House Searching

Recently, I have been actively looking for a house to buy, which means I am paying extra attention on property information, renovation, interior design, furniture and soft furnishing.

I seriously would love to have my house, but it seems like it has gotten too complicated and tedious to me, so much so that it is tiring. 

Finding a good location is hard. Finding a affordable property at a good location is even harder. Finding a affordable good condition property at a good location is almost impossible. 

After month of searching, I notice that a l0t of property are actually selling at a price that is higher than market price, which mean either I am willing to take out more money, or I give up on the house. 

Anyway, I will be on leave this Friday for house searching at Kepong area. Wish me luck and hope that I can finally find a suitable house.

Rest Well, Live Well and Love More

Recreate a spa-like ambiance in your very own bathroom.

When you get back from a tough day at work the last thing that you would want to deal with is a dirty bathroom. Research has also shown that soaking in bathtubs does offer many health benefits, including stress relief, alleviation of sleeping problems, and also lower blood pressure. Immerse yourself in warm water calms internal organs and endocrine system as it stimulates nerves on the spinal cord. If you have never thought of it that way, start thinking. So the next best thing would be to go for a spa. Reality check guys – not everyone can afford spa. So why not recreate a spa-like ambiance.

There are ways that you can tackle the pressures of a weary day. Of course, if you do not have the space and fortune to include a private jacuzzi in your bathroom or not have a bath tub to soak in, there are simple gestures that will enable you to create the ambiance.

When you think of spa, what comes into you mind? You would think of dim lights, relaxing scent and subdued movement. But how can one bring all of these things into your confined space?

The Smell of Paradise

I am talking about aromas. These bottles of essential oils are your best friend when recreating a spa-like ambiance. Whenever you step into a spa you are first greeted in scent – you would not want your bathroom smelling like a landfill or even a fish market- so let the senses invigorate your mind. Scents such as lavender, rose, chamomile and cinnamon are great for your end-of-the-day tensions. It can be applied directly onto the skin before your step in to your tub for a warm soak. For those who are not so fortunate, a spa experience can  still be achieved be combining aromatherapy oils and dried flowers in an organza pouch. Tie this pouch on to your shower head and allow the warm water to pass through the pouch, as the scent would slowly engorge your bathroom. Make sure that the pouch completely covers the shower head for optimum result. Clearly, in every situation there is a solution.

Soft Lighting 

Now that your sense of smell is addressed lets move on to your sight. There is nothing more relaxing than soft, warm glow. If your bathroom is fitted with a dimmer, just dim it down to the finest glow. For those who are not as fortunate, just switch our lights off and place aromatherapy candles in your bathroom.

Fine Tune

Roll up a couple of your towels and tuck them into a basket for a chic touch to the ordinary. Also, scatter rose petals on the floor and bath water. It’s the little things that bring up the mood for a luxurious ambiance. Instead of your used towels, get a classy dressing gown. Place lush greenery by placing a select number of potted plants. Creativity is key.

Art and imagery goes a long way to induce relaxing ambiance. Guess why there is always a picture or painting of some sort in spas and also five star hotels. The tip would be to choose scenes of nature, the seaside or animals to recreate that ambiance.

Source: CreativeHomeX

10 Home Staging Tricks to Help Your Home Sell Quicker

Not that I am going to sell any house now, but in case I do in future, I think this article will be really helpful, which is why I put this here now. For my easy reference in future. XD

Home staging combines the ability to “stage” your home so that it is visually and aesthetically appealing to a home buyer.  If you’re in the process, or thinking of selling your home, there are several staging tricks that professionals use. It is a proven fact that homes that are staged will sell quicker than those that are not. Follow these 10 home staging tricks and get confident that your home will sell in no time at all!

1.) Create curb appeal: Before buyers set foot in your home, they will first see the exterior of your home.  Keep the lawn, landscaping, driveway and walkways neatly manicured. Ensure the front entry and front door are inviting, and consider placing flowers and a fresh door mat to welcome in perspective buyers. Many home owners will hire a yard service while their home is on the market to keep it looking great at all times.

2.) Purge: If you don’t immediately need it then throw it away, donate, sell or pack it up.  Your home needs to have the minimum amount of furnishings and belongings as possible, but still look livable.  Since you are moving in the near future, how about starting to pack up boxes and place them in the garage or storage unit?

3.) Clean: When you have out-of-town guests come to stay with you, do you clean beyond the ‘normal’ clean? I hope so! This is the amount of clean needed in your home on a regular basis. If you know you will have a showing of your home, clean the day before. The cleaning odors will be gone by the following day. Don’t give a buyer a reason to think your home is dirty.

4.) Bring in light: Open all windows treatments and makes sure windows are clean. Swap out heavier drapery for lighter weight fabrics.  For rooms that are too bright, use sheers that will diffuse light and cast a glow into your space.

5.) Unify your home with color: As you walk through your home, take note of the color schemes as you transition from room to room.  If the living room is blue, and the bedrooms are pink and green, you’re visually chopping up the house.  This will make it feel smaller and less unified.  Opt for more neutral tones – maybe a less saturated version of the blue, pink and green.  If you’re unsure on colors – use warm camel, beiges, grays and warm whites to unify and enlarge the rooms.

6) Appeal to their senses: Home buying is an emotional process, so appeal to their senses when staging your home. Soft music playing when perspective buyers enter your home is inviting and welcomed.  The smell of fresh baked cookies (make the night before and pop in microwave quickly before guests arrive) always warms up a buyer.  Soft throw blankets across a reading chair and soft hand towels in the bathrooms will appeal to their sense of touch and will add coziness to your home.

7.) Leave the house ready for an offer: This simply means every time you walk out the door your home should look like a buyer would want to make an offer on it, that day. Once your home is on the market, live as if a Realtor could call you any minute to show your home. This idea isn’t far from reality! Teach older kids about picking up after themselves during your home being on the market. Each member of the family will have to do less each day, if everyone helps keep it tidy and clean.

8.) Remove personalized belongings: Let your perspective buyers’ picture themselves in your home.  To do this, your personal family photographs, children’s artwork on the refrigerator, and collections should be removed.  Don’t give the buyer a chance to form an opinion of your home based on your taste and personalized belongings.  Let them savor your home for its characteristics and not your stuff!

9.) Be ready for evening showings of your home: With busy schedules, often times Realtors will show your home in the evening.  This means lighting needs to be inviting in each area of your home.  Walk through your home in the evening and see if there are dark, unlit spaces and address them with a table lamp, sconce, or overhead light source.

10.) Be positive: This is a ‘trick’ because with all the doom and gloom news about the housing market there is still a bright side. The bright side is the housing market is showing improvement and you are going to shine above the competition with your staging tricks.  Your confidence will show in your home and an offer will come sooner than you expect.

Home staging can be done by a professional or by you and your family. Whichever you choose, believe that this is a worthwhile investment of time, energy and/or money to sell your home.  Once you use these 10 tricks for staging your home, you will already be searching for your next home.

Source: freshome

Update Your Bathroom For Under RM200

Shower Curtains
You would be surprised how changing something so simple can make a whole lot of difference. Depending on the colour or ambiance of the bathroom you can just pick a shade that stands out to create that dramatic alteration. Also use it with unique shower hooks.

Paint
Paint your bathroom with a fresh coat of paint. Rather than having your tiles decide the colour of your space, your choice of paints can also be very effective in creating the mood. For example, if your tiles are lime green, paint the walls with pale yellow or a deeper shade of green would work just as well. If your bathroom has black or white tiles, brighten it up with a coat of olive green or deep purple for more dimensions.

Go Green
Do not be afraid to add some plants in your bathroom. It can add warmth and life to a place. Flowers are also a fantastic way to breathe life into a boring bathroom. Try using a simple case with a bloom or two for a more lavish appeal.

Mirror
If you are using a basic mirror in the bathroom, you would probably want to jazz it up a notch or two. Choose a preferred trimming to fit around the mirror as a frame to paint it. However, if it already has a coat of paint – add some decorations of your choice to make the difference.

New Towels
Buy washcloths or hand towels in new colours that complement your existing palette. You can opt to roll them up and stuff them into transparent boxes or simply arranging them on your shelf. Try incorporating bold colours with simpler shades to create a ‘pop’ effect.

Accessories
Decorate your sink top with a selection of miniature soaps in a deep dish. Or you could consider arranging selected scented or unscented candles in your favorite colour on your shelf or next to the bathtub. Another tip would be that if you often travel and you find yourself overflowing with sample sized toiletries consider allocating a glass bowl for your guest.

The below email was sent 10 minutes ago to Miss Joanne and cc to PIC of Customer Service Department, Sales & Marketing Department, Investor Relations Department, and also HQ.

I wished to cc to the Director of the company as well, so that he would know that this is the kind of service given by his staff.

No wonder that the reputation of LBS has been dropping like nobody business.

If he doesn't do anything, I do not think that his company will get anywhere further.

Not that I have anything against LBS previously, but sadly, now I do.

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Dear Joanne,

As spoken, we hope you will understand that it is very difficult for us to trace back the receipt for December rental especially that it has been FOUR months since we moved out from Bayu Puteri, B-17-11.

We hope you still remember that we did not received any official letter from LBS informing us that the house is selling and the last month rental will be contra, and thus we bank in the rental and I have email the receipt to you in Mid December. After speaking to you, I tried to trace back the receipt through the online banking account. Unfortunately, I couldn't do so as the transaction history is only kept up to 2 months.

Mind you that it will be very unreasonable for us to get back RM2420 instead of RM3820. Therefore, I hope that you can try to check with Account Department again on the payment. If Account Department also insists that we did not make our payment, we hope that evidence can be provided from LBS.

Despite everything above, please take note that my housemates and I are starting to lose our patience after continuously waiting for our deposit for more than FOUR months. It might be a small amount for your company, but it meant a lot to all of us. To be honest, it is overly
ridiculous for an established company like LBS to take more than FOUR months to disburse a cheque. And so, I wish that you can bank in the cheque of RM2420 to me by this week.

Otherwise, we are forced to bring both of these matters to the media and also to take legal action, based on our contract with LBS.

I hope you will take this seriously. Please call me if you need any further clarification.

Thank you and have a nice day.

Regards,

Kimmie @ Li Yun
B-17-11
Bayu Puteri

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Moral of the stories: Don't mess with woman who is losing her patience and having cramp.