In the Community:

Working in real estate is not enough for me. I'm also very active in the Albuquerque Jewish and GLBT (Gay) communities, as well as the general community in Albuquerque, and serve on a number of boards and volunteer for a number of organizations. Below is a list of just some of my community involvement in Albuquerque.

Albuquerque GLBT Chamber of Commerce - As a business person and a lesbian, I felt it was important to encourage the local GLBT business community. That's why I founded (along with many other wonderful people)  this organization. I am also the current President. Truth be told, we're a very small organization and I am the only administrator. We have some wonderful volunteers and members who allow us to connect the Gay business owners in the Albuquerque area and reach out to the Albuquerque Gay community at large. We have regular networking events, hosted by our members. Check out www.abqGLBTchamber.com for more info and our Membership Directory.

Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque (JCC) - I am currently a Vice President at the JCC on the Board of Directors with a focus on board development and marketing. As a Jewish woman from New York, I felt divorced from my community in Albuquerque where the Jewish Community is not as visible. Joining the JCC allowed me to connect to the Jewish Community in Albuquerque in a way that gives me a sense of wholeness I had been lacking. I love going to the Chanukah Festival every year and try to get over there to work out whenever I can. I don't do that as often as I'd like, but I do love the Zumba classes and can't recommend them highly enough! Plus, I can't wait to use my reciprocal membership benefits at the JCC in New York City when I visit my parents this summer. Check out www.jccabq.com for more information.

Jewish Community Endowment Foundation of New Mexico (JCEFNM) - I became involved with the JCEFNM as a representative of the JCC. Because of that association, I have learned a tremendeous amount about this great organization and how they help people plan their financial legacies and make sure the charities they care about the most get support in the future. Probably the most satifying part of this partnership has been helping the organization rebrand themselves. All of those years in advertising continue to help me to this day and I love to use my expertise to help community organizations succeed. I've also met some wonderful women who have made being away from my own mother (still living in New York) a little less painful. Visit www.jcefnm.org for more information.

In the Press:

I write a bi-weekly article for the Westside and Rio Rancho editions of the Albuquerque Journal. Here are some samples of those articles.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Staging Can Help Sell Your House

Albuquerque Journal--By Talia Freedman

       Q: I'm getting ready to sell my house in a few months and I'm not sure how to get ready. I've lived here for a long time and I have a ton of stuff and not a lot of storage space. What should I do?
       
       A: Staging is an important part of selling a house, especially in a market with a lot of competition. Nothing shows better than a home that is well staged and, if people are living in it, has all of their belongings neatly and easily stored. But before you can stage your house, you need to “de-clutter” it. For some of us, this is a matter of clearing off the refrigerator and removing personal photos. For others it's a much bigger project and involves either getting rid of a lot of stuff or somehow getting it out of the house.
       If you're really struggling with the process, you might consider hiring a professional organizer. They can be very helpful in getting you to actually go through your things. If you're going to try it on your own first, start going through your belongings room by room and either throw away, give away or store anything you don't need for the upcoming season. If you have the room, you can put some things in the garage in light-colored storage containers. They look nice and if they fit along the walls, they won't interfere with parking your car. This is extremely important. The garage has to be clean and must fit the correct number of cars in it. Hazel Thornton of Organized for Life, a professional organizing and staging company says, “This is one case where I suggest renting a storage unit, if necessary.”
       Once you've cleared out as much stuff as you can, make sure your closets, drawers and cabinets have the right shelves and fixtures to make them highly organized and neat. It's worth spending a little bit of money making sure your closets have enough shelves and racks to look organized and roomy.
       After that, it's time to move on to staging. Custom paint colors, moving some of your furniture around and an extremely deep cleaning go a long way in making a house show well. But you have to know what to do with your furniture to show off the best features of your house. Sometimes your Realtor can help you with this, but it's always best to hire the right person for any job.
       All of this preparation is so prospective buyers will have a sense of their stuff fitting easily in your house. If your closets, drawers and cabinets are packed to the point of exploding, buyers will feel there is not enough space. They'll start worrying about storage space rather than how they feel about your house. You want them to stay in an emotional space while they're looking at your house. If they fall in love with it, they'll find solutions to any minor issues they find. If you force them to think analytically, you run the risk of losing them due to a lack of storage space. Most people make decisions about any purchase from an emotional standpoint and then find support for the decision from a more rational perspective. So make sure your house looks clean, orderly, fashionable, up-to-date and most importantly, that all of the stuff you have fits in it well. If you do that, buyers will imagine themselves in the house rather than seeing all of the issues with trying to live there.

More Things in the Press:

"Beating Those Holiday Blues" (Excerpts from an article by By Kathryn Holzka in the Albuquerque Journal on October 25, 2009)

             Homeowners trying to sell their homes in the upcoming holiday season, take heart. 
             While it's a traditional time for a slowdown in sales, there are still good prospects for owners willing to take an active role in marketing their homes. 
             The success formula? Work in conjunction with your real estate broker by telling everybody you know — from next door neighbors to fellow shoppers in the supermarket — that your home is for sale. And declutter, depersonalize and "stage" your home to present its best features to prospective buyers. 
Highlight potential
             Talia Freedman of Signature Southwest Properties in Albuquerque agreed. "I tell my clients that regardless of the time of year, the best house still sells when it is priced appropriately and presented really well to show off its most interesting facets," she said. 
             The right pricing and location are still the big motivators, she said, "but the visual impact your home makes is also a key factor in a successful sale."
Consider staging
             Freedman said her best advice to sellers is to view their homes, both inside and out, as objectively as possible and to pay attention to the entire experience the buyer will have when seeing the home for the first time. 
             Staging a home for sale doesn't have to be pricey. Often it can cost well under $500.