Archive for February, 2009

by BillRoss
Success of a Real Estate investor is determined by how well you implement what you learn but not by the depth of your bank account or by the depth of neither your knowledge nor the income level that you attain once you become a Real Estate investor. Ensure your success by working with a Real Estate coach who has a proven track record of success. It is a challenging and rewarding experience to go for a investing in real estate if you want to be rich within shorter period of time.

Education is paramount to success in any endeavor but when we are speaking of investing it is most important to consider its impact on risk. Join in real estate and meet successful investors throughout the country. Success is not measured in money that one possesses, but on the lifestyle that one lives. Real estate investment information is provided to the students. Real estate agents and brokers are taught on the core activities of real estate investment. They guide students by supplying more and more real estate investment information.

Following kinds of deals you can achieve your desire margins pursue, Condo conversion of older apartment is the hottest, take up a job and makes them luxury condos, results in buyers are on queue. Give some consideration to location because condos are most attractive in some areas than others. There are outdated kitchens, antiquated bathrooms and old wall papers. Exterior look is perfect, needs only interior renovation. Spent little for renovation and earn more through selling it. Investors have common idea that they can not invest where they live because it’s a hot market. Investing is widely regarded as a risky pursuit for those who are uneducated in the field. To professional investors, a person’s education or knowledge of an investment is by far the single greatest determinant of risk. A well-educated investor can always walk away from a risky deal.

They guide students by supplying more and more real estate investment information. Following kinds of deals you can achieve your desire margins pursue, Condo conversion of older apartment is the hottest, take up a job and makes them luxury condos, results in buyers are on queue. Give some consideration to location because condos are most attractive in some areas than others. One’s status get improves in this highly advanced technology world by means of real estate investment, the essential of real estate investment help out students navigate potential investment opportunities in the current real estate market. This guide explores latest investment trends, regulations, market conditions and importance of real estate investment.

In the past, homes with one bathroom ranchers are building. But now many of them feel that ranchers are impossible and insufficient one. This is good for investors. In purchasing this type of home for less value, they will tear down the rancher and build up a new one or else build some extra fittings to give a modernized look to buyers. Key is that buyer needs minimum two bathrooms. Investors buy home for some dollars and spent some more dollars for renovation.

Regardless of what the home looks like inside, people will go for higher price and higher offers. So make a contact to such kinds of people and inform then you’re wiling to buy a home and pay full price and save them the realtor’s commission. Negotiate fair price with the sellers and get the benefit of savings plus what ever the buyer are willing to bid over list price.

Bill Ross, an internet marketer in real estate investing suggests people to read the e-book “Income For Life” at his website http://exclusivewealthsystems.com/ifl. This free e-book will definitely have answers to all real estate investing FAQ

Article Source: Explore What Is Education in Real Estate Investing

by BillRoss
When you buy and hold property for rent or lease to a tenant together with an intention to buy it can be considered as a long term investment know as investment strategies, this is how the real estate investing work in building wealth. Rent option involves finding a specific property, making its condition ready for rent, and then marketing it to possible tenants. This investing strategy offers plenty of profit opportunities. You can create cash flow when the monthly rental given to you is more than the mortgage and other necessary expenses. Wealth it will be built through tax advantages, tenants paying down your mortgage, and property appreciation. Real estate investing will work the way that you want it to work. It is dependent on the goal that you wish to achieve.

You would not go out on a piece of land, anywhere and just begin to pour out some concrete, throw up a few studs here and there, plant a couple of bushes, then do some plumbing and so on. Taking this approach would probably not yield the home you have in mind, whereas, a strategic approach would. The same holds true for business operating chaotically without a strategic plan will not yield success but will leave you with far less than you initially envisioned or set out to obtain.

To make profit is the real objective of real property investing, to increase their profits investors are constantly coming up with new methods of creative real estate investing. Investments start first with a purchase of real property, when real estate investing property is purchased there are several things an investor can do with it. The quickest way to gain a profit is by reselling the property at a price higher than what was paid for it.

If you want success, you’ve got to have the interest and time to keep the properties on track and find the good ones. It is also time-consuming. This is one of the real estate investing secrets. Purchasing a distressed property is the most popular ways to purchase a property for cheap. Because of the appearance, condition, or the financial situation of the owner distressed properties usually have some negative affect on their value. Real property investors can purchase distressed properties for a low price, do some work to fix them up, and then resell the property at market value for a profit.

One of the real estate investing secret is to purchasing a distressed property is the most popular ways to purchase a property for cheap keep the properties on track and find the good ones and if you want success, you’ve got to have the interest and time. Because of the appearance, condition, or the financial situation of the owner distressed properties usually have some negative affect on their value. Real property investors can purchase distressed properties for a low price by doing some work to fix them up and then resell the property at market value for a profit.

Bill Ross, an internet marketer in real estate investing suggests people to read the e-book “Income For Life” at his website http://exclusivewealthsystems.com/ifl. This free e-book will definitely have answers to all real estate investing FAQ and helps to achieve a better financial future.

Article Source: Know The Tips And Details How Real Estate Investing Works

by ARVIND GUPTA
The marked depreciation of urban real estate, farm lands, and bond values called for the rearrangement of the investment portfolio of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

President Ecker, with his long and varied experience in this field, addressed himself to the solution of this problem, made particularly difficult by the continued decline in opportunities for the profitable investment of insurance funds. Money was accumulating in the treasury because it was almost impossible to find proper investment channels.

Under these conditions and with a consciousness of civic responsibility, Mr. Ecker turned his attention to the field of moderate rental housing. .At the age of 70 he launched a building program unprecedented in social character and magnitude, to provide homes for persons of medium income in New York City.

He located a large tract in The Bronx, guided the planning of adequate buildings and services, and saw step by step the fulfillment of his hopes in the completion of a model community, Parkchester. By the early 1920’s, 36,000 people lived there, a splendid contribution to the moderate priced housing program of the city and the Nation.

Similar housing developments were undertaken under Mr. Ecker’s direction both in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and later in Alexandria, Va. Such building programs, without precedent in the United States for a private company, were recognized by national and private agencies as an important contribution to the housing problem in the period of war emergency.

At the same time, they served as an excellent investment field for the company. During the period of financial depression there were criticisms of every business; and the business of life insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and even automobile insurance in general and the Metropolitan specifically were not exempt.

Notwithstanding the splendid record of the major companies, various movements for investigating the life insurance business and health insurance providers were initiated in Washington. In 1938 the Congress of the United States responded to a message from President Roosevelt and included among the subjects to be investigated by the Temporary National Economic Committee certain investment phases of the business of life insurance.

The investigation was assigned to the newly created Securities and Exchange Commission. Those responsible for gathering evidence to submit to the T.N.E.C. lost no opportunity to seek out material for criticism in the business and directed much of their attention to the Metropolitan. The company took a firm stand in behalf of its policyholders and presented voluminous documentary evidence to show that it had conducted its many activities in the public interest, and that its size had not involved any abuse of economic; that its position as investor of trustee funds as prescribed by Statute precluded such power.

Nor had its size interfered with its effectiveness as a social organization. In fact, the company had increased in initiative and in service as it had grown. After the conclusion of the hearings, the comment of the Chairman of the T.N.E.C. was that the life insurance buisness had come through with flying colors.

The failure of the effort to find serious fault with the administration of life insurance in general is best evidenced by the character of the recommendations which were made by the Temporary National Economic Committee. These, for the most part, had to do with a number of suggestions as to modifications in the practice of State supervision. The impression made on the public by these hearings is to be measured by the fact that, during their progress and after their close, the amount of new insurance written by the companies and the lapse rate were exceedingly satisfactory.

This was particularly marked in the case of the Metropolitan, which in 1941 reached the total of more than $25,000,000,000 of insurance in force, issued more business in both the Ordinary and Industrial Departments than in several years past, and achieved in both departments the lowest lapse rates on record.

But if the insurance companies came through this Federal and other investigations unscathed, it must not be supposed that this business has been without its trials and tribulations. No human institution has ever sprung into perfection, like Athena from the head of Zeus; and the life insurance business has had its growing pains.

Early last century, life insurance companies and private health insurance, including the Metropolitan, were launched as purely competitive business ventures with the profit motive well in the foreground, entirely in keeping with the aggressive, individualistic spirit of the times. Naturally, contracts at the beginning were not as liberal as they are today. Agents frequently were poorly trained and did not fully measure up to the responsibility of their calling. As a result, insurance was sometimes written in amounts disproportionate to the family income, haphazardly distributed, causing high lapse rates and excessive expense and loss.

www.answer-service.comwww.auto-cons.com

Article Source: The value of Life Insurance Business

by ARVIND GUPTA
There are many things that set franchisees apart from the rest of the working world. One key advantage is that franchisees are some of the only businesspeople that have total control over what industry they work in and what they do within that industry. Many people don’t have the luxury of choosing a job based on what they enjoy doing, but home business franchise buyers do, and they have plenty of fun choices to choose from. If doing work that you personally find enjoyable sounds appealing, take a quick browse through the following 5 work from home business opportunities and see if any of them has what you’re looking for.

American Vending Systems
The specialty of this particular home based business is something they like to call a Buzz Bite: a chewy chocolate candy, packing the same caffeinated punch as a full cup of coffee. Aside from the tasty, energetic product, one perk of this business is the great deal of operative freedom given to owners, including finding the sales locations of their choice and running as many or as few machines as desired. Every day, the American Vending Systems franchisee decides for himself how business will be conducted and how many happy customers will walk away with a satisfactory caffeine buzz.

DVDNow
Owning this franchise is like running a video rental store, except you don’t have to be present to rent out the movies, because an automated vending machine does it for you. This means that you can not only be attending to other business while your business is making money for you, but you can also have multiple machines taking in money for rentals at the same time. Find prime locations for convenient DVD rentals and simply put machines in place; the rest takes care of itself. Automated movie kiosks have already taken Europe by storm and are starting to sweep into the US, so now is the perfect time to jump on board and reap the benefits of this new and vastly popular way to rent a movie.

Virtuoso Music
There are two primary components to this business, and as long as the entrepreneur is able to take pleasure in at least one of them, this could prove to be a very fun operation. First, the franchisee who likes music is likely to love this home based business. Second, if you enjoy serving people by helping them learn, then you also will get a big kick out of what Virtuoso does. As a franchisee with this internet home based buisness, you have the privilege of connecting people who want to learn to sing or play an instrument with local instructors who can make that happen. Given all the tools for success by the franchisor, a franchisee is given the joy of providing instructors with work, giving customers a new creative outlet, and spreading the excitement that comes with encountering music.

TVME Inc.
Though the most fun aspect of a night out with friends is undoubtedly the friends, music playing over the sounds of laughing guests only makes things all the better. A good TVME franchisee makes such a fun atmosphere possible by providing establishments with the computer equipment necessary to run all their music and video media from a central machine. Though the guests at a restaurant or bowling alley are unlikely to know that TVME Inc. is behind the high quality audio and video entertainment, the business clients that purchase the machines certainly see the difference, in terms of increased numbers of guests and revenue.

ElizaJ
This wedding home based buisness provides outdoor weddings with one of the most unsung but critical parts of the event: the bathroom. And it does it in the classiest way possible, renting out facilities that are on par if not nicer than the restrooms in many homes. They come with running water, which doesn’t require any hookups. Some have included heating, air conditioning, wheelchair accessibility, and stereo receivers for music.

These are great business options for anyone looking to do something a little different, but ultimately, what really brings excitement to any business model, fun or otherwise, is the franchisee’s own ability to enjoy even the mundane, the laborious, and the abnormal things that happen in the course of a work day. If one of these franchises can make your enjoyment of work flow more naturally, by all means pursue it, but regardless of what franchise you choose, take pleasure in it.

www.answer-service.comwww.auto-cons.com

Article Source: Top Home Based Businesses

by slightly different
Having started as a small farming business, Sam Vallance, his wife Jacqui, daughter Judi and son Ryan have ensured the company has grown and diversified into new ventures. The business, which was formed by Sam’s Grandfather and Father, currently provides agricultural, plant, haulage and waste/recycling services and has recently become a franchisee for Valtra tractors.

So successful has the firm become, it now employs nearly 30 members of staff including operators, drivers, office staff and fitters who maintain the plant and equipment. Alongside its existing base next to the A38, near Newton Abbot where it recently launched a new parts store, T.Vallance is about to embark on opening a brand new depot in Wellington, Somerset. This will mean the company can grow the workforce even further with a new sales representative and mechanic.

Sam says they are justifiably proud of their achievements and expansion: “We’ve got a great team working with us; they work hard and offer a service that is second to none. We supply reliable tractors and machinery with an emphasis on value for money. It’s about trust and many of our customers have been with us for years…in the same way we’ve been customers of Cornish Mutual for decades.”

Cornish Mutual provides all insurance products for T.Vallance from farm, business, vehicle and livestock through to special events cover. Around 45 fleet vehicles are insured along with buildings including workshops, offices and the family home.

Judi explains: “Whilst our business is growing, as is Cornish Mutual, they never lose their friendly service. Our Insurance Inspector comes to visit us whenever we need him; he’s always so helpful and provides a solution for all our needs. I think Cornish Mutual is a good family-facing company — there’s the personal one-to-one contact which is so important. John, our Insurance Inspector, is a familiar face and because we’re changing the business, doing different things all the time, it’s good to call John and be able to ask him questions to make sure everything is covered, whether the insurance needs changing or policies need adding to.”

T.Vallance has been insured with Cornish Mutual for over twenty years and Inspector John Amery has been looking after the firm’s needs for just as long.

John adds: “They’ve been my customers from the outset and my Uncle was looking after Sam’s family previously, so not only do we have a great working relationship and understanding of their needs, but there’s a personal relationship there too. We’re helping with advice and support around the new parts of the business, so it’s exciting times ahead for T.Vallance and Son.”

Judi says: “We’ve never looked anywhere else — we’re happy, peace of mind is more important to us than saving a bit of money here or there. I recently organised a charity ball and John even helped me to get special events insurance for this…so I just know Cornish Mutual provides all our needs.”

To find out more about T.Vallance and Son, visit www.tvallance.co.uk or call 01626 821976 for more information.

News brought to you by Cornish Mutual, who offer a broad range of cover. This includes insurance for your farm, home, property, vehicles, machinery, livestock, produce & loss of earnings. News brought to you by http://www.cornishmutual.co.uk

Article Source: Family Firm looks to diversify

by cfinao
It may seem sometimes that you just can’t seem to get your business going no matter how hard you try. You may even be giving up on your dream of achieving financial security, but you must stay focused and committed to your financial dream. Everything you do in life, is an experience or learning curve. Right now you might be accustomed to building your business by passing flier’s, cold calling, prospecting, and inviting people to meetings or seminars, which just might not be working for you. Now the question is, how do you get more people see what you have to offer without dealing with the fear of rejection or just people who say that they will show up, but don’t. It is a pretty simple formula to getting all the eyeballs that you could ever want to your site or opportunity without all the stress.

1. You have to start branding yourself as an expert in your industry and keep yourself totally separated from your business opportunity. People are attracted to people, learn how to build relationships through methods and techniques like self branding and learning how to offer people idea’s or free training to help them evolve in this Industry.

2. Find a prospecting system that would actually help you brand yourself and keep prospects going through your system. The system must be able to teach and create income at the same time while your learning how to use the power of the internet to market your business. Do not expect to make a ton of money doing it at the beginning, but do expect to build a ton of leads which in turn will turn into a massive amount of income over time with proper training.

I teach marketers who are not having any success attracting prospect to their websites, the methods of attraction marketing. http://getpaidfromhome.ws

Article Source: MLM Training Tips - How to Get More Traffic

by cfinao
Attraction marketing is the new concept of acquiring free prospects to your business without you having to bug or harass the potential prospect to view your opportunity. I was totally amazed at how different this ideology was to what I was taught in a traditional MLM business. I was always taught to make a list of people, invite people into my home or a open business presentation. I mean I felt if this is how you are supposed to grow your business then I should of had more success than what I was getting which was very little to no results.

The way my upline wanted me to market which I don’t consider marketing at all now that I look back on it, it was just what I stated earlier in the paragraph, me trying to get people to come and see the presentation, was a very difficult thing for me and plenty of other people in the MLM industry. When I started online trying to find different marketing concepts, I kept getting information on attraction marketing. Now once I studied the concept it was actually time for me to apply everything that I had learned and that required me finding the right marketing system to use to promote this new concept.

Now I went through a few marketing systems, but could never really find one that suited me, or just one that I was ready to put the stamp on. After a few months of searching, I came across a great marketing system. At first I really didn’t see the advantages of the system, but once that light came on everything seem to go perfect for me as far as being able to apply the attraction marketing concepts with this system. Here are some of the best features of the system.

1. System is totally free to use to start generating you money from the get go. This was so different because so many other network marketing systems let you try their system out for a few days then they charge you a monthly fee ranging from $29-$49 a month .

2. It gives you top notch landing pages that will allow you start being able to brand your self as an expert in your field of MLM.

3. It teaches you web 2.0 technology to help you grow your prospecting system online.

4. It teaches you online advertising concepts because the internet is an ever changing beast, what worked today will not always work in the future because of all the new technology upgrades to the internet. So the system keeps you up to date on things like that.

5. It took a guy who was struggling to get more than 5 people in a month to look at his presentation, and don’t let me start talking about people coming to my website which was zero, to showing me how to generate at least 10 people a day leaving information and at least five people a week signing up in my business.

I teach marketers who are not having any success attracting prospect to their websites, the methods of attraction marketing. http://getpaidfromhome.ws

Article Source: Attraction Marketing Using the Spider Web Marketing System

by Mark Pay and Amy Roberts
What? Big mistakes equal big money? What in the dog-gone world does that mean? It means that you are going to make some mistakes on your way to the top. Everyone who is successful has a story of how they missed a golden opportunity, or simply made the wrong decision that cost them dearly. But there is one mistake that is inexcusable. That is the mistake to quit. If you quit, you don’t even have an opportunity to make win. You don’t have an opportunity to do anything except stand in the unemployment line. Now these are hard times, and everyone and their brother, sister, uncle, aunt and even poor grandma are losing their jobs. But even with the current state of the economy, you can’t quit. You have to look even harder and become more resourceful for new innovative ways to make an income. Most importantly, you can’t quit.

Do you know that Michael Jordan couldn’t even make his high school basketball team? He didn’t quit
Did you know that Albert Einstein didn’t do well in math? He didn’t quit.
Did you know that Moses had a terrible speech impediment? He didn’t quit.
Did you know that Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown before he became President? He didn’t quit.
You see, if you quit you never will know success. Ironically, most of the time, it takes a few big mistakes to achieve big success and big money. What did your mom tell you? “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” She was right!

So, to find success, you really need to get out of your cubicle and think outside the box. Don’t quit. Don’t give up your dream. Stick it out and learn all that you can. The more education and knowledge you have in an area, the better your odds of finding success in that area. Nothing in life is free, as you know. Most of the time, great success = big money. Knowledge = Greater odds of success in virtually anything. You can’t win the game if you quit in the third quarter. Sometimes you can win the game at the buzzer. Everyone knows this fact but few people really live it. They barely try something, get frustrated, and then give it up. How can you ever find success in anything doing that? How can you ever maximize your potential? One common comment might be, “Look, this didn’t work, this is a bad idea, I’m quitting”. No, the reality is they didn’t really lean into it and try. They might have been right on the cusp of success!

Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid of quitting. Don’t be afraid of success. Embrace it! Learn a program that can get you to where you want to be, regardless of the economic times. Find a system, like we did, that will help you become successful. Learn, like we did from the best, and you will find that you don’t have to make as many mistakes to get there. You just need knowledge and training from the right team. Then you need to stay in the game for the long haul. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Let us help you find success and big money.

Don’t make the worst mistake of all………..QUITTING!
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Written by: Mark Pay and Amy RobertsThese two internet marketing experts give advice on the latest trends in the industryThe true blessing is in the giving. Learn how.Big Money

Article Source: Big Mistakes Equal Big Money

by Mitch Hayes
Nutronix International and The Berry Tree are taking the health and wellness home business opportunity to the next level. Just a few days from now, they will launch their newly created nationally televised infomercial campaign. Infomercials are nothing new. Turn on your TV during the hours of 2:00 am and 6:00 am and almost every network is airing one paid program or another trying to sell you something you probably don’t need offering one of the many familiar get rich quick schemes. They often use celebrities to lend credibility to the offer. Familiar faces include Chuck Norris and The Total Gym, Erik Estrada offering some pristine estate deal and perhaps one of the most recognizable, Tom Bosley with SMC. There’s nothing wrong with the use of celebrities to market these opportunities and products. It’s a very effective strategy.

Some infomercials actually offer a very good product or a legitimate home business opportunity. Many of them however, are pushing money making scams or cheaply made products that don’t work. It’s often difficult to tell which is which and as a result, most people don’t take them seriously. So why would Nutronix and The Berry Tree want to venture out into such tenuous and uncertain territory? The answer lies in the heart of Bob and Blair Bremner, owners of Nutronix International and Art and Rob Phelps of The Berry Tree. I have met these men personally and I am here to tell you these guys are for real. They are just regular everyday folks like you and me with a desire to help people. They are sincere, honest and hard working entrepreneurs who have created effective and affordable health and wellness products that make a difference in people’s lives and a very good home business opportunity marketing those products. So why not take it to the airwaves with a Nutronix and The Berry Tree infomercial?

Bob Bremner, the brains behind all the products, is an amazing individual. Get him going and he will keep you mesmerized for hours talking about the science behind the various products. He will expound upon the benefits of their Colloidal Silver Solution, a natural antibiotic, Nusulin, a product that helps people afflicted with Type II Diabetes, Berry Greens Boost an energy supplement that works without using sugar or caffeine and one of his personal favorites, O2 proformance Hydration, their Choral Calcium product that turns regular drinking water into a powerful antioxidant drink. His son, Blair Bremner is a marketing genius. Like his Dad, Blair has a sincere desire to help people. He set out to create a highly profitable yet affordable home business opportunity to enable regular people to live more healthy and to achieve financial freedom and security. Nutronix and The Berry Tree, the culmination of his efforts and the efforts of the Phelps brothers has accomplished just that. The Nutronix and Berry Tree infomercial will get the message out. This is one infomercial you need to pay attention to.

Mitch Hayes is a successful Home Business entrepreneur and success mentor. He is owner and principle author of The Online Home Business Answer a resource blog for home business professionals dedicated to persuing Excellence and Integrity in Network Marketing.

Article Source: The Nutronix and The Berry Tree Infomercial

by mcomo
Millions of people are looking to Work at Home each Year. In my opinion some have great success, while others fail miserably. Why is that? That’s a very good question, but being able to work at home brings along it own set of baggage. First if you do not have the self-discipline to work from home without supervision than odds are you will fail.

Many people think that work at home jobs are just a matter of doing what they do at work from the comfort of their home. In some cases this is true, but more often than not it is not the case. The work at home arena is a great way in my opinion to earn extra income or replace your current income, but many times working online is different than what many people perceive that it would be. That’s not bad except for the fact that many people do not like change, it makes them feel uncomfortable and they likely do nothing. Well if you are working from home and you do nothing you will not make any money. These people often go on to give negative feedback on the whole work at home niche of the market place. I think this is really unfair. Don’t get me wrong you have to do your research, because there are plenty of scam artists lurking on the worldwide web just looking to take advantage of someone.

I suggest doing some research, while looking for a Work at Home Directory website, that list the most popular home based programs. They normally only show the programs the feel offer the best opportunity for various reasons. I think if a person picks from work at home programs that have done some level of research they will have a leg up on success.

You will find that many of the Work at Home Directory sites will offer programs on rebate processing, e-mail processing, data entry, type at home, telephone answering services, chat room operators and paid surveys just to mention a few.

I believe many people are having great success with these home-based programs, but you have to be willing to follow their step-by-step instructions to the letter. Why reinvent the wheel? If it’s being successful for someone else use the guidance provided. I also believe that it is best to join 2 - 3 work at home programs as this will give you multiple chances at find programs that work for you.

It’s very important that you find a work at home job that will create the level on income you desire and create the cash as fast as you need. I think if you will match any programs you may choose to join with your skill sets, income objectives, comfort level and time constraints you will be much better off in the long run. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

To your success!

Michael Comeau has been owner of many successful businesses over the years including his current online business which can be viewed at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com/Work-at-Home-Directory.phpYou may also find more articles by Michael Comeau at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com

Article Source: 2009 Work at Home Opportunities