May Your Holiday Season Be Merry & Bright | Central Ohio Holiday Lights Presented By DeLena Ciamacco

Central Ohio Holiday Lights | Presented By DeLena Ciamacco

 Visit my website for additional information about Real Estate and our Central Ohio Market!  www.DeLena.com

DECEMBER 2015 MARKET UPDATE

December 2015

Included in this blog post is a link to my Real Estate Update Newsletter. Please click on the link below to get the latest Real Estate Update for December! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email my office. 

614-882-6725

delena@delena.com

http://realtytimes.com/205/DeLenaCiamacco

DeLena Ciamacco Wishes Everyone A Happy Thanksgiving!

DeLena Ciamacco & The Ciamacco Team wishes everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Visit my website for additional information about Real Estate and our Central Ohio Market!  www.DeLena.com

Think of lighting as art for your home

Lighting is possibly the most powerful tool you have when it comes to interior design. It does not make sense to invest in beautiful furniture, rugs, paintings, and accessories if they are in the dark. The perfect light fixture not only illuminates a space - it is also a beautiful, decorative design element.



"When looking for a light fixture, think of yourself as a curator looking for a perfect piece of art," says interior designer Laurie Smith, known for her role as a featured designer on the hit television show Trading Spaces. Smith says, "Like art, a fabulous fixture can make a strong design statement, as well as provide illumination for your space."



Often consumers do not realize the difference updated lighting can make in their homes. Smith suggests finding one special piece and building a room around it. "In design school, we learned that lighting is the most exciting and mysterious medium in design. Lighting is sculptural; it's textural, it's exciting," she says.



"There are so many varying styles and designs in lighting today that the possibilities are endless. Different materials and shapes are just part of what goes into determining that perfect fixture," says Smith. "For instance, do you want the shape of your piece to contrast with your room's schematic or coordinate with it? Taking a traditional fixture and placing it into a modern setting creates interest through contrast, while taking a sleek modern fixture and putting it into a traditional setting infuses new vitality and a sophisticated accent."



With so many choices on the market, the task of selecting a light fixture can be difficult and overwhelming for many homeowners. It's just a matter of developing a plan or one idea. To help consumers get started, Smith talks about the importance of lighting to interior design in a new video series. Each minute-long video focuses on a different aspect of lighting and ways to incorporate it into every homeowner's design plan.



Videos in the series include:

* Choosing the Right Lighting Fixture

* Find an Object of Inspiration

* The Impact of a Single Lamp

* Lighting Fixtures as Art



Whether looking for one fixture or a complete lighting design plan, a great place to start is at a lighting retail showroom. There you will find professionally trained staff to help you select the perfect light for your space.

Navigating the home refinancing process

* Choose a reliable and trustworthy mortgage banker.



A mortgage banker is someone you should feel comfortable with, who should be frank with you about fees, flag potential issues, and help you make choices that best fit your financial situation. But where can you find the right mortgage banker?



"A quality mortgage banker will try to understand your goals and match your situation with the best possible loan, that doesn't contain hidden fees or surprises," says TJ Freeborn, mortgage professional at Discover Home Loans. "Mortgage bankers who are not looking out for you might sell you strictly on low interest rates or offer you a too-good-to-be-true deal without asking the proper questions or evaluating your needs."



Start by doing research online with unbiased resources. Reach out to family and friends who also have refinanced or are in the process and compare research. Also, if you know a tax advisor or a real estate professional ask them about any questions or concerns. They may be able to provide new insight to help with your decision.



* Do your homework on loan options.



All mortgages are not created equally. It's important to understand the components that go into determining the price of a mortgage, including points and fees, so you can accurately compare the offers. To find descriptions of home loan options, you can visit www.discover.com/home-loans/loan-options.



For instance, based on the situation you may choose an adjustable-rate mortgage versus a 15 year or 30 year fixed-rate loan. Make sure to evaluate your options with your mortgage banker and discuss what works best for you.



* Secure your low interest rate by locking it in.



Interest rates change almost daily and it's important to talk to a mortgage banker about ensuring the best time to lock in your rate. If the loan process takes too long, there is a chance your approved rate may expire and therefore potentially increase. You may have the opportunity to get an extension, but often the fee for an expired rate can be costly. Make sure to lock in your interest rate to avoid closing at a higher rate.



* Understand the costs and fees of refinancing.



Before you jump into refinancing, make sure you understand not only the mortgage refinancing rates but the costs associated with refinancing. Closing costs generally include fees for origination, the appraisal, attorney review, lender and title, as well as insurance, taxes and escrow. Check with your mortgage banker to make sure that the closing fees are reasonable and that you are aware of all the factors that impact your refinancing cost.



Refinancing may be a worthwhile savings opportunity, but make sure to consider all of the factors before concluding it's a wise financial decision for you.

Ideas for flooring in your home

Your home is your paradise, and if you are planning to renovate your home, go for the changes that not only catch your eye, but that they are also comfortable for you and your family. Remodeling is associated with adjustments in every nook and cranny of the home. If you are going to change the flooring of your home, there are some tips for flooring different parts of your house.



Bedroom flooring:



There are plenty of options when it comes to flooring in your bedroom. Being the most private and personalized part of your home, your bedroom is the place which uses a big part of your budget whenever you are remodeling your home; you can use carpet, tile, hardwood, bamboo, cork or laminate. Play with different materials in different rooms; you can opt for striped light and dark shades in your boy's room so that if your son is going to create mess ( which is unavoidable),the flooring can withstand the burden, and also the flooring can bear heavy traffic of the folks coming in the bedroom. For more powerful scratch and water resistant flooring, you can choose laminate.



Living room flooring:



Most of the traffic in a home happens in the living room, with people coming in and out of the house. It is highly recommended that the flooring should be strong enough that it can endure all such wear and tear done with your furniture, or to the increasing and decreasing ratio of visitors. For this purpose you can opt for hardwood flooring. Being classy and sophisticated in look it is the perfect choice for your living room whenever you are remodeling your home.



Kitchen flooring:



Design the floor of your kitchen in such a way that it not only looks pretty, but also gives a practical impression. You can choose from vinyl, tile, natural stone, wood, cork or laminate. A floor covering that is water resistant and durable such as tile, is the best choice to protect against potential water damage. Make sure when you choose your floor to order a little extra of the product, in the event that you drop something like a pot on your floor. If the flooring material is damaged, you will be sure to have enough to repair the floor because often, floor manufacturers have high turnover of their products, to insure a continual buying cycle. Most flooring contractors add 5-10% additional square footage of the flooring product to their purchase order to insure they have enough for the project and to provide the client with a little extra flooring for future use.

Can your child's after-school program lead to a STEM career?

"Multiple studies show that children who take part in quality after-school programs have better attendance, grades and behavior, and do better on tests compared to their peers who went home alone to an empty house," says Dan O'Donnell, vice president of the Bricks 4 Kidz after-school program. "Parents can help their children get a jump-start on life, and learn to love learning, by enrolling them in high-quality after-school programs."



It's important for parents to assess after-school programs with a critical eye, and consider how successfully a program combines learning with fun and basic care. While many programs are effective at keeping kids safely occupied after school ends but before parents are done with work, not all emphasize educational material. Programs that stimulate a child's interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects can be particularly valuable - possibly even inspiring an interest in a high-demand STEM career.



"We must prepare all students ... to be proficient in STEM subjects," the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) writes in a report to President Obama. "And we must inspire all students to learn STEM and, in the process, motivate many of them to pursue STEM careers."



An after-school program with a STEM emphasis can fulfill both the need to educate children and inspire a lifelong love of STEM subjects, experts agree. Parents seeking a STEM program for their children should look for one that:



* Offers creative and engaging activities that are as fun and motivational as they are educational.



* Encourages curiosity and creativity, which are building blocks of independent thinking.



* Draws on the real-life expertise of people working in STEM fields. For example, engineers and architects designed Bricks 4 Kidz modules.



* Uses familiar, loved learning tools, like LEGO (R) bricks, to provide hands-on, interactive STEM lessons.



"It's also important for a program's lessons to be age-appropriate," O'Donnell notes. "Children need STEM lessons at every age, which is why we offer programs for children ages 3 through 13. We use themed-based project kits to motivate children by reinforcing STEM principles, and at the same time boost self-esteem, improve fine motor-skills, and teach organization and how to follow directions. And we do it in such a way that kids have so much fun they don't think of what they're doing as work."



To find a Bricks 4 Kidz program in your area, visit the interactive map at www.bricks4kidz.com/locations. You can learn more about the programs and search for a location by state or ZIP code.



"STEM education is most successful when students develop personal connections with the ideas and excitement of STEM fields," according to the President's Council report. "This can occur not only in the classroom, but also through individualized and group experiences outside the classroom ...."