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How to Stage Your Home for Sale When You’re a Left-Brain Thinker

By U.S. News & World Report

Ever wonder why two people can look at the same room, but have a completely different experience, or come up with opposite design styles and solutions? It all has to do with the way you think.

Few homebuyers can visualize a home’s potential without seeing it set up in front of them, which makes it crucial for an owner to prepare a home for sale focusing on the perceptions that will make the property look the most appealing. By creating lasting first impressions a seller will have a better understanding of what the target buyer wants, plus a bigger chance of receiving multiple offers.

Think of an open house as the opening night for a new film. The stars would be walking the red carpet, dressed to impress, promoting the movie, creating excitement and buzz — that’s what staging does for a home on the market.

[See: 8 Ways to Stage Your Home in the Winter.]

A buyer’s gut reaction never goes away, so make sure to critique each area of the home, or recruit a judgmental friend who can help answer the following questions:

— What will the cohesive style be throughout the home?

— Where will furniture and accessories be placed or removed?

This will take some visual thinking, which can be difficult for some homeowners who are left-brain thinkers. Most of the population is more left-brain driven, using organizational and logical skills to conquer a task at hand.

The right-brain thinkers, however, use their creative ability and function — particularly shape recognition — to assess the world. That’s why some homeowners can visualize the potential of a space, while others have a hard time figuring out how to arrange the furniture or what accessories go together.

Left-brain thinkers like to deal with words or numbers. They assess things in parts and are time-bound, while right-brain thinkers deal with pictures, assessing things as a whole and in relation to one another and are time-free.

When thinking about first impressions and how you’re going to transform a space for maximum buyer appeal, tap into right-brain thinking to create cohesion throughout the entire space. When selling a home, you can’t just hang a picture on a wall because the wall is empty — the picture should be generic enough to appeal to all types of people. It has to match the color scheme of the room and be in proportion to the rest of the items in the space.

If you’re a left-brain thinker, tap into your creative side to make a difference in the space. Take one room in the property and go through the space, critiquing everything from top to bottom. The ceiling, lighting, paint color, furniture placement and so on. What’s on the floor? What do you see? What needs to be changed?

[Read: A Fool-Proof Plan for Setting Up Furniture When Selling Your Home.]

Through the power of imagination, you can visualize a new room. Here’s how:

1. Make a list of what typically goes into the room. An entryway, for example usually has a table, table lamp, mirror or artwork, a place to sit and storage for shoes and coats.

2. Next, write down where each of those items would go in the room. Be as specific as possible.

3. Try to capture the reaction you want the buyer to have when he walks through the room. Involve as many emotions and senses as possible.

4. Then go through what is already in that room and around your house. Can you reuse what you have to satisfy the items on the list?) If you can, jot that in your notes.

5. If you’re going to need to rent or buy anything, start a separate shopping list.

Stephen R. Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change,” writes about tapping into the right brain daily to change a behavior. Setting up your home and maintaining it are two different things. You can’t just set it up and expect this singular experience to change the outcome of your life.

You’re going to need to maintain the space, and that requires using your “right brain power of visualization,” as Covey puts it, to keep you on track with your goal of decorating your home to sell it or simply enjoy it more.

[See: 9 Easy Ways to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal.]

Covey explains how to use affirmations to visualize the perception you want to create. “A good affirmation has five basic ingredients: it’s personal, it’s positive, it’s present tense, it’s visual, and it’s emotional,” he writes in the book.

A good affirmation for maintaining the entryway, for example, could be something like this: It is deeply satisfying (emotional) when I (personal) put away (present tense) coats, shoes and other belongings when I come home to keep a neat and tidy home (positive). This helps sellers visualize the act of maintaining a clean home daily, not to mention changes habits to enhance a lifestyle for the next place you’ll call home.

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How to Stage Your Home for Sale When You’re a Left-Brain Thinker originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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