Introduction to Home Staging

First of all, let me acknowledge that it is okay to have fear and be a scaredy-cat. Hey, if it wasn’t for fear we would easy place our hands on a hot stove. The key is to face the fear and be proactive (um, like NOT touching the flames on your stove - ouchie!) by moving forward with comfort.
 
Are you procrastinating from decorating your home to reflect your comfort and style? If so, what is stopping you from decorating your home to “fit” your comfort?
 
Is it not enough time? money? knowledge? tired when you get home? The answer – you are! You are what is stopping you from living better in your home.
 
My philosophy is that you obtain comfort at home from a physical (balanced furniture placement & color schemes) and mental state of relaxation (believing that you deserve to live great)  - and not from expensive furniture.
 
You and only you have the power to do something about the comfort of your room(s). Even if you do not live alone, you can be the motivator in your household for improving your home, while making it FUN and moving FORWARD!

So how do you move forward? It’s simple – think of the letters F-O-R-W-A-R-D, here’s the guide:

F-ind time and make a decision to love living and enjoying your home
O-rganize your items  by what you like/do not like or want/do not want
R-emove all excuses of why you can’t or shouldn’t treat yourself to living in comfort
W-elcome input of others, but keep the eye on the prize YOUR immediate household’s comfort
A-rrange your home life to reflect your personality & the lifestyle that you WANT (not the lifestyle you currently have, reach for more luxury)
R-emember your ultimate goal (e.g.: fun living room to invite friends over, kitchen to accommodate dinner parties, bedroom to relax and read, etc).
D-esign a plan for decorating your home that matches your heart 

Here are a few inspirational quotes to remind you to live happy within your home and your “self”: 
 
“Success is a journey, not a destination” – Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (prominent tennis player)

“the greatest motivator for me was getting started.” – V.S. Naipul (nobel prize winner)

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certain certainties” – Erich Fromm (renowned psychologist)

How boring (and quite “twilight zone” strange) would it be if you had the same exact décor 10 years from now? Same wall colors, same toss pillows on your sofa, same artwork. Hmm, a bit boring (zzzzzz) to you and your guests, huh?!

So don’t be afraid to buy a particular framed art that you love NOW, and it may become a perfect gift that you pass on to someone you love in 3 years from now.  As your comfort level, tastes, and style grows so should your home – to reflect your life  - a successful journey living your life to the fullest potential of your current style, tastes, and preferences.

Now this doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money on furniture, it means that you decorate your home following your heart’s inner desire: 

• perhaps you cannot afford to have a built in Jacuzzi tub, but you can surround yourself with plush towels and a bathrobe that feels like a warm hug  
• perhaps you cannot afford a new sofa, but you can slipcover your current sofa to make the room look and feel brighter and larger
• perhaps you cannot afford a new area rug for your living room, but you can paint your current old rug with colors that match the newly purchased toss pillows that you love

Make a decision to improve your home and get started (move F-O-R-W-A-R-D)! Give yourself a wishful deadline to energize yourself.  Maybe even plan a dinner party with the goal that you will have a new improved home to showcase at your dinner party. 
 
When you start feeling a fear that you may make decorating mistakes:

• embrace the fear and remind yourself that it is okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them 
• get decorating tools to help guide you and help alleviate your decorating hesitance (e.g. from your local library, decorating TV shows, from us -> view our website source page, e-book 31 Mistakes to Avoid When Decorating Your Home, decorating service options: Quick Room Analyzer, Dream Design Kit. To learn more about these services, please go to the website below.

So, take charge and be a tiger/tigress RAAAR (<- that is my tigress sound effect) and decorate your home to reflect YOU! Feel happy at home, and within your”self”. 

© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com

Ada Gonzalez
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/are-you-a-decorating-scaredycat-hmm-are-you-677099.html

Functional actually means that the room should serve a purpose and be comfortable to perform that function inside the room. Keep this function in mind while decorating a functional room like a living room.

When you are into redecorating and making your home look nice, you probably love to change your living room interior decorating theme often. Here we are going to look at a feature that can be a stunning focal point of any living room, that’s inexpensive, can relax, and calm you as well as lift your mood. Flowers spot lit on a table are a quick and easy way of decorating a bare wall or corner as well as adding freshness color and texture there is also the advantage of perfume to the room.

Native American Indian art as home decor helps bring in an atmosphere of nature in the overall interior decorating of a room. But because people nowadays are becoming more and more aware and involved in the interior decorating aspects of their homes, there are many homeowners that are forced into adopting their own interior decorating techniques and processes. Home or interior decorating, as wrongly perceived by people ages ago, need not be expensive and need not requiring degrees and diplomas in the discipline.

If your office is a home-based one, then you need to select the suitable area and plan the interior decorating accordingly. As far as home interior decorating is concerned, every nook and corner has to be studied so that the available space is utilized to the maximum. Another interior decorating tip is to capture the beauty of naturally aged wood in custom designed furniture.

Whatever interior decorating scheme you choose, you need to allocate enough room for movement and accommodation of all the necessary equipment and furniture. Your home will feel warm with the proper interior Christmas decorating scheme. While track lighting and chandeliers can’t be changed easily, you can change out your lighting to go with your living room interior-decorating plan.

The first thought should be the scale of work, if the remodeling project involves more than cosmetic fixture replacements or surface interior decorating, it may be time to call in an plumber to assess you in your plumbing and pipe replacement. What better time than during the hurricane while you are in your home to decide how best to redesign and decorate your interior. When interior decorating your home, don’t just go from room to room.

Many More Ideas

You need to let loose your imagination, aesthetic sense, and intelligence and pull out as many ideas as possible. Broadly speaking, interior-decorating Ideas can be obtained from catalogs, brochures or promotional advertisements released by interior decorators or designers. Another great ideas for sofas and chairs is to buy slipcovers – you can actually buy furniture that is meant to be slip covered, then simply get new slipcovers to go with whatever decorating plan you have in mind for the season.

Buy one items you truly love and build your ideas around that one item. For an office, starting from the entry point to the cafeteria lounge, interior-decorating ideas must be chosen carefully. In big factories, interior-decorating ideas can be followed to reduce manual labor.

Click here to see more Interior decorating and home décor ideas from him and experts. Some ideas include vacation shots, weddings, birthdays, children etc. Original ideas can make a significant difference in your Interior Decorating plans.

Not only will they have terrific ideas for ways to incorporate recyclable materials into your home interior decorating plans.

Christmas Time Decorating

There are many different ideas for interior Christmas decorating. There are a variety of decorating ideas on the market today, but the best way to complete your interior Christmas decorating is to make the items yourself or with your family. Lose all the leftover Christmas decorations and any unsightly items that seem out of place.

Create bows from Christmas print ribbon and putting them in various places around your house including your curtains. Pottery and decorative plants are also a welcome addition in home interior decorating. Original ideas can make a significant difference in your Interior Decorating plans.

Discover free Home Decorating ideas for all rooms of your home. Visit my website for more free articles on decorating from A-Z. The third of these three elements of successful interior decorating is harmony.

A second hand store, yard sale, or even the attic is a great place to find other items that can be refurbished or simply cleaned up a bit, to compliment your interior room décor. If you’re too busy to shop around, want to make some major changes or if you simply feel like you need some advice, there are a number of interior professionals who can help you get the results you’re after.

Finally, give your home your own personal touch. Effective space planning and interior design requires that you plan in three dimensions – so start thinking about the space above your head and higher up on the walls. If you start to think vertical in you interior space planning you can be on your way to doubling your useable interior floor space in your home.

Clifton Waldrep
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/interior-decorating-tips-85387.html

So Santa Claus will be visiting soon and you have not finished (or started) decorating your home for your guests or for your enjoyment. Or perhaps you look around your home and feel as if there is something missing in your decoration.

Don’t panic!

Don’t hide in the closet!

Don’t try to wrap yourself in a box to avoid decorating!

Don’t grab the scissors and stare at the tangled Christmas lights!

Don’t put an extra something in the eggnog to try to calm your nerves!

Don’t eye the ornaments and imagine your family as targets!

Follow these 3 simple steps, practiced by elves at the North Pole in charge of interior decorating, in order to find your creative inspiration for decorating the interior of your home.

1st step

Remember your goal. The goal is to decorate so you LOVE walking into your home and inviting people to visit. Not just admiring the outside Christmas lights, but the heart of the home (the inside!!) … so you can FEEL that Christmas is near … so people can talk about how wonderful your home looks (hey, there is nothing wrong with having fans admire your creative unique interior decorations). You make your home special every time you decorate because no matter how many ideas an interior decorator may give you; it is ultimately your personality (as an individual or a family) that chooses the ultimate Christmas decorating design. No home can ever be decorated the same because we all have different personalities, styles, and tastes that inspire our creative heart to reach our desired goal.

2nd step

Narrow down a mood. The second step to finding your inner Christmas decorating inspiration is to narrow down a mood that you want to feel in the room. What emotion do you want to portray in the room? Do you prefer informal or formal. March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel & Hardy movie or White Christmas with Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney movie. Making your own gingerbread house or buying one already made.

Now remember, there is nothing wrong with combining two moods and styles as long as there is harmony. How do you go about doing that? Simple: pick your primary mood preference then throw “decor sprinkles” of your secondary preference. You prevent two moods from clashing when the secondary preference is introduced into the room in small amounts – which I call “decor sprinkles”. For example, say you want to decorate your home to reflect an elegant white Christmas look (the main mood preference is relaxed elegance) but you don’t want it to look too fancy (the second preference is a decor sprinkle of fun!).

You can:

Decorate your home with wreaths sprayed with snow and have white elegant fabric bows, with silver bells.  Place white felt fabric on all tables to resemble snow. Decorate your tree with clear Christmas lights, different shades of white & silver round ornaments, fresh cut white roses, beautiful soft doll angels with white feathered wings; and place under your tree presents wrapped in silver with white ribbons and bows. These are all primary mood preferences of elegance.

Then, add your décor sprinkles of fun! Add to your Christmas tree adorable snowmen figurine ornaments with red scarves and red roses that pick up the color of the red scarf on the snowmen; add mistletoe and red berry branches to the center of doorways; and insert small red & white stripped candy canes within your snow covered wreaths.  The red color is your little SPLASH of fun! Be careful not to overwhelm the sprinkle of your secondary preference – the holiday magic word is “subtle”. These are all secondary mood preferences of fun.

Remember, narrowing down what mood you and your family prefer for the current Christmas will inspire you and your family to start visualizing designs in your imagination that bring comfort and joy.

3rd STEP

Organize a decorating plan. Knowing the first two steps gives you a guide (a design blueprint!). So now you know your goal (1st step), and you know the direction of the mood you wish to use for your interior decoration (2nd step). The next step is to organize a decorating plan (3rd step).

How?

Look within yourself … or much easier (less meditation!) … look within the boxes that contain last year’s Christmas decorations in order to organize your decorating plan. If you have a limited amount of decorations, then go window-shopping to sort through store decorations.

Take out all the decorations you have and sort out what you like and what you do not like.  As soon as you start to sort, you will receive inspirational decorating thoughts that will guide you to pick this year’s Christmas decoration   design plan that will impress even Santa Claus.

Search and sort by:

Mood. Sort the decorations by moods (which are fancy, elegant, relaxing, whimsical, funky, playful, etc).

Theme. Organize by theme (nutcrackers, snowmen, a Christmas village, indoor animations, reindeers, etc.)

Color. Separate each ornament or decoration with the color that stands out the most. This goes for Christmas lights as well – separate the multicolor Christmas lights from the single color Christmas lights.

Taking the time to search and sort through your Christmas decorations will:

• keep you from wanting to use every single décor you own and inspire you to save them for other Christmases to come.

• help you pick out what matches or doesn’t for your (a)  comfort (1st step – goal) and (b) preference (2nd step – mood).

• help you plan a design that harmonizes with your personality and furniture. Just because you have a red bow does not mean you have to use it. A red bow attached to a red lampshade will not stand out; whereas a white bow would be a noticeable contrast.

• make planning future Christmas decorating easy since you already went through the process of sorting and stored decorations by mood/theme/color.

• save you money since now you purchase with a plan in mind that match your goal and the mood that you want to portray in your current Christmas theme, instead of just grabbing any (or all) adorable Christmas decorations.

Perhaps you do not like an ornament that was given to you by a relative, but you feel obligated to have it as part of your Christmas interior décor. REMEMBER, it is your home … your comfort … your creative Christmas décor. Do not let past gifts bully you into feeling that you “have to” display the item(s). Choose decorations that “YOU” want to represent in your home.

Extra Tip: if you have a guest that gave you a unique décor and he/she is planning to stay over for the holiday, then surprise them by decorating the guest room with the unique gift. They will wholeheartedly appreciate the thought you gave into displaying the gift, and feel happier during the happy holidays.

For additional Christmas interior decorating tips check out Christmas Interior Decorating Guide with Ideas that Will Impress Even Santa Claus!, visit: http://www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com/foryou.html

© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com

Ada Gonzalez
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/christmas-interior-decorating-a-3-simple-step-guide-on-how-to-find-your-inner-creative-inspiration-that-will-impress-even-santa-claus-691811.html

I currently have a 2 year old female cat. I have got a new 4 month old female cat today. How do I introduce them best?

My current Cat does not go out side. She is an indoor cat. She has come into contact with other cats before (at old home she went outside) She just hissed at them and the other cat would tend to leave her alone.

So what is the best way to introduce the new cat to Fluff?

Cats need to be properly introduced to the new home, the new humans, and the existing cats if they are to get along well and not have problems.

Contrary to what many people think, domestic cats are not solitary creatures. Nor is there any dominance issue about introducing cats to each other. There is virtually no dominance issue with domestic cats like there is with dogs.

A cat who has never lived with another cat might not like the idea, at first, of a new cat in the family, but they will accept the new cat if the introduction is done properly.

If cats are properly introduced into a family, they can get along with the existing cats and the existing cats can accept the new comers.

Here’s how we introduce newcomers to our gang:

Cats need to be introduced very slowly.

First of all, we do not allow a new cat to have any contact with our other cats until a vet has given the new cat a clean bill of health. This includes tests for such things as FIP and Feline Leukemia.

Cats can be successfully introduced to each other regardless of their ages or sexes.

We have successfully added adult cats to our family containing both young and old cats as well as introducing very young kittens to the other cats.

It has to be done slowly. If you simply put them together, you will have behavioral problems the vast majority of times and they may never really get along.

The new cat has to be given time to get used to you and the new environment – don’t try to introduce the new cat to the new home, to you, and to the other cats all at once. Do it in stages – first get the cat used to you and its new home – or at least part of it – and the noises and smells of its new home.

Then the existing cats have to get used to the new cat – starting with its scent and then its appearance.

We introduce cats by keeping the new cat in the back room for up to a month. My office is there as is my wife’s sewing table. There is a sofa and bookshelves.

We spend a lot of time with the new cat to get them used to us, the new environment and the new smells.

It is important that you spend a lot of time with the new cat. Don’t just put it in a different room and leave it there. The first thing that has to happen is that the new cat has to get used to you and accept and trust you.

After they accept us with no problems, we put a screen door on the back room door frame and let everyone see each other for a week or so.

It may take a lot less time than a month to get to this point but we just take it slow and easy.

Once we judge it safe to do so, we let the new cats out into the house and chaperon the first encounters.

We’ve only ever had one problem introducing cats like this and that problem was resolved in a couple of weeks.

We’ve had 26 cats over the past 22 years and many of them were adults – 12 and older – when they joined our family.

We’ve also introduced several kittens, ranging from ages of 7 weeks to 4 or 5 months, to the rest of the crew with no problems.

You have to take it slow.

If you can’t put up a screen door, perhaps two baby gates, stacked one on top of the other, will close off the door but still allow the cats to see each other.

If you can’t use a screen door or baby gates, try letting the existing cat into the room with the new cat for a few minutes while you chaperon.

If things get bad, take the cat out of the room.

You just have to introduce cats slowly

There are cats who could be thrown together and become pals but they are few and far between.

Tropical beaches, clear blue ocean, sunny sand filled beaches, palm trees, these are all things that typically come to mind when someone says Hawaiian. If you would like to create a Hawaiian style in your home, you want to think breezy and open. This would be the typical feel to a home or room in Hawaii.

To begin with, it you’re painting the walls, you will want a white or other bright and open color. The earthy tones that you might find elsewhere will not be found here. For Hawaii, we want to think of openness and white walls will help create that feel. If they are painted a color at all, make sure that color is bright without reaching into the neon categories. A soft, bright yellow or green may also create the open feel you’re trying to achieve. Doorways and moldings should be a rich brown such as an oak or cherry. These will contrast nicely with the painted walls while keeping the open feeling in the room.

Decorative touches should include some sort of large green plant. If you can do a palm inside this would be perfect. Another nicely large and green plant would be the elephant plant. This has large broad leaves and can grow several feet tall. This will further add to the tropical feel that you’ve already created through the use of paint on the walls. Other accessories may include shells that could have easily come from the beach, light, airy curtains that can sway in a breeze with an open window, and pineapple shaped glasses in the kitchen or other pineapple shaped kitchen appliances or utensils.

This style of home should be furnished with a heavy use of bamboo, wicker, and/or rattan. The use of this type of furniture will encourage the light, airy feel you’re trying to achieve. This tropical atmosphere will be completed with the use of this type of furniture. The furniture can be painted white or it can be in its natural state of wood. Either way, this addition will help to complete the Hawaiian look.

Fans and in the ceiling whose blades are shaped like palms are a nice touch when creating the Hawaiian feel. You can find them in stores like Home Depot, Lowes, or any retail hardware store that carries ceiling fans. These fans can be used indoors in a kitchen or dining room as well as outside under a canopy. This type of fan would make a great finishing touch.

The Hawaiian feel is one of relaxation and enjoyment. In order to create this feel in your home short of moving to Hawaii, use the above tips. You’ll feel like you’re on the beaches soaking up the sun in no time.

Lee Dobbins
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/hawaiian-decorating-make-your-home-an-island-retreat-127396.html

Trade show conferences are gathering spots for favored clients, client prospects, industry leaders, as well as competitors. Trade show visitors, however, have hectic schedules. They are busy attending educational industry seminars, networking with their colleagues, learning about new products and seeing first-hand the latest innovations in their specific fields. But it is also important to note that trade show attendees have unscheduled times of the day and evening when they can pick and choose what they’d like to do. This is your company’s golden opportunity to entertain and educate trade show attendees about innovative aspects of your company.

But how do you go about capturing the trade show visitors after or before the hours of the trade show exhibit? Do you want to reward your targeted list of clients and suppliers with a special recognition outside the trade show display arena? Do you want to have your executives and sales representatives get to know the power players of your industry to increase your sales? If you decide you want to host a rewarding and satisfying event, how can you plan for a venue that your trade show display visitors will clamor to attend?

These are the questions that can best be fielded by the professional meeting and event planner. According to Karla Krause-Miller, Director, Cappa and Graham, Inc., the event planning company in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the more creative the venue outside the trade show display, the better. First she identifies the client’s primary objectives and goals, whether they are educational, or a special recognition ceremony, or a strictly social time. Then make the decision on where to hold your event—whether it is a museum, gallery, private home, mansion, cruise, winery tour or even a Wax museum.

After you have decided on the venue, you then need to find a tie-in to your trade show exhibit theme—one that supports your business and trade show marketing messages. Let that theme of your trade show display drive the central promotional concept for your special event.

Next come the invitations. Where you might send a highly targeted list of trade show exhibit visitors a hand stamped, handwritten invitation, you might merely send an email blast to hundreds of trade show attendees. A good way to build trade show booth traffic is to request that your trade show display guests pick up their special event invitations at your trade show exhibit. That way, you not only have a better accounting of how many people will attend, but you will also give your trade show booth staff an opportunity to talk with VIP trade show visitors.

According to Miller who has handled the full range of events based on clients’ needs, from a hospitality suite at a hotel to a large gala at City Hall, each organized program starts with identifying whom you want to attend.

For example, if you plan to invite a medical group, your event planner must be aware of FDA guidelines and follow them explicitly. Be aware that there may be a dollar limit per person that the FDA requires you stay within. And if you want to attract medical personnel attending a medical trade show, offering Continuing Education Credits (CEU) is a real plus.

Another key element to event planning is to make the meeting memorable -like staging an activity that attendees could not easily do by themselves. An example is to arrange a luncheon with a demonstration of special pairings of wines given by the owner of a prestigious winery.

Another example of good event planning is imparting an emotional message that ties in with the special mindset of the group. For instance, a key ingredient in making a recognition event successful for the Chapter Presidents of American Association of Critical Care Nurses was that they identified with their speaker’s circumstances at their recognition luncheon. Rosey Grier, former football player who was at the side of Bobby Kennedy when he was shot, was the guest speaker at this nurses’ luncheon. When he talked about that tragic day and described the hectic and emotional scene that ensued after Kennedy was killed, there was not a dry eye in the house.

By thinking in terms of who your attendees are, you will be able to plan an event that is appropriate whether it is close by at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Santa Clara Convention Center or the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

Remember, when your company plans to exhibit at a trade show, if you extend your hospitality outside the trade show booth in a venue that ties into your trade show marketing theme, you will succeed in gaining better attention, building goodwill and standing out in comparison to your competition.

Dick Wheeler
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/create-an-event-at-your-trade-show-54742.html

Home Decorating the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry-room all start with the appliances. However, with so many new, energy efficient, and ecologically friendly products coming out in the near future, one wonders if they shouldn’t take a look at some of the new designs and decorate and design these rooms to accommodate the new appliances.

Americans crave the security of round-the-clock comforts. They want convenience at a fingertip, just in case they are needed. The most ever-present example of American’s love affair with fingertip-gratification is the hot water heater.

Unlike valets who get intermittent curbside rests, water heaters just sit there, forever cooking gallons of hot water, ready at any time. After all, we never know when we might wake at 2am and decide that we want a shower, to do a load of laundry, and run the dishwasher.

It is time Americans embrace the new home ecotechnologies? Notorious for their thriftiness and love of high-tech gizmos, the Japanese have already discovered that going green is good for the environment and the pocket book.

Many Japanese families use “tankless” water heaters that hang on a wall and heat water when needed. There is no reservoir. The water is heated the moment the faucet turns on, and the heating stops when the faucet is turned off.

Further savings can be obtained by installing flow reducing faucets.

The combination toilet/bathroom sink is another common fixture in Japanese homes. The toilet/sink is flushed and you wash your hands with water that is used to fill the tank. Some models incorporate a flush lever that swings left for a half-tank flush and right for the full flush.

The Japanese also have motion sensors that turn on the lights and heat when they sense body heat in the room. Some even follow the person, heating the area where the person is occupying.

The Japanese also use washing machines that spin clothing dry, almost. Reducing the need for long times in the dryer.

The Japanese have a new commercial laundering system that requires no detergent, works with cold water, and recycles water. The system, patented by the Florida firm, Tri-O-Clean, saturates wash water with ozone, an oxidant used to disinfect drinking and swimming-pool water. Water from the washer is recovered, filtered, replenished with ozone, and reused for future washes. This reduces water use and water pollution.

New products on the horizon include microwaves that dry clothing. This type of microwave will accommodate zippers, reduce drying time by 25%, and reduce wear on delicate fabrics.

Ultrasonic dishwashers gently bombard grimy dish grease with high-frequency sound waves that create vapor bubbles which dislodge cake-on grime. This will reduce hot water use by 25 to 50 percent.

Then there are the new refrigerators. Frigidaire and Whirlpool are neck and neck in the race to produce the first chlorofluorocarbon-free superefficient refrigerator.

The new products will have different requirements than our current products. For example, a ‘tankless’ water heater hangs on the wall, and is about 3′ square by about 1′ deep. This is a great space saver, and can even move the water heater out of a basement into the laundry room.

When most people think of home renovations and designs they think of manipulating and decorating space.

Patricia Taylor
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/home-improvements-and-decorating-tips-from-japan-124405.html

The days of dropping a sign in the yard, putting an ad in the paper and baking cookies for a Sunday Open House are gone. Today’s real estate consumer is using the internet to gather information and make preliminary decisions before they even go out to see homes. If your listing agent isn’t prepared for this shift in the industry, your home could go largely unnoticed.

Over the last several years the real estate industry has changed dramatically. Some agents feared it, some agents ignored it, but the best agents embraced it and learned to play by the new rules. The best Realtors discovered they now had to do more to market a home. They had to learn all the new avenues consumers would come into contact with homes for sale. Most of all, they had to be technologically savvy and have a proactive marketing campaign to get a home sold.

The first shift was from the individual agent to an entire team. This approach allows the agent to focus more on finding buyers for your home. The agent’s staff can focus on marketing the home, processing paperwork and doing the day-to-day operations. Ask yourself, why wouldn’t you want an entire team working to sell your home versus a single agent when it doesn’t cost you a penny more?

Secondly, agents needed to be more proactive. Custom full color brochures have become commonplace in most homes for sale. Agents became involved in more direct mail campaigns marketing homes to neighborhoods and potential buyers. Some Realtors have even developed buyer databases that they can reference as they list homes for sale. These databases automatically alert them to matching buyers making an instant connection between buyer and seller.

A huge shift in the industry has been the internet and it’s ramifications on how consumers are searching for homes. This led to more and more Realtor websites. It began with a few sites posting a picture of a home for sale. Then came virtual tours, allowing home buyers to preview a home from the comfort of their desk or couch. The latest cutting edge tool used by some of the best agents are home websites. An entire website devoted to a single home for sale. These sites provide more information for buyers than any other avenue, even seeing the home with an agent. These sites offer unlimited photos (both exterior and interior), virtual tours, property documents (like disclosures) available for online viewing, links to schools, area information, mortgage calculators, heck, you can even set up a showing appointment! What’s next, maybe you’ll be able to buy the home sight unseen!

Another shift has been in value added services. Consumers are doing more work on their own, they need justification for what they’re paying their agent. More and more Realtors are offering value added services such as home warranties, home appraisals, Home Staging experts to prepare a home for sale and even FREE moving trucks!

Even with all this technology, the heart of the transaction still needs to be good communication and superior customer service. Some agents have unfortunately lost touch with these qualities as they have become more wrapped up in the technology. If you’re considering selling your home, make sure your agent possesses these skills. Get plenty of references and find out how they will be communicating with you throughout the transaction.

Perhaps the last thing that is important when you’re looking for a Realtor these days is some form of Performance Guarantee. Some agents like to charge a processing fee, or marketing fee, for listing your home for sale. If you decide to cancel your listing or it doesn’t sell you’re out! A good agent will provide you with an “easy exit” or Performance Guarantee stating that you can cancel your listing at no cost.

These are just some of the things changing the real estate industry over the last few years. Take this advice to heart when it comes time to sell your next home. A lot of consumers may be unaware of these changes, and what they should be looking for in a Realtor. Don’t get burned find an agent that has adapted to these changes yet held on to the most important qualities like customer service and communication!

Kris Kombrink
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/chicago-home-owners-todays-real-estate-market-and-how-it-affects-you-60421.html

Usually at some point when we have been living in our homes for a while, we all fancy a change. A complete remodel job would be ideal, no matter how new the home may be. Change is something which we always thrive for and we get the perfect opportunity in our homes. Sometimes people move around all of the time just to find that change they are looking for, but often if you just remodel your home, it takes away the need to move and it could be a lot cheaper too!

How to Remodel Your Home

When you think of remodeling the home it does not necessarily have to be a full remodel job. You could simply just remodel one section of the home and start off small. That way, the task ahead is not too big and it will give you the motivation to carry it on. Often people set themselves unrealistic targets when it comes to redecorating and remodeling their homes and that can leave most of it unfinished for years. So, set yourself small targets, even if eventually you do want the whole home remodeled and you should be fine!

An example of a small job could be opening up a fireplace which has been hidden. Perhaps you have a fireplace which has been covered up in previous years because the previous owner wanted a change. If that is the case opening the fireplace up would give the home a whole new look and you could even decorate it how you choose or replace the fireplace completely with something a little more modern.

Another popular small job includes opening up the kitchen area into the living room. Many people like to knock down the wall and have an open dining room area with an archway going into the kitchen. This is quite a modern look and it is also convenient when you are entertaining friends and family.

If you want to remodel the home to add value then the kitchen and the bathroom are the main rooms which will help. Having a modern bathroom will really help to sell a house. There is nothing worse than going in to a bathroom with carpet, old wallpaper and badly colored tiles. So, ensure that the color scheme is mainly plain and that the furniture is modernized.

Overall remodeling your home need not be a huge chore as long as you set realistic goals for yourself. Make sure that you know exactly what you want beforehand and that way it will all run as smoothly as possible.

A.Caxton
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/home-remodeling-using-interior-decorating-92860.html

Manchester occupies a hallowed place in the history of England because of its key role in the Industrial Revolution. Today, it is also known as a centre of the arts, media, commerce and higher education. There are some who consider Manchester to be England’s second city, but Birmingham can also lay claim to that distinction.

At present, Manchester is being considered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for possible inclusion as a World Heritage Site. UNESCO has taken note of Manchester’s network of canals and mills, important contributors to the city’s development during the 19th century Industrial Revolution.

The history of Manchester can be traced back to Roman times when it was first settled. General Gnaeus Julius Agricola established a fort in old Manchester to serve as a trading and staging post between York and Chester. During the Dark Ages, troops abandoned the fort and the entire area went undeveloped for some time as settlement shifted to other areas, particularly near the Irwell and Irk rivers. Later on, manorial lord Thomas De La Warre, who was also a priest, gave the site to the church and in 1422, the fortified manor house was turned into the College of Priests, which is now Chetham’s School of Music. The Collegiate Church was constructed later on. It is actually today’s Manchester Cathedral.

In 1301, the city turned into a market town upon receiving its Charter. This was followed by a strong migration of Flemish settlers who further propelled the growth of Manchester through their thriving new cotton and textile industry. Manchester soon became the premiere industrial centre of Lancashire.

By the 19th century, Manchester was known as ‘Cottonopolis’ in honour of its primary produce and in recognition of its stature as the centre of the region’s prosperous cotton industry. Manchester made great strides in the area of infrastructure with the construction of the city’s world renowned canal system and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Shortly thereafter, Manchester evolved into the leading industrial centre in the world and its first industrial society.

The evolution of Manchester as an industrial society was fast and revolutionary as new industrial processes, new forms of labour organization and new ways of thinking originated from the city and captured the world’s attention. The ‘Manchester School’, which promoted free trade and laissez-faire, was emulated in other places. Entrepreneurs and industrialists from all over Europe trekked to Manchester to study the way they did things. “What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow,” became a popular saying. It was also during this time that Manchester experienced a great surge in population with the immigration of Lancastarians, Jews and the Irish.

In the late 19th century, turmoil struck Manchester as the working and non-titled classes rebelled against the ruling class, culminating with the events known as ‘Peterloo’ on St. Peter’s Field on August 16, 1819. Manchester has since played a prominent role in the labour movement. It hosted the first Trade Union Congress in June 1868 and is recognized as the cradle of the Labour party and the Suffragette Movement.

The last quarter of the 19th century marked Manchester’s golden age. During this period, construction was completed on many of the city’s great architectural landmarks, including its town hall and the Manchester Ship Canal, which allowed foreign ships to sail straight to the Port of Manchester Docks. When the docks of the Port of Manchester closed in the seventies, there was massive unemployment in the area.

The establishment of Trafford Park in Stretford, the world’s first industrial estate, further stamped the city’s stature as an industrial powerhouse. However, its place in the world of industry took a hit with the depression that followed the war and with the development of new structures and processes that supplanted the old industries such as textile manufacturing, once the city’s bread and butter industry.

By World War II, Manchester had shifted to heavy industrial construction. It hosted the offices and production plant of Avro, the manufacturer of aircraft for the RAF, most notable of which was the popular Avro Lancaster bomber. The war saw many Luftwaffe attacks on Manchester, including the infamous 1941 Christmas Blitz, which resulted in massive damage throughout the city, including the historic Cathedral.

Manchester formally split from Lancashire county in 1974 with the creation of the Borough of Manchester.

In recent history, Manchester made worldwide news when an IRA bomb exploded in the city centre on June 15, 1996. It marked the largest bomb to ever be detonated in British soil, resulting in more than 200 injuries and, thankfully, no deaths. Most of the damage involved nearby buildings and other structures.

Subsequent reconstruction efforts have changed the city landscape significantly as several historic sections of the city were either demolished or modernized with glass and steel. The fully-renovated Manchester Arndale opened in September 2006 and captured the title of Europe’s biggest city centre shopping mall.

Article by Susan Ashby of Manchester Singles. To read more articles like this or for dating in Manchester visit http://www.manchester-singles.co.uk

Susan Ashby
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