By Robert Freedman, senior editor, REALTOR® Magazine

President Obama signed into law a $30 billion loan find for small business. The law also provides $12 billion in tax breaks and tries to improve existing loans to small businesses that are backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

When compared to the $800 billion stimulus enacted when Obama took office and the massive reform laws for health insurance and Wall Street financial services companies, the small business loan law is small potatoes. But there are some things you should know about it.

First, although the $30 billion isn't a giant number for the federal government, it has the potential to leverage some $350 billion in financing, and that is a big number. And, importantly for deficit hawks, the new law is funded without requiring the government to issue new debt. It's paid for by increasing certain tax penalties and by closing some tax provisions.

What's important for you is that, even if the new law works as planned and in fact induces small banks to boost their lending to small businesses, there's no assurance that any bank you work with will participate.

That's a big complaint with the loans to small businesses that are backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). These loans (known as Sec. 7(a), Sec. 504, and ARC loans) are touted as a way to help small businesses get money to retire expensive debt or do other things during these tough times, but NAR has heard many concerns from members that lenders aren't participating, or that, if they are participating, they're not bending over backwards to make loans to independent contractors (who the SBA says are eligible applicants).

So, if you're thinking about applying for a loan with a community bank in your area, there might be few or no banks participating and, even if they are participating, there's no guarantee they'll make a loan to you. Of course, the law encourages lenders to participate by giving banks that make a lot of loans better terms for paying back the government than if they don't make a lot of loans.

If you're a commercial broker, your main interest in the program might be the opportunity it offers your clients. If you're working with a client that's been having trouble getting a loan to buy space or otherwise expand, you can let them know about the money the federal government is making available to community banks and maybe they'll be able to get a loan they otherwise wouldn't have been able to get.

Money aside, you might find the tax breaks helpful. Among other things, if you're self-employed, you can now deduct your health insurance premiums on your self-employment tax, at least for the 2010 tax year. You can expect to see an effort to get that extended beyond the 2010 tax year. You can also get better tax treatment on deducting your cell phone use, even when you use your cell phone for both business and home. And, of benefit to commercial practitioners, there's an extension of the 50 percent bonus depreciation for qualified property.

On those SBA Sec. 7(a), Sec. 504, and ARC loans I mentioned earlier, the new law increases the maximum loan amounts for them and otherwise eases some terms. Hopefully, lenders that haven't been keen to make many of those loans will now start making more of them, but you never know.

All in all, the new law offers you opportunity. But there's nothing certain about the extent to which you'll benefit, at least in terms of the loan funds. But the tax breaks are there for everyone if they're applicable to you.

In the video interview above, NAR analyst Vijay Yadlapati talks about the new law. And there's a good summary of the law's provisions on the White House website.

By Charlene Storozuk, Dezigner Digz

BEFORE

With the growing number of home staging training schools popping up to make a fast buck, the result is a glut of "home stagers" in the marketplace with absolutely no experience and no idea of how to run a business.

Are you willing to put your client's largest investment into the hands of someone without the expertise necessary to get the results you need? This could turn out to be a very costly mistake.

Here are some things to keep in mind when selecting a home stager:

Lowest Quote/Free Consultations

Beware of home stagers that come in at a much lower bid than others. Usually it's reflected in the quality of accessories and furniture that they will provide.

AFTER

Some home stagers may offer you free home staging consultations. As my parents always told me, "nothing in life is ever free".  There's always a catch and in this case, it may be that he or she has absolutely no experience and may give your client potentially harmful advice.

Web Site

Make sure that the home stager has a professional Web site; not just a "cookie-cutter" mini-site provided through their training school.  In today's world, anyone serious about doing business must have a Web site.

If the home stager you are considering hiring does not have one, perhaps he or she is more of a hobbyist.

Having a Web site demonstrates that the home stager means business and takes a serious approach to what they do. Make sure you look for testimonials from other real estate professionals as this speaks volumes as to their credibility and capability.

Portfolio

When interviewing your home stager, ask to see either prints or a CD of photos from his or her portfolio. If they don't have this, you should pass on this person.

In today's world of technology, with the click of a mouse, photos can be taken from one home stager's Web site and plunked onto another's site and passed off as their work.

If the home stager did in fact do the work, she will have photographs that she can show you. She will probably have several photos of the same room taken from different angles than what appears on her Web site.

This is one way of proving who actually performed the staging if there ever is a discrepancy. A "copy-and-paste stager" would not be able to supply these other shots.

Also, if the home stager's portfolio consists of only a few photos, there's a chance that these are photos taken from a group staging project at their training school and not actual work that the home stager has completed on his or her own.

Stock Photos

This really falls under the Portfolio heading, but it's so important, that it deserves its own heading. When checking the home stager's Web site, be sure that the portfolio section of their Web site isn't made up of stock photos.

The portfolio only should contain their work so it does not mislead the public.

Look for the True Portfolio logo on their Web site. Not all professional home stagers will have this logo, so don't base your decision just on that, but the logo is one indication that these are in fact photos of their own work.

Members of the Real Estate Staging Association are banned from using stock photos in the portfolio section of their site. If they are caught doing this, they will be called before the Ethics Committee.

Business Insurance

Ask for proof of insurance coverage: both commercial general liability and errors & omissions insurance. A professional home stager will not set foot in a client's home without having proper coverage. The liabilities are just too great (for both parties).

Business Contract

Ensure that the home stager uses a contract as part of their business practice. There are some home stagers that don't. You want to make sure that your client is protected.

Real Estate Staging Association

Lastly, but certainly not least, check the Real Estate Staging Association's Web site at www.realestatestagingassociation.com to see if the home stager is a member. All members are held to a strict code of ethics.

Some RESA members also have chosen to participate in RESA's Staging Excellence Alliance program, which is similar to a Better Business Bureau for Home Stagers. It will give you added comfort to know that they subscribe to the standards set out by that program.

Also, some RESA members have now elected to work toward receiving the home stager designation of RESA-PRO,which holds its recipients to business, ethics, and integrity standards in the industry. Home stagers with the RESA-PRO designation are prohibited from using stock photos anywhere on their Web site; not just the portfolio section. Also mandated through this designation is a continuing education program, similar to that of a Realtor®.

As you can see, you need to consider lots of things before hiring a home stager. The decision should not be taken lightly since there is a lot riding on it.

Don't be left looking like the bad guy with your client if something goes wrong. Make sure you do your homework before choosing your home stager.

Charlene Storozuk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Charlene Storozuk is the owner of Dezigner Digz, a professional home staging and interior decorating company based in Burlington, Ontario. Her work is featured in the book FabJob Guide To Become A Home Stager, 2009 edition. She serves as regional vice-president, Canada for the Real Estate Staging Association and is a past recipient of the North American Leadership Award for her work as founder and president of the Halton & Hamilton-Wentworth RESA Chapter.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

So what are some recent trends when it comes to kitchen remodels and decorating? Here are five picks from an article I stumbled upon by Joaquin Erazo Jr., senior vice president of marketing and public relations at Case Design/Remodeling Inc.

1. Upgraded sinks: Sinks are getting fancier with built-in strainers, colanders, and even cutting boards. Pull-out, flexible faucets, as well as water-conserving faucets, are also gaining traction. Many sinks are also offering a deeper bowl for filling those large pots.

2. Work stations: Specialized stations - such as areas for making coffee, rolling out bread, or wine-tasting nooks - are growing in popularity.

3. Neutral colors: The most popular kitchen color choice? White, according to Erazo. Neutral colors, such as off-white and beige, are a popular choice because they offer flexibility in the decor of the kitchen.

4. Green: From cabinets to flooring, sustainable materials are catching on in the kitchen. Watch a video to see some of the sustainable products home owners are incorporating into their kitchens.

5. High-tech: Technology is everywhere in the kitchen, from stoves and dishwashers that save you time and energy to sound systems and computers. Refrigerators are available that have cable-ready televisions built in, and even some range hoods have built-in TVs and DVD players.

You can read all 10 of Erazo's kitchen remodeling trend picks here.

There is a "war on housing" brewing in Washington.  Homeownership seems to be under attack.  As 2010 NAR First Vice President Moe Veissi pointed out in his recent blog, ill-informed views on homeownership are appearing more and more in the media.

Last week, industry leaders, executives and policy makers gathered in Washington, D.C., for a housing conference sponsored by the Treasury to discuss the future of the housing finance system and the fate of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE's) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The conference featured panels moderated by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, as well as breakout sessions that focused on topics from the "Role of the Private Sector and the Government in a Reformed Housing Finance System" to "Managing the Process of Transition to a New Financial System".

I was assigned to participate in the breakout session entitled, "Aligning Private Market Incentives in the Housing Finance Chain", moderated by FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens.  In recent weeks, long-term fixed rate mortgages have come under increasing pressure from pundits who believe this product is partly the crux of the nation's housing finance problem.

During the session, I had the opportunity to briefly share NAR's views regarding the importance of maintaining the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, which is an extremely safe mortgage product.

While some at the conference, advocated the need to support a mortgage market for all types of housing, in all market conditions, other speakers questioned the level of government support for the housing industry. 

What did they say? 

They asserted that taxpayer money is better spent on other industries with the greater promise of job growth and productivity for our economy.

The debate we're starting to see over the government's role in housing touches on many issues:  over-housed citizens, the deficit, tax incentives (MID and capital gains) the GSE's, and other public incentives.  

Homeownership is not for everyone, surely.  But if you are prepared for its responsibilities, it's an excellent way to invest your money and receive financial and social benefits in return.

At the conference, Secretary Geithner stated that: "Fixing our housing finance system is one of the most consequential and complicated economic policy problems we face as a country".

REALTORS® know this to be absolutely true.  We recognized this early on.  In late 2008 we started formulating a reformation plan for the GSE's.

While there is no clear consensus in Washington as to what needs to be done to fix Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, participants at the conference generally advocated a need for some level of government support for the housing finance sector for the foreseeable future.

So as the Administration focuses its attention on the future of housing finance and the GSE's, NAR-together with your support-will continue to espouse the virtues of homeownership and of providing a mechanism to ensure that qualified buyers have access to the capital they need to become homeowners.  This is how we will respond to the "war on housing."

While we face one of our greatest industry challenges, it does provide us with a tremendous opportunity to energize and engage homeowners and prospective homeowners in this housing debate.  Vince Malta, 2010 Vice President and Liaison to Government Affairs

By Sonja Greenlee, kitchen gardener for The DS Team

Lush gardens and planters sprouting life can make a huge difference to the curb appeal of a home - even in the autumn season. So if your clients are looking for a hardy vegetable to add to outdoor pots, or to spruce up a fall garden, tell them to try planting radishes. They are easy to grow, sprout in three to five days, and are ready to eat in four to five weeks.

Plus, radishes are a great fall weather crop. These shade-tolerant plans also work well in the southern region of the U.S. in the winter when temperatures are in the 70s.

Sow the tiny radish seeds in half-inch deep, well-worked soil. Plant in rows or in a mass; just remember to thin so the plants are two to three inches apart once the root systems are established. Be sure to harvest the plants before the roots get too big, or they will crack and become woody.

In addition to bringing life to the garden, radishes will bring life to the kitchen. Cut off the tops and give them a good washing. Radishes will store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. They are high in vitamin C and have plenty of fiber. Raw radishes are wonderful in salad or as a crudités, and radish greens are edible as well!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sonja Greenlee is a special correspondent for The DS Team and is the culinary columnist for The Sanford Herald in Sanford, Fla. She is the mother of three and grandmother of two, who maintains residences in Florida and New Hampshire.

By Elaine Williamson, Elaine Williamson Designs

With temperatures reaching record highs throughout the U.S., thoughts of autumn seem but a woeful wish. The fall season evokes thoughts of home and hearth, as families and friends eagerly anticipate re-connecting with one another amid busy lives.

Of course, most want a home design and décor that will impress, and help de-compress, impending company - one with that autumn sensibility that exudes comfort and warmth ... and duly stimulates the senses.

With this in mind, here are 10 top home design and décor trends for fall:

Photo Credit: Elaine Williamson Deisgns

1. Vintage accents. What's old is new again. French-burlap is no longer just for sack-racing. This Earth-friendly fiber is being used for chic pillows imprinted with a vintage stamped design or even a family initial.

Accent chairs can also be seen covered in gray linen imprinted with vintage "document" script writing. Vintage couture lamps (and their replicas) are utter perfection this year, especially those with milk glass and natural material bases, drum shades, and antique brass finials.

Aged, color-washed wood accessories such as candlesticks, urns, and bowls are popular as oversized accessories to accent and update a time-worn look.

2. Wallpaper! With a decreasing demand for faux finishes and walls painted in solid primary colors, wallpaper is making a comeback in a big and decidedly fashionable way.

From bright and bold to subdued and elegant, today's wallpapers are easy to apply and even easier to remove, making updating the seasonal look of a room easier than ever before. here are a seemingly endless number of choices from solids to patters, and everything in between.

Photo Credit: Elaine Williamson Designs

3. Timeless art. When shopping for items to occupy wall space, ditch the quick fix, "matchy-matchy" picture. Art doesn't have to be expensive but it should certainly have meaning. Buy what you love. Mix mediums and styles. To add depth and character to your pieces, forego the glass cover that can be distracting and casts a glare that actually detracts from your interior design.

4. Elemental color. While neutrals have made a strong showing in design this year for primary design elements like walls and baseline furnishings, boldly colored accent pieces give a space visual interest and appeal.

Brightly colored and/or patterned pillows, rugs and other accessories will bring an otherwise bland space to life. Of course, these accessories can be readily transitioned to exude the spirit of a given season.

5. Space simplification. With a strong desire to ease and reprioritize our homes and lifestyles, de-cluttering - even with respect to editing down furnishings and accessories - is the best way to gain control of your surroundings and feel a refreshed sense of purpose.

It is very important to streamline not only the lines of your furniture, but the bulkiness as well. But, this does not mean giving up comfort for style. Many times we place too many items in a room by way of accessories, pillows, throw rugs, and family photos.

Pick and choose very carefully the most important items and then pare down from there. There is brilliance in restraint.

6. Rug rage. There has never been a more exciting time than now in the area rug industry. Whatever style, shape, and design you can imagine is within your reach.

Even if a space has wall-to-wall carpeting, place an area rug to establish a layered look and add depth and personality to a room and also tie in other disparate color components. A rug's color palette and pattern can easily establish the desired style and tone of a season.

Photo Credit: Elaine Williamson Designs

7. Bed basics. Bedding has also changed this year. The pomp and circumstances of overstuffed pillows that seem to multiply in the night are out. Way out.

Exquisite, neutral colored linens are in, especially when paired with a luxurious top blanket and a clean lined duvet.

For those who desire more color that's representative of fall or any other season, indulge in two medium sized pillows placed in front of each sham.

Photo Credit: Elaine Williamson Designs

8. Pillow talk. Today's pillow designs offer an array of textures, colors, shapes, sizes, and accents, and can completely transform a room's aesthetic. Accordingly, pillows have become the ultimate interior design accessory, especially since they are so versatile.

Choose an assortment of pillows for the spring and summer and other set for the fall and winter. This is an easy way to seasonally transition a room in an easy and budget-friendly way.

Also, resist the urge to "karate chop" pillows to give them a center crease as this look is not style savvy.

9. Window treatments. While many love luscious fabrics, an overuse of material on your windows can quickly overpower an otherwise streamlined room. Linen panels are now very trendy since they beautifully outline and soften windows. This classic and timeless fabric is now available in a staggering array of colors to coordinate with any interior palette.

10. Brass. Yes, brass is back but a bit older and wiser. Antiqued brass and even antiqued gold have both made a large comeback on everything from drapery rods, to cocktail tables, to door and cabinet knobs to décor figurines.

The light reflecting surface of brass adds warmth, glow and movement to a space and, thus, is perfect in a room with a fireplace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Luxury interiors expert Elaine Williamson is the principal of Elaine Williamson Designs, a full service, award-winning firm specializing in high-end residential and commercial interior design. She may be reached online at www.ElaineWilliamsonDesigns.com, accessed on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/ewd-facebook, and followed on Twitter at "ElaineWDesigns".

It is late on a Sunday night and I am getting ready to go to sleep.  My daughter, Caite, is still at work, so we are "leaving the light on" so that she can find her way into the house.

Our house is the only home she has ever really known.  My wife Susan and I built it before she was born.  It has been the kind of home that was always "open."  Everyone is welcome.  It has been a place where our family has witnessed and been an active part of life's challenges, of life's successes, and of life's celebrations.  We are about 300 feet from Greenwich Bay, which opens into Narragansett Bay and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean.  It is in a place where the water and the land meet and embrace.  It is a fitting place for our home.

It has been a permanent place for our family.  It has been the primary location of most family celebrations: holidays, birthdays, and (on occasions) tragedies.  It is unique, as it is designed to look old and blend into a neighborhood where most houses were built between 1870 and 1910.  It also has seven star bursts.  There are seven wood fans that represent the rising and setting sun.  Every morning and every evening - seven days a week, every month, year after year - no matter where we are, it is our home.

We have stayed a long time in our family home.  For Susan, it is partly because she is a first generation American.  This house represents the deep routes of a person transplanted to the soil of this great country.  For me, it is about counter balance to my childhood:  almost every two years we moved...usually quite far. 

I was born in San Francisco in the Haight and my parents' first house - mine too - was near the beach by Golden Gate Park.  A short time later, we were off on a new adventure.  Next stop Santa Clara, California;  Portland, Oregon;  Placentia, California;  Government Camp, Oregon; Vancouver, Washington;  Kansas City, Missouri;  East Greenwich Rhode Island and then Warwick, Rhode Island.  At 18, I left for college in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Ironically, I can remember each of the houses in which we lived with surprising clarity.  It is where my parents, brother and sisters engaged life. 

What is also true is that my grandparents' houses, in the Bay area, were the constant homes I knew as child.  Every summer we would return "home."  My mother's parents lived at 167 King Street in Redwood City, California.  It was a great home full of great music and great mentoring.  I met my first REALTOR^® there.  He was my grandfather, John J. Brophy.  My father's parents lived at 1735 Parrot Drive, San Mateo, California.  It, too, was a special place of great memories and great food.  These were the homes of life's photographs and memories. 

Life's lesson was clear for me:  Home maybe where the heart is; but it is great to always have a place called "home."  - Ron Phipps, 2010 NAR First Vice President

By Robert Freedman, senior editor, REALTOR® Magazine

As I write this, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is in Washington at the Treasury building discussing with a group of academics and business leaders what the home mortgage finance system should look like after the federal government decides what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The discussion is a first step in the federal government's congressionally mandated release of a GSE overhaul plan by January 2011.

After about an hour's discussion, the dominant thread is about retaining FHA to ensure finance availability for lower- and moderate-income households and re-shaping Fannie and Freddie into something that backstops losses after private insurers take their lumps.

At least for the near term, most of the participants seem to agree, some form of government backstopping of the mortgage market is necessary, but it won't be under the terms that we've grown familiar with. Rather, the guarantee would be absolutely explicit, not implicit like we saw with Fannie and Freddie, and, in the view of some, would take the form of a limited, maybe even catastrophic-type, backstopping in which the private sector takes first-risk position.

The government-backed secondary market companies would adjust underwriting and terms to provide counter-cyclical restraints (tightening standards as appreciation rises too far from historical norms) and ensure without question that they would have the reserves to meet their commitments to investors should loans go bad. In a pure market, that would mean costs would rise far too high for most borrowers to afford financing, but with the government's support, costs would be brought down to a level appropriate for the great middle of the market. FHA would be retained to play its role making safe, affordable financing available to lower- and moderate-income borrowers.

Would the secondary mortgage market companies be pure government entities like FHA or pure private companies? Not clear, except that Geithner said in his opening remarks that the days of private gains subsidized by public losses-the Fannie and Freddie models-are over. Perhaps, as Alex Pollack of the American Enterprise Institute said, the GSEs should be divided into three entities: purely private companies for packaging mortgage-backed securities for Wall Street investors, pure government agencies for meeting public policy goals of homeownership, and third entities for liquidating the existing GSEs' bad debt.

All agree that lack of transparency was one of the great culprits of the mortgage crisis. Borrowers didn't know what they were borrowing, investors didn't know what they were investing in, and no one knew whether the federal government would actually step in should a crisis occur. To correct these shortcomings, transparency would have to be a hallmark of any reform. "We need transparency, standardization, and disclosure," said Susan Wachter of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Ingrid Gould Ellen of New York University said the federal role in the new GSEs would be strictly limited to covering their mortgage securities, not their corporate bonds, and that the GSEs would guarantee only securities with well-defined loans, like plain-vanilla 30-year, fixed-rate loans, and would charge fees sufficient for them to build up adequate reserves to cover their liabilities.

National Urban League Chief Marc Morial pressed the need for financial institutions to weigh in on any draft plan to make clear how the plan would affect their decision making. His concern is that the new shape of the system not be made based purely on philosophical grounds but with the understanding of how changes would impact the business practices of lenders. He also said it's crucial that the country's overall goal of making homeownership achievable for as broad a representation of the population as possible be maintained, because it's through homeownership that low- and moderate-income households build up the financial security to attend college, save for retirement, and improve their lives. "We don't want to create a new class of renters," he said.

Bill Gross of pension-fund investment giant PIMCO said people must adjust their thinking to accept that the private mortgage market we had for the last 20 years will not return any time soon. Given the drop in home prices, the market will not function without some kind of government guarantee (with that guarantee protecting taxpayers through adequate reserves, sufficient downpayments, and solid underwriting and terms).

It's impossible to know what the administration will actually come out with in January, and it's plan might not reflect anything said at this opening meeting. But today's discussion, hosted jointly by Treasury and HUD, provides a guide to the kinds of input it's getting from at least some of the organizations it's reaching out to. The agencies have heard from NAR already, and will continue to hear from NAR, which is advocating the retention of some form of government guarantee to help ensure the continued availability of affordable mortgage loans in both good markets and bad. Read NAR's position statement on GSE reform.

More about the conference.