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Today we’ll take a closer took at the “FHA PowerSaver” loan program, which aims to make it easier for homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes.

In short, the FHA PowerSaver loan is essentially an alternative to home equity loans, which have become more difficult to come by ever since the mortgage crisis.

How it works:

PowerSaver allows homeowners to borrow up to $25,000 for terms as long as 20 years to make certain energy improvements, including insulation, duct sealing, energy-efficient doors/windows, HVAC systems, water heaters, solar panels, and geothermal systems.

The FHA encourages homeowners to get an energy audit to determine which improvements will be most cost-effective.

What about rates?

The mortgage rate for a PowerSaver loan is expected to be between five and seven percent, but comparable or lower than other options available to homeowners.

PowerSaver loans are backed by the FHA, with federal mortgage insurance covering 90 percent of the loan, and private mortgage lenders retaining the remaining risk.

The loans will be subordinated behind existing first mortgages, and borrowers must have existing home equity, as the max combined loan-to-value ratio is 100 percent.

Eighteen national, regional, and local mortgage lenders are taking part in the two-year pilot program.

It is expected to help roughly 30,000 homeowners finance energy-efficient upgrades, while creating 3,000 jobs.

FHA PowerSaver Requirements

Loan term: Up to 20 years
Minimum credit score: 660
Max loan amount: $25,000
Max debt-to-income ratio: 45%
Max combined loan-to-value ratio: 100%

FHA PowerSaver Approved Lenders

1. Admir

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Memphis-based restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender’s Inc. says it will be “business as usual” during its restructuring process after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

The restaurant chain secured $21 million in financing from Wells Fargo Capital Finance to coincide with its bankruptcy proceedings.

Perkins will use that money to maintain its business and “vendors and suppliers should see no change in normal business operations,” according to apany news release.

Perkins CEO Jay Trungale said restaurant operations will not be impacted by the restructuring and customers will not be affected by the move.

However, Monday’s bankruptcy filing said thepany plans to close 65 underperforming stores; Trungale said thepany would close 58.

The move will cut 2,500 jobs, or about 20 percent of its workforce of 12,350.

“This initial round of store closings was arrived at following store-level analyses of historical financial performance, local market conditions and cost structure,” Trungale said.

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Search giants Google, Bing and Yahoo announced Wednesday a new joint initiative schema.org to create and support a common vocabulary for structured data on web pages. The new site will be a valuable resource for site owners and developers looking to learn more about structured data and improve how their sites appear in major search engines. Schema.org will assist webmasters who are looking to add markup to their pages.

For years search engines have been working separately to support structured markup. Google introduced rich snippets to its search in 2009 to help people find better summaries of reviews and people, and since that time expanded to new kinds of rich snippets.

Schema.org will include all existing types of rich snippets together with schemas for 100 new categories including movies, music, organizations, TV shows, products, places that webmaster can use to markup their pages and improve the way they appear in search results.

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With a heavy annual rainfall the Pacific Coast of Colombia is among the most humid places on earth. In the north, the location where the ocean gives shape to bays and coves, the Pacific rainforest exhibits a piece of real estate with an enormous biodiversity. Contrasted this with the south. You will find it a luxury that the south is covered by copious rivers, is generally flatter, with the exception of its cliffs.

Of course to go to these areas you will want to take into consideration places to start your vacation. You will probably find some luxury apartments or real estate for rent in the cities of Cartagena, Medellin, Bogota, and Cali.

Another point of interest to be known are the islands of Gorgona and Gorgonilla, which are national natural parks just off the coast of Colombia. Naturally, these locations are untouched and protected nature sanctuaries.

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I know in my own business that I ALWAYS do better each month if I set some targets for my marketing. If I’ve got goals to aim for, I know where I am and I can try to achieve them. 

So my targets for this month for instance are:

• 1 x meeting in the diary every week
• 1 x new client every week
• 1 x networking event every week

Because I’m clear on what I’m striving to achieve, I can aim for these and know whether I’ve done them. 

To put some meat around the bones on these targets, one meeting each week is with a potential customer – someone who is looking to use our services. This can be over the phone or face to face – it doesn’t really matter. These meetings can also be with past customers too. So for instance this week, I have had a phone meeting with a past potential client and a meeting with a past customer. 

One new client each week means a client who is willing to give us more work. This could eithe

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In New York and in other parts of the nation, lending for small businesses has seen a clear rise. This is because the economy has improved and there is confidence among businesses though the activity is well below pre-recession levels.

The SBA’s 7(a) program has been used by 28 lenders to make 507 loans for $88.55 million in Buffalo District. That is an increase of 8.3 percent in loan volume and 13.8 percent in dollars. A 57 percent increase in loans took place inclusive of all programs of the SBA after the financial crisis of 2009.

Loan demand is returning and the incentives found as part of small business jobs act also has helped. Small business lending has been a key objective for the Obama administration and the Congress. Keeping this into consideration, small businesses representing vast majority of employers are paying part of nation’s private payroll, generating bulk of the country’s economic output and creating new jobs.

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