As you know, clutter can often make or break a sale! Let’s work together to educate your clients on the best ways to de-clutter a home. You’re the real estate expert and we’re the storage expert – so this e-mail, part of our e-mail series on working with movers, offers some “home de-cluttering” tips that you can modify or update, and then share with your clients.

3 Quick Ways to De-Clutter Your Home

1. Have a Garage Sale: Before putting your home on the market, think about having a garage sale. There are more advantages than just getting rid of items that are cluttering your home, you’ll pocket some extra cash to off-set your moving costs and it will lighten your load on moving day, which could save you even more money!
2. Ask an Expert: Your real estate agent will help you by doing a walk-through of your home to identify any problem rooms or areas that need to be de-cluttered.
3. Use Storage Services: Want a surefire way to make a small room look larger? Storage could be your answer. Working with your real estate agent, you should determine which rooms would benefit from furniture storage. By eliminating large pieces, you will be able to open up your floor plan and make your house look noticeably larger!

Texas may be holding on to the Magnet State title, but the Allied Van Lines’ 44th Annual Magnet States Report released today shows California enjoying a position on the inbound list after more than a decade on the outbound.

For the seventh year in a row, Texas eclipsed every other state and took the lead as the No. 1 magnet state in 2011 based on Allied’s report, which tracks U.S. migration patterns.

Texas realized the highest net relocation gain (inbound moves minus outbound moves performed by Allied Van Lines, one of the world’s largest moving companies but its momentum is slowing. In 2009, Texas attracted nearly 2,000 families; in 2010, that number dropped to 1,640. Last year, the margin narrowed again as its total net gain dropped again to 1,556.

Florida moved higher in the rankings with a net gain of 809 moves, capturing second place from last year’s title holder, Colorado. South Carolina, Colorado and newcomer Oregon rounded out the top five states.

The biggest surprise on the inbound list clocks in at number seven – California. With about a decade on the outbound list (and as the No. 1 outbound state in 2006 and 2004), California has made a strong leap to the inbound list.

“It’s not surprising that California has made such a dramatic turnaround and has once again become a strong inbound state,” said Brook Taylor, Deputy Director at the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “California has seen an increase in company expansions, resulting in strong overall job growth. In the last year, one out of every 6 new jobs created in the U.S. was created in California which is more than any other state in the nation.”
Allied Van Lines agents have seen the shift as well. “People are realizing that living in California is finally affordable and they’re jumping on that bandwagon. We’ve had customers that we’ve moved out of state that have called us back to say, ‘I want to come home,’” said Linda Oakley, vice president of Atlas Transfer and Storage, an Allied Van Lines agent.

California also secured its title once again as “most mobile state,” as well, with more than 12,000 interstate moves with the highest volume of inbound and outbound shipments by international mover Allied Van Lines.

“2011 is certainly a turning point year for California,” said Bill Lyon, Vice President and General Manager, Allied Van Lines. “Overall, Allied Van Lines has seen modest growth this year, and we see the news from California as a bellwether for positive movement in the future for states that have seen hard times in this economy.”

Outbound States
Illinois usurped the title of top outbound state with the highest net relocation losses (more outbound than inbound shipments), followed by Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and New York – all part of the top 5 outbound states in 2010. Illinois lost ground this year, with a net loss of 1,198 moves out of state, versus 2010 losses of 1,050. Michigan, the No. 1 outbound state in 2010, had a net loss of 900 moves, an improvement over last year’s 1,149 outbound moves. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York rounded out the bottom five, with net relocation losses of 940, 841 and 669, respectively.

• Take a day off and rest – There is nothing wrong with taking an additional day or two after moving to re-energize. Use this time to get some well rested sleep. Make sure not to oversleep, your sleep schedule will be off going forward.
• A walk in the park – Take a leisurely walk around the park and enjoy the scenery. Use that time to get your thoughts together.
• Watch A movie – Pop some popcorn and watch one of your favorite movies that are guaranteed to make you laugh. There is nothing like a good movie to get your mind off of stressful situations.
• Read a book - Finally finish a book you’ve been putting off during the move. Grab your favorite drink, a comfortable place to read and catch up on your favorite author.
• Massage day – After moving, you muscles have been put to great use and most likely need to be relaxed. The best way to loosen the tension in your muscles is with a great massage. Visit a daily deal site and purchase a 60 minute massage from your local day spa.
• Hang with friends – Invite friends over for game night and make sure everyone brings a dish for a fun filled night of games and food. Interesting conversation, potluck
• Exercise – Breaking a sweat is always good for the body. It allows you to loosen up muscles and release tension from stressful situations. Practicing yoga or even going for a light jog around the park will do a body good.
• Play games – Sounds trivial but playing video games can be very entertaining. Get your friends together and play your favorite board and card games.
• Video chat – Have some long distance friends and family that you don’t see too often? Take some time out to catch up with your loved ones through video chat and let them know about your new move. I’m sure they would love to see how your new home looks.
• Listen to music – Press play on your MP3 player and let your favorite tunes blast. Music will always put you in a great mood.

There are several ways to relax without putting another dent in your wallet. Come up with your own creative ways to relax and incorporate them as much as needed. Relaxing extends past moving, make it apart your lifestyle.

Online Auctions

• A great way to earn extra money to cover your moving costs is by selling your unwanted goods online.
• When you use online auctions (example: eBay.com), you are given the opportunity to showcase your items for sale to the world, not just your own neighborhood.
• Before you can buy or sell any goods, you will need to register with online auction sites.
• Payment by credit card is no longer the only method of payment – some sellers have multiple payment methods. Contact the individual auction site for specific details.
• Make sure to take the time with the descriptions of your items; don’t forget to include good quality photos. The better your goods are presented, the more likely they will sell.
• By selling your goods using online auctions, you are given the opportunity to specify that a buyer must pick up the goods themselves. This saves you extra time and money in getting rid of goods.
• Know the value of what you are selling. Do a search on the site for similar items for sale to check the sale price of recently sold items.
• By doing a little research, you can also compare your descriptive text to that of other items that sold.
• If the site offers you the option to post a “Buy it Now” price (which allows you to set the lowest price you will take and allow a customer to skip the auction process by meeting this price), you can speed up the selling process.
• If you are selling an item and are set in the minimum you will take for it, you can also set a reserve.

Garage Sale

• Pick a weekend day to allow for the most customers. Avoid holidays and rainy-seasons!
• It’s a good idea to start the garage sale early and end mid-afternoon. A typical garage sale runs from (9am to 4pm).
• Local papers are fantastic places to advertise your garage sale. Run the ad a couple days before the event as well as the morning of. Local supermarkets often have bulletin boards which are free and successful ways to promote. On the morning of the garage sale, it’s also a great idea to place direction signs leading to your sale. Tape colorful signs and posters to street signs for easy removal.
• Offer refreshments such as coffee, iced tea or lemonade. It’s a friendly touch that sometimes helps draw and keep customers.
• Make sure that all items for sale are properly cleaned. Nobody likes to buy a dirty ironing board or dusty VCR.
• Always make certain that the price is clearly marked. Confusion may mean the difference between making the sale and someone walking away.
• You will need at least $20 in change and small bills. Old cigar or pencil boxes work as fantastic banks. It’s a good idea to keep a tablet with all sales. This will make it easier to balance your bank at the end of the sale.
• It’s a good idea to have some old newspaper on hand to wrap any fragile items you are selling. You can find free boxes at any liquor store or pharmacy.
• You should arrange to have some help throughout the afternoon in case you need a break to use the restroom or grab a bite to eat.
• Display your sales items on tables or shelves, and don’t forget to place your best items as close to the street as you can to draw attention from passersby.
• Your items should be reasonably priced, and always be prepared to bargain with your customers.

Flea Market

• Local markets are a great means for selling second hand items. Because most of them are well-advertised, they will be attended by professional second-hand hunters.
• You might want to consider hiring a trailer for the day as you’ll be able to get more merchandise there; and don’t forget at the end of the day you might want to stop off at a second hand store or a charity store to drop off some items.
• Flea market space typically costs a nominal fee.

Second Hand Stores and Charity Stores

• Second hand stores and charity stores are always grateful for donations. It’s really worthwhile making a quick phone call first to find out what they might want to take off your hands.

With any contract, when you decide to breach there is always a list of terms and conditions that you have to abide by that are stated in the contract. Your lease is a binding contract that you have signed between you and the landlord of a property. There are several reasons why you may need to break your lease and there are several steps of action that you can take to make sure you are covered.

Before making the decision to break your lease, make sure you read your agreement that you set forth with your landlord. There are normally costs associated with breaking a lease before the end of the agreement and understanding what you are responsible for is important.

Conditions on Breaking Your Lease

There are unavoidable circumstances that may allow you to break your lease without incurring a penalty. Below are a few situations that will allow you to confidently break your lease:

• Your home is unsafe- In most cases, if your household has been broken in to or there has been illegal activity, most landlords will allow you to break your lease deeming it an unsafe place to live.
• Damaged Home- If your landlord fails to repair or maintain your apartment causing your home “unlivable”.  Damage to your home may not be at the fault of you but through natural causes. Some agreements specify an allotted window for landlords to repair your home before you are able to cancel the agreement. Examples of damaged home are water leaks, mold, which are considered inhabitable living conditions.
• Called to Active Duty-If you are active in the military and have to be relocated, by law you are allowed to break your lease without penalty under the federal Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act.
• Serious health reasons- Some states will allow you to get out of your lease if you have come ill and need to leave the apartment. Review your lease agreement and check with state laws to find out more information.

Subletting Your Apartment

Before incurring any cost of breaking your lease, try reaching out to family and friends to see if they or someone they know may be looking to move. If you are unable to find someone, placing an ad in the classifieds will help with the process.  Depending on the terms of the agreement, most leases allow you to sublet your space with permission from the landlord. First things first, check your lease agreement.

Inform Your Landlord

Inform you landlord that you plan on moving out at your earliest convenience. Most landlords request a 60-90 day written notice that you will not being renewing your lease. Make sure to have your landlord sign the termination notice for your records. Explain that you will be moving on this date and would like to perform a walkthrough to finalize the process. Make sure to take pictures of each room for your records.

Although you might have given an advanced notice, it doesn’t make you exempt from penalties against your contract. In most cases, this gives the landlord enough time to find another tenant as soon as you are moved out. Most states require landlords to make a reasonable attempt to re-rent your apartment given a suitable notice better known as “Mitigating damages”.

Facing Penalty

If you decide to break your lease, understand that there could possibly be penalty. The chance of you getting out of a lease without penalty or slim but it is also important to know that you want to at least limit how much you end up paying. Whatever the terms of agreement are for your lease, be prepared to face penalty charges or even worse, taken to court.  Some lease agreements require you to pay a penalty fee, remaining months rent at market price value, and also the possibility of losing your security deposit.

Whether you have a valid reason for breaking your lease or not, taking proper steps can save you time, money and a headache. Before you decide to move, understand your agreement and the consequences of breaking the lease if necessary.

First thing first, make sure you have the proper tools, such as staple puller, flat head screw driver, and goggles simply to protect those valuable eyes. First step, use the staple puller to remove the staples from out of the pocket straps. Make sure you find the correct pocket size to take out the bolts from underneath of the rails. An average table will have around three for each rail. The rails should be ready to pop-out now; you can pull them off, just slide them out individually.

Now the table needs to be flipped over, use caution however, the side pockets could collapse from impact of the weight as you flip it over. Those guys you had come over and help out would be handy for that step. Once it’s over, the pockets can be easily removed.Second step, the felt must come off. Chances are it’s either glued or stapled to the table, or possibly even both. If it’s stapled, you’re going to go around the table and remove each staple. If the felt is glued to the billiards table, be gentle, because it’s possible to rip the felt near the pocket areas. Once the felt is off you’re headed towards the home stretch.

Next step, the slate has to be lifted off the frame of the table. The best tool to remove the screws from the slate is a drill with replaceable screwdriver heads. Some tables have those hard to find screws; they could be covered up with either plaster or beeswax. Beeswax could be dug out with any screwdriver, but if its plaster, you’re going to need a carbide drill to get the plaster out. Go slowly with the drill, you could ruin the screw head. The slate should have a screw on each corner, once the screws are removed, it is ready for shipment.

The fourth step, simply take the legs off the frame. You can easily take frame, flip it upside down and place on the slate in the van. The rails can go on top of the frame.

Make sure all pieces are wrapped to protect the wood and finish from getting damaged.

Also, like I said earlier, a pool table can be up to 1,000 pounds. If you don’t have the right truck, rent one, don’t risk damaging your own.

If this all sounds like too much and you don’t want to move it on your own and save some money, hire professional pool table movers.

Two-Stage Gas Snow Blowers: These snow blowers are larger and have the ability to cover a lot more ground than the other blowers. This particular unit also possesses driven wheels, along with a snow-accumulating auger as well as an impeller to help scatter snow.

Single-Stage Gas Snow Blowers: These gas snow blowers are smaller than their counter part Two-Stage Blowers, which also means these blowers take a little longer to remove all that snow. These units are also more cost-effective; they’re cheap and take up less room in your residence.

Single-Stage Electric Snow Blowers: These units are even smaller than the single-stage gas blowers. They’re also easier on the wallets, costing less and are much more comfortable to handle while you’re removing the snow.

Here are some terms to facilitate easier understanding in snow blower terminology:

Augur: is a shaft which rotates in a spiral motion spreading out material such as snow around any vicinity.

However, winter or no winter, there are still options to cut costs during the frigid season.

Why pay more money on your heat when you don’t have to? If you feel like your radiators are pumping a little bit too much oil for you to handle or your furnace is blasting at an alarming rate to the point of perspiration, it may be a good time to fix that, and updating your windows and doors may be the solution for you. Your heating systems may be overworked because they’re having a hard time keeping the temperature in your apartment or home because your windows and doors may have excessive cracks, causing a draft in your place.

Replacing your doors and windows could be done utilizing a professional contractor or by yourself if you’re looking to be cost-effective and have the experience to handle the project.
If you decide to do this during the winter, make sure you know what you’re doing so the process doesn’t have to take longer than expected, have your loved ones somewhere else while this is going on.

Replacing your windows and doors provide more benefits than just reducing your heating bills.

Performance

Replacing your windows/doors will improve the efficiency of them, allowing them to work smoother and it’ll also give you a chance to make them a little more accustomed to your style.

Maintenance

The new windows and doors will not need much, if any, work on them. Designs have vastly improved over the years and will only continue to do so.

The Look

Having new windows and doors will improve the overall aesthetics of your home, improving the appeal of the home itself, as well as value to the home.

Don’t let the design of the windows/doors distract you from your main goal to save energy and lower your heating bills.

her for the first time when she was six months old. That’s when

Laura and husband Mike adopted her. Doctors knew at birth

that Brianna has sickle cell anemia – a disease that among other

things, can cause cells to clog in blood vessels and organs.

It was not long after the adoption that the Johnson family had

their first encounter with the devastating affects of the disease.

At just one year old, Brianna landed in the hospital ICU when

most of the blood in her body became “clogged” in her spleen.

That incident was the start of many hospital visits and blood

transfusions for Brianna.

For more than two years Brianna received regular monthly blood

transfusions to try to prevent her spleen from continuing to

be affected. Finally this past July she had her spleen removed,

to lessen her dependence on regular transfusions. However,

because sickle cell anemia patients often need transfusions as

part of their treatment for the disease, Brianna will depend on

generous blood donors for the rest of her life.

Mom says Brianna has been a trooper through it all, and goes

to pre-school and will start kindergarten next year. For now

Brianna enjoys playing with her 8 year old brother Keegan,

and being a princess! “She’s a diva extraordinaire,” according

to mom Laura, “and loves all things purple, pink and sparkly –

including her tiara!”

Brianna was featured on page five of the Patient Spotlight in this years San Diego Charger’s Blood Drive Program.