The Life of a Minimalist in a Large Space

You've probably heard about Marie Kondo, a famous Japanese author and expert organiser whose well-known KonMari method has changed a lot of people's perspective of keeping their homes clean and clutter-free. This is one of the reasons the 'minimalist revolution' has started to gain popularity in different parts of the world once again.

The art of tidying up and decluttering indeed brings a lot of positive effects on people. However, not everyone knows how to keep up with this method. Some people are even wondering if you can apply it while living in a large space. The short answer is yes.

Being a minimalist doesn't mean that you have to have to let go of big opportunities. It doesn't also dictate you to choose to be contented with small spaces. For instance, if you browse for a house for sale in Manor Lakes, you don't need to select the smallest-sized property. You can still choose to purchase a huge home. You just have to apply the minimalist lifestyle while you're living in a big space. Here are a few tips to help you out.

Limit storage space

If your home already has built-in cabinets and closets, avoid adding more storage spaces. Building more shelves and drawers will only result in more clutter and you'll see yourself storing unnecessary items.

Keep essential items only

Some people find it difficult to determine which items are really necessary at home. To make the process easy for you, ask yourself if you can live without each item or not. If you answer yes, get rid of it. You can also apply this when purchasing furniture and appliances. Before you buy anything, ask yourself if you really need it. This method does not only help you avoid clutter at home. It also enables you to save money because you will not be purchasing unnecessary stuff.

Lessen decorative stuff

A minimalist home doesn't have to be plain and boring. You can still add a few ornamental plants, photo frames, and artwork. Just make sure that you don't overdo it. Keep in mind that the goal is to add colour and style. Don't convert an entire room into a fully decorated space full of items that you don't really need.

Appreciate blank spaces

Learn to embrace empty spaces. You don't need to fill every space and corner of your home. If you have more blank spaces, you don't need to put a lot of your time and effort cleaning and freeing it from clutter.

If you're used to having a lot of things around you, applying the minimalist lifestyle at home can be challenging. However, if you practise the methods mentioned above, you'll slowly appreciate the beauty of having limited stuff and clutter-free home. You can experience living in a clean and organised home, which benefits guests who want to visit your place, too. Don't forget to teach your kids about minimalism, as well. This way, all members of the family can help retain the minimalist style at home.

How to Increase Your Home's Curb Appeal

The exterior of your home makes up for the majority of a buyer's first impression of the property. Therefore, curb appeal is something you should prioritize when staging your home for selling.

If you want to increase the value of your residential land for sale around the Melbourne Northen Suburbs, improving curb appeal is one of the first steps you need to take.

Not sure how to make your exteriors look better? Here are some things you can start with:

1. Add green

The grass is always greener on the other side, and if you're selling your home, you might want to make that saying quite literal for your yard. Add fresh plants and flowers on your front yard to draw people's eyes to your house, then plant inexpensive shrubs and treelings to increase the greenery. You can also use planters if you want to take the plants with you to your new house, but make sure you disclose that to the buyers.

2. Take good care of your lawn

A significant part of boosting and maintaining curb appeal isregular lawn maintenance. Mowing the grass, raking the leaves, pulling out weeds, watering the plants, and trimming the hedges are just some of the basic lawn maintenance that you can do. If you don't have the time to do these things, however, you can have a local lawn maintenance company come around once in a while to do it for you.

3. Clean your roof and gutters

If your roof and gutter system has seen better days, you should probably do some cleaning as you stage your home for sale. Roofs and gutters that overly loaded with the debris is a bad sign for potential buyers, since debris may cause clogging in the gutters or accumulation of moisture on the roof.

Have your roofs and gutters cleaned by professionals before you put your home up for sale. If you can do it yourself, make sure you have the proper equipment and safety gear before attempting to climb up the roof.

4. Paint your door

Making your door stand out from the rest of your house is a great way to catch people's eyes.Paint your doorwith a color that accentuates the other colors of your home while making itself stand out. Look for examples online if you want to see what shades compliment each other well, or take a picture of your house before going to the hardware store to compare swatches.

5. Wash off dirt and grime

Years' worth of dirt and grime may make your house look all too used. To make it look brand new, buy or rent a power washer and wash the dirt off of your siding, masonry, driveway, porch, and walkways.

6. Do some repairs

Take a walk around your house and note everything that you need to fix on the exterior, such as holes in screens, chipped paint, broken bulbs, etc. The small repairs, you can take care of yourself. For the bigger ones, you may need to call in a professional.

A home with good curb appeal can make a great first impression. So, if you want to sell your house quickly and at the right price, these tips should help you a lot.

Home Renovation Essentials You Need to Know About

Working on improving your home is so important, and there are so many benefits to doing this. You want to make sure you have a home that is pleasant and as aesthetically pleasing as possible. But, you also want to try to add value to the property as well, and this is importanMake sure you keep this in mind when it comes to improving your home, hiring home renovation builders, and making the most of it right now.

There are a lot of things that play a role in helping you renovate and improve your home as much as possible. However, if you are serious about making these positive changes to your home, there are a lot of things to keep in mind here. These are some of the home renovation essentials you need to be aware of right now, and these are crucial considerations to make.

Plan Your Project

Planning your project out in advance is definitely one of the best places to start when it comes to getting the right sort of outcome. You will most likely have some idea of the work you want to do in the home, and it’s important to have an idea of how you want to proceed. This is something you’ve got to sort out as much as you can right now. Having direction when you make changes to your home is vital as this makes everything much more efficient, and helps you to understand what is required to enjoy success.

What’s Your Budget

You also need to be aware that a home renovation project is going to cost money, and this is something that you need to factor in when planning this. That means you are going to need to have some sort of budget in mind to work with. Think about what you can afford and try to research how much a particular project is going to cost. You need to try to work within your budget as much as possible, and this is essential. Home renovations are not generally cheap, and you need to make sure you’re not spending too much on home renovations. This means possibly trying to do some DIY bits and pieces yourself in order to try to save money and cut costs as much as possible.

Get Permission

There are so many different considerations you need to make when you want to get the most out of your home renovation ideas. One of the most important things you need to look into is whether or not you need to get permission to conduct your renovations. One of the key things that you need to ask yourself is, when do I need a building permit? Now, there are a few occasions on which this might apply, and you need to make sure you get this right as much as possible.

Ask for help

Another important aspect of caring for elderly relatives to master is leaning to ask for help when you feel overwhelmed. After all, looking after someone can be a physically and emotionally intensive task.

Happily, there are organizations and charities and often other relatives and people in your life that you can reach out to when struggle. Something that can help you to share the burden and get some respite to recharge your own energy levels, allowing you to return to the role of caring for your elderly relatives fully charged.

Making changes to improve your property today is one of the most important things you can do, and this requires work and preparation. You have to make sure you do as much as possible to focus on getting the right outcome, and this is something you need to keep in mind as much as possible. What does it take to come up with the ideal home renovation experience? Well, planning and preparation are definitely a big part of this.

The Right Way to Ask for a Character Reference

Are you on the lookout for a new job?

The technology industry only seems to be going up. And if you're a job seeker in this hot industry, the prospects may seem unlimited.

But to get one of these top-ranked technology jobs, you'll need to polish up your resume. And that means it's time to get some killer character references. 

Keep reading to learn how to get a sterling character reference, the right way.

Who Makes a Good Character Reference?

Not everyone makes a good reference. Spouses, significant others, and relatives aren't a good idea. They may feel obligated to say great things about you and HR reps know this.

Character references can come from any of the following: fellow employees, past employers or other business associates, teachers, customers, and family friends. Choose people who you know can write a decent reference. And, of course, only ask people who will say positive things about you. 

You want your letter of experience to come from someone you've talked to recently. They must be able to provide current knowledge of your character. Don't choose someone you knew 20 years ago and haven't spoken to in 15. 

You want a prompt response from this person. Save yourself some headache by avoiding those who are notoriously fickle about responding to emails.

And ask a few people from different backgrounds. HR departments love to see that you have a diverse sprinkling of reference letters from people who can comment on different parts of your character and work ethic.

How to Ask

Email is, by far, the most acceptable medium to ask for a reference. Most professionals prefer an email request rather than calling them or visiting them in person. It gives them a chance to put some time and thought into the letter.

Of course, there are exceptions. If you know they prefer a face-to-face chat, then approach them that way. It's all up to your preferences and those of your colleagues. 

You only want strong recommendations. Phrase your question in a way that allows them to say "no" if they don't feel the can give you that.

For example, don't ask them if they will give you a reference. Ask them if they would give be willing to give you a positive character reference instead. Then you won't end up with a lukewarm reference when it's all said and done.

If you do ask for a reference in person, follow up with an email anyway. This shows them that you're serious about the request and that they shouldn't put it on their back burner. And it allows you to give them all the necessary information that you couldn't cover in person.

What to Include in the Request

Help them out as much as you can. Always include pertinent information for the reference letter in your email request or in the follow-up email. Send them your resume so they have some additional background on you.

Tell them how they should submit the letter - some HR departments want letters sent directly to them. Also, give them as much information as you can about the job you're applying for. Send them the job listing if necessary.

Great References Mean Great Opportunities

If you can stack your resume with a great character reference or two, you'll look that much better to picky, HR reps. It might be the push you need to get you in for an interview at your dream technology company. 

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Great Reasons To Sell Your Home Today

Like they always say, the only thing constant in this world is change. Everyone goes through different life stages, and you can never tell what happens next. You’re never really stable in one place.

Regardless of if the move is for the good or otherwise, some situations call for the need to let go of your house. Whether it’s the right time to put it on the market list, that’s another story. Fortunately, it’s your lucky day!

Primary Reasons For Selling Your House

While most people would talk about buying their dream house all the time, here you are contemplating about disposing of it. There can be a myriad of reasons for wanting to move out of the house for good and eventually sell it, whether you like it or not.

Some of these are presented below. If you ever decide to push through with it, you can contact Cream City Homebuyers in Milwaukee, or look for other reputable companies.

• Upgrade

If you’ve been residing in the old house for a long time, eventually, you’ll need to move to a larger place for your growing family. Disposing of your property to be able to buy a larger one seemed to be the only viable option if renovation or extension would be either impractical or impossible.

You may also decide to do this after you’ve eventually earned more money that you want to treat yourself and the family a new house. It could also be that your preference has changed as you become more affluent.

• New job or assignment

Whether you need to be assigned somewhere else or be on the constant move and practically live in hotels, leaving behind your house with no one to stay would be impractical. You have to consider the maintenance and the property tax you need to take care of without getting anything out of it.

• New relationship or to be with family

Finally deciding to have a family of your own or be with your family might force you to give up your own house for practical reasons. You will need to either raise funds to buy a new home or to

raise your future family.

• Bad memories

Death in the family, breakup, or it’s just that all the unfortunate events in your life happened in that house that you’ll want to get away with all the memories. You can never be blamed for wanting a new environment and starting anew, right?

If you’re from New York and looking for a buyer who will take your house as-is, bad memories and all, companies like Leave The Key Homebuyers can take care of that.

• Avoiding costly maintenance and improvement

When you are having a hard time making both ends meet, cutting down one of the problems to the root may seem to be a practical move. By selling your home to raise funds that you could use to either buy a smaller or cheaper house, you’ll free yourself of the significant burden and live comfortably.

• Can no longer keep up with the status

Keeping up and rubbing elbows with the rich and famous can be beneficial in feeding ego. However, when your pocket cannot keep up with the social status you try so hard to maintain, it’s time to walk away and move to another place where you can freely live within your means.

Why Now is the Right Time?

Consider the following factors why you should do it now:

1. Real estate properties are selling like hotcakes.

There’s something to be said about seizing the opportunity. Selling your property now will give you the upper hand since the demand is very high and the supply is very low.

2. Cheaper houses are more saleable

According to Zillow, the median home value in the USA stands at $231,700 as of October 2019. This means that if your house’s value is around this figure, there’s a high chance that it might not stay in the market for long. It’s because that’s the kind of house that the majority of the home buyers can afford.

3. Low mortgage rates

Currently, the mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage falls below the 4% mark. Based on the historical record, homebuyers tend to surge in numbers when the interest rate is very low, which is understandable.

4. The sudden influx of young buyers

People who are already wealthy before they even reach 30 years old are so prevalent that they affect the decision of homeowners to sell their properties. And why not?

Millennials nowadays have a lot of tools to earn money, be it vlogging, gaming, online selling, etc. Of course, don’t forget the yuppies and the celebrities. At the rate things are going, they can already buy their dream house sooner than you think.

Parting Words

Deciding to sell your house is never really about what you can gain per se. It’s more about deciding what’s best for your life at the moment.

It’s unlike a buy-and-sell car business where you purchase a pre-owned vehicle; you make some improvements, add markup and dispose of. Your house is different as it represents your life and your life’s work, your family, and the memories that come with it.

But if you can solve all your woes and profit from it at the same time, wouldn’t you want to throw your single stone to hit two birds at the same time?