Andre's Blog

Have you ever judged a book by its cover? Or, have you, in a frenzied state at the movie store, with no time to kill, grabbed what turned out to be a very bad movie because the cover was, well, pretty. Although many of us might like to think we are above such biased judgment calls, in all likelihood, most all of us have judged something according to what has been presented on the outside. This phenomenon, holds true for prospective buyers looking at houses, as well. A large percentage of home buyers will decide whether or not they want to view a home, based on its curb appeal- the outside attractiveness that can hook a buyers attention.


Consider that with the advent and now prolific use of the internet everywhere and within the world of real estate, buyers are presented with a wide scope of choice and information. The information that they put the bulk of their faith in, statistically, are photos. So, as well as having good quality photos of your house, consider the importance of curb appeal as one of the first elements that will peak interest in your property. Secondly, consider that if interest is not peaked a first time, there is little, to no chance, that the buyer in question will choose to view your property at all. Like a shopper bombarded with a million product choices in the super market, something with an appealing package may catch their eye, over the product that has superior quality. We do make judgments based on packaging, especially under stress.


So, after that little diatribe, you are hopefully convinced of the value of curb appeal when selling your home. Now, we can get into the nitty gritty details on how you can create an appealing curb. There are some questions to ask yourself. Better yet, ask yourself, and then ask a friend to give you their opinion. Of course, don't let their answer disturb your friendship-an honest response may help you sell and perhaps fetch top dollar for your property.


1. What is the first impression of your house and yard?


2. Look at specific features and make a list of the good ones.


3. Look again, and make a list of the worst exterior features.


Enhancing curb appeal, without a major overhaul is based on the enhancement of the good stuff and the minimization or improvement of what is not-so-good.


Begin first with what is challenging- in this case those features that are not so attractive. But, before jumping into elements that may involve some project work, start first with anything that needs a good-old-fashioned clean up. Perhaps some of those negative features, just need a coat of paint or a pressure wash. Here are some ideas.


- Clean gutters and windows.


- Kill mold and mildew on the roof, house, sidewalks and driveway.


- Paint the exterior of your house an attractive color. Consult your surrounding neighborhood to see what works.


- Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.


- Edge sidewalks.


- Remove vegetation growing between concrete or bricks.


- Trim trees or plant limbs that are touching or near your home. Greenery should showcase your home, not hide it.


- Attend to all sides of your house, including the rear. Buyers do look everywhere!


Once you have generally cleaned up, look again and consider some landscaping decisions. As with interior home staging, the attractiveness of an un-cluttered interior holds true for the exterior of a home as well. Begin first with removing what landscaping elements seem to be cluttering others that needs to shine. Most buyers, have a hard time visualizing changes. But take note that buyers who can visualize necessary changes may well come to you with an undesirably low offer.Your own foresight and curb appeal work will attract buyers, and fend off low offers.


Here are some tips to consider for appealing landscaping:


- Shrubs generally work best when they anchor the corners of a house.


- A tree should function for protection or as an accent. Trees are most appealing when they to not disturb the line of sight.


- Frame the greeting area or front door with flowering plants and low shrubs.


- Stone and rock and can be used cosmetically to add a look of durability to your home.


In creating curb appeal, always consider the importance of the entranceway. Visual attractiveness is based on creating a focal point, and that point is usually the entranceway of a house. Door color should match the accent color of your home. A door that is colorful can be friendly and inviting, but make sure it is not shockingly bright. A second focal point is good, when it serves to lead the eye along a path to the entranceway. A garden bench or arbor are good secondary focal points.


What we have outlined in this article are smaller, more manageable projects you can do yourself to enhance the curb appeal of your home. If it seems like your home requires more than you can manage yourself, hire a professional who can write up a detailed. plan. Either way, do not neglect the power of packaging as you prepare your house for a competitive market.


When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless! Miami's Best REALTOR® Team, The Keyes Company, 305-396-9106. MiamiBestTeam@AOL.com. www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

In the present-day real estate market, becoming knowledgeable buyer you can get more bang for your buck, not just in price but gaining an asset that will appreciate overtime.

Following are five important things that you should know and perform prior to buying your first or second home:

Understand How the Purchase Would Impact On Your Family Budget and Taxes

There are various tax benefits for homeowners, for instance deduction of loan points and mortgage interest on certain occasions. Confirm with your accountant or tax consultant to ensure that you know them. You must understand the outcomes on your budget and taxes prior to buying the home. The tax regulations get amended regularly, hence you should receive up-to-date details. Try to find out how your new mortgage payment would affect your family budget. It might be essential for you to change your spending habits for the purpose of adjusting.

Understand What Influences the Value of Homes

Real estate is an important investment. Localities vary and circumstances vary. People shift more often now than what they used to previously. One of the most significant factors that influences a home's value is location. Other elements that you should take into account are the maintenance of the locality, size of the home, proximity of schools, parks and convenience stores to the home, future investment prospects, history of natural calamities and others.

Perform a Professional Home Inspection

In certain cases, it is known as "Whole House Inspection". It might be mentioned in your offer that the offer price is dependent on the productive outcomes of the home inspection. If a fault is identified by the inspector, the seller has to repair it or you can carry out negotiations for a reduction/adjustment in price. In case the seller is not willing to do it, you don't need to go forward with the deal. You can also buy a home warranty. Your real estate agent can help you out.

Understand Your Choices for Financing

A full service Realtor can provide a one stop shopping experience or recommend the names of mortgage loan professionals and lenders in your locality. They can help you ascertain how much mortgage you can afford. This helps you save time. There are various loan programs. You should talk about your requirements and goals with your Realtor or a mortgage professional. Analyze the loans and rates available in your neighborhood and on the basis of your current debt and income, find out the amount of mortgage you can afford. Things you should take into account are the following:

* Government-sponsored loan programs
* First time buyers programs
* Locking in the rate of interest
* Down payment options
* Direct payment options
* Length of escrow


Know What a Buyer's Agent Does

The buyer's agent is your representative and works for your best interest. When you know the means through which a buyer's agent can assist you, a dependable buyer's agent can work as an outstanding resource in your home buying process. He would furnish you with a Buyers Representation Agreement that distinctly delineates what he would do and how he would represent you. Usually, they would not ask for any payment from you since they are remunerated from the seller's commission. Consult your Realtor if needed.

You shouldn't go for buying a home without knowing the truth. It can cost you a hefty amount.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless! Miami's Best REALTOR® Team, The Keyes Company, 305-396-9106. MiamiBestTeam@AOL.com. www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Current Interest Rates:

Conventional Purchases - 5.5% 30 Yr Fixed ($200K loan, 20% down, 5.65% APR)

FHA Purchases - 5.625% 30 Yr Fixed ($144,750 Base Loan, 3.5% down, 6.3% APR)

Jumbo - Hot! Hot! Hot! 5.0% on 5/1 ARM ($525K Loan, 25% down payment, 4.51% APR)

*** NEW *** Loans For Foreign Buyers

70% Financing up to $1 Million (Higher loan amounts available)

Rates in the Low 7%'s

Full Documentation Required

Can hold title in a Corporation Name

Established Condo's and Townhouses Available up to 65% LTV

NEW Condo's available on Case-by-Case Basis (must have 60% of units already closed)

In The News:

U.S. 30-Year Mortgage Rate Dropped on Monday

Thomson Reuters, By Julie Haviv

June 15, 2009

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.52 percent late Monday after hovering at 5.67 percent on Friday, according to real estate Website Zillow.com.

That is down sharply from a week earlier when the mortgage rate was around 5.72 percent, according to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace.

The lower rates reflect a fall in yields on U.S. government bonds, which are linked to the mortgage market.

The rate, however, is sharply higher than the roughly 5.00 percent level seen at the end of May and at the beginning of this year, Zillow said.

The move higher in mortgage rates recently collapsed home loan refinancing activity.

The worst of the U.S. housing market's meltdown, however, may be over.

Michelle Meyer, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York, said the housing market's deep recession has started to bottom with a leveling off in home sales.

Builders have slashed construction, so that inventory of new single-family homes is falling at a record pace, with starts at or close to the bottom, she said in research published Friday.

The last element to bottom probably will be home prices, with national home prices expected to fall a cumulative 40 percent from the peak through the second half of 2010, she said.

The battered U.S. housing market, which is in the midst of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, is both the source of and a major casualty of the credit crisis.

A setback for the market could hamper a turnaround of the U.S. economy.

With 84% of past homebuyers saying they prefer a one-stop shopping experience, we have already positioned ourselves to succeed. It's a competitive advantage we can certainly leverage to close more deals.

You can always count on The Keyes Company&Miami Best Realtor Team to provide the best possible service. We'll be there for you in all the ways that count. 

"Viva Miami"

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DAVENPORT, Fla. - June 3, 2009 - When Joe Isserles moved his wife and four sons, one of whom is comatose, into a rental home in Davenport earlier this year, the landlord failed to mention that the house was in the final stages of foreclosure.

Shortly after they paid $1,200 rent for April, there was a knock on the door.

"It was a representative from Coldwell Banker representing Chase Bank, saying the bank took over the loan because the homeowners hadn't paid the mortgage in a year," Isserles said. "The next morning, the sheriff showed up to padlock us out."

The Isserleses are among countless renters across the region and the country who have become unwitting victims of foreclosure - paying rent to landlords who pocket the rent money rather than use it to pay the mortgage. The houses go into foreclosure, and evicted tenants are left scrambling for a home.

No one has tracked the number of renters affected by the continuing wave of foreclosures, but research companies such as RealtyTrac Inc. and other groups estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of all foreclosed homes are not occupied by the owner. Some of those may be vacant or seasonal, but many are likely rentals. And experts say the proportion is likely higher in Florida, which also has one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates.

The state is home to one of every six loan defaults in the country, according to California-based RealtyTrac, with 119,200 foreclosure-related court filings during the first quarter alone.

"Renters are losing their homes," said Dean Preston, executive director of Tenants Together, a nonprofit group that represents California renters. Florida has no such organization. "They may not be as sympathetic of victims as homeowners, because they are not losing equity. But they are generally paying rent, losing deposits, forced out on short notice and treated unfairly by banks."

Unpleasant surprise

Unlike defaulting homeowners, renters don't see the eviction notices coming. Muffet Robinson, spokeswoman for the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, said she returned one day last year to the Seminole County condominium unit she was renting only to find a foreclosure notice on the door. She learned that, even though she was paying her full rent on time, the landlord had not used it to pay the mortgage.

"I didn't really understand that, because that didn't really seem honest to me," said Robinson, who struggled to find another apartment on short notice. "It's hard enough to move when you're planning on it."

Picking up and moving quickly can be particularly difficult for a family such as the Isserleses. Tristen Isserles has been comatose since nearly drowning in a swimming-pool accident in September 2007, when he was 14 months old. Taking him to Easter Sunday church services required briefly unhooking him from ventilators, loading him in the family's sport utility vehicle and carting him into the congregation in a Radio Flyer-style wagon.

To permanently relocate him and all the medical equipment he needs to survive is even more challenging. When his parents were not working jobs as a resort concierge and a time-share marketer, they were scouring neighborhoods from Davenport north to Clermont to find another place.

The upheaval could have been avoided if the landlord had told them the bank was about to take ownership of the house, Maria Isserles said.

"They were already in the final stages of foreclosure when they rented the house," she said. "I couldn't imagine somebody being so cold and heartless. ... How can you do this to a family with a sick child?"

The landlord, Alfred Sundar, said in a telephone interview that he knew he had defaulted on the loan but thought he had reached a settlement with the bank that would allow him to keep the rental house.

"I submitted all of the paperwork to the bank, and the bank said it was going to work with me, that I would pay $1,440 a month," said Sundar, who drives a shuttle bus at Orlando International Airport. "And when I received a letter in the mail that the house was sold, I was shocked."

He said he has a daughter with severe medical conditions and understands somewhat the plight of his tenants.

"If I knew the bank wouldn't work with me, I would have never rented it to them," he said of the Isserles family.

Some compensation

The Coldwell Banker agent who first knocked on the Isserleses' front door to ask them to leave said the family's plight was unfortunate but noted that the bank is giving them six weeks to relocate instead of the 48-hour notice many renters get. And the family is getting compensated for being forced out.

Joe Isserles said the bank offered him $1,500 to leave the house, in an arrangement known in the mortgage business as "cash for keys." After explaining that he and his wife had invested time and money cleaning and painting the rental, he was able to get $3,400. But they must be gone by Monday.

Unlike states such as New York and California, Florida has few laws to protect renters' rights. Relief may be on the way, however, in the form of a new federal law passed earlier this month by Congress.

Effective immediately, tenants who pay rent on time can remain in their homes until their lease ends plus an additional 90 days - unless the bank sells the property to someone who intends to reside in it. Even without a lease, a renter may stay in a house for as long as 90 days after the foreclosure is complete, though that provision in the law is set to expire at the end of 2012.

"Really, it's the first major piece of legislation that protects renters from foreclosure," said Taylor Materio, spokeswoman for the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The Isserles family, meanwhile, has found another home nearby where it can relocate. This time, Joe Isserles said, he did the homework to make sure the family wouldn't get another unwanted knock on the door.

Copyright © 2009, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Mary Shanklin. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

There is a growing belief among financial experts that the recession is finally over.

While watching "Good Morning America" yesterday Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said that she agrees with the conclusion Barry Knapp, a strategist at Barclays Capital, recently wrote that the economy appears "to be in the sweet spot of a recovery" and that the recession may have ended last month, according to Bloomberg News..

"It isn't any brilliant prescience on mine or anybody else's part," Sonders said. "There are certain indicators we can look at to set the turn, and I think we have seen that turn."

While the jury may still be out on this one, there is good news in South Florida housing with signs of a robust market.

It wasn't too long ago that the South Florida housing market was one of the hottest in the country. Developers, seasoned and novice investors rushed to cash in on what was believed to be a gold mine. Home values shot up 75% over three years, and some of the most desirable addresses doubled in price.

The market peaked in late 2005, and soon after just about anything associated with housing in South Florida came tumbling down.

As foreclosures soared, South Florida housing prices fell an average of 36%. The foreclosure rate hit 8.9% in February, up from 3.8% a year ago, according to First American CoreLogic. That compares to 1.7% for the rest of the country. Sales ground to a standstill.

But in recent months, low prices and low interest rates have been luring buyers. First-timers are finally finding homes they can afford, while investors say that for the first time in years they can negotiate deals that make sense.

The sales numbers are dramatic. In February alone, condo purchases skyrocketed 71% from a year earlier, while home sales soared 68%, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

People are astonished when they learn my team is busier than ever.

What's driving the spike is rock bottom prices on foreclosed homes, lower interest rates and a new $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers? Homebuyers once priced out of the market are now filled with excitement that they can get a great deal in Miami real estate.

Take Patrick and Shakel Stewart. First time homebuyers forced to rent after being priced out of the South Florida market where able to take advantage of the dramatic reduction in prices and purchase a 3 bedroom 2 bath foreclosure on a huge lot in Biscayne Gardens for $91,000. Nearly one-third of the price it sold for in 2007.

"Who could've imagined this day would come. It was such a great opportunity" said Patrick. "My dollar is definitely worth a lot more in this recession.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless! Andre'Shambley&Miami's Best REALTOR® Team, The Keyes Company, 305-396-9106. MiamiBestTeam@AOL.com. www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance or looking for a better rate? For your complimentary rate quote visit Jacinta Shambley, APEX Lending, Inc. JShambley@ApexLending.com. www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Sales of existing single-family homes surged again in South Florida last month, jumping by 101 percent in Miami-Dade County and 47 percent in Broward, as the triple draw of low interest rates, tumbling prices and a new $8,000 first-time-homeowner tax credit lured in buyers.

March was the eighth consecutive month in which the number of homes sold grew over the year-ago-period in both counties, according to monthly numbers from the Florida Association of Realtors. Sales of condominiums rose by 59 percent in Miami-Dade and 28 percent in Broward.

South Florida's sales increases eclipsed the nation as a whole -- nationally, resales fell by 7 percent compared with last year, and 3 percent from February. Sales growth in South Florida also outpaced the state.

Though prices continue to fall by double-digit percentages, the new momentum underscores growing confidence among South Florida buyers who believe prices and the available housing options may not get much better. Roughly 40 percent of homes on the market are foreclosures and other distressed properties that are selling at big discounts.

Davis Pagan and his wife Lesli, of San Diego, are currently in Miami for 10 days of house hunting. The couple, who plan to move to South Florida within the next two months, decided against renting, fearing that if they waited a great opportunity could pass them by.

''There is always a chance the market could change in six months, so we are buying now,'' said Pagan, 33, who works for the Coast Guard and is being transferred to Miami in June. ``Our lender told us they could lock us in at 4.8 percent.''

In Miami-Dade, the March median home price slipped to $205,600, a 39 percent drop from March 2008. The median condo price fell 43 percent to $151,000.

The median selling price for a single-family home in Broward County fell 30 percent to $219,500. The median condo price fell 40 percent to $82,100.

In the state as a whole, the median home price fell 30 percent in March to $141,300 and dropped 37 percent for condos to $108,800.

It is unlikely home prices will see a turnaround anytime soon because thousands of homes hat remain on the market. In both counties, roughly 61,000 homes and condos were for sale. In March, a total of 2,546 properties changed hands.

An abundance of foreclosures and other distressed property sales also will continue putting downward pressure on pricing, analysts said.

Last month, 62 percent of closings were distressed sales, according to Ron Shuffield, a Coral Gables-based real estate analyst and president of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Realtors. That drove down median prices -- the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less -- in both counties.

While the median price for houses rose marginally between February and March, analysts say several months of sustained appreciation are needed to indicate a lasting trend rather than a market blip.

Dramatic price declines erode the personal wealth of homeowners, but they also make homeownership affordable for thousands of new buyers.

The Pagans, for instance, said they were looking for a house in the $300,000 to $350,000 range, which puts more than half of the homes in Miami-Dade and Broward within their reach.

Pagan said that compared to San Diego, also considered a highly desirable market, Miami prices were a great bargain. He echoed the attitudes of foreign buyers and others from outside the area who now find South Florida prices enticing compared to those in other top domestic locales.

''Even outside of [San Diego], foreclosures are still selling for $400,000,'' Pagan said.

About 30 percent of the homes for sale in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are listed for less than $100,000.

''We are now comparing very, very favorably with most every city across the U.S. when you compare our median income to median home price,'' Shuffield said.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless! Andre'Shambley&Miami's Best REALTOR® Team, The Keyes Company, 305-788-6643. AndreShambley@AOL.com,
http://www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance or looking for a better rate? For your complimentary rate quote visit Jacinta Shambley, APEX Lending, Inc. JShambley@APEXLending.com . http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

It looks like a house you'd order from Ikea. It sounds like a house designed by Apple. The I-House just might be the future - well, one future, anyway - of the housing market.

Clayton Homes, based in Maryville, Tenn., is one of America's largest manufacturers of mobile homes and prefabricated housing. So when President Kevin Clayton wanted to go green, he gave his architects a free hand, instructing them to incorporate as many green products as possible and to produce a home that was super energy-efficient - the only constraint was that it had to be something that could be built in existing facilities.

The result was the Clayton I-House (view Clayton's online tour of it here), an innovative prefab home that can be powered for a dollar a day, thanks to Low-E windows, solar augmentation, high-efficiency appliances and superior insulation. The solar panels on the roof don't supply all the home's needs, but they do cut electricity consumption in half. There's also a tankless water heater and a cistern that collects rainwater from the roof for use in gardening, car washing or other outdoor uses. Floors are made of fast-growing bamboo, and paint and insulation are low- or zero-emission.

The basic I-House is 992 square feet, though the design's blend of indoor and outdoor space makes it seem bigger. Though final prices haven't been set, Clayton hopes to deliver it for about $100,000. But the "core" unit can be expanded by adding additional rooms in different configurations to suit the buyer's needs and the character of the lot - placing rooms above one another to accommodate, for example, a hillside. Clayton Vice President Chris Nicely says the goal is to allow as much customization - both in configuration and interiors - as possible. It can be set on a traditional foundation, for example, or it can sit on piers driven into the ground.

As innovative as the energy and environmental features are, though, it's the design that draws attention. As Popular Mechanics toured a display model near the Knoxville airport, people were stopping in to look it over. "I'm not a mobile-home kind of guy," one man said, "but I could see living in this." That's the idea.

The Clayton folks see the typical customer for the I-House as being younger and more affluent than traditional mobile-home buyers. The interior and exterior are attractive, looking like something from a high-end home show, not the kind of disposable mobile home you'd see coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The house more closely resembles a product that you might buy from Ikea. In fact, it is a house you might buy from Ikea: Kevin Clayton is a fan of the Scandinavian furniture company, and Clayton Homes is exploring a partnership with Ikea that would feature display models at Ikea stores and even allow people to design and order their own I-Houses from the Ikea Web site. (Clayton's own Web site will allow this in a few months, via a build-your-own I-House feature. They'll even let you visit the factory while it's built.)

So where does the I-House fit in to the troubled times of the current housing market? Well, obviously, it's not for everyone; even with several expansion modules added, large families will probably find it a bit small. But with big, expensive houses looking less attractive as investments - since their values are actually plummeting in many markets - and with energy costs virtually certain to climb in coming years, the market for a small but stylish house that has lots of high-end amenities with a low energy bill is likely to be pretty big. And if you're like a lot of Americans, you spend most of your time in a couple of rooms anyway, regardless of how many rooms your house has.

But the I-House's impact is likely to go beyond this particular home. What was learned in the process of designing and building this energy-efficient home has fed back into the rest of Clayton Homes' product line, Nicely says. An ordinary mobile home that gets much lower energy bills may not be as exciting as the I-House, but multiplied by millions, it's likely to have an impact. And the strong interest in the I-House's look and "green" character is also likely to encourage other builders - including the makers of traditional site-built homes - to add green features as well.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless!Andre'Shambley & Miami's Best REALTOR®Team, The Keyes Company, 305-788-6643.  AndreShambley@AOL.com,  http://www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com     Ready to refinance or looking for a better rate?  For your complimentary rate quote visit Jacinta Shambley, APEX Lending, Inc.  JShambley@APEXLending.com . http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com        

Going house hunting can be maddening from just about any perspective. Much of the stress and frustration comes from trying to find the perfect home.

The perfect home. That dream property you plan to settle into for years and raise a family Ah, how magical life will be. Screeetch. You've started looking for it, but can't find it. Welcome to the world of real estate.

If you are searching for the perfect home, you need to put the breaks on your search. It is time for a bit of practical reflection. Your chances of finding the perfect home of your dreams is pretty remote unless you are basing that image on a house you have actually seen. Even if you do stumble across the home, you have to keep in mind that dream homes are often very expensive. Unless you have a significant financing package or cash available, you may be crushed to learn you can't actually afford that perfect home. Whew, where is the depression medication?!

To make house hunting a less stressful task, you need to keep an open mind. The perfect home is probably not out there, but plenty of excellent choices still exist. Your goal should be to define the space you need and work off of that. For instance, consider your life and write out how many bedrooms, bathrooms and other specifics you must have with your new home. When out trolling, stick to the list like it is the word of God.

So long as you stick to your must have list, you can be flexible on other aspects. This gives you the opportunity to turn an average or good home into your dream home. One of the areas you can really upgrade is the yard. An otherwise average home can be made to look much nicer with a major landscaping makeover. Don't believe me? Upgrading landscaping is a common strategy among investors that buy and flip apartment buildings. In fact, this may be the only improvement they make, but it will hundreds of thousands of dollars to the bottom line when they sell. You can do the same thing with your home.

When house hunting, make sure you know exactly what you need as far as space and such. You can be flexible on other aspects of a home and end up with something very nice.

When it comes to choosing professionals to assist you with your real estate needs...Experience is Priceless! Andre'Shambley & Miami's Best REALTOR® Team, The Keyes Company, 305-788-6643. AndreShambley@AOL.com,
http://www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance or looking for a better rate? For your complimentary rate quote visit Jacinta Shambley, APEX Lending, Inc. JShambley@APEXLending.com . http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Scaling back is the new black.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, houses started in the third quarter of 2008 averaged 2,438 square feet, down from 2,629 feet in the previous quarter. That's a whole extra room - poof!

Could you slice 200 square feet out of your living space without too much pain? Probably. But what about downsizing more, perhaps cutting your square feet in half, by moving from a 3,000-square-foot home to one with 1,500 square feet? What would you keep and what would you toss? Where would you even begin?

Maybe the sour economy is pushing you into much smaller digs. Or maybe it's just personal choice. Regardless of the reason, the move can seem daunting. So here are tips from experts - as well as the advice of people who've already downsized - to guide you.

Prepare for your move

Get on board. First and foremost, make sure this is something you and your family are prepared to do, says Matt Niemi, senior writer with Unclutterer, a Web site about living more simply. Niemi and his wife recently downscaled from a 3,000-square-foot Victorian to a 1,900-square-foot home. "You don't want to move into a smaller space and find two months later that you're regretting it," Niemi says. "Maybe you have three kids and two of them have to share a room, and soon it's a disaster." In short: This has to be something everyone's mentally prepared to do.
Give yourself time. After Brian and Colleen Ducey's last child left for college, the Seattle couple made a more dramatic downsize than most: They sold their 2,500-square-foot house in favor of a new, 986-square-foot cottage in architect Ross Chapin's new Greenwood Avenue Cottages development just north of the city line.

Though they had talked about moving for years, the actual purchase was an impulse -and the Duceys say they wished they'd given themselves more time to move. "When you first start thinking about the process of downsizing, that's when you need to start going through your things. We had to go through (belongings) so fast," Colleen Ducey says. "It really was stressful."

How much time should you allow? "Usually plan at least six months ahead," suggests Michael Ivankovich, author of "Home Downsizing in Four Easy Steps."

Know your new home's measurements. One of the most common mistakes when downscaling is that "people don't think about measuring properly" before they move, says Lauri Ward, owner of the New York- and Florida-based decorating and interior design firm Use What You Have, and author of "Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well In a Smaller Space." "Don't just take the floor plan of the new house," Ward says; also get exact measurements of walls, doorways, spaces between windows, "because that's where the furniture goes." Write all these numbers down, she insists, because you won't remember them.
Photograph your furniture.Any furniture that ends up being put in storage should be photographed, with its exact dimensions recorded and then all the pictures placed in a binder or in a computer file. Why? So you know what you have, at your fingertips, says Ward Often, furniture doesn't go straight from one house to another, and it's easy to forget exactly how big things are.
Winnow down your belongings

What to take - and what to leave: Need some not-so-gentle advice about whether to take that La-Z-Boy to the new house? Author Ward has broken down furniture and furnishings into three categories: Always take it, sometimes take it, never take it:

Always take it with you:

Anything that has storage in it.
Pairs of lamps; they add balance.
Ottomans; create cozy spaces.
Armless sofas, or ones with lower arms, to make the room feel more spacious. ("Here's a handy rhyme to help you remember: 'Keep a sofa with chairs, or love seats in pairs,' " says Ward.)
Bookcases; they're visually interesting; they hold lots of stuff, and they can make great room dividers.
Mirrors; they make a places appear brighter and bigger; lean it on a wall opposite good light and a view, and a mirror will reflect both and make a place feel larger.
Furniture on wheels or casters; it adds flexibility.
Nesting tables or furniture that stacks.

Sometimes take it with you:

Love seats.
Small desks or writing tables; they can often be used in a kitchen or a guest room.
Modular seating; it can be reconfigured, or even broken up and used in different rooms.
Throw pillows; if they're in good condition and work well with the color scheme, they can add comfort and a visual interest.
Ceiling fans, so long as they hug the ceiling close.

Never take these with you:

Unloved books.
Extraneous bric-a-brac.
Artwork that's not beloved.
Small, never-used appliances.
Doubles of anything.
Square or rectangular glass coffee tables; they're too bulky, says Ward.
Sofas more than 96 inches in length.
Big plants and potted trees.
Unused pianos or other instruments.
Worn rugs, except expensive Orientals.
Tired stuff: old audio gear, incomplete dishes, old magazines, worn-out bedding, tax records and receipts more than seven years old.

Lighten your emotional load.
Often, experts say, one of the biggest challenges to downsizing is that "emotion is tied up in this stuff," says Barry Izsak, a certified relocation and transition specialist, professional organizer and owner of Austin, Texas,-based ArrangingItAll.com. People can feel guilty about letting some items go -for example, "the rusty toolbox that my Uncle John gave me," says Izsak -thinking it's somehow disrespectful.

How to ease those feelings? Izsak, who's author of "Organizing your Garage in No Time," says one way to cope with these items is to give them to someone you know or to take a picture of them and keep that, instead. "Once (people) do it with one or two things, it gets easier and easier."

Start easy. Why make this harder on yourself? Ease into the winnowing process, says Ivankovich, by starting with rooms that have less sentimental attachment - the bathroom, say, or a guest room - and build momentum from there.
Tackle the obvious: That 10-year pile of National Geographics? That broken VCR? Gone and gone. Work on specific projects until done, to get a sense of reward and completion. "Break this moving task into small, manageable pieces. It's not reasonable to think you're going to tackle 20, 30 years of stuff in a few days," says Izsak.

Appraise what you've got (or get someone else to do it for you). Before you get rid of anything - especially if you've got any sense that some of Aunt Berta's chairs or doilies might be worth something -do a little homework, says Ivankovich, who also is a certified appraiser."Most people don't know what they've got," Ivankovich says. "I think almost every home has certain hidden treasures. The value of that treasure might vary." He cites the example of a relative who let a mover take an old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottle-cap remover from the wall, not realizing that the little item was worth $150 on eBay.

Homeowners can do research on their own using Web search engines or online tools such as Prices For Antiques. But depending on how much stuff you have, it may be worthwhile to hire someone. "It is extremely difficult for most individuals to determine a realistic current market value on each item in an entire house by yourself," Ivankovich says. Appraisers cost $100 to $200 an hour.

Make piles. "When you group like items together, that's a way to see how much stuff you have," Izsak explains. So look at your stuff in groups. "If you've got five frying pans, get rid of the other three," Izsak says. "Keep the best and get rid of the rest."

Think in threes. "Another thing I do is think of groups of three," Izsak says he tells clients. "If you've three pair of tennis shoes, keep one, get rid of two. Three black pants? Keep one, get rid of the other two." And scale it up from there, in multiples of three, to anything, including books and glassware.
What's magic about three? It's arbitrary, he readily admits. "People just need a way, a formula" to think about cutting back, he says.

Niemi's brutal rule of thumb.In moving, editor Niemi says, "There was stuff that we came across that we didn't even know we had. ... The rule of thumb for the boxes and boxes of stuff in our basement (was that) if we didn't see that stuff in the last year, it was gone, pretty much," he says. "You can always say, 'Well, someday I might need this.' But if you haven't used it in the last year, chances are you're not going to use it in the next year."

How to offload your stuff
Getting rid of stuff is a big issue when moving. How to do it best?

Rethink the garage sale.Ivankovich calls garage sales "perhaps the worst option at all." Why? Two reasons: Without knowing it, people frequently sell things at fire-sale prices that are actually quite valuable. And on the flip side, setting up and holding a garage sale takes a huge amount of time, with relatively little payoff, he says.

Consider a tag sale.Ivankovich instead recommends holding a tag sale. That's a garage sale organized at your home by a pro who takes a big cut of the proceeds. You still won't get rid of everything, but the items will be priced closer to what they're really worth, and the hassle will be lifted from you.

Take advantage of Craigslist and Freecycle. Niemi can't say enough about the ease of posting furniture on Craigslist. "We'd put something on it on a Saturday, and we'd have six people calling on us," he says. "We got rid of six or seven items in one weekend." He adds, "The great thing is that you don't have to haul it." Another great resource if you want to get rid of something for free: Freecycle.org. People will practically race to your home to take things off your hands.

Skip the storage unit. Homeowners Brian and Colleen Ducey had so much stuff that they rented two storage pods, for $120 a month total. They soon enough realized they'd never have room for the stuff in their new home. "So we brought it out here, and we opened it up" at the new house, Brian Ducey says. Their discovery? "The stuff inside the pods was not worth $120 a month." They kept a few things, and got rid of the rest.
And the lesson? "If you're gonna commit to downsizing, you have to get rid of stuff," he says. The result is liberating: "After all was said and done, we really felt free."

Moving into the new place
As you make the move, the experts have a few more thoughts to make the transition easier:

Think storage, again. You've already brought to your new, smaller home items like chests that can store other items. But take a good look at your home, before you move in, to see how you can expand its storage possibilities. As decorator and lifelong New Yorker Ward puts it, "Air equals potential storage."

Some examples of where to look:

Closets. Make sure there's a shelf above the clothes bar. Look closer: Is there room for a second shelf, above the first?
Doorways. Can you place a shelf above a doorway for books?

Built-ins. Take advantage of space under stairs, built-in desks, bay windows, etc., by adding shelves and doors, Ward recommends. If possible, do this before you move in; you'll be glad you have a place to put your stuff when you arrive.

Make an extra stop with the moving truck. If you plan on taking anything to a storage facility, or to a son or daughter's house, or even an auction house, you can save lots of money by doing a "double move," says Ivankovich: A mover won't charge much more to make an intermediate stop at that other location, so plan ahead and put that furniture near the moving van's doors. Some planning ahead could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 (6-1/2- to 7-ounce) halibut fillets, about 1 inch thick
3 tablespoons dry white wine (such as chardonnay or pinot gris)
juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon drained capers
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish



Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and pepper.

Preheat a nonstick saute pan over medium high heat until hot, and add the olive oil. Lightly coat the halibut fillets in the seasoned flour and place in the pan. Sear until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Flip the fillets to sear the underside, then transfer them to a baking sheet and place in the oven to finish cooking, about 5 minutes more. The halibut should be just cooked through.

Meanwhile, add the wine and lemon juice to the pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits. Add the garlic and capers and cook the liquid over medium-high heat until reduced by two-thirds. Remove pan from heat and whisk in 5 tablespoons butter to create a creamy, piquant sauce. Taste and whisk in more butter if desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place fillets on two plates and drizzle each with the piccata sauce. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.