The Stellar Communicator

Residential Real Estate & Interior Design Content

This page features stories I've written about all aspects of residential real estate from building, investing in, purchasing as a primary home, and interior design. If your brand or blog wants stories about luxury real estate investing, buying, and maintenance that resonate well with readers and keeps them returning for more of your editorial content, please contact me today. Let's talk about how my stories can fit seamlessly into your editorial content strategy or about how we can work together to implement one that meets your objectives. 

Client Testimonial

“Your writing is solid, your journalism is excellent and your instincts are great.”—Gina Pogol, Editor, The Mortgage Reports 

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Trulia's Blog •

How To Inherit A Rent-Controlled Apartment From A Friend

Inheriting a rent-controlled apartment is like achieving rental nirvana: a state of housing bliss where your rent is always below market rate. But rent-controlled apartments rarely become available to the public, so it’s not an easy dream to realize. However, with a little grit, determination, and luck, depending on where you live, you might just be able to make it happen. For those interested in giving it a shot, here’s where to start.
Trulia's Blog •

Smart Tips for Decorating Your Apartment on a Budget

Decorating a new apartment can quickly go from exciting to overwhelming, especially if you’re on a tight budget. As a renter moving into a new apartment, you want to make your place feel like your own home, but without spending a ton of money every time you move. Herein lies the eternal rental decorating dilemma: Which items should be higher quality, and where can you get away with more frugal options? Follow this set of savvy furnishing guidelines to know.
Trulia's Blog •

8 Home Repairs That Are Not a Landlord’s Job

While your landlord is expected to handle many fixes, there are others that are on you. Your lease will often define exactly when and how you should make any repairs. When in doubt, pull out the paperwork. The general rule of thumb is that renters are responsible for repairing any damage that they cause themselves. So if you want to remain on peaceful terms with your landlord, don’t be the renter who calls about changing a lightbulb. Here are eight more repairs that you'll make yourself.
HomeLight Blog •

How to Protect Your Earnest Money When Buying a House

You’ve finally found your dream home, and you’re getting ready to make an offer. It’s an exciting time! But there’s also a lot at stake. The financial decisions you make while buying your home can affect your long-term net worth. After all, your home is likely to be one of your most valuable assets. Before you submit your bid, it’s important to understand what an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) is, how you can use one to strengthen your offer, and how to protect your money should anything come up during your home-buying process. Here’s what you need to know.
Figure Blog •

A guide to AVMs

Whether you are considering buying, refinancing, or taking a loan on your home, the first step is to determine its value. And the faster you and the lender agree on that value, the quicker you can move forward. This is where AVMs can help. An AVM or automated valuation model is an approach used by real estate agents, mortgage companies and well-known companies, like Zillow, to quickly appraise a home’s value. Here's how they work and how they benefit you in real estate transactions.
CORT Furniture Rental Blog •

How to Reclaim Secondhand Wood Furniture and Make It Your Own

Personalizing a reclaimed secondhand piece of wood furniture is a satisfying endeavor on several levels. First, you’ve done a good deed for the environment because you’re keeping used furniture out of the landfill. Second, it’s an opportunity to turn a mediocre piece into a masterpiece. This blog post, which I was assigned but sourced, developed and wrote, gives tips on how to reclaim old wood furniture and make it yours.
CORT Furniture Rental Blog •

Surprising Facts About the Eco-Friendliness of Furniture Rental

This post brought out the data journalist in me. I had to analyze the story behind the numbers and find additional data to support the original study. I focused on making this a piece of strong, editorial content that inspires readers to make their lifestyles more eco-friendly by recycling rather than replacing things. That can increase greenhouse gases since people end up disposing of their old items improperly. Read the blog post for more.
CORT Furniture Rental Blog •

Out with the Old: When It's Time to Update to Safer Furniture

This post is on upgrading from furniture made under old environmental and chemical exposure regulations to safer furniture. Originally, the focus of the post was different, but I showed the client how to make a better impression on readers by removing some keywords and refocusing the post to make a stronger connection between the statistics it presents and the company's offerings. This kind of tweaking can mean better engagement and outcomes for an overall content marketing strategy. It's how I combine my journalism background with my marketing fluency to help clients achieve their content marketing objectives.
CORT Furniture Rental Blog •

The Importance of Quality Furniture for Your Small Business

The way you design your office reflects on your brand. Employees and clients alike determine the value of your business based on the feel of your office environment. Its design and organization determine whether you'll keep current employees and clients happy while attracting new talent and customers. So, to convey that you're a quality business worth the fees you charge, you'll want to go with quality furniture and an organized space. This blog post tells you how.
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