landscaping

5 Renovations That Don't Increase Your Resale Value

Emily Guy Birken — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 22:45:56 +0000

The first major home renovation my husband and I ever undertook was insulating the walls of a 1921 Craftsman bungalow we shared in Columbus, Ohio. This project made the house a great deal more comfortable in the winter and the summer, since the existing insulation was the least expensive option available in the 1920s — making it completely inadequate for maintaining heat in the winter or coolness in the summer.

Unfortunately, despite the undeniable improvement to our comfort, we found that our new insulation did nothing for our resale value. Even though we had put nearly $5,000 worth of work and materials into this renovation, we didn't see that money and effort reflected in our sale price when we had to move several years later.

Not all renovations are going to increase your resale value. That doesn't necessarily mean you should forgo working on your home if you won't see the value when it's time to sell. For instance, I would definitely insulate that house again, even knowing that the money is only going to improve my comfort.

But there are some home renovation projects that you just can't expect to recoup your investment on. Knowing that, you should consider how long you intend to live in your house and whether you're renovating just to increase your home's value before jumping into any of these home improvement projects.

1. Invisible improvements

Insulating our bungalow was the kind of invisible improvement that had to be done, but didn't appear to change the house. Unlike "sexier" improvements like updating a kitchen or bath, or even putting on a new roof, invisible improvements don't change the look of the house. These are things like re-grading the yard to keep water from getting into the basement, updating the HVAC system, tuck-pointing bricks and chimneys, and replacing gutters.

While these improvements often have to be done to protect your house, the downside is that you may not recoup the cost of these improvements when it comes time to sell. It can be helpful to think of these renovation expenses as a way of protecting your home's current value, rather than as a way to increase your future resale value.

2. Swimming pool

While homeowners in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, and Southern California may find that having a swimming pool is a big selling point for their homes, this isn't going to be the case nationwide. According to HomeAdvisor, the average cost to install a pool is over $27,000. That doesn't include the annual maintenance costs, ranging between $500 and $4,000. It's these maintenance costs, plus the work that homeowners will have to either do themselves or contract out in order to keep their pool sparkling clean that will turn off many potential buyers. Add in the additional insurance requirements that homeowners with pools will need to purchase, and it should be clear why many prospective buyers would rather not invest in a home that comes with a pool.

This is why you should only commit to the cost of installing a pool if you truly want to use it yourself and expect to stay in your home for at least five years. Otherwise, it might make more sense to invest in a membership to your local pool.

3. Bathroom and kitchen upgrades

Remodeling your bathroom and/or kitchen is an excellent way to increase your home's value, right? Yes and no. While replacing dingy tiling and updating old appliances will definitely help your home shine for potential buyers, there's such a thing as going overboard with your bathroom or kitchen upgrades.

Specifically, if you add granite countertops, custom-made cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and ceramic tiles to your kitchen and bathroom, but the rest of the home is still an ordinary suburban home, potential buyers will see the house as a work-in-progress, rather than a home that feels move-in ready. Over-improving the bath and kitchen could make buyers think that it's not worth the effort to try to get the rest of the house to match. (See also: 9 Home Improvements You Should Always Negotiate)

4. Built-in high-end electronics

We may all dream of living in a George Jetson house — where every possible electronic need you have is already built in — but committing to this kind of renovation may hurt your resale value.

There are a couple of reasons for this. First, while your personal movie theater (with remote-controlled state-of-the-art projector) may be exactly what you want from your home, a potential buyer may just see a room that will need to be torn out and remodeled as soon as they move in. Plus, technology advances at a breakneck speed, so your cutting-edge electronics will soon look as dated as shag carpeting and harvest gold refrigerators.

If you need or want built-in high-end electronics in your home, make sure you're installing them for your own pleasure and comfort, because it's unlikely a buyer will appreciate them too.

5. Extravagant landscaping

Making improvements to your landscaping requires a gentle touch. On the one hand, landscaping is often touted as an important aspect of curb appeal, and making sure your yard and garden look attractive and welcoming is certainly a great way to draw in potential buyers.

On the other hand, an elaborate landscaping remodel can turn off buyers. Those with black thumbs might look at your vast flowering garden with sculpted shrubs and pond and decide they are not up for the challenge of keeping it up, and those who do love to garden might not like your vision and want to start over.

If recreating the gardens of Versailles is how you make your house feel like a home, then there's nothing wrong with investing in this kind of renovation. But make sure you're doing this kind of work for yourself, and not because you hope to make back the money you spent once you're ready to sell. (See also: 14 Ways to Make Your Yard Look Awesome for Under $100)

Renovate for the right reasons

While many experts focus on resale value as the deciding factor on whether to take on a home improvement project, the important thing to remember is that you live in your house now. Deciding which home renovations to work on based on what someone else might like is the way madness lies.

When you make improvements to your home, make sure you take your own comfort, your plans for living in the home, and the potential resale value into consideration. They all matter.

This article is from Emily Guy Birken of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Things Buyers Will Hate About Your House

Emily Guy Birken — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 08:00:09 +0000

Selling a house can be a nerve-wracking experience. Not only do you have to deal with the daily stress of having prospective buyers in your home, but you also have to handle the potential feelings of rejection when no offers for your house are forthcoming.

Sellers may only see the lifetime of happy memories they built in their home, but buyers are usually focused on the (potentially expensive) negatives that come with the house.

Here are some of the biggest issues buyers may hate about your home. Fixing these things can help prospective buyers see themselves living in your house instead of moving on to the next one.

1. Outdated decorating styles

Some interior design is clearly the product of its time. Harvest gold and avocado appliances indicate that your last kitchen update occurred during the Nixon administration. Mauve and teal walls, tiles, or carpets will make buyers think you are still addicted to Miami Vice. And faux-finished paint jobs, such as sponge-painting, rag-rolling, and stippling, are about as current as Beanie Babies and the Macarena.

There are two reasons why it's a mistake to leave up any outdated decorating when trying to sell your home. The first is that your buyers will see these style choices as something they need to undo. It will cost them money and time for updates, which will decrease their willingness to pay full price for your house.

In addition, if it's clear that you haven't done decorating work on your home in several decades, buyers may wonder if there is other home maintenance you have neglected in that time. Even if you've kept your house in tiptop shape but simply love the aesthetic of a specific decade, buyers might assume the other work in the house is just as outdated. (See also: 9 Modern Home Improvements That Add Thousands to Your Listing)

2. Wall-to-wall carpeting

Wall-to-wall carpeting used to be a touted feature of a home, but it has now become a definite negative for the majority of homebuyers. Even first-time homebuyers expect hardwood floors, and will be turned off if they find wall-to-wall carpeting.

There are a number of reasons why carpet has lost its hold as a positive feature. To start, carpet tends to hold onto stains and odors. Even if you have diligently cleaned your carpet to stay as fresh as the day it was installed, the expectation among buyers is that carpet will be dingy and stinky, even if it's not.

In addition, carpets can hold allergens in a way that hardwood floors do not. Any homebuyers with severe allergies will see wall-to-wall carpeting as a perpetual sneeze machine until the carpet is removed and the floor underneath thoroughly cleaned.

This is why many sellers go ahead and pull up any carpeting before putting the house on the market. For many buyers, even unfinished hardwood floors are more desirable than wall-to-wall carpeting. If you are unable to remove the carpeting in your home, make sure you commit to getting it thoroughly and professionally cleaned before putting it on the market. (See also: Sell Your House Faster With These 6 House Flipping Tricks)

3. Unattractive yard

There's something to the idea of "curb appeal." You may have the world's most gorgeous home on the inside, but if the yard is weedy, overgrown, bare in patches, or looks like the exterior of Sanford and Son, then your potential buyers will never get out of the car to see it.

It pays to spend some time and money to improve your landscaping before you put the house on the market. That means ensuring healthy plants and trees and green grass (or other ground cover, if your yard refuses to grow grass) — and removing any rusting RVs that may have set up camp on your front lawn. (See also: 6 Ways to Improve Your Curb Appeal for Next to Nothing)

4. Wallpaper

The popularity of wallpaper seems to ebb and flow, but each time around it comes with a different aesthetic. Wallpaper is coming back in style right now, but the styles are different from what came before.

Whether you have the cabbage rose wallpaper of the early 20th century, orange and brown plaid from the 1970s, or the dainty florals and paisleys of the 1990s, it's likely that buyers will want to remove the wallpaper in your home, even if it's just to put up new paper themselves. Remove the paper yourself so buyers won't see your papered walls as a potential cost.

5. Odors

If you are a pet-owner or a smoker, you may have lost the ability to smell the scents that your pets or your habits have left behind. But your potential buyers will definitely notice the lingering scent of Rover's accidents, Fifi's litter box, and your ashtray — even if you do not.

Invest in a deep-clean of your home before putting it on the market — and then ask a non pet-owning and/or nonsmoking friend to sniff around your house afterward. They can let you know if the cleaning has taken care of the issue, or if you need to replace carpets, draperies, or other items that may have become irrevocably odoriferous.

6. Popcorn ceilings

Many homes built between the 1930s and the 1990s have this once-popular type of ceiling finish. Builders and DIY home improvers liked this type of finish because it covered up imperfections in ceiling plaster or drywall.

But popcorn ceilings are a major pain in the neck to paint, and they also collect dust in all of their peaks and valleys. In addition, popcorn ceilings that were installed before the late 1980s may contain asbestos, which requires special equipment to remove safely. Even if your home was built after that period, many people assume that a popcorn ceiling has asbestos.

Though removing a popcorn ceiling can help to attract buyers, it's important to test your ceiling for asbestos before making plans to remove it. You can purchase a testing kit to help you figure out if removing the popcorn ceiling is something you can do on your own, or if you will need to call in a team equipped to handle asbestos removal. (See also: 7 Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling)

Help buyers fall in love with your house

Don't let these kinds of minor features or problems keep buyers from seeing all the beauty and potential of your house. Knowing ahead of time what might turn buyers away from your home can potentially help you get better offers and sell your home faster. (See also: 8 Ways to Stage Your Home Without Hiring a Pro)

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This article is from Emily Guy Birken of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

We Do the Math: Will an Electric Mower Trim Lawn Care Costs?

Dr Penny Pincher — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 08:30:11 +0000

When the recoil starter on my old walk-behind gas lawn mower broke again this spring, I decided not to spend time and money repairing it, even though I had just changed the oil and replaced the spark plug and air filter. In fact, I decided the best way to avoid problems with the recoil starter in the future was to replace it with a mower that does not have a spark plug, motor oil, air filter, gas tank, or starter!

My new lawn mower is powered by a rechargeable lithium battery instead of gasoline. Running my lawn mower on electricity means I can avoid some of the hassles of maintaining a gas engine, such as:

Trips to the gas station to fill the gas can
Oil, air filter, and spark plug changes
Pulling the cord and adjusting the choke to get it to start

While there are clear potential benefits of switching to an electric lawn mower, can you also save money? Let's look at the total cost of ownership for gas versus electric walk-behind mowers to see if switching to electric could save you money. (See also: Here's How Much Getting the Greenest Lawn Will Cost You)

Gasoline vs. electric push mower

If you want to replace your gas push mower with an electric push mower, you have two options: a corded electric mower or a cordless electric mower.

Corded electric mowers

You can get a corded electric mower that plugs into an extension cord. Using this can be feasible if you have a small yard that is within reach of an extension cord. Corded electric mowers are the cheapest option for electric mowers in terms of initial cost, and you never need to worry about replacing batteries.

Cordless electric mowers

If you have a larger yard, or if you don't want to mess around with an extension cord, you can get a cordless electric mower. These use rechargeable electric batteries — typically lithium batteries. If you have a larger yard, you may need more than one battery to mow the whole yard in one go. Rechargeable batteries typically have a life expectancy of around five years.

Initial cost

There's a wide variety of push mowers available with different features and levels of capability. Depending on the model you choose, you can find a corded electric mower for about the same price or even less than some gas push mowers. By contrast, a cordless electric model can run $100 or more over the price of a similar gas model. For the purposes of comparison, I've chosen examples of machines with similar capability that could mow a typical medium-sized yard.

Poulan Pro 21-Inch Hi-Wheel Gas Push Mower: $235
Greenworks 12 Amp 20-Inch Corded Electric Push Mower: $179
Black & Decker 60V Max 20‑Inch Cordless Electric Push Mower: $315

Operating costs

The main cost to operate a push mower is fuel — either an average $2.30 per gallon for gas or around 11 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity to run a corded electric mower or to charge the battery. This works out to a fuel cost of about:

Gas push mower: $1.50 per half-acre
Corded electric push mower: $0.50 per half-acre
Cordless electric push mower: $0.10 per half-acre

Let's say you mow your half-acre yard once per week for four months, or 16 times per year. The annual cost works out to:

Gas push mower: $24.00
Corded electric push mower: $8.00
Cordless electric push mower: $1.60

Now, let's say you own your mower for 10 years. The total fuel cost over 10 years works out to be:

Gas push mower: $240.00
Corded electric push mower: $80.00
Cordless electric push mower: $16.00

Maintenance costs

Of course, batteries don't last forever. Let's assume you'll need to replace your rechargeable battery after the first five years, once during the 10-year life of the mower, at a cost of $75.

A gas mower will need regular maintenance that electric mowers do not require. Let's assume you change the oil once per year, and change the spark plug and air filter every other year for an average maintenance cost of $15 per year.

All of the lawn mowers will need to have the blade sharpened or replaced periodically, and let's assume that costs $20 every other year, or $10 per year on average.

10-year total cost of ownership

Here is an estimate of the total cost of ownership of a push mower for 10 years.

Gas push mower: $725

$235 initial purchase + $240 gas + $150 engine maintenance + $100 blade sharpening/replacement = $725

Corded electric push mower: $359

$179 initial purchase + $80 electricity + $100 blade sharpening/replacement = $359

Cordless electric push mower: $506

$315 initial purchase + $16 electricity + $75 battery replacement + $100 blade sharpening/replacement = $506

With either a corded electric push mower or a cordless electric push mower, you will save a significant amount on gasoline and routine maintenance each year. There is a periodic cost to replace batteries as they wear out for cordless models, but the savings on gasoline and engine maintenance outweighs this expense over the life of the mower.

Depending on the model you choose and the size of your yard, a cordless electric push mower can save you money compared with a gas powered push mower. And a corded electric push mower will save you money over both of the other types of mowers.

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This article is from Dr Penny Pincher of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

House Hunting? These Features Will Save You Big Over the Long Haul

Annie Mueller — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 08:30:12 +0000

Shopping for a house is stressful. You're trying to find the best home, in the best area, for the best price. Making your budget match your wish list is overwhelming, but take heart. It's not about finding the perfect house; it's about finding a house you can make into a safe, comfortable home that isn't going to cost you loads to repair and maintain. Here are the features to look for that can save you costly headaches and give you the most value while you live there.

Energy-efficient features

An energy-efficient home is not only better for the environment, it's better for your budget. Certain energy-efficient features will save you a lot more in the long run than others.

Insulated ductwork

Ductwork often leaks out so much heating or air conditioning that it adds significantly to your utility bill. Experts say that by insulating the ducts, you can cut the cost of running the HVAC system by up to 30 percent.

Modern HVAC systems

Speaking of HVAC systems, if you purchase a home with a modern unit, it's a value-added feature. Older HVAC units (20 years or older for heating units, 10 years or older for air conditioning units) are inefficient. Newer models, even if they're not top-of-the-line, can give you a utility bill that's 10 percent to 20 percent lower.

Efficient windows

Look for newer, double-paned windows or exterior storm windows installed over the original interior windows. Windows can be quite pricey to replace, so it's best if you can find a house with efficient ones already installed. About 30 percent of your home's air conditioning and heating can disappear out of your windows. Purchasing a house with newer windows already installed can reduce your energy bill by 12 percent to 33 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Window treatments

Window treatments won't prevent air leakage, but they can reduce heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter. Look for exterior awnings, particularly on the south- and west-facing windows, where they can reduce solar heat gain by 65 percent to 77 percent, according to the Energy Department.

Interior, well-fitted blinds or drapes can also help with energy costs, reducing heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter. However, it's not very expensive to install these yourself, so don't make this item a deal-breaker.

Design features

The way a house is designed and built can determine how well it ages and how costly any future repair work might be. Keep your eye on these features for the best long-term value.

Accessible plumbing

Look for plumbing that's reachable through a crawl space, basement, and outdoor access points. The more work you have to do to access mainlines, the more costly any plumbing repairs will be in the future. Inaccessible plumbing can also mean that leaks or clogs are difficult to find, which can prolong plumbing problems and add to the total cost of repair.

Updated wiring

In houses that are more than 40 years old, wiring can be outdated and dangerous. Replacing it is an expensive, involved project. In older homes, find out when the electrical system was last inspected. Find out if there is any aluminum wiring (which can become a fire hazard as connections age and deteriorate), and if there is adequate amperage in the house. Many older homes used a 60 amp standard, but most modern households need around 200 amps to keep everything running.

Structural soundness

From floor joists to support beams, structural features cost a lot to repair. Some structural problems can be covered up by unscrupulous sellers.

In this case, it's not about the features you want, but the telltale signs you don't want:

Squeaking, uneven floors.
Ill-fitted doors and windows that are difficult to open and close.
Large cracks in the home's exterior, particularly if they don't follow the mortar and/or if they are larger at the top and taper down.
Cracks in the interior walls above doorways.
Warped or sagging ceilings.
Exposed gaps between walls.

Outdoor features

Just as important as the house itself is the area around the house. The yard, greenery, and hardscaping, such as sidewalks and walls, affect the value of the house and the cost of ongoing maintenance.

Shade trees

Trees will help reduce energy costs by providing shade from the hot summer sun and acting as a windbreak in cold winter months.

There's a caveat here: You want strong, tall trees that will provide shade, but you don't want them too close to your house. Shade is good; a heavy tree branch falling on your roof during a storm is not good. Look for healthy, well-established trees. Bonus points if they're planted on the south or west side of the house.

Smart landscaping

Look for landscaping that works with the natural contours of the yard and the climate. A lush flower garden may look great, but if you have to water it daily to keep it alive in your arid, hot climate, it's not a smart choice.

Landscaping should direct water flow away from the house as well. Drainage issues in the yard or hardscaping around the house can be very costly to fix, but failing to fix them can lead to even more costly water damage inside the house. If you're getting serious about the house, drive by or arrange a visit with your realtor after a heavy rain.

Lifestyle features

To get the most value in a house, you must know thyself. If you're an avid cook, a large, well-equipped kitchen may be worth a higher price. But if you hardly spend time in the kitchen, why spend money on a large one?

Choose a home with the features that matter for the lifestyle you live now, not the magazine-promoted lifestyle you think you ought to live someday.

Take inventory of how you spend most of your time in your current home. Is there an unused dining room, or a too-large bedroom just taking up space? Don't shop for a house by room count or square footage. Shop for a house that fits the way you live your life, and you'll end up with a house that brings you the most possible value.

What doesn't matter

Part of selling a house is making it look as good as possible. All too often potential buyers are wowed by the fresh paint, new carpet, and shiny new light fixtures, and miss the bigger issues. (See also: Don't Let These 6 Home Décor Flaws Ruin Your House Hunt)

Here's a short list of things that are nice to have, but shouldn't impress you with their value:

Freshly painted walls, ceilings, or trim. Paint is cheap, and with a little time and work, you can put a fresh coat on anything you want. Unless there are issues with lead paint, don't let paint impress you much either way.

New or custom fittings, light fixtures, and fans. Nice touches, but they won't make your house significantly more valuable. You can upgrade these yourself for reasonable prices.
Decor elements. Whether it's trim work or cabinet refinishing, decor can be upgraded on your timeline and budget without a major effect on the house's value.
Smart thermostats. A good upgrade, but one that's fairly inexpensive and easy to add yourself.

You don't have to find a house with all of these features. But knowing which ones will bring you value can help you adjust your expectations — and your purchase offer — accordingly.

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This article is from Annie Mueller of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

10 Dumb Ways to Scare Off Potential Homebuyers

Paul Michael — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 10:00:11 +0000

When the time comes to put your home on the market, you will go from being a homeowner to a home seller. Make no mistake, the two are very different, and if you don't want to scare away the buyers, you will need to make a few sacrifices. However, if you avoid the following dumb mistakes, and keep your eyes on the prize, your home will be sold before long. (See also: 10 Hidden Housing Costs New Homeowners Don't Expect)

1. Family Photos and Kids' Drawings Everywhere

It may seem odd to think this is a way to scare people off, but look at it this way: When anyone comes to look around the home you're selling, they are trying to picture themselves, and their family, living there. It's very difficult to do that when the home is clearly one that belongs to another family, with personal evidence of that in every room. If you have framed photos covering every wall, drawings over the fridge and up the staircase, and other shrines to your beloved family and friends, you need to take most of them down. Don't worry; it's not forever. In fact, if you do it, it will take you less time to sell your house, and put them up in your new home.

2. Unusual Smells and Stains

No home can stay new-looking forever. Homebuyers expect the house to be lived in, but what they don't want are odd smells and ugly stains. You may not notice them as you have lived with them for years, but you need to look at your home through fresh eyes. Do a walk-through, and examine every wall, ceiling, and floor in every room. Stains can easily be covered with paint, or shampooed out of carpets. If it's very stubborn, you may have to replace the carpet or rug. Smells, well, the cause needs to be tracked down. If it's mold in the corner of the basement, get it treated. If it's something rotten in the garage, dump it. Your home should look clean and smell fresh. Don't try and mask smells with air fresheners, as they will only make it worse (the sweet smell of vanilla and mold is not a nice combination).

3. Your House Is Stuck in the Past

It's one thing to keep your home in great condition. It's quite another to keep it in the exact same condition that it was in when you first acquired it. If you bought the home 20 years ago, it should not look that way, inside or out. Ideally, you will have performed upgrades over the years to modernize the look and feel of the place. New paint, new carpet or flooring, new appliances, updated cabinets, perhaps even a few additions or a finished basement, can all help with the appeal. Very few people want to move into a home that looks and feels dated. It is a sign that they will have a lot of work to do, and money to spend, to bring the home roaring into the present.

4. It's Dirty and Messy

One of the simplest ways to make a used car sell for more money is to detail it, inside and out. It can literally add thousands to the value. The same is true of your home. If the kitchen is dirty, and the sink is full of dishes, you are sending the wrong message. You are also putting a barrier in front of that potential buyer, and it's your job to remove them. You don't want them to have to imagine how it would look when it's clean and tidy. Show them. Every room should be clean, organized, and free of clutter.

5. You Have… Wallpaper!

What's wrong with wallpaper? Well, the chances are, it took you a long time to find the wallpaper you really liked. You scoured the pattern books, you mulled it over for days, and when you finally took the plunge, it was no easy task to put up. In fact, most people opt for a professional to do it. So, what are the odds that your perfect wallpaper is also the perfect match for someone who wants to buy your house? Exactly. When they see wallpaper, they see a chore. They see hours of steaming, scouring, scraping, and sweating. Removing wallpaper is about as pleasant as scrubbing the bathroom floor, only it takes 10 times as long. So, get rid of it. Scrape it off now, and put neutral paint in its place. It will vastly improve your chances of getting a buyer.

6. You Follow the Buyer Around

The easiest way to make the buyer feel really awkward, uncomfortable, and pressured, is to be the tour guide for your home. You know the feeling yourself, especially if you've tried to look at a car on the lot and the salesperson is breathing down your neck. This is a huge purchase, and buyers want time and space to look at everything without a chaperon. So, if you can, make sure you're not at home when the buyers come. If you have to be there, confine yourself to just one room, and leave that room when the buyers enter. Go out into the garden or yard, or even the garage.

7. Anything Broken

A door that won't close properly. An appliance that doesn't work well. A piece of tile that has come away from the wall. A cracked window. The list is endless, but whatever it is that's broken in your home, fix it before you put it on the market. Big things, like the roof or siding, that's a no-brainer. But it's the little things that you may have simply gotten used to that can be really off-putting to potential buyers. If they have to jiggle the handle in just the right way to get into the garage, that's not good. If they have to step over the broken piece of concrete in the backyard, they're going to remember that in a negative way. Do a thorough check of the home, and get everything fixed. You do not want to send a signal that you did not do a good job of maintaining your house.

8. Setting the Asking Price Way Too High

It may be a seller's market, but don't take that beyond the limits. If you start at the maximum price you could hope to get, you're excluding a vast number of buyers from ever taking a tour. They may have a maximum amount they want to spend, and your high starting price means they cannot afford to get into a bidding war. Remember, the Internet has given buyers a wealth of information about homes for sale, or recently sold, in your neighborhood. They can do their own comps, and quickly come to the conclusion that you are asking way too much. Now of course, you also don't want to ask too little for the home, because it's possible only one buyer will bite, and you may be stuck with that asking price. So do your homework. See what homes of the same size, age, and condition have sold for in your area, and price accordingly.

9. Poor Landscaping

There is something called curb appeal, and it's literally judging a book by its cover. Your home may be something out of Architectural Digest on the inside, but if it looks like the Addams Family did the yard work, you are not going to inspire people to come and look around. This is the first impression, and it has to count. This also applies to the backyard, too. If it's a bunch of weeds, rocks, rusted cars, and an eyesore called an "above ground pool," you have your work cut out. People want to see a well loved landscape, front and back, that has green grass, healthy trees, flowering plants, and clean rocks. If it's anything less than that, you may never get the buyer through the front door.

10. Bizarre or Eccentric Features

You may have thought that decorating an entire wall of the den with hubcaps was cool, but potential homebuyers probably won't like it. Anything that is exclusive to the point of being weird or strange is not going to help you sell the home. Maybe the kids wanted a room that was like a forest, complete with lots of fake trees and a dark green carpet. Or perhaps the gray Batcave was something that you just had to have. All well and good when it's your own place, but you cannot expect buyers to share your passions. If you have something that is truly original, it may be time to take it out and go neutral. And in the case of this guy, who built a roller coaster through his house to try and sell it, well…that's not recommended!

What's the scariest thing you've ever seen at an open house?

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This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Decorative Plants You Can Eat, Too

Brittany Lyte — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 10:00:06 +0000

When it comes to home landscaping, why not kill two birds with one stone? Up your home's curb appeal this summer with plants and vegetation that can also stock your pantry. Use strawberry plants as ground cover. Edge a garden with colorful rosettes of lettuce. Or infuse your backyard flora with some of the other beautiful and utilitarian plants on this list.

1. Sunchokes

A member of the sunflower family, sunchokes produce chirpy yellow flowers that can add a pop of color to any landscaping design. This staple food can also keep you well-fed through the winter. Alternatively known as Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes are tubers that resemble a ginger root but taste more like a savory potato. Widely harvested in temperate regions, sunchokes are ready for picking after the first or second frost of the season. They make for a great base ingredient in purees, soups, hashes, and mashes. That’s not all: When sauteed, sunchokes can contribute a slightly nutty flavor to any sauceless pasta dish.

2. Serviceberry

Native to every state but Hawaii, the serviceberry plant produces lacy spring flowers in white, pink, yellow, or red, as well as purplish-red berries infused with a tart flavor reminiscent of blueberries. In addition to eating them raw, the berries, which fruit for about two weeks per year, can be tossed in salads, baked into pies, or smashed into jams. Also known as amelanchier or Juneberry, this member of the rose family comes in about 20 varieties of small trees and large, deciduous shrubs. To grow well, the plant requires moist soil with good drainage. Other than that, it’s not particularly fussy, making it a great selection for the novice gardener.

3. Sage

With its silvery-green, low-to-the-ground leaves, sage makes for a wonderful front-row ornamental. Tricolor sage, which also has brush strokes of purple and white, is a particularly terrific variety for edging the garden. Not only is sage a delicious herb that can spruce up any meat, stir fry, or pasta, it’s also deliciously fragrant — a welcome addition to any yard. Easy to grow, a backyard mound of sage is a chef’s dream.

4. Small-Fruited Tomatoes

Small-fruited tomato varieties, such as the Cuban yellow grape, elfin, or sugar lump, produce plentiful yields of sweet tasting, gumball-sized fruit that can be eaten right from the garden — or added into salads, pastas, or veggie platters for dipping with vinaigrettes or hummus. Outside the kitchen, small-fruited tomatoes also make for a colorful, perky addition to the yard. Since keeping them on the ground will increase the risk of rotting, these attractive edibles can best be grown with stakes, in raised beds, or on trellises. Sunny spots are optimal.

5. Globe Artichokes

Easy to grow and easy to cook, the globe artichoke is a perennial species of thistle that produces large flower buds with thick, tender, geometric scales that are both ornamental and edible. In flavor, the antioxidant-rich globe artichoke is nutty and tangy. You can prepare them raw, grilled, boiled, sauteed, or stuffed. Our recommendation: Chop the heart into pieces, then marinate and toss them into a risotto or salad — or simply eat them as they are.

6. Paprika Peppers

This mild variety of the pepper has a striking, shiny red color that can add a bit of flash to any home garden. In the kitchen, they can be dried, ground, and used as a spice in mayo-based salads, goulash, or chorizo, or as a deviled egg garnish. These vitamin C-rich peppers can also be eaten raw straight from the garden. Paprika peppers thrive in fertile, well-draining soil with plentiful access to sunlight. Harvest time extends from summer to fall.

Do you have any edibles in your pretty garden?

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This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

13 Simple Gardening Skills Anybody Can Master

Max Wong — Thu, 26 May 2016 10:00:11 +0000

Gardening is a satisfying lifelong hobby that keeps me fit, saves me money on food, and — without sounding too cheesy, I hope — lets me live a more beautiful life.

Many people turn to home gardening hoping to gain these benefits, only to find at the end of the summer that they've spent hundreds of dollars on dead trees and bug-ravaged vegetables.

Many garden failures are caused by human error, rather than a plague of locusts. The following 13 basic skills are worth spending time to master, as they will not only help you get the most enjoyment out of your garden, but also save you money, too.

1. Soil Analysis

Before you plant, it's important to know if your garden soil can actually support life.

The first thing you will want to know about your soil is its pH. Is your soil alkaline, acidic, or neutral? Soil that is too alkaline or acidic keeps plants from absorbing key nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, so your plants suffer malnutrition. Although you can send your soil to a professional lab for testing, there are several inexpensive ways to test soil pH at home.

The second thing you need to know about your soil before you plant is its structure. Soil that is too sandy won't hold nutrients, and soil that has too much clay can suffocate a plant's roots by limiting its access to water and air.

Although some people are blessed with perfect soil, most of us have dirt with less than ideal pH and texture. Luckily, even poor soils can be improved by adding amendments.

2. Composting

One of the best soil amendments to add to your garden is compost. Compost is an excellent soil conditioner that improves the texture and nutrition levels of all types of dirt. Also, since compost is made from household garbage, it saves you money in two ways: It's a free and natural alternative to chemical fertilizers, and it cuts down on your garbage bill and your water bill.

Compost is really just controlled rotting. Contrary to popular belief, a well-tended compost pile isn't stinky, and composting is not a hard skill to learn, as microbes and worms do most of the work! Compost is made from two types of waste: green and brown. Green waste is made up of nitrogen-rich waste like grass clippings, coffee grounds, and food waste. Brown waste is made up of carbon-rich waste like dead leaves, pine needles, sawdust, or shredded paper. If the compost gets too stinky, add more brown waste. If the compost isn't breaking down fast enough, add more green waste. Well-balanced compost has a nice loamy smell and texture.

Composting dramatically cuts down on what my household sends to the landfill, which is good for the planet. In addition to composting all of my plant-based food waste and yard trimmings, I also compost greasy pizza boxes and used cardboard food containers that cannot be recycled.

Compost also helps my heavy clay soil retain water, which is vital, since Southern California is currently suffering from an endless drought.

3. Tracking Sunlight

Most vegetables need plenty of sun to thrive, so if your yard is shady year-round, you will be disappointed in your harvest. How much sunlight your growing area gets determines what you can grow. Although there are sun tracking apps, it's easy to track sun exposure with just a pen and paper.

4. Seed Starting

Planting your vegetable and flower garden from seed has two huge advantages. First, there are far more varieties available in seed form than as seedlings. Second, unless you are like me and read seed catalogs with the intensity that most people reserve for pornography, gardening from seed is the least expensive way to grow plants.

FYI, you can buy seeds and plants that produce food with Food Stamps! Consider stretching your SNAP benefits by keeping a small garden. If you buy a package of tomato seeds for $3.00 and grow 10 tomatoes from just one plant, that is a huge return on your investment.

5. Seed Saving

Why buy seeds when you can just use seeds that you grew yourself last season? Saving seeds isn't just a great way to shrink your garden budget. It's also a great way to grow your community. My friend Steve has an impressive victory garden that he grew from seeds that he "checked out" from the Kansas City Public Library with his library card. If you love the idea of a seed library as much as I do but can't find one in your area, the Richmond, California Public Library has a tutorial on how to start your own!

6. Container Gardening

Not everyone has fixable soil or even open ground to use as a growing space. Luckily, container gardening allows even apartment-dwellers to create their own green space. Although I am incredibly vain about my vast collection of terra cotta pots, you can grow ridiculous amounts of food in containers such as plastic storage tubs and recycled food buckets. That said, Pinterest is full of brilliant ideas for upcycled planters, made from items you probably already own, for all kinds of vegetation.

7. Plant Propagation From Stem Cuttings

I learned how to grow succulents from cuttings as a kid and never looked back. Every year when I trim back my succulents, I save the cuttings to use as barter currency with the neighbors, to sell at my garage sale, or to pot up and give as gifts. Plants are great gifts, for just about every occasion. This one little skill makes/saves me at least $100 every year between what I save on buying gifts and what I sell for cold hard cash. More importantly, I managed to plant 90% of my front yard with plant cuttings I collected from my friends and neighbors. I saved hundreds of dollars on my landscaping budget because I barely had to buy any greenery.

But why limit yourself to just succulents? There are so many great indoor and outdoor plants that can be grown from cuttings.

8. Transplanting

My husband loves to collect… everything. So he's always out in the yard, sticking something new into the ground. Unfortunately, up until recently, about 50% of what he planted immediately croaked. I only discovered the cause of his brown thumb this year. He had no idea that he needed to immediately water plants after transplanting to prevent shock. Now that he's learned the basic rules of transplanting, he hasn't lost a plant.

9. Watering

Everyone knows you can kill a plant by underwatering, but did you know the most common cause of death in indoor plants is overwatering? Fortunately, learning the proper way to water your plants, both inside and out, is not rocket science. Also, learning good watering techniques will cut down on your water bill, even if you don't live in a drought-stricken area.

10. Mulching

I love to mulch, because it provides immediate gratification. The yard looks instantly tidier after mulching. Also, mulch cuts down on weeds, and helps the soil retain water.

I am a great proponent of liquor store mulch, aka sheet mulching, because I don't even have to weed before I lay down the sweet, sweet topcoat. Also, it's basically free. Here's how I mulch:

Get cardboard boxes from my corner liquor store.
Cover my dirt, weeds and all, with flattened cardboard boxes, working around existing plants.
Water until the cardboard is super wet.
Shovel green waste onto the cardboard. I use manure that my chicken-raising neighbor is so happy to give me for free, but you can use compost, grass cutting, etc.
Shovel brown waste on top of everything to hide the stinky green waste. I used dead leaves and shredded cardboard boxes, but you can use what you have on hand.
Water, water, water.
Wait. By the following year, you will have lovely topsoil to grow in and far fewer weeds.

By the way, if you aren't planning on growing a garden next season and just want to make your current planting look better, many cities offer free mulch, made from chopped up city trees, as part of their recycling programs. Just lay down that wood mulch over cardboard and call it a day.

11. Managing Pests

My mother is a master gardener. The second she thought my sister and I were old enough to handle garden tools without goring each other, she enlisted us in slug patrol. Every morning before school, we had to go out to the garden and decapitate every slug we found. To this day, I can throw a weed digger five feet with deadly precision.

But killing slugs Game of Thrones-style is just one of the ways I manage pests in my garden.

My favorite method of pest management is companion planting, because the plants do most of the maintenance work. One of my very favorite garden hacks is The Three Sisters, an Iroquois planting method that is perfect in its simplicity. The three sisters are corn, climbing beans, and squash. These three crops are planted together in a mound of dirt. The corn provides a trellis for the beans. The beans are nitrogen-fixers, so they fertilize the soil for the corn and the squash. The squash's prickly leaves act as mulch, and they shade the roots of the other two sisters. The squash also acts as a defense against rodents and raccoons that don't like crawling through the prickly leaves to eat the beans and the corn. So genius.

Because I am a beekeeper and own a koi pond, I cannot use chemical garden sprays without also killing my pets. Luckily, there are plenty of homemade bug sprays that do the job and are made of things you can find in your kitchen.

12. Pruning

There are a number of reasons why you should leave tree pruning to the experts, but pruning shrubs and other small plants is easy, once you know how. Although most people think of pruning as decorative, proper pruning actually keeps plants healthy by removing dead or dying parts of plants that have been damaged by weather, disease, bugs, or animals. Pruning can also make a plant more productive by forcing the plant to put more energy into producing fruit or flowers.

13. Maintaining Tools

I am terrible at this. After spending approximately $539,287 to repeatedly replace wood-handled tools that I left in the yard to the mercy of the elements, I finally had to purchase way too expensive, rust-proof, all metal tools. Don't be me.

Actually, maintaining tools is remarkably easy. If you clean your tools after every use and store them in a dry place, you can make most hand tools last a lifetime.

Do you have a green thumb? What garden skills save you the most money and time?

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This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

17 Cheap Ways to Dress Up Your Garden

Carrie Kirby — Tue, 24 May 2016 09:00:03 +0000

It's spring, and you've had enough of being cooped up indoors. Outdoor living is experiencing a boom, with Americans now spending $60 billion a year sprucing up the space outside their homes, according to Garden Media Group. That's $200 for every American — even more when you consider all the people who don't have any outdoor space to spend on.

So what if you don't have $200 or more, but you still want your yard and garden to look nice? There are lots of ways to brighten things up for free or cheap, especially if you're crafty.

A word of advice before we start: If people start stopping by your yard asking how much your lawn ornaments cost, you've gone too far! Being mistaken for a yard sale is never a compliment.

Planters

You can spend anywhere from $20 to hundreds of dollars for pots to put plants in. But almost anything can hold a plant as long as you put drainage holes on the bottom. My uncle, the plumber, used to put his petunias in old toilets and bathtubs. It's not what I would choose, but it represented him.

Start with these creative planter ideas, then think about what kind of containers would represent you. If you don't have the items around the house, many can be found free or cheap on Freecycle, at garage sales, or at thrift stores.

1. Give Pricey Planters the Boot

Have you got a single, outgrown child's boot in the back of your closet? Poke some holes in the bottom, weight it with gravel, and you're ready to plant. If it's a plain old brown boot, you could always dress it up by painting on a design.

Cost: Free to $5.

2. Tin Pan Garden

Instead of buying terra cotta or plastic bowls for hanging planters, repurpose thrift store metal bowls, cups, or even coffee cans. Macrame straps were the crafty way to hang planters in decades past; for an update, try beaded wire.

Cost: Free to $5.

3. Have No Seat

Use an old, broken-down chair to dress up an ordinary planter. These instructions involve removing the seat, if the chair has one, and putting on a fresh coat of paint.

Cost: $10–$20.

4. Barney Rubble Planter

For a rustic look, hollow out a fallen tree trunk or limb and put plants inside.

Cost: Free, if you have tools for the hollowing and drilling drainage holes.

5. Pedal Planter

It's a classic that's perfect for bike enthusiasts or those who want to imagine cycling along the canals of Amsterdam while they sit in the yard: The old bicycle with a basket full of blooms. Organized Clutter explains how she plopped a coconut fiber liner into an existing bike basket to make her planter.

Cost: $5–$10 for the liner, assuming you can find a nonfunctional bike for free.

Lighting

Outdoor lighting can be pricey, but going without reduces the number of hours that you can enjoy your patio — especially if you live in a region where it's warm during the winter months when daylight is shorter. You're not going to get long lasting, quality fixtures with a shoestring budget, but these ideas can help you enjoy the evenings until you can afford something more permanent.

6. Tuna Can Lanterns

You wouldn't believe it, but you can make an elegant outdoor lantern using an old broomstick, a tuna can, and a hurricane shade. A coat of metallic paint has the whole thing gleaming in a jiffy.

Cost: $5–$10 for hurricane shade, spray paint, metal adapter, and candle.

7. Repurposed Holiday Lights

Everyone has a string of old holiday lights in their basement, with only half the lights working, right? Instead of throwing those away, turn them into pretty outdoor orbs by combining them with another forlorn item: A round glass shade, frequently found in thrift stores.

Ball up the light string and shove it in the globe. Once plugged in, you have a mystical glowing ball you can place anywhere in your yard for effect and illumination. Just be sure to use light strings meant for outdoor use.

Cost: $1–$15 for glass shades (cheaper for used, more for new).

Hacks and Crafts

These ideas will appeal to the makers among us — those who love finding new ways to use familiar materials.

8. Solar Renewal

When solar yard lights get old, the plastic covering their solar cells can cloud over, limiting the amount of energy they receive from the sun. One blogger figured out that you can rejuvenate these with a coat of clear nail polish, of all things.

Cost: $1.

9. Moss Graffiti

Did you know you can gather moss, stick it in the blender with sugar and buttermilk, and paint it onto a wall to create a live, growing mural or sign? I sure didn't!

Cost: $2–$3.

10. Hacker Couch

The author of The Basement created a bench from cinder blocks and two-by-fours in less than an hour.

Cost: About $40; more for optional cushions.

11. Magical Marble Fence

With a drill and a handful of marbles, you can transform a boring backyard fence into a magical fairyland. Just drill holes into a wooden fence and place marbles into the holes; sunshine will provide the dazzle.

Cost: $1.

12. Key Chimes

What to do with those mystery keys that have been on your key ring for years? Paint them and hang them with string to make a DIY wind chime.

Cost: Free to $5.

13. Rock Garden Markers

Use stones and paint to make cute labels for each row of the garden instead of using store bought ones.

Cost: Free to $5.

14. Mega Mushrooms

Turn a planter upside down and give it a paint job to create cheery mushrooms.

Cost: $5.

15. Owl You Need

Rolled strips of cardboard can be used to fashion a whole family of owls to watch over your garden in an earth-friendly project.

Cost: Free.

16. Step Right Up

Get the kids involved in making stepping stones by pressing just about anything into wet cement: old toys or costume jewelry, marbles, and beads.

Cost: $5.

17. Gnome Home

A tree or even a stump in your yard can be turned into a fairy house that kids will love to discover. Twigs can be used to frame windows, and a small piece of wood can be shaped into a door. If your gnomes want their own outdoor living space, use found objects or dollhouse furniture.

Cost: Free to $5.

How are you dressing up your landscape for free or cheap this year?

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This article is from Carrie Kirby of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

How to Get the Greenest Lawn on the Block — Naturally

Ashley Marcin — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 09:30:24 +0000

Want a gorgeous, lush lawn without all the chemicals and other icky stuff? It's not as hard as you might think. With a little creativity and some elbow grease, you can whip your grass into shape without calling a service or spending much at all. (See also: Secret Lawn Tonic Golf Course Groundskeepers Love)

Amazing Aeration

Before the season even starts, you should aerate your lawn so it can have its best year yet. By letting it breathe, you get rid of nasty compaction issues that can cause bigger problems down the line. To aerate, you'll want the grass to be pretty dry. Insert a garden fork or sod coring tool every few inches to get the oxygen in. If you have a big lawn, you might consider going in with a neighbor and renting a power lawn aerator for a day or two. After you've finished this process, collect soil plugs with a bagged mower and add them to your compost heap.

Beer Fertilizer

My grandfather is known as a lawn king of sorts in my hometown. He swears by feeding his lawn with beer. The fermented sugars and other nutrients improve the soil and help to get rid of dead spots. All you have to do is pour about eight ounces of regular beer per 10-inch spot that needs love. Beer can be fresh or flat, hot or cold. Wait about a week and if the area is still droopy, repeat the process.

Soothing Salts, Part I

Not into brews? That's okay. You can actually use your favorite bath time soak to nurture your lawn. Epsom salts help keep your grass green and healthy all year round — they may even soften grass. You'll want to use about three pounds of salts per 1,250 square feet of lawn. To apply, use a lawn spreader. If you'd rather add water and spray, use a tank sprayer or a hose with a spray attachment.

Soothing Salts, Part II

The National Gardening Association explains that epsom salts also work wonders in your vegetable and flower gardens by enriching the soil with magnesium. The group conducted a study where gardeners from across the United States sprayed their peppers and roses with the stuff. The results? Four out of six gardeners reported that their pepper plants were more robust. All the rose plants were bushier with greener foliage and more roses. To try this at home, add one tablespoon of epsom salts to a gallon of water, spray plants, and repeat the process every 10 days (peppers) or six weeks (roses).

Kind Killer

This weed killer is kind to the environment and won't cost you much. In fact, you might already be using it for many tasks in your home. Simply spray all those pesky weeds with plain white vinegar. You'll want to do this on a day with no rain in the forecast (can dilute the effects). My mother-in-law says that heartier, more persistent weeds respond better to something stronger like pickling vinegar. Just pour vinegar into a spray bottle and use as liberally as necessary.

Wondrous Water

Whether or not you live someplace where you have a cap on water usage, it's a good idea to conserve this precious resource. Try building your own rain barrel to collect what falls from the sky. You just need a 32-gallon plastic trash can, brass faucet, flexible downspout, and utility knife. Cut a hole in your can's cover, attach the downspout to your gutter, and then connect the two components. Wait for the rain and then use your faucet to tap into the magic.

Modified Mowing

How often and how short you cut your grass has an impact on its overall health as well. There's no one-size-fits-all approach, unfortunately. Regardless, grass cut too short can be more prone to problems like weeds, drought, and heat damage. So, if you're experiencing little precipitation, it's a good idea to let grasses grow taller as a defense. For guidelines on how tall or short you should keep your grass in general, call your local extension office, garden center, or seed supplier.

Clover Comeback

So many of our neighbors seem to battle to keep white clover out all season long. We've embraced clover because it's actually a natural way to crowd out weeds. Clover also spreads quickly and covers the ground with greenery to blend with your other grasses. It grows well in shadier areas of your lawn and those with poor drainage. Best yet, it's a legume and can convert nitrogen into its own free fertilizer. Learn to love this misunderstood ground cover!

What are some natural ways you care for your lawn?

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This article is from Ashley Marcin of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Ways to Improve Your Curb Appeal for Next to Nothing

Kyle James — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:30:35 +0000

Whether you're selling your home, or simply looking to spruce it up, improving your curb appeal is a great way to increase value. But it can be really expensive if you head off to your local home improvement warehouse and buy items at full retail. That said, with a little bit of planning and forethought, improving your curb appeal can be done for next to nothing. Here are six ways to make it happen.

1. Score Free Mulch

Having a fresh layer of mulch or bark in your flower and planting beds is a fantastic way to improve your curb appeal. But buying individual bags can be darn expensive, especially if you're doing a large area. So instead, try calling a local tree trimming service and ask if they have any free mulch available. After all, many such businesses have excess woods chips available and are happy to find ways to get rid of it. Often they'll even deliver a truck load to your home if they happen to be doing a job in your general vicinity.

Worst case scenario, you might have to swing by their work yard and shovel up a truck load. But you can't beat the free price tag, and your plants and flowers will thrive with the new mulch. Plus, it will help keep down weeds and give your yard a fresh new look.

2. Find Great Deals on Paint

Another cheap way to effectively spruce up the front of your home is with a fresh coat of paint on your front door, shutters, or moldings. While the job itself can be fairly inexpensive if you can tackle it yourself, a great way to save even more is to look for "whoops" paint at Home Depot, Lowe's, or even from your local paint store. These are the paints that were either incorrectly tinted or were rejected by the customer and are being sold at a big discount.

Simply ask an employee where their "whoops" shelf is located and check out the colors they currently have available. You can typically get paint for 50%–75% off the original price. Surprisingly, many of the colors you'll find are quite neutral in color and would look beautiful on your home as either a main or accent color.

3. Hide Garbage Cans and A/C Unit

If you have garbage cans or an A/C unit that can be seen from your front yard, consider building an inexpensive lattice screen to hide them. In a few short hours, you can hide these big eye sores. Lattice screens can be made of either wood or vinyl. The vinyl option will cost more upfront but will require less maintenance in the long-run.

4. Big Discounts on Plants

Surprisingly, one of the single best ways to score deals on plants, shrubs, and flowers to beautify your front yard is at your local nursery — but only on specific days. Almost every nursery across the country has two big sales per year. One is in the fall when they clear out a large chunk of their inventory before winter, and the other is in early spring when they offer discounts to entice shoppers to start planting for the warmer months. These two sales often see discounts in the 50% off range making them no-brainers for those looking to improve their home's curb appeal.

Be on the lookout for sales flyers from local nurseries and score savings that will typically beat the big-box stores, plus the quality of the plants and trees is typically much higher.

5. Add Garage Door Hardware for Updated Look

A really cheap way to spruce up an otherwise ordinary garage door is to add new hardware to give it a terrific new look. For less than $35, and 30 minutes of your time, you can upgrade your door with inexpensive hardware. The new hardware will really make your garage door a focal point rather than an eyesore.

6. Find Deals on Exterior Lighting

New exterior lights can really improve the look of your home, but if you've ever priced them, you know they can be expensive. But having worked at The Home Depot, I have a tip that can save you a lot of money — they almost always have floor model light fixtures for sale at a steep discount.

Due to a large and ever-changing inventory, they're constantly updating their stock with new lighting fixtures, which gives you ample opportunity to save on floor models. Simply ask an employee what floor models they are trying to get rid of and they'll point you to the best deals — deals that can light up the front of your home, and beautify it in the process, at 50% to 75% off the original price.

How do you improve your home's curb appeal without breaking the bank?

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9 Easy Home Improvements That Add Thousands to Your Listing

Camilla Cheung — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 10:30:23 +0000

Everyone wants to get the maximum dollar for their home when it's time to sell. But not everyone wants to get swamped by a giant renovation project all for the sake of selling. Fortunately, there are easy home improvements you can do that increase the cosmetic appeal of your home and make it more attractive to buyers, leading to more money in the bank for you.

1. Prune and Plant

Your landscaping has a huge effect on your home's curb appeal, and it doesn't cost much to spruce it up. It's also a task you can do yourself to save yourself some extra bucks. Prune back overgrown trees and shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and neat. If your front yard is a bit bare, planting some shrubs and plants can make it look cared for and manicured. Ask your local garden center for some free advice.

2. Freshen Up Your Kitchen and Bathrooms

While renovating the kitchen and bathrooms can bring a large return on your investment, they also are among the most expensive projects to tackle around the home. If you're not planning to overhaul the kitchen and bathrooms entirely, you can still enhance them cosmetically. Remove dated wallpaper and paint the walls a soothing color. Replace mildewed caulk and scrub dirty grout. Change the cabinet pulls for something more modern, and the faucets for something that feels substantial and stylish. Hang a new shower curtain and clean towels, and give everything a thorough cleaning.

3. Clean Your Carpet

Dingy carpet is pretty much certain to turn off potential buyers. If replacing the carpeting isn't an option, at least invest in a thorough deep cleaning.

4. Replace Dated Lighting

Bringing dated light fixtures into this decade can do a lot to make your home seem modern and attractive. Even inexpensive fixtures found at your local home improvement store can be a huge upgrade compared to decades-old monstrosities (unless of course, those monstrosities are trendy again now). Old ceiling fans can be replaced with sleek modern varieties. Consider also adding a statement light fixture to impress potential buyers (it needn't break the bank; just look it). Save on electrician costs by having him/her install several fixtures on one trip for a discount.

5. Doll Up Your Door

Much like the landscaping, your front door is one of the first impressions buyers will get of your home. If it's looking a bit worn out, consider painting it and replacing the hardware. You don't have to spend a lot to get a more contemporary handle and lock, and it will give your home's curb appeal a fresh look.

6. Repair the Little Things

Broken light switch or outlet plates, broken drywall, missing light fixtures, missing trim, rattling fans — none of these seem like a big deal by themselves, but taken all together can make your home seem distressed and really turn off a potential buyer. Consider hiring a handyman to repair a bunch of these little things at once.

7. Paint Walls and Trim

A layer of paint can do wonders to make your home seem newer and more valuable. Like it or not, many potential buyers will focus on scuffed walls, dated paint colors (or bright paint colors), or yellowing trim. Fix any gouges or dings in your walls with some spackle, and paint your home a fresh neutral to keep things bright and appealing. Paint your trim a bright white to make your home seem updated and clean.

Painting the exterior of your home can also be an excellent investment, as curb appeal is a big factor in appealing to potential buyers. Consider doing the job yourself, as painting is one of the easier DIYs you can do around your house.

8. Renew Your Deck

A tired, worn-out old deck can be enlivened with a good power washing and a coat of stain, as long as the wood is still sound. Keeping your deck maintained and in good condition sends the message that the interior of the house is in good shape, too. Add a seating arrangement so potential buyers can picture themselves enjoying the space.

9. Add a Programmable Thermostat

Potential buyers like to see energy-saving upgrades in the home, and installing a programmable thermostat is one of the easiest ways to do this. For a couple hundred dollars, these thermostats can save you money by customizing when to heat or cool your home.

Any little fixes we missed? Please share in comments!

This article is from Camilla Cheung of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 DIY Backyard Home Improvements That Save You Big

Ashley Marcin — Wed, 13 May 2015 13:00:10 +0000

Every year, I draft a grand to-do list for backyard projects. And — every year — I barely cross even a few items off this list. Usually my goals are too lofty. Or maybe some of them are frankly too expensive. Whatever the case, I've found the solution. These easy (and cheap) DIY projects are novice-friendly and will transform your outdoor spaces from blah to beautiful. (Related: 17 DIY Projects to Make Your Home Look Amazing)

1. Pallet Deck

Here's yet another awesome use for wood pallets — make a deck! Pick up however many pallets you want for the size of your deck. Then clean them up, sand them down, and paint for a durable finish. Clear the area you want to stage by removing the grass, weeds, and debris. Lay concrete blocks in the soil — four feet apart — before setting your pallets on top. Grab your chairs, decorate, and enjoy!

2. Paver Patio

This paver patio project takes a bit more patience, but it will pay off. You'll first clear the area and tamp the soil so it's firm and level. Lay landscape fabric, crushed stones, and sand over the area to prevent weeds from peeking through the stones. Then it's time to lay the pavers. You can rent a brick cutter or just lay whole bricks and stones. Whatever you do, position pavers no more than ⅛ inch apart. Total cost? $550 with all supplies.

3. Garden Fountain

There's nothing better than listening to the sound of running water outdoors. Try making this DIY garden fountain out of, well, anything. The schematic might look a little intimidating, but it's basically a basin for your water with a pump and decorative "sculpture" that the water flows through. You can find a pump at most garden stores, just make sure you get one that's labeled "submersible."

4. Raised Beds

Create a garden out of nothing with this raised garden bed project. This couple built a whopping five cedar beds for around $100. You'll make all your cuts before assembling the boxes using galvanized screws. The mitered frame is completely optional, but it definitely gives the beds that finished touch. Then excavate the ground, fill with dirt, and get planting.

5. Fire Pit

My husband and I want to build a fire pit in our backyard. First, you'll want to check with your local government to make sure open flame fires are permitted in your neighborhood. From there, you need a metal ring, retaining wall blocks, drainage gravel, decorative rocks, and outdoor construction adhesive. After choosing your pit's location, you'll dig out the area and tamp the dirt. Lay your gravel around the metal ring. Then surround with the blocks, which you'll fasten together with the adhesive.

6. Stepping Stones

Get this! You can make these cute stepping stones in a cake pan. No, really. You'll first want to gather some decorative mosaic glass or even smashed china for flair. Cut out a piece of contact paper, and arrange your glass in a pattern inside the pan. Slap on some gloves, mix together concrete, and cut out some metal mesh to give your stone stability. Scoop in a layer of concrete, lay the mesh, and finish with more concrete. Let sit for two days before removing.

7. Compost Bin

Many store-bought compost bins cost a pretty penny. This DIY compost bin is well within most anyone's budget at just $5. Heck, you may even have the materials you need sitting in your garage. Take an 18 gallon plastic bin (with top) and drill 5/16 inch holes about two inches apart in all directions. Then add kitchen scraps, leaves, paper, and a scoop of soil to get started. You should have rich compost in around five weeks.

8. Privacy Screens

Our neighbors' yard (and all their stuff) is right next to our deck. So, we'd love to build a few of these quick privacy screens to give us all some space. The tutorial is so easy, I may even try constructing it completely on my own. And at just $30, I figure it's worth a try. You'll take standard wooden lattice panels and build frames for them. Then screw in some hooks to hang. It's as simple as that. I might paint mine for some extra oomph.

What's on your backyard to-do list this year?

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This article is from Ashley Marcin of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

10 Things You Should NOT Do to Your Yard This Fall

Linsey Knerl — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:00:06 +0000

The air is starting to chill and the leaves are starting to fall. Pools are coming down, and plans for how to prepare the yard for winter are being made. There is never enough time, it seems, to get everything in order for the new season, but it isn't the occasion to take shortcuts; in fact, skipping out on the proper way to handle your yard and garden could cause big damage come spring. (See also: 7 Ways to Improve the Life of Your Lawn Mower)

Avoid killing your outdoor space for good with these common mistakes.

1. Cut Your Grass Too Short

Depending on the species of grass you have growing in your yard, a buzz cut can kill the lush carpet covering your lawn and cause high-dollar damages, too. In fact, zoysia grass is not recommended to be cut down to less than two inches high, especially in the fall before it goes dormant. Leaving a little more length on your blades isn't really an eyesore, and it will help preserve your lawn in the long run.

2. Just Do a Once-Over

When mowing, aerating, or reseeding your lawn for the winter, be sure you do it once, and then go over it again diagonally. This will prevent your yard from having "lines" that will appear unattractive come spring.

3. Stop Watering

Unless it has reached freezing temps in your area of the country, continue to water as you normally would. Shrubs, fruit trees, and hedges are especially dependent on water this time of year, as they are getting what they need before they go dormant. Failing to water could cause significant damage to your precious plants.

4. Use the Wrong Fertilizer

If it's still warm enough to use fertilizer, opt for an easy-to-apply spray instead of a granular product. The small pieces of granular fertilizer can sit on your yard for months, failing to dissolve in to-dry conditions. You may end up with a burnt lawn if this happens.

5. Forget to Mulch

As long as the ground hasn't frozen, you still have time to apply mulch around your trees and on top of garden plants such as asparagus and rhubarb. Use the right kind of mulch for the plant, and be certain that you aren't spreading dangerous pests or fungus by moving recycled materials from a diseased plant to a healthy one.

6. Skip Raking

It is so much work, but it is so vital to a healthy yard! Layers of snow over layers of leaves can lead to mold and fungus damage. Plus, it makes it ridiculously difficult for that first mowing next year.

7. Spray Weed Killer When It's Cold

While the fall is the ideal time to get one last weed killing in, you do not want to do this in areas where it is not consistently above 60 degrees. So, southern folks are probably safe; here in Nebraska, we are past that point, already.

8. Leave Spring Planting Until the Spring

If you want beautiful spring bulbs, now is the time to put them in. Tulips, lilies, and even garden "roots" such as asparagus can go in now for a head start on next year. While getting behind on flowering plants isn't the end of the world, waiting an extra six months for asparagus is a big deal (especially since they need two full years to mature before the first harvest.) This is also a great time to plant new trees and shrubs.

9. Forget to Shop

Stores are clearing out all of their spring and summer gardening supplies right now! Stop in to get things you know you'll need like pots, soil, seeds, tools, and more. With savings of up to 90%, it's foolish to wait. Don't forget to check your local dollar store, too!

10. Overlook Pests

Do your apple trees have orange spots on the leaves? Did your fruit all end up with worms in it? Many of the pests that plague the family orchard and yard need to have an aggressive plan to stop them, and fall is the perfect time to take notes of what you see so that you can be proactive next year. Take pictures of any damage done to your yard and garden now, so that you can research the damage and purchase the right tools next year. Many issues, such as fungus and codling moths (the bugs that makes "wormy" apples) need to have sprays applied to trees in the early spring before symptoms appear. Taking notice now is the only way to get ahead of these problems.

Taking care of your lawn and garden the right way will depend on location, choices in greenery, and personal style. Being diligent about this last stage of the year can allow you to take a break during the winter before another season of yard work in the spring!

What are you doing (or have already done) to prepare your yard for winter? Please share in comments!

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This article is from Linsey Knerl of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Save Money and Water With These 6 Clever Landscaping Hacks

Kentin Waits — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 10:24:30 +0000

Warm months always bring out a bit of the gardener in every homeowner. The grays and browns of winter transform into the vibrant greens of summer and coax even the most die-hard homebody outside. If you've noticed that your little slice of heaven could use some TLC but don't want to spend a mint, here are a few budget-friendly landscaping ideas. (See also: 10 Gardening Lessons Learned the Hard Way)

1. Plant for Your Region

Plants do best in their native climates. To protect your landscaping investment, consider your region or climate zone as you choose your trees, shrubbery, flowers, and other vegetation. A handy zone map can help you stay on track with your selections and ensure that everything you plant matures and thrives year after year.

2. Go for Low H2O

Everyone loves the look of a lush lawn, but few of us enjoy the accompanying water bill. To keep your landscaping project on budget, don't forget about the long-term maintenance costs. Landscape for your region and climate, and select plant varieties that do well without a lot of extra water. It's not only good for your wallet; it's good for the planet. (See also: The 6 Best Lawn Mowers)

3. Buy in Bulk

Superstores make buying all sorts of landscaping supplies extremely simple and convenient, but that convenience comes at a premium price. Individual bags of mulch, pea gravel, and sod can add up quickly. Large landscaping supply companies can often drop off supplies by the truckload at much lower overall price. Don't need a whole truckload? Split it with your neighbors. Another option for less expensive materials may be as close as city hall — some municipalities offer free mulch as long as you're willing to haul it away.

4. Reuse and Repurpose

The salvage business is booming, but there are still treasures out there just waiting to be found and repurposed. Check out estate sales, auctions, thrift stores, and even the curbside on trash day. Shallow planters can be given new life as birdbaths, old fences and columns can become decorative accents and trellises, farm tables can be transformed into potting stands, and old stumps or blocks of stone can become garden benches.

Get inspired by thumbing through outdoor design or gardening magazines, and challenge yourself to recreate your favorite ideas on a budget. This piece from Sunset magazine inspired me.

The reuse idea can carry over into your plantings too. Is a neighbor's backyard being overtaken by bamboo? Offer to help cut them back in exchange for a few starts that you can add to your own yard. Ask friends and family to keep you in mind if they're removing old bushes, small trees, or replacing perennials. Weave these donated items into your larger design plan to save big bucks on buying new.

5. Turn Your Yard Into an Edible Garden

Over the past several years, there's been a quietly growing movement that aims to completely change the way we think about our lawns.

The lawn-to-garden movement advocates that homeowners transition their yards from passive highly-manicured displays into dynamic food- producing spaces. The movement is driven in part by a local food sensibility that encourages folks to know where their food is grown and spurn produce that has to be imported. It's also motivated by simple frugality and self-reliance — by the idea that we can each take a more active role in our food production and lessen our dependence on big agri-business.

For landscapers on a budget, what better way to be paid back for our labors than to use our lawns to source food? From tomatoes to herbs and from cucumbers to radishes, your lawn has the potential to save you money and put food on the table. Explore how to turn part of your lawn into a fresh, local, and organic produce stand. If your city or community has strict zoning laws or covenants that prohibit such activity, chat with your neighbors and see what changes can be made through the power of organized action. For a comprehensive guide on the lawn-to-garden movement, check out Fritz Haeg's seminal book on the topic, Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn.

6. Get That Green Thumb Dirty

Sure, you may not have a backhoe sitting around in the garage, but there are landscaping projects that you can do yourself. Digging, hauling, planting, pruning, and even some light construction work can help you save big on landscaping contractor costs. Consider hosting a landscaping party and enlisting a few (brawny) friends to help out on a Saturday afternoon. Cold beer and warm pizza go a long way toward motivating and repaying your helpful crew.

Regardless of the scope of your project, landscaping doesn't have to break the bank. With some careful planning, creativity, and help from friends and family, your yard can go from drab to fab in just a few weeks. And now is the perfect time to put those green thumbs to the test — just don't forget the sunscreen!

What are your favorite budget landscaping ideas?

This article is from Kentin Waits of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Cheap Ways to Stage Your Home in a Buyer's Market

Chris Birk — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:00:12 +0000

When it comes to real estate, appearance matters. Especially in a buyer's market.

Prospective home buyers hold most of the cards in today’s real estate climate. That means sellers need to adjust expectations and prepare for the long haul. One of the simplest and most effective ways to boost your odds is to ensure your home looks the part.

A disheveled, unkempt yard or messy interior turns off open house visitors. The key is to enhance the aesthetics without eating through your savings. Remember how the house sparkled when you fell in love with it? Make it sparkle again without overspending by checking out these tips below. (See also: How to Sell Your Home When Your Neighbors Are Too)

1. Tackle What Buyers See First — the Outside

Get rid of any pet excrement, as well as weeds, fallen branches, limbs, and bushes that cover nice parts of the house. Keep the lawn cut short. Trees and bushes near the house should not be more than two feet taller than the roof line. If you’re willing to spend a few bucks, buy mulch to pour around trees and shrubs. Clean the siding, bricks, gutters, doorways, decks, and sidewalks by renting or borrowing a neighbor’s power washer. Being thorough might take a day, but it’s far less expensive to rent the machine than to hire somebody.

2. Clean Like You Never Have Before

Prospective buyers do not want to see clutter. Kids' toys, tools, dirty dishes, stacks of old magazines, and all other unsightly objects need to be packed away. The house must look tidy, which will in turn make it look spacious and comfortable. Cupboards, cabinets, and closets should be organized and decluttered. With things out of the way, scrub every inch of the house. Dust baseboards, lamps, fans, and shelves. Clean all the mirrors, windows, bathrooms, floors, stairs, and parts of the kitchen. Pretend you’re having houseguests for a weekend or a very critical in-law for dinner. That should be enough to make you use a little extra elbow grease.

3. Be a Handyperson

Leaky faucets, jammed drawers, and broken light switches are just a few of the several repairs you can make. Unless you know for certain that your attempt will exacerbate the problem, there’s no need to hire a professional. Having a well-maintained home supports your asking price, too. Fresh paint is a must. Generally, real estate agents suggest neutral-colored walls.

4. Experiment With New Layouts

Move furniture, lamps, throw rugs, and whatever else to see which rooms look spacious and inviting. Just because you’ve had a room set up the same way for years does not mean it will look welcoming to potential buyers.

5. Add Some Visual Flair

Greenery adds a nice element to the interior but shouldn’t cost much. Search your yard for colorful flowers worthy of a vase. Group small plants together on coffee or dinner tables to give the room a visual center. To ensure everything in the room can be seen, let the natural light in. Again, windows and sunlight make a room feel spacious.

6. Appeal to the Other Senses

The prospective homeowners are looking at your home, but they have four other senses. Turn on some easy listening and keep the house smelling fresh. Surely, they won’t want to move into a sterile, quiet home. Not only should it look, sound, and smell like home, but it should feel like it, too.

This article is from Chris Birk of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: