Does Your Home Need An Interior Redesign?

 

Ask yourself the following questions:

– Do you have a room you rarely use?

– Are your tired of the “look” of you home?

– Do you feel there’s no way to rearrange a room?

– Do you have a room that just doesn’t “feel” right?

– Do you want a new look but don’t want to buy all new things?

– Have your furnishings been in the same places for 3+ years?

– Have you combined households and it’s too crowded?

If you’ve answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you are a candidate for an InteriorRedesign. Contact Jill Denton at  Changing Spaces to schedule a consultation.

TAX BREAK FOR MORTGAGE DEBT FORGIVENESS

President Bush signed into law today a new measure giving tax breaks to homeowners who have mortgage debt forgiven. Under preexisting law, the debt forgiven by a lender, such as for short sales and refinances, was generally taxable to the borrower as debt discharge income. With the passage of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, a taxpayer does not have to pay federal income tax on debt forgiven for a loan secured by a qualified principal residence.

This tax break applies to debts discharged from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009. Qualified principal residence indebtedness is debt incurred in acquiring, constructing, or substantially improving the residence (up to $2 million for refinances).

For purposes of calculating capital gains, any debts discharged excluded from income under the new law must be subtracted from the basis of the taxpayer’s principal residence (but not below zero). However, taxpayers may generally exclude from capital gains income up to $250,000 (or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly) for properties owned and used as their principal residence for at least two of the last five years.

For a copy of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3648.

Feng Shui & the Bagua Chart

Literally translated, Feng Shui means “wind and water.” But is it a philosophy, a science or an art? In essence, this ancient Chinese wisdom is all three. The effects of Feng Shui are felt in the mind, body and spirit in ways that enhance or diminish one’s personal “chi.”

Chi (pronounced “chee”) is the Chinese word for energy. Chi flows through everything and is always with us. Personal levels of chi, or inner energy, fluctuate from high to low. Extreme fluctuations in this inner energy can affect your health, mood, work and relationships, so it’s important to maintain balanced chi. Using the art of Feng Shui, you can consciously arrange your exterior (your home) to help balance the chi in your interior (your body).

For example, have you ever visited a home and had a bad feeling that was difficult to describe? The rooms may have been flawlessly decorated, yet felt cold, tense or uncomfortable. Most likely, the longer you stayed, the more uncomfortable you felt. Your body responded to a low level of chi.

Now, think of another house you’ve visited that felt warm, uplifting, and inviting – one where you instantly felt “right at home.” Again, there wasn’t any specific element that made you feel comfortable. You just felt good being there. The home had a more balanced level of chi.

Take a heartfelt look at your own home. When you walk through the door, do you feel the stress of the day wash away? Do you feel self-satisfied, lighter, energetic, and motivated? Or do you feel tired, restless, out of sorts and overwhelmed? Maybe it’s time to do a little balancing act with Feng Shui.

Feng Shui offers added benefits worth testing. Its techniques can be applied directly to specific life situations, such as prosperity, fame, family, relationships and health. Again, it’s balancing your surroundings to bring about more of what you want in life.

You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint. And to be effective, Feng Shui requires its own blueprint called a bagua (pronounced ba-gwa). The bagua is divided into a total of nine areas representing specific life situations.

Think of the bagua as a transparency, which can be placed over the floor plan of an entire home or single room.  To position the bagua correctly, look for the main door used to enter the house or room. (In some cases, the main door could be a garage or back door.) The door’s position should always be located in one of the three bagua areas: skills and knowledge, career or helpful people. Now that you know where the areas of your home or rooms fall in place on the bagua, you’re ready to apply appropriate Feng Shui rechniques to each area.

As you study the bagua, look for items within specific life areas that symbolize your feelings. If you’re stressed about your finances, take a close look at the room that falls in your prosperity area. Is it dark and uninviting? Does the room contain a wilting plant you’ve neglected or an heirloom clock that doesn’t run properly? Little things you take for granted or that go unnoticed can affect your chi in big ways.

One of the greatest benefits of do-it-yourself Feng Shui is self-awareness. In addition to creating home improvements, when you apply Feng Shui principles to your home, you gain a wonderful opportunity to evaluate your life’s situations, state your intentions or goals and move into action.

Intuition, simplicity and good taste are always in tune with Feng Shui. Personalized touches (things that are especially meaningful to you) provide an added punch to your balanced environment.

Source: Lowes

Home Redesign

Most everyone wants their home to look its best, but not all of us want to hire a design professional and spend thousands of dollars on new a remodel with furniture, accessories, accents, art, window treatments, etc.  Plus, so many of us either like all or most of what we already own, and we want to keep to an affordable budget.  That’s where Home Redesign or Interior Redesign or Budget Decorating or Home Makeover or One Day Decorating  or  as they call it on HGTV‘s “Decorating Cents” No Cost Decorating comes into play.  There are many names for this service, but the goal is the same. To use what you already own and love in a fresh new way.  It’s amazing how a professional interior redesigner can use only what you already own and change the way a room or entire home looks and feels and in just ONE DAY!

In times like these, some people want a new home but are not ready to make a move. This is one time when Interior Redesign works so well.  Whether you have one room or every room in your home Redesigned.  Some people do this for themselves, but most hire a Interior Redesigner for several reasons.

1.  A neutral party (Interior Redesigner) will look at the architecture of the room, all of your furnishings, art and accessories for each of their values.  Sometimes people get stuck in a rut and always, for example, place that chair next to that table with that lamp and that piece of wall art behind it.  It may look great, but the idea behind Interior Redesign is to give your home a fresh new look.  One that is beautiful and functional.

2. You’re bored with the room.  You may or may not like the way it looks, but you’re ready for a change.

3.  You moved into this home and your furniture doesn’t work as  well as it did in the last home.

4.  The room is never used.

5.  The room just doesn’t feel right.

6.  You purchased some new furnishings and it just doesn’t work the way you thought it would work.  (If you’re considering having an Interior Redesign, do it first, before you buy any furniture.)  A Interior Redesigner will listen to you needs and wants, and take into consideration your style and how you want the room to function.  Once the room is redesigned, you may find that you need a different size of sofa or maybe you don’t need a bookcase but a accent table.  In other words, don’t go out and spend money on the wrong piece of furniture, get a redesign first.  Then go out and purchase the right piece(s) for the room.

 7.  You’re on a budget.  Interior Redesingers either change by the hour, by the room, or by the day.  Typically, it takes 2-3 hours to redesign one room.  A professional Interior Redesigner can redesign an entire home in one day! Based on the size of the home the Interior Redesigner may bring one, two or three assisitants to get the job done. Based on your budget, you can decide if you want one, two or all the rooms in your home redesigned. 

8.  The holidays are just around the corner.  Now is the time to redesign your home.  Your guest will notice how great your home looks, but they probably won’t know why … “did you get a new…?  “Your home looks fantastic”….

 Whatever your reason, Interior Redesign is a new design style that is taking the world by storm.  With Interior Redesign anyone can afford to hire a professional interior redesigner.  Some people have their interior redesigner come back once a year to keep their space fresh.  Another great feature of using an Interior Redesigner is that once the redesign is complete, most Interior Redesigners will either chat with you or leave a list behind of things you could do or buy to further inhance the space. 

Jill Denton ~ Changing Spaces

Buyer’s Market

A Buyer’s Market has more sellers than buyers. Supply and Demand. Low prices result from this excess of “supply” over “demand“.  The opposite of Buyer’s Market is a Seller’s Market.

Typically, during a Seller’s Market the “supply” is low and the “demand” is high.  During a Seller’s Market home owners may receive multiple offers and those offers can be well above the asking price. 

Typically, during a Buyer’s Market homes stay on the market longer than in a seller’s market.  If you’re looking to buy a home, now is a good time to buy because there’s a lot of homes on the market to choose from, and when it’s a buyers market the buyer typically has the upper hand, because the sellers may be willing to accept a lower price, they may be willing to make some repairs, or help with closing costs, etc. 

But is this truly the best time to buy?  Some people think the real estate market is going to continue to cool off for another six months or so; thus, if you wait you may get a better deal. What if you find your dream home?  It probably won’t be on the market in 6 months, so you’ll have to make the call. 

If you’re looking to upgrade, downsize or buy your first home – a Buyer’s Market is typically a great time to buy! Whether or not it’ll be better to buy in 6 months or a year, no one knows for sure, because we can not predict exactly when the market will rise or fall.

And if you’re currently renting, again it’s a buyer’s market and a great time to buy.  Whether it’s now or in a few months, keep saving your money for that down payment, your time will come … (I love this part) When you’re ready to Stop Rentin’, Call Jill Denton”.

What is Interior Redesign?

An Interior Redesigner rearranges your furniture and accessories.  We start by removing everything from the room.  Once we have a clean/clear vision of the room’s architecture, we start by placing the large pieces in the best place for function and style.  We may, with your permission, bring in other items from other rooms in your home.  We arrange all the furniture (sofas, loveseat, chairs, tables, rugs, sideboards, bookcases, etc.) then we bring in the accessories and hang the art.  In just one day, your home will look refreshed using what you already own.

The concept of Interior Redesign is still new to most people, but one that is catching on quickly! Interior Redesign can work for anyone, whether your style is traditional, modern, country, eclectic, etc. Because an Interior Redesigner uses what you already have in your home, but in a fresh new way.

With Interior Redesign you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on furniture and accessories, and wait months for the finished product. We do it all in one day using your stuff, and for a reasonable price. Sometimes, after we’ve finished the Interior Redesign, we’ll leave behind a list of items the home owner could purchase to fill a need or empty space.If you’re thinking about buying some new furnishings, have the Interior Redesign done first. Most of the time, once the Interior Redesign in done, people find that they would have purchased the wrong piece, and now they don’t need anything or they need a completely different item. We like to say, Interior Redesign costs less than the price of buying the wrong piece of furniture.

Moving Check List

Moving is a lot of work and it’s easy to forget or miss some of the details.  HGTV has come up with a handy Moving Check List to help you through your move.  Check it out ~ Print it out.  The goal, make your move a little easier. 

http://www.hgtv.ca/realestate/re_tools_check_moving.aspx or http://www.hgtv.ca/realestate/_downloads/Moving_Checklist.pdf

TEN THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN LOOKING TO BUY A HOME:

10. Location, location, location.  Once you’ve decided on a general geographic location for your new home, you’ll probably look at things like the schools, distance to work, family and friends.  But take a deeper look at other location factors that are important to you.  For example, you might want to look at neighborhood conveniences; such as, parks, shopping, whether it’s a busy or quiet neighborhood, etc. Whatever’s important to you should be a consideration is selecting the location.

9. What’s the MINIMUM amount of square footage you want/need in your new home? I think it’s funny that we don’t say “I don’t care what the square footage is as long as it’s not over XXXX square feet.” I guess we think bigger is better, but not always.  Do you have a growing family, are you down sizing, or maybe you’re just starting out.  Sometimes it’s more about the floor plan than it is about square footage.  Although square footage can be important, the next item is more important.

8. What’s the MINIMUM number of bedrooms and bathrooms you need in your new home?  Most of the time, if you need 3 bedrooms, but you fall in love with a 4 bedroom, it’s not a problem.  We can always find a purpose for an additional room, but how many bedrooms and bathrooms must you have is the real question.  Know your minimum; you can always go up from there.

7. What features MUST you have in your new home?  For example: air conditioning, a pool, 4-car garage, gated community, etc?  Here are some of today’s most popular features.

6. What features would be a BONUS to have in your new home?  For example: a fireplace, wine cellar, bonus room, home office, gourmet kitchen, etc?

5. What features DON’T you want in your new home?  For example:  a pool, zero lot line, acreage, next to the freeway, an outdated kitchen, etc?

4. Are you looking for a “TURN KEY” home, a home that’s needs a little TLC, or for a FIXER UPPER?  Sometime the budget dictates which kind of house we select and other times it’s a choice.  Either you like being handy, being involved in making the choices, or you just want to move in and enjoy.

3. Are you INTERESTED in an established or new neighborhood?  Landscaping is a key issue.  Established neighborhoods have grown trees and typically, these homes have front and back yard landscaping.  Whether or not you want to leave it or change it is up to you.  With new construction, you’ll need to landscape at least the backyard (Front yard landscaping is sometimes included).  But depending on the size of the lot, plus your needs and desires, it can cost thousands to landscape a backyard.  So be sure to figure this into your calculations.

2. How much home can you AFFORD? Let’s say the home cost $700,000 and you have $200,000 down payment.  $700,000 – $200,000 = $500,000 to finance.  Take the loan amount of $500,000 and multiply it by .07 interest rate (a rounded up guesstimate)That equates to $35,000 in interest per year. Divide that by twelve, and you’ll get your monthly INTEREST-ONLY payment of roughly $2,900.00 Divide the principal amount ($500,000) by how many payments the loan has, which is 360 (360 months= 30 years) = roughly $1,400.  Now add the INTEREST ($2,900) to the PRINCIPLE ($1,400) to get your monthly mortgage payment of $4,300 per month, plus taxes.

1. Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make.  It’s an emotional purchase.  Buy a home that meets your needs and desires, and one that makes you feel good.

 

To Stage or Not to Stage…

The answer is YES!  Here are three reasons why Staging does work!

Typically … 

1) A Staged home sells faster than a non-staged home.

2) A Staged home sells for more money. 

3) Staging costs less than your first price reduction!  

Even USA Today knows that “Staging results in a faster sale”There are a few different leveles of staging:

– If you’re still living in the home and it’s filled with all of your items, we’ll do a Staging Consultation. We’ll visually inspect your home and provide you with a list of things to do to your home to make it look its best to the masses. That’s one of the keys; it needs to look good to the masses, so that anyone can imagine their things in your home.  You can then take the list and get it all done yourself, or we can help you through the process.

Living room/fireplace before and after. It’s amazing what a little paint and a slip cover will do. For the cost of paint and a few accessories this place looks great! We redesigned this home, and three days later they received an offer/sold the home for $80,000 OVER the asking price!

 – If you’re living in the home, but your furnishings are worn, you’ve already moved some items, or you need to bring in some items to complete the look – then we’ll start with a consultation and also look at bring in furniture or accessories to make your home look its best to the masses.

We staged with home on Friday. They had an open house on Saturday and Sunday. They received multiple offers and the house SOLD on Monday!

– If your home is vacant, we’ll visit your home to get a feel for the style, measure and supply furniture and accessories to make your home look its best to the masses.

This condo sat on the market for over a month without any interest. We fully staged the home and one week later the owner accepted a generous offer!

For more information about Staging check my website Changing Spaces or Visit Home Staging Online

Move-In Design Service

 

Moving is hard work, whether you do it yourself or have movers.Once all of your things are in your new home, then the real work begins. Arranging the furniture takes time to make sure it’s functional and looks good. But what if your furniture does work the way it did in your last home? Then you need to get creative and try several different arrangements, but your tired from the move and life still goes on (work, kids, etc) and then there’s the wall art and the accessories. Most people get into a rut and place the same wall art over the same piece of furniture, with the same decorative item and in the same room. Live it up, try different ways or have someone like me come into your home and set it up in one day with a Move-In Design Service so you can start enjoying, and relaxing, in your home immediately!

Before (Left) This is what you saw when you walked into the master bedroom. After (Right) First, we did a little shopping for the client and purchased some new linens, a nightstand, rug and lamp. Then in one day, we went into the home and redesigned and rearranged her exisitng furnishings and updated the room with our purchases. What a difference a day makes!

This client moved into her new home, and gave me a call to help her get settled. We purchased a few new accessories and using her existing furiture we redesigned her home in one day. Now she can sit back and enjoy her new home!