November 2021 - Page 2 of 27 - Home Decor Ideas

This meticulously planned and planted Queen Anne garden changes for the seasons in colorful echoes of a restored Victorian home

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, this sultry Victorian on Queen Anne was once a humble 1906 house clad in white vinyl siding, with a “pretty” pink, yellow and blue garden skirting its foundation. Then Brian Coleman, a Seattle psychiatrist with a love for old houses, discovered a passion for historical restoration. “We added a turret, carvings of sunflowers and cast-iron griffins, along with new siding in a fall palette of deep greens, gold and burgundy,” he says. “The garden had to change!”

American poet Phyllis McGinley once wrote, “The trouble with gardening is that it does not remain an avocation. It becomes an obsession.” Coleman tells me his passion (obsession?) for tending was sown early, alongside his mother in the family’s garden in Olympia. My, how it’s grown.

Today, the ornate house and garden are a celebration of color and finely crafted detail. The shallow front yard is a mere 22 feet wide, with steeply sloping beds that meet up with the sidewalk on a busy residential street. Manicured box hedging and variegated holly columns provide year-round heft to the landscape, along with a windmill palm, topiary forms, yew hedges and a golden hinoki cypress. Then ready, set, plant. And by plant, I mean play, adorn and festoon the landscape with seasonal compositions that echo colorful detailing on the house.

The burgundy, copper, chartreuse and gold colors are consistent from year to year. “It’s an Aesthetic 19th-century palette inside and out,” Coleman says. Variegated foliage, along with turquoise and purple accents in the garden, leavens the darker hues.

Coleman’s garden is highly crafted and reflects the remarkable plantsmanship of a group of talented designers. Glenn Withey and Charles Price (witheyprice.com) laid out the initial plan for the landscape and unleashed their signature (and brilliant) color sense on early plantings. Over the years, Riz Reyes, Shayne Chandler and Sam Sacharoff also have contributed their design expertise and mad plant skills to the artful landscape. Coleman tends the garden on a day-to-day basis and stays busy keeping up with watering the containers, beds and borders.

The garden is a botanical work of art that’s constantly being re-imagined. Hardy perennials, including cabbage palm (Cordyline australis ‘Red Star’), purple-leaf heuchera and variegated ivy, anchor compositions engulfed by a seasonal infusion of tender plantings. A recent display of sun-tolerant coleus and dark-leaved dahlias greeted visitors at the front walk, while billowing containers filled with trailing million bells, petunias and fragrant heliotrope mounted the entry steps. Naturalized nasturtiums softened hard edges, and sunflowers made their annual appearance, echoing details found on the home’s front gable.

In fall, masses of winter pansies, ornamental kale and berried shrubs replace tender plantings in the massive window box and containers, while the trim boxwood hedges and clipped hollies carry the show throughout winter.

In addition to his medical practice and his work as editor at large for Old House Journal, Coleman is a prolific author of 22 books. His most recent title, “Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest” (Gibbs Smith, 2021), profiles 20 personality-infused landscapes, beautifully captured by Seattle photographer William Wright. Coleman’s landscape is featured in the book, although, modestly, he doesn’t identify himself as the owner. The garden is simply a generous and lavish gift to readers and local passersby alike.

Lorene Edwards Forkner
is the author of “The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Great Vegetables,” Timber Press, 2021. Follow along at ahandmadegarden.com.

Is Your Home Improvement Contract Legal? – Real Estate and Construction

In an effort to protect homeowners, California has set out
extensive requirements for the form and content of home improvement
contracts. California Business and Professions Code Section 7159 sets out these requirements in
painstaking, and sometimes pain-inducing, levels of detail. The
unfortunate result for contractors tends to be confusion and
avoidance.

Many contractors operate with noncompliant contracts, or have no
formal contract and simply operate on the basis of a bid
submission. The consequences of doing so can include disciplinary
action by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), fines,
and an unenforceable agreement. It is worth the time and effort for
a contractor to bring his or her contracts into compliance. To that
end, the following is an attempt to cover many of the requirements
of Section 7159, although this list is by no means exhaustive.

When is a Contract Necessary?

In general, a home improvement contract is needed for repairs or
alterations to residential property. According to California
Business and Professions Code Section 7151, this includes “the
construction, erection, replacement, or improvement of driveways,
swimming pools, including spas and hot tubs, terraces, patios,
awnings, storm windows, landscaping, fences, porches, garages,
fallout shelters, basements, and other improvements of the
structures or land which is adjacent to a dwelling house.” A
very broad range of construction activity is thus covered. Section
7159 does not apply to new construction or projects under $500,
however.

Basic Contract Requirements

As to basic format, any writing in the contract must be legible.
Type must be no less than 10-point anywhere, with 12-point type
being required in certain places. The contract must say “Home
Improvement” in 10-point type. The first page of the contract
must indicate the date the buyer signed the contract. The first
page must also indicate the name and address of the contractor,
following a statement indicating that this is the address to which
a notice of cancellation should be sent.

The contractor must give a copy of the agreement, signed and
dated by both parties, to the homeowner before work begins.
Accordingly, the contract must contain the following statement in
12-point type: “You are entitled to a completely filled in
copy of this agreement, signed by both you and the contractor
before work is started.” Similarly, change orders can only be
incorporated into the contract if in writing and signed prior to
work beginning. The contract must include the overall price,
finance charges if any, and a description of the project and
materials to be used, with separate headings for all three. As with
all construction contracts, the contractor must include their
license number.

A heading must be included for the approximate date of
commencement, followed by the approximate date of commencement,
with a statement explaining what constitutes substantial
commencement. A separate heading for completion is required,
followed by an approximate date of completion.

What Must Be Said About Payments

If a down payment will be charged, there must be a down payment
heading followed by space to indicate the amount of the down
payment. This must be followed in 12-point, boldface type with:
“THE DOWN PAYMENT MAY NOT EXCEED $1,000 OR 10 PERCENT OF THE
CONTRACT PRICE, WHICHEVER IS LESS.”

If progress payments are to be charged, there must be a heading
for them, and a list of payments to be made in dollars and cents
with reference to corresponding work and materials. The section
must contain the following notice: “The schedule of progress
payments must specifically describe each phase of work, including
the type and amount of work or services scheduled to be supplied in
each phase, along with the amount of each proposed progress
payment. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR A CONTRACTOR TO COLLECT PAYMENT
FOR WORK NOT YET COMPLETED, OR FOR MATERIALS NOT YET DELIVERED.
HOWEVER, A CONTRACTOR MAY REQUIRE A DOWNPAYMENT.” The contract
must also explain that a lien release must be made for progress
payments before any additional payments can be required.

Other Notice Requirements

Section 7159 also spells out various notice requirements.
Contractors must indicate whether they carry liability insurance
and workers’ compensation insurance. A CSLB notice including
contact information and available services is also required. The
HIC must also make clear the homeowner’s right to cancel within
a certain number of days. For contracts negotiated at the home,
there is a 3 day right to cancel, or (new in 2021) a five day right
to cancel for senior citizens. For property destroyed in a sudden
or catastrophic emergency for which a state of emergency is
declared, the window to cancel is 7 days. The possibility of a
mechanics lien being placed on the property must also be spelled
out, and with specific language provided in Section 7159.

Originally published February 3, 2021

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

Here’s Where Home Prices Are Headed in 2022, According to Experts

No doubt about it — the real estate market has been white hot in 2021. But if you didn’t make a move this year, and you’re thinking about buying or selling — or both — next year, you’ll want to know what to expect.

Read: Craziest Things That Kill Your Home’s Value
Home Improvement: 20 Home Renovations That Will Hurt Your Home’s Value

As of Nov. 10, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.98{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9}, which is actually the lowest it’s been since Sept. 23. If you’re planning to buy a house, you’re almost definitely pleased that rates aren’t exactly skyrocketing — but will it last?

Several real estate experts have weighed in on where they think the real estate market is headed in 2022. Here’s what they had to say.

Learn More: 20 Insider Tips To Save Money on Every Part of Your Home

Big Cities Could Surge Again

Jonathan Spears, a real estate agent and founder of Spears Group, based in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, said he believes market gains will continue across the U.S. in 2022. Specifically, as people continue to become more comfortable returning to big cities, he expects to see the largest surges in metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Southeast and the West Coast.

“Despite some market prognosticators forecasting increases in market values upwards of 15{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9}, because the market experienced an increase of over 30{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} in the previous year, it may actually seem as though real estate markets have slowed,” he said. “Because of low inventory, we won’t see as high of rates of absorption simply because the inventory is not there.”

Despite that, he anticipates solid growth across the U.S. real estate market in general.

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The Rate at Which Home Values Are Appreciating Could Slow Down

Andrina Valdes, COO of Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc., pointed to statistics from a variety of housing authorities — including Fannie Mae, which predicts a 7.4{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} home appreciation for 2022, and the National Association of Realtors, which predicts 2.8{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} appreciation for existing homes and 4.4{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} appreciate for new homes — when explaining her prediction for home prices in 2022.

“While home values are not expected to depreciate, the rate at which home values are appreciating is expected to slow down,” she said.

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Mortgage Rates Could Rise — But It Could Still Be a Good Time for Buyers

Valdes said mortgage rates are projected to rise a bit next year, but still remain historically low, while buyer demand is expected to stay strong.

“The market is likely to cool compared to 2021, but it will still be active,” she said. “It may still be a seller’s market in many areas, but there’s likely to be more opportunities and wiggle room for homebuyers.”

Consequently, she said it will still be a great time to buy a home.

“A ‘priced out’ buyer should be able to find many more options,” she said. “Experts also reinforce that 2022’s housing market is not at all likely to crash — the conditions we’re seeing are nothing like those that led up to the crisis of 2008.”

Helpful: 8 Insider Tips to Get Rich in Real Estate

Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, agreed that buyers will likely be able to get more for their money in 2022.

“Home asking prices have decelerated in the second half of 2021, with median listing price growth slipping from a peak 17.2{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} in April to just 8.6{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} in October,” she said. “Sales prices have slowed somewhat, but not yet as rapidly.”

However, she said this is expected to change.

“With prices near all-time highs and mortgage rates expected to rise, we expect this slowdown in prices to continue,” she said.

Good news for those on both sides of a real estate transaction, Jason Gelios, a realtor in Southeast Michigan, said the 2022 housing market will continue to transition to favor home buyers while prices stabilize, but remain strong.

“Many first-time homebuyers who weren’t able to compete with stronger homebuyers during the hyperactive sellers’ market will have a chance to bid on homes in 2022,” he said. “However, buyers should expect to pay close to the asking price, as the housing inventory will more than likely be less than where it should be.”

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Inventory Will Likely Still Be Low

Bill Samuel, a residential real estate developer and owner of Chicago-based home-buying company Blue Ladder Development, agreed that the lack of homes for sale will probably still be an issue next year.

“Expect a very competitive market through 2022, with multiple offers on most of the properties you are interested in,” said Samuel, who is also a licensed real estate broker. Available inventory is still low, but it is slightly higher than it was at the start of 2021. While the market may not be as insane as the last several months, it is still much more competitive than before COVID started.”

He said the pandemic has improved the housing market by limiting the supply of homes for sale and increasing buyer demand with low interest rates and stimulus payments.

“Foreclosures and evictions will resume their normal course starting at the end of 2021,” he said. “So we will likely see an increase in the supply of homes for sale.”

Find Out: The Cost To Own a 3-Bedroom Home in Every State

However, he said that while the supply of available homes will likely increase throughout the next year, it is still expected to be much lower than pre-pandemic levels.

“In my opinion, the market will continue to remain strong throughout 2022, with continued low supply,” he said. “However, I don’t expect demand for housing and the overall market to be quite as hectic as 2021.”

Only time will tell how the real estate market performs in 2022. Hopefully these expert opinions will give you something to think about as you start making plans for the new year.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s Where Home Prices Are Headed in 2022, According to Experts

Metaverse universe: Realty and luxury brands wait for you to splash crypto cash

It is not real yet but things are moving along at a feverish pace. Metaverse, a dream sold to us most vocally by Mark Zuckerberg of Meta (formerly Facebook) and followed up by the world of tech and beyond, is at best described as a hypothetical evolution of the internet in its current form, and it may or may not happen, however, the number of believers is significantly higher.

If you thought only tech companies have ambitions for the metaverse future, that wouldn’t be true. Real estate, fashion, entertainment, and gaming companies are making a beeline for the next big upgrade to the internet, sending the digital real estate prices soaring

Real estate boom (or decline, depending on your luck) is something we are well versed with in the physical world around us. But the metaverse? Turns out, a plot of digital land has sold for $2.43 million. This is on the Decentraland Marketplace platform which sells digital/virtual land and collectibles for your metaverse life’s preparations.In fact, the metaverse is so much in vogue that the above piece of land sold for more than twice the previous high of $913,000 in June this year.

This purchase was made using cryptocurrency by the Metaverse Group, a subsidiary of Tokens.com. They paid 618,000 MANA, an Ethereum based token, for this real estate deal, in the heart of what is believed to be the fashion district of the Decentraland metaverse world. For the rest of us to get an idea of the space involved here, in real world that would translate into 6,090 square feet of land.

Also Read: Can you, and should you, make NFTs from artwork, collectibles and tweets?

“Fashion is the next massive area for growth in the metaverse. So it’s timely, and very exciting that Metaverse Group has made such a decisive commitment with this land purchase in the heart of Decentraland’s fashion precinct,” points out Sam Hamilton, head of content at the Decentraland Foundation.

That’s more money than the price tags slapped on most homes in San Francisco or New York City.

A quick browse through in the marketplace lead us to land listings such as the “Largest Metaverse Estate for Sale near Genesis Plaza” with a price tag of 277,777 Ethereum. The listing to bid for the “Virtual Reality Shopping District” even bid for buying land in District X, which is described as “Decentraland’s premier land, content, and service company providing land rentals/leases, prefab and custom content, and in-world services”. It is all getting very real world in the metaverse. With similar real estate prices too. Most require Ethereum coin payments.

Also Read: Should you fear the metaverse?

Metaversereit, which calls itself the world’s first virtual real estate firm, says, “Digital scarcity is a tenant of all virtual World’s. There is a limited amount of virtual real estate in these Metaverses and just like the physical realm, only a subset of that available real estate is considered desirable.”

High street comes to the metaverse universe

Nike has firm plans for a virtual space called NIKELAND. The company has partnered with Roblox, an online gaming platform that offers more than 24 million virtual experiences with focus on immersive content. NIKELAND will be inspired by the company’s global headquarters in the real world, interspersed with games and sports activities (Nike says these will take advantage of the accelerometers on your phones) and of course, a digital showroom.

“Nike created this bespoke world with the backdrop of its world headquarters and inside Roblox’s immersive 3D space, building on its goal to turn sport and play into a lifestyle,” the company says, in an official statement.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are the route fashion labels are taking to enter the metaverse. It is all a big opportunity for dressing up avatars in the metaverse, with research suggesting that one in five metaverse gamers on Roblox change their avatars daily. Gucci sold a digital version of its Dionysus bag on Roblox for about $4,100. In fact, that’s more expensive than the real-life bag, which has a price tag of around $3,400.

Also Read | Facebook to Meta: The Metaverse contours go beyond just rebranding

Another luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana sold a nice-piece NFT collection last month for $5.7 million. This digital collection called Collezione Genesi was sold on UNXD, a digital luxury marketplace. One of the NFTs, called, The Dress From A Dream in gold colour, sold for $820,000. That’s 225.5 Ether coins, thank you very much.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley say that the virtual luxury market could be as large as $57 billion by the year 2030. That is a massive opportunity for the luxury brands, and NFTs are the easiest way forward.

How to be part of the NDIS property investment boom – Services

NDIS service providers tend to rent the whole property for lengthy periods of time.
Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Property continues to be a star investment performer during the pandemic with certain types of property delivering even better returns than others.

NDIS approved dwellings fall into this category.

Property is king at the moment and many people who are investing in property are making significant gains.

What we are finding is that investors who are purchasing NDIS approved dwellings are achieving extremely attractive returns of up to 20 percent per annum. The most common question I receive is how do I find or invest in an NDIS approved property. People want to know what the process involves which is a very good question.

I have outlined some of the most common NDIS property questions.

What is an NDIS property

Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is housing that has been specially designed to suit the needs of people who have extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.

There is a significant undersupply of SDA properties across the country. Property investors who invest in the sector are not only generating strong returns, they are also helping to solve a social crisis.

SDA properties offer improved liveability. Improved liveability includes features such as external doors and outdoor private areas must be accessible by wheelchair and facilities such as the bathroom vanity and hand basin, kitchen sink, bench, cooktop and key appliances should be accessible in either a seated or standing position in order to meet the resident’s needs. In addition the properties must also be more robust which reduces the likelihood of reactive maintenance.

The current government incentives and structure for SDA properties means the rental income is much greater, on average by three to four times, than what investors would generally expect from a non NDIS property.

How can I purchase an SDA property

There are several ways you can purchase an SDA property. Firstly, you can purchase a property and adapt it based on SDA housing requirements, however, this tends to require substantial and complex work and the scheme set a minimum spend the investor must be able to demonstrate to qualify as a new build in the scheme.

There are builders and architects that specialise in undertaking this type of work. In addition, there are also advisory organisations that specialise in providing this type of guidance.

Alternatively, you can purchase an SDA property that is already approved and equipped to house NDIS participants. These can be sourced through real estate agents and specialist agents however they are in short supply. Family Offices, investment groups and other institutional investors actively seek out these properties for addition to their investment portfolios.

The scenario we see the most is for retail investors is the house and land package. This involves the purchase of a block of land in an SDA friendly location and then the construction of an SDA approved house on that parcel.

How do I find an NDIS tenant/s

This is a good question and one that many people want to know. How do NDIS participants and SDA dwelling owners connect.

The NDIS operates under a broad market approach. On this basis, participants are expected to find and apply for appropriate advertised vacancies themselves. This is done in two ways. Either a participant finds their own property directly through sites such as realestate.com.au, or via organisations such as NDIS service providers that lease entire properties and rent out rooms to participants.

NDIS service providers normally provide live-in house coordinators and provide other levels of support to participants. Organisations also search realestate.com.au and have connections with agents that know what properties are coming up on the market that are SDA appropriate.

Who pays the rent

The income from an SDA property is structured slightly differently to a standard investment property.

The income consists of several parts: SDA payment and the Reasonable Rent Contribution which is 25 percent of the recipient’s base disability support pension. Given the structure of the payments, the rent is virtually guaranteed which is important when it comes to investment returns.

NDIS service providers tend to rent the whole property for lengthy periods of time. SDA properties are typically not subject to the same market forces as other sectors of the community such as people who have lost their jobs through COVID.

Yannick Ieko is the founder and managing director of NDIS Loan Experts.

New World Player Places Annoying House Decoration Near Trading Post

In the wake of New World’s latest update, many fans are upset about the game, but a player is having fun annoying others with house decorations.

new world player places annoying bird decoration near trading post noisy call meme housing tax

Despite its overwhelmingly positive launch almost two months ago, Amazon Game Studios’ New World hasn’t met the players’ expectations after all the issues and glitches that broke the game and its economy. New World‘s Steam reviews are now mixed after the Into the Void November update that made controversial secret changes to core gameplay mechanics. In fact, loot became much scarcer than before, making it hard for players to get anything good in the endgame.

This ended up affecting New World‘s solo players the most, who are now struggling to kill enemies due to their increased health pool, and if they do, the loot is not great. Another issue is tied to the duplication glitch affecting trophies and furniture, which made it impossible for New World players to trade these items for the time being – at least, that’s until Amazon figures out a solution. To compensate, housing taxes have been reduced by 90{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} for a while now, and players can enjoy the houses of their dreams to a degree.

GAMERANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

RELATED: New World Dramatically Reduces Housing Tax

A house owner in New World decided to place a crane-like decoration at the very limit of their property, which is very near to the trading post in the settlement. A Reddit user by the name of Ikavelashvili shared a post describing what’s going on and why this is a tragically comic thing to do to fellow players, as the animal continually makes intolerable sounds every few seconds. Thus, every New World player stopping by the trading post for some shopping is forced to listen to the bird’s noisy call.

To some players, hearing several birds from outside town can make it look like it’s haunted, whereas hearing them within its walls is excruciating. Another fellow Redditor suggests that this is the true endgame in New World‘s PvP because it annoys enemy players before incoming Faction Wars. Either way, the community is split on its judgment of the bird’s cry, as some want it toned down because it’s too annoying, whereas others like it as is.

As part of the housing issue, New World players are getting a lot of Gold, but this has caused another problem due to the amount of coins given varying randomly and affecting only a handful of individuals. New World is far from being out of the woods yet, but at least some players are still having fun.

New World is available now for PC.

MORE: New World’s Changes With the November 2021 Patch Explained

Warner Bros Video Games Are Going to Dominate 2022

Warner Bros Interactive has an impressive line-up of video games for 2022, and if it can nail each release, then it might just dominate the year.