Maria Borci ABR-TRC-ASP - Kendall FL

Miami-Dade County wants you to be part of our Elections Team

Earn up to $278 per election and help ensure the democratic process. We have various positions available for registered voters - and paid training is provided

On Election Day, Poll Workers welcome voters, facilitate voting, conduct precinct operations in accordance with election law and defined procedures. Many find it a rewarding experience and return year after year to serve.

To become a Poll Worker, you must be a registered voter in Miami-Dade County and able to read and write in English. Poll worker selection is also available on your voter's registration form.

For more information, please contact the Electoral office in Doral-

Supervisor of Elections
Attn: Poll Worker Section
2700 NW 87th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33172
(Fax) 305-499-8355

Easy Staging guidelines for Success- Sell your home fast--

A staged home look better than competing homes for sale in your local market. This allow you to sell it faster and at a fair price.

As a Realtor and an ASP ( Accredited Staging Professional) I'd like to seat and explain my clients easy tips to prepare the house and succeed. There are some advantages with Staging, one is being recognized by other realtors - they will show your home more than other homes not staged- staged homes are recognized by Buyers too. Staged homes will look better, brighter and with more curb appeal.

When listing a house I do a free Staging consultation. A list is given in order to stage the property and win. Here is a basic list of staging strategies:

.Clear all coffee tables and end tables just display 2 or 3 small items

. Remove al ashtrays.

.Clear kitchen counters specially too many appliances to create more space. Store them out of sight.

.Remove all magnets, pictures, children's drawings from the refrigerator front.

.Move pet dishes- they interfere with prospective buyers walking around the house

.Store extra books and magazines

.Keep closet doors closed at all the times

.Keep playing soft music during showings

.Big empty backyard? Just set up a table and 4 chairs with plates and glasses.A little BBQ can do the trick too- Add music- A prospective buyer can imagine throwing a big party here!

.Invest in a new bedspread if necessary- Soft colors are better than brighter ones

.In the Laundry room get rid of excess hangers and always remove clothes before showing

.A fresh new bed of silicone and caulking in the shower or tub make them to look neat and clean

.Outside of home is critical too- The curb appeal impression when a buyer drives up is very important - A nice coat of fresh paint to front door and trim wil make the trick. Renew and or trim plants-Remove trash and recycling containers -Remove clutter and old debris

There is more that can be done - Staging is a fun and proven method to sell your home- Contact me for a FREE staging consultation-

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 personal property and some structural improvements and it will allow additional living spaces incase of fire, theft or any other disaster listed in your policy.

If there is a disaster like a fire in your home, without insurance you have nothing left to claim. Rebuilding and replacing will come out of your pocket and that is a very costly mistake to make. If you home has a structural damage from vandals you will be covered. It will cost you extra per months but in case of any type of disaster or even a robbery you are well covered and you can replace your material possessions without it coming from your pocket. Do the smart thing and carry insurance whether you live in a house, apartment or condo or co-op. Even your house is fully paid off carry HOA and Flood insurance, it pays.

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 paper

A pallet of copier paper (20-lb. sheet weight) contains 40 cartons and weighs 1 ton. Therefore,

10 reams of 100% virgin copier paper use .6 trees

1 tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets

1 ream =500 sheets uses 6% of a tree

1 ton of coated, higher-end virgin magazine paper (used for magazines like National Geographic and many others) uses a little more than 15 trees

1 ton of coated, lower-end virgin magazine paper (used for newsmagazines and most catalogs) uses nearly 8 trees

My office uses around 15 boxes each month- each box contain 10 reams-makes your numbers.

I use recycled paper and you can do print and save a lot of paper- When printing MLS listings and other material not needed to be presented to clients do it on recycled paper / paper previously used and printed in one side. Another thing -use recycled paper printed in one side to reprint material not needed to be presented or only needed to be filed in personal files-in home office file.

Some previous drafts of contracts can be printed also in previously printed paper. If is to be faxed, better yet.

E-fax in another convenient way to save paper. Keep files in your outlook with a folder name for each client. Back up your data every week. There is no need to keep a lot of papers or e-mails printed in all your files.

To implement the saving of paper, I do upload my fax-copier and in home printer with previously one side printed paper- even my son knows when to use blank paper and this is a good way to teach them not only to recycle but to save paper too.

I had the idea of implementing this routine in my office - we can save and probably cut down to a 35% of paper used - and we have 35 offices. We have to create and use printer number one with blank paper and printer number two with recycled paper- previously used in one side. Printer number three is color- special presentation projects require a good quality paper- not recycled or PU. Printer number two is to print paperwork needed for personal use-like listings and old material.

Read more about facts on recycling on

www.miamidade.gov/dswm/library/recycling_quick_facts.pdf

If you are in Miami Dade County, call Solid Waste Management 305-633-3100 to set up an account to have used- printed paper picked up for recycling. They provide with a 96 gallon Blue cart container for a weekly collection. Monthly charges applies as for fuel and service.

NAR is approaching the centennial year celebration by 2008. We are invited to participate by submitting our pictures to become part of the historic campaign "The face of Real Estate".

They will include a nice mosaic of all our faces arranged to represent the R (TM) "Realtor" logo trademark. We are the face of the National Association of Realtors and they want to symbolize that . It is a way of saying thanks to us as members and for helping the real estate industry both residential and commercial.

To include your face in the mosaic go to http://www.thefaceofrealestate.com/ . You need for NRD's number ID and a picture to their specifications.

Thanks for supporting NAR.