About Warren County, OH

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"A man's reputation is the opinion people have of him; his character is what he really is."

- Jack Miner, conservationist (1865-1944)

HOW'S YOUR CREDIT?

Ever hear someone say, "I have good credit"? They are probably referring to their credit "rating" - a score bestowed upon them by creditors, banks or rating agencies. Simply stating, "I have good credit" changes nothing, nor does the statement merit the attention of creditors. Credit can only be given by others for service to them, i.e. paying them on time.

So, credit is the result of serving others - in many ways. You cannot claim education, victory, experience, success, reputation, or a suave demeanor. Each of these is a gift from others, as a result of your service to them. Friends recognize your courage as a result of your being cool under pressure. Your success is recognized by others only once you have served them well. Knowledge of your career field is recognized by others only after it's been applied to situations in the form of more service.

In the accounting world of income and expense, a debit is something paid out, while a credit is something received. Thus all credits are received from others - not by our own making. The debits - what we pay out - are our efforts, persistence, and service. How they are rated is not under our control, but is determined by those served.

Without service, there are few rewards. Yet, you've seen those who insist on getting more attention than they deserve. They feel they're being short-changed, that they are not appreciated, that they are always the victim. If you look more closely at their contributions, you are also likely to see the dearth of service they are offering.

With service, credit follows. It may be subtle or quite visible - but it always follows. Concentrate on what you have to offer and forget the rewards. Those who are served will pick up the tab!

Julie Beall

When staging a house the right way, a good professional home stager will use important strategies that highlight certain selling features or will help detract unpleasant ones. I'm not talking about using 'trickery' so let's not go there...you'll see what I mean in a minute. It's important to understand that staging is not just throwing some furniture and decorations from the local Home Goods into rooms and calling it a day. There is much behind the scenes planning that goes into the staging process and good stagers are considering everything the property has to offer and using strategic methods to guide buyers eyes where they need to go.

I shared a success story last week "Rejected To SOLD! How Staging Helped This Frustrated Seller Sell In 17 Days After 20 Long Months On The Market". If you missed reading it, you might want to take a minute to read it now because I'm going to build on that story today and share some staging/photography strategies we used to help get the home sold quickly. Don't worry, I'll wait for you.

So... this particular house had one main feedback issue that kept coming up. Yep, "The yard's too small". This can be a pretty big obstacle to overcome, don't you think? It's not like you can change the size of your yard to make all those buyers happy. But one thing I did know is that this was a great house with so much to offer. Great selling features and an awesome neighborhood! (besides, not everyone needs a huge yard) How could our team use our staging and professional photography skills to show buyers that this was the home for them?

Here's how:

Staging Strategies

The only doorway leading to the backyard was sliding patio doors from the breakfast area. Without any furniture, I was afraid that buyer's attention was heading there where they were looking outside at an empty patio and neighboring homes and thinking the yard is way too small. With that impression sticking in their minds, the rest of the house didn't have much of a chance.

So what did we do?

Our objective was keeping more of the buyer's focus on what great features were inside the home esp. the kitchen and family area. We used the color RED to add an overall warm and inviting feel to the spaces.



We also added a tall floral arrangement to the set breakfast table. It also added the drama and scale needed to stop the focus from going right to the patio doors. It was probably a little bigger than I would normally use but I don't mind breaking a few rules if the objective is met and it helps get the house sold.

Photography Strategies
I snapped a few photos of the backyard and sent them to our professional real estate photographer Jenny before she came out to actually shoot the house. We discussed the issues that the seller had with the feedback and knew the importance of getting some creative angles that highlighted the patio, landscaping and fence. Jenny did not disappoint! I was so impressed with the way she was able to capture the 'lifestyle" of living in this home and neighborhhood.

I didn't even know this was in the neighborhood. Who wouldn't want to take a walk and spend some time here? And it was right down the street!

Are you preparing your home for Spring or currently have a house on the market? Curious to know what strategies could work to get your house sold quickly in 2010? It's easy to find out...just give us a call. We look forward to talking with you!

Happy Staging!

There are approximately 180 students (K - 6th Grade) who have been identified by teachers and staff as showing signs of chronic hunger in Lebanon City Schools. With your help and through a partnership with Shared Harvest Food Bank, Manna Worldwide, Heritage Baptist Church and Lebanon City Schools, we have an opportunity to ensure students that are in greatest need receive six nutritious meals each weekend. The cost of the program is fully funded by donations from various sources including local businesses, churches, organizations and citizens.

This school year, volunteers will be needed on Wednesday evenings to help fill the backpacks at Heritage Baptist Church. Donations will also be accepted, and 100% of your tax-deductible donation will go toward the purchase of food.

Hunger has an impact on children's ability to learn, their behavior and attendance. Hunger causes physical and mental impairment that might never be reversed. Your assistance can provide the necessary support to children in this community who are unable to consistently get enough nutritious food to lead a healthy life.

Please visit the link below if you would like to donate to the Warriors BackPack program. Thank you for your support!

http://www.warriorsbackpack.com/Welcome.htm

The Lebanon Huntington is offering FREE Financial Fitness classes to anyone interested in getting out of debt. The classes are offered to any company at no cost. The financial classes can be scheduled with Rob Fields by calling 513-379-7208

The classes are Understanding Credit, Owning A Home, Pay Yourself First, and Your Money Matters.

With the classes and banking with Huntington you will save money, here is one example why

We offer free checking account and a free savings account with no minimum balance required. The checking and savings account will be tied together for free overdraft protection. You will also receive free checks and online banking to keep you in control of your balance. A direct deposit is required to receive the stated above option.

Again this is just one example as to how I can help you save money! I want to earn your business and the only way I know how is to help you make money, save money and save time.

Banking with me is FUN! I MAKE BANKING FUN, DON'T BELIEVE ME? COME AND FIND OUT!!

At the Lebanon Huntington branch we are doing our best to offer our customers the best programs to get out of debt, lower expenses and invest to have a better way of life. With that said check out this program the is exclusive to Huntington in our market.

This program will lower your qualified rate by 3% as long as you use at least half of the loan to do your upgrades to your home. The program has a couple qualifying guidelines: the loan has to be used to make your home more energy efficient. For example energy-star products, windows, and insulation. This is just a short list of items that the loan can be used on.

Example

You qualify for a loan at 8% with the Huntington loan (with discounts) we will give you a rate of 5% for the next five years.

This loan is not for everyone but it is a very useful tool to know about if you are looking to make your home more energy efficient. Why put it on a credit card?

Loan example

$15000.00 @ 9.5% over five years = $316 per month add biweekly payments at no extra cost to pay if off about three months faster! This will lower the over all interest paid to save you more money!!

You can get a survey inspection on your home under $100, this could help you understand where your home is losing the most energy. This helps lower your heating bill, increase the value of your home in any kind of market, your home becomes more marketable. The list of benefits goes on. Also you can receive information on how long it would take to make a return on your investment.