Frugal Staging & Design to Make You Money on Real Estate

Posted by M.S. on May 28, 2009

This morning I came across a very interesting article in the online edition of the New York Times called Design on a Shoestring.  I am always searching for articles about decorating to maximize both the comfort and value of my home and investment properties, so this one caught my eye.

The article was about a couple that had completely redone a one bedroom apartment near London and featured a wonderful photo gallery of their great ideas.  I was floored when I read they had spent over $10,300 — to re-do a 1,200-square-foot apartment!   HOW MUCH??

That’s alot to spend on a 1,200 square foot property!  I believe you can achieve the same results for much less money–and we have done it!

When we started buying investment properties 32 years ago, we realized very quickly that if we fixed up the interior and decorated it a bit–we could raise the rents and attract a better quality of tenant!

The amazing thing was- after we were finished living in this property–we were able to rent it FURNISHED for 2 years- and we received $200 more PER MONTH in rent than what we would have gotten for it unfurnished!

That’s almost $ 5,000 extra rent! What a great return on our investment!

Take a look at what elbow grease and almost ALL secondhand furniture and accessories created in this furnished townhome!  You can use these ideas for a rental property or to stage your home to sell in this tough economy!

The least expensive and most effective method we found to accomplish that effect was with paint! You can create a warm and inviting mood with a soft neutral (not white) paint color.

Here we painted the living room a soft tan color.

In one  bedroom, we used a greyish shade of green, which is also a soft neutral, to give us a fabulous warm romantic feel.

The fabulous custom made upholstered  window treatment hanging over the bed was purchased at a Salvation Army store for $10! It matched perfectly!

In another bedroom, we used the same soft tan color that looks marvelous with the elegant duvet cover we bought at TJ Maxx.  All the furniture, lamps, headboard, pictures etc in this room were purchased secondhand for practically NO money!

After our tenant of 2 years moved out, we decided to take everything out of the property and rent it unfurnished.

Because we have been so very blessed, we decided that rather than have a big sale and make some money–we gave away every single thing to a charity that donates to people that cannot even afford to buy their items at a Goodwill type store! 

They sent a large empty truck and we filled it to the brim!

How cool is that–to be able to share the wealth?  I still wonder who is sitting on those chairs now and sleeping in those beds!

Free Money for You

Posted by M.S. on May 2, 2009

Were you aware that your credit score is very important to your financial health?  Did you know that the better your credit score is, the lower the interest rate when you borrow money?

A credit score is simply a number that represents the risk of lending to someone and is primarily based on credit report information, gathered from credit bureaus.

These days, it is common for mobile phone companies, insurance companies, car dealers, landlords, and even employers to run a credit check to see your credit score.  If you pay your bills on time, and pay back money that you have borrowed, lenders see that you are a better risk, so they will give you a lower rate to borrow money.  Employers know that people who don’t pay their bills are generally less reliable workers too.

As the the current economic situation has worsened, the Federal Reserve has made decisions that have lowered mortgage rates- especially for people with excellent credit scores, like us.  The days of anything goes in mortgage lending are over, and now banks only want to deal with people they know will pay back their loans.  As a matter of fact– mortgage lenders WANT to do business with people with great credit!  So, protect your credit rating!

We decided to investigate refinancing a rental property and were stunned to learn we could refinance the loan at an amazingly low rate of 4.99%!  The best part is the payment will stay fixed at that low rate for 30 years, although we plan to pay it off faster than that, while hopefully the rents will increase over time, along with the value of the property.  Same property, same basic loan amount, different payment.

Lowering the rate saved us almost $ 100 a month on the mortgage payment, which we will apply directly to the principal each month.

In essence–that is free money!

Take a look at  How Refinancing Would Give You Free Money