Cost-Effective Ways To Stage Your Home to Sell!

By Jennifer Alvarez, Realtor®

Coldwell Banker Cocoa Beach Realty

realtor.jenniferalvarez@gmail.com

www.cocoabeachrealty.com/jenniferalvarez

Staging your home is a key factor in its marketability and price validation.  Budget should not play a role, as there are different types of staging.  Most cost-effective method is simply removing and packing-away items.  You can either hold a yard sale to purge the items or move them into the garage or a storage unit/container.

            ◊ Remove all family photographs and memorabilia's...  

                        Allows buyers to visualize their personal possessions in the home.

            ◊ Put-away Seasonal things such as clothes, accessories, decors items, linens, etc...

           

                        Makes your closets and cabinets appear larger.

            ◊ Clear counter tops in the kitchen and bathroom... 

                        Provides a feeling of a clarity and well-being.

            ◊ Furnish each room appropriately, with properly sized furniture and theme decor as it applies to the subject room... 

                        Offers the feeling of a welcoming "HOME".

            ◊ Be attentive to scents and odors.  Exercise discretion when preparing meals the days your            home is being shown, or on a night before an open house is to be hosted.  Minimize pet odor with frequent cleaning; vacuum with carpet cleaner, mop with scented liquid regularly, and keep a bottle of "Febreeze" and/or a can of "Lysol” handy to spray just before an appointment... 

                        This will help allow your house to be a consideration to all buyers, even to those with allergies to animals or are simply not partial to pets.  

   

This little extra effort will help in reaching the main goal...selling your home as soon as possible, for as much as possible!

Slater Brothers Invitational October 26th - 28th!

Cocoa Beach, Florida, is expected to be the site of a charity surf and skate event the weekend of Friday, October 26, 2012. The event is being presented by Brighthouse Networks in association with the famed Slater Brothers. Here are a few more details:

Surf Event Basics

The Slater Brothers Invitational is an annual event that is designed to raise awareness and funds for the World Skin Cancer Foundation. It is scheduled to take place Friday, October 26, 2012 through Sunday, October 28, 2012 in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The event is expected to include an invitation only surfing competition, a skateboarding competition, a live concert, complimentary skin cancer screenings and a Slater Brothers Look-Alike Contest. Surf fans that are unable to visit Cocoa Beach in person will have an opportunity to watch both the surf and skate competitions via the event's website. I, for one, am looking forward to it.

The surfing portion of the event is slated to run all three days, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., in Cocoa Beach. Participating surfers are expected to be competing for a top prize purse of $1,000. Both longboard and shortboard heats are planned. The heat draw has yet to be revealed. However, the competition has a history of attracting top name pros and amateurs alike. Surfers that have attended the event in the past include Rob Machado, Shea Lopez and the Hobgood Brothers. As such, I suspect that this year's surfing competition should attract top name surfers as well. Surf fans should keep an eye on the event's website for updates.

Other Event Basics

The concert portion of the event is anticipated to take place on Friday, October 26, 2012 at Coconuts on the Beach. The group scheduled to perform is Pepper. Tickets may be purchased through Coconuts on the Beach. The skate portion of the event is also expected to kickoff on Friday with an open practice and a best trick jam. Skaters interested in participating in the event should contact Cocoa Beach Skate Park's Scooter Newell. Additional details about all the events on tap for the weekend are posted on the Slater Brothers Invitational's website.

About the Cause

The World Skin Cancer Foundation is a non-profit organization. It has been in operation since 2005. Several events are often held throughout the year to help further the organization's work in the fight against skin cancer. The Slater Brothers Invitational is just one of them. Surf fans can find out more about the organization's activities online.

U.S. Navy Ship To Be Named After Neil Armstrong

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today that the first Armstrong-class Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) ship will be named Neil Armstrong, after the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission who died last month at age 82.  

Mabus named the future R/V Neil Armstrong (AGOR 27) to honor the memory of Neil Armstrong, best known for being the first man to walk on the moon. Armstrong was an aeronautics pioneer and explorer for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) serving as an engineer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator.  Armstrong also served as a naval aviator flying nearly 80 combat missions during the Korean War.  

"Neil Armstrong rightly belongs to the ages as the man who first walked on the moon.  While he was a true pioneer of space exploration and science, he was also a combat-proven naval aviator," said Mabus.  “Naming this class of ships and this vessel after Neil Armstrong honors the memory of an extraordinary individual, but more importantly, it reminds us all to embrace the challenges of exploration and to never stop discovering.”

 

Armstrong’s widow, Carol, will serve as the ship’s sponsor. 

The Armstrong-class AGOR ship will be a modern oceanographic research platform equipped with acoustic equipment capable of mapping the deepest parts of the oceans, and modular on-board laboratories that will provide the flexibility to meet a wide variety of oceanographic research challenges.  These make them capable of supporting a wide range of oceanographic research activities conducted by academic institutions and national laboratories.  Additionally, the research vessel will be outfitted with multi-drive, low-voltage diesel electric propulsion systems.  This upgraded system will maintain engine efficiency while lowering maintenance and fuel costs. 

 

Armstrong-class AGOR ships will be 238 feet in length, have a beam length of 50 feet, and operate at more than 12 knots.  AGOR 27 is currently under construction by Dakota Creek Industries, Inc. in Anacortes, Wash.