Your Home - Guest List

The holidays bring food, gifts, good times – and guests.  Hosting houseguests can be joyful and stressful, but you can minimize the hassle with thoughtful planning and preparation.  Consider these tips from Real Simple and Woman’s Day.

Get your house in order.  Cut out any unnecessary drama by discussing – and approving – houseguests (who, how many and for how long) with your spouse and the rest of your household well before anyone arrives on your doorstep.  Next, ensure you have adequate space for the number of guests you’ll have.  Sleeping arrangements will be different depending on your guests’ situations.  For example, young children may need to sleep in the same room as their parents, so you may want to provide a futon or air mattress.

Stock your kitchen.  Avoid the stress of creating daytime meals on the fly by stashing a few easily defrosted dishes that guests can help themselves to throughout the day, such as lasagna or baked mac ‘n’ cheese.  And be sure to set a specific dinner time so everyone can plan accordingly.  For breakfast, opt for small baskets of muffins or bagels with jellies and butter and keep a pot of hot coffee with ample supplies of cream and sugar so that guests can wake up and feed themselves at their own pace.

Don’t forget about it.  Help your guests settle in by stocking up on the often-forgotten necessities, such as toothbrushes, travel-sized toothpaste and shower products, disposable razors and make-up remover wipes.  Equip each bedroom with extra linens, and add a scented candle or two to make the rooms feel like a posh hotel.

Have fun!

Cynthia Schmier, Broker/Owner
CRS, CDPE, CNE, CIAS, 5-STAR
RE/MAX Country

Cynthia@Cynthia-Online.com
(360) 400-3475

Your Home – Bathing Beauty

The bathroom. Big or small, it’s one of the rooms in your house that gets a lot of attention – from you, your family and friends, and potential buyers.  And as one of the most popular rooms in the house, it deserves an update every now and again.  Even if renovations aren’t in your plans, there are some easy ways to update it on a budget.  The key is to revamp focal points, such as mirrors or rugs, and then focus on unique additions.  Consider these tips from Apartment Therapy.

Start by replacing the mirror – a bathroom staple – with a more contemporary shape and style.  For big impact with minimal effort, reduce clutter on the bathroom counters by repurposing mason jars from the kitchen to hold makeup brushes and pencils, small combs or extra toothbrushes, and store makeup or other odds and ends in stylish mini baskets or ceramic pots.  To refresh the counter without replacing it, change out the fixtures and accessories like the soap dispenser and towel rack.

Pull together the entire bathroom with complementary or matching hues for bathroom essentials such as towels, washcloths and a shower curtain, or stencil an easy, colorful border around the mirror or ceiling for an added pop of color.

Treat your bathrooms like any other room in the house.  Use framed postcards, vacation photos or pressed photos to create inexpensive artwork to deck the walls.  Consider repurposing other household items to give the bathroom a welcoming vibe, such as wine racks for rolled up towels.

Cynthia Schmier, Broker/Owner
CRS, CDPE, CNE, CIAS, 5-STAR
RE/MAX Country

Cynthia@Cynthia-Online.com
(360) 400-3475

Short Sale Incentives

Get cash to sell the home you can’t afford

Since the beginning of the housing crisis, millions of homeowners have found themselves pinned in by their financial circumstances and chained to a mortgage on which they owe more than their home is worth. In the past, homeowners enduring these challenges had very few options, and most would be forced to lose their home to foreclosure.

Today, however, there are more options. The government and the banks have created a multitude of programs and foreclosure alternatives that can help people in these circumstances find a dignified solution for their problems without crippling their financial future. These options include loan modifications, refinancing, or short sales.

The most amazing development in today’s market, however, is one simple fact: Banks are now willing to give cash to homeowners to sell the home they can’t afford.

Please contact me today if you or someone you know could use my help and wants the latest information about current incentives available to distressed homeowners.

Cynthia Schmier, Broker/Owner
CRS, CDPE, CNE, CIAS, 5-STAR
RE/MAX Country
Cynthia@Cynthia-Online.com
(360) 400-3475