Mortgage rates are rising, causing pain for both buyers and sellers. If
the sudden shift in rates has affected your plans, give me a call for
help figuring out what to do next. I'm always here for you, or anyone
you refer to me. Thanks! ~Mardin, (408) 210-2073
Interior Design...It's not Just about Decorating
During a classroom activity about jobs, a young girl said she wanted to
be an interior designer. The teacher praised the girl, but then kindly
suggested she should also think about a "real career." When the girl's
father heard about the teacher's comment, he presented her with the
following from Wikipedia:
Interior design is a field within environmental psychology, which
concerns the environmental conditions of the interior. It is a study of
the relationship between an environment and how it affects the behavior
of inhabitants, with the aim of maximizing positive effects.
Further defending his daughter, the dad pointed out that interior design
careers can be found in corporate design, architectural firms, and real
estate sales. Commercial interior designers can make more than
$100K/year. Home stagers and private decorators can make $80,000+. City
planners and architectural firms pay between $60,000 and $90,000.
Interior designisn't just about decorating. It's
about creating the right flow, mood, and function. Interior design
studies have shown that crowded environments—like low income high-rise
projects—can contribute to violence, while harmonious environments can
make people more peaceful. That makes interior designers part scientist, part artist, and part social engineer. I'd say it's a "real career."
Perfect steakhouse burgers for Father's Day (for Dad to make for you)
It's a well-known fact that many dads live for the grill. Give your
favorite grill master the secret to perfect steakhouse burgers. Your
burgers will be cooked and served with love. See the recipe here.
Send your answer for a chance to win a $5 COFFEE CARD. Last month's Q&A:If seven adults can eat seven cupcakes in seven minutes, how long would it take 30 adults to eat 30 cupcakes? 7 minutes. Congratulations to last month's winner!
Mardin's Featured Real Estate Topic
Will banning short-term-rentals and foreign investment make a difference in housing supply?
These kinds of engineering efforts always have consequences, some
expected, some not. Will banning property uses and purchaser types
really work, or simply hurt homeowners? See my shallow dive into the topic here (1-page PDF).
Woman sells her $1 million home for 1/2 price
An 81-year-old Californian sold her $1 million home for half its value
so it could become affordable housing after she dies. In true old San
Francisco hippie fashion, she cares less about the money and more about
the love, man. She used a Community Land Trust to settle her estate,
allowing her to live there until she passes. Read about it here.
Study proves that time-restricted eating doesn't work...or does it?
A recent study out of China demonstrates that people who eat the same
number of calories throughout the day vs. eating only within a narrow
window of time show no difference in weight loss. Yet, many people
claim to have lost weight due to this kind of intermittent fasting. What
gives? Weight loss experts suggest that it may simply be a case of
eating fewer calories by not eating during those extended hours. Get the full story.
Crazy bathroom décor
It's a tiny canvas for self expression, or a private space to enjoy art,
or an embarrassing place to lighten up! Whatever the case, a lot of
people like to have fun with bathroom décor. See these 50 playful ideas shared by readers at Boredpanda.
The best hard-boiled eggs are...
If you go online to find the best way to hard-boil eggs, you’ll find
tons of methods, all claiming to be the best. To see which methods work
and which ones don’t, this blogger set about testing seven of the
best-known techniques. Enjoy, you hard boiled egg lovers!
The benefits of long-distance real estate investing
You may have heard that you should avoid buying an investment property
in another city. 'They're just too difficult to manage long distance.'
However, if there are no viable investments in your own backyard, you
may have no choice. Instead of that being a consolation prize, it can be
a big benefit. Interested? Then you'll enjoy this article from The Motley Fool.
5 random facts that will blow your mind!
Dinosaurs
existed for so long that there were still dinosaur fossils from
previous eras while other dinosaurs from future eras were alive.
(People, too.)
You
can fit the entire population of the human race inside the Grand
Canyon. Not just the 7 billion alive now - the entire lot. From the very
start. See the math here.
If
every person on earth fought one-to-one until there was only one
winner, that person would only have to win 33 times. (Divide the
population by two, then keep dividing by two.)
Shock
paddles won't start a stopped heart. They are used to put an irregular
or weak heart beat back into a normal rythm. Chest compressions are used
to start a stopped heart.
16⁰C
and 28⁰C reversed are equal to their Fahrenheit value. So - 16 is 61f
and 28 is 82f. (Okay, so that fact won't blow your mind, but it is
cool.)