Adding the “Wow” Factor to Your Home: Awakening the Senses and Embracing Nature

The “wow” factor of a home isn’t just about lavish furnishings or state-of-the-art amenities; it’s about creating spaces that resonate deeply with our senses, evoke childhood fantasies, and fulfill our innate desire to connect with nature. This profound connection is something hardwired within us. It is a longing for a home that isn’t just a place to live, but a sanctuary that awakens joy, wonder, and serenity.

Understanding the “Wow” Factor

The “wow” factor in a home goes beyond aesthetic appeal or material value. It touches the very essence of our being by appealing to our senses. Also, it is triggering nostalgic memories, and nurturing our need to live in harmony with the natural world. This unique quality transforms a house into a captivating experience. A place where every room and corner brings a sense of discovery and delight.

Creative Ways to Infuse Your Home with the “Wow” Factor

Embrace Diverse Textures

Incorporate a variety of materials that invite touch and exploration. For example, soft furs, warm wood, cool stones, and rustic metals. This sensory diversity not only enriches the visual appeal of your home but also creates a more dynamic and inviting space.

Play with Color

Color has the power to influence mood and create ambiance. Selecting the right color palette can transform any room into a vibrant haven or a tranquil retreat. Think beyond paint—consider colorful tiles, accent walls, and art pieces that reflect your personality and bring joy to your daily life.

Create a Treehouse Fantasy

For homes with outdoor space, a treehouse isn’t just a childhood dream. It’s a unique feature that adds charm and adventure to your property. Whether used as a cozy reading nook, a creative workspace, or a cool guest room, a treehouse is a delightful escape that appeals to all ages.

Design a Jungle Room

Bring the outdoors inside by dedicating a room to nature. Fill it with large, leafy plants, hanging ferns, and florals to create a lush, green oasis. This “jungle room” can serve as a tranquil space for relaxation, meditation, or simply a breath of fresh air amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Incorporate Water Elements

The soothing sound of water can transform your home into a serene paradise. Consider adding a small indoor fountain, a wall-mounted waterfall, or even a koi pond in your garden. These water features not only add visual interest but also create a calming atmosphere that connects you to the natural world.

Outdoor Living Spaces

Extend the comfort of your indoor living to the outdoors. Design an inviting patio, deck, or garden that encourages relaxation and entertainment. Use outdoor rugs, comfortable seating, and string lights to create a cozy ambiance that blurs the line between indoors and out.

Artistic Light Fixtures

Lighting is a crucial element in setting the mood of a room. Opt for unique, artistic light fixtures that serve as conversation starters. From hand-blown glass pendants to sculptural floor lamps, these pieces can add drama and intrigue to any space.

Secret Nooks and Crannies

Design hidden spaces or secret rooms that offer a private escape or a fun surprise for guests. Whether it’s a reading nook under the stairs, a hidden pantry behind a moving bookshelf, or a cozy attic hideaway, these unique features add an element of mystery and excitement to your home.

So, by incorporating these ideas into your home, you can create a living space that stands out in the real estate market. Also, it provides a profound sense of joy, comfort, and connection to the natural world. The “wow” factor is about crafting experiences within your home that resonate on a deeper level, turning everyday moments into magical memories.

Sell Land to a Builder – How Does it Work?

Why Would I Want to Sell Land to a Builder?

If you are looking to sell land, you might be wondering what the benefits of selling it to a builder are. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of selling land to builders.

Instead of just listing your property for sale you are offering it directly to the person who might be interested.

Selling your land to a builder can be beneficial for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that you will get more money than if you sold it on your own. Builders have more money and resources than individuals, so they can offer more cash for your property than an individual could. This means that they’re able to pay higher prices for the property and make better offers on price.

Builders also have connections with other developers who may be interested in buying or leasing the same property from them in order to build something new on it.

What is the Process Behind Selling a Land to a Builder?

Selling a land to a builder is a process that may take time and effort. The first step is to do research on the builder. You should know about their construction quality, project management, and customer service.

The next step is to find the right person of contact in the company. You can do this by looking at their website or by doing an internet search. You can also ask your friends who have worked with builders in the past for recommendations.

Once you have found the right person, it’s time to set up a meeting with them. This meeting should be scheduled at least 3 weeks in advance so that they will be able to give you their full attention and answer all of your questions without feeling rushed or distracted.

How Do Builders Evaluate the Property and what are their Needs?

Builders evaluate the property in various ways. They may not be looking for the same things as a home buyer. For example, they are interested in how long it will take to build on the property, how much it will cost to build on the property, and whether or not there is enough space for their desired number of units.

The builder’s needs are different than a home buyer’s needs because they want to know what it takes to develop and build on the land. Like this they can see if it makes sense for them financially.

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Preliminary Investigation – What is “Due Diligence”?

Conducting preliminary investigation is the first step in the site selection process. Due diligence is the process of investigating a property before purchasing it. This is to make sure that the property the builder is buying is in good condition and free from any potential problems.

The due diligence process starts with a physical inspection of the property. This is done to check for any possible issues or safety hazards. The next step would be to check the title of the property and ensure that there are no liens on it. They will also need to do some research on the current market conditions and prices of similar sites.

The last step in this process would be to have an environmental assessment done. This will uncover any potential environmental hazards that may exist on or near the land you are looking at buying.

The preliminary investigation should not be too long because you want to start negotiating as soon as possible. In fact, some investors will not even bother with a site visit if they are satisfied with what they can find out about it through their due diligence process.

What are Some of the Documents Needed for this Transaction?

The offer letter is a document for the seller of the property. It contains all the conditions, terms and specifications of the offer.

The offer letter includes information such as:

– The name and address of the buyer

– The price and date for which the property will be sold

– The date by which a response from the seller must be received

– Any other conditions that are agreed upon between both parties

Conclusion

The process of selling land to builders is not as daunting as it might seem. It is a logical step for those who are looking to sell their land and also want the best return on their investment.

This article has outlined the process of selling your land to builders and what you need to do in order to make a successful sale.

How to sell commercial real estate

Whether you are a broker or a property owner, to sell commercial real estate is not what it used to be as there can be many surprises. Investors view the commercial property as an investment machine aimed to generate income. If the numbers add up, there is a possibility for a bidding war. And if not, the sale may not be that easy.

Getting yourself prepared can make a great difference between being stuck or creating a favourable property sale.  However, the best way to get started is to make the property as pleasantly engaging as possible to give prospects a great first impression. An abandoned commercial property for sale can discourage buyers, thereby affecting the sale price.

How do you want to sell commercial property?

Sell commercial real estate without a broker

While it is unusual for owners to sell commercial real estate by themselves, we cannot rule out the fact that it is possible. Some may have rich experience in commercial properties and are sure to complete the deal without an agent. Others may simply want to maximize their proceeds by circumventing the broker commission.

Whichever way, note that a lot is at stake with commercial real estate sales. Also, the process is complex to finalize. If you have decided to sell by yourself, you will be the one in charge of the entire transaction process, from listing your property to finding potential buyers, communicating with them, finalizing the paper works, inspection, hiring a lawyer etc.

Commercial property for sale using a broker

The activities involved in selling your commercial property by yourself can be hectic and time-consuming. Thus, finding a reliable commercial real estate company who has your best interest at heart can save you a lot of hassle.

They will take over all the processes and help you sell your commercial property quicker. Beyond these, they will help to determine the proper worth of your property for the current market conditions. This is saving you tons of research time.

Rather than relying only on the conventional marketing approaches, professional brokers have an established network of investors and brokers who may be interested in buying your property. They will present your property directly to these prospects, which significantly increase your chances of getting a competent buyer promptly.

You get many benefits when you employ a broker to help with your property sale. But just like with other industry, it is important you do research before deciding on a brokerage agency. Like this you get the best deal for your property.

Bio

Our Property under 20k team are the founders of www.propertyunder20k.com and www.listproperty4free.com with the goal to search the cheapest real estate in the world and make it easy for others to find. The team is made up of landlords, real estate investors, architects and builders from several different countries.  We just love to have a good strong cup of coffee while we write our experiences in this blog.

Image by F. Muhammad from Pixabay

Why Invest in a Drone for Real Estate Photography

The world of real estate marketing has made a giant leap – drone photography is the newest real estate marketing weapon, and probably the best one too.

Drones photography provides unique insights and dynamism to any property marketing plan. It thus ensures that your online real estate listing doesn’t go unnoticed and attracts the attention of your potential buyers, leading to a faster sale.

What are the benefits of using a drone for real estate photography?

Sells Property Faster

Real estate listings with aerial shots were sold 68% faster compared to those with standard photos. (RISMedia, 2016)

When buyers see the property’s aerial views, it attracts their attention, and they are more likely to see it in person. It thus increases the probability of the home selling faster for a higher price.

Captures Scenic, Compelling Property Images, and Videos

Drones can capture quality footage from a high vantage point, which isn’t possible with traditional photography.

Sometimes, the weather may not allow the drone to capture a perfect shot. In such cases, you can enhance real estate drone photos using image enhancement services.

Highlights Property Features

Drones with a camera can effectively show important features of the property, including pools, backyards, garages, walking paths, and more.  The drone-captured real estate photos create a sense of awe and interest that you simply can’t get from traditional real estate photography.

Creates Remarkable Virtual Walkthroughs of the Property

It’s a common misconception that drones can only be used to film exterior footage. Drones are equally capable of capturing indoors as well. The final videos created using drones are so beautiful and interesting that they can be used for virtual tours.

Gives a Competitive Edge

The use of drone in real estate industry was 20.7% in 2015 (Business Insider, 2016). It has increased to 26% in 2016 (Statista, 2017).

It’s clear that your competition is using drone technology. 

If you want to gain an advantage over your competitors, invest in the latest technology.  Real estate drone photography acts as a differentiator in terms of innovation, quality, and focus.

Drone photography not only makes your listing look better than the regular ones, but it also helps to show you as a realtor who cares about the sales process and doesn’t mind investing in the latest technology to give potential buyers a better experience.

Generates New Business

Investing in a drone is an excellent way to impress both your buyers and your clients. When you use the latest technologies, you show your stakeholders that your company uses every opportunity to stay ahead of the competition.

Provides Solid ROI

Not very long ago, aerial footage was costly, making it more of a luxury. Realtors used expensive helicopters to capture aerial photos of the property. Drone technology is much affordable and easier to plan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for residential and commercial real estate market, making it necessary for realtors to rely on technology to sustain their business. If you want to make a profit in real estate, you have to embrace technology; otherwise, you’ll be left behind in this brutal race. By using drone technology for real estate photos, you can make your property listing look different and incredibly professional.

Author Bio

Rahul Agarwal is the Co-founder & Chief Business Officer at Styldod, where he has taught a computer to do interior design! Styldod provides the most hassle-free & inexpensive virtual staging solutions for real estate agents so they can sell their listings faster, and for higher prices. Rahul was also a co-founder of Mebelkart (which is acquired by Ask Me). He’s your everyday IIT Kanpur nerd who pushes the boundaries with his innovative entrepreneurial stints and is also a sound startup investor & advisor. Rahul attributes his success as a professional to the discipline he has learned from his district hockey days, being a swimmer and a gym enthusiast.

5 tips – selling overseas real estate on an international market

Selling overseas real estate to an international pool of clients is a completely different game all together. You know better than anyone that this means to get your property in front of your ideal client in their home country.

Selling overseas real estate – How can you possibly do that?

It can be a mine-field when trying to create an effective strategy when you are marketing your property online. What website will the possible buyer look at? Is there a website where you can offer your real estate to the whole world? Of course, almost every website can be visited from all over the world but would it be popular enough in the country of your ideal client?

1 Get the right real estate portal that is specialized to promote to international clients

In fact, the services of many huge website portals only available to the country they are located in. Realtors with international listings usually are not allowed to list them. Even if one allows it, their focus is not on helping real estate agents to promote to an international audience.

Check out one of our property portals that not only performs extremely well but also will put your ad on a world map, making it easy for international buyers to find it.

Register with them and benefit from a range of services that will help you buy, find, sell or rent international real estate.

If you are looking for overseas property yourself but you are on a limited budget, check out this website https://www.propertyunder100k.com/ and find lots of bargains below 100k.

2 Use a sales platform that is internationally known

There exist platforms that facilitates the sale of real estate between third-party buyers and sellers. This is a very good way to get good leads. One example would be eBay. Maybe it is not available in your country or the real estate section is restricted but once you have an account in eBay you easily can use it on eBay sites of other countries.

Another good website were you can list your property is https://www.listproperty4free.com/

3 Use Social Media to promote your overseas real estate

Probably you heard this many times – no matter what you want to promote – use social media. Used in the right way you are no beating in the air but actually getting some real results. Actually, it might be even easier to find the right audience for your property. In Facebook for example, you can enter your real estate in the market place and promote it in related groups. And the best of all, it’s all free. Just takes a bit of your time.

4 Make the best impression

I can’t stress this enough. When selling overseas real estate, the first impression – which will probably be when someone looks at your ad – is the most important. By this someone might decide to make contact and come for a viewing. How can you do this?

Present your property in the best light, tidy up, declutter do what it takes to give a great feel to the place and very important – do professional photos.

That’s making a good impression from a visual point of view.  Also, put some work in an appealing text to describe your real estate. Mention the best features of it and it’s potential. Especially in an overseas real estate it makes sense to tell a bit about the lifestyle too.

5 Be flexible with payments if you can

Sometimes it is already hard enough to get a mortgage for a first home. If you like to get something abroad it gets even more difficult. Therefore, you will have more possible buyers if you can be flexible with your terms of payment.

Image: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Smart Home – what does it mean?

We encounter the expression “smart home” everywhere today. But it means much more than clever refrigerators and intelligent lighting. Smart home is when your house “thinks” and makes your everyday life as easy, safe and pleasant as possible. Thanks to a smart home, you save precious time. Smart devices organise annoying routine tasks for you. The goal is comfort, entertainment, energy saving and security.

Smart Home how does it work?

The principle can be summed up in the following; Various electrical devices and sensors are interacting and communicating with each other. Often, you can control Individual devices and even entire systems remotely. In this way, a simple and complex process can be automated.

How does the communication work?

Lying by the pool and starting the oven with a roast for dinner? Or making a coffee while still in bed with your smartphone? With Smart Home, such comforts have long ceased to be a vision of the future. At home, the devices communicate using standards such as WLAN, Bluetooth, KNX data cables or even directly via the power line.

All are proven standards and almost all current smart home devices and systems can be installed and operated very easily today – via an integrated display, smartphone, tablet or even a voice control.

Which devices can be controlled in a smart home?

In principle, every electrical device and system can be controlled smartly. Therefore, it is often possible to optimize comfort, safety or efficiency at once. Lighting, heating and air conditioning systems are typical areas of application for smart homes such as controlling canopies, blinds and shutters. Entire lighting concepts can be conveniently controlled and automated.

A message on your smartphone as soon as your laundry is finished?

Thanks to Smart Home, this is not a problem.

But it gets even better, entire home security systems can be controlled as well. While you are away, it is very easy to check that everything is fine at home using your smartphone. If someone rings at your door you can even see who it is and answer at the intercom. You simply access your intercom and cameras at home via the Internet.

Want to buy or sell your home? List it with us today.

Homes are still selling despite Covid-19

As latest numbers are in, there is a wave of relief going through the real estate sector. The good news is, homes are still selling.

No doubt, the covid-19 virus will have severe consequences on the real estate market, but it seems with low interest rates people are still buying homes.

All over the world people have lost part of their income due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first shock

When the coronavirus hit the world most of us were under shock. I never spend so much time to watch the news than the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, always checking the latest numbers. After a couple of weeks though we kind a got used to it – although there are still moments when the whole situation seems incredibly unreal.

It is true that we also saw a decrease of visitor to our website for a couple of weeks but we are happy to say that all numbers are back to normal now. People are still interested in good real estate deals and they didn’t give up of buying homes.

Homes are still selling – a home is one of the basic needs

One reason might be that people became more aware of their “needs” rather than their “wants”. Staying at home and trying to keep everybody in the family sane has shown many the importance of having a home that has everything they need. Having a home definitely is a need. Even if someone needs to downsize and move to a smaller more affordable home it still means that there is movement and therefore home sales are happening in the real estate market.

Challenge to close the sale

In some countries it has become more challenging than in others when it comes to closing the sale legally. With solicitor and notary offices closed or not fully operational this is really a challenge. But surely, as some countries have already started to lift their covid-19 lockdowns this will just be a matter of time.

Time for new ideas

All these new challenges truly have given fuel for new ideas and innovations to simplify the home buying process.

Stuart Miller from Lennar Corp., one of the USA’s largest homebuilders, said they are working on new ways for buyers to buy houses, including through the company’s digital programs as well as drive-through closings, where homebuyers can close on a home through their car.

Positive Outlook for Real Estate

To know that homes are still selling is really good news. It helps us, home buyers as well as sellers, to see the future more optimistic. It’s been a nerve wrecking couple of weeks, even months for some. For me it was great to see how quick real estate agents adapted to the new challenges and finding alternative ways of showing homes to interested buyers.

Keep up the good work.

Real Estate After Quarantine

This temporary quarantine made many people think about their values and goals in life as well as their work situation and their homes.

Although, this isolation is only temporary, life itself has always and will continue to change.

Our social interactions will be different for months, if not years to come. Our economies will eventually grow again, but the way we do business will have progressed. This is true for real estate as well.

Next time I like to quarantine on a tropical island…

One thing is certain, everybody needs a place to live, therefore real estate will always be needed. As much as everybody would like to improve their homes to be able to quarantine in style in case this happens again, it has to be considered that the financial situation of most people changed. Therefore, the housing market needs to adapt. Cheap real estate will be needed more than ever before. “Cheaper” meaning more cost effective.

This of course can mean that people have to downsize or reconsider what they really need in their home – simply back to the basic needs.

“Cheaper” doesn’t mean uglier

It’s true that many houses for sale that are on the lower end of the price range don’t look too good. But to be honest most of them only need a little bit of TLC and they can be a cosy home.

If you need to downsize, why not sleep on a sofa bed in the living room?

How can real estate agents adapt to this new situation?

You as a realtor can continue to do what you are really good at – be there for your clients and understand what they need in their circumstances. This is a new situation for all of us and for some it may be hard to adapt. Maybe some can’t picture themselves in a smaller, simpler home.

Whatever step someone needs to take, you can be there to help and make this a good experience.

What exactly does this mean?

You have to think outside the box, but yourselves in the buyer’s shoes. It maybe time to rethink how real estate deals where done in the past and see new ways that can make the whole process simpler, more time effective and more cost effective.


Will you go with the flow, let the waves take you wherever they go, or will you build a ship and go your own way?

Pick your boat and get on your way.

What is your idea of real estate after quarantine? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

Target buyers where they are: at home

This is the longest period of time most of us ever spent at home non-stop. The risk of COVID-19 has grounded about 1.5 billion people worldwide, meaning people are engaging with their homes more than ever before.

Regarding real estate this means that many people have time to think about their living arrangements. They may see things they like to improve in the house or they might shop around for a new house that suits their needs even better.

Whatever the reason why someone may shop around for a new home, it’s simply amazing to see how realtors have already adapted to the new circumstances. I saw that many newsletters were send out by them to keep their clients informed and engaged.

Target buyers who are at home

Also, they started to offer some great new services to buyers, for example to make a house viewing via video conference. While the agent would walk through the house for sale the client can follow along while sitting at home. The agent would explain while doing the walk-through and answer any questions that arise.

Another less personal but equally effective way to target buyers is the virtual tour, where the real estate agent made a video recording of a house viewing and puts this video online. It might surprise how many people will actually look at it who otherwise would have never asked for a house viewing.

My absolute favourite is the 3D tour. As far as I know, the real estate agent needs some special equipment to make a 3D tour for a house but from all options this is probably the best. The 3D model that is created allows anyone to “walk” through the house. It is similar to Google Street maps just indoors.

What about private seller?

Well, nobody can stop you from doing your own video where you walk through your house for sale. This is something everybody can do.

This is definitely some positive side effect of the COVID-19 and I hope this new digital strategy for real estate is here to stay. It saves a lot of time for buyer and seller – house hunting can be very time consuming – as this already helps to get a good overview of a property.

Does your house stinks?


There are certain smells that sometimes are unavoidable in an empty old house but some are so bad that they can ruin your real estate business altogether. If your house stinks it can be a big problem.

Have you ever been at a house viewing and the first thing you noticed when entering was a musty mouldy smell?

Well, it’s not very pleasant to say the least. It immediately gives a bad impression. Nobody wants to live like that. But if you see it from a business point of view it might be a different story. If a house stinks, you might be able to see what the problem is and be confident in how to remove it.

It happened to me when viewing a house in Germany.  I was visiting an old house together with my family and when that musty smell hit us at the time of entering our immediate reaction was “no way!”. After a couple of months though we had to admit, there was no other house available anywhere near our budget.

That’s why we came back to it and actually looked at the problem. It turned out that the problem was some humidity in the basement. The basement was all panelled up with wood which also didn’t help much. After a long family meeting we decided, we go for it.

It definitely paid off.

We removed the mouldy wood and did some treatment to the basement walls. The smell was gone and never came back. And best of all, we were able to get our family home within our budget.

That’s the advantage when buying, you are able to get a house with a bad smell cheaper. Of course, you have to be confident that you are able to remove the problem causing this smell.

When selling, it would be wise to spend some money in solving the problem before. Or, maybe there isn’t even a severe problem. Sometimes it just needs a bit of care, like opening the windows regularly in an empty house. Especially before a viewing.

Bad smell that is really harmful

There are certain smells though that are really harmful for your business. It’s those that can’t be solved on a low budget or maybe they can’t be solved at all. Therefore, it is advised to make some counts before jumping into a “smelly” business. One example of a smell problem that can’t be solved would be a nearby pig farm.

Bad smell that can ruin your real estate business

I recently came across a neighbourhood in Portugal located near a paper factory. On photographs all the houses look lovely and it seems to be a really nice place to live. Unfortunately, visiting and smelling the place ruled out any real estate business in this area. Unless you have clients that lost their sense of smell. ?