Valley Home Finder March-April 2015

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5237 POPPY HILLS COURT See page 3 for more information

SANDRI KEARNS GRUPE REAL ESTATE

209-649-0716

PROPERTIES IN SAN JOAQUIN, FOOTHILLS AND SIERRA

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INDEX Mission San Jose Mortgage ......................2 Prudential California Realty ...................4-15 Paint Like the Pros ...................................16 Grupe Real Estate .............................20-22 Looking For an Agent ........................23, 27 Home, Spring Home ...............................24 Help-U-Sell Real Estate .............................26 OnTarget ..............................................27 New Takes on Curb Appeal ....................28 PMZ Real Estate......................... back cover

5237 POPPY HILLS COURT Nestled in the prestigious Brookside community of Stockton is where you’ll find this sensational two-story custom home. On the bank of a small lake that is surrounded by the world-renowned golf course architected Robert Trent Jones, Jr. A spacious floor plan boasting four to six bedrooms. A den/ bedroom option with 5th & 6th bedrooms are located downstairs.

Impressive entryway opening to living room with cathedral ceilings and a spectacular chandelier.

The formal dining room will

accommodate a grand table and chairs. The oversized gourmet kitchen with granite counters, island, breakfast bar and kitchen nook are poised for entertaining. A fireplace accents the spacious family room that leads you to the outdoor living space.

Outdoors you will find a spectacular pool and spa. The fire pit is there to warm up the nights from the Delta breeze.

The community amenities include parks, a pool, tennis courts and club house. The home is a short walk to the Brookside Country Club.

NEXT ISSUE’S DEADLINE: MARCH 30 DISTRIBUTION: MAY 1

To advertise: call or write The Record Valley Home Finder P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95201 209-943-1112

www.valleyhomefinder.com

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CALL 209-546-8200 TODAY! To tour this beautiful home, please contact Sandri Kearns, (209) 649-0716 / 955-7915 Grupe Real Estate

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By Dawn Klingensmith CTW Features

There’s a reason professional painters get paid the big bucks – literally. Hiring a pro to paint a single room in your home can cost three or four times as much as a DIY job, even with supply purchases added in.

Professional painters own the right tools and practice tricks of the trade to produce flawless results every time. While you’ll probably never put in the hours of practice required to become the Grand Poobah of painting, you can achieve professional-looking results with the help of this primer on painting like a pro.

Prepare for Paint “A good paint job is 90 percent

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prep work,” says Lou Manfredini, Ace Hardware’s home expert. “Applying paint is the easiest part of the job.”

Remove switch plates and outlet covers rather than trying to paint around them.

Start with a clean surface. “Even if you feel your walls are very clean, it’s definitely worth it to go over them with a damp cloth,” says Bethany Kohoutek, editor of DIY Magazine.

Then, go over them with a light beam.

“The number one thing that a pro does that you don’t know is use a really bright light as their guide” and as part of the prep work, Manfredini says. Use a shop light with a 100-watt bulb and slowly scan the wall for imperfections that might not otherwise “come to light,” so to speak,

until it’s too late.

Fill cracks, dents and holes with spackle and sand it smooth.

If using a dark or bright color, apply a coat of primer to create a uniform surface for the paint. The paint store can tint your primer to bring out the best in your paint.

With All the Trimmings The editors of DIY Magazine recommend painting the trim work last, but Manfredini says professional painters tend to do it first, using a washable semigloss finish.

“Once the trim work is dry, then the painters tape goes up,” he says.

Run a putty knife or your thumbnail over the edge of the tape to ensure paint won’t bleed in. When you are finished painting and the walls are dry to the

Paint Like the Pros Stay away from common mistakes and shortcuts for a DIY paint job that looks great and lasts touch, remove the tape slowly at a 45degree angle.

The Right Tools A quality paint job starts with quality tools. A well-made paintbrush has bristles in the center that are slightly longer than those on the edges; bristles should be held in place with a metal ferrule that is nailed on as opposed to crimped on, according to 100+ Paint Projects ( John Wiley & Sons, 2011), a new book by the editors of DIY Magazine.

Roller covers should have a short nap for smooth surfaces, and the glossier the paint, the shorter the nap. Rough or textured surfaces require a longer nap, says Mary Lawlor, manager of coloring marketing, Kelly-Moore Paints.

Paint the Right Pattern To paint the ceiling, use a roller with a telescoping handle and apply the first coat in the same direction as the major light source, such as a window, and a second coat perpendicular to the light to ensure full, even coverage, Kohoutek says.

When using more than one gallon of paint, mix the cans together in a five-gallon bucket to ensure your color is uniform.

Start painting the walls by outlining the edges. At corners and where the wall meets the ceiling and trim, use a brush to apply a neat 2- to 3-inch border.

(In painters’ parlance, this process

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is called “cutting in,” with a 2- to 3-inch strip of paint along all the edges, around the door and window frames, and at baseboards.)

Switch to a roller, and as you apply paint, you’ll slightly overlap your brushwork. Work in sections, using a W pattern with the roller and then filling it in instead of an up-and-down stroke.

Apply paint in a thick, smooth film.

A common mistake people make is not loading enough paint onto the brush or roller, Manfredini says.

Skip the Shortcuts Skipping the second coat is a common shortcut but not among the pros, he adds: “Paint companies talk about one-coat coverage, but a professional painter will always go with two.”

Paint takes a while to cure, so don’t push furniture right up against your newly painted walls for a couple of weeks, warns Kohoutek: “It’s just like when you paint your fingernails. Even though the paint is dry, when you go to grab something or slide your hand in an oven mitt, it can still get smudged or nicked.” © CTW Features

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Home, Spring Home Spring-cleaning projects to keep your home in tip-top shape

By Charles Scutt CTW FEATURES

In spring, a man’s fancy turns to love – and, if he’s smart, home improvement projects. When the thermometer starts ticking upward, the experts say it’s important to give your house a good going-over from top to bottom to keep things running smoothly and prevent damage.

“For most of us, our home is our biggest investment,” says Kathleen A. Kuhn, president of HouseMaster, a homeinspection service in Bound Brook, N.J. “And when it comes to that investment, the bottom line is that if you take care of your home, it will be worth more when

the time comes to sell it.”

Being proactive with springtime home maintenance “can save you large sums of money,” says Kevin Sapp, builder network development manager for MetLife Home Loans, Memphis, Tenn. “Small issues with homes do not typically fix themselves and ultimately lead to larger, more costly repairs.”

When it comes to home maintenance, homeowners have to think outside the box – literally, says Kuhn. “Regardless what season it is, home maintenance always starts on the outside of the house and always starts with the roof.”

For starters, check your roof shingles

and flashings. Ninety percent of roof leaks are actually flashing leaks, Kuhn says. “Flashings may come loose or crack and should be repaired or replaced immediately to avoid leakage into the home and consequential damage to the interior roofing elements.”

Sapp also says roof shingles should be inspected to make sure that there is no damage from snow and ice.

Next, it’s essential to check your gutters and downspouts, which most

likely are full of leaves and other debris, says Gino Chiapparelli, a mortgage professional with Luxury Mortgage, Stamford, Conn. “Overflowing gutters can deposit excessive amounts of water against the foundation of your house, resulting in water leaking into basements and crawlspaces.”

Other springtime projects to consider include painting or power-washing your siding, sealing decks, patios and porches, resealing your driveway, and re-grading

your foundation.

While outside, give proper attention to your lawn and landscaping. Aerate your lawn in the spring and overseed with a high-quality grass seed, Sapp says.

“Proper aeration of tightly compacted lawns will help increase water, nutrient and oxygen movement in the soil, improve grass rooting and prevent run-off of fertilizer and pesticides.”

Spring also is a good time to check doors and windows, says Sara Shragal,

a representative with DirectBuy, Merrillville, Ind. “Having the proper insulation and weather-stripping around your current windows or replacing old windows with more energy-efficient ones can help keep your home cool and comfortable and lessen the workload on your air conditioners or central air,” Shragal says.

Likewise, adding extra insulation to your attic, walls, ceilings and hot water heater can reduce your heating and cooling

costs, says Kuhn. “Leaking air makes your heating and cooling systems work harder and longer, using more energy,” she says. “So check cable lines, pipes, electrical outlets and switch plates for seeping air.”

Spring-cleaning involves more than ladders and hand tools, however. “Vacuum your upholstery and draperies to remove any dust, pollen or dander, and thoroughly clean your ceiling fans,” Chiapparelli says. “Clean your carpeting with an organic rug cleaner to remove any residual pet odors and dust mites. And dust thoroughly to further reduce airborne allergens.”

Because you can open the doors and windows for extra ventilation, the warmer months are also ideal for repainting interior walls.

Painting a room a lighter and brighter shade “can have a huge

impact not only on that room but the entire house,” says Shragal.

The spring months also are ideal to undertake a major remodeling job “because you will have less of a need to keep the home warm if there are any wall or window openings during renovation,” says Kuhn.

Those on a tighter budget but who are seeking simple ways to improve their home’s energy efficiency can easily replace their incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones and install fixtures that can accommodate the latter, Shragal says.

Most of these projects can be tackled by the weekend-warrior homeowner, says Kuhn, with the exception of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, which should be checked and serviced by a professional. © CTW Features

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New Takes on Curb Appeal

By Barbara Ballinger CTW FEATURES

It’s almost a cliché that owners have to spruce up the exterior of their house in the front – the facade and yard – if they want to attract buyer attention and sell in a crowded real estate market.

But it also makes sense to do so for your own sense of personal and neighborhood enjoyment and pride.

Because of the tougher economy, the old rules of curb appeal have been replaced with some new, smart tricks that

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help save dollars, maintenance and the environment: Grow A Smarter Garden Green, sustainable gardens are good for the environment; formal gardens are out because they require too much money, time and aren’t environmentally friendly.

Starr Osborne, author of Home Staging That Works (AMACOM, 2010), suggests grasses and perennials since they don’t need as much irrigation, they don’t have to be replanted, they self-seed and are good at attracting birds and butterflies.

Find a New Water Way Permeable hardscapes allow water to seep through into the ground; materials like cement are less water-table-friendly and can create conditions for flooding and erosion. Attractive, well-wearing permeable choices include bluestone, flagstone and pebbles. “Try to pick indigenous materials to make your garden greener,” Osborne says.

Use a Hot Hue Shutters in dark hues usually don’t clash with a landscape or facade; bright Mediterranean colors are now considered

Paint this, plant that… blah blah blah.

Try these tricks to give your home’s exterior a fresh look without any extra maintenance. and never need to be turned on or off since they derive their energy from the sun. “They’re also easier to install since you just pop them in,” says architect John Gidding, HGTV host of Curb Appeal: The Block.

Open a ‘New’ Door An antique door from a salvage shop adds a more novel welcome than a newly built stock door. The right door makes a major first impression, says Gidding.

If you find one that doesn’t quite fit, it often can be trimmed to work. For contemporary houses, he suggests lighter colored woods; for more traditional houses, he says go with darker woods with details like iron hinges.

too splashy for many suburban yards.

Also, too-cute color combos like red shutters against a red-brick facade are on the outs. Instead, Osborne favors new combinations that are more maintenancefree because they hide dirt, such as Benjamin Moore’s Wenge (an almostblack hue), Hale Navy and Flint (a medium gray).

Invite in the Sun Solar-powered lights along a walkway rather than low-voltage lamps are less costly to install and maintain. The solarpowered lights cost only about $15 each

watering bill, says Algozzini. Though the initial cost sometimes may be more expensive, the maintenance costs are far less, he says.

“Buffalo grass only needs mowing once or twice a year, and never fertilizing,” he says. Another lawn alternative, wildflower meadow, doesn’t require pesticides, says Chris Cipriano, a landscape architect in Ramsey, N.J. Laying “carpets” of wildflowers akin to sod, such as asters, coneflowers, butterfly weeds and lupines, prevents having to plant them individually. Once they’re established, all you need to do is cut them down come fall. © CTW Features

Get Artsy Build your own artistic sculpture from found stones rather than purchasing expensive outdoor art, statuary or urns.

Irregular Pennsylvania bluestone slabs, which can be found at many local rock distributors, can be stacked and attached with a fence post down the middle to add an interesting focal point in your yard, says John Algozzini, a landscape designer with Kinsella Landscape Inc. in Blue Island, Ill. Create a Low-Maintenance Lawn Replace high-maintenance sods like bluegrass or any grass with lowermaintenance choices like Buffalo grass or Purple Love Grass ground cover.

You don’t just cut your time and effort in mowing but also your fertilizer and

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