| |
| |
|
Real Estate Information |
|
|
|
Fixing Houses: Mixing Your Own Paint for Savings and Harmony
To make the maximum profit on your investment properties, you'll need to save money wherever you can. One way to save significant amounts of money is to mix your own paint. I recommend that you use only water-based paints. Technology improvements in latex and acrylic paints have made painting easier than it was with the old fashioned oil-based paints, and the new acrylics provide a great-looking finish. Purchasing "oops paint," marked down at home improvement and paint stores, can save hundreds of dollars on your painting projects. By mixing your own paints, you can also guarantee a harmonious result for the entire house, blending the colors from the exterior to the interior and from room to room. For instance, during one of our projects, we purchased ten assorted gallons of paint from the Restore thrift shop. The paint hade been donated by Lowe's after having been returned by the original buyers, and included a lot of blues, greens, and grays. We used a fifteen-gallon plastic kitchen trash can to mix all the paint together, and then poured it back into the original cans. The color ended up a complex sage-green, which perfectly complemented the existing teal-green tile floor. We used the original trash-can paint outside first, and then added white interior paint as we continued our color scheme inside, first painting the living room and a bathroom. Then I added a little green to the remainder and painted a bedroom. For each room, we added a little more white semi-gloss paint. As we went along, we saved a glass jar full of each paint blend for touch ups. Paint experts suggest mixing only the same type of paints: exterior latex with exterior latex; interior acrylic with interior acrylic; interior latex with interior latex, and so on. But we routinely mix exterior and interior paints, and have never experienced any difficulty. The amount of sheen makes little difference in mixing paints, either, unless you're looking for a particular finish. For one project, I started with five gallons of thrift store baby-blue paint, and then added a quart of black, in order to "gray down" the baby-blue. As we progressed through the bedrooms, I added a little more white semi-gloss latex paint to the mix. When I was done, the entire upstairs of the home blended harmoniously, yet each space had its own color and personality. For another doghouse transformation, I added amber pigment, which you can pick up at most paint suppliers (but use it sparingly, because a little goes a long way), to five gallons of boring beige paint. We started in the main bedroom with the darker color and added white as we went along. The lightest shade ended up in a living room with a 23-foot-high ceiling. Remember: oops paint is no different from regular paint. It was just a mistake, for whatever reason, and in case you're wondering how long oops paint can last, we recently drove by our very first doghouse-to-dollhouse home in Apple Valley, California, and the paint still looks great, even though that home was originally painted in 1979. (c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm
MORE RESOURCES:
Real-Estate - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Creative Real Estate Investing With a job that paid $3.40 an hour, I saved $5,000. Regarding Real Estate On Leased Land 1.Why are there so many properties on leased land?There are several situations here. Buying Property in Spain - How to Avoid Paying over the Odds Spain has a lot to offer Northern Europeans and until recently there was a marked difference between the price in their home country and a similar Spanish property. However many buyers have found to their cost that they paid way over the odds. Equity Equity is the value of your home minus what you owe on your mortgage. For example, If Joe's home is worth $200,000 and Joe still owes $170,000, then Joe's Equity is $30,000. Investing In Land Changing social trends point to a huge rise in demand for housing within the next twenty years.With an ageing population and more single people requiring accommodation, it comes as no surprise that the government has ordered planning authorities to find more land to develop, including areas of greenbelt. Finding a Great Listing Agent for Your Home: 8 Tips If you've decided to list your home, you'll be paying a real estate agent a significant amount of money to the hard work of selling your home. Therefore, you have the right to expect prompt attention, good service, and protection. Condo Hotels Offer Luxury and Great Investment Potential Not Your Typical Vacation HomeWhat could be more perfect that owning a luxury vacation home at a landmark resort and receiving rent revenue whenever you're not using it? Condo hotels are the newest trend in vacation home ownership. Live in it when you're there; rent it when you're not. Real Estate Investing: Sales and Negotiation Skills are Critical Do you want to build wealth through real estate? You need expertise in two critical areas: specific investment strategies and sales and negotiation skills. But if knowing how to identify good deals is what's really important about investing in real estate, why do investors need to worry about their sales and negotiation skills?"Knowing how to identify good deals is certainly a critical part of real estate investing, but it's not the only part," says Russ Whitney, internationally recognized real estate expert and bestselling author of Millionaire Real Estate Mentor (Dearborn Trade Publishing). Selling Houses: Psychological Effects of Landscaping Buyers think they care more about the inside of the house than the landscaping, but in reality, most buyers won't even get out of their car if the front landscaping lacks the promise of great details inside. Therefore, your landscaping needs to arouse buyers' expectations and entice them into viewing the inside of your home. Join the Bulgarian Property Boom With Confidence An Irish property investor in Sydney, Australia has created an investment kit that provides potential buyers with all of the relevant facts, figures and information to confidently buy Bulgarian property, which grew an average of 30% in 2004. "Bulgarian Property - The Overseas Buyers' Kit" contains a complete guide to the tax and ownership laws, calculators and various information-gathering templates. Home Equity - Don't Spend It on Risky Investments The housing market has exploded in the last five years, and homeowners are finding that the equity in their homes is greater than it has ever been. The equity in a home is the difference between the market value of the home and the amount still owed on it. Fixtures Fixtures, related to real estate, are items that were originally personal property but are now attached to the property itself. This becomes the toughest issue when tenants attach fixtures to a property. Maui Realtors: What You Need To Know Maui is a great place for families of any size. However, before you plan a move to Maui and contact those Maui Realtors, there are some considerations that you should take care of. Why Selling on Lease Options is Glorified Landlording I might upset some folks with this one, but that's okay as I think it's important to get some of my experiences into the light of day. If you fully believe the hype that you won't have any landlording responsibilities by selling on a lease option, go ahead and stop here. Protective Covenants - Buying A Home In addition to zoning, some properties have covenants recorded at the courthouse that "run with the land." These "protective covenants" can put a serious pinch in your plans for a piece of property. What To Expect In Closing Costs On A Home Purchase Many are taking advantage of this year's low mortgage rates to purchase a home. Pent up with excitement, many families, who have scrimped and saved for a down-payment, jump for joy when the mortgage lender finally approves their application. Types Of Real Estate - An Investors Choice There are different types of real estate, and different ways to invest in them. Which way is best is for you to decide, according to your particular needs. The Many Benefits Of Lease Purchasing Lease Purchasing affords wonderful benefits and opportunities to sellers, buyers, investors and those who would like to operate a home-based business. Lease Purchasing allows you to control property without ownership which has benefits for all. 6 REASONS for Investing in Florida Real Estate Investment Property NOW I invite you to take the next few minutes to learn the truth about the real estate market, how it compares to other methods of building assets and why it is such a lucrative form of investing. Many potential investors will say, 'I need to get into the Florida Investment Property market', especially taking into account current stock market fluctuations and the HOT market for investment properties, but simply don't know the facts about Orlando property investing and how to use sale and leaseback method of property management. Will a 1031 Property Exchange Solve Your Problems? If your problem is listed below, a 1031 exchange may or may not be your solution.1.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
