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4 Landscaping Ideas For Your Front Yard

Even if you can’t tell a sunflower from a daisy at the garden center, you can still create eye-catching curb appeal by paying attention to the basics of good landscaping, especially in the front yard. Your front yard is the focal point of your homes and it’s appearance can significantly impact it’s value.

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) recommends investing 10% of your home’s value in landscaping; Other studies suggest that you can increase your home’s value by 5% to 15% by spending the equivalent percentage on landscape maintenance and upgrades.

Photo credit: Tania Melnyczuk

Here are the top suggestions from real estate agents, appraisers, and landscape designers for boosting the curb appeal of your yard:

1. Plant a Tree

Photo credit: Gibbon Fitzgibbon

The value of mature trees is particularly difficult to determine. Lucco says that in his market, mature trees contribute as much as 10% of a $100,000 property’s overall value. In addition, a properly placed shade tree can shave as much as $32 a year on your energy bills. Expect to pay $50-$100 for a young, 6- to 7-foot deciduous tree.
You can make your own initial assessment of the value of your property’s trees by visiting the National Tree Benefit Calculator. For example, a mature Southern red oak tree with a diameter of 36 inches in the front yard of a house in Augusta, Ga., might add $70 to the property value.

2. Green Up the Grass

If your house has a front yard, make sure it‘s neat and green by following a lawn maintenance calendar. You don’t want bare spots, sprawling weeds, or an untrimmed appearance. “It’s so simple to go to Home Depot, buy fertilizer, apply it every six weeks, and water it,” says Mitch Kalamian, a landscape designer in Huntington Beach, Calif. “It will green up.”

Photo credit: Luke Tanis

If the yard looks really scruffy, you may decide to invest in some sod. Sod will average about 15-35 cents/sq. ft., according to the National Gardening Association. If you hire a landscaper to sod your yard for you, labor will add 30% to 50% to the total cost of the project. Another alternative is to plant low-maintenance turf grasses. Turf grasses are durable and drought-resistant. Expect to pay $18-$30 for enough turf grass seed to plant 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area.

3. Landscape Lighting

For homeowners who have made a sizeable investment in landscaping, it makes sense to think about adding another 10%-15% to the bill for professional outdoor lighting. After all, buyers aren’t always looking at houses on a Saturday afternoon.”
The cost of a system runs from $200 for a DIY installation to more than $4,000 for a professional job. If you‘re doing it on your own, the key is to light what you want people to see, such as mature trees and flowering shrubs.

4. Colorful Planting Beds

Flower beds add color and help enliven otherwise plain areas, such as along driveways and the edges of walkways. In general, annual flowers are a bit cheaper but must be replaced every year. Perennials cost a bit more but come back annually and usually get larger or spread with each growing season.

Photo credit: Jan Canty

If you’re not sure what to plant, inquire at your local garden center. Often, they’ll have a display of bedding plants chosen for their adaptability to your area. Also, they‘ll be inexpensive because they’re in season, says Peter Mezitt, president of Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass. Try pansies in the summer, and asters and mums in the fall to add vibrant color. “That’s what we do around the entrance to our garden center,” Mezitt says.

Valerie Torelli, a REALTOR® in California, who dresses up her clients’ yards to sell their houses faster and for more money, says that in her market, she can put in a bed of colorful annuals and bark, as well as cutting down overgrown shrubs, for less than $500. “We can buy gorgeous plants for $3.99 to $15.99,” she says.

Originally Written by: Pat Curry

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Organize your home in one month with less than one hour per day

Get organized without adding to your home time burden.

Did you ever notice that your self-improvement pacts with yourself are action oriented? Practice yoga daily. Fix that leaky faucet. Volunteer twice a year.

But “get organized”? It’s a goal so broad that just trying to figure out what action to take makes you wonder what you were thinking in the first place. It’s like you need an organizing plan for your organizing. Well look no further!

Here it is. Follow these steps, spending less than an hour day (sometimes just a few moments), to a better organized home:

Do That Project

“What about your space is making you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed?” asks Amy Trager, a professional organizer in Chicago. Is it the paperwork disaster in your office? The pile of clothes teetering on your dresser? Or that mess that surrounds your doorway? Start with what’s annoying you, she says. One hour on that task will get your organizing engine revving.

Photo Credit: Nick Monge
Create a “Go Away” Box

Put anything you’re planning to donate in it (or give to a friend, or take to recycle). And keep it by the door so you can easily grab it when you’re leaving.

Deal With the Decorations

Hallelujah — the holidays are over! When you’re putting away your décor, donate anything you didn’t bring out last season, and separate decorations by holiday. No need to dig through your St. Patty’s clovers when you’re searching for a menorah.

Create a System for Your Entryway

Set up a “command center” so your front door doesn’t become a lawless accessories arena, especially during winter months. Add hooks for coats, bins for shoes, and a mail sorter if you need it. (Remember to keep a place for your “go away” box).

Photo Credit: Douglas Sheppard
Wrangle Your Pet Supplies

Minimize the time spent scrambling when your pup is desperate for a walk or eager for a meal. Hang hooks and cubbies near the door and keep leashes, kibble, bowls, and toys in one convenient spot.

Organize Your Spices

Arrange your herbs and spices alphabetically, by cuisine, or by brand — whatever makes them easier to find when you’re in the middle of your noodle stir fry.

Pare Down Your Utensils

You’ve accumulated several dozen kitchen utensils in your culinary career: can openers, microplanes, four (what?!) wine openers. Pare down the collection and use drawer dividers to keep the remainders in order.

Reconfigure Your Pots and Pans

Stop digging around in your shelves for the oversized, cast-iron skillet. Donate the pots and pans you hardly use, and install cupboard organizers to help manage the rest.

Throw Away Expired Foods

You never use Worcestershire sauce — except that one time. Go through your refrigerator and pantry and ditch or donate anything past its prime.

Photo Credit: mike giovinazzo on Unsplash
Stack Your Pantry Staples

Make better use of your pantry by sorting through your staple dry goods — think flour, sugar, pasta, oatmeal, dry beans — and putting them in airtight, stackable containers. You’ll free up a ton of space, too.

Downsize Your Kitchen Gadgets

You had noble intentions when you purchased that spiralizer. (Zucchini noodles every night, right?) Give those space hogs to someone else with lofty dreams.

Say No to Coffee Mug Over-Saturation

Every time you lose a sock, a new coffee mug appears. Keep one or two mugs for every coffee or tea drinker, and donate the rest.

Sort Your Food Storage Containers

No singles allowed. Toss any tops or bottoms that have no mates.

Reassess Your Display Shelves

Shelves crammed with knickknacks, books you’ll never read, and stuff you somehow accumulated are just a waste of space. Donate books to the library, discard the junk, and arrange what’s left in a way that pleases you.

Deal With Your Cables

With a Roku, PlayStation, DVD player, and a cable box, it’s no surprise your entertainment center is a mess. Create ID tags for each plug from bread tags or cable ties, and bundle the clutter together with velcro strips.

Put Clothes on New Hangers

Switch your clothes over to the slimmer, grabbier hangers. They use less space and keep your clothes from sliding down to your closet floor. As you do this, discard the clothes you never wear.

Corral Your Accessories

Belts, scarves, purses, hats — all the accessories that don’t have a drawer or spot in the closet can end up everywhere. Buy an accessories hanger or install a simple series of hooks to give your wardrobe’s smallest members a home.

Purge Under the Bed

Under-bed storage is ideal for out-of-season clothing. But when out-of-season becomes out-of-sight and out-of-mind, clear out those clothes you’ll never wear again from this precious storage space.

Photo Credit: Ferenc Horvath
Declutter Your Desk

When your workspace is swimming with collectibles, staplers, Post-its, and more, paring down can keep you focused when it’s time to hunker down.

Shred Old Paperwork

Not every form, statement, and tax record needs to stay in your filing cabinet forever. Check out this list to make sure you’re not wasting space. Shred the rest to ward off identity thieves.

Tidy Your Files

Now that you’ve shredded the paperwork you don’t need, tidy up your files by organizing them and labeling them clearly. Colorful folders can help organize by theme (home stuff, tax stuff, work stuff, etc.).

Get Rid of Mystery Electronics

Admit it. You’ve got a drawer where black mystery cords, chargers, and oddball electronic bits go to die. Free that drawer up for better uses, or at least get rid of the ones you know for sure are “dead.”

Pare Down Your Personal Care Stuff

Your intentions were honorable when you bought that curl-enhancing shampoo — but it expired two years ago, and you haven’t used it since. Throw away any expired potions, salves, hair products, and medicines.

Tackle Under-the-Sink Storage

Clean everything out. You’ll be amazed at what you find (like those Magic Erasers you could never find). Then put back everything you’re keeping in bins you can easily pull out so nothing gets lost again.

Hang a Shelf

Wall storage is so often overlooked. Find a spot in your home where a shelf would solve a problem, and hang it. Maybe it’s for some toiletries in the bathroom, or laundry supplies, or for your kid’s stuffed toys.

Reduce Your Towels and Linens

There are the towels you use — and the stack of towels you never use. Donate them to the animal shelter. Those torn pillowcases? Convert to rags or toss. Same for napkins, dishtowels, pot holders, etc.

Hang a Shoe Organizer

Hanging shoe organizers can solve a ton of storage problems beyond the obvious. They can store scarves, mittens, cleaning supplies, craft supplies. You can even cut them to custom-fit inside a cabinet door.

Organize Your Junk Drawer for Good

There’s no shame in a junk drawer — but why not organize it? Dump the whole thing on one surface and sort everything into piles. Use drawer dividers to keep each pile in its own space.

Photo credit: Maxim Shklyaev
Store Your Tools the Right Way

Finding the right Phillips-head screwdriver to put together that cute IKEA bookshelf shouldn’t be so hard. Track down your hammers and screwdrivers, and arrange them in one easy-to-access spot, such as a pegboard.

Plan for the Future

See how much you’ve accomplished! Take a look around your newly organized home, making note of any spaces you missed. Then dream a bit about your next home project. Maybe paint that dining room, finally?

Originally written by: Jaime Wiebe

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Easy Mistakes Homeowners Make On Their Taxes

For the average person the thought of filing taxes can be daunting. Making sure you have all of your paperwork, deductions, and income correctly laid out is stressful enough. But as a new or seasoned home owner there are several mistake we can be making when it comes to filing our taxes correctly.

Therefore as we all prepare to file our 2020 tax returns, we wanted to share the common home-related mistakes to watch out for, especially if you are taking any home office tax deductions. Tax pros say these common tax mistakes can cost you money or attract the IRS to your front porch.

1. Deducting the Wrong Year for Property Taxes

Remember that you take a tax deduction for property taxes in the year you (or the holder of your escrow account) actually paid them. Some taxing authorities work a year behind — which means, you are not billed for 2020’s property taxes until 2021. But that’s irrelevant to the feds. Therefore, you need to enter on your federal forms whatever amount you actually paid in that tax year, no matter what the date is on your tax bill. Dave Hampton, CPA, a tax department manager at the Cincinnati accounting firm of Burke & Schindler, has seen homeowners confuse payments for different years and claim the incorrect amount.

Tip: Taking this deduction requires that you itemize.

Make sure to speak with your tax preparer if you prepaid your 2021 property taxes in 2020, given the tax law changes.

  • If you had a property tax bill in hand, that means the tax was assessed and you should have been able to deduct it on your 2020 tax return if you itemized.
  • If your local taxing authority says it will accept prepayments but the tax hasn’t been assessed, just estimated, the payment likely wasn’t deductible on your 2020 tax returns.
2. Confusing Escrow Amount for Actual Taxes Paid

If your lender escrows funds to pay your property taxes, don’t just deduct the amount escrowed. The regular amount you pay into your escrow account each month to cover property taxes is probably a little more or a little less than your actual property tax bill. Your lender will adjust the amount every year or so to realign the two.

For example, your tax bill might be $1,200, but your lender may have collected $1,100 or $1,300 in escrow over the year. Deduct only $1,200 or the actual amount of property taxes paid that is noted on the Form 1098 that your lender sends. If you don’t receive Form 1098, contact the agency that collects property tax to find out how much you paid.

3. Deducting Points Paid to Refinance

In many cases, you can deduct in full the points you paid your lender to secure your mortgage for the year you bought your home, if you itemize. However, if you pay points in connection with a refinance, you must deduct the points over the life of your new loan.

For example, if you paid $2,000 in points to refinance into a 15-year mortgage, your tax deduction is $2,000 divided by 15 years, or $133 per year.

4. Miscalculating the Home Office Tax Deduction

There are two ways to calculate the home office deduction. One is complicated, has to be recaptured if you turn a profit when you sell your home, and can pique the IRS’s interest in your return. But it also can amount to more of a deduction than the simpler method.

If you don’t care to claim actual costs, which you do under the more complicated method, you can use the simplified home office deduction. If you’re eligible, you can deduct $5 per square foot up to 300 feet of office space, or up to $1,500 per year.

5. Failing to Track Home-Related Expenses

If the IRS comes a-knockin’, don’t be scrambling to compile your records. File or scan and store home office and home improvement expense receipts and other home-related documents as you go.

6. Forgetting to Keep Track of Capital Gains

If you sold your main home last year, don’t forget to report capital gains on any profit above the excluded amounts. You can typically exclude $250,000 of any profits from your income (or $500,000 if you’re married filing jointly).

So, if your cost basis for your home is $100,000 (what you paid for it plus any improvements) and you sold it for $400,000, your capital gain is $300,000. If you’re single, you owe taxes on $50,000 of gains.

However, there are minimum time limits for holding property to take advantage of the exclusions, and other details. Consult IRS Publication 523. And some high-income earners could get hit with an additional tax.

7. Claiming Too Much for the Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction

For the tax year 2020, taxpayers are allowed to deduct mortgage interest on $750,000 of home acquisition debt.

Interest on home equity loans and second mortgages continues to be deductible, but only if the proceeds of such loans are used to substantially improve the home that secures the loan. Interest on home equity loans that were used for other purposes, such as student loans, cars, vacations, are no longer deductible.

And the amount of all mortgage loans (first, second, home equity, and loans for a second home) can’t exceed the $750,000 or $1 million limits.

Please Note: This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but shouldn’t be relied upon as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Consult a tax professional for such advice.

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How Long Is The House Buying Process?

There are so many steps from the first decision to buy a house to the time you are handed the keys to your home.

How long is the house buying process? The timeline depends on the availability of homes and the amount of time you spend shopping for one. But once you have a contract, it takes an average of 50 days to close on a house.

There are a lot of steps to buying a house, and any of them could drag out the timeline, especially if you’re not prepared. Here’s the home-buying timeline, broken down step-by- step.

1. Know Before You Go

Time: 1-14 days

Dreaming about owning your own home is one thing; making your dream a reality is another. To get beyond the dream stage, you must take the time to learn the steps and the important roles of each professional play in making this as pain free as possible.

The most disappointing feeling is to fall in love with a house only to discover you cannot afford it. Going through the pre-qualification process with your bank or mortgage consultant would help you to identify your spending power. Although pre-qualification does not guarantee you will be given the loan by that specific lender, it does give you an idea of how much you can afford to spend on your dream home.

2. Real Estate Agent Selection

Time: 1-7 days

Selecting a Real Estate Agent is paramount in your home buying process. Real estate agents can provide many useful services and work with you in different ways. In some real estate transactions, the agents work for the seller (Seller’s Agent). In others, the buyer may have his/her agent (Buyer’s Agent) and sometimes the same agent works for both the buyer and the seller (Dual Agent). It is important for you to know the role the agent is playing.

Once you have agreed (either orally or in writing) for the firm and its agents to be your buyer’s agent, they may not give any confidential information about you to sellers or their agents without your permission so long as they represent you. But until you make this agreement with your buyer’s agent, you should avoid telling the agent anything you would not want a seller to know.

Let friends and family know that you are house hunting – they may tell you about a house before it is listed (someone in their neighborhood is going through a divorce and will not stay in the home, family being relocated, older homeowner cannot maintain their home any longer and needs to downsize).

Take a Sunday afternoon drive or walk through the neighborhoods you desire. Ask others any questions you may have.

Ask lots of questions of the homeowner, seller or broker about the house – when was it built and bought, why the sale is being made, how long has the house been on the market, what major work has been done to the house and when and why, any major problems in the area/neighborhood, etc…

Try traveling (driving or public transportation) from your intended neighborhood to and from work during rush hour to experience what it would be like when you start living there.

3. Loan Pre-Approval

Time: 5-8 business days

Most buyers will have to finance their home by obtaining a home mortgage from a lending institution. Having a pre-approval before you go house hunting is a strong signal to your realtor and sellers of your seriousness to purchase. Compare your down payment options, calculate how much home you can afford and compare lenders to get a reliable quote.

There are two terms you should be aware of, pre-approval and pre-qualification.

Prequalification is an early step in your homebuying journey. When you prequalify for a home loan, you’re getting an estimate of what you might be able to borrow, based on information you provide about your finances, as well as a credit check. Prequalification is also an opportunity to learn about different mortgage options and work with your lender to identify the right fit for your needs and goals.

Preapproval is as close as you can get to confirming your creditworthiness without having a purchase contract in place. You will complete a mortgage application and the lender will verify the information you provide. They’ll also perform a credit check. If you’re preapproved, you’ll receive a preapproval letter, which is an offer (but not a commitment) to lend you a specific amount, good for 90 days.

Getting preapproved is a smart step to take when you are ready to put in an offer on a home. It shows sellers that you’re a serious homebuyer and that you can secure a mortgage – which makes it more likely that you’ll complete your purchase of the home. Pre-approval goes deeper than pre-qualification. You may be asked for pay stubs, tax returns, W-2 statements, bank account information and credit report. It is best to have these documents organized before you have your meeting with the lender.

Compare rates from lenders within a 14-day window: Credit bureaus will count all their checks as just one. (That’s good news for your credit score.)

4. House Shopping

Time: A few days to a few months

Now that you know your purchasing power, you can go shopping. Now is the time to determine your needs/must haves and wants/not necessary. There are so many variables, needs such as the school system, the neighborhood, distance from you family, must be prioritized over a swimming pool, countertops or condition of doors and windows.

Before starting your hunt for a new home, it is advisable to make a list of all your basic needs and desires while targeting the most important ones. Making a list and highlighting what truly matters is the way to go. On top of it all, it will make the hunt easier, but at the same time, you need to know that it’s nearly impossible to have all items checked.

5. Offer, Negotiate, Attorney Review Period and Fully Executed Contract

 Time: 1-7 days

Work with your agent on price, contingencies, and other terms of the deal. After the offer is made and accepted, the attorneys for both sides review the contract and solidify the agreement.

 A couple of tips to help make this step proceed smoothly:

  • Include the pre-approval letter from your lender in the offer and put down earnest money. (Commit 3% to 4% of the sale price instead of the standard 1% to 3%, and you might really put a fire under them.)
  • I always ask my buyers to write a letter to the seller thanking the sellers for allowing them (the buyers) to be the purchasers of the home and expressing why they would love to be the new owners of their home. Keep in mind, this is a personal item the sellers are parting with, personalizing the offer makes a huge difference.
  • If you receive a counteroffer, respond ASAP. You don’t want to give another buyer time to jump in with a better offer.

6. Final Mortgage Approval

Time: A few days to 3 weeks

Getting pre-approved for a mortgage doesn’t automatically mean you get a loan on the home you have under contract. The lender has a few other requirements once the home is chosen, such as an inspection and appraisal. And they’ll want to see even more current copies of your financial documents.

From this point on, the steps to buying a house will often overlap, so you’ll have several wheels in motion.

You will also begin to start spending money of the pre-purchase items like home inspection, appraisal, and insurance.

7.  Home Inspection

 Time: 3-7 days to schedule; 2-3 hours to inspect

Don’t expect perfection. There is no perfect home. Even new construction may have flaws. As soon as your contract is accepted, contact an inspector to get on their books. The inspection itself will only take two or three hours, and I highly recommend you be present with a note book the entire time. Feel free to ask a lot of questions.

The inspection report may take two to three days to be completed with pictures and descriptions of each part of the inspection. All reports are done digitally and sent to you and your attorney for review.

If the inspection turns up issues, it can cause some delays or a need for additional inspections. The issues may also result in further negotiations with the seller through your attorney. For example, if the inspection reveals termites, the seller may have to call in a pest control company and have the termites treated and provide proof of this treatment to you and your attorney.

8. Home Appraisal

Time: Up to 5 days to schedule; a few hours to do the appraisal; up to 5 business days to get the report to the lender

The appraisal is key to getting a mortgage. If the home fails to appraise for the mortgage amount, you may have to increase your down payment or renegotiate a lower price with the seller. That’s why you want to line up an appraiser as soon as you have a house under contract. And unlike the home inspection, this report goes to the lender instead of you and takes longer because the appraiser has to do additional research on what homes are selling for in the area.

9. Title Insurance

Time: 1-3 business days for title check; 2 weeks for insurance policy

A big part of securing title to a property is to conduct a thorough search of the property’s history. The title company will work to locate, prevent, and eliminate any risks or losses which may arise due to title problems, using public records to establish a clear chain of ownership and disclosing all identifiable outstanding claims against it.

10. Homeowners Insurance

 Time: Up to 2 weeks

Your insurance company may send someone to the property to assess for potential risks. Your mortgage lender may require other things like a new roof or other types of coverage, such as flood insurance.

11. Closing Part Two

 Time: A few minutes to a few days

Your title company and/or attorney will let you know whether you need to bring a cashier’s or certified check or wire your funds for closing and to whom it should be payable to. Be very mindful of wire fraud when sending money.  Transfer the funds to the right account and get your money ready to release and confirm the recipient’s information.

If you ever receive wiring instructions by email, call your agent or lender to confirm one of them sent it. Call the phone number you have on record for your agent, not the one listed in the suspect email.

12. Conduct a Final Walk-Through

Time: 1 hour, the day of or day before closing

Keep in mind this is your largest investment. On the day of the closing return to the house and walk around and through the house to make sure the sellers made any agreed-upon repairs and left the property in as good (or better!) condition than the last time you saw it.

If things are not the way you expected them to be, you must let your closer know before proceeding.

13. Closing

Time: 50 days on average; 1-2 hours to actually sign the paperwork

Each step after you’ve got a contract on a home is part of the closing process. And that process — which includes getting the loan, inspection, appraisal, title, insurance, etc. takes the average home buyer about six weeks.

On the day of the closing, what with two forms of government issued IDs such as driver’s license, US passport, US passport card or social security card. Be prepared to sign between 80-100 pages. The total signing time is between 45 minutes and 1 hour. It is worth it because the handover of the keys takes no more than 1 minute.

14. Locks

Always! Always! Always! Change the locks on the outer doors. Keep in mind the amount of people who had access to the house through the former owners, the realtors and contractors. Changing the locks will give you peace of mind.