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Fall Wardrobe Essentials You Need

Brad Roemer's designers love fall fashion, especially when plaid blazers and stripes are involved.

There are so many reasons that Brad Roemer and his team of designers fall in love with Fall over and over again. First, the weather finally chimes down in Oakland to the points where it has become acceptable to wear sweaters during the chillier nights. The festivities of bonfires, plaid and trick or treats are something to look forward. And fun activities arise with the changing leaves, such as dates over pumpkin lattes, road trips to go apple picking and searching for the ultimate pumpkin in a patch of hundreds. School starts for the students of Oakland, and everything transforms and begins again.

Brad Roemer’s designers are not only infatuated with home design but also with fashion design. The creativity, innovation and freedom that are contrived from the left brain are the same in this case. Here are a few wardrobe essentials that every lady should own during the fall months.

A Crisp White Tee

White tees are a versatile classic that should be in everyone’s capsule collection, no matter the season. During the fall especially, you’ll want to layer up with denim jackets, leather motto jackets and scarves. You’re still in transition between the warmest and coldest weather of the year, and the weather may change depending on the day. Enough said, every gal needs a new, perfectly pristine white tee for the fall.

Pretty Ballerina Shoes

Heels are beautiful, but often painful, especially when on the go. Ballerina flats are your feet’s saviour and can be dressed up or down depending on the look you’re going for. A muted nude colour with a short heel is the perfect play between strikingly high heels and flatter-than-flat ballet flats. They give you minimal height and look cute with skirts and dresses.

A Try and True Jacket

Plaid, belted, shearling, animal print, leather… All types of jackets and blazers are great alternatives for when the weather is not cold enough for a heavy winter coat.

The Classic Trench

Trench coats speak to a mademoiselle “I mean business” look. A classic mid-length will float nicely above the knee, allowing your pants, skirt or dress to peak out from below. Apart from going neutral, toying with another fall color such as olive green or blush pink help bring out otherwise darker fall hues.

Fabulous Blazers

Blazers don’t only need to be for the days where you have an important meeting or need a boost of strength and assertiveness. Top off a strong-shouldered (the 90s are back!) style in plaid over jeans and you have yourself one business casual outfit. The look also looks great over a grey or black turtle-neck with black pants, especially if the blazer is a statement piece.

Stripe It Back To Basics

In case you haven’t noticed, stripes are big this season. Transition your sailor shirts to the fall with a Parisian-inspired outfit. Pair it with a flirty, flowy neutral skirt or slouchy denim. Don’t be afraid to mix up various patterns with stripes. Have some fun by opting for plaids and florals with the shirt.

Sleek Heels

We know we chose ballerina flats as a go-to, but a minimalist, neutral heel can be the pop you need in an outfit. You don’t need to purchase four-inch heels to make a big enough impact, instead choose a confidence-boosting that perhaps live under your desk while you’re rocking your cute ballerina flats throughout the day. They’re also perfect for when you want to grab cocktails with your girlfriends after work. An open back strap is perfectly ok for any meeting.

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Remodelling Your Home?

Ever thought of how it would be like to remodel your home? Brad Roemer aces the task of simple renovation projects.

Why renovate?

There are different reasons as to why a home owner would feel the need to renovate their home. At times it could be due to the fact that they would like to increase their living space. Maybe the small sized bathroom (for example) that once accommodated a couple has now become too small for their five-member family. There are circumstances where the homeowners would like to increase the value of their house for further investments or an assessment from the bank. It could also just be the need for a change of housing structure all together. Regardless of the reason it is important to way out the different options, plan a budgeting scheme in much detail in order to get a better understanding of the feasibility of the project. Gaining insightful information regarding home renovation is key to successfully remodeling your home. It is great to hire professionals to do the work, but it is important to have a detailed understanding of what is actually going to take place during the process.

Get the budget right

Throughout different neighborhoods and districts we sometimes observe incomplete renovation projects. At times we ask ourselves why the project was never completed and what could have been done better for the complete remodelling of the home to have taken effect. There are so many reasons as to why a renovation project would not have been completed. One of the main reason is underestimating the complete cost of the renovation at hand. With a lack of expertise and understanding one can make a rough estimation of how much it would cost for renovations just to be surprised in the end that the amounts do not even come close! The research prior to beginning the renovations cannot be overemphasized. Do your homework! Research shows that most homeowners set very unrealistically low budgets for most of their renovation projects. They completely underestimate how much would actually be going into the project and find out during the project that they unfortunately do not have the means to continue. When it comes to smaller projects such as; changing of floors, fences or painting most homeowners are convinced that the price would be very minimal and insignificant due to the fact that the project seems so small. When a thorough research is performed one will have a good understanding of what actually goes into making these “seemingly” small projects and why the amount is more than expected.

Get professional help

Once you decide on what you will actually be renovating in your home and have come up with an approximated cost of the renovations it is vital to get professional advice as well prior to actually beginning with the renovations to ensure that your finds are valid. Get multiple quotes from multiple contracting companies. Do not content yourself with the quote from only one company. Since you would have already done your individual research based on your needs and the potential cost of the project it would be easier to know what contractor to deal with. Ensure that the interview process is thorough and that you get an in-depth understanding of what their contract and services offer. Communication is key; make sure that they can easily be reached and that most importantly they understand you and that you understand them. Are there any hidden fees that you would need to know about in advance? These would all be valid questions to ask. When you are asked questions about your house make sure to answer as honestly and truthfully as you possibly can. It is important for the contractor to also get a good understanding of your home and not be surprised with additional work to do which would add costs. Most contracts do advise clients to add between 10 to 20% to the budget as there could be other changes to be made once the work begins. In the event that you cannot find contractors that are reliable or trust worthy you can always get references from friends’, family members or colleagues. Other professionals within the industry such as real estate agents like our very own Brad Roemer can also be of great help to you as they have the expertise and the network.

Financing the renovations

How will you be financing your project? Whether it be through a loan, a home equity plan, rebates or just plain savings it is important to cross that bridge prior to the start of the renovation to ensure that you have the funds available.

Renovating a home may be a difficult and very time-consuming process. You must exercise a lot of patience before, during and after the renovations as you will be deprived of your privacy space whiles the work is being done which may lead to frustration and stress. With proper planning and organization, you should have that perfect remodelling of your home that you have been dreaming of.

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Are You A Master Listener?

Listen In On How Brad Roemer Uses Storytelling Meeting Tactics to Foster Better Work Relationships

Real Leaders are Master Listeners

Communication is vital in all aspects of our lives. We communicate with our co-workers, family members, friends, spouses. It’s an essential aspect of how we get around. In the realm of communication, we write and talk, however the act of listening is often forgotten. People all want to be heard, but they seem to neglect listening attentively at what the person they are speaking to is saying. If you are thinking about what to respond to your colleague before they finish iterating their last word, then you are doing listening all wrong. The difference between a good listener and a bad one can mean the world of a difference in the type of leader you are. Something that our team truly appreciates about Brad Roemer is his ability to make every employee feel like they are heard. From the ideation process all the way to strategy execution, we feel like our involvement in Brad Roemer Realtor as well as this interior and exterior design side hustle is of great value. If you wish to master listening in all corners of your life, then listen on… You might just catch on to a lesson or two that you would have otherwise missed out on because you were too busy listening to yourself talk!

Listen When Your Friend Is Going Through A Difficult Time

A lot of the time, when you’re a man you think that providing quick solutions to the trials and tribulations that your friends are going through is the way to effective communication. However, if you fail to listen in on how the “negative obstacle” is shaping your friend’s perception of their journey perception, how can you adequately provide bullet-proof solutions for them to smash the obstacle to shame? Let’s take the example that your friend recently lost his or her job. While frustration, sadness and anger may be in the boat of emotions that your friend is experiencing, they can react by this unfavorable news in one of two ways: Either they take it as the universe’s sign that pushes them to finally open up that business they’ve wanted to do all their life, or to put that mystical story that’s been stuck in their head since the tenth grade down on paper. Or they can slump into hibernation, feeling completely defeated and useless. Their expressions in the way they talk, the body language they exude as well as the words they utter are meant to be deciphered to be there as a gearing support.

Listen To Build Better Work Relationships

Organizational behaviour scientist  Nossel believes that a cohesive work environment where colleagues get along well with one another is the best way to building a profitable business. If you find yourself having a difficult time harvesting solid work relationships, then it’s likely that you aren’t putting effort into setting up coffee dates with those you co-share your office with. Next time it’s your break, ask one of your colleagues if they’d like to join you for a coffee. This is the moment where you can start asking them about their life story, from their passions all the way through to what exactly attracted them to their current job. Asking pertinent questions that shows you were listening to their story will make your co-worker feel appreciated and truly heard. If you have a higher role in your organization, then you have the ability to create a more apparent business atmosphere that pegs on sharing ideas and stories with one another. For instance, Brad Roemer makes it a point to have a “Storytelling Staff Meeting” every two weeks at his real estate company. Here, he starts the meeting with a fun topic such as “What did you want to be when you were 5 years old?” or “What’s your hidden talent?” where every employee is given the opportunity to answer. By getting to know one another in this cool play meeting, Roemer has seen a sharp increase in sales. These icebreaker tactics encourage you to mesh more with your counterpart colleagues.

Listen Even Harder When You Have Opposing Views

Picture this: You’re on a road trip with your boyfriend and his best friend, and all of a sudden a political view is brought up. While your boyfriend’s best friend is Republican, you are most definitely a Democrat. Your views completely clash, and you so badly want to smash his argument down before he has the chance to speak another similar syllable. Before jumping to conclusions and hastily exuding fury, ask this person why they think the way they do. Ask them to share with you their story. Perhaps they will shed light on what got them to perceive the world in such an opposing manner, and you can calmly understand (even if you do not agree) the Republican statement they made.

Did you like this blog post? Please share in the comments below your favorite listening techniques and stories.