“Exterior Home Staging for instant Curb Appeal!”
by
Garden Diva
Trying to sell your home or merely updating your exisitng home? Do you want to add to the beauty and enjoyment of your home for many years to come? The let’s look at the steps to a successful “Exterior Home Staging.”
With the recent bust of the real estate market, there is much talk about what actually sells a home. If you look at any real estate magazine, you may come across a listing titled “Not a Drive By.” Why would the agent add that? Because they know that the exterior, or curb appeal, of any home can make or break the sale! For that matter, the “drive by” may be the real estate agent’s most valuable tool: If they love the way the house looks form the street, they may want to see more. If they see more- THEY MAY BUY! Just like the retailer that can only make a sale if the customer walks in the store’s front door; the home seller can only make a sale if the buyer comes in that home!
I have been in the “Exterior Home Staging” business (i.e. Landscape Architecture) for over 24 years and have personally sold 3 homes myself within one week (each) by applying these techniques both inside and outside my homes when they were in the market.
Let’s look at the steps: But before, I have one preliminary step. Get a pen and paper and walk out your front door. Walk across the street, turn around and face your house. Now look, I mean really look, at your home. This needs to be an honest assessment, because this is what a potential buyer sees. Now under each category, write the following down:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_crPTS2eIHI[/youtube]
1. Accentuate the Positive: What jumps out at you when you first look at your house? Do you have a GREAT front door? Beautiful blooming Azaleas along the front foundation? Add these to your “positive” list. Be honest, if what you see does NOT fall in this category, skip to #2.
2. Eliminate the Negative: Just as before, you need to list EVERYTHING that you see that could have a negative affect on a potential buyer. Do you have an army of kids’ toys in the front yard? Did the dog just dig up your remaining small patch of grass? Do large overgrown shrubs hide your beautiful house? Did your once pretty front bench collapse and is still there in a heap? Is the front porch colorless and unappealing? Add all of these things to your “negative” list.
3. Take Inventory; Remove, Re-Use and Recycle: Now, assess what you have on hand that could potentially aid you in your home staging. Go through the attic, the basement and call family members to go through theirs. Do you have a series of colorful, but dusty, pots in the garage waiting to be planted? Dust them off. Does your sister have a great bench you could borrow for a while? Give her a call. Does your neighbor’s son owe you some yard work? Add all of these to your list. Anything you can add to this category will make your home staging more cost effective.
4. De-Clutter, then De-clutter some more! This step is probably the most difficult for most homeowners. You need to remove anything that gets in the way of a favorable first impression for your potential buyer. First, you may LOVE the bright orange metal yard art that Aunt Betty gave you, but will that appeal to everyone? Do bigwheels and jump ropes continually litter the front porch? Do you need to remove the overgrown hedge planted by your mother?
You will need to remove clutter and either put those items in storage, or in a rented storage facility until after the sale. Some items may need to be hauled away. De-cluttering makes the area appear neater and more spacious- just what you want a potential buyer to see! You also dont want anything to distract your buyer from seeing the items from category #1- the positive attributes of your home!
5. Add Structure: We are finally to the fun part! Now we can add those items that will really make your home POP and stand out from the sea of other homes for sale. Purchase new shrubs and add them to the front foundation. Add a blooming Camellia at the corner for some height. A quick design by a local Landscape Architect (I admit I am biased!) would be a great help! They would be happy to assist you! Have a local landscape contractor install the shrubs or install them yourself for additional savings!
6. Accessorize: This is the “jewelry” for your home, the final touches! Purchase an outdoor table and chairs for the fornt porch. Add a colorful wreath on the front door to welcome your potential buyers. Plant some perennials near the mailbox and front sidewalk.
Use these steps and your home will look the way you, or any potential buyer, has always dreamed!
Lori Hawkins is the principal at Hawkins Landscape Architecture wwwHawkinsLA.com
Lori Hawkins is the principal at Hawkins Landscape Architecture, PLLC. A full service Landscape Architectural firm, specializing in residential and commercial landscape design. WWW.HawkinsLA.com
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Wikinews Shorts: March 7, 2007
June 7th, 2021 | Uncategorized |
A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, March 7, 2007.
The European Union has banned the 35 planes in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 45 aircraft fleet from flying in EU airspace. The reason provided by EU was that these plans do not fulfill the safety requirement for international planes and thus were banned. PIA has redeployed its Boeing 777 jets from US to EU flights to facilitate passengers in Europe. Flights PK 782 and PK 790 are still running on time from Toronto in Canada.
Sources
- “EU bans old PIA planes” — Gulf Daily News, March 6, 2007
- “EU imposes ban on all but seven PIA planes” — Pakistan Dawn, March 6, 2007
The Oklahoma Senate approved a bill introduced by lawmaker Patrick Anderson of Enid that enables police to seize vehicles when drivers fail to produce proof of insurance. The bill was tacked onto a measure to prohibit inserting microchips into people without their permission. 91,000 drivers have been ticketed for lack of insurance in Oklahoma to date.
Sources
- RON JENKINS, Associated Press. “Senators approve bill to allow vehicles to be seized” — Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise, March 6, 2007
- Associated Press. “Senators approve bill to allow vehicles to be seized” — FOX23, March 6, 2007
The New Orleans Saints have released All-Pro wide receiver Joe Horn because of money issues. The Saints hope to draft LSU (Louisiana State University) wide receiver DeWayne Bowe in the NFL Draft to fill Horn’s place.
Sources
- BRETT MARTE,LCanadian Press. “New Orleans Saints release four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn” — CBC News, March 1, 2007
- “Saints release Horn from his contract” — The News-Star, March 1, 2007
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Dog falls on car and kills driver in Michigan
June 6th, 2021 | Uncategorized |
Thursday, January 19, 2006
A dog fell off an Interstate 96 overpass in Livonia, Michigan killing 81 year-old Charles G. Jetchick.
Jetchick and a passenger, who police would not identify, were transported to St. Mary’s Hospital where Jetchick died from his injuries. The passenger suffered only minor injuries.
Police say that the 60 to 70 pound (27-32 kilograms) dog was not thrown off the overpass, but “probably fell by accident while trying to avoid a car,” Sgt. Michael A. Shaw of the Michigan State Police said. “We don’t know and thats why we are looking for witnesses.”
The dog, which fell about 16 feet (5 metres) also died due to its injuries.
Shaw has been with the State Police for 11 years and has never encountered a similar incident. “We’ve had rocks and other stuff like that fall off of overpasses. This would be the first dog we’ve had,” said Shaw.
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Friday, February 3, 2006
British television station Channel 4 News and newspaper The Guardian have reported that they have obtained a secret transcript of a meeting between United States President George W. Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair on January 31, 2003, two months before the beginning of the Iraq war. The memo has been viewed by Phillipe Sands, a professor of international law at University College London, and by Channel 4 news. Last year, Professor Sands reported on doubts about the legality of the invasion in Iraq voiced by government lawyers, which eventually forced the British government to publish the full legal advice given to them by the attorney general.
According to the two sources, the transcript suggests that the invasion of Iraq was already decided at the point of the meeting, and that Bush had stated that “the diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning”. Blair is reportedly quoted as responding that he is “solidly with the president and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam”.
The memo from the sources also states that Bush suggested “flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours”, so that “if Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]”.
According to the memo, President Bush said he “thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups”.
The British government did not deny the existence of the memo last night, but insisted that “the prime minister only committed UK forces to Iraq after securing the approval of the House of Commons in a vote on March 18, 2003.” It added that they “do not comment on the prime minister’s conversations with other leaders.”
The BBC reported that Chief spokesman for the National Security Council Frederick Jones said that “the White House would not comment on what was said or not said in alleged private conversations between Mr Bush and foreign leaders,” and added that the White House “was not going to re-litigate how the nation went to war”.
The purported document has not been confirmed as authentic by either government so far.
By Robbie T. James
You may have felt that trying to get approved for a car loan has been a frustrating experience. Applying to one auto financing lender and getting rejected due to a poor credit score is one thing, but getting rejected again and again is just no fun. And, it gets you not one bit closer to getting that car you need.
Sometimes, you may feel just like giving up altogether and trying something else. Maybe you should go live on the top of a mountain in the Himalayas where cars aren’t needed. Or, you could become one of those marathon runners who runs 100 miles in a day. Or, how about just to taking the bus or your bicycle everywhere you need to go? But, when these crazy and impractical fantasies leave your head, you are left with the hard reality that you basically have no choice but to find a way to qualify for auto financing. Back to square one.
Fortunately, for people with a credit score rated as “poor” (under 600) by most lenders, there is the little-discussed world of bad credit auto financing. In fact, these financing companies are in the business of extending car loans to people in just your situation.
If you are looking for auto loan financing for a credit score of 600 or lower, here are 5 tips for getting approved more quickly:
1. You need to become familiar with the world of bad credit financing:
About 90% of car financing companies are happy to make loans to people with fair, good, or excellent credit scores. However, about 5% of them will ALSO loan to bad credit individuals – and the remaining 5% specialize in ONLY loaning to people in this credit bracket. The important thing is to learn how to find this last group.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNe3TYRmzw[/youtube]
2. Understand what bad credit auto financing lenders look for – beyond your credit score:
These specialty lenders have made it their business to learn ways to evaluate the credit-worthiness of individuals with low FICO scores in ways other than using the score itself. For example, some of those ways are to:
* look at certain details within the credit report
* consider your current income, employment and/or residential status
* look at past employment and residential information
* ask for references
3. Scrub your credit report squeaky clean (as much as possible):
Before you start applying to these lenders, you will want to review your current credit report(s) and look for any errors or misunderstandings which, if removed, could result in your having a much better score in a month or less.
4. Build yourself a list of candidate bad credit auto financing lenders:
Now, it is time to improve your own odds of getting approved for the best-possible auto loan financing rate. To do this, conduct some online research and make a list of at least 4-5 bad credit auto financing lenders. They advertise their specialty, so they will be easy to find. Of course, as with any industry, not all of them are reputable, so really check out their websites before adding them to your list.
5. Become a savvy negotiator if you want to get the lowest-possible interest rate:
As you apply to each lender, make sure to reject the initial offer you get. This will be hard to do and you will resist it, but make no mistake: doing so will increase your odds of them coming back with an even better offer.
Follow these 5 tips as your line yourself up with the best auto financing for someone with a credit score of 600 or lower.
About the Author: Get a list of bad credit auto loan lenders near you at:
Auto Financing with Poor Credit
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Saturday, November 26, 2005
Canadian community art group Visual Arts Brampton is looking for entries for its international entry mail art exhibit “Control”.
The exhibit’s entry information discusses the theme of the show: “Are you a control-freak, or more happy-go-lucky? What do you think of corporations’ control on the media and governments? Is your life quickly spinning out of control? Always hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del?”
The exhibition dates have yet to be scheduled, but the show will run in early 2006 at either the Fridge Front Gallery or upcoming World Art Gallery in Shoppers World Brampton, a mall in suburban Toronto.
While it prefers 4 x 6 inch artworks, VAB asks that entries are no larger than 6 x 6 inches. VAB’s address is “Snail Mail Central / 1 Bartley Bull Parkway, Suite 10 / Brampton ON / L6W 3T7”. Entries must be received by January 31, 2006.
This show will help Visual Arts Brampton to continue to build up a reputation in the mail art world. The non-profit community art group is in the process of opening up the World Art Gallery, which will be the first permanent display space to solely exhibit mail art. Over the past few years, the club has organized three general no theme exhibits, and “SAT: An Exhibit of Chairs”, which is running currently.
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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
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Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
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Thursday, June 28, 2007
| This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. |
Wikinews has learned through an investigation that anonymous edits on the Wikipedia article Chris Benoit were added about the death of his wife Nancy Benoit 14 hours before police entered the Benoit home to find the former professional World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Canadian wrestler and his family dead.
An anonymous edit from IP address 69.120.111.23 using the Internet service provider Optimum Online was made at 04:01 UTC on Chris Benoit’s Wikipedia article. On a paragraph about an earlier fight: “However, Chris Benoit was replaced… due to personal issues,…”, the anonymous editor added ” stemming from the death of his wife Nancy.” The edit was reversed just under one hour later with the comment: “Need a reliable source. Saying that his wife died is a pretty big statement, you need to back it up with something.”
Then just one hour later after the first edit reversion, another anonymous edit by 125.63.148.173 using unwiredAustralia.com.au, a wireless Internet service provider, was made adding about the aforementioned personal issues: “which according to several pro wrestling websites is attributed to the passing of Benoit’s wife, Nancy.” That edit was reverted just under 20 minutes later, with the comment: “Saying ‘several pro wrestling websites’ is still not reliable information.”
Further investigation shows that the IP address used to make the first edit is located in Connecticut, but the IP address is not linked to any computers or servers used by the WWE, but according to Cary Bass, Volunteer Coordinator for the Wikimedia Foundation, the IP address matches a location in Stamford, Connecticut where the WWE headquarters is located. Bass also informed the local authorities in Atlanta about the unusual edits, but it is not known if the edits were investigated by the police. The second edit was made by a computer in Australia from a wireless network.
“It didn’t become apparent until someone put the pieces together and realized that the comment was made by someone who apparently knew about the murders,” added Bass.
Fayette County Sheriff deputy Lt. Tommy Pope stated that police found the family at about 2:30 p.m. ET, which is 18:30 UTC, on Monday when the WWE called police and asked them to do a “welfare check” after employees of WWE received calls and text messages from Chris Benoit. Early Sunday, Benoit sent repeated text messages that read “My physical address is 130 Green Meadow Lane, Fayetteville Georgia. 30215.” Another text message reportedly said “The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open.” The messages were sent around 4:00 a.m. ET.
Earlier, on Saturday afternoon, Chris Benoit placed a series of calls that explained why he missed his flight to Houston. The stories he told were mostly about his wife and son being sick with food poisoning and vomiting. Although, in one call he said that he and Nancy were at the hospital to be with Daniel who was hospitalized. Throughout he insisted that he would attend that live event in Houston.
When he missed the live event on Sunday, and the WWE couldn’t get hold of him, they contacted authorities. Police say that Benoit strangled his wife on Friday, smothered his son on late Friday or early Saturday, and then hanged himself inside his weight room on Sunday or Monday.
The Wikinews investigation is unable to conclude whether the anonymous editors had inside information about the death of Nancy Benoit.
This is not the first time Benoit’s article has been edited to show false or unsourced information, as the article’s edit history indicates a long history of promotional spam and vandalism. Around the time of the edits, the article contained a hidden warning to editors of the section mentioned, warning against adding rumours and speculations. For the time being, Benoit’s article has been protected in an attempt to stop the addition of fraudulent information.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The 1,200-ton MV Rachel Corrie, an Irish aid ship, was seized by the Israeli Naval Forces, as it attempted to challenge the blockade of Gaza. It was seized in international waters, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Gaza’s shore.
The military said its forces boarded ship from the sea, not helicopters and didn’t meet any resistance. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said: “No contact has yet been made with the kidnapped passengers but we have learned that they have been taken to Holon detention centre where they could be deported as early as tonight.”
Passengers include Irishman Dennis Halliday, a former assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Northern Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, and a group of Irish and Malaysian pro-Palestinian activists.
The ship, named in honor of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, contains support including: toys, school supplies, wheelchairs, medical equipment and cement, a material that Israel has restricted from entry into Gaza. The crew had rejected an offer to unload its cargo in Israel and accompany it across the border.
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign initially organised the ship. Jenny Graham, a Free Gaza Movement (FGM) activist, assured that everything aboard the ship had been inspected in Ireland. A FGM activist Greta Berlin, based in Cyprus, said: “We are an initiative to break Israel’s blockade of 1.5 million people in Gaza. Our mission has not changed and this is not going to be the last flotilla.”
This comes after the death of nine activists when Israeli commandos raided the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ that planned to breach the Gaza blockade.
Submitted by: Sheila Challiner
Critical Illness Cover (CIC) pays you the lump sum insured, which is tax-free, if you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness which renders you incapable of working.
People are living longer with conditions which might have been a death sentence a decade ago, thanks to advances in medicine and treatment.
Insurers are finding that while life assurance claims are dropping, they are having to honour more and more claims on CIC policies. The result of this is that the cost of CIC is becoming a lot more expensive than life cover. If the number of CIC claims fall then inevitably the cost of premiums will fall too.
The cost of Swiss Life and Legal & General s CIC has risen by around 20 and 25 per cent respectively. But the likes of Norwich Union and Scottish Equitable far outstrip them in the price rise race with increases of up to 60 per cent. Other providers are looking to charge more for CIC as well as the market speculates over the definition of life-threatening illness and medical science makes giant strides in the management and control of certain conditions.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH7KZD5vGBY[/youtube]
The Association of British Insurers has looked at cover for prostate cancer and heart problems, for example. If these illnesses are discovered early on they are no longer deemed to be life-threatening , at least for some sufferers. Another example is diabetes. Currently BUPA is the only insurance provider which still allows this condition on its list of critical illnesses covered.
Kevin Carr at broker LifeSearch explains, “Although this type of insurance was originally known as ‘dread disease’, many of the conditions currently covered by critical illness policies are becoming quicker and easier to detect and treat. Hence insurers have recently found themselves paying out on claims where the condition was not life threatening, which isn’t the purpose of the policy.”
A CIC policy usually runs for an agreed term, for example tied in with the length of time on a mortgage, and there is no change in the premiums. The premiums are expensive for this cover. Insurers are now looking to offer reviewable policies where both the illnesses covered and the premiums paid are revisited every five years, which should cost a good bit less.
Rye Mills, group director of the independent financial adviser division of Liverpool Victoria, reckons that more people will choose the reviewable policies as they become considerably cheaper than the guaranteed cover.
As he says, “At the end of the day there’s a price to be paid for the peace of mind a guaranteed policy gives.”
Legal & General still offers a guaranteed CIC but has put its premiums up for that. It has launched a reviewable policy as an alternative. Scottish Widows and Skandia no longer provide guaranteed CICs.
Ronnie Martin, protection director at Legal & General, explains, “The reviewable price will be typically [around] 15 per cent lower than the guaranteed cover.”
An existing guaranteed CIC policy cannot be altered to redefine any illnesses which are currently classed as life-threatening but which may not be in that category in the future. So if you have one of these already and are happy to pay the premiums you don t have to worry.
If you are planning to take out a CIC policy expect to pay less for a reviewable policy. But if you want the extra peace of mind a guaranteed policy offers, get it quickly while there are still some around, and remember you ll have to pay the extra price.
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Friday, September 26, 2008
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party candidate Michael McMahon is standing for election in the riding of Prince Edward—Hastings. McMahon moved to Windsor in 1951, getting a degree in education, teaching locally and in Papua New Guinea. He served as Branch President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), served on multiple of their major committees, and recently retired from the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board.
Wikinews contacted Michael McMahon, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.
Since being redefined in 2003, the riding includes the County of Prince Edward and the County of Hastings (except the City of Quinte West). Conservative Party member Daryl Kramp currently represents the riding, after beating a Liberal in 2004. Ken Cole of the Liberals and Alan Coxwell of the Greens are also running in the riding.
For more information, visit the campaign’s official website, listed below.