It's easy to spend thousands cultivating an idyllic lawn and garden. But a little ingenuity and patience will go a long way to keeping some green in your wallet, as well.

By Ann Archer

Traditional thinking says you should expect to pay anywhere from 5% to 15% of your home's value on landscaping. Even at the low end of that range, you're looking at spending $10,500 if you live in the median-value American home worth $213,000.

That's tough to stomach no matter how much you love the outdoors. Thankfully, you can do it right and still spend a fraction of that amount.

Here's how.

Get the most visual bang for your buck: First of all, realize that budget gardening can still be beautiful. Let's say you've got less than $1,000 to spend. The first things you should focus on are improving your soil and adding trees, recommends Joanie Clarke, a design consultant for Classic Nursery and Landscape Co. in Redmond, Wash. "You can spend $500 on plants, but they're not going to grow in clay or sand," she says. Clarke advises amending your soil with compost and other ingredients to improve its quality. Buying soil, in comparison, can cost as much as $27 a yard plus delivery.

Take advantage of freebies
Your city, your friend: Cities often give away free trees, mulch and compost. In Seattle, for example, groups of neighbors can request 10-40 trees from the city in exchange for planting and maintaining them.
Demolition sites: These are great sources for bricks and stones, but make sure you have permission to remove them.
Fellow gardeners: See something you like in a neighbor's yard? Offer to trade cuttings. Also, set up seed exchanges with other gardeners or check out existing exchanges online such as those on iVillage's GardenWeb and GardenHere.com.

Avoid costly mistakes: Really think about how you're going to use your outdoor space. If you plan a water feature but are annoyed by the noise of babbling brooks, you’re going to spend more money ripping it out and replacing it with something else later. Take the time to educate yourself and you'll avoid common pitfalls such as planting a tree too close to your house.

Work with what you have: Preserving existing plants and trees can help you save the cost, materials and resources needed to establish a new planting. Educate yourself about plant care and pruning; that 12-foot magnolia in the back yard would likely cost you $65 and five years of growing to replace. (For tips on pruning, check out this page on the U.S. Forest Service site.) Similarly, knowing which areas in your yard are flood-prone and which are always in the sun can help you buy the right plants for the right conditions. Some areas might be better for swing sets or patios.

Hire yourself: The best way to save money in landscaping is to do as much work as possible yourself. A 3-gallon bush may cost $20, but the price skyrockets to $30 or $40 when it's planted by a landscaping professional. A $3-to-$4 perennial will cost about $12 installed.

Know when to hire the pros: There are times when it makes sense to hire a pro. Beverly Katz of Exterior Designs in New Orleans suggests hiring help for jobs that take more muscle or design skill than you have, such as creating hardscapes, while you take on more manageable tasks such as planting small shrubs and perennials. (You can find landscape architects at the American Society of Landscape Architects Web site and certified landscape designers at the Association of Professional Landscape Designers Web site.)

When using pros, try to get a packaged deal: Check out nurseries that offer landscaping services. Many will offer discounts on plant material to their landscaping customers. Classic Nursery and Landscape Company in Redmond, Wash., for example, offers a 20% discount on all plant material for one year to their clients.

Hire a consultant: A full landscape design that includes drawings and a planting plan can cost anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to more than $1,000, depending on the complexity of the design and the overall budget of the project, according to Katz. A less-expensive route is to draw your own plan and hire a landscape designer to review it. "I charge $100 to $150 an hour to consult. I’ll make notes and add to the plan," said Katz.

Take a phased approach: Divide your plan into phases and pay as you go with funds on hand. You'll save on loan or credit costs and be able to evaluate your progress and adjust plans before moving to the next phase.

Time your purchases: Buy trees, shrubs, perennials, soil and mulch late in the season when retailers want to be rid of them. Depending on your region that could be early fall, a great time for planting because it gives the plant time to develop roots before the summer heat arrives.

Check alternate resources: Look beyond stores for bargains. Arboretums, botanical centers, plant societies and gardening clubs often hold plant sales. You can join The National Arbor Day Foundation for $10 and receive 10 free trees shipped to you at no cost. At Free Trees and Plants, a retail Web site that helps train and employ the disabled, you only pay shipping and processing fees on all your orders.

Buy small: Purchase small-sized plants; five 1-gallon Shasta daisies at $3 apiece cost the same as one 3-gallon plant at $15 at Armstrong Nursery in Carlsbad, Calif. Depending on the species, the smaller plants could double in size in two years, giving you more plant for your money.

Protect foundations: Roots can damage concrete blocks, driveways and sidewalks, so plant large trees at least 30 feet from those areas.

Divide: Look around your yard for any perennials that can be divided and used elsewhere in the landscape. A one-gallon perennial can cost about $9 at a nursery, but you can easily divide the one you planted last year into four plants, saving $27.

Compost: Save money on fertilizers and mulch by composting your own, using yard waste and food scraps. Compost piles can be made of recycled 2 x 4s and chicken wire. All you need is access to the pile and enough space to turn it every now and again. You'll pay as much as $5 per small bag of compost at your local home improvement store.

Think about maintenance: A large lawn is great if you don't mind mowing. But if paying a yard guy $50 a week is part of your plan, make sure that goes into your budget.

Be water smart: According the Environmental Protection Agency, outdoor water use constitutes almost 20% of total home water use. Look for plants that are drought-tolerant to save on your water bill.

Finally, be patient. Plants will not fully mature for a good two to three years, longer for trees and many shrubs. Enjoy the process -- and the money you saved.

Labels: landscaping, real estate

Glass tiles for kitchens and bathrooms are in; granite countertops are out. And those bamboo floors? They're so yesterday.

By Marshall Loeb, MarketWatch

Selling a home is never easy, but in this housing market it's going to be even more difficult. All is not lost, however. There are ways to make your home more appealing to buyers, which could result in a faster sale. Many homeowners make improvements before putting their home on the market; the key is in doing them the right way.

Mark Nash, the author of "1,001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home" and the soon-to-be-published "Real Estate A-Z for Buying and Selling a Home," says home sellers in 2007 should consider the trends that are going to be popular with homebuyers this year. After surveying 923 real estate agents, Nash has the following eight suggestions for making your home attractive to buyers:

- If you're redoing a kitchen or bathroom, consider using glass tiles instead of ceramic ones. They're gaining popularity again because of reflective qualities.

- Avoid installing bowl-shape, above-the-counter bathroom sinks. They look pretty but have proved to be harder to maintain and keep clean.

- Use engineered stone compound for kitchen countertops. The material is less expensive than granite and is expected to be the trend this year.

- Don't install too many glass cabinet doors in your kitchen. They look better in magazines than they do in real life, where homeowners must keep their cabinets in perfect order or suffer embarrassment.

- Consider replacing a wooden or chain-link fence with a wrought-iron one. Wrought-iron fences portray a look of luxury.

- When repainting trim for shutters, doors and window frames, go with bold and deep colors. And don't get rid of the trim around interior window openings -- it only looks cheap.

- If replacing floors, avoid bamboo. This flooring was popular when it debuted, but now users are saying it is easily dented and scratched. It is also more likely to warp due to weather and humidity.

- If you're adding new construction, don't employ concrete blocks in exterior walls. They are not attractive and are more likely to leak moisture if not properly installed.

Labels: design trends, real estate, remodeling

By: Michael Dormer, Independence Mortgage Services

A negative amortization loan is an adjustable rate mortgage that allows the consumer to tap into home “equity” by offering several monthly payment options. Up to an additional 25% of the original loan amount is available to the borrower.This flexibility works well for consumers who have seasonal income or want more control over their cash flow. However, the borrower must have some degree of financial discipline. Each month, the borrower will choose to make a fully amortized payment, an interest-only payment, or a low introductory rate payment.A fully amortized payment is larger, and includes payment toward principal-and-interest. The interest-only payment is lower, but no part of that mortgage payment goes toward the principal. The borrower is simply keeping their head above water.The third option is where negative amortization comes into play. If the consumer chooses to make the low introductory rate payment, the interest is not sufficiently covered for that month. The balance of interest owed is then tacked back on to the principal, thus increasing the mortgage debt.Smart consumers can use these payment options to their advantage, but should have a full understanding of how adjustable loans work. They should also know that once the maximum loan amount has been reached, the lender will immediately increase the payment amount to the fully amortized rate.

Labels: mortgage, negative amoritization, real estate

By: Michael Dormer, Independence Mortgage Services
mdormer@independencemortgageservices.com

This week was a crazy week for mortgage-backed securities (the index that drives interest rates), as the Department of Labor revised previous reports on US job growth, in the midst of a heavy economic news week. With lots of action on both sides of the field, interest rates gained back some yardage and improved approximately 0.125% across the board, which drops the 30-Year Fixed back below the 6.000% mark. The market in the Pacific Northwest is still ripe for buying/selling as mortgage rates continue to be very favorable!

In economic news: As expected, the Federal Reserve Board decided to leave the overnight lending rate unchanged at 5.25%, which was in line with expectations. However, the big news was their continued warning that they will keep a vigilant eye on inflation, and will raise rates further if inflation picks up any steam. Right now, hindsight appears to be 20/20, as the economy appears to be moderating and the Fed, in turn, appears to have made the right move in remaining patient with the US economy.
A word to the wise: If you haven’t taken a serious look at your savings portfolio in some time, you might want to make it a late New Year’s Resolution to do so. One of the reports that came out last week was the Personal Savings Rate, which measures how much Americans save vs. spend. For all of 2006, the savings rate was -1.0% … that’s right, a negative number! This means that Americans actually do spend more than we make across the board. This is the lowest savings rate since 1933 – during the Great Depression! If you feel your own savings plan may need some beefing up (and whose doesn’t??) … please feel free to contact me. We can take a look at some mortgage planning strategies that might help supplement your savings, or we can connect you with a financial planner who can help get your goals back on track.

Labels: interest rates, mortgage, real estate

By: Michael Dormer, Independence Mortgage Services
Everett, WA
mdormer@independencemortgageservices.com

As we finish off the first month of a brand-new year, things are “looking up” for the U.S. economy … and, unfortunately, also for home loan interest rates. Most reports in January shows stronger than expected data and signs of a strong economy. This tends to be bad news for home loan rates, as on the heels of positive economic news, investors tend to pull money from safe-haven bonds and inject them into strocks, which have a better chance of profiting from the U.S. economy. Overall, home loan rates worsened about 0.125% across the board.

That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: With most benchmark rates still in the High 5’s and Low 6’s, we are still experiencing record lows in the history of residential mortgage interest rates, and despite the “Doom and Gloom” spin that the media places on the slowdown from last year, all current economic indicators point to this year – 2007 – being an outstanding time to purchase in the Pacific Northwest.

Let’s break this down a little. On the economic front, the New Home Sales report for January came in better than expectations, and Existing Home Sales also enjoyed an improved pace of inventory. Looking at last year, 2006 represented the third-best existing home sale market on record. But the media spins the story by making a buxx about the steep drop from 2005 to 2006, and the fact that sales haven’t fallen off this much year-over-year since the early 1980’s. But some important considerations: First, 2006 is coming off a record year in 2005, so to see a drop-off in record levels is not unexpected. Second, the media is comparing the drop in year-over-year sales to the early 1980’s – but in 1982, the national unemployment rate was 9.7%, which is more than double the current unemployment rate. Many experts believe that we will look back at August 2006 as being the rock bottom of the housing market.

So what does this mean to you? As the Pacific Northwest continues to record housing appreciation well above the national average, and interest rates remain low while the economy slowly recovers, today’s homeowner can remain confident in securing a favorable sales price for their home, and a readily available supply of qualified buyers. For those looking to dip their toes into homeownership for the first time, there is no better time than the present to take advantage of attractive financing options and buy a home in time to enjoy the accelerated equity that will build in your new home.

Labels: economy, equity, mortgage, rates