Should a REALTOR® Understand Flooring Basics?

Flooring is expensive, and if it has to be replaced who can your customer go to? If they ask you what do, what will you tell them? How will you know the latest products and what’s the best for your potential buyer’s situation? Knowing more about flooring can be the difference between making and losing a sale. Would it help your client by sharing your flooring knowledge? The realtors that attended our last flooring training said they were sure it would!

Greater Capital Association of Realtors is excited to offer a 2^nd Flooring Certification course on November 7 and 8, at the Hyatt Place in Malta, New York.  Exit 12 off the Adirondack Northway. Lisbeth Calandrino, Industry Flooring Expert, from Fabulous Floors Magazine will be our featured speaker.  Our last class had rave reviews; we ran out of seating and had to turn people away. Don’t let this happen to you!

 This day and an half course is sponsored exclusively by Mohawk Industries, Inc.  Richard Owen, Sr. Director or Market Development and Training, Residential Flooring at Mohawk Industries will be joining the class as a guest speaker. Mohawk is the world’s largest flooring company, delivering style and performance for residential and commercial spaces around the globe.

“As your customers’ needs have changed, so has Mohawk, offering the finest in on trend and fashionable collections of flooring products to meet all the demands of today’s home buyers. From luxuriously soft carpeting to the best in wood visuals across all hard surface collection, you can truly FLOOR THE IMAGINATION with Mohawk!” – Richard Owen

 

INVITE YOUR CUSTOMERS AND BUILDERS! Do you want a client to attend, what about one of your customer builders, architect or interior designer?  Non-members are welcomed at all GCAR classes and this useful and interesting flooring course will benefit you and your connections.

Today’s home buyer expects more, and that includes their expectations of their REALTOR®.  You don’t want to lose a sale because they thought the flooring was a problem and you didn’t know what to do! Learn about the latest styles, color trends, which products are the best for your customers.  You will find this exciting and a major tool for your realtor kit.

Listen to what REALTORS® said in the April course:

• “Who knew there was so much to learn about flooring?! It was great information and Lisbeth was a dynamic instructor!” – Tracey LaFleur, Howard Hanna
• “Liz is an encyclopedia of information, I recommend this course to any REALTOR looking to enhance their knowledge or flooring materials, it’s a fun and worthwhile class!” –Susan Sommers, Better Homes & Garden Tech Valley
  
• “The information presented has changed my views on many types of flooring and the knowledge will allow me to better serve my clients.” –David Fyfe, Bird Realty
  
• “Lisbeth has an engaging personality and a wealth of knowledge related to flooring. Her course, Fabulous Floors Certified, was valuable and informative professionally and personally!” – Melanie Jakway, CM Fox Real Estate
• Fabulous Floors was a great course~ I will be able to make better decision on choosing floor coverings for my rehab projects!” – Lorraine Gage, United Business Services

Register now at GCAR.com:  $75 for members, $100 for non-members. Benefits to attending the course:

• Receive 9 CE credits for the course
• Receive an extra 7 hours of CE with a requirements course day that covers: Fair Housing, Ethics and 1 hour of Agency that expires at the end of 2020
• Be listed in the International Magazine: Fabulous Floors with your contact information to reach new clients
• Submit your REALTOR® stories to Fabulous Floors Magazine and have your own byline
• Discounts on products from local Retailers

Register early so you don’t get left out. We have moved from GCAR offices because of limited seating—after 38 we had to turn people away. Again our seating is limited to the first 60! Register now by clicking here.

STAY AFTER CLASS FOR FUN AND NETWORKING! Join us after class, November 7^th for a meet and greet with local flooring retailers, consumers and builders.

For more information on the class, call Lisbeth Calandrino @518-495-5380, or write, Lcalandrino@nycap.rr.com.

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Tiles just seem to be getting larger and larger.  There are varieties of ceramic tile, porcelain, glass metal natural stone, and mosaics— even handcrafted concrete—come in sizes from one to 24 inches. The trend continues toward greater formats, for both large homes and smaller homes.

Larger format tiles will make any room look greater.   Another innovation is precision-edged “rectified” tile for installations featuring tight, grout-free installation.

Crossville, a manufacturer of porcelain tile, has come out with a “game changer” called Laminam. The product is a large-format panel, size 1 x 3 meters (which is 39.5″ x 118.5″). They can also be cut “in-house “into various sizes such as 40″ x 40″ and/or 20″ x 60″ (perfect for a back-splash or bathtub surrounds).  The smaller sheets are still very large for pieces of porcelain but much simpler to handle in the field. This trend is something that provides an exciting addition to the A and D community as well as our consumer.

No telling what will happen next when the consumer starts to see what’s possible.

Tiling and flooring design forecasters are already seeing a major movement in tile toward the translucence and transparency of glass, enhancing the play of light within and across, the living spaces. Glass tile is particularly suitable  for modern kitchens influenced by stainless steel.

Glamorous 30’s Deco is also resurgent with its distinct, black and white punctuated with lipstick red! Depending on the mood you hope to achieve, colors can be crisp and bold or soft and mellow. It’s all about imagination and personal choice. We are seeing bright, shiny red from lips to fingernails. Red is still considered the color of love and the sexiest color when painted on your lips.

Trim pieces are important because they coordinate or complement your tile décor. There are listellos for creating any border, including frames and chair rails. Border tiles come in different widest and shapes for unique design needs—like mitered corners or transitions between surfaces (walls, floors, sinks, countertops, back splashes). Listellos can even accentuate specific architectural detail like an archway.

When designing with tile, consider the whole surface (with an eye toward coordinating with adjacent surfaces like countertops, walls and back splashes).). Different sizes, patterns and textures can complement and personalize a space from floor to floor and room to room. And remember, ceramic and porcelain tile blends beautifully with other design materials—metal, glass, wood, stone, etc. Some designers have even blended richly colored tile with glass and metallic effects, including subtle and striking wool, fabric or copper yarn details.

Lisbeth Calandrino is Associate Publisher for Fabulous Floors Magazine and helps businesses build loyal customers. She can be reached at Lcalandrino@nycap.rr.com.