Kathleen Lordbock Keller Williams Realty Brainerd Lakes

By this time we are now well in to the workings of the trillion dollar & still adding spending stimulus package, others beside myself should be questioning what is going on. The majority of the funds are for future use which does not even qualify it to be a called a stimulus package (call a porker a porker and be done with it). It should be called what it is - STUPID.

WE should be learning the lessons that history has already given us about using government spending to stimulate the economy and thus create jobs. President Franklin D Roosevelt, during the Great Depression, gave it a try with his New Deal programs. They never drove unemployment down lower that 20 percent and the rate of unemployment actually climbed during the second phase. World War 2 is the stimulus that actually started America's economic resurgence.

Flickr

A few short months ago our then soon to be President assured the American citizens that this was a time of hope and later his advisors were reported stating "this will go from being a crisis to a disaster, if it ( the trillion$ package) is not passed". What changed in a few short months? Will the scare tactics continue to work? Probably. We like sheep are easily led astray.

Kathleen Lordbock

REALTOR/Staging Specialist

Licensed in Minnesota

Keller Williams Brainerd Lakes

Top Brainerd Agent

You have just had the perfect evening with friends over and happy conversations by glowing candlelight. Your guests have departed and you are cleaning up before retiring. The dishes - into the kitchen, the candles -ooops a wax spill on your lovely new carpet. What to do , what to do????

Take a brown paper bag - either a lunch bag or a piece of a grocery bag that's big enough to cover the wax. Place the paper bag over the melted wax and use a hot iron (steam off) to rub over the paper bag. The wax will come off automatically and be absorbed into the bag. This method is A LOT easier than the ice cube way.

My company Re$ale Design & Home Staging also does event planning and we have had many spills by nervous wedding participants on church carpets. The brown bags and iron are packed and ready. We use an old iron for this and a separate one for clothing touch-ups.

If you ever burn candles this tip may come in handy - spills happen.

photo by FABIOLA MEDEIROS'

My Re$ale Design & Home Staging Partner - Allison Lordbock

The Children’s Miracle Network was selected as the official national platform for the Miss America Organization. This partnership represents the first time in the 87-year history of the Miss America Organization that they have adopted such a program.

The Children’s Miracle Network has had an 19-year history working with the Miss America
Organization, with this newest initiative signifying a permanent and on-going relationship between the two.
The new partnership will provide opportunities for the Miss America Organization to not only raise funds
and awareness for the 17 million children treated each year at the 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals,
but also for the Miss America Scholarship Program, the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for
young women, providing more than $45 million in cash and tuition scholarship assistance to them each year.

Each year the new Miss America, in addition to bringing awareness to her personal platform, will be an official goodwill ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network as she raises funds and awareness for both Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization. This partnership also extends to the woman competing at the local, state and national levels of the pageant, asking each contestant who participates to be responsible for raising funds on behalf of Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization.

Allison's personal platform is entitled - "Leaving A Legacy"

She travels as a singer and speaker throughout the United States and into foreign lands with Reggie Dabbs and Elevate Industries,

holding school assemblies encouraging students to make positive choices and to strive for excellence. These assemblies are cutting edge and intense. Reggie Dabbs uses his own personal story along with high energy dramas to leave a lasting impression on students. As Reggie says, "You can not change your past, but you can change your future." Our legacy can change others' futures.

Donate today and help change someone's future:

Allison's fundraiser page - please donate - every dollar counts

Many homes built in the past 20-30 years did not put central lighting fixtures in many rooms , such as the living-room, bedrooms, and dens or studios (now called "the home office). Unless homeowners are willing to have wires threaded through ceilings and new switches installed, home stagers are going to have to work with what you have. That means floor lamps, table lamps, buffet lamps, plug-in night lights with decorative shades, up-lights and the like. Most of these come with cords. Cords are ugly. Not only ugly, but potentially dangerous and you can not put them in a walk path over or under a rug. NO, NO!!!!

• So when strategically planning that perfect furniture arrangement - you need to consider where the wall outlets are. Better to scope them out before the furniture placements starts.

• While natural light is always a wonder to uncover - I will go against the flow and state "Maybe, don't turn on every light in the house."

photo: Flickr

• Lighting helps set the mood for a room's perceived use. Some overhead lighting such as the older style fluorescents can be quite harsh. It is hard to look good in that light, unless you are under the age of 2.

• I am not advocating that rooms be dimly lit either. People need to see what is for sale or they will wonder what is being hidden. Low light may work for a romantic candle light dinner, but not for a home showing.

• For rooms in which you may want to lower the lights down low - dimmers are a modern wonder. You will wonder what you did without them.

• You need a balance of light from whatever sources you can put in a room. A variety of light sources is the best and well thought out light placement will play up architectural details, angles, and put each room in a flattering glow. For example: rope lights along the top of a kitchen cupboard pulls the eye up and vaults the space. An up-light on a corner tall plant gives interest to that space. A small lamp on a kitchen counter or a plug -in decorative night light will do the trick there.

As with most things in life it comes down to a matter of balance.

Yesterday I took my Ethics class in the morning and then our Greater Lakes MLS Association rules in the afternoon. While most were common sense and The Golden Rule there of course were things that had not occurred to me as I had never encountered them. One was that directions be given from a neutral site or landmark and not your office. In doing my last Comparative Market Analysis I noticed several properties in our MLS system that gave directions from THE OFFICE. No advertising allowed on the MLS. Another was that no Real Estate signs be shown in the photos or in virtual tours. Ooops have seen those as well. No people, no pets- ooooops again.

If those were your listings then here is the Heads up to fix then . There is an automatic fine for some of these infringements. You may want to re- read your rules to be sure you are in compliance or better yet - take a class. School is cool!!!!

photo by Aunt Owwee