YourHome MAY / JUNE 2016
T H E H E A R T L A N D ’ S L E A D I N G R E A L E S TAT E & H O M E L I V I N G M A G A Z I N E
FEATURED PROPERTY
LAKE BROWNWOOD Beautiful 4BR two story home with large game room, vaulted ceilings, and fantastic view of the lake. LEARN MORE, PAGE 6
INSIDE THIS MONTH’S EDITION: n Leg Up!, 3 n How to price your home, 5 n Staging, 9 n DIY mistake, 10
STAGING WITH
STYLE C H E C K O U T L I S T I N G S & I N F O R M AT I O N F R O M T H E S E G R E AT A D V E R T I S E R S : C O L D W E L L B A N K E R , M A R K C A M P B E L L & A S S O C I AT E S , M C C L U S K E Y & A S S O C I AT E S , T E X A S B A N K , T E X A S R E A LT Y, M I L L S C O U N T Y S TAT E B A N K , T E X A S G O L D S TA R R E A L E S TAT E , T O O T I E K E L LY R E A L E S TAT E , A C M E B R I C K & T I L E
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Heartland Your Home
Sunday, May 15, 2016
ADVERTISERS REAL ESTATE
Mark Campbell & Associates - Coldwell Banker McCluskey & Associates Texas Goldstar Real Estate Texas Realty Tootie Kelly Real Estate
3 8 4 6 12
LENDING INSTITUTIONS Mills County State Bank 10 TexasBank 5
MISC SERVICES
ACME Brick & Tile
7
A publication of the
Brownwood BULLETIn Your Community u Your Story u Delivered Your Way
Serving the Heart of Texas Since 1886
For questions or to advertise please call the Brownwood Bulletin at 325-646-2541 or come by the office at 700 Carnegie, Brownwood. NOTICE All Rental and Real Estate Ads are subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, or family status or national origin.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT Why you should think about selling your home before you buy it Looking for a house? That’s great! Before you make an offer on a property, think about selling it. Sounds crazy, right? You haven’t even bought the place, and maybe you expect to live in the house forever. But thinking through how you’d market a property is an easy way to determine how comfortable you are with its pros and cons. Here are some examples. Ignorance might not be bliss Maybe you’re dying to get into a neighborhood and have been searching for months for a place you can afford within its boundaries. Then you come across the perfect place— well, perfect except for that stain on the wall in the bathroom and crack in the kitchen counter. Does the stain mean water damage or a bad paint job? Did someone drop a heavy object on the counter, or is the foundation moving? You may be blinded by the location and willing to roll the dice that these aren’t serious issues, but would the next buyer? It’s not that loud, right? Potential problems with the structure aren’t the only things that scare aware potential buyers. The house could be next to the expressway or a busy railroad track. It might sit under the approach to the runway at a busy airport or back up to an en-
tertainment district—and Dumpsters being emptied at 4 a.m. Wait … who can use the yard? Some properties may have conditions attached to the lot. Maybe it’s an easement so the public utility can access lines that cross your property. Or the house could be on a street zoned for commercial development. Again, you might not care too much about the condition, but the next buyer may care a lot. Know what you’re getting into None of these examples automatically disqualify any property from your search. The point is to figure out whether an objectionable aspect of the property is a minor annoyance or a serious concern. If you’d be nervous about listing the house, do more research and consult an expert like a Texas Realtor. A Texas Realtor can assist you in assessing these situations and help you sort through your options, even if that means moving on to the next house for sale. Learn more about buying, selling, and leasing in Texas at texasrealestate.com. Distributed by the Texas Association of Realtors
Vann Stanford, President Heartland Association of Realtors
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Heartland Your Home
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Realtors® Give Homebuyers Leg Up in Competitive Spring Market WASHINGTON – With demand exceeding supply in markets across the U.S., homebuyers may be facing an uphill battle to find the perfect home this spring. Total housing inventory at the end of February was 1.88 million existing homes available for sale, 1.1 percent lower than last year and at a 4.4 month supply at the current sales pace, which is below the roughly six month supply level needed for a balanced market between buyers and sellers. In competitive markets like this, it is important that homebuyers work with a Realtor®. Realtors® who have the National Association of Realtors®’ Accredited Buyer’s Representative® designation are specialized practitioners focused on working directly with buyerclients and helping them through the challenges of finding the right home in a
seller’s market. “When there is more demand than inventory homes sell quickly, prices rise and bidding wars can start,” said NAR President Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Real Estate II Inc. in Coral Springs, Florida. “A Realtor® with an ABR® designation is a home buyer’s upper hand; they understand local markets and can negotiate on behalf of their buyer-clients.” Adds Salomone, “Buying a home is often one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life, and having a Realtor® in their corner is the ultimate advantage. They are there to guide consumers through the complexities of this lifechanging transaction.” NAR’s 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers asked recent homebuyers what they look for when deciding on a real estate agent; 53 percent said they were looking for someone
who could help them find the right home to purchase, and 12 percent said they wanted someone who can help them negotiate the terms of sale. The report also found that homebuyers look at a median of 10 houses before deciding on one to purchase, and the typical search lasts for 10 weeks. “Having a real estate expert with specific knowledge of the local market and purchase process can mean the difference between a homebuyer getting that 10th house and having to search for another,” said Salomone. In 2016, the ABR® designation celebrates its 20th anniversary, with over 28,000 ABR® designees. Realtors® with the designation are experienced real estate agents who have completed advanced training in representing the specific needs of buyers during a real estate transaction and have unique,
“Buying a home is often one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life, and having a Realtor® in their corner is the ultimate advantage.”
up-to-date insights on the best way to approach their local market. The designation is awarded by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council, a whollyowned subsidiary of NAR and the world’s largest association of real estate professionals focusing specifically on representing the real estate buyer. To find out more about the ABR® designation and the homebuying process,
consumers can visit rebac. net/home-buying(link is external). The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
COLDWELL BANKER
Mark Campbell & Associates 1900 Austin Avenue Brownwood, TX 76801
Office: 325-646-1547
Buying or Selling - Land, Home or Business contact Coldwell Banker for your real estate needs: Mark Campbell ....... 325-642-5416 Royce Blackburn .... 325-642-2093 Terry Blagg ............. 325-642-2553 Kimon Faubion ....... 325-998-0227 Jeff Hibbs................ 325-642-3559 Don Holland ............ 325-998-2058 Donna Howey ......... 325-998-0488 Nesa Morelock ........ 325-642-4932 Jennifer Newton ..... 325-642-2100 Hunter Stanford...... 817-649-9822 Vann Stanford ........ 325-642-2088 Gary Twiford ........... 325-642-1179 Brad Wells .............. 325-642-2489 Sheri Wells.............. 325-642-5994 Sue Wells ................ 325-642-8353 Stephen Young ....... 325-647-2418
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Sunday, May 15, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Heartland Your Home
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Not Sure How to Price Your Home?
Use These Expert Strategies to Hit the Sweet Spot By: Jamie Wiebe Pricing your home based on data, not emotion, can mean a swift sale. You don’t need to be Bob Barker to know when the price just isn’t right. Just ask Candace Talmadge. She originally listed her Lancaster, Texas, home for $129,000, but “eventually had to accept the market reality” and chop $4,000 off the price. The home’s location proved challenging: Buyers were either turned off by the area — a lower-income
neighborhood south of Dallas — or unable to afford the home. “Sellers have to keep in mind the location,” says Talmadge. “Who are going to be the likely buyers?” Home pricing is more of a science than an art, but many homeowners price with their heartstrings instead of cold, hard data. Here’s why crunching the numbers is always the better route to an accurate home price — as well as what can happen when home sellers overlook those all important data
points.
The Pitfalls of Overpricing Homeowners often think that it’s OK to overprice at first, because — who knows? — maybe you’ll just get what you’re asking for. Although you can certainly lower an inflated price later, you’ll sacrifice a lot in the process. The most obvious damage: A house that remains on the market for months can prevent you from moving into your dream home. Already purchased that next home? You might saddle yourself
with two mortgages. “You lose a lot of time and money if you don’t price it right,” says Norma Newgent, an agent with Area Pro Realty in Tampa, Fla. And worse: Continually lowering the price could turn off potential buyers
who might start wondering just what is wrong with your home. “Buyers are smart and educated,” says Lisa Hjorten of Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty in Redmond, PRICING: Continued page 7
Flood Insurance Legislation Promises Flexibility for Consumers WASHINGTON — Property owners who opt to purchase flood insurance in the private market rather than through the National Flood Insurance Program may do so under current rules, but they risk paying higher rates if they return to the NFIP. H.R. 2901, the “Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act,” passed the U.S. House of Representatives today by a vote of 419-0 and seeks to alleviate that concern. The National Association of Realtors® stands firmly behind the effort. “Realtors® know that a robust National Flood Insurance Program is important for protecting consumers and ensuring property sales can move forward in 20,000 communities nationwide,” said NAR President Tom Salomone, brokerowner of Real Estate II Inc. in Coral Springs, Florida. “For many, the NFIP offers the only source of coverage that meets federally-related mortgage requirements
and protects properties in the 100 year floodplain. “At the same time, consumers who wish to purchase insurance in the private market should have the freedom to do so,” he said. “This legislation will help foster a vibrant private flood insurance market while giving consumers the flexibility to return to the NFIP at a reasonable cost if they choose to.” Under current regulations, the NFIP requires homeowners to retain a minimum amount of flood insurance coverage to maintain the lowest rates available within the NFIP. Those same regulations treat consumers who move to private insurance as having had a “break” in coverage, even if the private insurance product offers comparable coverage for the property. Oftentimes, consumers will return to the NFIP when a private insurance product goes up in price or is no longer available. In that instance, a homeowner
can only do so in the face of a rate hike. H.R. 2901 would change this by clarifying that private flood insurance that meets state law provides continuous coverage. If the bill becomes law, property owners could move seamlessly between the NFIP and private insurance markets without the risk of arbitrary rate increases. Earlier this year, NAR wrote(link is external) to members of the House Financial Services Committee to ask for their support of the bill; H.R. 2901 later passed the committee by a unanimous vote, clearing the way for today’s vote on the House floor. Additionally, last week, NAR joined members of the SmarterSafer coalition to urge House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to bring the bill up for a vote. NAR President Tom Salomone praised the bill’s passage, calling it a step forward for reform of the broader flood insurance system. “NAR is grateful to
Congressmen Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) for their leadership on this important issue,” said Salomone. “This legislation is a step in the right direction as we
work to reauthorize and modernize the NFIP.”
all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.1 million members involved in
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Heartland Your Home
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016 Wash. “You’re probably going to lose them.”
The Pricing Traps It’s easy for homeowners to stumble into two common traps: 1. Conflating actual value with sentimental value — how much they assume their home’s worth because they lived there and loved the time they spent there. 2. Assuming renovations should result in a dollar-fordollar increase in the selling price — or more. “Many homeowners think, ‘Of course my home is worth a bazillion dollars,’” says Newgent. If they put in a few thousand dollars worth of new flooring, for example, they might overestimate the upgrade’s impact on the home’s value into the tens of thousands. Talmadge’s Texas home came with a built-in renovation trap: It was already the nicest home in the area, making it harder to sell. Major additions had inflated the square footage — and the price, according to one appraiser — without accounting for the surrounding
neighborhood. That created a disconnect for buyers: Wealthier ones who might be interested in the upgraded home disliked the neighborhood, and less affluent buyers couldn’t afford the asking price. “Don’t buy the nicest home on the block” is common real estate advice for this reason. That’s not to say that renovations aren’t worth it. You want to enjoy your home while you’re in it, right? Smart renovations make your home more comfortable and functional but should typically reflect the neighborhood. A REALTOR® can help you understand what certain upgrades can recoup when you sell and which appeal to buyers. Another culprit for many a mispriced home is online tools, like Zillow’s “Zestimate,” that prescribe an estimated market value based on local data. The estimate is often wildly inaccurate. A Virginiaarea real estate company, McEnearney & Associates, has compared actual sold prices with predicted online
estimates for several hundred homes in the area for the past few years and concluded the predictions failed half of the time.
The Right Stats for the Right Price The best pricing strategy? Consult a real estate agent, who will use something called comps (also known as “comparable sales”) to determine the appropriate listing price. They’re not just looking at your neighbors; they’re seeking out nearidentical homes with similar floor plans, square footage,
Heartland Your Home and amenities that sold in the last few months. Once they’ve assembled a list of similar homes (and the real prices buyers paid), they can make an accurate estimate of what you can expect to receive for your home. If a three-bedroom bungalow with granite countertops and a walk-out basement down the block sold for $359,000, expecting more from your own three-bedroom bungalow with granite countertops and a walk-out basement is a pipe dream. After crunching the data, they’ll work with you to determine a fair price that’ll entice buyers. The number might be less than you hope and expect, but listing your home correctly — not idealistically — is a sure way to avoid the aches and pains of a long, drawn-out listing that just won’t sell.
Knowing When the Price is Too High Once your home is on the market, you’ll start accumulating another set of data that will serve as the ultimate price test: how buyers react. Agent Hjorten says there’s
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an easy way to tell if you’ve priced too high: “If we have no showings, it’s way too high. Lots of showings and no offer means you’ve marketed well — but it’s overpriced once people get inside.” Talmadge didn’t struggle with showings. She says a number of people were interested in the home, but not enough at the price. In the end, Talmadge sold her home for $125,000, with a $5,000 seller’s assist, a discount on the cost of the home applied directly to closing costs. “It all boils down to location, location, location. In [another] neighborhood, our house might well have sold for well over $130,000,” Talmadge says. When it comes to finding a buyer, pricing your home according to data — and the right data, at that — is crucial to making the sale.
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Heartland Your Home
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Luann McCluskey, GRI, Broker/Owner
325-642-2310
1515 Austin Ave., Brownwood, Tx 76801
325-643-3200
REALTOR ®
Service with Integrity since 1999
NEW LISTINGS! 1420 BRADY AVE.
COMMERCIAL BUILDING
$22,000
Previously operated as restaurant. Sold AS—IS condition. Cash or conventional buyers only! Call Luann!
New roof, new windows, new siding, new plumbing from
house to alley; new framing ready for sheetrock.. bring an offer!! Cash buyers only!! Call Luann!!
711 BELLE PLAIN— $235,000
Commercial building in great location on approximately 1.5 acres. Previously operated as Smith Roofing Company. Located directly behind Big Country Ford Lincoln Dealership & Underwood's Barbeque. Features reception area, 5 offices, 4 bathrooms, kitchen-break room, 2 large workshops, 2 open yards with covered parking. Call Luann.
————————— 703 W. AUSTIN AVE.—
$225,000—AUSTIN AVE. AUTO
SALES Sale includes business, land, improvements, inventory, and customer base. Lighted parking with spaces for 50 vehicles. Large shop with 4 bay doors currently used for auto detailing. Great location with high traffic count! Call Luann for details!
325-200-2581
308 W. PIONEER— $43,000 RISING STAR
Remodeled 2BD on large corner lot with metal roof. Working water well, 2 storage/shop bldgs. Call Taylor for appt.!
Vicki Brelsford ,
817-933-2153
214-552-1299
REALTOR ®
REALTOR ®
510 LONGHORN $169,900-EARLY
2BD on large corner lot. Walking distance to Coggin Elementary & Brownwood Intermediate School. Call Taylor!
2 BD cottage w/pretty backyard & lots of fruit trees. Storage bldg. All appliances convey. Home needs work but has potential ! Cash or conventional only. Call Luann!
Built in 2014, this home has walk-in tiled shower, granite counter tops, newer appliances…. Must see this one to appreciate! Call Marc.
113 BOWIE CIR. $65,500
9010 MESA VIEW— $269,000
709 W. COMMERCE—$147,000
$27,000
Cute 2 bedroom home with CH&A. Spacious master bedroom, living opens into eat-in kitchen. Sits on large tree covered lot! Call Luann!
Antique & jewelry store family owned for over 42 years. Location..location..location! Property totally fenced with lots of parking.
Seller wants an offer!
$75,000
REALTOR ®
325-642-0972
412 W. MAYES—
$39,900
Very spacious 3BD/2BTH country home on 10 acres near Lake Brownwood with 2300+SF. Home sits secluded back off highway so very private! 1450 sq. ft. metal barn Great place for your livestock or 4-H projects.
RUSTY ANCHOR RESTAURANT -
Mason Ellis ,
1201 AVE. A
9601 HWY. 279—$219,900—HOME ON 10AC.
1215 AVE. A—$19,000
DUPLEX—RENTAL INCOME POTENTIAL
Taylor Isom,
Marc Followwell
www.brownwoodproperties.com
1600 2ND-$59,900
2619 VINE-$74,900
Cute 3 bd cottage with original hardwood floors, CH&A, formal dining room with built-ins, spacious kitchen with lots of cabinets and breakfast area. Detached double garage. Treecovered corner lot!! Call Luann.
3BD/2BTH with lots of charm!!! This home has original hardwood floors, CH&A, alley entrance for additional parking, carport, located across from East Elementary!! Call Marc.
440 Bluebonnet -
681 CR 611—
2 LAKE HOUSES ON 3 LOTS CAN BE SOLD AS PACKAGE DEAL…OR CAN BE SOLD SEPARATELY
CASON COVE AREA Unique rock home with over 2200 sq.ft. Backyard features 3 decks overlooking lake. Shop sits on .37 acre totally fenced across the road.
2-story lakeview home with 3310SF, 4BD/3BTH, granite countertops, open floor plan, laminate flooring, huge balcony overlooks beautiful Lake Brownwood. Call Marc!
3071 HARBOR DR LAKE BROWNWOOD
Our lake is full...great time to buy. Complete with building, land & inventory…..just step in & take over! Sits on approximately .5 acre. Call Luann. 300 FT. WATERFRONT LAKE BROWNWOOD—
$134,900
Sits on 3 consecutive lake lots. 0.775 acres with 2 separate houses! These lots come with 4 RV hook ups.
$372,000
4409 EDGEWOOD $76,900
2BD/1BTH brick home on corner lot, screened in porch, located in subdivision across from Section Hand Restaurant. Call Marc!
4BD DW ON 16 ACRES
2 shops, RV parking
Owner will consider owner finance or trade.
7525 FM 2125
PENDING
1814 11th 8145 CR 550 1610 Dublin 102 Autumn
SOLD 1601 Austin
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Heartland Your Home
STAGING WITH
STYLE
FLICKR/CILE MONTGOMERY
How to show off the best features of your home
By Kaitlin Williams HomeFinder.com
W
hen getting ready to sell your home, one of the most pressing concerns is how to present your space to potential buyers. Of course, you’ll want to keep it squeaky clean and make any major repairs that need to be done, but where do you go from there? Decorating and staging your home for a sale require you to focus on three specific goals: styling your space to seem bigger, making your house look up-to-date, and properly showcasing the best features of the home.
Make space You want the people who walk through your house to fall in love with the structure, not its contents. That’s why creating extra space in your home is key. In order to allow the bones of your home to
take center stage, you’ll need to remove some of the more distracting items. The first things to pack up or place into storage are family mementos. Put away highly personal works of art or family photos for the time being. Seeing these items will remind potential buyers that the dwelling is currently lived in, when it’s better to have them imagining themselves in the home. While creating space, you should also keep your storage areas in mind. Leave about 20-30 percent of closet and cabinet spaces empty, to give visitors the opportunity to gauge their size. Consider removing area rugs and runners, which gives your rooms a more airy feel in addition to showing off your flooring. You’ll also want to illuminate all of the open space you’ve created in your home. Remove or replace heavy, dark drapes with gauzy valances that let the sunlight stream
in. If your home is naturally shady, add more lamps to brighten things up.
Decorating and staging your home for a sale require you to focus on three specific goals: styling your space to seem bigger, making your house look up-to-date, and properly showcasing the best features of the home.
Your new and improved home The two places in your home that show their age the quickest are the kitchen and bathrooms, so concentrate on these areas first. If your kitchen cabinets aren’t contemporary, consider staining the wood or painting them. Then update the cabinet hardware to create a whole new look. In terms of cutting-edge bathroom style, pedestal sinks are what’s in vogue. Think about junking your outdated vanities and replacing them with pedestal sinks. These sinks have the added bonus of creating more space in your bathrooms, too. If the tile is looking tired and dirty, you can paint it instead of going through the effort of laying new tile.
Showcase the best features To best showcase your home, use neutral paint colors on the wall. If you have builtin features like bookcases, fill them with items in the same color family. This puts the emphasis on the built-ins rather than your items. Another important way to flaunt your home’s features is to give each room a specific purpose to fulfill. The dining room should be decorated as a dining room, even if you usually use it as the children’s play area. Make sure to display fresh flowers or pretty table settings to complete the picture. In the bathrooms, add some candles and potted plants to soften the space. Replace dingy towels with fluffy, clean ones. Keep the master bedroom as gender-neutral as possible, and try to keep your bedding colors basic.
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Heartland Your Home
TIPS
to protect you from common DIY mistake
By: Stacey Freed
DIY home remodeling is great — until it isn't. Here's how to keep it great. It was their first plumbing project. "It was just a small crack in a pipe," says Karah Bunde. She and her husband, Joel, had just purchased a fixer-upper they planned to renovate and rent. They bought a new piece of PVC pipe to replace the cracked one. "We installed it, glued it, gave it 24 hours to cure. The next day we turned on the water and it busted at the seams.
Sunday, May 15, 2016 We had extra pipe and did it again, this time allowing it to cure for two days. Same story," says Bunde, an avid DIYer who writes "The Space Between" blog. The couple returned to the store and started asking questions. Turns out they had made one of the most common DIY mistakes: choosing the wrong material for the job. "Our downfall was not doing enough research. Turns out we picked PVC pipe for drains and not one that would hold the pressure of water lines," Bunde says. Whether you're choosing tile, flooring, lighting, or cabinets, making the right choice can make or break your success. Get the right materials by doing these five things:
Set a Budget for Every Item
Make a budget for every single item you're purchasing, says architect Todd Miller, owner of QMA Architects & Planners in Linwood, N.J. Otherwise, you may blow it all on a sexy plumbing fixture, but then choose the wrong flooring, for instance, just because it's cheap and you want to keep on track. "There are always tradeoffs, but having a budget will help you manage the choices," Miller says.
Shop Where the Pros Shop
Not to dis big-box stores; they're great for many things. But you have to know what you're getting into,
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says Gary Rochman, owner of Rochman Design Build in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Heeding the siren call from the bigbox store can oftentimes go wrong. You're not getting the service and the professional advice you'd need, especially if you're a DIYer." For example, he says, "You might purchase treated lumber for an outdoor deck, but no one tells you the nails you bought aren't for outdoor purposes. At a lumberyard, they'll let you know those two items don't go together." Additionally, Miller says some manufacturers will make two versions of the same product: a more cheaply made one for major retailers and another for supply stores that sell to contractors. "I purchased one product at a retail store that had PVC supply lines, and the exact same product from my supplier that had solid copper fittings," he says. Homeowners can have access to suppliers through their contractor, but many stores also sell directly to consumers.
Try It Out Before Committing to It
Robin Flanigan, a homeowner in Rochester, N.Y., thought she was doing all the right things when she chose backsplash tile. She went to a local tile store. She schlepped along her cabinet sample, and they knew her floor — a wood-look farmhouse tile — which she'd purchased from them. "The owner took his time with me every time I went to the store — and there were a lot of times I went to the store," she says. It took her two months to decided on a clear tile. "I thought clear tile would be less noticeable, not clash with the concrete." She hired an installer who put up the tile on two walls before Flanigan saw it. "I wound up in tears all night and asked them to take it down," she says. The installer did beautiful work, but "what looked great in a small sample turned out to look way too futuristic once the walls were covered. It didn't fit the rest of the industrial loft vibe at all. " Flanigan says the mistake was a "huge budget buster" and posted the torn-down tile on Craigslist. She had a thin concrete backsplash installed instead. "If there's a next time, I would order a box to see if I liked the look first," she says.
Invest in the Right Tools
Here's a good place to practice balancing durability and cost: Get the right tools for the job. "You can buy a brush for 98 cents, but you won't get good results," says Les Lieser, who recently retired as owner of a painting company
and now runs Front Range Coating Consultants in Greeley, Colo. "Good brushes cost more for a reason." Lieser says cheap brushes are like straw, flaring out and not holding their shape. A good quality nylon or bristle brush, on the other hand, will allow for nice, straight lines. For a few dollars more, you'll save a lot of hassle and get a more professionallooking result. "The same goes for roller covers and paint," Lieser says. "Spend a little more money on a brand name or something of good quality." What if you need a costly tool? "We've rented a bunch of tools; it's a great option," Bunde says. In addition, many cities have tool lending libraries or a MakerSpace where you can borrow bigger items. "When you buy your materials, always ask what tools are going to aid in your success," Bunde says.
Be Cautious About What You Buy Online
Buying things online might be less expensive and convenient, but when you've purchased a 700-pound cast iron tub from Craigslist only to discover it's scratched or too heavy for your second-floor bath, you're going to have a hard time sending it back. "It's important to see and touch the products," Miller says. “And you'll have an easier time with returns at a retail shop or professional wholesaler." Although it's enticing to think you'll save money by purchasing the cheapest materials and save time by doing it yourself, you've got to weigh the value of your time against the inevitability of things not fitting, arriving broken, or not lasting. Otherwise, you'll be spending your free time wandering the fluorescent aisles of the hardware store rather than kicking back and sipping lattes in your newly renovated space.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Heartland Your Home
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HOME&GARDEN SPRING 2016
GARDEN WIKIPEDIA
Here are a few tips to embrace wildlife-friendly landscaping and make native plantings look less messy:
A GUIDE TO NATIVE
LANDSCAPING
A Use selective mowing
Get an eco-friendly, neighbor-friendly yard
of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan. “In our culture we allow much more oing native in your creativity inside the home that landscaping is becom- outside. Your yard speaks to ing more popular as your neighbors. If they think the homeowners develop yard is neglected, they’ll think a greater understanding of its your home is, too,” Iverson benefits, and understand some Nassauer. tips and tricks for making this There is enormous pressure style of yard look a little more to conform and have a cookietame. cutter, basic grass lawn, but the Whether you’re trying out the benefits of native plantings are trend on a small scale or ditching many, Iverson Nassauer said. the lawn entirely, you’ve got to Native plantings provide a do it with care or you might hear habitat for birds, bees, butterdisparaging remarks from your flies and other wildlife, prevent neighbors. Wildlife-friendly invasive plants from taking landscaping has a reputation for hold, and often require lower being a little too wild for some. maintenance and less water and One of the biggest complaints use fewer pesticides, said Jacob is that native plantings are Johnston, a project assistant weed-like and grow too tall, with YardMap, an endeavor at dangling onto sidewalks and the Cornell Lab of Ornitholbrushing up on passers-by. ogy to map global conservation “People make inferences about efforts one parcel at a time. who lives in a house by what they The trend is increasingly being see outside the house,” said Joan embraced in drought-stricken Iverson Nassauer, a professor areas, Johnston said.
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G
Don’t just plant – design
B
Space plants wisely by taking into account your planting zone. Too far apart and plants will not fill in, but too close together and plants will look crowded and messy, Iverson Nassauer said. Other tips include clustering plants to create a rhythm, mixing woody and herbaceous plants, and adding a linear element like a low wall or shrubs planted in rows. Also consider planting at high (trees and shrubs) and low (shorter annuals or grasses) levels for visual impact.
C Favor flowers Opt for plants that have “larger, brighter flowers,” because Iverson Nassauer’s research suggests that tiny flowers on native plants are often mistaken for weeds. “Native plants can have shorter seasons, and it is best to plant a wide variety to provide blooms and cover all summer or all year,” Johnston said.
Thin strips of mowed lawn will indicate that the yard is actively cared for and create natural pathways. “Maybe you’re only mowing 25 percent of the yard but it’s all about where it’s placed,” Iverson Nassauer. Use strips like walkways through the yard and in areas bordering driveways or sidewalks.
D Avoid droopy plants “Larger clumps or tight groupings will help tall plants support themselves better. Also, tiered vegetation with short plants along the paths or edges, getting consecutively taller towards the back or the middle if the garden is more circular, will save trimming and provide better viewing access all around,” Johnston said. One last thing to consider is control of windblown seeds. “Harvest that type of seed as soon as possible or cut before seeding” to keep seeds from spreading where they’re not wanted, Johnston said.
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Heartland Your Home
Sunday, May 15, 2016