The 70% Rule The 70 percent rule states that an investor should pay 70 percent of the After Repair Value (ARV)of a property minus the repairs needed.  If a home’s ARV is $150,000 and it needs $25,000 in repairs, then the 70 percent rule states an investor should pay $80,000 for the home.  $150,000 x 70% = 105,000 – $25,000 = $80,000.  Buying a house for $80,000 that will be worth $150,000 may seem like an awesome deal, but you have to remember all the costs involved in a fix and flip. Profits from flipping real estate come from either buying low and selling high, or buying a house ..read more

Premiere Stagers & Realty received a phone call from a condo owner asking about my staging services for her property that had been on the market for 52 days.  I viewed the condo with her realtor later that day.  The realtor told me he had never used a home stager nor recommended a home stager in the 19 years he was a realtor.  My first thought was there had to be client properties that sat longer or had their prices reduced through those years.  Statistics show staged properties sell faster and for more money than un-staged properties.  Granted, not every property should be st ..read more

What is an Ice Dam? An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas. While frozen, the snow and ice on the roof are no more trouble than the icicles that hang down. But during the warmer parts of a winter day, water melting off the roof pools behind the ice, then seeps back up under the shingles. Sometimes water can work its way 5 – 10 ft back up under the shingles. Eventually, it dr ..read more

Sometimes it takes time away from the usual to see the unusual.  On a recent cruise (Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas), I was struck by the beauty of the ship.  American architect Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) coined the phrase  form follows function. This means that the purpose of a building (or object) should be the starting point for its design.   While the Oasis of the Seas was built to carry over 6,400 passengers and 2,000 crew members, a lot of design elements were added to make cruising more elegant, beautiful, and efficient. Natural Art Art can be found in a multitude of p ..read more