Home Staging

Home Staging - an essential merchandising tool for resale

If you are wondering what Home Staging (or House Fluffing) is all about, here is a definition for you: MSN Encarta dictionary defines Home Staging as the act of "beautifying a home for sale: cleaning, repairing and updating the decor and furnishings of an older home to make it more attractive when shown to potential buyers." Actually, I believe that ANY home can use some staging before being put on the market. Remember, the way we live in a home and the way we want to sell a property are two completely different things. When we sell a property, there is no room for emotions - after all, it's probably our biggest financial investment and, so, we want the biggest possible return on it!

The concept dates from 1970s, when a California realtor and decorator noticed that the properties she took the time to «stage» sold faster and for more money than the average. Today, it's an important marketing/merchandizing tool in the USA (and spreading to Canada from the West) for the realtors and the home owners alike and it's especially important in a slow market, where you need every advantage over your competition. TV shows, such as Designed to Sell and Flip that House demonstrate that a bit of effort and a small investment can transform a property and make a BIG difference at sale time!

The logic is strikingly simple: when you decide to sell your used car, wouldn't you clean, wash and fix it up before reselling it? You should do the same for your house, which is probably your biggest investment and presents an opportunity for a biggest return.

First impressions count for a lot, especially today, when most buyers pre-select the properties they are interested in on Internet. If your photos don't show your house at its best, you are probably missing out on dozens of potential buyers. The same is true for the visitors - when they come, make them feel «at home», create that first impression which will make them fall for YOUR house.

Statistics vary from marketplace to marketplace but, on average, a staged home can sell 30%-50% faster and for 2%-10% more money than a comparable unstaged home. So, a few hundred dollars invested can bring you back thousands! And a home staging consultation costs a lot less than a first price reduction on the property.

A professional Staging consultant looks at your property with a buyer's eye and will recommend some easy and inexpensive solutions to enhance its value - such as decluttering, depersonalizing, and reorganizing your furniture and artwork.

The end result: your house «shows» better than its competition and it sell faster and for more money!

Forex Trading

Forex Trading
Perfumes are an essential part of our everyday life. They were first used in Egypt, but are now used throughout the world for different reasons.

Perfumes come in different varieties, concentrations, fragrances, bottles and rates. Perfumes are usually a solution of fragrant aromatic oils and a solvent like ethanol. They are mixed in different proportions to create different intensity of scents. The commonly used eau de cologne has 2-5% of aromatic oil. These aromatic oils are extracted from various natural and synthetic sources to create several kinds of fragrances.

By mixing different oils, scents like floral, oriental, woody, fresh, leather, chypre and fourgere are created. Major brands of designer perfumes are available to all over the world, such as YSL, Estee Lauder, Dolce Gabbana, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Roberto Cavalli, Salvador Dali, Stella McCartney, Victoria Secret and many more. All of them come in exquisite packaging and bottles.

There are many types of perfumes: for the body, bath, car, house, office, etc. All have different concentrations of aroma oils. Perfumes have become so common that we use them daily without giving a second thought. Perfumes can lift your mood and make you feel positive. The way you smell also has a marked impact on the people around you and the way they treat you. If your lively personality is complemented by a pleasant fragrance, it can change your life and of those around you drastically.

Perfumes have tremendous power to influence emotions. Aroma oils used in perfumes can trigger emotions like love, hatred, passion, activity, hunger, etc. They can even bring back the happy or sad memories of the past. You should wear the perfume that makes you happy and makes you feel good and fresh.

To pick the perfume that suits you the best, think about the fragrances that you like. They could range from floral, citrus, woody, musk, leather, etc. You should select different perfumes for casual wear and formal wear. The daily wear perfumes could be more sporty type while the party wear ones can have more sophisticated scents. You can have different perfumes for different occasions.

Remember that the perfumes that you like on others may not suit you as favorably. A single perfume can smell entirely different on different people, so while selecting your scent, try it out on yourself and let it stay for a day to know if you truly like it.

Today, everybody can be identified by the kind of perfume they wear. Because perfumes are available in all types of fragrances, suiting all pockets, everybody can afford one and make a statement by wearing it. People judge you by the kind of perfume you wear, so it is important that you select the one that suits your personality. Most celebrities have their signature fragrances.

Once you pick your fragrance do not change it often. Sense of smell helps in associating people with their fragrance. If you stick to one, people will know you have arrived and what mood you are in even without looking at you.

Perfumes make for a great gift, especially for women. When you run out of ideas for a suitable present for anybody old or young, perfumes are the safest bet. Whether it's a birthday, anniversary, Christmas, Thanksgiving or just any other occasion, you can rely on perfumes to delight the receiver.

But selecting the right fragrance for someone else is an ordeal in itself. Think about the scents that he or she likes and wears most of the time and try to stick to other perfumes similar to that fragrance. So, go ahead, take your pick.

A Good Diabetes

A Good Diabetes DietMany people believe that diabetics require a special diabetes diet and that they must avoid certain foods altogether, or replace them with specially formulated "Diabetic" or "Dietetic" items purchased from health food stores. This is not the case and diabetics can eat exactly the same food as everybody else.

This said, because diabetes is a metabolic disorder and is associated with the control of glucose within the bloodstream, diabetics do need to pay particular attention to their diet and ensure that they are receiving a correctly balanced diet.

One question that often arises is that of just what sort of foods diabetics should be looking for when it comes to creating a balanced diet. Well, here are 7 suggestions for a good diabetes diet:

1. Include a good range of both fruit and vegetables and try to avoid sticking to your two or three favorites. The color test is a good one to apply here. Try to ensure that the range of fruit and vegetables that you are eating spans the colors of the rainbow. So, include a wide range such as oranges, bananas, apples, carrots, red cabbage and beans. Also, include vegetables that are low in starch, or starch-free, such as spinach and broccoli.

2. Eat whole grain rather than processed food and choose things like brown rather than white rice and whole wheat spaghetti.

3. Include fish in your diabetes diet at least twice a week. Fish is an excellent source of protein and also contains a number of essential oils. For preference, boil, steam, bake or grill fish but try to avoid frying fish and, especially, frying fish in batter.

4. Choose lean cuts of meat and roast, grill, bake, braise or stew meat rather than fry it. A good tip when buying meat is to choose cuts that include the word "loin" such as pork loin or sirloin. When cooking poultry and wildfowl you should remove the skin before serving and should avoid particularly fatty meats such as duck.

5. Select non-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and non-fat cheese and yoghurt. Although these products are a very healthy option many people find that they simply lack any real taste and, for many, this is a difficult option. If this is the case then meet the problem half way by choosing low-fat rather than non-fat products and compensate for this by using them sparingly in your diabetes diet.

6. Avoid high calorie sweetened drinks, particularly those that are carbonated, and try to drink more water and natural fruit juices. Also be careful not to consume too much tea or coffee and add only as much sugar as in necessary for taste. You'll be surprised just how easy it is to cut out sugar entirely from things like tea and coffee if you try and you'll end up enjoying both just as much as you did previously.

7. Cut back on desserts and, while it's fine to eat cake and ice-cream from time to time try to include such items in your diet just once or twice a week rather than every day. In addition, ease yourself away from full cream ice-cream and cakes to lower fat alternatives.

At this stage you are probably saying to yourself that this simply looks like a normal healthy eating routine and doesn't seem to address the issue of diabetes specifically. Well, you're quite right. There is no such thing as a "diabetic diet" and all that is required to control diabetes in terms of diet is a simple and sensible habit of eating a good balance of healthy foods.

Pre-Employment

Pre-Employment
Things You Have To Know About The Pre-Employment Screening Process
n order to increase your chances of getting a job that you actually want, you need to be sure you can pass all the pre-employment screening checks that are done throughout a company's hiring process.

The first pre-employment screening check that most companies do is the background check. It is of course best if you don't have any felony or misdemeanor convictions contained in your background check. Most companies will not hire people who are felons, because they believe that a person's bad conduct in the past prevents them from being trustworthy in the future. A lot of companies also won't hire people who have had misdemeanor convictions listed in their background check information. The best thing to do if you want to land a great job is avoid getting into legal trouble of any sort!

Many companies will also run a driving record check on the people who are seeking to be employed by them. The companies likely believe that irresponsible drivers make for reckless employees. It is important for people to make sure they obey all the driving laws so that their driving record check can look spotless in an employer's eyes.

A lot of people dread it, but there are companies out there that will check your credit score. People that have bad credit scores are frowned upon by many companies. The companies probably believe that if a person has had reckless spending habits, they are more likely to not really care about the job that they do. Try to keep your credit score at a decent number to help your employment chances in the future.

Drug screening is another pre-employment screening method that many companies do implement. No employer wants to see their employee go to work in a drug-induced haze. Companies want a ton of productivity from their employees – not laziness. Stay away from all drugs to maintain an employable status.

Lastly, employers love to check a potential employee's reference list. Make sure you have some great people you can rely on to give you good references if you need them. Many employers require positive reports about you from at least a couple of people in order for you to pass their pre-employment screening regimen. Some great references can be individuals that you have worked with in the past. Friends and family do not typically make wonderful references, as companies may look upon those references as being quite biased. CsiProtected.com – Pre employment screening and CRB Checks