Showing your garden off to friends is quite possibly the best payoff for the months you spend working to make it look just right. Why not throw a party and let them "ooh" and "aah" at the fruits of your labor? Paul James shares suggestions for a delightful garden party; he says you'll need at least two days to prepare your garden and landscape, so set that time aside in the planning stages of the party.

48 Hours Before the Party:

Get your landscape ready. Mow the lawn so the grass doesn't have that just-got-a-haircut look the day of the party. Run your string trimmer, too, and tidy up the place. If you like that fresh-cut look, you can mow the lawn the day before the party but don't mow the day of the party, because that will stir up all kinds of dust and pollen. There's nothing worse than allergy-prone guests sneezing and sniffling around your food.

Fluff the mulch in your beds or spread some new mulch here and there. It's one of the least expensive and easiest ways to enhance the look of your landscape and your guests will almost surely notice.

Deep soak the entire landscape — trees, turf, flower and vegetable gardens — anything and everything that grows. This will help the plants look their very best the day of the party and you won't have to worry about guests getting their feet muddy and possibly tracking mud into your house after they tour the landscape.

Empty garden carts, watering cans, potted-plant saucers and any other containers that hold water. Eliminating standing water will cut down on mosquitoes.

24 Hours Before:

It's time to shop for food and beverages and get as much work in the kitchen done as possible. Toward the end of the day, get the party area nice and clean. If your party will be on the patio, position potted plants where you want them and check your cooking equipment to make sure it's in good working order. Make sure that you've got plenty of charcoal or propane on hand if you'll be grilling.

Make sure you've got plenty of seating for your guests and don't limit placement to the patio area. Guests will want to stroll around your property — stopping here and there — to admire the views so place benches or chairs at garden spots that provide the best views. Also, place plenty of trash receptacles on and around the patio to keep clutter (and cleanup) to a minimum.

Consider stringing some lights or placing candles here and there to create a special ambiance.

The Day of the Party:

If you live in an area where bugs (especially flies and mosquitoes) can ruin a party faster than you can say entomology, there are many effective ways to deal with them. Citronella candles or torches filled with citronella oil work great. Giant incense sticks with pleasant, pest-deterring scents are also effective. Consider using giant incense coils that burn for hours or days; they look great when suspended from a tree limb.

Use a fan to keep bugs away; flies and mosquitoes don't like windy conditions and it's also a nice way to keep your guests cool. You can also fire up an outdoor chimney or chimenea to keep bugs at bay, because most bugs don't like smoke any more than they like wind.

Three Hours Before:

Gather some of your favorite cut flowers and create one or more large floral arrangements or several small ones — perhaps one for each guest. When cutting garden flowers, place them in a bucket filled with water immediately after cutting to keep them looking fresh as long as possible.

One Hour Before:

As things begin heating up in the kitchen and outdoors, take time to tackle the last of the landscape chores. Use an old Japanese trick and lightly water the areas guests will see as they arrive; it's a fabulous way to make your garden beds look more inviting. Also, hose down paved areas to cool them down a bit and reduce the glare.

Finally, it's time to ice the beverages and fire up the grill. For a garden party, the perfect ice chest is a wheelbarrow; fill it with ice and add your favorite canned or bottled beverages.

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  8 Tips for Finding Your New Home

  A solid game plan can help you narrow your homebuying search to find the best home for you. Read

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  Start a Compost Pile

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Under this buying stage, the lender or bank has taken ownership of the property.  REO means "real estate owned" by the lender and indicates the house has already gone through the foreclosure process and has been repossessed by the lender.

The lender usually sells the property to recover the unpaid loan amount and typically clears the title for any buyer.  Here's how to buy bank-owned properties or REOs:

1) Find properties and look at them. Most foreclosure properties are listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  We are skilled at tracking them down for your/.

2) Check the potential bargain.   When you find a property that fits your needs, we will arrange a viewing of the house – going through the house very carefully.  Almost all will have the utilities turned off making daytime the best time to go.  It’s best to check to make sure that plumbing fixtures (including copper pipes) are still there.  Many times the major appliances are gone.   Some houses are in rougher condition than others.

 3) Negotiate a purchase agreement. Once you find a property you like, we will help you submit an offer to the bank and negotiate the terms of the purchase agreement.

The bank's primary goal is to at least break even on all the costs that it has sunk into the property. That includes the unpaid balance of the loan, the expenses associated with the foreclosure proceedings, other liens and sometimes, repairs to the property.

Your goal as a buyer is to purchase the property below market value, minus any estimated repair costs.

 4) Close the deal. Once you've arrived at an agreement with the bank, you will be given time to have a home inspection performed.  Since all bank owned property is sold “as is”, the likelihood of the bank making any repairs is very slim.  The inspection is more for you to confirm that the home is in good shape, with no costly, hidden defects.

There is no set time frame within which the banks must sell their REOs. However, banks often want to get them off their books rapidly. As a result, many foreclosures sell quickly – closing within 30 days.

Make small fixes. Inspect your home with a buyer’s eyes, and correct the flaws that are most egregious (if affordable) or can be relatively easily fixed—from repairing cracks in the walkways to repainting dingy walls or oiling creaky hinges.

RISMEDIA, January 25, 2011—You’ve probably seen those depressingly cheery home-themed TV shows: a couple needs to sell their house, they have an outdated kitchen, and a designer comes in and proceeds to convince them to renovate the kitchen into a stainless-steel-clad shrine to culinary greatness—for tens of thousands of dollars. In an ideal real estate market, that would add value, but in today’s market, expensive pre-sale renovations, for the most part, aren’t worth it. The numbers bear this out: In general, a home remodel will cost quite a bit more than you’ll get back when you sell; remodels done in 2010 will only recoup 60% of their price when the house is sold, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2010 Remodeling Cost vs. Value survey, done in partnership with the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

 Two of the areas that potential buyers are often most pressured to remodel before selling are the kitchen and bathroom. Here, we’ll tackle both of those rooms, and let you know what to do—and what to avoid—when considering a pre-sale renovation:

 Kitchen
-Don’t put in expensive professional-grade cook’s appliances. You may choose a tricked-out, $10,000 Wolf stove, but the buyer may be a loyalist to Viking. Or, even worse, the potential buyer might be a take-out addict.

 -Do, however, service the appliances you have, so that they work perfectly. And, if you have seriously outdated appliances that can be replaced for $1,000 or less (like swapping a dingy old fridge for a basic new one), that’s a good idea. Similarly, if there are any appliances that you lack, which most buyers consider essential, it makes sense to buy one (like a dishwasher—you can get a nice model for under $1,000).  

-Don’t replace your cabinetry entirely—even if it’s a little outdated. It’s just too subjective. You might think sleek, white Scandinavian cabinets are the way to go, but you’ll be in a bind if your potential buyer prefers dark wood.

 -Do invest in cabinet refacing if your cabinets are extremely outdated. Many refacing companies will give your cabinets a fresh façade for well under $2,000, and it’s a good investment in creating a positive impression of the room without doing a pricey knock-down.  

-Don’t go granite crazy. Or marble. Or etched-Murano-glass-accented tile. Spending thousands of dollars on a new countertop and backsplash is downright dangerous, as there are so many different options these days, it’s impossible to find one that will please most people.  

-Do hire a professional cleaning company to come in and make what you have sparkle. While this won’t magically make your tile look magazine-spread-worthy, it will certainly make it look a lot better, as discoloration from age often makes tile look even worse.  

Bathroom
-Don’t do expensive tub/shower repairs or replacements. Just like with the big-ticket kitchen fixes, this is a matter of taste. If you put in a round jetted tub, what if the buyer wants square? And is an amethyst-crystal steam shower really something everyone will love?  

-Do replace dated bath and shower fixtures; this can be done generally quite inexpensively. For instance, if you have a 30-year-old, tiny showerhead, replacing it with a large, rainwater-style model will lend a subtle spa-like quality without costing a lot.  

-Don’t replace your smallish vanity with a new, built-in model. A lot of remodelers emphasize the intrinsically relaxing qualities of having all your toiletries, towels and even reading material beautifully organized in one big unit made of high-end wood, marble and chrome. And it is certainly beautiful. But it’s also a risky choice, and a matter of taste.  

-Do freshen up the vanity area. Invest in a big mirror and put bright lights over it. And a few hundred dollars spent on a nice faucet is well worth it, as, like the showerhead, it’s a true basic—and updating the basics, in most homes and markets, is all you should be focusing on.  

Other tips for redoing your kitchen and bathroom frugally  

Kitchen:
-Declutter your counters. A disorganized kitchen is a buyer-deterrent. Clean up the counters and pare down countertop items to the essentials—toaster, microwave, coffee pot and not much more than that.  

-Keep your pantry and cabinetry clutter-free too. You don’t have to alphabetize your cereals—just know that potential buyers will probably open those cabinets, so they won’t want a ladle falling out on their head.  

-Give your kitchen table or breakfast bar some life. It’s simple—placemats, a colorful vase or two and a tasteful flower arrangement will reinforce the idea that the kitchen is the heart of the home.

 Bathroom:
-If you want to add a little life to the wall, try a simple, straight-lined wood or stainless-steel floating shelf with a few candles on it. It’s an elegant, boutique-hotel touch that doesn’t cost much.

 -Toss down a colorful floor mat. Bathrooms are often devoid of color; this is a great way to add that color, and a little warmth.

 -Again, clear clutter. Even your beauty essentials shouldn’t be on the counter if you’re in the open house stage.

 Dan Steward is president of Pillar To Post Professional Home Inspections 

When getting ready to put your house on the market, it's best to walk thru your house like a potential buyer.  Be objective!  It's not always easy, but it pays in the long run.  If you were looking to buy a house, would you want to see handprints on the wall?  Stains on the carpet?  Scuff marks on the floor?  Closets so filed with stuff that it's a wonder they don't explode? 

Not sure exactly what to tackle?  Check the following link to HGTV's Top 10 Home Staging Do's.

http://www.hgtv.com/real-estate/top-10-home-staging-dos/index.html

Source:  www.hgtv.com

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.