Pacific Lifestyle Homes Blog

Here is an article by Jody Shenn and Prashant Gopal of Bloomberg on how the overall market looks in 2012.  Check it out here.

The transformation of the land into a scenic and aesthetically pleasing space is often referred to as landscaping, though the term can encompass a wide variety of land modifications including irrigation, design, and architectural considerations. Landscaping is typically considered to be an enhancement and emphasis on the existing natural beauty rather than a complete replacement. For this reason landscaping is considered both a science and an art form for many professionals and hobbyists alike.

Fundamental Considerations
The planning of a landscape design or space must first be subject to the examination of practicality. The purpose of the project should be well-developed in advance to any undertaking as the purpose shall guide many of the artistic and practical decisions to be made during the creation of a garden, park, or backyard space.

Some questions to consider when beginning the planning stage are:
- Who will be using this space? Elderly individuals or children will require benches and additional recreational facilities.
- Who will be caring for this space?
- What are the dimensions of the area to be landscaped?
- Where will walkways or pathways be located?

The Art and Science of Landscaping
Landscaping design and the architecture of landscape is an ancient art form and can be found around the world in various forms and manifestations. The Yu Gardens in Shanghai, the Gardens of Versailles in France, the Ryoan-ji Zen Garden in Kyoto, and the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia are all famous historical examples of the high art of landscaping. Fortunately, the basic fundamentals and aesthetic qualities of landscaping are within the reach of any hobbyist.

Some main factors in landscape design include:
- Orientation and topography
- Lighting and furnishings
- Botanical selections
- Irrigation and drainage
These considerations are simply the precursor elements to creating a landscape design suited to the needs of its caretaker.

Botanical Selections for Landscaping
No landscape is complete without the addition of pleasing botanicals that can include trees, shrubs, flowers, brushes, grasses, and mosses. Understanding the specific needs and appropriate zones for the plants selected is important to ensuring long-lasting and lush scenery. Though exotic botanicals are often an exciting addition there should be consideration of time constraints, weather patterns, and harmony with any surrounding native plants. Particular attention should be given to preventing invasive species from extending beyond the controlled boundaries of the landscaped portion or declining the use of them entirely.

A Delicious Landscape
A more recent trend in both public and private landscape design has been the use of edible or fruiting plants and trees. Many fruits and vegetables provide a pleasing palette of colors and textures to be used in creating a deeper dimension of appearance. This also has the added effect of attracting pleasing wildlife or in the case of private or community establishments providing healthful foods and sustenance.

Some popular examples used in edible landscaping include:
- Ornamental leafy vegetables such as chartreuse lettuce, rainbow chard, and ornamental cabbages
- Fruiting bushes such as blueberries, raspberries, and gooseberry varieties
- Dwarf fruit trees such as apple, pear, and plum
- Various herbs including dill, garlic, and lemon thyme

The natural world that surrounds us can be further enhanced through the careful sculpting of landscapes that compliment the natural beauty and the needs of those who enjoy it. Though the art of landscaping has been fine-tuned throughout the ages it is important for all those who would undertake the creation of a landscape understand and look to conserve and enhance natural beauty rather than to destroy or displace it entirely.

If you’re looking for professional landscaping services Perth, talk to Living Environs Landscaping Perth. Through their work they’ve quickly established a reputation as a leader in the field. Just have a look at the gallery on their site for some impressive examples.

After a long period with not a lot of positive news, finally some good news! Home values in the Portland-Vancouver area are expected to rebound this year.

The Oregonian reports that according to the California based real estate research firm Clear Capital, home values in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton area are forecasted to increase nearly 2% in 2012. In 2011, Portland home values ranked 27 out of 50 major metro-areas; this year our area is expected to move to 14th. Portland is also one of 20 U.S. cities seen as having a stable market in 2012. Check out the article.

Ran across this article, some creative ways to build homes into their environment.

Did you complete the items on out first winterization post? No? That’s okay, after reading this post you’ll have our complete list.

Without further ado, here’s part two.

Keep yourself safe
• Check smoke detector batteries and replace as needed.
• If your home has natural gas make sure CO2 detectors are working.
• Dust off fire extinguishers, make sure they’re up-to-date and consider taking them to your local fire department for service.
House exterior
• Help protect your house’s foundation by removing all adjacent debris and vegetation.
• Check the vents around your house to make sure they’re closed and seal any holes to keep critters from burying under your house this winter. Make sure exterior crawlspaces entrances are secure and sealed.
Plumbing
• Check pipes for freezing. Leave cupboard doors below sinks open if you’re leaving town for holiday travel: it’ll help keep pipes from freezing.
• The last thing you want is an unexpected pool in basement. Prevent pipe breaks and drain garden hoses and put insulted covers over the lines. Just in case, know where your main water line shutoff valve is located.
• If your crawlspace is large enough for humans, check pipes to make sure they’re properly insulated.
Be prepared
• Put together an emergency kit with flashlights, candles and matches in case of a power outage.
• Have battery to backup to protect your computer and sensitive equipment.
• Practice an evacuation plan in case of an emergency.
• Have enough food and drinking water in your house in case you’re not able to leave.

Use these tips to help keep your home happy and save yourself from any unexpected emergencies this winter.

Winter is here, which means its time to protect your home from the elements.

Winter is one of the most important times to project your home. A few hours each week could save you money and the headache that can come with most winter trials. To keep things simple, we’re going to break the homeowner TO DO list into a two-part blog.

Let’s start with your furnace, as it’s pretty important to staying comfortable in colder weather. When’s the last time you looked at your furnace? Can’t remember? Then it’s been too long.

We’ve compiled a few helpful tips to help keep your home in top shape all winter.

Furnace and heating maintenance
• Call an HVAC professional to make sure your furnace is running properly and clean the ducts.
• If you use a hot-water radiator, bleed the lines until water appears, the close them.
• Clean, or remember to replace your furnace filters. (Some filters need to be replaced, others can be put into the dishwasher for cleaning and then reinstalled.)
• Use technology to your advantage; if you have an old thermostat it may be time to update to a programmable thermostat to allow you to set the heat when you’re home and turn it off when you’re away.
• Santa is coming to town, which means it’s time to clean the fireplace and chimney! Just like your furnace, if you can’t remember the last time you had your fireplace cleaned, then call a chimneysweep. (Note: It’s also a good idea to have firewood cut and stacked.)
• Close all windows and make sure the seals are intact.
• Check door gaps and make sure they’re sealed. Use weather-stripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering your home.
• Check your attic insulation and add insulation, if needed, to ensure heat isn’t leaking out of your roof.
• And last, but possibly most important, move anything flammable away from the furnace.

Water and home maintenance
• Avoid water damage and clean the leaves and debris out of your gutters and downspouts. Installing leaf guards will also help with keep gutters clean and lessen future work.
• You won’t need to mow your lawn anytime soon, so drain the gas out of your lawnmower and store your lawnmower in a dry location.
• Make sure rakes and snow shovels are in shape and replace any old ones. The last thing you want is for a snow shovel to break while clearing a driveway or walkway.

Well, sounds like you have some work to do, so get out there and protect your biggest investment, your home.

Good news!  Our local economy appears to be heading toward recovery (finally!) and the housing market appears to be hot on its heels.

I recently attended the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland hosted the 2012 Housing Forecast Breakfast at the Oregon Convention Center.  Three respected economic experts presented Portland-metro area housing forecast for 2012.

To no one’s surprise, restoring our economy to a pre-recession state will take time.  Signs of a steadily improving economy are prominent, most noteworthy are decreasing joblessness and increasing migration to our area will help the market gain footing.

While the market for renting is currently strong, these indicators, rising rents and the affordability of new homes, will spark home sales.

Now just might be the right timeto consider a new home.

Here are a few stats that I gathered from the presentations to further indicate improvements in our housing market:

• Foreclosure rates peaked in 2009Q3; the rate of housing sales is expected to be 42% of normal by 2012Q4 and 61% of normal by 2013Q4.
• New bankruptcies in 2011Q3 were 18.8% below their levels of 2010Q3.
• Currently delinquency rates are at their lowest since 2008Q4.

The housing market is still not ideal, however, with the economy showing signs of steady improvement, this information should make everyone feel better about the coming years.

Kevin

Many times people think that home refinance is always better. So, being allured by lucrative interest rate they tend to refinance their home every now and then. But, when refinancing option makes your payment to some extent affordable, it may have deeper long term consequences. You may get short term benefit from it. But, in the longer run you may end up paying huge on paying your mortgage. In many instances, refinance imposes penalty charge that affects your finance for a longer time. Therefore, you must face this crucial question’ should I refinance my mortgage’.

However, if you have decided to refinance your mortgage, then you have to take a strategy. If you want to reduce monthly payment pressure, you should try to extend the loan term. But, if your goal is to chip interest rate, then you should better restructure your loan term and make it shorter. You have to keep a look out when national mortgage interest goes down. Then you will hit the right opportunity. Generally we find that many mortgage holders try to pull out some portion of their equity by refinancing their home. This way they can free up some cash in the short term. However, it involves the risk of losing the value of your property.

When you refinance your loan, you actually breach your first loan agreement. Therefore, you are charged with penalty. When your credit report shows penalty sign, it will directly affect your credit score. So, it will drop your credit score. But, if your lender agrees to come into a refinancing plan, then you may save your credit score from going down. Instead of contacting a third party agency, you should deal directly with your creditor. It is because employing a third party agency will attach additional fees and penalties and eventually bring down credit rating.

When you are planning to refinance, it is so much the better for you to keep an eye on you future benefits. You need to maintain a financial stability in future. Paying too much on your mortgage can put pressure on your retirement savings. But, taking a short term loan would help you save more money.

Remember that negotiation is the best way out at your hand. You have to convince your lender why and in which circumstance you are appealing him to refinance mortgage. You can show him contingency proofs and request him to forgo penalty fees. Lenders would most probably prefer refinancing to home foreclosure.

No matter how small or how big your living room is, it’s essential to organizing your space in specific zones with it’s functionality. What do you do in your living room?  Read, listening to music, entertaining, watching TV, and even an area for your kids.  Having an area for each hobby will help things have a place to go back to at the end of the day.  For example, it’s fine to have toys in the living room as long as it is neatly organized and doesn’t end up being scattered throughout the room.  Here are some helpful tips to getting you started in zoning your own living room.

Use the space
It’s easy to have a living room that can be fit to be in a photo of a magazine, but what’s the point in not using it?  The point of having a stylish living room is to enjoy it at the end of a hard days work.  Not being able to enjoy it would be a waste of money and space.  So make an effort to using it to entertain and to wind your mind down on your days off.  It just takes a bit of effort at the beginning or end of the day to clean up the place, it is well worth the work!  If you don’t make an effort to tidy up your zones, then the whole point of organizing your space will be a waste of effort.

It’s all about comfort without sacrificing style
There are lots of furniture nowadays to choose from that suits almost everybody’s taste.  You can choose from fancy convertible sofas to casual futon sets to set up in your living room.  In the world of design, there is room for style, comfort and room to organize.  For example, convertible sofas can be fancy or casual, comfortable and have lots of extra space below to store magazines, remote controls and plenty more when guests are visiting for the holidays.

The zoning process
Once you’ve divided your living room up according to it’s needs, test it out.  If you find that reading is not working out in a space full of distractions (TV etc), then move it to a closed room for more peace and quiet.  And if you have a brand new space, then it’s a perfect time to plan out what type of new furniture you need to serve functions like entertaining.  Do you need a mini bar?  Or if you’re looking to have more seating area, then plan to more space to lounge.  All these have to be taken place before you start heading out to shop for furniture.  Having a plan will help you save time and money!  And a space for children, you can always find a storage ottoman that won’t sacrifice the look of your living room and still be able to store all your kids toys away when guests are over.