Campbell & West San Jose Real Estate, brought to you by the Zanger Team at Referral Realty

Budget-minded design brings bold looks to a modest backyard.

Russ Cletta, a Southern landscape architect, knows how to leverage his expertise. “I struck a deal with my landlord,” he says. “If I fixed up my property, he would give me an extended lease.” Naturally, Russ wanted to avoid a big investment in someone else’s property, so he focused on creating high style at a low price.

Inexpensive building materials such as gravel, cinder blocks, and pressure-treated wood form the backbone of the design. Seating made from simple materials and garage-sale finds offers relaxation on a low deck. Tile backerboard and salvaged plywood, stained a soft blue and attached to a custom-built frame, cloak the tiny yard with privacy.

Russ softened hard edges and brightened the muted palette with decorative objects. Then he brought the yard to life with plants he chose for their undemanding nature. “The garden gets watered once a month, if it’s lucky,” Russ says. With drought tolerant plants and recycled material, his design impacts the environment as little as it does his bank account.

You might think Russ would have a hard time leaving his creation behind when his lease expires, but he’s thought of that, too. “I designed the space so that the elements could be easily removed and reused on another project.”

Bright Ideas

Inexpensive plashes of color add flavor to Russ’s yard. Beaded candle lanterns in spicy hues and potted succulents bring life into the mix. Russ used scrap fabric to cover pillows, which brightly accent a bench made of stacked concrete blocks topped with a fabric-wrapped plank.

Style on a Budget

Russ Cletta used inexpensive building materials, salvaged goods, and lots of his own labor to create a beautiful, low-cost landscape.

Deck——————————————–$1,200

Concrete block bench————————-$30

Gravel and steppers————————-$150

Wall Panels and frame——————–$1,200

Deck furnishings———————————$50

Plants (in-ground) —————————-$500

~Better Homes and Gardens (August 2008)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS ZANGER WITH THE ZANGER TEAM AT REFERRAL REALTY. 

CALL [408] 914-5046, OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.THEZANGERTEAM.COM

…we expect lots of questions.

The old saying, “the only dumb question is the one you don’t ask” couldn’t be truer when it relates to your mortgage.

Because the more you ask, the more you know. And the more you know, the better decisions you’ll make when getting a mortgage or refinancing your existing mortgage. So know your mortgage options and know them well.

When you are considering getting a mortgage, the difference between being well informed and barely understanding your choices can be costly. For example, settling for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage when you should have gotten a lower rate with an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) can cost you several hundred dollars a month, on average, or several thousands of dollars over the life of your loan!

Or, conversely, getting an ARM when you should have gotten a fixed-rate mortgage can cause potential problems down the road when your rate adjusts or you need to refinance. Knowing which mortgage is best for your situation can save you headaches and what some call pocket-book shock.

So, when you are ready to sit down to figure out the best loan for your particular situation, have some information ready. This will help us find the absolute best mortgage possible.

Before sitting down to discuss your mortgage, have some questions ready. Some of the questions you should ask might be:

• How long do you plan on staying in your home?
• Do you think your income will grow substantially in the next 3-7 years?
• Do you plan on starting (or growing) your family in the next 3-7 years?
• Do you put money in a 401k or other long-term investment?
• Are property values rising or declining in your area?
• In order to pay a lot less interest down the road, can you afford a slightly higher payment with a 20-year mortgage vs. a typical 30-year mortgage?

You might be wondering-why does it matter if the property values are rising in my area?”-here’s why. If you know for a fact that you are only planning on staying in your home for 7 years or less, you can almost always get a lower rate and lower payment (and therefore save money) with an ARM over a fixed rate. However, rates do carry and market conditions do fluctuate, so professional advice is paramount.

Or, if you unfortunately live in an area with declining property values, you might want to stick to the security of a 30-year fixed rate. That way, when your housing market rebounds and prices rise again (which will happen if history is any indicator), you have equity built into your home and you can sell it for a nice profit. One the other hand, if you are lucky enough to live in an area with rising values, your equity grows by itself and you really don’t need to worry about paying off the principal.

To ensure you get the best mortgage for you particular situation, always ask questions, get the answers, ask more questions, and then make your decision. If you think you’ll be moving or refinancing in the next few years, you may want to consider getting an ARM. If you know you won’t be moving or refinancing soon, then you may want to consider the always popular 30-year fixed rate loan.

Whatever type of loan you decided to choose, with the right information, you’ll make the best decision and save yourself the most money in the long run. Isn’t saving a lot of money worth asking a few questions?

~Brian Thornton

2008 Exodus Marketing Group, Inc. 0808

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS ZANGER WITH THE ZANGER TEAM AT REFERRAL REALTY. 

CALL [408] 914-5046, OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.THEZANGERTEAM.COM

A colorful and casual decorating style suits this remodeled cottage’s sun-splashed rooms.

For many Chicagoans, the villages of southwest Michigan’s Harbor Country are but a blur in a frantic drive up the coast to the resort towns of Grand Haven, Ludington, or Traverse City. Jeannine and Frank ten Brink took the road less traveled to Harbert, one of those villages, 15 years ago and fell in love with its humble, early 1900s foursquare-style cottages built on large wooded lots.

“We couldn’t afford anything back then,” says Jeannine, “but we’d always drive around, dreaming, then I’d go back home and clip pages out of magazines.”

The ten Brinks leaped to buy this 1,700-square-foot house, even knowing they’d have to shore up its foundations, tear down walls, and move rooms around.

Under designer Robert Zuber’s guidance, a first-floor bedroom became a country kitchen that’s open to the living areas, and the former kitchen was reworked into a master suite. Since the heart of every summer retreat is a porch, Zuber designed a new one on the home’s south side. With its wide-plank paneling and exposed beam ceiling, the new space looks like it’s always been there.

After the remodel, Jeannine brought her vision of an old-fashioned lake cottage to life. She chose slipcovered sofas and sisal rugs that can take three teenage children and constant traffic to and from the beach in stride. Then she shopped catalogs and antiques shops for wicker chairs, wooden tables, and accessories in red, white, and blue-colors of the Stars and Stripes and the flag of Frank’s native Netherlands.

“I wasn’t looking for anything special of fancy,” says Jeannine, “just casual and comfortable.”

Patriotic Palette

Red, white, and blue is a can’t-miss color combination for summer, but too much of it can look gimmicky. Here’s how Jeannine keeps the theme in check:

• White walls and ceilings handle bright colors, yet their many different textures (beaded board, horizontal planks, subway tiles) keep the rooms from looking stark or cold.
• Vivid patterns abound, but there’s only one per space-a patchwork quilt on a bed, a checked yellow pillow sham-and it’s always surrounded by plenty of white so the patterns don’t compete.
• Wrought-iron lamp bases, curtain rods, and cabinet hardware are the tiny shots of black every room needs to look pulled together and finished.

~Better Homes and Gardens (July 2008)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS ZANGER WITH THE ZANGER TEAM AT REFERRAL REALTY. 

CALL [408] 914-5046, OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.THEZANGERTEAM.COM