Curb appeal has grown up, and using innovative Design Psychology techniques for marketing homes puts curb allure to work, enticing buyers to come inside your home.
Suppliers and Exquisite Details
To be successful, you need to spend less to make more; yet there are times when spending a little extra will yield significantly more profit, and adding exquisite details can also add dollars to your bank account. For instance, if you don't find what you're looking for at a bargain price, visit an upscale retailer and look for similar items at sale prices.
If you use ugly, cheap, or tacky fixtures, you'll actually make it harder to sell your home by lowering your home’s attractiveness. Think of it this way: spending $100 more for a quality fixture will save you at least one, and possibly more, mortgage payment. That means that your $100 fixture was really an investment, rather than an expense.
There are some things that you can make relatively inexpensively, compared to buying them ready made, such as lace curtains. But if you don't have the time or skill to make quality things yourself, you can save money by haunting home improvement warehouses and discount stores, assuming you're able to find quality merchandise at reasonable prices.
One of my favorite suppliers is Restore, which is the outlet store for Habitat for Humanity. Restore resells donated light fixtures, window hardware, paint, switch plate covers, house numbers, mirrors, sinks, and even beds. Restore also lets you bargain on merchandise, which means that the tagged price isn't always the final price. You can even sign up for Restore's mailing list and receive notices of half-price sales.
Creating an Exciting Exterior
Curb allure is the most important challenge you'll face when selling your home. Imagine prospective buyers driving up and examining your property for the first time. Your goal is to have them exclaim, "What a darling home!"
Buyers will forgive little inadequacies in your home if they love it from the first time they see it. So go a few extra steps beyond curb appeal and lure your prospective buyers inside with Design Psychology methods such as:
Psychology of the Entrance
A problem with many newer homes is that developers don't provide a separate walkway to the front door. You don't want to make buyers walk around cars and trip over driveway edges to navigate to your front door, so create a separate walkway from the street to the porch.
Feeling Welcome
When flowers line the walkway, it creates a warm reception. Cheerful flowers, in loud colors, near the entry announce to the world that you care about your home. Extras such as water fountains, fishponds, and scented vegetation will also be well received by potential buyers.
Sing Out Your Address
Address numbers should be proud, bold, and beautiful. Avoid tacky peel-and-stick numbers, and if you use brass numbers, attach them with screws, rather than pronged-end fasteners that will eventually work loose. Gold-gilded numbers look elegant on glass doors, and gold-gilded vinyl transfer numbers look especially exquisite in transom windows.
Welcoming Accessories
- Wind chimes will add pleasure to your buyers' sense of hearing.
- Potted plants, such as soft ferns, are also friendly, but you should avoid spiked plants with thorns near the doorway.
- Floral baskets with bright yellow and white flowers will show up better at night.
- A pair of rocking chairs, a double glider, or a porch swing will invite potential buyers to sit and chat.
- A welcome mat also adds a homey touch.
Taking a little extra time and spending just a bit more money, coupled with the use of Design Psychology techniques, will help sell your home faster, and for more money.
Copyright c. 2005 Jeanette Fisher. All Rights Reserved.
From Professor Jeanette Fisher’s Sell Your Home for Top Dollar-FAST! Interior Design Secrets for Optimum Selling in Any Market. For tips, newsletters, and reports, go to http://www.sellfast.info
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Mark your calender
If you missed "Interior Design Psychology Tips for Top-Dollar Sales" at the Las Vegas Real Estate Investing Expo, save July 14. I've been invited back. Gold Coast Casino 7:00-9:00 PM. Hosted by the Las Vegas Investor's Club.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
"Don't worry Brian; you can fix it!" -Jeanette
One reader of our website complained about my calling houses "doghouses." Take a look at some of our before photos and tell me what you would call our fixers.
Jeanette
P. S. Check out our other blog to see the "After."
Home Staging Tips blog
Electrical Home Inspection: What You Need to Know!
By Paul Forte
Whether you’re buying a home, or just moving in to your new home, here is some advice that can help you. If you’re in the buying process the things you will be looking for are safety and repair aspects. Most electrical contractors can offer you an inspection to check for both of these. If you are thinking to yourself right now that you have or are going to hire a Home inspector, think again. A home inspector does a generalized inspection. Most of them will know a little about a lot of different areas, but be an expert in none with a few exceptions. It is a certainty in most areas to say you will be forced to hire one to get a mortgage, and that’s a good thing. If you hire an experienced licensed electrician, your electrical inspection will be more thorough and you can get an estimate to what repairs will cost at the same time.
When buying a home you’ll want to know what if any defects there are, or safety hazards. Items that rate high on the list are things like aluminum wiring, GFCI receptacles, grounding and water leaking into service parts. The two of these that are most critical, dangerous and expensive are the aluminum wiring and water leaks into the main service. If you are just moving into a home you purchased, there are some things you can do to be sure your electrical system is safe. I highly recommend that all the devices be changed to new ones. This would be all the switches and receptacles. There is a reason for this. Most electrical problems occur when termination points become loose or corroded. See Picture.
By having the devices professionally replaced, you can nip any of these problems before they occur. The other item to consider changing is light fixtures. This can be a bit expensive so if it isn’t in your budget try to at least change the very old ones. The reason for changing these is older fixture wires tend to get very brittle. If the bulbs used in them over the years were of an improper wattage, this can exaggerate the situation, a very common occurrence.
The peace of mind you will get, knowing a professional in the electrical field inspected your home, is well worth the money spent.
Paul Forte is a Master Electrician and has been in the electrical field for over 25 years. For more tips and advice including Lighting design and troubleshooting with diagrams visit the web site http://www.forteelectric.com/
Whether you’re buying a home, or just moving in to your new home, here is some advice that can help you. If you’re in the buying process the things you will be looking for are safety and repair aspects. Most electrical contractors can offer you an inspection to check for both of these. If you are thinking to yourself right now that you have or are going to hire a Home inspector, think again. A home inspector does a generalized inspection. Most of them will know a little about a lot of different areas, but be an expert in none with a few exceptions. It is a certainty in most areas to say you will be forced to hire one to get a mortgage, and that’s a good thing. If you hire an experienced licensed electrician, your electrical inspection will be more thorough and you can get an estimate to what repairs will cost at the same time.
When buying a home you’ll want to know what if any defects there are, or safety hazards. Items that rate high on the list are things like aluminum wiring, GFCI receptacles, grounding and water leaking into service parts. The two of these that are most critical, dangerous and expensive are the aluminum wiring and water leaks into the main service. If you are just moving into a home you purchased, there are some things you can do to be sure your electrical system is safe. I highly recommend that all the devices be changed to new ones. This would be all the switches and receptacles. There is a reason for this. Most electrical problems occur when termination points become loose or corroded. See Picture.
By having the devices professionally replaced, you can nip any of these problems before they occur. The other item to consider changing is light fixtures. This can be a bit expensive so if it isn’t in your budget try to at least change the very old ones. The reason for changing these is older fixture wires tend to get very brittle. If the bulbs used in them over the years were of an improper wattage, this can exaggerate the situation, a very common occurrence.
The peace of mind you will get, knowing a professional in the electrical field inspected your home, is well worth the money spent.
Paul Forte is a Master Electrician and has been in the electrical field for over 25 years. For more tips and advice including Lighting design and troubleshooting with diagrams visit the web site http://www.forteelectric.com/
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
A Beginner's Guide to Flipping Houses
If you're dreaming of making money in real estate, it's time to stop dreaming and get to work, because making money in real estate isn't just a vague pipedream. It can be done, even by a young and inexperienced person, when you learn how to “flip” houses.
A friend of mine, we'll call her Tai, made a fortune in real estate, beginning at the age of twenty, with no help from anyone else. Here's how she did it:
Tai began by buying a HUD repo, which allowed her to get into the house for no money down. Then she fixed it up and sold it herself. At closing, she had made enough profit to by a second fixer-upper, but this time, she paid all cash. Tai went right to work fixing her second house, and when she sold that one, she collected profit of $44,000, which allowed her to pay cash for her third house!
By now, Tai was comfortable with her formula, and within a short time, she had flipped her third house, realizing enough profit to pay cash for yet another house, as well as being able to buy the custom pickup of her dreams. And all of this had happened in the span of just nine months!
Tai’s formula was simple. She located houses that needed only cosmetic work, avoiding those that required structural repairs. She did all the painting herself, inside and out, and updated the home's lighting, plumbing fixtures, and carpeting. Once renovations had been completed, all three houses sold quickly, and at a significant profit.
It's the most tried-and-true way to make a fortune in real estate, so don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you that it can't be done or that you need to have a great deal of start-up money. That's not true. You can buy houses with no money down through various loan programs, and sellers will often help you with the closing costs.
I know what I'm talking about! My husband and I bought our 27th house earlier this year, for no money down, and we expect to make a profit of at least $100,000 for just one month of hard work!
But we take the process a step further, making our houses outshine the competition by also using Design Psychology, although our buyers never know that. All they know is that they feel good when they're in our homes, which makes them want to buy them, even if they're more expensive than the house next door.
There's no other business that can make you as much money, with as little start-up cost, in as short a time, as investing in real estate. In fact, more millionaires made their fortunes in real estate than in any other business. And you can do it, too. You just have to stop dreaming and get started.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com
A friend of mine, we'll call her Tai, made a fortune in real estate, beginning at the age of twenty, with no help from anyone else. Here's how she did it:
Tai began by buying a HUD repo, which allowed her to get into the house for no money down. Then she fixed it up and sold it herself. At closing, she had made enough profit to by a second fixer-upper, but this time, she paid all cash. Tai went right to work fixing her second house, and when she sold that one, she collected profit of $44,000, which allowed her to pay cash for her third house!
By now, Tai was comfortable with her formula, and within a short time, she had flipped her third house, realizing enough profit to pay cash for yet another house, as well as being able to buy the custom pickup of her dreams. And all of this had happened in the span of just nine months!
Tai’s formula was simple. She located houses that needed only cosmetic work, avoiding those that required structural repairs. She did all the painting herself, inside and out, and updated the home's lighting, plumbing fixtures, and carpeting. Once renovations had been completed, all three houses sold quickly, and at a significant profit.
It's the most tried-and-true way to make a fortune in real estate, so don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you that it can't be done or that you need to have a great deal of start-up money. That's not true. You can buy houses with no money down through various loan programs, and sellers will often help you with the closing costs.
I know what I'm talking about! My husband and I bought our 27th house earlier this year, for no money down, and we expect to make a profit of at least $100,000 for just one month of hard work!
But we take the process a step further, making our houses outshine the competition by also using Design Psychology, although our buyers never know that. All they know is that they feel good when they're in our homes, which makes them want to buy them, even if they're more expensive than the house next door.
There's no other business that can make you as much money, with as little start-up cost, in as short a time, as investing in real estate. In fact, more millionaires made their fortunes in real estate than in any other business. And you can do it, too. You just have to stop dreaming and get started.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com
Monday, March 07, 2005
Credit Help! Get the Credit You Need to Buy Real Estate
Get Financing for Multiple Properties
My Credit Help! book is ready!
Included with all the tips my lenders shared with me is a special chapter just for real estate investors.
Don't wait another day to get all you need to raise your credit score.
See the new book cover and get more information:
The Real Estate Credit Help Center
Buy your dream home or finance your future!
Jeanette
My Credit Help! book is ready!
Included with all the tips my lenders shared with me is a special chapter just for real estate investors.
Don't wait another day to get all you need to raise your credit score.
See the new book cover and get more information:
The Real Estate Credit Help Center
Buy your dream home or finance your future!
Jeanette
Friday, March 04, 2005
Great Recycling Web Site
. I love using unusual achitectural pieces to create a buyer's dream home--one they just can't live without!
Here is a web site that has great finds:
http://www.recyclingthepast.com/Default.asp
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Cheap Homes For Sale In Great Towns
by Steven Gillman
Good Homes Under $50,000?
My wife Ana and I found cheap homes for sale all over the country during a seven-week drive, and we even bought one along the way. It was in a pretty little town in the mountains of western Montana, and it cost us $17,500. We spent almost $2000 to fix it up the way we liked it, and lived there for several months before selling it for $28,000. You can see a photo of our little pink house on the homepage of our site www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com. This was not a fluke. There are still great towns where you can find cheap homes for sale.
Cheap Homes, Nice Towns: An Example
In Anaconda, Montana you can fly fish, go to a movie for three dollars in a beautiful old art-deco theatre (the 5th most beautiful theater in the country, according to the Smithsonian), drop some nickles in a slot machine (a dozen casinos), eat at a fine restaurant, stop by the bar for a dollar beer, and buy a house for sale under $30,000 - all within a four block area! There are good schools and churches, a library with fast internet service, and wildlife (including bears) a few hundred yards from downtown.
Why Are There Cheap Homes For Sale?
The reason there are so many cheap homes for sale in Butte and Anaconda, is that there aren't many good jobs left. I personally found jobs in Anaconda easily-but not good ones. People left the area in the 80's especially, after the mines and smelters closed. This exodus has left one-in-seven "housing units" in Anaconda vacant, according to the U.S. census. This has driven down the prices of homes dramatically. Since both towns still have all the basic ammenities, are cleaner now, and are slowly recovering, they are great places to retire to or to move to if you have an internet or other non-location-based business.
The economic situation is the primary reason that you can buy a cheap house in many parts of the country. These are towns that have seen troubled times, but are often recovering, and with good reasons. Anaconda, an example we know well, now has a ski resort,a Jack Nicholas golf course, and beautiful mountain scenery. The houses cost four times as much if you go an hour in any direction, and those higher prices are bound to reach Anaconda eventually.
Cheap Houses You Don't Want To Buy
On the other hand, there are towns like the one in South Dakota where we stopped for lunch. The bulletin board had ads for cheap homes for sale, placed there by desperate home-sellers trying not to be the last to leave town. There was a photo of a beautiful old five-bedroom farmhouse for $11,000. We looked up the deserted street as we ate, and noticed that most of the buildings were boarded-up. This was a town that was clearly dying, and didn't have anything to help revive it. Inexpensive homes are easy to find here, but I wouldn't take one for free.
Cheap Homes For Sale In Paradise
Maybe paradise is too much to expect, but there are many wonderful towns, from Florida to Oregon, where there are cheap homes for sale. So what does a town need in addition to inexpensive houses in order to make our list? Well, the criteria are certainly subjective, but include at least the following:
1. Population between 4,000 and 80,000.
2. A good library.
3. A good grocery store.
4. A movie theatre.
5. Cheap houses: at least six for sale under $50,000.
6. The town "feels" good.
When we researched and built our website, we broke the towns up into two pages. One is for the towns with houses for sale for less than $50,000. The other is for the towns with really cheap homes for sale - under $30,000! Yes, they are still out there. Using a phone and the internet, searching for your affordable dream home is easier than ever. Good Luck!
Steve Gillman and his wife Ana Blum have traveled the country exploring beautiful towns where there are still affordable homes. The result of their research, and their experience buying their own cheap dream home, is the website: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Good Homes Under $50,000?
My wife Ana and I found cheap homes for sale all over the country during a seven-week drive, and we even bought one along the way. It was in a pretty little town in the mountains of western Montana, and it cost us $17,500. We spent almost $2000 to fix it up the way we liked it, and lived there for several months before selling it for $28,000. You can see a photo of our little pink house on the homepage of our site www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com. This was not a fluke. There are still great towns where you can find cheap homes for sale.
Cheap Homes, Nice Towns: An Example
In Anaconda, Montana you can fly fish, go to a movie for three dollars in a beautiful old art-deco theatre (the 5th most beautiful theater in the country, according to the Smithsonian), drop some nickles in a slot machine (a dozen casinos), eat at a fine restaurant, stop by the bar for a dollar beer, and buy a house for sale under $30,000 - all within a four block area! There are good schools and churches, a library with fast internet service, and wildlife (including bears) a few hundred yards from downtown.
Why Are There Cheap Homes For Sale?
The reason there are so many cheap homes for sale in Butte and Anaconda, is that there aren't many good jobs left. I personally found jobs in Anaconda easily-but not good ones. People left the area in the 80's especially, after the mines and smelters closed. This exodus has left one-in-seven "housing units" in Anaconda vacant, according to the U.S. census. This has driven down the prices of homes dramatically. Since both towns still have all the basic ammenities, are cleaner now, and are slowly recovering, they are great places to retire to or to move to if you have an internet or other non-location-based business.
The economic situation is the primary reason that you can buy a cheap house in many parts of the country. These are towns that have seen troubled times, but are often recovering, and with good reasons. Anaconda, an example we know well, now has a ski resort,a Jack Nicholas golf course, and beautiful mountain scenery. The houses cost four times as much if you go an hour in any direction, and those higher prices are bound to reach Anaconda eventually.
Cheap Houses You Don't Want To Buy
On the other hand, there are towns like the one in South Dakota where we stopped for lunch. The bulletin board had ads for cheap homes for sale, placed there by desperate home-sellers trying not to be the last to leave town. There was a photo of a beautiful old five-bedroom farmhouse for $11,000. We looked up the deserted street as we ate, and noticed that most of the buildings were boarded-up. This was a town that was clearly dying, and didn't have anything to help revive it. Inexpensive homes are easy to find here, but I wouldn't take one for free.
Cheap Homes For Sale In Paradise
Maybe paradise is too much to expect, but there are many wonderful towns, from Florida to Oregon, where there are cheap homes for sale. So what does a town need in addition to inexpensive houses in order to make our list? Well, the criteria are certainly subjective, but include at least the following:
1. Population between 4,000 and 80,000.
2. A good library.
3. A good grocery store.
4. A movie theatre.
5. Cheap houses: at least six for sale under $50,000.
6. The town "feels" good.
When we researched and built our website, we broke the towns up into two pages. One is for the towns with houses for sale for less than $50,000. The other is for the towns with really cheap homes for sale - under $30,000! Yes, they are still out there. Using a phone and the internet, searching for your affordable dream home is easier than ever. Good Luck!
Steve Gillman and his wife Ana Blum have traveled the country exploring beautiful towns where there are still affordable homes. The result of their research, and their experience buying their own cheap dream home, is the website: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Fixing Houses: Using Psychology for Profits
Real estate investors who specialize in fixing houses for profit gain new insights from Interior Design Psychology ideas. Increase your profit potential in the new buyer’s market with these new transformation strategies.
Your satisfying and lucrative real estate business depends upon your correct assessment of profit potential, successful purchasing, and triumphant transformation of a fixer into a dollhouse. The renovation process includes the physical work and the choice of the best supplies to elicit maximum positive emotional effect from prospective buyer.
This article brings to light the psychological impact of design details which result in the desired transformation, promising the highest potential resale value. By incorporating the psychology of residential design, you intentionally choose how to transform your fixer by using colors, textures, building materials, and decorations that assure your future speedy and cost-effective sale.
The psychology of residential design joins the entire home, inside and out. Transformation Psychology differs in that you make use of residential Design Psychology with a different goal in mind. Using Design Psychology in your personal home is much more individualized. Renovating a doghouse for dollars integrates generalized design ideas appealing to a broader spectrum of buyers.
Using Transformation Psychology to increase your real estate profits means that you learn how our human senses, and thereby our emotions, are biased by different decorating details and choices of materials. Buyers view a prospective home with their eyes and yet their brain interprets what they see and feel according to subtle touches you purposefully put in. Design details additionally influence our senses of touch, smell, hearing, and even taste.
So, how does all this psychology stuff work? You choose colors and materials based on your prospective buyers’ income level and the house style.
Here’s a simplified Color Design Psychology Plan for Fall and Winter:
Selling Season: Fall and Winter
Target Market: First-time Buyers
House Style: Cottage
Exterior Colors: Pale yellow, Khaki Brown, Creamy White
Front Door: Dark Green
Interior Colors: Walls: Pale yellow, Sunny Yellow, Tan
Trim: Pure White
Flooring: Cream to Mocha wall-to-wall carpeting, white linoleum
Target Market: Upscale
House Style: Tuscan
Exterior Colors: Tuscany Gold, Chocolate Brown, Olive Green
Front Door: Terra Cotta Red
Interior Colors: Tuscany Gold, Mocha, Mixture of these colors
Trim: Ivory
Flooring: Ivory carpeting, hard wood, tile
Your goal of composing a glorious home that buyers can't live without begins with your planning of changes desired. Following a design plan, from inception to realization, bit by bit, simplifies and organizes your makeover. Taking the time to make a design plan assures you of a profitable and quick sale.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Your satisfying and lucrative real estate business depends upon your correct assessment of profit potential, successful purchasing, and triumphant transformation of a fixer into a dollhouse. The renovation process includes the physical work and the choice of the best supplies to elicit maximum positive emotional effect from prospective buyer.
This article brings to light the psychological impact of design details which result in the desired transformation, promising the highest potential resale value. By incorporating the psychology of residential design, you intentionally choose how to transform your fixer by using colors, textures, building materials, and decorations that assure your future speedy and cost-effective sale.
The psychology of residential design joins the entire home, inside and out. Transformation Psychology differs in that you make use of residential Design Psychology with a different goal in mind. Using Design Psychology in your personal home is much more individualized. Renovating a doghouse for dollars integrates generalized design ideas appealing to a broader spectrum of buyers.
Using Transformation Psychology to increase your real estate profits means that you learn how our human senses, and thereby our emotions, are biased by different decorating details and choices of materials. Buyers view a prospective home with their eyes and yet their brain interprets what they see and feel according to subtle touches you purposefully put in. Design details additionally influence our senses of touch, smell, hearing, and even taste.
So, how does all this psychology stuff work? You choose colors and materials based on your prospective buyers’ income level and the house style.
Here’s a simplified Color Design Psychology Plan for Fall and Winter:
Selling Season: Fall and Winter
Target Market: First-time Buyers
House Style: Cottage
Exterior Colors: Pale yellow, Khaki Brown, Creamy White
Front Door: Dark Green
Interior Colors: Walls: Pale yellow, Sunny Yellow, Tan
Trim: Pure White
Flooring: Cream to Mocha wall-to-wall carpeting, white linoleum
Target Market: Upscale
House Style: Tuscan
Exterior Colors: Tuscany Gold, Chocolate Brown, Olive Green
Front Door: Terra Cotta Red
Interior Colors: Tuscany Gold, Mocha, Mixture of these colors
Trim: Ivory
Flooring: Ivory carpeting, hard wood, tile
Your goal of composing a glorious home that buyers can't live without begins with your planning of changes desired. Following a design plan, from inception to realization, bit by bit, simplifies and organizes your makeover. Taking the time to make a design plan assures you of a profitable and quick sale.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
See Doghouses transformed into Dollhouses
Before and after plus design advice for turning dumps into magical dream houses for your buyers.
The National Real Estate Investing Expo in Las Vegas
February 24, 25 and 26, 2005
Jeanette and the Joy to the Home design team will be in booth 124.
The National Real Estate Investing Expo in Las Vegas
February 24, 25 and 26, 2005
Jeanette and the Joy to the Home design team will be in booth 124.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Creating Dynamic Window Coverings Without Breaking the Budget
When creating dynamic window coverings, it’s important to choose carefully, because your window coverings will become the focal points of a well-decorated room. But choosing the right window treatments, at the right price, takes some thought about not only the look you're hoping to achieve, but also about the nature of the space itself.
The first consideration will be how much exposure the fabric is going to receive. All fabrics are susceptible to sunlight, but many homemakers invest in acrylic, modacrylic, polyester, or another glass-based fabric in order to get the longest life out of window treatments. Although it gives a room an elegant feel, silk is most vulnerable to sunlight.
I save money on window treatments by using some imagination and creativity. For example, I often create a custom look by covering a tension rod with a thicker piece of PVC pipe. To avoid having the PVC’s printing bleed into my fabric, I sand off the numbers, but the printing can also be neutralized by using PVC primer, acetone, or even fingernail polish.
I've found PVC pipe to be very versatile. I've spray painted it black to look like wrought iron or brown to look like wood, and I've sponge painted it with copper and dark green over a light green for a verdigris effect. I've also painted it to reinforce an accent color or to look like gold or silver. It’s not expensive, and PVC’s decorating uses seem to be endless.
When it comes to longer window spans, wooden closet dowels, stronger than PVC, cost considerably less than drapery rods. I've also used copper pipe, which works well for curtain rods and looks great for significantly less money. If the curtain fabric will be touching the copper, though, I spray the copper with a clear gloss. That way, my fabric doesn't get stained if the copper should happen to oxidize.
To save even more money, I also get creative with the decorative hardware when creating window treatments. For instance, I've used the braid cords and tassels from Christmas tree decorations to add a touch of class to my window coverings, at a fraction of the cost of what similar drapery accessories would cost at a window fashion center.
I also love to create unique treatments by using unusual tieback holders. For one remodeling project, I found some old lamp finials and used them as tieback holders. I've also created a nice, airy atmosphere in a room by forming delicate swags of sheer lace curtains by securing them with clear fishing line.
Dynamic window treatments are a vital part of the overall look and feel of a room, but they don't need to break the budget. If you're creative and allow your imagination to run free, your decorating choices are truly endless.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher
The first consideration will be how much exposure the fabric is going to receive. All fabrics are susceptible to sunlight, but many homemakers invest in acrylic, modacrylic, polyester, or another glass-based fabric in order to get the longest life out of window treatments. Although it gives a room an elegant feel, silk is most vulnerable to sunlight.
I save money on window treatments by using some imagination and creativity. For example, I often create a custom look by covering a tension rod with a thicker piece of PVC pipe. To avoid having the PVC’s printing bleed into my fabric, I sand off the numbers, but the printing can also be neutralized by using PVC primer, acetone, or even fingernail polish.
I've found PVC pipe to be very versatile. I've spray painted it black to look like wrought iron or brown to look like wood, and I've sponge painted it with copper and dark green over a light green for a verdigris effect. I've also painted it to reinforce an accent color or to look like gold or silver. It’s not expensive, and PVC’s decorating uses seem to be endless.
When it comes to longer window spans, wooden closet dowels, stronger than PVC, cost considerably less than drapery rods. I've also used copper pipe, which works well for curtain rods and looks great for significantly less money. If the curtain fabric will be touching the copper, though, I spray the copper with a clear gloss. That way, my fabric doesn't get stained if the copper should happen to oxidize.
To save even more money, I also get creative with the decorative hardware when creating window treatments. For instance, I've used the braid cords and tassels from Christmas tree decorations to add a touch of class to my window coverings, at a fraction of the cost of what similar drapery accessories would cost at a window fashion center.
I also love to create unique treatments by using unusual tieback holders. For one remodeling project, I found some old lamp finials and used them as tieback holders. I've also created a nice, airy atmosphere in a room by forming delicate swags of sheer lace curtains by securing them with clear fishing line.
Dynamic window treatments are a vital part of the overall look and feel of a room, but they don't need to break the budget. If you're creative and allow your imagination to run free, your decorating choices are truly endless.
(c) Copyright 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher
Monday, February 14, 2005
18 Easy Steps to Buy a Bargain House
What is a "distressed" property? What is "bargain" real estate?
A distressed property is one with a distressed seller. Job loss or transfer, divorce, death, pending foreclosure, and lack of money cause sellers to sell fast for less. Discovering the seller's problem and finding a solution is the key to buying a bargain property. A distressed property may also be a "doghouse," a dump, or a fixer. Owners of "doghouses" are not always distressed sellers.
18 Easy Steps to Buy a Bargain House
1. Get good advice from successful investors. Ask friends and real estate agents for referrals to investors.
2. Create your personal "Investment Journal," like Doghouse to Dollars Workbook: Turn Yucks into Bucks Investor's Guide.
3. Define investment goals: Do you want to buy a home to live in, to fix and sell, or to hold for your future?
4. Get credit reports & scores. Create a file for each credit reporting agency. Take care of any credit issues.
5. Read Real Estate investing books and articles. Attend workshops and seminars. Avoid out of date infomercials on TV.
6. Get good advice from lenders. Choose a lender with great service, good closing record, and fair costs. Arrange financing.
7. Define your target locations: Is your desired property near home or job, vacation or second home?
8. Learn your target market. Study real estate newspaper sections. Pick up homes for sale flyers. Watch sales and note prices, amenities, and conditions. Follow HUD sales in your area.
9. Interview Real Estate agents and learn from them. Do not sign any agreements with agents limiting your search for bargain property. (These contracts make you pay the agent a commission even if you purchase by owner.)
10. Use agents who know local market customs and guarantee to make many offers for you.
11. Find a good escrow officer for buying "for sale by owners."
12. Study home remodeling, design magazines and books. Learn the costs of materials, supplies, and trades. Visit home improvement warehouses. Note costs of building materials.
13. Be ready to know a bargain property when you see it.
14. Make many offers. Bid on HUD repos.
15. Buy only bargain property. Get great terms or concessions from seller.
16. Plan house transformation during escrow. This speeds your work time -- saving you money in holding expenses.
17. Monitor real estate escrow closing. Do not jeopardize your financing by charging up credit cards or making unnecessary purchases.
18. Celebrate buying your "doghouse" with an open house!
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Real Estate Investor Information
Buy the book!
Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars
Using Design Psychology to Increase Real Estate Profits. See interior design photographs of "fixers" transformed using Design Psychology. Discover how to find, finance, fix and sell homes for top dollar --FAST!
A distressed property is one with a distressed seller. Job loss or transfer, divorce, death, pending foreclosure, and lack of money cause sellers to sell fast for less. Discovering the seller's problem and finding a solution is the key to buying a bargain property. A distressed property may also be a "doghouse," a dump, or a fixer. Owners of "doghouses" are not always distressed sellers.
18 Easy Steps to Buy a Bargain House
1. Get good advice from successful investors. Ask friends and real estate agents for referrals to investors.
2. Create your personal "Investment Journal," like Doghouse to Dollars Workbook: Turn Yucks into Bucks Investor's Guide.
3. Define investment goals: Do you want to buy a home to live in, to fix and sell, or to hold for your future?
4. Get credit reports & scores. Create a file for each credit reporting agency. Take care of any credit issues.
5. Read Real Estate investing books and articles. Attend workshops and seminars. Avoid out of date infomercials on TV.
6. Get good advice from lenders. Choose a lender with great service, good closing record, and fair costs. Arrange financing.
7. Define your target locations: Is your desired property near home or job, vacation or second home?
8. Learn your target market. Study real estate newspaper sections. Pick up homes for sale flyers. Watch sales and note prices, amenities, and conditions. Follow HUD sales in your area.
9. Interview Real Estate agents and learn from them. Do not sign any agreements with agents limiting your search for bargain property. (These contracts make you pay the agent a commission even if you purchase by owner.)
10. Use agents who know local market customs and guarantee to make many offers for you.
11. Find a good escrow officer for buying "for sale by owners."
12. Study home remodeling, design magazines and books. Learn the costs of materials, supplies, and trades. Visit home improvement warehouses. Note costs of building materials.
13. Be ready to know a bargain property when you see it.
14. Make many offers. Bid on HUD repos.
15. Buy only bargain property. Get great terms or concessions from seller.
16. Plan house transformation during escrow. This speeds your work time -- saving you money in holding expenses.
17. Monitor real estate escrow closing. Do not jeopardize your financing by charging up credit cards or making unnecessary purchases.
18. Celebrate buying your "doghouse" with an open house!
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Real Estate Investor Information
Buy the book!
Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars
Using Design Psychology to Increase Real Estate Profits. See interior design photographs of "fixers" transformed using Design Psychology. Discover how to find, finance, fix and sell homes for top dollar --FAST!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Interior Design Psychology Secrets to Top Dollar Sales
Join us in Las Vegas for the Real Estate Investing Expo! Las Vegas Convention Center on February 24, 25, and 26, 2005. February is a beautiful time to be in Las Vegas and we are lucky to have secured such a great time and location. Jeanette invites you to "Interior Design Psychology Secrets to Top Dollar Sales"Friday, Feb. 24, 2005See http://www.realestateinvestingexpo.com/index.html
Sunday, November 28, 2004
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WHAT ARE SHORT-TERM VS. LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS AND LOSSES?
Capital gains and losses are classified as long-term or short-term, depending on how long you hold the property before you sell it. If you hold it more than one year, your capital gains or loss is long-term. If you hold it one year or less, your capital gains or loss is short-term.
WHAT IS THE BASIS AND HOW IS IT DETERMINED?
You need to know your basis in your home to calculate any gain or loss when you sell it. Your basis is determined by how you acquire your home. If you purchased or built it, your basis is your initial cost. If you acquired it in some other way (inheritance, gift, etc.), you must know its adjusted basis to the donor just before it was given to you. You also must know its fair market value (FMV) at the time title was transferred. For more information, lot onto www.irs.gi! v ! and search for publication 551 (Basis of Assets).
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CAPITAL GAINS RATES?
The maximum tax rate on net capital gain (i.e., net long-term capital gain reduced by any net short-term capital loss) is now 15%. Gains that would otherwise be taxed at a regular rateof 10% or 15% are now 5% for property sold or otherwise disposed of after May 5, 2003 (and installment sale payments received after that date.) The reduced rate applies for both the regular tax and the alternative minimum tax. The higher rates that apply to un-recaptured section 1250 gain, collectibles gain, and section 1201 have not changed.
WHAT IS THE BASIS AND HOW IS IT DETERMINED?
You need to know your basis in your home to calculate any gain or loss when you sell it. Your basis is determined by how you acquire your home. If you purchased or built it, your basis is your initial cost. If you acquired it in some other way (inheritance, gift, etc.), you must know its adjusted basis to the donor just before it was given to you. You also must know its fair market value (FMV) at the time title was transferred. For more information, lot onto www.irs.gi! v ! and search for publication 551 (Basis of Assets).
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CAPITAL GAINS RATES?
The maximum tax rate on net capital gain (i.e., net long-term capital gain reduced by any net short-term capital loss) is now 15%. Gains that would otherwise be taxed at a regular rateof 10% or 15% are now 5% for property sold or otherwise disposed of after May 5, 2003 (and installment sale payments received after that date.) The reduced rate applies for both the regular tax and the alternative minimum tax. The higher rates that apply to un-recaptured section 1250 gain, collectibles gain, and section 1201 have not changed.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Fixing Houses: Mixing Your Own Paint for Savings and Harmony
by Jeanette Fisher
Wether you want to save money fixing your own home or you fix houses for investing, using bargain home improvement products helps. To make the maximum profit on your investment properties, you'll need to save money wherever you can. One way to save significant amounts of money is to mix your own paint.
I recommend that you use only water-based paints. Technology improvements in latex and acrylic paints have made painting easier than it was with the old fashioned oil-based paints, and the new acrylics provide a great-looking finish. Purchasing "oops paint," marked down at home improvement and paint stores, can save hundreds of dollars on your painting projects.
By mixing your own paints, you can also guarantee a harmonious result for the entire house, blending the colors from the exterior to the interior and from room to room. For instance, during one of our projects, we purchased ten assorted gallons of paint from the Restore thrift shop. (Restore is Habitat for Humanity’s outlet.) The paint had been donated by Lowe’s after having been returned by the original buyers, and included a lot of blues, greens, and grays. We used a fifteen-gallon plastic kitchen trash can to mix all the paint together, and then poured it back into the original cans. The color ended up a complex sage-green, which perfectly complemented the existing teal-green tile floor.
We used the original trash-can paint outside first, and then added white interior paint as we continued our color scheme inside, first painting the living room and a bathroom. Then I added a little green to the remainder and painted a bedroom. For each room, we added a little more white semi-gloss paint. As we went along, we saved a glass jar full of each paint blend for touch ups.
Paint experts suggest mixing only the same type of paints: exterior latex with exterior latex; interior acrylic with interior acrylic; interior latex with interior latex, and so on. But we routinely mix exterior and interior paints, and have never experienced any difficulty. The amount of sheen makes little difference in mixing paints, either, unless you're looking for a particular finish. (You do want plenty of ventilation if you use exterior paint indoors and don't use interior grade outside.)
For one project, I started with five gallons of thrift store baby-blue paint, and then added a quart of black, in order to "gray down" the baby-blue. As we progressed through the bedrooms, I added a little more white semi-gloss latex paint to the mix. When I was done, the entire upstairs of the home blended harmoniously, yet each space had its own color and personality.
For another doghouse transformation, I added amber pigment, which you can pick up at most paint suppliers (but use it sparingly, because a little goes a long way), to five gallons of boring beige oops paint. We started in the main bedroom with the darker color and added white as we went along. The lightest shade ended up in a living room with a 23-foot-high ceiling. This home sold for more than any other house previously sold for in the neighborhood.
How much can you save mixing your own paint? The paint we found at Restore cost us $2.00 a gallon. This type of paint sells for over $20 per gallon. Maybe saving a couple hundred dollars doesn't mean much to you, but the emotional benefits deserve consideration. People feel happy in a house where the outside colors feel connected to the inside colors.
Remember: oops paint is no different from regular paint. It was just a mistake, for whatever reason, and in case you're wondering how long oops paint can last, we recently drove by our very first doghouse-to-dollhouse home in Apple Valley, California. The paint still looks great, even though that home was originally painted in 1979.
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Wether you want to save money fixing your own home or you fix houses for investing, using bargain home improvement products helps. To make the maximum profit on your investment properties, you'll need to save money wherever you can. One way to save significant amounts of money is to mix your own paint.
I recommend that you use only water-based paints. Technology improvements in latex and acrylic paints have made painting easier than it was with the old fashioned oil-based paints, and the new acrylics provide a great-looking finish. Purchasing "oops paint," marked down at home improvement and paint stores, can save hundreds of dollars on your painting projects.
By mixing your own paints, you can also guarantee a harmonious result for the entire house, blending the colors from the exterior to the interior and from room to room. For instance, during one of our projects, we purchased ten assorted gallons of paint from the Restore thrift shop. (Restore is Habitat for Humanity’s outlet.) The paint had been donated by Lowe’s after having been returned by the original buyers, and included a lot of blues, greens, and grays. We used a fifteen-gallon plastic kitchen trash can to mix all the paint together, and then poured it back into the original cans. The color ended up a complex sage-green, which perfectly complemented the existing teal-green tile floor.
We used the original trash-can paint outside first, and then added white interior paint as we continued our color scheme inside, first painting the living room and a bathroom. Then I added a little green to the remainder and painted a bedroom. For each room, we added a little more white semi-gloss paint. As we went along, we saved a glass jar full of each paint blend for touch ups.
Paint experts suggest mixing only the same type of paints: exterior latex with exterior latex; interior acrylic with interior acrylic; interior latex with interior latex, and so on. But we routinely mix exterior and interior paints, and have never experienced any difficulty. The amount of sheen makes little difference in mixing paints, either, unless you're looking for a particular finish. (You do want plenty of ventilation if you use exterior paint indoors and don't use interior grade outside.)
For one project, I started with five gallons of thrift store baby-blue paint, and then added a quart of black, in order to "gray down" the baby-blue. As we progressed through the bedrooms, I added a little more white semi-gloss latex paint to the mix. When I was done, the entire upstairs of the home blended harmoniously, yet each space had its own color and personality.
For another doghouse transformation, I added amber pigment, which you can pick up at most paint suppliers (but use it sparingly, because a little goes a long way), to five gallons of boring beige oops paint. We started in the main bedroom with the darker color and added white as we went along. The lightest shade ended up in a living room with a 23-foot-high ceiling. This home sold for more than any other house previously sold for in the neighborhood.
How much can you save mixing your own paint? The paint we found at Restore cost us $2.00 a gallon. This type of paint sells for over $20 per gallon. Maybe saving a couple hundred dollars doesn't mean much to you, but the emotional benefits deserve consideration. People feel happy in a house where the outside colors feel connected to the inside colors.
Remember: oops paint is no different from regular paint. It was just a mistake, for whatever reason, and in case you're wondering how long oops paint can last, we recently drove by our very first doghouse-to-dollhouse home in Apple Valley, California. The paint still looks great, even though that home was originally painted in 1979.
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Buying and Selling Distressed Houses for Maximum Profit
By Jeanette Joy Fisher
If you want to become a real estate investor, find a "fixer-upper" owned by an anxious seller. Finding distressed houses at bargain prices, fixing them up, and then selling them on a consistent basis can make you a millionaire.
Why Sellers Sell At a Discount
Homeowners' problems often prevent them from staying on top of their home's upkeep, and factors such as job loss, divorce, serious illness, various addictions, or other personal problems quickly overwhelm them. These sellers can't make the needed repairs because of financial or physical limitations, and when that happens, their home becomes a low priority and sometimes will go into foreclosure.
Look for the "Triple D"
Home sellers with three problems give beginning investors a great opportunity. A "Triple D" is a Doghouse, involved in a Divorce, and in Default. The label “doghouse” comes from Southern California Realtors who used this term to describe the worst fixers. These houses maybe "tired" and need only cosmetic work in order to favorably compare with other homes in the area.
What to Look for in a Doghouse
The hardest house for a homeowner to sell is a "doghouse," "dump," or "fixer-upper." These run-down houses scare off most buyers, who don't have the money to cover the down payment, closing costs, new furniture, carpeting, appliances, roof repairs, and other deferred maintenance required to bring the home back into top condition.
As you look through the classified ads or at realtor listings, keep an eye out for terms like "handyman special," "as is," "fixer," or other tell-tale words. Also have your agent use similar terms when scanning the Multiple Listing Service for your target area.
Once you've found a property that you can turn from doghouse to dollhouse, find out the seller's problem and then offer a solution. Distressed sellers frequently experience financial problems and need cash as soon as possible. Therefore, if you're ready to close quickly, you'll be set to negotiate a lower sales price.
How to Close Quickly
Find an experienced lender and get yourself not only "pre-qualified," but also "pre-approved." Taking that second step assures worried sellers that you already have your loan in place for their property, and this puts you well ahead of other potential buyers.
How to Know When "Bad" Is Good
When you first start out in the real estate "fixer" business, you'll want to look for "ugly" houses needing only cosmetic work. Look for entry level fixers that just need some cleaning up, painting, and carpeting.
When you're new to the fixer game, always remember your limitations and use caution when considering houses needing structural repairs. My husband replaces structural beams, sub-flooring, walls, plumbing, and electrical systems, but he acquired those skills after years of experience.
If you find a house with structural problems, get estimates from reliable contractors to do the work. Experience teaches you how to do more over time. Until then, rely on experienced professionals to do the repairs. Take professional estimates into account before deciding whether or not to purchase an investment property.
The Easiest Houses to Sell
A dollhouse, located in a popular neighborhood, sells the quickest. For instance, we once sold a home we named "Orange Tree Cottage" in just three hours! To qualify as a dollhouse, a home must be in a location that buyers want and must offer the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and amenities they're seeking. Beyond the price, however, buyers purchase the house that meets both their basic requirements and their emotional needs.
Filling Buyers' Emotional Needs
After many years of investment experience, we've found that using Design Psychology and Marketing Psychology techniques greatly increases our profits. Both concepts go far beyond "curb appeal."
For instance, we use colors that target our prospective buyer's income level and match the selling season. Generally, buyers of higher-priced homes prefer complex colors, and using cool colors during hot weather and warm colors in cold seasons makes buyers feel more comfortable. We also paint the front door a happy color and entice buyers into the house by placing potted plants on the porch.
Over the years, we've bought and sold dozens of distressed properties. By using caution and common sense, as well as following a few simple rules and using Design Psychology strategies, you, too, can become a wealthy real estate investor!
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/
If you want to become a real estate investor, find a "fixer-upper" owned by an anxious seller. Finding distressed houses at bargain prices, fixing them up, and then selling them on a consistent basis can make you a millionaire.
Why Sellers Sell At a Discount
Homeowners' problems often prevent them from staying on top of their home's upkeep, and factors such as job loss, divorce, serious illness, various addictions, or other personal problems quickly overwhelm them. These sellers can't make the needed repairs because of financial or physical limitations, and when that happens, their home becomes a low priority and sometimes will go into foreclosure.
Look for the "Triple D"
Home sellers with three problems give beginning investors a great opportunity. A "Triple D" is a Doghouse, involved in a Divorce, and in Default. The label “doghouse” comes from Southern California Realtors who used this term to describe the worst fixers. These houses maybe "tired" and need only cosmetic work in order to favorably compare with other homes in the area.
What to Look for in a Doghouse
The hardest house for a homeowner to sell is a "doghouse," "dump," or "fixer-upper." These run-down houses scare off most buyers, who don't have the money to cover the down payment, closing costs, new furniture, carpeting, appliances, roof repairs, and other deferred maintenance required to bring the home back into top condition.
As you look through the classified ads or at realtor listings, keep an eye out for terms like "handyman special," "as is," "fixer," or other tell-tale words. Also have your agent use similar terms when scanning the Multiple Listing Service for your target area.
Once you've found a property that you can turn from doghouse to dollhouse, find out the seller's problem and then offer a solution. Distressed sellers frequently experience financial problems and need cash as soon as possible. Therefore, if you're ready to close quickly, you'll be set to negotiate a lower sales price.
How to Close Quickly
Find an experienced lender and get yourself not only "pre-qualified," but also "pre-approved." Taking that second step assures worried sellers that you already have your loan in place for their property, and this puts you well ahead of other potential buyers.
How to Know When "Bad" Is Good
When you first start out in the real estate "fixer" business, you'll want to look for "ugly" houses needing only cosmetic work. Look for entry level fixers that just need some cleaning up, painting, and carpeting.
When you're new to the fixer game, always remember your limitations and use caution when considering houses needing structural repairs. My husband replaces structural beams, sub-flooring, walls, plumbing, and electrical systems, but he acquired those skills after years of experience.
If you find a house with structural problems, get estimates from reliable contractors to do the work. Experience teaches you how to do more over time. Until then, rely on experienced professionals to do the repairs. Take professional estimates into account before deciding whether or not to purchase an investment property.
The Easiest Houses to Sell
A dollhouse, located in a popular neighborhood, sells the quickest. For instance, we once sold a home we named "Orange Tree Cottage" in just three hours! To qualify as a dollhouse, a home must be in a location that buyers want and must offer the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and amenities they're seeking. Beyond the price, however, buyers purchase the house that meets both their basic requirements and their emotional needs.
Filling Buyers' Emotional Needs
After many years of investment experience, we've found that using Design Psychology and Marketing Psychology techniques greatly increases our profits. Both concepts go far beyond "curb appeal."
For instance, we use colors that target our prospective buyer's income level and match the selling season. Generally, buyers of higher-priced homes prefer complex colors, and using cool colors during hot weather and warm colors in cold seasons makes buyers feel more comfortable. We also paint the front door a happy color and entice buyers into the house by placing potted plants on the porch.
Over the years, we've bought and sold dozens of distressed properties. By using caution and common sense, as well as following a few simple rules and using Design Psychology strategies, you, too, can become a wealthy real estate investor!
(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/
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