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Friday, August 17, 2012

Giants' Cabrera suspended for positive drug test

FILE - This July 10, 2012 file photo shows National League's Melky Cabrera, of the San Francisco Giants, showing off his MVP trophy after the MLB All-Star baseball game in Kansas City, Mo. Cabrera has been suspended for 50 games without pay after testing positive for testosterone. The commissioner's office says the suspension is effective immediately. Major League Baseball said on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, that Cabrera tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing substance, which violates MLB's joint drug prevention and treatment program. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

FILE - This June 5, 2012 file photo shows San Francisco Giants' Melky Cabrera reacting after striking out during the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego. Cabrera has been suspended for 50 games without pay after testing positive for testosterone. The commissioner's office says the suspension is effective immediately. Major League Baseball said on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, that Cabrera tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing substance, which violates MLB's joint drug prevention and treatment program. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)

San Francisco Giants' Melky Cabrera fouls off a pitch from Washington Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann in the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Melky Cabrera's MVP-like year is over ? at least for the regular season.

The San Francisco outfielder was suspended 50 games Wednesday following a positive test for testosterone, putting an abrupt end to what had been a remarkable regular season and throwing the Giants' playoff hopes into doubt.

"Ultimately, it was just a bad decision," catcher Buster Posey said.

Cabrera leads the National League with 159 hits, and is second in batting average behind Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen. Cabrera's penalty was the first for a high-profile player since last year's NL MVP, Ryan Braun, had his suspension overturned by an arbitrator last winter.

"My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used," Cabrera said in a statement released by the players' association. "I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and I will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."

The suspension would extend into the playoffs if the Giants advance.

"It happened, and now we move on," right fielder Hunter Pence said. "I know the program and I know they test us, and if we test positive we get a suspension. That's what happened. And now we play with what we've got."

Cabrera is batting .346 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs in his first season with San Francisco and is five hits shy of 1,000 in his big league career. Flashing bright orange spikes, he singled and hit a two-run homer last month in the National League's 8-0 win in the All-Star game, earning MVP honors for the game and securing homefield advantage for the World Series.

Cabrera is set to become a free agent after this season, so he might have cost himself a big pay day, too.

"It's disappointing. Obviously, Melky means a lot to all of us, was part of our championship and provided some really good moments here," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's something that everyone has to deal with and it's something baseball is trying to stay away from and it happened."

Cabrera could still win the NL batting title. He has 501 plate appearances, one less than the minimum required to win a batting championship for a player on a team playing 162 games. However, under 10.22(a) of the Official Baseball Rules, he would win the batting title if an extra hitless at-bat is added to his average and it remains higher than that of any other qualifying player.

He will miss the final 45 games of the regular season and serve the remainder of the suspension at the start of next season or during the postseason, depending on whether the Giants make the playoffs and how far they advance. If the Giants wanted him to become active in the middle of a playoff series, they would have to play a man short from the start of the series until the suspension ends because rosters can't be altered mid-series.

"We were extremely disappointed," the Giants said in a statement. "We fully support Major League Baseball's policy and its efforts to eliminate performance enhancing drugs from our game."

Cabrera became the second Giants player to receive a drug suspension this season. Reliever Guillermo Mota was penalized for 100 games in May, becoming just the third major league player disciplined twice for positive drug tests. Mota is eligible to return Aug. 28, barring rainouts, and began a minor league rehabilitation assignment Tuesday with the Giants' rookie team in Arizona.

It was not immediately known whether Cabrera's positive test occurred before the All-Star game. The union initially filed a grievance, which would have caused the case to go before an arbitrator, but then dropped it, a person familiar with the process said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that detail was not announced.

Cabrera told CSN Bay Area on July 27 that he had been tested for performance-enhancing drugs the previous week, though it's unknown whether the test he referenced resulted in the positive test.

Manager Bruce Bochy broke the news to his team in a meeting about 90 minutes before the start of a 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.

"Melky, he was hurt by it," Bochy said. "It's obvious he was disappointed."

Drug-testing labs check urine for its ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, which usually is 1 to 1 in adult males. If the lab notices any abnormality, it conducts an isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) test to determine whether the testosterone is exogenous, or came from outside the body.

There have been four suspensions under the major league drug program this year, with Philadelphia infielder Freddy Galvis and free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd also suspended 50 games apiece. There have been 70 suspensions under the minor league drug program.

In mid-May, MLB and the players' union agreed to drop the 100-game suspension imposed on Colorado catcher Eliezer Alfonzo for a positive drug test because of the same procedural issues that came up in the case of Braun. Alfonzo missed 48 games ? the final 15 of last season and the first 33 of this year.

Braun's 50-game suspension for a positive test was overturned in February by arbitrator Shyam Das after Braun's lawyers argued his urine sample was not handled in the manner specified by baseball's drug agreement. Das, who had been baseball's permanent arbitrator since 1999, was fired this spring.

The Braun case led to revisions in the drug agreement between owners and the players' association to better define procedures for handling the urine samples.

Last December, slugger Manny Ramirez received a 50-game suspension for a second positive drug test. The 12-time All-Star signed a one-year minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics on Feb. 20, but was released in June per his request while playing for Triple-A Sacramento before even reaching the big leagues with the A's.

Ramirez retired from the Tampa Bay Rays in April 2011 rather than serve a 100-game suspension for a second failed drug test. The penalty was cut to 50 games because he sat out nearly all of last season.

The 28-year-old Cabrera, who became a marketing phenomenon this year with nicknames like "Got Melk?" ''Melk Man" and "Melky Way," produced a 51-hit month in May. Cabrera batted .429 in May with three homers, five triples, seven doubles and 17 RBIs. He hit safely in 25 of 29 games. The 51 hits matched Randy Winn for most hits in a month since the club came to San Francisco in 1958.

Cabrera also set the San Francisco record for most hits in May, passing Hall of Famer Willie Mays' 49 from 1958.

"My first reaction, extremely saddened ? a great kid who's having a great run," former Yankees teammate Alex Rodriguez said. "Just sadness overall."

A-Rod tutored both Cabrera and Robinson Cano when they were coming up, even inviting Cabrera to Miami to work out with him in recent years.

"I'm sure he's sad and confused," Rodriguez said. "He's a young man and has a great opportunity ? and challenge ? to turn a negative into a positive."

Cabrera came to the Giants in a trade with Kansas City last November that sent left-hander Jonathan Sanchez to the Royals. Cabrera ? who signed a $6 million, one-year deal to avoid salary arbitration ? batted .305 with 44 doubles, 18 homers and 87 RBIs last season.

He is a big reason San Francisco began play Wednesday tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West. Cabrera had been listed in the original lineup Wednesday, batting third and playing left field. Gregor Blanco replaced Cabrera. Bochy said he wrote that lineup before notice of the suspension.

"We are a team. We're trying to make the playoffs," Pablo Sandoval said. "We're going to fight."

San Francisco said it will not make a roster move until Thursday's off day before opening a weekend series at San Diego. The clubhouse was closed before the game when the news of Cabrera's suspension broke.

"Sad, man," Cano said. "He's a friend. I'm going to be there for him. I never talked to him about anything like that. Sad day."

San Francisco optioned reliever Dan Otero to Triple-A Fresno after Wednesday's game and is expected to call up two hitters Friday in San Diego. Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean also plan to discuss who might be available outside the organization.

"It's a big loss to any team," shortstop Brandon Crawford said. "He was having an MVP-type season."

___

AP Sports Writers Ronald Blum and Howie Rumberg in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-15-Giants-Cabrera%20Suspended/id-9d7b5abf47e14db7bb1b35149f2cdf36

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Tips for Building Romantic Relationships that Lasts : Flavafm | The ...

Number of View: 46

A strong, healthy relationship can be one of the best supports in your life. Good relationships improve all aspects of your life, strengthening your health, your mind, and your connections with others. However, if the relationship isn?t working, it can also be a tremendous drain. Relationships are an investment. The more you put in, the more you can get back. These tips can help keep a healthy relationship strong, or repair trust and love in a relationship on the rocks.

Everyone?s relationship is unique, and people come together for many different reasons. But there are some things that good relationships have in common. Knowing the basic principles of healthy relationships helps keep them meaningful, fulfilling and exciting in both happy times and sad:

What makes a healthy love relationship?

Staying involved with each other. Some relationships get stuck in peaceful coexistence, but without truly relating to each other and working together. While it may seem stable on the surface, lack of involvement and communication increases distance. When you need to talk about something important, the connection and understanding may no longer be there.
Getting through conflict. Some couples talk things out quietly, while others may raise their voices and passionately disagree. The key in a strong relationship, though, is not to be fearful of conflict. You need to be safe to express things that bother you without fear of retaliation, and be able to resolve conflict without humiliation, degradation or insisting on being right.
Keeping outside relationships and interests alive. No one person can meet all of our needs, and expecting too much from someone can put a lot of unhealthy pressure on a relationship. Having friends and outside interests not only strengthens your social network, but brings new insights and stimulation to the relationship, too.
Communicating. Honest, direct communication is a key part of any relationship. When both people feel comfortable expressing their needs, fears and desires, trust and bonds are strengthened. Critical to communication are nonverbal cues?body language like eye contact, leaning forward or away, or touching someone?s arm.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Santa Clarita Real Estate Buzz ? Buying and Financing a Santa ...

Section: Buyers, Financing A Home, Santa Clarita Published on August 14th, 2012

While many people settle for apartment living, there is a strong number that keep the American dream of owning a home alive in Southern California. And in Santa Clarita, CA the benefits of owning a home is important to many citizens. Some of those benefits include simple pride of being a homeowner, reduced taxes, independence, community commitment and more. Simply put, homeownership is still the best long-term investment you can make. Therefore, I have some tips on buying and financing a Santa Clarita home.

Buying and financing in Santa Clarita, CA

Choosing the right agent ? Choosing the right Realtor? is much like a partnership. You want someone on your side that you can trust and have an open communication with. Buying a home can be stressful and having the right agent will relieve some of that stress.

* Trust ? You can find agents through family and friends who can recommend a Realtor? that they have used and were satisfied with in the past. You can also contact your local Realtors Association for recommendations.

* Professionalism ? Make sure you know what the agent can do for you. Ask for their resume listing their sales experience, education, services, etc.

* Communication ? You want to find someone who you can talk to freely and that will keep you well informed from beginning to end.

Assessing your needs ? You should do your homework when it comes to buying the best home for you and your family. Is the Santa Clarita area the right place for you? If you?re not familiar with the area, you can talk to your Realtor? about the neighborhoods you like and its surrounding areas. Some questions you may want to ask include property size, schools, shopping, amenities, recreation, etc.

How much home can you afford ? To find a home you can afford without putting yourself in debt, you should compute your income and debt. You will need to estimate your gross income per month and extras such as child support, bonuses, and commissions. Then, add in your monthly debt like credit cards, car loans, or child support. You also need to know how much cash you have available for down payments and other fees.

Getting pre-approval and securing a mortgage ? It will be extremely helpful to have a pre-approved loan certificate in hand when you find your dream home. It is also a powerful tool when it comes to negotiating an offer. Pre-approval is a much stronger tool than pre-qualification, especially in today?s market.

Make an offer ? When you have found your dream home, your Realtor? will get all the necessary paperwork in order. You should expect to pay earnest money with the offer, which can range from $1,000 and up. The contract will include all contingencies, move in date, any necessary repairs needed before moving in, interest rate and more.

Home Inspection ? A professional home inspection is needed to ensure you don?t come upon unexpected property defects that could cost you down the road. You should expect to pay between $100 to $500 for a professional home inspection.

Taxes & Insurance ? When you carry a mortgage on your home, you are required to have it insured. Therefore, you should choose a reputable insurance company to get the coverage you need. Some questions you may want to ask include coverage for roof damage, fire damage, water damage, mold coverage, earthquakes, etc. Property taxes can be paid annually or through an escrow account that can be setup with your mortgage company.

Terms & Conditions ? When you speak to your lender, it will help if you know the simple relationships between points, rates and time.

* Points ? These are the costs you incur at closing. For every one percent of the loan you put down, you lower your point ratio.

* Adjustable Rates ? An ARM is an adjustable rate mortgage that gives you a lower interest rate than the traditionally fixed loan. However, ARM?s expire after a certain time and you will then pay what the interest rate is at the time of expiration.

* Balloon Payments ? A balloon payment allows you to make a fixed payment before the balloon payment is due, usually for 5 to 7 years. At the end of the term, you can pay the loan in full or you can refinance your loan.

This real estate information is brought to you by: Kim Thompson ? Your real estate resource for Santa Clarita, CA and surrounding communities.

Thank you for reading our Santa Clarita Valley Real Estate Blog!
Written by Kim Thomson ? Santa Clarita Real Estate Agent
Kim Thomson Team For all your Real Estate needs, give us a call (661) 263-0441

Search for a Home in Santa Clarita What's My Santa Clarita Home Worth?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Buyers, Financing A Home, Santa Clarita. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://santaclaritarealestatebuzz.com/2012/08/14/buying-and-financing-a-santa-clarita-home/

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Rat and ant rescues 'don't show empathy'

ScienceDaily (Aug. 12, 2012) ? Studies of how rats and ants rescue other members of their species do not prove that animals other than humans have empathy, according to a team led by Oxford University scientists.

Empathy -- recognizing and sharing feelings experienced by another individual -- is a key human trait and to understand its evolution numerous studies have looked for evidence of it in non-human animals.

The ability to rescue another individual in distress, a typical empathic response of humans, appears in several other animals. Two recent laboratory studies led by US and French researchers looked at how rats and ants will attempt to free individuals of the same species they share a cage or nest with which have been restrained. However, writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the Oxford-led team argues that such studies are not rigorous enough to separate examples of 'pro-social' behavior, the tendency to behave so as to benefit another individual, from genuine empathy.

'Empathy has been proposed as the motivation behind the sort of 'pro-social' rescue behavior in which one individual tries to free another,' said Professor Alex Kacelnik of Oxford University's Department of Zoology, lead author of the article, 'however, the reproductive benefits of this kind of behavior are relatively well understood as, in nature, they are helping individuals to which they are likely to be genetically related or whose survival is otherwise beneficial to the actor.

'To prove empathy any experiment must show an individual understands another's feelings and is driven by the psychological goal of improving another's wellbeing. Our view is that, so far, there is no proof of this outside of humans.'

The team highlights how interpretations of pro-social behavior vary -- rat rescues, for instance, are regarded as being motivated by empathy whilst ant rescues are not -- even though the observed behavior (pulling on the legs or tail of the trapped individual, followed by biting at the restraint) are very similar.

In order to prove empathy any experiment would need to show that individuals changed their response if the circumstances changed; for instance moving away from a trapped individual if that reduced the trapped animal's distress. It would also need to disentangle empathy from acting simply to stop the trapped animal's stress signals -- something that can be psychologically selfish and does not need to involve empathy.

Solving the riddle of empathy would have important implications not just for the sciences but for philosophy and ethics. However, the team concludes scientists will have to come up with new, more rigorous studies to show that empathy exists outside of humans.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

M. Vasconcelos, K. Hollis, E. Nowbahari, A. Kacelnik. Pro-sociality without empathy. Biology Letters, 2012; DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0554

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/GhvcJl2x18k/120812160800.htm

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Sunday, August 12, 2012

How To Make Money Buying Real Estate | Toronto Presale Condo

Posted on 11. Aug, 2012 by admin in A - New Project

Do you feel that you have found every tip that is available about real estate buying? So many details about real estate exist that even the buyers with great experience keep reading about new trends and developments in the market. Read this article to learn more about real estate and how to make good decisions.

A home inspection should be done whether or not the bank requires it. The absolute best way to know if a home is sound?and to know what kinds of problems you may encounter?is to have a professional inspector check it out before you buy. There are numerous flaws in the house that an inexperienced home buyer cannot detect, so it is recommended that a home inspector be hired to evaluate the house before purchase.

When you set out to purchase a piece of real estate, it?s crucial to seek out a real estate agent that is experienced, honest and reliable. It is possible to find information from both the Internet and the Better Business Bureau. Although, the best references are usually from the people who are closest to you, such as family members, friends and co-workers whom you trust.

Buying a fixer upper is a great way to save money and invest wisely. You?ll have a rapid return on investment, thanks to a little elbow grease. Sometimes, you will even get more value increase than the amount of money you spent for repairs and renovations.

It is much more appealing to sellers if you come looking at their home with a pre-approved loan in hand. It is best to get this approval letter immediately to avoid delays that will cost time and money.

Prior to purchasing any real estate, you first need to have a firm understanding of what a mortgage loan is and its many terms and conditions. When you understand how your mortgage term affects your monthly payments, and how it will impact the total cost of your loan, you will minimize any future confusion.

If a home warranty is available, purchase it to protect yourself against serious problems and builder defects. You should always inquire about a warranty when buying a home, regardless if it is newly constructed, or it has a few years under its belt. Builders should be willing to warranty their home products for a certain time period. When purchasing a previously owned home, be sure to get a warranty for a year.

Look for the home that you have always dreamed of getting. Although many say that this is a bad time to purchase or sell larger properties, others have a different opinion. Snagging your dream home right now might actually be a good idea, because home values likely have nowhere to go but up from here.

Do not purchase a home that has a fireplace in any room other than a family room. Since most people don?t use more than one fireplace, they can be more of a hassle to deal with than anything.

You can find a calculator online that will help you determine a reasonable price range when you are ready to purchase a house. They can calculate for you based on your income, expenses, and even debt. Then you have a good idea of what you are able to comfortably afford if you don?t stretch yourself thin.

Having read this article, you should now be more prepared to make better real estate purchasing decisions. You may not know who you may help succeed or who may help you succeed.

www.torontorealtoronline.com

Tags: real estate

Source: http://www.torontorealtoronline.com/2012/08/11/how-to-make-money-buying-real-estate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-make-money-buying-real-estate

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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Indian industrial output in shock contraction

India's industrial output shrank by a shock 1.8 percent in June, data showed Thursday, highlighting the challenge for new finance minister P. Chidambaram to reverse the nation's sharp growth slowdown.

Manufacturing output, which accounts for three-quarters of the Index of Industrial Production, was chiefly to blame, falling 3.2 percent from a year earlier in June, according to government figures.

Chidambaram called the numbers "disappointing" and said he would act in "double-quick time" to remove bureaucratic and other bottlenecks hindering India's production.

"We intend to find practical solutions," he said.

The industrial output fall defied market forecasts of close to one percent growth and came as the country faces the spectre of its third drought in a decade, which would further reduce economic expansion.

"This was another shocking industrial production release from India... and will inevitably heap more pressure on the central bank to restart its rate cutting," said Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

India's once-booming economy grew just 5.3 percent between January and March -- its slowest annual quarterly expansion in nearly a decade.

Unlike other central banks which have been cutting rates to spur growth, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been holding back on reducing borrowing costs, saying it wants inflation running at over seven percent to ease first.

"The situation calls for urgent policy measures both by the RBI as well as the government to salvage industry from further decline," said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

India's benchmark Sensex share index closed down a fifth of a percentage point to 17,560.87 points on the back of the data.

The next quarterly growth figures are due at the end of the month but "the omens are not particularly encouraging", said Prior-Wandesforde.

Capital goods output, a vital investment signal, slid 27.9 percent in June -- the largest contraction on record according to Credit Suisse.

Manufacturing in Asia's third-largest economy has been undermined by high interest rates to combat inflation and Europe's debt crisis which has hit exports.

Chidambaram, named finance minister last week, has pledged to restart India's "growth engine" and has already indicated he wants lower rates, saying "sometimes it is necessary to take carefully calibrated risks".

But analysts are sceptical about how much he can achieve with the left-leaning Congress government under pressure after a string of graft scandals, and parliament gridlocked over attempts to liberalise the inward-looking economy.

Economists have already been taking a knife to their growth projections for the fiscal year to March 2013 with Goldman Sachs economist Tushar Poddar expecting 5.7 percent in contrast to the central bank's forecast of 6.5 percent.

Glenn Levine, senior economist at Moody's Analytics, said on Thursday he believed growth would be closer to 5.5 percent.

Citibank has said if a nationwide drought is declared -- which would be the country's third in a decade -- expansion could be as low as 4.9 percent.

Farming's contribution to gross domestic product has fallen from 50 percent in the 1950s to some 15 percent, but remains key by supporting 700 million rural Indians and fuelling demand for everything from TVs to motorcycles and gold.

Already around a dozen of India's 29 states have declared themselves "drought-affected".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indian-data-shows-shock-fall-industrial-output-074550061.html

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Friday, August 10, 2012

Staging Your Property With Rental Furniture | Real Estate | Business ...

By Cathy Hobbs, ASID Created: August 8, 2012 Last Updated: August 8, 2012

A bedroom staged with rental furniture and some affordable throw pillows. (Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes)

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When it comes to home staging, it isn?t about how much money you spend?it?s about creating the right atmosphere to entice buyers. The reality is: Most buyers need an emotional trigger, an internal reaction that prompts them to make an offer on a home. In other words, they need to ?fall in love? with a property and be able to picture themselves and their family in the space.

Home staging is the best tool a seller can use to effectively market their property, ensuring it sells for the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time. Home staging highlights the positives of a property, and downplays the negatives.

In creating a staging solution for your home, you first want to edit out all of the unnecessary items, such as excess furniture, clothing, books, and other items non-essential to showcasing the space. Then, to successfully showcase your property, either use existing furniture and accessories you already own by ?shopping your house,? or supplement what you own by renting furniture in order to achieve a certain look.

Again, it is important to keep in mind that home staging is a marketing tool, pure and simple, to sell real estate; renting furniture is akin to set-decorating and scene-setting. Essentially, that is what you are doing with home staging: creating a certain look and sending a message to a potential buyer.

If your home is more modern, but your furniture is overly traditional, rent some more modern pieces to mix in with your existing look. If you are marketing your home to younger buyers and your furniture is old and outdated, rent furniture that will create a look that will appeal to your target buyer.

Yes, you are selling the space, and not the ?stuff,? but if your furniture is worn, outdated, oversized, or the wrong design aesthetic, it can serve as distractions to a potential buyer and will take away from all the hard work you have put into trying to sell your home.

When my home staging and interior design firm works with home sellers, 90 percent of the time we are renting furniture in order to showcase the property. Nearly 100 percent of the time, we are also purchasing affordable accessories in order to add ?finishing touches? to the space, such as toss pillows, vases, and throws.

So where do you go to rent furniture? Some of the biggest names in the rental furniture business are Churchill Furniture Rental, Cort Furniture Rental, Brook Furniture Rental, and AFR Furniture Rental. All of these companies either have a regional or national presence.

Furniture rental companies, years ago, were considered to be only for corporate relocation clients, college students, or short term renters. Now nearly all of them have home staging divisions in which they work directly with professional home stagers and home sellers. Most furniture rental companies work the same way; they often require a minimum 3-month commitment and will deliver, as well as assemble, all of the furniture, making the process super easy.

There is an art, however, to choosing the right pieces, as staging isn?t just about renting a bunch of furniture and tossing it into a room. I would suggest that you first begin by creating a floor plan, then selectively identify those pieces that are needed and create color palette. From there, rent the necessary furniture and accessories. Use your floor plan as your ?shopping guide? to create a winning look that sells!

(Cathy Hobbs)

Five-time Emmy Award-winning television personality Cathy Hobbs is the founder of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes, a New York City-based firm specializing in interior design, home staging, and home staging training. Go to www.cathyhobbs.com to learn more about Cathy, or to ask her a home staging or design question, send a tweet to @cathyhobbs.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/business/staging-your-property-with-rental-furniture-276710.html

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