Before you decide what to ask for your home, you should check out zillow.com and find out what homes in your neighborhood are selling for! Not only can you find out what homes on your street and in your neighborhood are being sold for, you can check the average home price in your zip code, as well as neighboring areas!

The right asking price, coupled with a properly staged home and a Realtor, can be the difference between selling next week and selling next year. Keep that in mind when determining your asking price.

Are you getting a tax rebate (not a refund) from the IRS this year? If you are, I’m sure you’ve got hundreds of ideas of what to spend it on.

Don’t.

If you have credit card debt, you’re paying an arm and a leg in interest by not paying it off. If you pay 19% in interest and you’re only making minimum payments on $600 of debt, you’ll pay over $250 in interest by the time you pay it off! That’s 42%! Using your rebate to pay off that debt is like investing in the stock market and seeing an instant 42% return! That’s unheard of!

No credit card debt? Bravo! Give yourself a hand. Pat yourself on the back. Fund your retirement!

If you don’t have a retirement account, open one! IRA accounts offer an immediate tax break, on top of being a wonderful use for an extra few hundred dollars!

Either way, IRS tax rebates are money best spent on your future!

How often do you hear people talk about how much you can lower your impact on the environment by spending a ton of money on some major home improvement or new appliances? They tell you how much it’ll lower your energy bills, as well; which is great, except that it can take up to 10 years just to break even. So, you ignore them and get on with your life, right? What if you didn’t have to wait quite so long to start seeing the financial, as well as environmental, impact of living greener?

From meters that tell you how much energy you’re currently using, to automatic composters that turn your leftovers into fertilizer, going green doesn’t have to cost a lot. In fact, there are many inexpensive ways to reduce your environmental impact, while holding on to more of your hard-earned income!

Take a look at this insightful and informative article at dvice.com, titled 7 Household Upgrades that Prove Going Green Isn’t so Hard (or Pricey).

We rediscovered these recipes in Country Home Magazine. You can get a green clean by using items that you already have minus the harsh chemicals and toxins.

Olive Oil and Lemon Juice - mix equal parts in a jar and shake. Apply to wood and polish with a clean cloth.

Lemon and Baking Soda - Dip the lemon in the baking soda or salt to clean stone, marble, ceramic tile, and vinyl floors.

Salt - For carpet stains, cover the entire spot with a thick layer of salt. Let the stain soak into the salt and vacuum it up.

Saddle Soap - Okay maybe you don’t already have this one, but it is green. Dab a small amount onto leather furniture and work it in with a dry cloth to remove scuffs.

Lemon Peel and Cheesecloth - Put a lemon peel in the cheesecloth and tie it securely. Put it in your washing machine with a load for whiter whites.

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

How many batteries do you use around the house each day? How many do you replace each week? Each month? Each year?

Sure, you’ve tried rechargeable batteries. Nickel-Cadmium batteries lose their capacity quickly and release extremely harmful chemicals into the environment if not disposed of properly. They also don’t hold a charge for long, even if not used. Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries maintain their capacity longer than Ni-Cd, but suffer from the same loss of charge even when not in use. They are more recyclable the Ni-Cd batteries, as well, however, they don’t last for as many charge cycles as a properly maintained Ni-Cd.

I’m almost afraid to mention Lithium-Ion battery chemistries, along with Lithium-Polymer, for the sheer destructive force they can demonstrate if they fail or are mistreated. Sure, they solve the issue of capacity, when compared to Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh, they can hold most of their charge for months on end and they can be charged more quickly than other batteries. Somehow the thought of a miniature bomb in my pocket isn’t so appealing to me.

GE and Sanyo have come together to create a solution to at least some of these problems. this solution is Sanyo Enerloop, a Ni-Mh based battery chemistry which can be charged over 1000 times and holds 85% of its charge for up to two years on the shelf! They also last longer than alkaline batteries on a single charge! That means a single set of Sanyo Enerloop batteries will last longer than 1000 sets of alkaline batteries! This is great news for the envorinment, not to mention your wallet!
Sanyo Enerloop batteries can be found at Ritz Camera stores, hh-Gregg, Fry’s Electronics, J&R Music World and Computer World and at American Furniture, Electronics and Appliances. Alternatively, if you’d rather start saving money and the environment right now, you may purchase Sanyo Enerloop batteries online, via Amazon!

When’s that meeting today? What time do you need to pick up the kids? And from where? What’s the number for the restaurant you need to make reservations at tonight?

All of this information’s in your personal organizer, right? And where is your personal organizer? At home, on the desk, because it’s too big to carry with you everywhere you go?

Face it, we’ve all been there. It’s ok. You don’t need to have every single bit of information with you all the time; that’s why it’s sitting on your desk. But, how do you carry the information you do need?

PocketMod, the fast, free, fun, disposable recyclable* personal organizer!

PocketMod is a free web application, which uses Adobe Flash and your printer to create a customized, pocket-sized personal organizer, suited precisely to your needs. Need the phone numbers of the clients you have to call today? Done. Need the address of your next interview? Got it. Absolutely must have yesterday’s meeting notes? Check. Space to write? No problem. Pictures of your family? Okay, not quite. That’s what you have a wallet for.

Did I mention, PocketMod can fit in your wallet, right next to those pictures.

*Always recycle!

Those of you who have been reading My Staged Life over the last week have surely learned many valuable tips. Those of you who are just tuning in, please rewind and take a few minutes to catch up.

Selling a house can be a daunting task and the tiniest mistake can be costly, which is why there are professionals out there to help you. Make use of their services; their fees will be only a portion of the higher sale price of your home. This, coupled with a much quicker market-to-sale time, should make the decision to hire an accredited real-estate stager, along with a reputable, licensed realtor, an easy one.

One last detail before you invite your first prospective buyer into your home. You just painted − and you can tell by the smell. Place a couple cinnamon sticks and a few whole cloves in a pie tin with two cups of water. Put this in the oven at 250F for a couple hours before your home’s next owner arrives; this creates a warm, inviting environment for your audience. Be sure to turn the oven off, allowing time for it to cool before showing the house − don’t leave the pie tin in the oven. Once it cools, cover it and put it in the fridge, you might need it again if this buyer thinks your house is just too perfect.

Previously, on ‘My Staged Life’…

Nobody will give your house a first look, let alone a second, if they don’t like what they see when they drive by − they’ll just keep driving. Most foreclosures don’t have to worry about this, they’re selling cheap enough that prospective buyers will have plenty of money left over for a quick, professional cleanup, a coat of paint, professional landscaping and a good decorator.

You on the other hand, aren’t selling your home for such a considerably low price. You have to make your house stand out in the best way
possible. You have to make your house stand out, even from the other houses on your street; even from houses that aren’t even on the market!

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is to hire a real-estate staging professional. You’ve cleaned, you’ve uncluttered, you’ve painted, you’ve repaired, you’ve replaced, you’ve hired a realtor, you know what your home is worth in the market. All that’s left is the details. That’s what a stager does. A stager will come into your home and evaluate the space and decor. They will use this evaluation, along with their expertise, to make your home look the best it can look, drawing attention to everything good, while minimizing any flaws. Hiring an accredited stager can be the difference between a buyer feeling at home and a buyer fleeing for home.

Finale - Make the Market Work for You 

Previously, on ‘My Staged Life’…

Nobody will give your house a first look, let alone a second, if they don’t like what they see when they drive by − they’ll just keep driving. Most foreclosures don’t have to worry about this, they’re selling cheap enough that prospective buyers will have plenty of money left over for a quick, professional cleanup, a coat of paint, professional landscaping and a good decorator.

You on the other hand, aren’t selling your home for such a considerably low price. You have to make your house stand out in the best way
possible. You have to make your house stand out, even from the other houses on your street; even from houses that aren’t even on the market!

Have your home appraised − after you’ve finished any cleanup or repairs, of course. Having a professional come out and tell you what your home is worth is the best way to decide what your asking price should be. It also helps ensure that your buyer won’t run into financing difficulties. You can bet their lender will send out their own appraiser and they won’t lend your buyer more than the house is worth. Knowing this information at the start can mean less time negotiating, as well as a quicker sale. The easier you make it for a buyer to buy, the more likely they’ll be to do so. This is another thing foreclosures don’t have to worry about; they’re selling so cheap they’re almost always worth more than asking price. Providing the best value for your buyer’s money is your competitive edge.

Part Eight - Seek Professional Help - Set the Stage