CENTURY 21, Author at CENTURY 21 MarketLink Realty - SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER.

We Asked, You Answered: Advice for First-Time Homeowners

November 3, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Buying a home for the first time is exciting, but it can seem overwhelming because there are so many factors to consider. Potential homebuyers must excogitate the price of the home, the mortgage costs, neighborhoods, safety, and more. We posted on our Facebook page asking CENTURY 21 ® Agents for their best advice for first-time homebuyers.

Here are seven pieces of advice:

1. “After you get your mortgage approval, sit down and make a list of needs, must haves and wishes, work with a realtor who can find you your dream home.” —Denise F.

2. “Work with an agent that is experienced with first time homebuyers. There is a lot to know and navigate. A good agent is essential to making the transaction as smooth as possible.” —Toni M.

3. “Put together a really good Real Estate Agent, Mortgage Broker, Attorney team that will take the time to explain the entire process to their client. If they can explain it; they can do it.” —Ronald S.

4. “Work with a knowledgeable agent who cares about his or her clients, not just dollar signs. See your banking institution 1st. Ask a lot of questions. Consider the location. Hire a reputable home inspector! Arm yourself with knowledge and really think before you leap since it is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. It is a key in avoiding buyers remorse!” -Cheryl C.

5. “Choose a quality agent, practice self-restraint, look at the quality and condition, not just how pretty it is, know your budget and your comfort level and, for heavens sake, if you are going to listen to everyone else’s opinion besides your agents then they should be with you on every showing, not just the house you want to buy!” -Paul S.

6. “I’m not a realtor but I wish someone would have told me to make practice payments. I jumped from $1500 per month to $2400 per month on my first house. The extra $900 wasn’t the big deal as much as everything else, utilities, yard maintenance, etc. I think making 6 months of increased payments while you are still renting, saving that money and putting it as a down payment would have helped me. I try to tell every person wanting to buy a new home that.” -Darin P.

7. “Pre-approval is step number one. Look at homes in your price range. Nothing worse than falling in love with a home you can’t afford.” -Linda Z.

For more great tips, check out our Facebook post and buying advice on our site then find a CENTURY 21® Agent who can help you find your home sweet home.

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Bring on the Patterns: How to Combine Designs with Confidence

October 31, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Usually when it comes to options, more is better, but that may not be how you feel when you get to a home decor store. There is an overwhelming number of fabric, color, and style options. Don’t worry. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that even the pros use formulas to create the styled rooms we all love. Use these tips and techniques to create a home you’ll love.

Adopt the Rule of One: One floral, one stripe, one check, and so on. Use this approach to limit your selection to no more than one of each so that you won’t have to worry about similar patterns clashing. Create a cohesive design by selecting similarly colored detail pieces like throw blankets, pillows and vases.

Start Small: If you’re uneasy about decorating with a large-scale or dominant pattern, use it in small doses. Decorative pillows are a great way to introduce patterns into your space without needing to make a big change.

Live Large: The larger the room, the bolder your use of patterns can be. To create a more intimate feeling in a big space, repeat a pattern or two. For example, use the fabric from window treatments on a chair cushion.

Give Texture a Try: Not into big blooms and colorful stripes? Create an alluring room by combining textures like hard wood and rugs and fabric in a variety of textures.

We hope that these tips help you create a beautifully decorated home. We’d love to know your tips for combining patterns and designs. Connect with us on Twitter and share your advice!

Recommended Reading:

-5 Ways to Take Your Living Room From Good to Great

-10 Secrets for Making Your Bedroom Appear Larger

-Small Changes, Big Differences: 5 Low Cost Ways to Give Your Home a New Look

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Text Messaging Etiquette for Real Estate Agents

October 29, 2014 By CENTURY 21

It has been reported that 31% of Smartphone users prefer text messaging over regular phone calls. Although you may be used to calling clients, your clients may prefer to communicate by text messaging. When it comes to text messaging clients, it can be tricky to know what is appropriate. Here’s the 411 on text messaging etiquette.

1. Proper language and punctuation: When speaking with clients over text, it’s important to remain as professional as possible. It’s best to not use abbreviations or “text message language.” Remember, this is still a business matter and you should behave as if you were talking on the phone, speaking in person, or writing an email.

2. Business Hours: When it comes to text messages, you should treat it the same as phone calls and emails. Would you call a client at 5 am or 11 pm? If the answer is no, do the same with text messages. Only send messages during “business hours.”

3. Length: Keep your text messages short and sweet. Don’t overwhelm your clients with information that is probably best received face to face. Send text messages with information that needs an immediate, short response and be sure to not discuss important, legal information over a text message. Use text messaging to coordinate logistics.

4. Permission: Before you start texting your clients ask them if they would prefer to communicate by phone, email or by text.

Text messaging between real estate agents and clients can help business flow smoothly. It can be beneficial in showing that you are tech savvy. This may be even more important with first-time homeowners who are younger and more accustomed to texting.

Recommended Reading:

-Facebook Tips for Real Estate Agents

-Instagram Tips for Real Estate Agents

-5 Simple Pinterest Tips for Real Estate Agents

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How to Turn Your Home Into the Ultimate Haunted House

October 27, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Trick-or-treat! Halloween is around the corner and, besides watching horror movies, the best way to get into true spooky spirit is to decorate. Pick pumpkins for a hint of Halloween spirit, or put in a lot of effort so that you have the spookiest house on the block. WARNING: Even the bravest trick-or-treaters may stay away this year.

1. Pick a theme: You may want to pick a unique theme such as a haunted graveyard or a vampire’s den. Staying within a theme will make it easier to find the right decorations and make your house stand out.

2. Eerie atmosphere: Attack the five senses. Create an eerie feeling in your home by hanging dimmed twinkle lights, setting up a smoke machine, and adding sound effects like screams and ominous music. You’ll spook your guests the moment they walk through the door!

3. Creative, scary props: Mix and match with bigger and smaller props. For the bigger ones, choose something that will bring a spookier feel to the house, like (fake) body parts strewn across the room or hologram wall photos that seem to be staring into your soul. Choose smaller props like (fake) spider webs, a (fake) pool of blood, or even (fake) hanging bats.

4. Dress up: Ask family, friends, and neighbors to help scare your guests. Ask them to dress up as spooky creatures that match your theme.

5. Main attraction: Having a big finish at the end of your haunted house can be the icing on the (poisonous) cake. Set up something big that will give your guests goose bumps, like a haunted laboratory with a monster, or a graveyard scene.

Get ready to scare anyone who is brave enough to enter. You may end up having a lot of leftover candy to eat. The scariest thing in your future may be a trip to the dentist.

Recommended Reading:

-5 Ways to Make Your Home Cozy for Fall

-5 Zombie-Proof Houses Your Family Won’t Be Caught Dead In

-First Impressions: Door Decor For Fall

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What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie? 10 Real Houses Where Your Favorite Scary Movie May Have Occurred

October 23, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Do you like scary movies?

Halloween season is in full force and it brings out the Psycho in all of us, doesn’t it? Horror movies instill us with an overwhelming fear that is almost unbearable. Whether people are performing an exorcism, or running away from Michael Myers, one thing thatalmost every scary movie has in common is a haunted house. Here’s where your favorite scary movies could have occurred.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.

1. Located on the same street as the famous, haunted Amityville house, this home looks like it jumped right off the movie screen.

2. Would you stay in a hotel that looked like this at night? It doesn’t matter if Norman Bates has a believable face; we know what happens in these places.

3. Knock, knock. Who’s there? Don’t fall asleep in a house like this without expecting to find Freddy Krueger knocking at your door.

4. Would you enter Room 237? This home bears a resemblance to the hotel where someone axed through the bathroom door.

5. It’s Halloween, of course, so you’re entitled to a good scare. Hopefully Michael Myers stays away from this Chicago home.

6. Take a trip and visit Ichabod Crane in the infamous town of Sleepy Hollow.

7. Can you say paranormal? No one wants that kind of activity in their home.

8. Would you feel protected from Damian in this house?

9. What an excellent house for an exorcism. This Boston house would make Linda Blair feel right at home.

10. Always have Caller ID. A stranger may call this Seattle, WA home.

Stay safe and sound inside your non-haunted house! The only visitors you’ll be getting are friends, family, and neighborhood kids looking for candy.

Recommended Reading:

-5 Zombie-Proof Houses Your Family Won’t Be Caught Dead In

-The Ultimate Home Personality Quiz

-Modern Homes For Your Modern Family

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Ask Our Expert: The Art of First Impressions

October 22, 2014 By CENTURY 21

How can my clients add style to their entryways?

-Jan Maness, CENTURY 21 Real Estate Group, Alcoa, Tennessee

While they may only be pass-through spaces, entry halls allow you to show your style while offering a glimpse of what’s to follow.

Here are a few tips:

Establish the Home’s Theme Immediately: If your entry hall is visible to several other spaces, its décor should create a seamless transition from room to room. Meaning, don’t decorate your entry hall as if it were an island.

Flip-flop Paint Trick: Reverse wall and ceiling colors from a visible nearby room into the entryway. But keep the trim color the same for visual continuity.

If You Can’t Build Out, Build Up: Though the footprint may be small, entry wall space is usually significant. So don’t be afraid to merchandise it floor-to-ceiling. Wall mounted shelves and picture ledges can start from 3 feet above the floor to within 2 feet of the ceiling. Framed art can tell your story while a collection of frames adds architecture to the space. Mirrors in interesting frames can help to visually expand smaller entryways.

Think “Hotel Entrance:” A small, round central table offers a place to locate a large vase of flowers, or a great palm tree that jets upward, helping to add a living element and more drama.

Include Fabric: Texture-driven materials from surrounding rooms help to integrate the entryway into the overall home design scheme. Small-upholstered pieces and drapes also help make hollow acoustics more intimate. You can do it!

Christopher Lowell, an interior designer and Emmy Award-winning TV host, is known for doable design advice that nets stunning results.

Recommended Reading:

-Ask Our Expert: First Things First

-Be My Guest: How to Style a Guest Room

-How to Style a Gallery Wall

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If Houses Had #Hashtags

October 20, 2014 By CENTURY 21

Hashtags have become a part of our everyday life. For people who are unfamiliar, a hashtag is used on social media as a way for people to designate and find specific categories of content.

Have you ever thought about what your home’s hashtag would be? We’ll help you find it! #dontsaywenevergaveyouanything

Colonial Homes: #AreTheKennedysHome #BowTiesAndHairBows #PreppyLife #PrinceOfATownCalledBelAir

Brownstones: #HipsterHomes #CarrieBradshawIsWritingFromHerWindow #BachelorPad #NoNeedForAGymMembership

Mansions: #PrivatePoolParties #FourCarGarage #16Bathrooms #RingTheButler #MansionCrushMonday #RichKidsofBeverlyHills

Tudor Homes: #EnglandsFinest #TheTudors #DowntonAbbey #TeaTime

Castles: #WillandKate #WatchingFromMyTower #IsThatHogwarts #Rapunzel #GlassSlipper

Contemporary: #Artsy #WeLoveTheEnvironment #ModernFamily #StraightEdge #WallofWindows

Cottages: #WhereIsSnowWhiteHiding #FairytalesLiveHere #Whimsical #HappilyEverAfter #NotYourHobbitHouse

Your home deserves its own unique hashtag. Get creative and think about the essence of what makes your home distinct.

Recommended Reading:

-Modern Homes for Your Modern Family

-What’s the Difference?

-8 Things You May Have Thought When Your In-Laws Stayed Over

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