Valentine’s Day is around the corner and, for some people, this is a wonderful time. For others, the chocolate, stuffed teddy bears, and wine displays can be an irritation. But, on top of all that, don’t be discouraged by the look or condition of your house. If you’re not in love with how your home feels or looks, this may be the perfect time to make some changes before the busy summer season rolls in.

These changes could be major house upgrades or simple fixes that make you eager to return home after work. Your house should be a place of comfort and happiness. If your house feels drab and you haven’t updated anything in a while, here are a few easy and inexpensive ways to give your home a facelift.

Paint the Walls
Sometimes all a house needs is a fresh coat of paint and a new burst of color to really make a difference. Try experimenting with new colors in the rooms that get the most traffic: entryway, living room, or kitchen. Maybe a light yellow would brighten up the kitchen or sky blue for the bathroom. If you’re having a difficult time imagining other colors on your wall, download the Sherwin Williams ColorSnap app. It allows you to test different colors on your walls through your phone.

Kitchen Facelift
Families typically spend the most time in the kitchen. Being the most-used room in the house, it won’t take long for dirt to build up, colors to fade, and cabinet knobs to fall off. If you need to save money, try painting the cabinets, rather than buying new ones. Change and match all of the knobs. Replace your backsplash with a new, pretty tile. Reorganize your cabinet and appliances. Throw away those plastic containers that don’t have matching lids and store the items you don’t use often away in the pantry to clear up some space.

Upgrade Your Wall Décor
Matching the photo frames, especially the ones that are next to each other, can make a big difference. If you don’t already have a picture wall or hallway, start drawing the layout and plan what photos and frames to use. Some artwork may go out of style. Sell or give away the old artwork and try giving your walls some texture with objects and open shelves.

Redo the Bathroom
If you dread getting ready in the morning, maybe it’s time to update your bathroom. Reorganize your cabinets by throwing away the old and mostly-empty shampoo bottles and Q-tip boxes. Get small storage crates and organize by types of items. Maybe it’s time to get a new set of towels and a matching shower curtain. Or you can experiment with paint colors and create a two-toned look.

Improve Your Curb Appeal
Instead of buying a brand new front door, give it a fresh coat of paint! Find sturdy, new house numbers to put on the siding or, if your house is not in an HOA, update the mailbox. Maybe you’ve always wanted flower boxes on the windows and it’s time to make a Lowe’s run.

Add Fresh Flowers or Scents
Nothing makes a home feel more cozy and clean than a vase of fresh flowers on the dining room table and candles burning in the rooms. Get new scents for every season and match your hand soap and lotions to the candle scents to complete the feel.

Before you get to work, however, make a list of wants and set your priorities. You may not be able to do all of the upgrades at once. Maybe the walls desperately need a fresh coat of paint because they’ve been the same color since you moved in. Put that to the top of your list and worry about the door knobs later.

We hope these tips gave you inspiration to make easy, real changes to your home. Every house is different and every family has different priorities. Make upgrades according to what you believe is best for you and your family!


Questions? Comments? Reach out to your First International Title rep today!

Even though the holidays have passed and it’s time to take down the Christmas tree and lights, there are still so many ways to decorate your home for the winter months ahead. Don’t let go of that decorating energy just because Christmas has passed. You can still make your home feel warm and cozy after the holidays are over! Here are some winter decorating tips to get your creative juices flowing to carry you through the cold months.

Winterize Your Wreath
Wreaths are a beautiful and appropriate decoration any time of the year! Switch out your bright, holiday wreath with something a little more bare. You can use bare branches or birch with some snowy trees, or a simple wreath with a few winter flowers.

All About that Pine
Both pine needles and branches paired with pinecones can be a beautiful way to decorate your fireplace mantle or create a new table centerpiece. Pair these with some white pillar candles and you have the perfect balance of winter-cozy. Wrap your candle with sweater cloth to make it feel extra warm!

Cold Weather Colors
Even though it may be time to ditch the red and green, you can simply switch out those colors for a royal blue or purple. Use accents such as dinner napkins, frames, candle sticks, and pillows. This adds the perfect pop of color to your home to get you through the dark and cold winter months.

Use Greenery Instead of Fresh Flowers
Fill metal or white vases with greenery to complete a winter look. You can place these on your tables, mantle, bookshelves, or any open space for décor.

Use Fun Patterns
Mix and match different patterns like checkers and plaid in your living room or bedrooms to create a fun but winter-neutral look. However, some patterns may not work together and all homes are different, so play around with it or do some research for what would look best in your house.

Pair Wood with Bare Branches
Instead of using greenery in your vases, try some bare branches or birch. This would pair well with homes that have a lot of wood accents!

Give Your Pillows a Makeover
This ties into our section about cold weather colors. Exchange out your red or green blankets and pillows with some more neutral colors to match the cold weather outside. Light brown, white, gray or light blue would look really nice and give that cozy feel like everyone wants during winter time.

Add Some Aromatherapy
Grab some winter-scented candles next time you’re at the grocery store. Scents that have musky, sweet, and fresh undertones like amber, rose, lemon, fig, or vanilla gives off a warm and comforting feeling that many people crave during the winter months. You can also use your diffuser with essential oils of the same scents.

Questions? Comments? Reach out to your First International Title rep today!

A driving force in the real estate industry is communication. For a REALTOR®, communication is key, frequently being a liaison between the buyers and sellers, the other agent, the title company, etc. Communication is really the backbone of the Real Estate business and a real estate agent who can communicate clearly and effectively will find success in the industry.

Andrew Siefers is a Licensed Professional Counselor with My Rooted Soul Counseling. He received his Master’s Degree in Counseling from Dallas Baptist University and has a decade of counseling experience in the DFW area. We sat down with Siefers to get some expertise about basic communication skills and how this applies to real estate.

I’s and You’s
One of the first things Siefers mentioned was watch your I’s and You’s. For example if you say, ‘Do you think this is a good idea?’ This can be seen as passive. Instead say, ‘Hey, I think this is a good idea,” which can be seen as more direct, action oriented, and less attacking.

“If I’m taking responsibility for what I control or influence, then I’m not pointing out what I don’t control,” Siefers said. “So many times I think we become disconnected toward clients, because we’re not listening to the control or influence they want us to hear. So, as a professional you may be saying something one way, and the client interprets your words a completely different way. Also, watch your ‘Feel Likes’.”

For example, have you ever known yourself to indicate you are feeling “like”? Individuals express emotions by saying they ‘feel,’ and then it is followed by a feeling word immediately after. If the real estate agent is paying attention to a potential clients feelings at an open house or listing appointment, it gives her the ability to have a deeper connection to that potential future sale represented in the individual they are conversing with. Paying attention to the clients feeling words will help the REALTOR® to interpret the client’s feelings in the right way. Siefers indicates he sends out a free guide explaining emotion words and definitions on his website for those who request the info.

Siefers suggested a practical application for fixing this for yourself. Experiment with how many times one might hear oneself say, “I feel like…” throughout the day. The phrase “I feel like… “ when not followed by a feeling word means “I think…”. Correcting your feel and thinking words will increase your emotional maturity and acuity zeroing in closer to the truth. One can videotape or record herself in a normal conversation and then go back, listen to it, and critique herself on the way she speaks. Or simply try to make a mental note every time she says “feel like” rather than “I think” and make an effort to express the correction out loud. Before long you will be doing great at this.

Emotion Does Not Equal Logic
“A common mistake a REALTOR® may make is to communicate with his emotions, rather than his logic,” Siefers said. “Sales is all about creating a felt sense of what the client does not realize they need and providing the solutions and answers for their need.”

A REALTOR® may walk into a potential deal desiring success, but the client still has a lot of questions. If the REALTOR® does not pause, stop or understand the clients questions, he or she is facing a potential communication disaster if the REALTOR® interprets the situation on his own desire to move forward, rather than listening to what the client is saying. If the agent is not listening well, there won’t be as much opportunity to close the deal.

“Clients’ expectations of Realtors being experts may be true or false,” Siefers said. “So, indicating a sense of transparency or openness about what you are an expert in and what you are not an expert in is ideal. This increases the client’s trust over time by building trust. Trust equals saying what you’re going to do and doing it. Consistent integrity will breed success over time. There is much effort having to keep up with incongruence than simply allowing yourself to make mistakes and admit your deficiency.”

Boundaries 
“Boundaries are like property lines,” Siefers said. “You can have a stone wall, you can have a picket fence, or you can have no fence at all.”

The stone wall analogy partly is illustrated from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Gottman’s research on marital relationships. The Four Horsemen are the following: Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt and Stonewalling. Stonewalling means building a wall in between the real estate agent and the client, not attending to a customer needs because you don’t like the client, aren’t making a profit, don’t connect or don’t want to give them your time, etc. are all causes of stonewalling.

The picket fence analogy has a gate and this gives the REALTOR® the optimal ability to open and close the communication gate as she wishes. This means laying out times when she can focus on her clients, and then saving other times when she can be with her family.

The no wall at all analogy means that anyone can come and go on my property, time, and feelings as they please. This may mean clients think they are allowed to call the REALTOR® late at night or early in the morning, potentially ruining sleep or complicating the morning routine of the agent to provide balanced service.

“You want to value yourself, and take care of yourself, promote healthy living and model these behaviors for your client,” Siefers said.

High-Stress Transactions
When asked about tips for dealing with high-emotion or high-stress transactions such as death or divorce, Siefers chuckled and suggested seeing a counselor.

“At least have a counselor handy in those situations to answer your concerns,” he said. “Utilize your network in order to maintain your sanity.”

Also, be sure to get adequate sleep, rest, relaxation and exercise. Physical health and nutrition are very important in this situations. Siefers also advised the agent to know limits. Don’t advise clients with expertise he can’t back up, and don’t get into the intimacies with your clients who are hurting and vulnerable.

“Crossing physical or emotional lines to make a sale isn’t worth it,” Siefers said. “Maintain your rational sense of professional rapport paying attention to where you meet, take notes before, after, or during conversations to stay on task, guide the process and focus on the goal rather being caught up in decisions that are not yours to make.”

Success
“As a lay person, I think Realtors generally believe communication is answering phones, answering emails, funneling facts from fiction and being a conduit for the process,” Siefers said. “And those might be the functions and behaviors of communication, but the rote behavior may not mean that you’re paying attention to the body language, tone, and professional idioms you use.”

The last bit of advice that Siefers gave for the REALTOR® is to simply say what she means. Also, knowing the definitions of words that the agent uses will help her be more confident in her day-to-day conversations and decisions. The REALTOR® should not be afraid to do research or ask questions and stay within the boundaries of integrity and excellence that she strive to exude.

You can contact My Rooted Soul Counseling by going to https://myrootedsoul.com/home/. As a title company, we partner with the real estate agents to ensure s/he and the buyers or sellers feel comfortable going into closing. Do not hesitate to call your local First International Title office with any questions or concerns you may have!