Trendy Indoor Plants

Plants are one of the easiest ways to add some life and color into your home.  Placing a plant in the corner of the room not only takes up a decent amount of space, but it also gives a room that "finished" look.  However, let's be real.... having a green thumb doesn't come naturally to all of us.  Below I have shared some trendy plants to decorate your home with that are also easy to maintain!  Plants are a sign of life, vitality, and freshness. They are very healthy to include in your interior as well. They are beneficial not only to your eyes, but also for keeping the air fresh and clean.  Indoor plant decoration makes your living space more comfortable, breathable, and luxurious!

Here are 5 trendy indoor plants that also happen to be low maintenance! 

SNAKE 

ALOE 

FIDDLE LEAF FIG 

KENTIA PALM 

JADE 

Taco Tuesday

Taco Tuesday!

***Warning***

Reading this blog post may cause extreme hunger!

5 of the best places in Albuquerque, NM to get your taco fix!

Zacatecas

3423 Central Ave NE Albuquerque, NM 87106

Their menu offers a selection of fresh, organic ingredients, and a tequila bar featuring over 100 tequilas.  The menu changes with the seasons due to the use of local ingredients, so there are always new and exciting items!

Zacatecas also offers an amazing brunch on weekends featuring breakfast tacos!

The shrimp tacos are to die for!

Casa Taco

5801 Academy Rd NE 
Albuquerque, NM 87109 
            


Casa Taco is so good, you’ll definitely make this is a regular restaurant stop! The grilled chicken and brisket tacos are a must have! Be sure and try the specialty tacos featuring yucatan pork, jerk chicken, La Puerto steak, and veracruz steak!

The Last Call

102 Richmond Dr NE
 Albuquerque, NM 87106

Let’s be real, you need to try everything on this menu! We can never choose between the fish tacos, carne tacos, carne fries (yes..carne fries!!) and the cali burrito!  So, be sure and take your family and friends that way you can try some of each!

Backstreet Grill

1919 Old Town Rd NW 
St 
Albuquerque, NM 87104

Another great stop for tacos located in the heart of Old Town!  Backstreet Grill has an amazing menu.  Our favorite tacos from backstreet are the Old Town street tacos with spicy barbacoa beef or green chile chicken.  The duck tacos are also very popular! Another great item is the Mexican pizza for those who aren’t taco obsessed.

B2B2 Tap Room

2201 Louisiana Blvd NE
 St F
Albuquerque, NM 87110

Another great taco joint located in uptown!  They serve their tacos on mini blue corn tortillas.  The best tacos on the menu are the steak, carnitas, and rellenos tacos!

15 Easy Ways to Prevent Home Theft

Crime Prevention Tips 

1. Maintain your property. If the home looks unkept, thieves may think the home is unoccupied.  Shovel your walkway, take down holiday decor in a timely manner, and keep up with the yard to signal that the home is occupied.  
2. Know your neighbors. 
3. Make your home look occupied. 
4. Lock your doors... at all times. Even if you're leaving and returning quickly.  A lot of people think they live in a safe-enough neighborhood to leave their doors unlocked but in 30% of burglaries, the criminals access the home through an unlocked door or window.  34% percent of burglars use the front door to get inside and 22% use the back door.  
5. Leave lights on when you go out.
6. Keep your garage door closed and locked.
7. Have adequate exterior lighting.
8. Trim trees and shrubs so that they cannot be used as hiding places for intruders.
9. Secure sliding glass door and windows.  
10. Don't leave a spare key out, rather leave it with a neighbor you trust. 
11. When you leave town, don't leave signs of an empty house.  Let your trusted neighbors know you're leaving and have them keep an eye on your property.  Also, have them get your mail.  
12. Do not leave the garage door opener in plain view in your vehicle. 
13. Install a home alarm system.
14. Install security cameras.  The Canary is what we have at our home and I highly recommend it.  
15. Don't hide valuables in the bedroom.  Most experienced thieves know exactly where to look and that usually starts with the bedroom.  

I hope you enjoyed this blog! I would love to know some of your crime prevention tips.  Feel free to comment below with some of yours! 

Anita Mora 

Coldwell Banker Legacy 

505-400-8105 

8200 Carmel Ave Ne Albuquerque New Mexico 

505-292-8900 

anitamora@comcast.net 

Easy Fall Decorating Ideas

Easy Fall Decorating Ideas 

Today on the blog, I'm sharing simple fall decorating ideas! 

Simply take a bale of hay & wrap it like a gift with gorgeous ribbon & then decorate the top with fall colored flowers!  Fabulous, long lasting decor for anywhere your home needs a touch of fall. 

These lanterns are always on sale at home and craft stores! Fill them with pumpkins or pinecones for the autumn and the holidays.

DIY faux pumpkin flower pot tutorial on  http://www.iheartnaptime.net/diy-pumpkin-flower-pot/

 Makes so much more sense (and will last way longer!) than a real pumpkin.

Glitter pumpkins... enough said! All you need to do is spray your pumpkin with adhesive and glitter your pumpkin! You can also paint the stem if you want to get really fancy.  

Paint your street address on a pumpkin rather than carve it! An uncarved pumpkin should last you through Thanksgiving! 

Picture perfect for any occasion! See through frames are very popular right now and you could totally update throughout the year for each holiday! You could use window clings for the words or a dry erase marker... anything removable! 

Easy decor made with popcorn, a candle, and a glass candle jar.  You could also use candy corn! 

I hope you enjoyed this blog! 

Anita Mora 

10 Secrets for Selling Your Home

10 Secrets for Selling Your Home 

#1 The 1st impression is the ONLY impression 

Plain, Simple, & True.  

#2 Always be “Show Ready” 

The one time you leave your house a mess is when you’ll get a call for a showing.  It’s just the way life works. 

#3 Don’t over-upgrade 

Don’t throw so much money into upgrading that you won't get your money back.  Unfortunately this happens all the time.  Upgrades that are beneficial are: A fresh coat of paint, replace door handles, clean the grout, replace the carpet, granite, refrigerated air, clean up the front and backyard, paint or stain outdated cabinets.  

#4 Turn up the lighting 

Buyers love houses that are open and light!  It’s a must to take advantage of the light in your house. Dark houses are cold and uninviting.  Going back to #1 first impressions are everything and lighting is an important aspect of selling a house.  Open or take down your curtains, increase the wattage in your light bulbs, add a fresh coat of paint… do whatever you can to lighten up your home! It will make your home more desirable to buyers.    

#5 Get rid of clutter 

Buyers are shopping for space.  Cleaning out your clutter can make your home look larger.  You don’t want your clutter stealing the show from your beautiful home!  

#6 Remove personal touches 

When getting ready to sell, it’s time to turn your home into a house.  You want buyers walking through to imagine themselves living there.  Personal touches make buyers feel more like it’s your home and less like it’s their future house.  

#7 Keep things neutral

You want your home to feel and look move in ready.  Paint can brighten a room and give your house a fresh, clean feel.  Don’t put off painting your house before selling.    

#8 Clean, Clean, Clean, and then Clean some more! 

If you think your house is clean enough, think again! Remember that a buyer walking into your house for the first time is going to notice EVERY LITTLE THING.  You’ve been living in your home for awhile and don’t notice little things, but buyers will.  Clean the windows, baseboards, ceiling fans, oven, stovetop, leave nothing out! The little stuff matters here.  

#9 Curb Appeal 

You can greatly enhance your homes visual appearance, even with a limited budget!  You want buyers to be attracted to your home before they walk in the door. 

A few things you can do to improve the curb appeal of your home: 

Add a splash of color with plants and flowers 

Purchase new house address numbers and mailbox 

Make sure your lawn is mowed 

Get rid of weeds 

Prune bushes 

Remove thing like trash cans, hoses, and other yard tools that can make the yard look cluttered 

#10 Price it right 

The best thing you can do when selling your home is price it right. Depending on how quickly you want to sell, shaving a little off the price may be a good idea and you’ll be bombarded with multiple offers.  

Interested in a FREE Market Analysis?  Send me an email with your property address and square footage and I will email you a market analysis within 30 minutes. 

anitamora@comcast.net

I hope you enjoyed this blog! 

Anita Mora 

Why ALL sellers should stage their home

Most sellers don’t want to spend the time or money on staging when listing their home.  Before becoming a Real Estate Agent, I was one of those people.  I didn’t really understand the importance of having someone come and redecorate a home.  However, now that I have been in the business for several years, I can’t stress enough how far staging can go when selling your home.  

I’m not an interior decorator and I don’t have a friend that I refer business to. I’m just a Real Estate Agent who’s seen magic happen with my sellers who have invested in good staging and I want to share important reasons for staging!  

Why Sellers Refrain From Staging

“It’s way to expensive and it’s a waste of money”  A price reduction will cost you more than staging.  There’s a really good chance that with the right staging, a price reduction wont be necessary 

“It’s too much work”  Well, you’re moving… so cleaning and decluttering is going to happen eventually.  Might as well do it before people starting walking through your home! 

“It’s not necessary”  Oh. but. it. is.  First impressions are everything and there are HUNDREDS of homes on the market.  What is going to make your home stand out amongst the rest? 

“I like the decor I already have”  Most interior decorators who are going to stage a home that is going on the market, will use what you already have.  A lot of them will rearrange things, organize, and declutter.  However, there may be a few things they want to add or change.  You have to keep in mind that decor is your personal touch to your home.  How you present your home when selling it should be different than how you live in it.  It’s not personal, it’s sales.  

Why you should stage your home

1. First Impressions are Everything.  A well decorated and staged home is eye catching.  It gives buyers a comfortable and inviting feeling when walking around.  When a buyer is looking at houses, they are going choose the one they desire the most, the one they could see themselves living in, a home that is organized and clean.  

2.  Staged Homes Sell Faster.  The majority of buyers want a home thats move-in-ready.  

3. Staged Homes Look Better on the Internet.  Almost everyone shops online these days when it comes to buying home.  Buyers like to surf the web before walking into a home.  A staged home will present beautifully in pictures and will most certainly make a buyers “I want to see it” list.  

4.  Staged Homes Come Across as Better Maintained.  Buyers like homes that are taken care of.  Staging your home will present your home in the most beautiful way.  

5.  Staging Ultimately Benefits the Seller.   Staged homes sell for a higher price than homes that aren’t staged, so sellers get more money for their home.  Staged homes also sell quickly, which means that you can get out of your home fast and on to the next adventure life brings.  Because your home is staged, moving will be easier.  

I hope you enjoyed this blog! 

Anita Mora