Finance Tips

I am sitting at my computer right now in a hotel room staring out at one of the biggest shopping mall parking lots I have ever seen with “Macy’s” in lights. Sounds a bit like the Vegas version of Macy’s, I know. But, what Vegas doesn’t have, is the ocean and palm trees on the other side of the parking lot in plain view of my hotel room balcony. Because of this, I am willing to overlook the mall parking lot.

You guessed it; I am in Hawaii, having just spoken at the 1st annual Hawaii Real Estate Convention. Before I came here, I did some research on the market since I never like to show up unprepared and every single market has its own special needs and trends. I feel as though it is also my job, to show up informed and am surprised when others don’t.

When I looked at the market here, I found that the main island (most of the statistics are on Maui and Oahu) was down in sales from last month to this month by 30.6% and down 10.2% for the year. They still experienced mild appreciation of 1-2%, but that is mild compared to the 85% appreciation they have had over the last 5 years. Yep, you read that right, 85% appreciation!!! Continue reading ‘Home Staging The Schaefer Synopsis’ »

Last month I gave you multiple tips on getting your own properties spotless clean as well as those of your clients. We get used to living in our own filth or we just don’t look at it as a priority. Regardless of which it is for you or your clients, everyone will notice a dirty house as much as they notice a clean house, no matter their personal standards.

So, this month, as promised, I will finish up the “clean tips.” Obviously, I could go on and on in regards to cleaning tips, I am after all, my father’s daughter. The man that ran service stations his whole life that were cleaner than palaces where your baby could crawl on the floor of the garage! But, in the interest of being able to discuss other helpful tips next month, let’s wrap up the cleaning tips this month.

I want to discuss floors in this issue. So let’s start with the look, feel, condition and cleanliness of your carpet. Continue reading ‘Home Staging Tips Cleaning Your Floor’ »