When listing your house for Sale you need to think like a Buyer. The first thing buyers do is drive up and look at the exterior-front of the house. Follow these three simple and inexpensive guidelines to improve the look of your house:1- Fix up the front of your home first- then the interior- repair the gate- reattach rain gutters-put away toys or other loose objects in the pathway.2- Focus on the " curb appeal" cleaning up trash and clutter and eliminate bad smells or pet dishes with old food.3- if you have to choose always spend money on what you can SEE. These can make a big difference in the eyes of prospective buyers.As a Realtor and Staging Proffesional when you list your home for Sale you receive a free consultation and how to improve the look of your house to sale it fast. Mark... 02/04/2008

Finding the right real estate agent can be the difference between a happy experience or an unhappy, stressful experience. You NEED an agent  ready and able to make a full-time commitment to you. I can HELP you.  I have an impressive knowledge in Marketing and Internet sales.Follow simple steps to be taken when searching to buy a home:STEP 1: FIND A MORTGAGE COMPANY YOU CAN TRUST.  STEP 2: PULL YOUR CREDIT REPORT AND CORRECT ANY ERRORS.STEP 3: DECIDE HOW MUCH YOU CAN AFFORD.STEP 4: DECIDE WHERE YOU'D LIKE TO LIVESTEP 5: FIND A REAL ESTATE AGENT. STEP 6: FIND THE HOME STEP 7: MAKE AN OFFER. STEP 8: FOLLOW WITH APPRAISAL & INSPECTIONS STEP 9: APPLICATION AND DOCUMENTATION. STEP 10: PROCESSING & UNDERWRITING. STEP 11: CLOSING & FUNDING. Maria Borcimariaborci.comKeyes  RealtorsMiami Fl  01/31/2008

HUD-1 Statement : A document that provides an itemized listing of the funds that are payable at closing. Items that appear on the statement include real estate commissions, loan fees, points, and initial escrow amounts. Each item on the statement is represented by a separate number within a standardized numbering system. The totals at the bottom of the HUD-1 statement define the seller's net proceeds and the buyer's net payment at closing. The blank form for the statement is published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD-1 statement is also known as the "closing statement" or "settlement sheet." 01/30/2008

Kendall area is comprised between SW 40th Street (Bird Road) the Northern boundary SW 152 Street (Coral Reef Drive) the Southern Boundary SW 177 Avenue (Krome Avenue) the Western Boundary South Dixie Highway running angularly as the Eastern Boundary WEST KENDALL: Krome avenue to SW 107th Avenue and Bird Road to Coral Reef Drive EAST KENDALL: 107th Avenue to South Dixie Highway and Bird Road to Coral Reef Drive Single family homes are located within the areas of Continental Park, Dadeland Park, Baptist area, East Kendall, Kendall Grove, Galloway Estates, Killian Creeks Village, just few to mention. Located west of US1 Kendall falls close to Florida's largest Macy*s, and more 185 specialty stores and restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory ( my fav!!) . New Dadeland Downtown holds Chili'... 01/29/2008

 Toscano Condominium -7355 SW 89 Street Unit 628N, Miami, Florida  2 bedroom 2 bath, 1200 sq ft.  Asking $1800 monthly...Prime location close to major freeways, world class shopping and walk to the rail system to University of Miami!  Gorgeous pool and patio area, business center, valet parking and assigned underground parking, security/concierge service, wifi included and much more!!!  Contact listing agent Monica LoMonaco for showing instructions. 01/29/2008

Your purchase agreement has provided for a final look at the home before you close the transaction. Take advantage of this time. Schedule this final walk through at least 24 hours before closing. If any issue surfaces you have time to resolve it before dosing. The following guidelines are to assist you in completing a Walk -through: • Be sure all utilities are operational before your walk through. Turn on all appliances. Be sure they are in good working order, feel free to run the dishwasher through one complete cycle. • Ask the homeowner for all of the operating manuals and warranty information on appliances and items such as burglar alarms, sprinklers and other special equipment . • For safety reasons test the remote garage door openers and all door locks. Be sure the keys and openers... 01/28/2008

Many older shower-heads use three or four gallons per minute of water., while some new ones use as little as 1.6 gallons  per minute.In Miami Dade County, learn ways to conserve one of our most precious resources by checking out the links below:High efficiency- cost saving showerhead exchange program  http://www.miamidade.gov/wasd/Showerhead-Program.aspOrder a water conservation kithttp://www.miamidade.gov/wasd/conserve-kit-form.aspWith faucets, install low-flow aerators that mix air with the water and can significantly reduce water use: a bathroom faucet  may need no more  than half a gallon per minute, compared  with the standard 2.5 gallons per minute.Compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL)  can last up to 10 times longer than the incandescent ones and use a quarter of the energy of standard... 01/24/2008

When you buy a home one of the first things you want to do is to purchase Home Owners Insurance. Home Owners Insurance protects the homeowner from casualty losses or any damage to the home from personal property and from liability damages to other people or property. Homeowner's are required by the lender and can be included in the mortgage payments. A standard policy will include coverage for the structure of the home, it provides structure for your personal belongings, it has liability protection and it allows for additional living expenses in the event you are temporarily unable to live in your house because of fire or flood.If you have a co-op or a condo there are two different policies that you are required to have. You have to have your own insurance policy, it will cover your per... 01/15/2008

Many companies are offering you the Paperless Option not only to save paper but to have a smaller pile of incoming mail every day. Your bank statement and many others can be combined into a single e-mail notification or online statement- Going PAPERLESS is going GREEN.Not only companies can cut down on mail and clutter but you can help save more than many tons of paper per year which is good for them and the environment.Do you know how many trees are used to make a ton of paper?A study made based on a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods trees 40 feet tall and 6-8 inches in diameter, it would take a rough average of 24 trees to produce a ton of printing and writing paper.Here are some numbers and facts regarding quantities of trees used to make paperA pallet of copier paper (20-lb. sheet ... 01/15/2008

Home staging is very important marketing technique for selling homes, either they are furnished or not.There are important things  to remember about empty properties 1-People buy Homes and not House- it's therefore essential to give them the feeling of a Home- which can't exist in  an empty space2-Over 90% of people  can't imagine what a house could look like with furniture in it if they have nothing to compare with their own furnishings to in an empty space. A  room actually looks smaller empty than properly furnished and organized.3-If there nothing to focus in, the negatives and defects will become more apparent to the prospective buyers.4-When a house is empty house  it gives an impression of an urgent need for selling and you can expect to get lower offers than proper ones. What do... 01/11/2008

 Over the next few months, existing-home sales are expected to hold  steady as indicated by the pending sales activity, then rise later in the last part of 2008 and continue to improve in 2009, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.In efforts to curb the increase of foreclosures due to irresponsible lending practices and complicated mortgage products the government is allowing a modification of certain loans and/ or  freezing the interest rates for up to five years.The loan modification program  is a good first step in helping deserving families keep their homes. Forget previous years of RE glory- they are gone and this new year we have to start with a fresh outlook, use our resources and study plans on how we are going to get a good year up to an imp... 01/11/2008

To all my associates, friends, Active Rain members + AR + AR Staff During the Holiday Season more than ever, my thoughts turn gratefully to those Who have made Active Rain possible-- Give us more RAIN-- There is rain for everyone!! ( T M ) yay ! " May the Year 2008 Bring You Happiness, Success and filled with Peace, Hope & Togetherness for your Family & Friends.... fun, excitement, and good fortune --Wishing You Good Things -- HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR -- ! 12/14/2007

I am happy to announce that the kids at Killian Oaks Academy this holiday season  have joined Amigos' for Kids, in helping make the wishes of underprivileged children come true.In taking on this amazing opportunity to give back to the community, the school's student council has decided to organize a Student / Teacher/ Parents Volley ball game. All proceeds of ticket sales will go to the Amigos's for Kids organization.Time of event- Friday December 14th, 2007; at 3.00 PMPlace : Killian Oaks AcademyAdmission: a minimum donation of $ 10 a ticket.Please remember that all proceeds go to Charity, so the more people that come the best it will be for the kids organization. The schools will also be collecting charitable donations throughout the week. Checks can be made to Amigo's for Kids.Thanks... 12/11/2007

The phone viruses are in circulation these days and can attack a smart phone that run and operates the Symbian system. Symbian is a software licensing company that power the most popular and advanced smartphones in today's wireless industry.Think of your phone in the same terms as your PC. If your mobile has internet on it and browse the web can open attachements and sync with your outlook on and on. This could be on the  rise since today more users switch to PDA's and smartphones.The first cell phone virus Cabir was discovered in the late part of 2004. The number of viruses is still small in relationship to the number that attack computers. The virus get into your mobile when you open an unknown email attachement  with files. Downloading free wallpaper, games or ringtones expose your p... 12/07/2007

 Kendall is a suburban area situated in the Miami Dade County of Florida and is politically unincorporated. It has been distinguished as a census designated place by the United States Census Bureau. As is common to all census designated places or CDPs, Kendall also lacks a separate municipal Government but is apparently nothing dissimilar to incorporated places. This particular community was named after an executive of the British Land Company by the name of Major Kendall. Its location is at 25°40′0″N, 80°21′24″W and it has an approximate area of around 16 mi sq. This CDP had a population of more than 75,000 seven years back and is steadily growing. About four languages are spoken in the area of which Spanish is the most spoken followed by English, Portuguese, French and French Creole. ... 12/07/2007

Buyer market has his challenges, and most of us are listing more and more houses nowadays. Agents who stay and survive the market will succeed and are more prompted to succeed in the years to come.It is important to use all the tools available tru the Internet because today more buyers are using it to find properties.Usepostlets.comto advertise your lisitngs.It's FREE and has beutiful and elegant templates. I posted a rent and a client come up to tru the craiglist.comWrite a plan for 2008- this will identify what to do in order to produce more. A wrote my list plan and the tool gave me an estimate of calls-contacts-presentations-and sold properties . This is good enough to remind yourself everyday how many times you need to prospect- I know  my day of prospecting start very early in my ... 12/05/2007

Is AR  a matter of competition between agents.. What do you think? You post a profile, you update it with more description, you post on a daily basis, you don't copy or cheat on others........and all for what? For points, for positioning, for self challenge, to fight, battle, hunter??? What for?? I believe that in the race to gain acceptance, respect and power we are making ourselves more vulnerable to the others. Look this i.e. I was criticized twice for looking young in my personal picture...looking young does not necessarily mean not experienced - being young means only looking young. Being young or  adult or mature do mean still you CAN do business and work and be an honorable-respected professional. In the race of placing ourselves in a good position we find agents trying to cheat,... 12/03/2007

Some of us found the way to learn more by paying extra and taking different classes and passing exams to earn additional designations-certification.  For example GRI graduates- they need a lot of time, money and constance to pass and finish the graduation requirements required by the NAR ( 90 hours -more or less) they deserve all my respect. The Realtor  (TM) license is based on a training and study of Florida laws, etc, and, not everybody is willing to give more of his/her time and invest in certifications. The most important thing is to be educated and earn these designations provided by them - not to earn extra money- provided in our benefit which ends being our clients benefit.I was happy to find my extra time, yes I did - between the work with clients-the work as a singlemom-doing ... 12/03/2007

   Everyone should check what is on their credit reports ( 3 companies) annually, and by Law you can now do that for free.   Get FREE Credit Report- annualcreditreport.com- is free, but requires credit card information for verification, or call 877-322-8228 for phone order without credit card.   If you find wrong information on your credit reports ( 3 ), be sure to follow through and dispute that wrong reporting through the reporting company's dispute process to clean up your credit.   11/14/2007

 I just got the information on the Nehemiah program. Please, go to getdownpayment.com, and find out about how the Sellers can help Buyers in today's  competitive market and how they can  buy and finance a house on a 100% program.Enroll your Seller in the program only paying $ 399.00 if transaction closes on a propective buyer tru the NLS- or the Nehemiah Listing Service.More options to Sellers and new homeowners.The page gives information in Spanish and English. Good Luck!!! http://www.getdownpayment.com/agents/   11/07/2007