitoring market conditions and making individual purchasing decisions, I can simply set up automatic monthly payments and let my holdings grow steadily over time. This eliminates the need for constant decision-making and reduces the emotional stress often associated with timing the market.

Furthermore, Buy Gold and Pay Monthly allows you to build a diversified portfolio more easily. By regularly adding to you holdings each month, you can gradually increase your exposure to this precious metal while spreading out any potential risks associated with trading your cash for a single asset class. This strategy helps mitigate volatility in one’s portfolio and provides an opportunity for long-term growth through consistent accumulation of gold assets.

How Dollar-Cost Averaging Makes Gold Buying More Accessible

Dollar-cost averaging is a strategy that can make buying gold more accessible for investors. Instead of making large lump sum purchases, this approach allows individuals to buy gold in smaller increments on a regular basis. By spreading out the investment over time, it reduces the impact of short-term price fluctuations and minimizes the risk associated with timing the market.

One of the main benefits of dollar-cost averaging when buying gold monthly is that it provides an opportunity to take advantage of price fluctuations. Gold prices can be volatile, but by consistently purchasing a fixed amount each month, investors are able to average out their cost per ounce over time. This means that they will acquire more ounces when prices are low and fewer ounces when prices are high. In doing so, they can potentially increase their overall return on investment.

Another advantage of buying gold monthly through dollar-cost averaging is its simplicity and convenience. Setting up a monthly subscription takes just a few minutes and can usually be done online or through a broker. Once set up, investors don’t need to worry about constantly monitoring market conditions or trying to time their purchases perfectly. They can simply sit back and let their automatic investments accumulate over time.

By utilizing dollar-cost averaging when buying gold monthly, investors have an opportunity to build wealth gradually while mitigating some of the risks associated with market volatility. This approach allows them to establish discipline in their investment Habits and avoid making impulsive decisions based on short-term market trends or emotions. Over time, consistent monthly investments in gold have the potential for long-term growth and provide peace of mind knowing that they are steadily Building their portfolio regardless of temporary price fluctuations.

How does dollar-cost averaging make gold buying more accessible?

Dollar-cost averaging involves buying a fixed amount of gold at regular intervals, regardless of its price. This strategy spreads out your purchases over time, making it more affordable and reducing the impact of market volatility. The most accessible entry to this strategy is gold and silver subscription.