Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Buyers, Get an Edge During The Busy Spring Season

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Grow Veggies in Your Flower Garden? Absolutely!

Published: March 11, 2013
By: Cristina Santiestevan

Breaking the rules by mixing edibles with ornamentals makes for happy horticulture.

These "Matt's Wild Cherry" tomatoes are interspersed with fall-blooming aster for a gorgeous color combination. All images in this post: Cristina Santiestevan

In my garden, kale dances with cosmos, sweet potatoes mingle with marigolds, and bush beans party with coneflowers and black-eyed Susans. That’s right. Vegetables have invaded my flower garden.

The rules say flowers deserve the front yard spotlight while veggies should be hidden in the backyard. But some rules are made to be broken. That one, for example.

I started growing veggies with my front yard flowers because I had to — the backyard is too shady. Now, I’m hooked. Once you mix your edibles and ornamentals, I’m betting you’ll be hooked too.
The combination attracts lots of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, which helps ensure healthy edibles. It’s also a great solution if you don’t have a lot of space for both a veggie and flower garden. Plus, it’s fun!

There’s nothing special to getting started. Really. If you already have a flower bed or a foundation planting, go ahead and add some veggies to the mix. Just remember, your vegetables’ needs don’t change just because they’re growing amongst flowers. Tomatoes will still demand space and sunlight, and lettuces will still want protection from the full force of summer’s heat.

For me, the biggest challenge was giving up the tidiness of an orderly vegetable garden and embracing the haphazard beauty of edibles scattered among ornamentals.

Keep these tips in mind when selecting veggies for your flower beds:

Some veggies are easy to blend with flowers — lacinato kale looks fantastic with pink cosmos, for example — while others tend to overwhelm. I wouldn’t suggest planting a massive pumpkin vine in a petite flower bed.

Mix things up with containers. I’ve had great success growing sweet potatoes in inexpensive bushel baskets.

Be prepared to fill gaps created when you harvest your home-grown edibles. Bush beans are my favorite gap-filling vegetable because they grow fast, look fantastic, and taste even better.

Blend contrasting shapes, colors, and sizes. Bold cantaloupe vines provide an excellent backdrop for lacy marigold leaves and flowers, for example.

Experiment. On a whim, I let some ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’ tomatoes sprawl through my fall-blooming asters. The results were spectacular.

Winter can be a challenge. If you live in a milder region, you may be able to grow edibles year-round. Northern gardeners, however, must plan for cold weather. Try adding a few winter-interest plants to your garden. My red-twig dogwood is a star in the snow, for example.

But, here’s the most important thing. If you’re growing vegetables in your flower garden, you’ve got to treat them like ornamentals. In other words: looks matter.
Sometimes, looks matter a great deal. Formal vegetable gardens are a front yard no-no according to my HOA, but my blend of veggies and flowers has received nothing but compliments from neighbors. Even if you aren’t regulated by an HOA, it’s still worth keeping aesthetics in mind. It’s just the neighborly thing to do.

Did you know that including herbs and veggies is a tradition of beautiful cottage gardens that goes back to the mid-1800s?

Cristina Santiestevan

A writer, photographer, and gardener, Cristina Santiestevan combines her passions by writing for publications like Organic Gardening and Smithsonian. She grows tomatoes in her flower beds and shares stories about the suburban gardening experience on her blog, Outlaw Garden.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

SPRING IS HERE...... CHECK OUT THESE COOL PATIO DESIGNS

By: John Riha

In the hands of inspired masons and artists, natural stone transforms the ordinary backyard patio into inviting works of heart.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Your Top Home Ownership Tax Questions Answered

Published: December 31, 2012
By: Natasha Padgitt

Which tax benefits do home owners miss? Will you get audited if you take the home office deduction? Find out the answers to these questions and more before Tax Day.

There are a lot of home ownership tax benefits — if you don’t forget to take them. To make sure you get your due, HouseLogic asked tax expert Abe Schneier, a senior technical manager with the American Institute of CPAs, for tax-filing tips.

HouseLogic: What’s the most common home-related tax deduction or credit claimed by home owners?
Abe Schneier: The mortgage interest deduction, [which the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® estimates amounts to about $3,000 in tax savings for the average itemizing home owner] and [the deduction for] real property taxes.

HL: Which tax provision do home owners often overlook?
AS: You can deduct mortgage insurance premiums [or PMI] if you were required to get PMI as a condition of receiving financing on your home. Some people will overlook that, although it’s typically disclosed on the 1099 that you receive from the bank, along with all the deductible information you need.
HL note: The PMI deduction has been extended through 2013 and is retroactive for 2012.
[Another area of tax-filing confusion is] whether you’ve correctly treated any points you paid if you refinanced. In a new home purchase, the points can be deducted [in the tax year you paid them]. But typically in a refinancing, you have to amortize and deduct any points you paid over the life of the mortgage, and people tend to forget that after a couple of years.

HL: What’s the No. 1 mistake home owners make when filing their taxes?
AS: Because you receive a statement from the bank with details [such as] how much mortgage interest you paid over the year, and how much the bank pays on your behalf in real estate taxes, the number of mistakes has dropped.
But if you’re in a state where you pay the real estate taxes on your own — the bank doesn’t handle it for you — [people] make mistakes because sometimes real estate tax bills include other items besides pure real estate taxes. It could be trash collection fees; it could be snow removal fees that the state or county is assessing on the real estate tax bill. Since the items are included in the same bill, home owners sometimes deduct [those fees] regardless of whether the items are actually taxes.

HL: What’s the single most important piece of advice for people filing their taxes as a first-time home owner?
AS: You have to take a look at your closing statement from when you bought the house. It’s commonly called the HUD-1 form and you receive it at the closing. Occasionally, there are fees such as prepaid taxes or interest at closing that can be deductible.

HL: What tax advice do you have for someone who’s owned their home for 10 or 20 years?
AS: If you’ve been a longtime home owner and you’ve been through refinancings, you have to be careful about how much interest you’ve deducted, especially if you have a home equity loan or equity line. A lot of people who’ve refinanced have sizable equity lines. The maximum outstanding home equity debt that’s deductible is $100,000; the maximum deductible amount of interest paid on mortgage debt is $1 million.

HL: What home improvement-related records should home owners keep?
AS: Absolutely keep your receipts for couple of reasons:
1. You want to make sure — if there are any warranties attached to the work that was done — that you maintain those records and you have something to go back to the person who did the work in case something doesn’t function properly.
2. If you’ve added value to the home — you’ve added a deck, you’ve added a room, you’ve added something new to house — you’ll need to know what the gain is on that capital improvement when you sell the house.
HL note: Tax rules let you add capital improvement expenses to the cost basis of your home, and a higher cost basis lowers the total profit or capital gain you’re required to pay taxes on. Of course, most home owners are exempted from taxes on the first $500,000 in profit for joint filers ($250,000 for single filers). So it doesn’t apply to too many people.

HL: How do I tell the difference between a capital improvement and a repair?
AS: Typically a repair is [done] to allow an item, like a home furnace or air conditioner, to continue. But if you were to replace the heating unit, that’s not a repair.

HL: Does taking any home-related tax benefits, such as the home office deduction, make a taxpayer more likely to be audited?
AS: Only if numbers look out of the ordinary — for instance, if one year you were writing off $20,000 in mortgage interest debt and the next year you’re writing off $100,000 in mortgage interest. Taking the home office deduction in and of itself doesn’t usually generate an audit. However, if you claim nominal income and significantly higher expenses in an effort to create artificial losses, the IRS will see that there’s something else going on there.

HL: Once filing season is over, when should home owners start thinking about next year’s taxes?
AS: Well, hopefully, when you visit your CPA to give information about or pick up [this year’s] tax return, your CPA has spoken with you about your plans for [next year]:

If any major improvements are scheduled

If you’re planning on moving

How to organize any expenditures for fixing up the home before sale

If you’re planning to do any of those things, talk with your CPA so that you’re prepared with documentation and so that the [tax pro] can help minimize your tax situation.

Read more at www.Houselogic.com

Natasha Padgittis a Washington D.C.-based communications specialist. Currently a senior associate in Quinn Gillespie & Associates’ (QGA) strategic communications practice, she has also served as media relations manager and spokesperson for two national fiscal policy organizations.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

By: John Riha

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? These 8 ugly houses answer that age-old question with a resounding: Yes! Despite some odd proportions, strange building materials, and off-the-wall colors, these prideful homes all have redeeming qualities that endear them to their owners. For one, they’re all unique. And in this cookie-cutter world, that’s saying a whole lot! Which is your favorite?

Thursday, February 21, 2013

9 Simple Weekend Decorating Projects

By Dave Donovan

As you look around your home, you’re probably wishing you had some extra time on your hands to make a few renovations or to handle a few extra redecorating projects. But, you already have the time – it’s called the weekend! In that short 48-hour time span, there’s a lot of work you can get done. Even if you pick one task per weekend, that’s four decorating projects completed a month!

Don’t think it can be done? Well just check out these nine simple weekend decorating projects that can each be started Friday evening and wrapped up before you go to bed Sunday night.

1. Organize and Beautify Your Bookcases

If you have a lot of books, videos and collectibles clambering for space on your bookcases, taking a Saturday afternoon to remove, sort and organize everything will instantly make the room look cleaner and tidier. Sometimes successful redecorating isn’t about changing the way things are but more about cleaning up and organizing what you already have.

This is also a good time to de-clutter your bookcase. Tossing out old magazines or storing books you no longer want in the garage can go a long way towards making the most of your bookcase’s capacity.

2. Tile the Kitchen’s Backsplash

If you really want to give your kitchen an updated look but you can’t afford a complete renovation, install ceramic tile to the backsplash for an instant update. It may take some time to get up and running, but once you find your swing, you’ll discover this job moves along at a smooth pace. Both weekend days will be required for this job, and you might have to extend the finishing touches over to next weekend, but you’ll be able to get the bulk of the heavy lifting done in one weekend.

3. Transform the Fireplace

The fireplace is the focus of the room during the cold, winter months but what do you do with it for the other eight months out of the year? Once winter’s chill has left, clean out the fireplace and decorate the hearth with a variety of low-maintenance plants and add a touch of vibrancy to the room. Succulents work nicely because they don’t require a lot of watering or sunlight. Use tiered plant pot holders for a truly beautiful look that will also cover up the unsightly cinder stains on the inside of the fireplace.

Or, for a complete re-do, you can even consider painting the fireplace!

4. Install Some Molding

Crown molding makes a room feel and look larger than it really is, and it’s not really that difficult to install, especially when you use specially-made corner pieces that eliminate the need for cutting perfect mitered edges. In fact, once you get the hang of it, you might be able to install it in all of your rooms before the weekend is over.

While you’re at it, you can also install chair railing or update your baseboards with a newer, more modern style.

5. Unify Your Picture Frames

Odds are the picture frames that adorn your walls have been purchased over a long period of time, so no two probably look alike. But, if you take them all down and paint the frames all the same color, they will suddenly look as if they all belong together. In addition, this will help give your room the color accent it’s been missing.

6. Update the Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

Forget about the old brushed nickel cabinet knobs. Today, hardware stores have a ton of different varieties to choose from. Pick a style that best reflects your home and replace the knobs in your kitchen for a quick and easy kitchen makeover.

7. Makeover Your Lamp Shades

Adding some fabric, beads or ribbons to your lamp shades will turn them from drab to fab. Choose a color scheme that compliments the room and your friends won’t stop asking you, “Where did you purchase those beautiful lamp shades and how much did they cost?”

8. Redecorate the Bedroom

All you need to redecorate your bedroom is some fresh paint, some new curtains and a new comforter and voila – you have a freshly redecorated bedroom. The bulk of your time will be spent re-painting the bedroom and that won’t take that long at all, so go ahead and start planning your bedroom’s new look.

9. Add Some Fresh Flooring

If you have hard surface floors, add some color and style to the room by incorporating a few area rugs and/or carpet runners. This is an especially good idea come winter time as the carpet will help keep your feet off the cold floor and help insulate the room.

Read more at realtor.com

Thursday, February 14, 2013

5 Aesthetic Issues That Turn Off Buyers

Fixing these before listing property can reduce days on market, boost price

By Paul Bianchina
Inman News®

February 08, 2013

Are you thinking of selling your house this year? You'd obviously like to get top dollar for it, but it may be looking a little tired and worn, and maybe you don't have a lot money to sink into renovations before the "For Sale" sign goes up. Luckily, there are a lot of do-it-yourself projects you can tackle that will make a big difference in how quickly your house sells, and how much you can sell it for.
Or maybe you're the buyer, and you're on the prowl for a bargain. We'll look at those same items from a potential buyer's perspective, and see if I can't convince you not to walk away from a home with some great potential just because of some minor issues!

Overgrown landscaping
As the seller: Come on, get out the pruners and the rake! This is one of the easiest things in the world to take care of, because it typically doesn't cost you anything other than time and a little sweat. And the first impression of that curb appeal can often make or break a sale.
As the buyer: Nothing better than being able to see the potential in the worst house on the block, and you'd be surprised how many people drive right on by the one with scruffy bushes and unkempt trees. Sweat equity can pay big dividends on landscaping.

Ugly paint
As the seller: Your house doesn't need to be a uniform, boring white inside, but the dark blue living room with green trim and that hot pink kitchen that you thought was a great idea for some forgotten reason? They can drive off a lot of potential buyers, as can the peeling paint on the exterior trim. Paint is one of the easiest and least expensive of the do-it-yourself fix-ups a seller can do.
As the buyer: If the location works for you and the house has a good structure, don't be foolish and walk away from it because the master bedroom paint color isn't to your liking. Even a house that needs a complete exterior repaint shouldn't drive you away, unless it's an obvious indicator of severe moisture problems. Once again, paint is an easy and relatively inexpensive do-it-yourself project, and can lead to some bargains if you see potential that others don't.

Mirror walls
As the seller: Sure, you loved the disco era. But it's past, and you need to let it go. Big walls of mirrors or, even worse, mirror tiles are a real turnoff for a lot of potential buyers, and many people see their removal as a major project. Eliminate that stumbling block to a sale by taking the mirrors down yourself, doing any wall repairs, and then painting. If the other walls in the room are OK and you don't want to try to match the paint color, consider painting that one wall a contrasting color as an accent wall, but pick something tasteful!
As the buyer: Don't panic when you see these outdated decorating features. They're not difficult to remove, so don't let them sway you against a purchase.

Wallpaper and paneling
As the seller: These two items can get a little trickier. If you have an accent wall or even a bathroom of ugly, outdated wallpaper, take the time to strip it and repaint. If your house has a lot of wallpaper, consider having a wallpaper-stripping party, or hire a company to come in and do the stripping for you, then repaint things yourself. You'll be surprised what a difference paint will make in place of drab old wallpaper.
Paneling can be a lot harder. Removing it can be a bigger task, and the paneling may be concealing a lot of sins underneath. Painting over it can make it look even worse. There are so many variables here; you'll want to have a discussion with your real estate agent about how best to handle it. You may just need to leave it alone.
As the buyer: Wallpaper is the same as paint from a buyer's perspective. Let it work to your advantage, and be the one to see the diamond in the rough. Removing it is tedious and time consuming, but cheap.
Paneling is a matter of perspective, depending on what it is. Some paneling is pretty junky, and is best removed, but be aware that there may be a few repairs to deal with behind it. Other paneling is real wood and surprisingly expensive. It can often be cleaned, then sanded and stained to a new color that brings out some beautiful highlights, so if you're not sure, talk with a designer before taking it down. If you do remove any real wood paneling, whether in sheets or individual boards, check with a local salvage yard about selling it.

Closet doors
As the seller: For some reason, closet doors are a funny thing with a lot of buyers. If they're missing, or if they're severely out of adjustment or have been replaced with beads to go with the mirrored wall, it can be a real turnoff. Make sure your closet doors are installed, adjusted and operating properly.
As the buyer: Don't walk away from a potentially good deal because there aren't any closet doors. See if the sellers have them, which is the best solution. But even if they don't, getting new ones is an inexpensive do-it-yourself fix, and may help you snag a deal on a house that someone else shies away from!
Remodeling and repair questions? Email Paul at paulbianchina@inman.com. All product reviews are based on the author's actual testing of free review samples provided by the manufacturers.

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