10 Decorating Tips for A Stress-Free Home

Create a Clutter Free Environment-

Most people tend to store stuff they don’t really need such as piles of newspapers or trash bags full of garbage or outgrown clothes. Take a little time to designate a specific area or container for items that need to be taken out of the house and another container for you to place items that you bring home. Do you really need a lot of end tables and clutter in your living room? If you confined, then you most likely will feel stressed. Also, re-arrange areas that limit your walking ability such as a coffee table that fits close up to your couch. You will lessen the chance of stubbing your toes while trying to relax.

Have Less Lighting-
Everyone knows that low lighting can be more relaxing. Rather than have a bright overhead light on in your living room or bedroom, bring in a few lamps to place around the room. You will instantly feel more at ease thanks to the softer glow of lamp lights.

Be Less Bold in Your Color Choice-
If you truly want a relaxing stress-free home to come home to then you should consider keeping bright colors and bold patterns to a minimum. If you want to add a little color that is fine, a bright red throw pillow or something on the couch is fine, but your walls should be painted a more neutral earthy tone. If your eyes are busy focusing on all the bright colors in the room, you will have a harder time relaxing. If painting a room isn’t something you want to do, then focus more on pale colored lamp shades, throw pillows, and other decorative items.

Express the Nature Lover in You-
One very important decorating tip for a stress-free home is nature and incorporating natural elements into your home. House plants, mirrors across from windows and natural landscape artwork will bring a relaxing and fresh feeling to any room inside your house.

Surround Yourself with Home-
You may also want to consider putting a favorite item such as an old cabinet with photos of your family on it, a vase of flowers etc. near your front door or the main area you walk into when you first get home. This will remind you that you are home as soon as you walk in the door and you will instantly feel more relaxed. This idea can also be incorporated into other areas of your home. It is always good to “feel at home”, your photos and other favorite things will emphasize the “home” feeling.

Say Good Night to Electronics-
If you have a TV in your bedroom or a computer that stays on all night or blinks while in standby mode, you are telling yourself to stay awake and not relax. This will increase your stress level throughout the night cause you didn’t get the sleep you should have and the next morning, you will start the day filled with tension.

Create Your Idea of Paradise-
In your bedroom, living room; bathroom, etc. wherever you want to feel at ease, surround yourself by the essence of paradise for yourself. If you love walking on the beach during the summer months, why not surround yourself with things that remind you of those long walks? If your idea of heaven is a mountainous terrain or a cabin in the woods, bring in rustic furniture or paintings of trees and mountains, gentle streams, etc.

Pets Help with Relaxing-
Incorporating a fish tank into your home will also serve to create a stress-free area. You will enjoy sitting back watching your fish swim around their tank and it will calm you. If space allows, other pets can relax you as well. Everyone loves to come home to a welcoming committee and your beloved dog or cat can do as much for you as your spouse and children
A Corner for Yourself-
Create a corner or a special area inside your home for you to go to when you need a moment to unwind. This can be in the bedroom or a spot in the living room. Tell your kids that when you are in this area that you are taking time to relax and ask them to not bother you while you are there.

Natural Lighting Sooths the Soul-
Eliminate the dark window blinds and curtains in your home, even in the bedroom. You will feel more at ease and peaceful waking up to natural light coming in the windows. You will also be more willing to wake up when the alarm clock starts buzzing because your body will see the morning light and take it as a clue to get the day going.

When considering all the tips for decorating stress-free home, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Nothing has to cost you a fortune and there is nothing you shouldn’t do while creating your haven as long as you feel relaxed when you’re surrounded by it.

Author Bio- This post has been written by Tresssy Jones. She loves to write about Home Improvement. She is evangelist at Atlanta Ductless Air Conditioning. They provide best heating and air conditioning services.

Triple your Amount of Real Estate Deals

First order of business, is to gain leads and market your brand, and be able to negotiate with sellers to get deals done.

Your Attitude
What is your purpose in this business? It is to help others, teach others and educate other. Many people need a real estate agent because they do not understand the market themselves, you are there to open the doors for them to this new world. Understand what you want and what the seller wants . A simple question you can ask the seller is, "What would like to see happen?" By knowing exactly what their expectations are you know exactly what your goal is and how to reach it.

Build Rapport with the Sellers
Rapport- Noun

A close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well. Basically build a connection with the sellers, it is not all business, these families are trying to sell a home which can be very emotional for them. If they feel a connection, their more likely to pick you if there are multiple offers on the table. Find things you have in common with the sellers, look at their house; compliment them on what you love about the home. Establishing a level of trust will help you accomplish your goals, and also make your reputation for yourself a good one. Take classes and educate yourself on becoming a better negotiator, the keys to negotiating is Sympathy, Empathy, and Compassion. The Dirty Word...Real Estate Investor This tip Rubels says is to never use the word "investor" when negotiating with the seller. He believes Investors have been badly portrayed by the media, as people who steal, and take advantage of people in financial troubles. Although this is not true, you are trying to connect with your seller, and by saying your an Investing company, screams to the seller that you want to tare there house apart and sell it for more than they purchased it for fast.  Rubels suggests instead of investor, try using provider of housing solutions or try to come up with something more friendly. Their House is their prized possessionPeople become emotionally attached to their homes, this is where their kids were born and grew up. This is their first home they bought together when they were young. So don't disrespect their home by saying it is ugly, try saying "ready to renovate" or "ready for your new touches" rather than "old" or "worn-down". Great negotiation skills will make the difference. Our biggest advice is to educate your selves, you should never stop reading up on things or going to classes and attending seminars it will only benefit you & your business. Just this week our team went to Las Vegas to attend the Luxury Homes Retreat, the more we continue to educate ourselves the better we can perform & deliver. Read more on this topic: http://www.creonline.com/blog/how-to-triple-the-number-of-real-estate-deals/#ixzz2QfNtEzje

Do You Know What A CLUE Report Is?

CLUE is short for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange - it is an insurance industry database. Your CLUE report is an insurance report that keeps your homeowners insurance claims active for seven years. So why should you care and what does this mean for you? Well, the entries on this report could cost you big on your insurance premiums or prevent you from getting coverage altogether. Because almost all insurance companies use CLUE to check the claims of their prospective policy holders.

Insurance companies use the CLUE reports because statistics show that people who have filed a claim in the past are more likely to file one in the future. However, the amount of the claim is not as important as the number of times you have filed. Therefore, some insurance companies offer a discount if you have not filed a claim within the past five years.

Just because you have a clean CLUE report does not mean that you are guaranteed lower insurance premiums. Because many insurance companies also look at your credit score as a risk factor. How much debt you have and if you pay your bills on time. Their studies show that people who can effectively manage their finances are a better risk than those who do not. Of course, there are other factors as well, such as location and the type of construction of your home.

By Federal Law you are entitled to one free CLUE report each year. You can get your CLUE report here: personalreports.lexisnexis.com or you are also able to obtain one by phone or by mail as well.

These are the details that will be included on your CLUE report:

• Your name, home address, your DOB, and social security number
• The number assigned to your report
• The name of your insurance company
• The type of insurance policy you have and the number
• The type of losses you have reported and a claim number for each
• The date of each loss you have reported and the dollar amount of those claims
• The status of all your claims
• Instructions about how to dispute any errors

Needless to say, you should spend some time once each year to obtain and review your CLUE report. Because any errors could be costing you money. So don't neglect doing this.

Real Estate Update

Many companies and economy analyzers are making predictions of what will be happening in the future of the Real Estate Market.
Home prices are expected to rise 3.3% annually through 2017.

The housing recovery is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 0.6 percent through the third quarter of this year, then gain momentum and prices are projected to grow 3.7 percent between the third quarters of 2013 and 2014 until settling down to 3.3 percent annual increases over the next three years according to Fiserv, a financial services technology provider using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
“Although some recent real estate activity has been speculative, it seems as if buyers have more realistic expectations about housing market returns after having lived through the largest housing market crash in U.S. history,” says David Stiff, chief economist, Fiserv.
Fiserv Case-Shiller predicts that by the end of 2013 home prices, will rise dramatically everywhere in the U.S.

This past year for Keller Williams has been the best yet. We are #1.