Wow, the weather has been amazing .Cape Coral and Fort Myers real estate has heated up. It doesn’t hurt that for all our winter guests there has been fabulous sunny skies to go to the beach, boating, fishing and Red Sox or Twins spring training games. The new stadium for the Red Sox is wonderful and sold out for every game. The flowers on the trees are spectacular. The birds are singing.

We took extensive licensing courses where we learned that this is a serious profession. I pride myself on a high level of professionalism. After all we are advising people on investing in their most valuable investment.  Since we are all mobile now, our answering machine or voicemail message should be professional and please identify yourself.

When I call an agent, Please don’t just say Hello. Answer all your calls with your name.

I have been a “professional “ realtor for 30 years and I answer the phone,” Hi, This is Linda”. The person calling knows they have the right person if they are calling off an advertisement or from the web.  My voicemail says the same thing “This is Linda, Please leave your name, number and anything else I might need to have before I call you back. I will call you back as soon as possible.”

Another issue is the voicemail that doesn’t stop. Less is more.  No one wants to listen for 5 minutes to blah, blah, blah until you can leave a message. “Just saying”.

It comes down to thinking about what you as a consumer want and expect. If you want respect act accordingly.

Published: March 19, 2010

Make your home warm and inviting to boost your home’s value and speed up the sale process.

1. Start with a clean slate
Before you can worry about where to place furniture and which wall hanging should go where, each room in your home must be spotless. Do a thorough cleaning right down to the nitpicky details like wiping down light switch covers. Deep clean and deodorize carpets and window coverings.

2. Stow away your clutter
It’s harder for buyers to picture themselves in your home when they’re looking at your family photos, collectibles, and knickknacks. Pack up all your personal decorations. However, don’t make spaces like mantles and coffee and end tables barren. Leave three items of varying heights on each surface, suggests Barb Schwarz of www.StagedHomes.com in Concord, Pa. For example, place a lamp, a small plant, and a book on an end table.

3. Scale back on your furniture
When a room is packed with furniture, it looks smaller, which will make buyers think your home is less valuable than it is. Make sure buyers appreciate the size of each room by removing one or two pieces of furniture. If you have an eat-in dining area, using a small table and chair set makes the area seem bigger.

4. Rethink your furniture placement
Highlight the flow of your rooms by arranging the furniture to guide buyers from one room to another. In each room, create a focal point on the farthest wall from the doorway and arrange the other pieces of furniture in a triangle around the focal point, advises Schwarz. In the bedroom, the bed should be the focal point. In the living room, it may be the fireplace, and your couch and sofa can form the triangle in front of it.

5. Add color to brighten your rooms
Brush on a fresh coat of warm, neutral-color paint in each room. Ask your real estate agent for help choosing the right shade. Then accessorize. Adding a vibrant afghan, throw, or accent pillows for the couch will jazz up a muted living room, as will a healthy plant or a bright vase on your mantle. High-wattage bulbs in your light fixtures will also brighten up rooms and basements.

6. Set the scene
Lay logs in the fireplace, and set your dining room table with dishes and a centerpiece of fresh fruit or flowers. Create other vignettes throughout the home—such as a chess game in progress—to help buyers envision living there. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light.

Make your bathrooms feel luxurious by adding a new shower curtain, towels, and fancy guest soaps (after you put all your personal toiletry items are out of sight). Judiciously add subtle potpourri, scented candles, or boil water with a bit of vanilla mixed in. If you have pets, clean bedding frequently and spray an odor remover before each showing.

7. Make the entrance grand
Mow your lawn and trim your hedges, and turn on the sprinklers for 30 minutes before showings to make your lawn sparkle. If flowers or plants don’t surround your home’s entrance, add a pot of bright flowers. Top it all off by buying a new doormat and adding a seasonal wreath to your front door.

More from HouseLogic
Spring cleaning guide

Green cleaning products for the bathroom

Green cleaning products for the kitchen

Other web resources
How to make a small room look larger

How to arrange bedrooms

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who occasionally rearranges her furniture to find the best placement—and keep her dog on his toes. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.

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Hiding Behind The Door

Folks are hiding behind doors when the doorbell rings. They haven’t made a payment for a long time on their mortgage. The Ostrich syndrome I call it. Don’t think about it and maybe it will go away. It won’t, but we can help minimize the damage. Please let us help.
Perception is reality. Changing perception is always an uphill battle. A home owner in trouble is scared and trusts in the banks, still. They have the misconception, fostered by these same banks that they are truly out to help. The lending institutions are a corporation in business to make money. Never forget that.
Perception that Realtors made gobs of money in the hayday and they are all out for themselves is still prevalent. It is so hard to fight fear and gain trust. So my goal is to save one homeowner at a time from foreclosure. It feels really good to have a homeowner finally get thru the shortsale process and get back to their life.
My husband and I both became CDPE certified to help homeowners mitigate the damages in a more timely manner. It has changed my attitude and business. We can really help one homeowner at a time make their life a little better.

 We have sunshine, blue skies and oh yeah, NO SNOW!

The prices are right. Cape Coral waterfront or off water homes are unbelievably affordable. Fort Myers has wonderful communities sporting golf, over 55 active, or just living the Florida life style. The choices are varied and again prices you won’t see again.  

Today we watched across the street from our house a young osprey take flight for the first time. Wow, what a fun experience. If you want to know where all the birds go in the winter, just come to Florida.

Are you affected by the winter blues? Does the lack of sunshine and color affect your mood? Well, it used to make me grumpy when I lived in Pa. and Md.. Finally we moved to sunny Florida and the blue skies, blooming flowers in winter and it is a WOW.

So what are you waiting for? Give us a call and find out why this is such a great place to live, work and play.

Juried Art draws 1000 visitorsMy convertible, my sunglasses and the open road!

January flowers at the McDonald's drivethruPalm trees, blue sky and your boat.