Designing Spaces: Great Innovations and Ideas For Your Home

Today, we will help you decide if renting is right for you. The only thing leftover from the holidays are the bills. If you're looking for a little help, we'll show you a surprisingly safe and easy way to trade in those old CDs and DVDs for cash. It's a quick and easy way to de-clutter for the holidays. We will also give you a quick do-it-yourself. American Housing Income Trust started in as a flip model. We did up to houses a year. Buy them, fix them, re-sell them in the market. And then around , we saw the model changing to more of a whole model because the prices had increased where the margins for the flips weren't there anymore. So, in , we started holding our first houses and renting them. in single-family homes is a rental unit representing a $ trillion dollar industry. Demand for single-family rentals is expected to increase. This growth is a direct reflection of a number of factors such as uncertainty in the job market or a lifestyle choice like eliminating the burden of home maintenance, tax payments, HOA expenses, and insurance payments. Also, in today's world, the mobility and flexibility employment may require does not ducktail with home ownership. To find out more about the trends in rental properties and how they're becoming an investment to consider, I met with Jeff and Mike from American Housing Income Trust in Phoenix, Arizona, a city where the rental market's growing at a rapid pace. So, Jeff, what's going on with the rental market. It seems like business is booming. I couldn't be more pleased with the speed that our company is growing. Our company has managed to double in size every year since its inception.

The rental space is booming nationwide with % of the baby boomers now renting and the mortgage restrictions on people trying to buy new houses. Our vacancy rent in our portfolio is zero, % in Phoenix. Unbelievable. That is unbelievable. What are some of the sub markets that American Housing has sort of uncovered? We like the Master Plan Communities and newer subdivision. Some of which are gated, golf courses, club houses, swimming pools, tennis courts attracts really good family renters. I found out about American Housing through a mutual friend. I was transitioning from an old home down the road looking for a place to transition between my boys going on to college, moving out, getting their own places, and potentially within a year wanting to move out to the coast. So, contacted them, gave them kind of the criteria I was looking for. Wanted to stick with a home that was about the same square footage, had the same amenities -- pool , hot tub, you know entertainment background -- and they gave me some options. I gave them some options. I went onto Zillow and looking around a little bit, and having them on my side actually made things so much easier. So, Mike, what is a Real Estate Investment Trust? A Real Estate Investment Trust, Sara, is a company that owns and in most cases operates income-producing real estate. REITs seek to provide investors with diversification, a steady stream of income, and most importantly longterm capital appreciation. Why is a REIT a good investment? There's a number of reasons, but typically a REIT is a great investment because they pay most of their taxable income back to their shareholders as dividends. If you look historically, the listed REITs have outperformed Dow Jones Industrials and S&P as well as the NASDAQ composite. So, I'm a small investor. How do I begin? Where do I get started? Investors are seeking us out for a higher yield and an overall investment. Call us or visit our website, AHITrust.com. Alright. Will do that. Maybe you have some properties you could show us. We could take a look? Absolutely. Let's go see them. Alright. Let's go. (music). Right now, in this market, we typically get - applicants on a weekend for our rentals. When we put them up for rent, immediately getting high demand for these rentals that we're putting up. So, we need to be starting on a waiting list at this point. So this is one of our rental houses. This is a -bedroom -bath , square foot house. Okay. And something like this would cost? The rent here would be in between $, up to $, a month. Okay. So, in our houses, we like to keep these more open floor plans, more family orientated houses with an eating area. Anytime we buy these houses, we do granite. We upgrade it so it's very attractive to the families. (music). So this is our second floor, very nice loft for kids' crafts. Most of these houses, the master bedroom is on one side. The other side of the house leads to two secondary bedrooms, second floor laundry, and a hall bath. We've got a very nice floor plan. This house is , square feet, -bedrooms, -baths, has a really nice floor plan with an open family room, eating area, kitchen, beautiful pebble tech pool in the back. The bedrooms, the master is in the back, and all the secondary bedrooms are in the front.

Well, I guess this is it. Thank you guys so much. It's been so informative and a lot of fun. Thank you, Sara. If you're interested in renting a home, come see what American Housing Income Trust has to offer. And if you're a potential investor, you know what to do. Maybe you're interested in both. If you'd like to see this portion of the program again, go to DesigningSpaces.TV and click on the American Housing Income Trust video. In Phoenix, Arizona, I'm Sara Michaels. (music). (music). CDs. They've been around since the s. It's been the way we've listened to music for the past years. In fact, the first commercial album to be released on CD was Billy Joel's "nd Street" way back in October of . Since that time, by some estimates, billion CDs have been sold. Today, over decades later, CDs continue to be a popular way for all of us to listen to music. For some, our CD collections go way back, and sometimes our tastes have changed a little. And that means some of the old favorites are sitting around collecting dust and cluttering the shelves. The same is true for all those DVDs, video games, and BlueRays that we just don't use anymore. So, what do we do with that collection? Well, we just found a surprisingly easy way to de-clutter all those CDs, DVDs, and games, but also actually make money while you're doing it. We found the company, appropriately named, Decluttr. They'll buy the CDs, DVDs, and games you don't want anymore. Here's how it works. First, go to Decluttr.com. Then, simply enter the barcode from the back of the item into the evaluation engine and you'll get an instant offer from Decluttr. You'll need a minimum of items, or a minimum value of $ to complete the order. To make it even easier, you can also download the free app for iPhones or Androids which turn your smart phone's camera into a handy barcode scanner. Once you've accepted their offer, pack up your items in any box. Decluttr will send you a shipping label to stick to the box. And then send the box to Decluttr for free. That's right. Decluttr pays the shipping. Once your order's been received and verified, Decluttr will send you your check. It really couldn't be easier. It's like a completely free service with no seller or listing fees. Seems like a Win-Win. We caught up with Decluttr Marketing Director, Liam Howley. We began in the UK in with our Company Name, musicMagpie. We began in the USA in under Decluttr. Decluttr obviously sums up the service pretty well. So, on Decluttr.com in the U.S., we roughly buy about , units every day. Like I said, it's a mixture of CDs, DVDs, and games. Half of those are bought via the apps. So, for iPhone and Android, they turn the camera into a barcode scanner so it makes it even quicker and easier to sell your items. People obviously love the fact that you can sell us a large number of items in one transaction. The average order contains around about items. So, people use the service to de-clutter and make some money while they're doing it. Yea, so people tend to sell us a combination of CDs, DVDs, and games. We roughly get around about $, $, $ dollars worth of product in every order. They just send it to us in one box. We pay the shipping, and then send them either a check or pay them by bank transfer. Certain items are worth more than others. Newer video games, for example, would be worth more than the majority of the CDs. I guess rarer items, whether it be movies or music, they'll be worth a little bit more money. I guess that's part of the fun of using the service, just scanning your items and seeing what your collection is worth. But why not just sell it yourself online? I've been selling CDs and DVDs for years now, but it's just too much of a pain the normal way. You have to make an auction, you have to answer people's questions, you have to wait for payment and hope you get paid. It's just too much of a pain. It takes weeks before you get any money. And a lot of these even like charge you a fee to sell your own stuff. We also spoke with Donna, who's tried Decluttr several times. No more auctions or scary people to deal with like I have on other sites. Decluttr is quick and easy. All I did was enter the barcode number into the computer. It gave me a price. I accepted it. I packed everything up in a box, sent it on its way with free shipping, and then all they did was send me a check in the mail. According to Decluttr and its UK equivalent, they have satisfied over million customers. They've paid consumers over $ million dollars, and a lot of people are using the service. Between the U.S. and the UK, million Decluttr apps have been downloaded. So to get started, simply go to Decluttr.com or download one of our free smart phone apps. Enter your items on the site or via the app. Choose how you want to get paid. Send your items for free, and then we'll send you payment. Like they say, make room and make money.

It's really an incredibly easy way to sell all those CDs, DVDs, games, and BlueRays. (music). (music). Our personal spaces, whether it's our home or office, are where we spend the vast majority of our time. So, customizing those spaces to reflect our own style and personality is important to us. Here on Designing Spaces, we're always on the hunt for the latest trends to help make those spaces our own and do it easily and affordably. Hi, I'm Debi Marie. On this episode of Designing Spaces, we're going to introduce you to the latest trend in customized and personalized wall decor. Our guest today is Jennifer Castoldi from Trendease International, an online design and fashion publication. Jennifer, so good to have you on Designing Spaces. Thank you for having me. So, this sounds so exciting. Tell me more. I want to hear more about what the latest trends are with HP WallArt. Well, my team and I from Trendease, we travel all around the world to the latest design events, over a year. Okay. Busy girl. Oh yes. And, it's safe to say that digital is here to stay. Okay. It's a revolution and it's changing the market as we know it. Oh, yeah. The design world is like, "Wow!" you know? It's very different, and I love that. What your viewers may not realize is there's a whole library of images that they can use to decorate their wall with. Okay. They can scale it to any size. They can change the color. They can even individualize it, so they don't have to work with the library. Okay. As long as it's high rise. Okay. Say you're out on holiday and you see this wonderful flower. You can supersize that and suddenly it can be your bathroom wall. Okay. See, I love that idea. I had the pleasure of going to the HP Demo Center is Barcelona, and they are really working with lots of different innovations, and your viewers can access this innovation by working with interior designers or print service providers. There is a whole library of different substrates to work with. So, for example, they could print on sparkly paper, magnetic paper so the children can have little cutouts that they can interact with and play with. That's very good because different rooms are going to call for different materials. Yeah. It is not our grandmother's wallpaper anymore. Good. Let's just get that out there. It's not. You can have fun with it. You play with it. You can change it, and it's even eco-friendly. So, let me ask you something. We hear a lot about VOC's. So, how has HP handled that? We don't like VOC's. No, we don't like those. Basically, these are the chemicals that you smell and inhale that aren't so healthy, and with HP latex you don't have any of this. So, once you put it up, you can actually be in the room? Immediately. Okay. That is really special with the HP digitally printed wallpaper because they use latex ink. And that stands out above the rest? Well, it's not solvent based. It's water based. Basically, after you've put it up, you can go right back to living. You can put your children to bed in their room. You can exercise. You can even use it in a hospital. Really? Wow! That's great. Well, I have to tell you. We found someone who loves this idea just as much as we do, and she wanted to decorate a couple walls in this lovely home. And she did just that a couple weeks ago. So, I would love for you to meet her. Oh, fantastic! Okay. Let's go. Well, Jennifer, I would like you to meet Jennifer. Great name! (laughter). Well, why don't you both show our viewers how easy it was to order HP WallArt online from your own computer? So, WallArt is a great communication tool when you're working with the people who are actually going to print the paper. So, you would work with an interior designer or a print service provider. Think of someone who would print your business cards. They can also print your wallpaper. Okay. Wow. So, Jennifer, what did you choose, by the way, for the walls? I chose personal family photos to create two murals in our home office and in our family room upstairs. Oh, that's great. I like that idea.

So, what should we do? This is a great example of how you can use WallArt. She would upload her high resolution image, and then we play with the dimensions and obstructions to make sure that she has the wall exactly the way she wants it. Got it. And then the photo fits perfectly on it. Yes. Okay. So, the first thing that we need to consider about your room is the layout. So, once we've entered the size of the room and we've put in wall color, we can add in little obstructions so we can make sure your image will work in that space the way that you want it to. And then you will upload the image that you've selected, and the software that you're working with here, the WallArt, will tell you if the resolution is too small because you wouldn't want to print something that's blurry. Right. So, once you've figured out where everything is, where you want to the layout to be, you just save it and you send it off to the printer. Okay. And the WallArt already arrived, correct? Yes. I can't wait to see. Okay. Do you want to show us how easy it is to put it up in the room? Yes. Alright. Let's go. Alright. Well, installation is complete. Looks beautiful. Alright, now for the big reveal. Should we call them in? The big reveal. Yes. Alright, Jennifer and the kids, come on in! Yeah. Keep those eyes closed. We don't want you to see it just yet. Mom's almost in. Okay. Ready? Open your eyes! Oh my gosh! That's amazing! Cool! So, why did you choose this photo? This was from one of our favorite family vacations, and it was just a really special memory for us. So, we figured what could be better than having it up on the wall so we could see it every time we came into our home office. It's like you're reliving that vacation over and over. Now, the Canter's have, obviously, a home office. But, you could also use HP WallArt for commercial use, right? The HP digital wall covering can also be used in contract settings, so hospitals, restaurants, hotels. There's something quite special that's innovative on the market. It's Type Standard is already built in to the paper which is great for high traffic areas. Okay. Well, we have the playroom all done. Should we go see what that looks like? Definitely. Yeah. Okay, let's go. Are you excited to see the playroom? Yeah. This looks fantastic. I love this. Look at that. Oh, they are going to flip over this. They're going to love it. Alright, let's bring the family. You guys, come on in. Keep your eyes closed. Don't trip over anything. (laughter). Okay, are you ready? Open your eyes. Wow. Cool! It's amazing. You guys made the wall. So, what inspired these photos? These were some of our favorite vacation family memories and just some of our favorite memories that we've experienced over the last few years. I love this idea. It really just changed the whole look of this room, too. It's amazing. We love it. Well, I have to thank you for allowing us into your beautiful home. And you guys got a new playroom. What do you think? It's great. You're happy. Yeah. It's awesome. So, thank you so much. And thanks to Jennifer and Trendease for showing us the latest trends in HP wall coverings. This is amazing. So, thank you so much. Thank you for having us. Appreciate it. And I'm Debi Marie for Designing Spaces. Thanks so much for joining us today, and we'll see you next time. Bye bye. (music). (music). Welcome to the Tile Shop, tips from the Pros. My name is Michael, and today we're going to talk about subfloor preparation. Subfloor preparation is going to be the first thing you want to do to make sure that your tile is installed correctly. You do not want any subfloor movement or deflection. So, the first product I'd like to share with you is our Blanke-PERMAT. Our Blanke-PERMAT is this x mesh sheet. It weighs only pound and is an ? inch thick. You can install this right on top of the ¾ inch plywood subfloor for most stone installations. It also has a -year warranty. Next, is our cement boards, Permabase and Hardie Backer are two of the most commonly used out there today. They both are made up of % portland cement with some selective additives. They both are resistant to mold and mildew. They will not rot, swell, or disintegrate when exposed to water. Both of them can be cut with a standard utility knife by simply