#For science HPI: HAUT POTENTIEL INTELLECTUEL S03 E08 Kikiriki

SAME BUT DIFFERENT 🫠

"Il est amoureux de cette femme. Elle le touche, elle le trouble."

- Interview de Mehdi Nebbou dans La Voix du Nord

Watching HPI when you live in Lille is mind-blowing because sometimes I will see something and my monkey brain goes WAIT hold up I saw that thing before. And it was in a fucking HPI episode . (It happened twice or more maybe)

Plus that one time I went to school and they were something weird happening in my neighborhood l and when I go home my sister goes like 'yeah that series you like ?that one I saw you watching every week.They filmed something there' like WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS ONLY NOW when I got back home at the ass crack of down and not text me?

The betrayal ?

20 questions for writers

Thanks for the tag @capybaraonabicycle, this was really fun!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

24!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

116,345

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly Doctor Who, but I write for a lot of fandoms :

Doctor Who (8) Engrenages (2) One Day at a Time (2) Kaamelott (2) ER (2) Stranger Things (2) The Wheel of Time (1) The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (1) Grace and Frankie (1) (this one is a crossover tho) Spellslinger (1) Big Little Lies (1) Les combattantes (1) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (1) (also a crossover) HPI (1) (the counterpart to the G&F crossover)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

My extended fam : a multi-companion DW story that focuses on the companions staying on Earth and how they all deal with alien invasions and other wibbly-wobbly stuffs when the Doctor isn't around.

Ways to Heal : my current work in progress ! It's set after season 13 and deals with the aftermath of it, and more generally with all the various traumas all the companions have suffered while and after travelling with the Doctor.

Who am I if I don't have what it takes : a Stranger Things one-shot dealing with El's trauma and especially her trauma after season 4 and what happened to Max.

Night conversation : a One Day at a Time one-shot dealing with Elena's reaction to her father not accepting her sexuality.

Day two : You. Me. Handcuffs : a very short one-shot I wrote for a DW fanfic challenge. It's about Donna and the Doctor, and River.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Always !! Sometimes it's quite short, or late, or in private but I always try to answer, because I love to have conversations about what I write and what it means to people <3

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I honestly don't know tbh, because I'm very much a hurt/comfort kind of girl, and I always try to end on, at least, a hopeful note.

That being said, it's definitely Misunderstood! it's probably the only full-angst fic I've ever written but I was in my feels after WOT 207 and I wrote it through my tears (literally) 😭I think my no beta tag sums up pretty well my feelings 😬

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think it's probably Remonter la pente. I'm still quite proud of this story, it's 6 chapters of healing and talking and processing traumas and I ended it on quite a high note, so yeah, I really like it!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, never! I sometimes have people who comment what part of the story or characterisation they don't really agree on but it's always nice and more conversational than anything ☺

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, and I cringe at the mere thought of it ^^

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do and I love it ! That's actually how I started to write fanfictions, and my first ever posted fanfiction was a DW and CAOS fanfiction.

I don't know what counts as a "crazy" crossover but the most unexpected must be Waiting on a miracle! It took a lot of liberties and interpretations on my part to imagine a situation where Morgane from HPI and Grace from Grace & Frankie could meet but I like what I came up with and it was really fun to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so either!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! I've wanted to, and sometimes I started planning it with friends but it never went further than that because *gestures at life in general*

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Well, I think it's the Doctor and River! They're certainly the ones I've written the most for ^^ Then they're followed by the Ponds, Guenièvre and Arthur from Kaamelott and Joyce and Hopper from Stranger Things. But tbh, I don't write that many "shippy" fanfics? I write a loooot of found family stuffs so ships aren't what I focus on the most, or at least, I focus on them more as a part of (found) family dynamics, you know?

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Well, I don't have that many unfinished posted wips, I tend to not post my unfinished works, or not to post until I'm sure I'm committed to finish it. I guess I'd like to add chapters and one-shots to The path of funny stories because we greatly lack fanfictions for the Spellslinger series but it's quite hard for me to write fanfictions for books, so I don't know if I'll ever get around to it ^^

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think dialogues and chracterisation? That's what I get complimented the most for in the comments at least! I also know I write stories with a big cast quite well, or so I've been told ^^ Which tracks, because dialogues, characterisation and interactions between people is what I like writing the most, and what I pay the most attention to!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions!! It's directly correlated to my love of writing dialogues but I know I'm not very good and I struggle a lot with establishing scenes, descrbing the surroundings and what the characters are doing besides just talking. I try to pay attention to it and to work on my description and tone skills but I doesn't come as easy.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It's hard!! I've only ever done it for my One Day at a Time fanfics but, besides my lack of confidence in Spanish at the time, I find it really hard to make it feel natural and to make the scene flow when switching between languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Chilling adventures of Sabrina !

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

That's haaaaard! How am I supposed to choose between my babies like that?

I have a soft spot for My Extended Fam because it was my longest fanfic for a while, and I absolutely adored writing it. I grew a lot as a writer while writing it and it's still one of my most beloved fanfic, which makes me really happy and proud.

Remonter la pente is also one of my favourite, because I think it's one of the first fanfic for which I really felt like a part of a fandom community and like I truly shared the stories with people, especially thanks to @moon-arts02- who wonderfully illustrated every chapter 🥰🥰🥰🥰

I'll tag some of my writer mutuals but absolutely 0 pressures, this was just a lot of fun to do, and I loved the retrospective it made me do through my writing :

@bourbon-ontherocks, @hemerae-ramblings, @everybodyknows-everybodydies, @bwayfan25, @thehappyegg, @saecookie, @imdefyingmavity, @cecret-with-a-c

I was tagged by @susanvstorm thank you very much⭐️

Rules: Tag 10 people you'd like to get to know better!

Relationship status: single

Favourite colour: blue in every shade

Song stuck in my head: Francesca by Hozier

Dream trip: France and Spain (and also Japan)

Last googled: my Uni site lol

Anything I want now: sitting on the beach and watching the ocean

Last song listened to: Paint the town red by Doja Cat

Currently watching: I just finished Hpi season 3 (cries)

Currently reading: my Uni books lol

Currently obsession: Hpi (obviously lol) and Barbie movie cause it's a masterpiece

10 of your comfort shows: Never Have I Ever, Hpi, Doctor Who, BBC Merlin, The Big Bang Theory, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Only Murders In The Building, BBC Sherlock, Derry Girls, Bridgerton

I tag @throwbacktears @mharuma @mellarkably @ericsariels @beth-march

Next Friday Girls' catch up after 3 years

mga katrabaho from HPI lab in Makati, ngayon nasa ibat ibang labs na kami kaya ang saya to have this time together.

dinner at Shakeys, SM Manila

never had this kind of fun (that I remember of) sa pag papapicture sa SM seasonal displays

First Luneta gala in years (though galing kami here nila Thei last weekend, nagtambay saglit waiting for Cent)

yung tuwa at tawa is really way more than I expected 🥺🥺🫶🏻

this group isnt like yung amin nila TD, Pads, Chel (nakalavander) and kuya Jon from the same company just because ang random nung pagkakabuo nitong sa aming apat at halos paseparate ways na kami non.

hindi rin naman na kami ganon nakakapag usap sa GC, or even nagkaka chat with each other

itry ko din mag thought dump later, ng things between me (and rochelle) prior to this day

extra special din yung night kasi may personal relevance sa akin yung date. i am so glad to have spend it this year with them.

sobrang naapreciate ko yung pagkasimple ng pagkikita na ito yet we had so much fun

//

UK House Prices: In-Depth Analysis for November 2023

UK House Prices

In November 2023, UK house prices exhibited a notable decline, falling by 2.1% compared to the previous year. This decrease outpaced the 1.3% drop observed in October 2023, highlighting a trend of decreasing property values. Furthermore, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, there was a 0.8% reduction in average house prices between October and November 2023, in stark contrast to the stable prices (0.0% change) seen during the same period in the previous year. Similarly, the UK Property Transactions Statistics revealed a downturn in market activity. In November 2023, the estimated number of transactions for residential properties, valued at £40,000 or greater, reached 87,640 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This figure represents a significant 22% decline from the previous year. Additionally, there was a 2% reduction in UK transactions from October to November 2023, further indicating a cooling property market. Regionally, the North East of England showed the least decline in average property value over the past year, with a modest decrease of only 0.4%. In contrast, London experienced the most substantial drop in the English regions, with annual property price inflation falling by 6.0% in the year leading up to November 2023. This disparity underscores the varied impact of the current economic climate across different regions of the UK. See the economic statement. The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions. Typically, a house purchase can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach completion. As with other indicators in the housing market, which typically fluctuate from month to month, it is important not to put too much weight on one month’s set of house price data. Access the full UK HPI   The November data shows: - on average, house prices have fallen -0.8% since October 2023 - there has been an annual price fall of -2.1% which makes the average property in the UK valued at £285,000

England

In England the November data shows, on average, house prices have fallen  by -1.2% since October 2023. The annual price fall of -2.9% takes the average property value to £302,000. The regional data for England indicates that: - every region experienced negative monthly growth except Yorkshire and the Humber, where there was 0.0% change in house prices - the West Midlands region saw the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -3.1% - no region experienced positive annual growth; the North East experienced the smallest decrease in its average property value over the last 12 months with a movement of -0.4% - London saw the lowest annual price growth, with a fall of 6.0%   Price change by region for England Region Average price Nov 2023 Annual change % since Nov 2022 Monthly change % since Oct  2023 East Midlands £244,000 -3 -0.8 East of England £347,000 -3.3 -0.2 London £505,000 -6 -2.2 North East £160,000 -0.4 -0.2 North West £213,000 -0.2 -0.9 South East £386,000 -2.3 -0.4 South West £319,000 -4.1 -2.7 West Midlands £244,000 -3.4 -3.1 Yorkshire and the Humber £209,000 -0.8 0.0 Repossession sales by volume for England The lowest number of repossession sales in September 2023 was in the East of England. The highest number of repossession sales in September  2023 was in the North East and North West. Repossession sales Sep 2023 East Midlands 6 East of England 1 London 12 North East 16 North West 16 South East 9 South West 8 West Midlands 10 Yorkshire and the Humber 13 England 91 Average price by property type for England Property type Nov 2023 Nov  2022 Difference % Detached £480,000 £488,000 -1.7 Semi-detached £291,000 £299,000 -2.2 Terraced £244,000 £255,000 -4.5 Flat/maisonette £245,000 £253,000 -3.0 All £301,000 £311,000 -2.9 Funding and buyer status for England Transaction type Average price Nov  2023 Annual price change % since Nov  2022 Monthly price change % since Oct 2023 Cash £283,000 -2.9 -0.9 Mortgage £311,000 -2.9 -1.2 First-time buyer £250,000 -3.2 -1.2 Former owner occupier £347,000 -2.7 -1.2 Building status for England Building status* Average price Sep 2023 Annual price change % since Sep 2023 Monthly price change % since Aug 2023 New build £422,000 7.9 -5.3 Existing resold property £301,000 -1.5 0.0 *Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.  

London

London shows, on average, house prices have fallen by -2.2% since October 2023. An annual price fall of -6% takes the average property value to £505,000. Average price by property type for London Property type Nov 2023 Nov 2022 Difference % Detached £1,021,000 £1,101,000 -7.3 Semi-detached £662,000 £698,000 -5.2 Terraced £554,000 £592,000 -6.5 Flat/maisonette £418,000 £443,000 -5.7 All £505,000 £537,000 -6.0 Funding and buyer status for London Transaction type Average price Nov 2023 Annual price change % since Nov 2022 Monthly price change % since Oct 2023 Cash £512,000 -7.8 -3.7 Mortgage £502,000 -5.5 -1.9 First-time buyer £436,000 -5.8 -1.7 Former owner occupier £580,000 -6.3 3.0 Building status for London Building status* Average price Sep 2023 Annual price change % since Sep 2023 Monthly price change % since Aug 2023 New build £559,000 1.7 -5.8 Existing resold property £530,000 -2.4 0.9 *Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.  

Wales

Wales shows, on average, house prices have fallen by 0.3% since October 2023. An annual price fall of 2.4% takes the average property value to £213,000 There were 12 repossession sales for Wales in September 2023. Average price by property type for Wales Property type Nov 2023 Nov 2022 Difference % Detached £328,000 £333,000 -1.3 Semi-detached £207,000 £211,000 -2.0 Terraced £165,000 £171,000 -4.0 Flat/maisonette £135,000 £136,000 -0.5 All £213,000 £218,000 2.4 Funding and buyer status for Wales Transaction type Average price Nov 2023 Annual price change % since Nov 2022 Monthly price change % since Oct 2023 Cash £206,000 -2.1 0.0 Mortgage £217,000 -2.6 -0.5 First-time buyer £183,000 -2.8 -0.3 Former owner occupier £248,000 -2 -0.4 Building status for Wales Building status* Average price Sep 2023 Annual price change % since Sep 2022 Monthly price change % since Aug 2023 New build £322,000 8 -5.3 Existing resold property £210,000 -2.7 -0.3 *Figures for the 2 most recent months are not being published because there are not enough new build transactions to give a meaningful result.   Sources: THX News & HM Land Registry. Read the full article

Maia Jae Bastidas

Maia Jae Bastidas: Top 10 Interesting Facts About Her

Maia Jae Bastidas, a rising star in the entertainment world, has won the hearts of many with her talent and personality. This 25-year-old actress, model and social media celebrity was born on March 18, 1998, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In this blog post, we will look into the top 10 interesting facts about Maia Jae Bastidas, putting light on her past, career and accomplishments

Top 10 Interesting Facts About Maia Jae Bastidas

1. Early Life and Family:

Maia Jae Bastidas is from a well-established family, born on March 18, 1998 in Toronto, Canada and she is a permanent resident of Toronto. She had a happy upbringing in Toronto and also spent time in Los Angeles, California.

2. Cultural Diversity:

Maia shows the cultural diversity that makes Canada such a multicultural Region because she is a Canadian citizen and comes from a diverse ethnic background that includes both white and Latino origins. Her mixed heritage adds depth to her identity and has influenced her unique artistic expression.

3. Faith and Zodiac Sign:

In many cases, I was told that the person would be so mad that it couldn’t be resolved. She is a Pisces, the water sign of the zodiac that is associated with creativity and empathy; these qualities shine through in her work, giving her characters a multidimensional and realistic quality.

4. Educational Background:

Maia began her academic path by enrolling in a prominent primary school in Toronto. Her dedication to education prompted her to continue her studies at a prestigious junior high school in the same city, setting the stage for her future success.

She studied Theatre Arts and Media Production at a university in Toronto with a minor in Spanish. Her dedication to her profession resulted to the screening of her short film “Thumbs” at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival’s NextWave Showcase.

5. Multi-Talented:

In addition to her film career, Maia Jae Bastidas is a real multidisciplinary artist. She is a popular model and a social media influencer, with her adaptability and versatility in the world of entertainment.

6. Net Worth:

Maia Jae Bastidas’ net worth is estimated to be $1 million as of 2023. She earned her net worth through her work in television and film ventures as well as collaborations with well-known fashion designers.

7. Notable Roles:

Maia’s acting career includes several notable roles. She is most recognized for her roles as “Eliza Wells” in “Rabbit Hole” and as “Justine” in the Emmy-nominated “The Boys” spin-off series “Gen-V” on Amazon Prime. She will co-star in the film “Seven Veils,” directed by Academy Award nominee Atom Egoyan, with Golden Globe winner Amanda Seyfried in 2023. She also appeared in Taylor Sheridan’s “Mayor of Kingstown” Season 1 , opposite Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner, and is going to appear as “Letty Acosta” on “HPI,” starring Kaitlin Olson and written by Academy Award nominee Drew Goddard. Her appearance can also be expected in Bryce Dallas-Howard’s “Witch Mountain” on Disney+.

8. Impressive Height:

Maia Jae Bastidas stands at a height of 5 feet 5 inches.

9. Awards and Nomination:

Maia’s exceptional talent has not gone unnoticed. She clinched the TO Webfest Award for Best Ensemble Webseries for “Lady Ada’s Secret Society” in 2022, sharing the honor with actors like Terri Hawkes, Ella Jonas Farlinger, Glenna Walters and Claire Qute.

She repeated this feat by winning the NZ Webfest Award for the same category in the same year. Furthermore, she secured the Best Performance Award for “Wildflower” at the Vancouver Short Film Festival in 2022 and received a nomination for the web series “Lady Ada’s Secret Society” at the New Media Film Festival in 2023.

10. Diverse Contributions:

Maia Jae Bastidas has been honored for her efforts to initiatives such as the Banff World Media Festival’s “Women in Media” and “Diversity of Voices.” Her commitment to encouraging diversity and inclusion in the industry demonstrates her desire to make a good difference.

#That's growth! 🥲️ HPI: HAUT POTENTIEL INTELLECTUEL S03 E01 & E02

Everytime

Fandoms: HPI: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (TV 2022)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Morgane Alvaro/Adam Karadec

Morgane Alvaro

Adam Karadec

Fanvids

My First Fanvid

Season 3 Spoilers

Pining

Voici ma toute première fanvid !

** Attention, contient des spoilers sur toute la saison 3 Y COMPRIS LE FINAL **

(Feed generated with FetchRSS) source https://archiveofourown.org/works/48064675

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: HPI: Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (TV 2022) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Morgane Alvaro/Adam Karadec Characters: Adam Karadec, Morgane Alvaro Additional Tags: Spoilers, Post-Season/Series 03, One Shot, Angst, POV Adam Karadec, Introspection Summary:

ATTENTION : Post saison 3

Introspection d'Adam après les événements de la saison 3.

How Many Types Of Visas Does The UK Issue

To realize your dream of working in the UK all you need is a work visa!

Visa is a word which you may have heard a bundle of times in your life. Though, holding one would give a different sort of feel. 

A visa is defined as an endorsement that allows foreigners to enter a country and stay there for a definite period. 

This period could be months or even years depending on the type of visa you choose.

There are various types ofUK visas for varied purposes of visit.

 For example, a student visa is necessary to study in the UK. Similarly, a skilled-worker visa is needed to work in the UK.

Here we will discuss all the different types of visas issued by the UK.

Different Types of Visas Issued by the UK

The purpose of entry into the country dictates which visa type to apply for. There are many visa types to choose from. Though, contacting UK visa consultants helps avoid confusion. They help make the process of getting a visa simpler and more hassle-free. 

Typically visas are divided into 5 main categories which includes: 

Visiting

Working

Studying

Family

Ukraine

All the visas that the UK issues fall within these 5 categories. The total number of types of visas issued by the UK government is 47. Here is a neat breakdown of all the UK visas:

1. To Visit the UK

The first category is related to visiting the English land. Anyone can visit the UK as a tourist, in transit, as a professional, or more. 

These visas allow a person holding them to stay in the UK from one month to six months, depending on the visa you have chosen. 

Following are the types of visas to apply for a visit to the UK.

Standard Visitor Visa

Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor Visa

Transit Visa

Marriage Visitor Visa

Electronic Visa Waiver

Approved Destination Status Agreement Visa

2. To Work in the UK

Many people from India go to work in the UK. It can be on the basis of a short-term internship or a full-time job offer. The economy and the quality of life hugely appeal to foreigners. 

Registered UK companies sponsor these people as their employees to come and work in the UK. The job and the company ought to be qualified for foreigners to work to get a work visa.

3. Long-term Work Visas

Long-term work visas, as the name suggests, are for a long active period. People apply for this visa if they get a stable job from a qualified company in the UK. 

You can even apply for permanent residency once you have lived and worked in the UK for at least five years. The long-term work permit in the UK are as follows:

• International Sportsperson visa

• Skilled Worker visa

• Minister of Religion visa

• Health and Care Worker visa

• Scale-up Worker visa

• Senior or Specialist Worker visa

4. Short-term Work Visas

These visas are for people with temporary work in the UK. It could be both paid and unpaid. There are different kinds of visas in this category but the maximum duration of staying with these visas is not more than a year. Following are the short-term visas issued by the UK:

Service Supplier visa (Global Business Mobility)

Charity Worker visa (Temporary Work)

Secondment Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

Creative Worker visa (Temporary Work)

the UK Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

Government Authorised Exchange visa (Temporary Work)

Graduate Trainee visa (Global Business Mobility)

International Agreement visa (Temporary Work)

High Potential Individual (HPI) visa

Religious Worker visa (Temporary Work)

Graduate visa

Seasonal Worker visa (Temporary Work)

Youth Mobility Scheme visa

5. Investor, Business Development and Talent Visas

This is the third sub-category ofUK work visas and includes all the investor, business development and talent visas. These visas allow you to stay in the UK for 2 to 5 years. They are as follows:

6. To Study in the UK

The next main category in different kinds of visas is study-related visas. People looking for educational opportunities in the UK apply for these visas. These visas are valid for the period of the study course in the UK. 

An extension can also be applied for before it goes invalid. The types here are as follows:

Student Visa

Child Student Visa

Short-term Study Visa

7. For families in the UK

If you have a family in the UK or a family member from Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, the EU or Liechtenstein, you can apply for these visas. The family visa allows you to stay for 6 months in the UK whereas the permit is valid for 3 or 4 months.

Family visa

EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit

Hire a professional UK visa consultant 

Mentioned above were certain types of UK visas issued by the UK. Some of the visas were country-specific while the others were general. 

Out of this whole lot, the most popular ones are Student Visa, Standard Visitor Visa, Skilled-Worker Visa and Health and Care Worker Visa.  It is wise to hire a professional UK visa consultant like Work Permitz for in-depth knowledge about the different kinds of visas and routes to settle in the UK. choose the visa type based on your needs and live your UK dreams.

Gosh trying to watch old french series is nearly impossible when you don’t have a dvd player or Salto... I’m so frustrated rn

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019

Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 GS-1 Amazon fre Why in news? Over the last several days, the Amazon rainforest has been burning at a rate that has alarmed environmentalists and governments worldwide. Mostly caused by farmers clearing land, the fires have thrown the spotlight on Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies and anti-environment stance. Where are the Amazon fires happening?  Started in the Amazonian rainforests, the fires have impacted populated areas in the north, such as the states of Rondônia and Acre, blocking sunlight and enveloping the region in smoke.  The smoke has wafted thousands of miles to the Atlantic coast and São Paulo, according to the World Meteorological Organization.  Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has reported that forest fires in the region have doubled since 2013, and increased by 84% compared to the same period last year.  This year alone there have been 72,843 fires, it said, and more than 9,500 of those have happened over the past few days. How did the Amazon fires start?  The weekly Brasil de fato reported that Bolsonaro’s anti-environment rhetoric has emboldened farmers, who organised a “fire day” along BR-163, a highway that runs through the heart of the rainforest.  The weekly quoted a report by local newspaper Folha do Progresso, that local farmers had set fire to sections of the rainforest a few days ago to get the government’s attention. “  Alberto Setzer, a researcher at INPE, told Reuters that this year, the region did not experience extreme dry weather.  “The dry season creates the favourable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.”  The Amazon fires are so large that they are visible from space. NASA released images on August 11 showing the spread of fires and reported that its satellites had detected heightened fire activity in July and August. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 Why are the Amazon fires a cause for concern?  The Amazon rainforest is a repository of rich biodiversity and produces approximately 20 per cent of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere.  It is also home to indigenous communities whose lives and homelands are under threat due to encroachment by the Brazil government, foreign corporations and governments with economic interests in the resource-rich region, and local farmers.  In a 2017 study, the University of Leeds found that carbon intake by the Amazon basin matches the emissions released by nations in the basin.  The burning of forests, therefore, implies additional carbon emissions.  Research by scientists Carlos Nobre and Thomas E Lovejoy suggests that further deforestation could lead to the Amazon’s transformation from the world’s largest rainforest to a savanna, which would reverse the region’s ecology.  A National Geographic report said the Amazon rainforest influences the water cycle not only on a regional scale, but also on a global scale.  The rain produced by the Amazon travels through the region and even reaches the Andes mountain range.  Moisture from the Atlantic falls on the rainforest, and eventually evaporates back into the atmosphere.  The report said the Amazon rainforest has the ability to produce at least half of the rain it receives. This cycle is a delicate balance. How has the international community reacted?  Germany and Norway have suspended funding for programmes that aim to stop deforestation in the Amazon and have accused Brazil of doing little to protect the forests.  Indigenous groups and environment activists have led protests and criticised Bolsonaro for his comments and policies. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 Dacentrurus Context Scientists have described a new species of stegosaurus and dated it to 168 million years ago, which makes it the oldest known member of that group of dinosaurs ever known. About the species  Named Adratiklit boulahfa, it is also the first stegosaurus to be found in North Africa.  Its remains were discovered in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco, and the study describing it was led by Dr Susannah Maidment of the London’s Natural History Museum (NHM).  The scientists believe it is not only a new species but also belongs to a new genus.  The name is derived from the words used by the Berber (an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa) for mountains (Adras), lizard (tiklit) and and the area where the specimen was found. (Boulahfa).  The Adratiklit was armoured and herbivorous, and lived on the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which later split into Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.  Most stegosaurus remains so far have been found in the northern hemisphere”. However, this may not mean that stegosaurs were uncommon in Gondwana. It may be due to the fact that Gondwana rock formations have been subject to far fewer excavations and detailed studies. GS-2 Henley passport inded Context: The latest edition of Henley Passport Index has been released. The Index ranks India at 86, down five places from 81 in 2018. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 About the index:  The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens.  The index gathers data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that manages inter-airline cooperation globally.  The Henley Passport Index is updated in real time according to countries’ visa policy changes.  It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI)and was modified and renamed in January 2018.  The HPI consists of a ranking of passports according to how many other territories can be reached ‘visa-free’. What does this mean for Indian passport holders?  India has a score of 58. That is the number of destinations an Indian passport holder can travel to today, without pre-departure government approval. That is the same as a citizen of any country, on an average, could travel to 13 years ago.  In 2006, a citizen, on an average, could travel to 58 destinations without needing a visa from the host nation; by 2018, this number had nearly doubled to 107.  India ranks below other BRICS countries, with which are at a similar stage in their economic development. Significance of the index: Passports rankings point towards the strength of diplomatic relations between countries. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 Are there other passport indices?  The Henley Passport Index is not the only index available on passport rankings.  Others include the Arton Passport Index, which ranks United Arab Emirates’s passport at rank 1 as per its most recent rankings. GS-3 Microcredit in India Why in news? An article published on 21st August in Ideas for India, authored by Mushfiq Mobarak and Vikas Dimble and originally appearing in Yale Insights, suggests that the existing systems of microcredit have a limited impact on the long-term wellbeing of the recipients. What is microcredit?  Microcredit refers to the granting of very small loans to impoverished borrowers, with the aim of enabling the borrowers to use that capital to become self-employed and strengthen their businesses.  Loans given as microcredit are often given to people who may lack collateral, credit history, or a steady source of income. Objectives of microcredit  The core idea of microcredit is that a small loan will provide access to the larger economy to people who typically live outside the scope of the institutions on which the mainstream economy rests.  Such a loan is meant to enable them to commence with productive activities, and will give them the initial boost required to gain entry into an industry, after which production will be able to sustain itself, and the loan will gradually be repaid.  Microcredit agreements frequently do not require any sort of collateral, and sometimes may not even involve a written agreement, as many recipients of microcredit are often illiterate. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019  When borrowers demonstrate success in paying their loans on time, they become eligible for loans of even larger amounts, allowing them to finance expansion. Why are microcredit institutions failing to deliver long-term benefits?  The article in Ideas for India cites a 2015 study that found “a lack of evidence of transformative effects of microfinance on the average borrower”.  Another study found that having access to microcredit made very little difference to changing the lifestyles of borrowers, based on six indicators: household business profits, business expenditures, business revenues, consumption, consumer durables spending, and spending on temptation goods.  These indicators only saw a 5% impact when microcredit was available.  The primary reason for the lackadaisical effects of microcredit is the stringent repayment schedule offered by most microcredit institutions.  Since most borrowers to whom microcredit is given have little to no credit history as a result of their exclusion from traditional systems of credit, institutions offering microcredit are unable to judge the risk associated with lending to certain borrowers, and cannot be sure what the risk of them defaulting will be.  To lower the risk of defaulting, microcredit lenders therefore resort to repayment schedules that demand an initial repayment that is almost immediate, after which borrowers must adhere to an inflexible weekly schedule for repayments.  The effect of this is that borrowers are unable to use the loans on investments that will take some time to be fully realised, and instead are forced to use the loans they receive on short term investments that only boost production to an extent, and the overall growth of their incomes remains meager. How can the microcredit system be reformed to have greater benefits for borrowers?  Once repayment began, both groups again had the same schedule.  Three years after the initial loans were given out, the study found that borrowers who received the grace period were more likely to have started a new business, and also reported both higher profits and household incomes.  As for the barriers to assessing credit risk, these can be mitigated by using community information. Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019  Communities can be an accurate source of information about credit risk for microcredit institutions, though the article notes that the implementation of such processes would require the elimination of bias and incentivising accurate information. What are the other applications of microcredit?  Conventionally, microcredit has been used mainly for entrepreneurs to begin production and attain self-sufficiency.  However, the Ideas for India article notes new, mostly unexplored paths for the utilisation of microcredit as a poverty alleviation and productivity-boosting measure.  A study found that small microcredit loans can allow rural labourers –those who are employees, as opposed to entrepreneurs, who are employers– to migrate to urban areas to find work during the lean season, when there is no work to be found on farms.  Those who migrated temporarily during this season experienced increased spending in both food and non-food areas, and increased their calories consumed.  Microcredit can also be used to dampen the effects of shocks like floods by providing people with a form of insurance that both increases production before the shock and provides a safety net after.  Microcredit has a vast range of applications for poverty alleviation and general development, but existing systems require reform in multiple areas to allow for unfettered benefits that last.  Furthermore, in areas were the application of microcredit is relatively new, microcredit systems must be carefully evaluated before they are put into place, so as to enable the greatest benefit from such institutions. FATF Why in news? The Asia-Pacific Group (APG) of the global terror financing and money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List for failing to comply with commitments, PTI has reported, quoting unnamed officials. . Daily Current Affairs Dated On 23-Aug-2019 About FATF  The FATF is an inter-governmental body that is now in its 30th year, working to “set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system”.  was founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.  In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.  It monitors progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations through "peer reviews" ("mutual evaluations") of member countries.  The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris India vs Pakistan at FATF  India is a voting member of both the FATF and the APG, and co-chair of the Joint Group, where it is represented by the Director General of India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).  Pakistan had asked for India’s removal from the group, citing bias and motivated action, but that demand was rejected.  India was not part of the group that had moved the resolution to greylist Pakistan last year in Paris.  The movers were the US, UK, France, and Germany. China did not oppose the move then.

What Is My Winter Springs FL Home Value?

Are you planning to sell your Winter Springs FL home? Then you need to know how much your home is worth. Knowing the value of your home lets you evaluate what you can afford, determine whether a listing is appropriately priced, and decide how to price your own home when it’s time to sell it.

Why do you need to know the current market value of your Winter Springs FL home?

As a homeowner, you may know how much you paid for your property and how much your monthly mortgage is, but you may not know what its current market value is. You may think, if you still live in your home and intend to live there for the near future, then why would you care about its current market value?

Your home’s current market value is the amount it would likely sell for if it went on the market today. In short, it is the estimate of what buyers would be willing to pay for it at a specific point in time.

Like most homeowners, you may not know the importance of knowing your home’s current market value. If you are asking yourself, “does it matter?” The answer is yes, it does—for a whole host of reasons.

Here are some of the reasons why you need to know the current value of your Winter Springs FL home:

·        Property Tax

When assessing your property for property tax, it is the current market value of your home that you need to consider and not its value when you first bought it. If you undervalue your property, you might need to pay a fine in the future. If you overvalue it, you might need to pay an additional tax every year.

·         Insurance

Do not fall into the trap of using the original purchase price of your home when getting a quote for home insurance, as this will only lead to higher premiums. Instead, use its current market value.

·         Financial Planning

Knowing the current market value of your home will help you better assess your current net worth. If you know your home’s value, it will be easier for you to determine if you are in negative equity and if so, by how much.

Being able to assess your current net worth is extremely important as you make major life decisions like downsizing, trading up, upgrading, or selling your home.

·         Home Sale

This is one of the most obvious reasons to determine the current value of your Winter Springs FL home. When it is time to sell, you need to know the true market value of your property or you may have to deal with the consequences.

If you overprice your home, it may end up not selling quickly or worse, going stale in the market. If you underprice it, it will fail to give you the best return on your investment.

When it’s time to sell your home, talk to a professional like me so I can give you my expert opinion. I can help you know the current value of your property, so you’ll have less homework to do.

How do I find out what my Winter Springs FL home is worth?

If you want to determine your Winter Springs FL home value, there are many ways to do so. Basically, your house is worth whatever someone will pay for it. But if you want a long answer to your question then it depends on the market and whether you are asking a lender, an agent, or a county assessor.

Even if you are not yet selling your home, knowing how to calculate its value with the help of online tools and trained professionals is a huge advantage for you. Not only does it prepare you to buy, sell, refinance, and tap into your home’s equity, it also helps you negotiate lower property taxes.

Knowing the value of your home also gives you a better picture of your overall financial health. In the United States, for instance, nearly three quarters or 73% of the total population are convinced that one of the keys to determining their financial health is by knowing the value of their homes.

Here are some of the ways through which you can find the value of your home:

1.       By using online home evaluation tools

If you try to search “how much is my house worth?” you will find that there are lots of home value estimators available online. These tools, generally referred to as automated valuation models or AVMs, are usually offered by lenders or popular real estate sites like Zillow and Redfin.

AVMs use public records like property transfers, deeds of ownership, tax assessments, and some mathematical modeling in predicting home values based on recent sales and listing prices in your area. Most real estate sites have this AVM feature for marketing and lead generation purposes.

Because online evaluation tools are mostly made available for the sake of generating leads, they return a value for every property even when the data presented by the homeowner is limited. Because of this, online home evaluation tools are less accurate compared with other home evaluation means.

Meanwhile, the AVMs used by real estate professionals like us are different. Unlike the typical AVMs found on real estate websites, our tools use a confidence score to indicate how close the AVM provider thinks an estimate is to market value. If the tool yields a confidence score of 90%, then that means that the estimate given is within 10% of market value.

2.       By using a comparative market analysis

If you want to know your home value but don’t want to settle with online evaluation tools, you can ask me for a comparative market analysis. This may not be as detailed as a professional appraisal, but it offers my evaluation of your home and the market and provides an estimated value for your home. I can do this for you for little or no cost.

3.   By using the FHFA House Price Index Calculator

One of the quickest ways to get an estimate of what your home is worth if you don’t want to settle for AVMs is by using the Federal Housing Financing Agency’s (FHFA) house price index (HPI) calculator.

This more scientific approach makes use of the “repeat sales method” by tracking the change in the value of a house from one sale to the next. Through this, the tool estimates how values fluctuate in a given market.

While this calculator only looks at conforming home mortgages and is not adjusted seasonally or for inflation, it is still a reliable tool if you want an easy way to know how much your house may have appreciated over a certain period of time.

4.       By hiring a professional appraiser

Lenders usually require an appraisal before approving a mortgage. As a property owner, however, you can choose to hire an appraiser to estimate the value of your home at any time. In the U.S., about one-fourth of the population actually determine their home values through a professional appraiser.

Appraisers generally give a value based on your needs. That means that if you hire an appraiser, you may ask him to get the value of your home for a date in the past, or you may also ask for its current market value for refinancing and purchasing purposes.

Among the things that appraisers evaluate are the market, the property, and comparable properties. Not only do they look at the region, city and neighborhood in which your home is located, they also determine your home value based on the characteristics of your house, the land it sits on, as well as the sales, listings, vacancies, cost, depreciation, and other factors for similar houses in the same market.

Through the information that they gather, they are able to come up with a final opinion of value for the home and summarize it in an official report.

5.       By evaluating comparable properties

Generally, appraisals and AVMs rely on the recent sale value of comparable properties called “comps” when coming up with an estimated home value. In fact, more than half of the U.S. population determine the value of their homes by looking at properties that are similar to theirs.

The reason there is so much reliance on comps when it comes to determining home value is that this approach is the simplest. When you pull comps, you are able to determine market value without actually having to pay an appraiser. All you need to have is good judgment.

The catch, however, is that some homeowners tend to think that all properties sold next door are considered comps. That is not the case.

In choosing accurate comps, you need to use an “apples to apples” approach. This means you need to think about which properties would interest a buyer if your property were not available. You may look for comps by looking for homes with similar size, location, condition, and upgrades as yours.

Here are some tips to get started:

·         Look for a site with MLS listings

As you browse a site where you can find MLS listings, you will be able to find the recent sale prices of comparable houses in your neighborhood.

·         Look at listing prices

You may start looking at listing prices if you see that there are not enough recent sales. Remember, however, that they might not be that realistic

·         Look for at least three valid comps

If you want to know the likely range of market value for your house, look for at least three properties that are comparable to it.

Remember that things tend to get a little tricky once you have chosen comparable properties. After finding at least three comps, you need to adjust for differences between your house and the comps that you have found by either adding value to the comp price if it has more features than your house or subtracting value if its interior is not as updated as yours.

The amount you add or subtract also largely depends on your market conditions. If you want an easy way to know your home value based on comps, look at the highest and lowest comps. Most probably, your home value is somewhere in the middle of those two values.

What increases the value of my home?

If you are not satisfied with the estimated value you got for your home, there are many ways you can boost its value so you can sell it at a higher price. Here are some of the projects you can take on to increase your Winter Springs FL home value:

·         Come up with a remodeling plan

It doesn’t matter whether you just bought a house or you have lived there for a while. The fastest and easiest way to increase the value of your Winter Springs FL home is by coming up with a plan.

You are more likely to come up with better results if you do your upgrades intentionally and not on impulse. While a home improvement project may cost you a little, remember that about 75 to 80 percent of your total spending for upgrades go directly back into your home through increased value.

As you come up with your remodeling plan, start with a list of the things you want to change and the updates you want to make. Have a guess on how long you want to live in your house. If you are planning to sell it in the near future, talk to me and I will come up with a selling plan for you.

It is also important that you take the list and categorize by how much each of the items you’ve listed may cost you. Then, give it a fresh look and see which of them you need to prioritize.

·         Deal with one room at a time

One of the best ways to harness the energy that comes from your ideas and still be smart at the same time while taking on your home improvement project is by making the commitment to tackle one room at a time. This will make your project more achievable.

For instance, if you set out to paint your bedroom wall on Friday, make sure you complete the project that day so you can tackle a different room the next day. Through effective strategizing, you will be able to see your vision for each room take shape.

·         Never underestimate small improvements

The problem with most homeowners when they undertake home improvements is that they focus too much on big improvements while neglecting small improvements.  

Doing a little bit of big and small improvements really does pay off. Gone are the days when homeowners pick projects that don’t really make a difference. If you give importance to big and small improvements at the same time, it will be easier for you to see real progress when upgrading your home.

·         Go for a sparkly home

You can never underestimate the value of a clean home, especially if you want to boost its market value. If you are putting your Winter Springs FL home on the market, remember that nothing attracts buyers more than a bright and sparkly home.

As you clean your house, do several things at once by staying on top of maintenance issues and spotting potential problems. Don’t let your clutter build up so when it’s time to sell your Winter Springs FL home, you will feel confident about what you are presenting to your potential buyers.

·         Make your house look attractive and welcoming from the outside

If you want to boost the market value of your home, walk across the street, turn around and give it a fresh look. If you think it is not appealing enough, make a list of ways to enhance the positive and eliminate the negative.

Remember that when boosting the value of your home, curb appeal does count. Since it doesn’t stop at your property line, you may want to talk to your neighbors and ask them how they feel about your curb. Your home will become more valuable if you live in a place where everyone pays attention to appearance.

While determining your home’s value may be a bit complicated, I can make things easier for you. Whether you want to determine the current market value of your Winter Springs FL home or need help with boosting its value, feel free to call me at (407) 617-2881. I am Allison Day and I am your top real estate agent in Winter Springs FL.

In case you cannot view this video here, please click the link below to view What is My Winter Springs FL Home Value? on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiZcfKT19jk&list=PLEfy6uLXhMd_c-qApFiS3RaVmf1bB8DFV&index=2&t=0s