Central vacuum system installation tips

I was touring a new home, and one of the features that really interested me was the central vacuum system. It seems like one of these would be really handy. What's involved when you install a central vacuum? Can you share some tips, especially what not to do? - Ray H., Newtown, Pa.

I've been really lucky for the past 25 years in that the last two houses I've lived in both have had a central vacuum system.

I have to tell you that I don't know if I would be able to handle going back to a traditional vacuum that you have to lug around the house.

Perhaps the biggest misconception about central vacuum systems is the myth that they can only be installed when building a new home. That's simply not true. It's absolutely easier to install one when the walls are wide open, but believe me, a talented installer can put one in an existing home with relative ease.

When you toured that new home, you saw outlets on the walls that looked something like an electrical outlet. These have a door that flips open, and the end of the central vac hose plugs into the hole. Small metal contacts inside the outlet cause the remote motor in the vacuum to immediately turn on, and you're ready to work.

The pipe in the walls is two inches in diameter. The inner diameter of the flexible hose that you use to clean with is about 11/4 inches. This is by design, so that it's almost impossible for the pipe hidden in the walls to become clogged. If an object can pass through the flexible hose in your hands, then it can also make it through the walls to the actual vacuum canister.

There are any number of mistakes you can make when installing a central vac system. One is putting in too few outlets. You have to account for furniture being in your way, so the length of the flexible hose doesn't always reach as far as you might think. You'll never regret having too many outlets. The parts needed to do this are inexpensive.

You can make a mistake in where you locate the canister.

Most systems have the motor and the canister as one unit. The motor can be loud, so I recommend putting this out in the garage. The added benefit to this is when you empty the canister or replace the bag, dust is kept out of your home.

Some installers will take a shortcut and not run the exhaust pipe outdoors. Don't fall into this trap. You want the air to exit the house in case it contains very fine dust particles. Always follow the instructions of the manufacturer. If they say to exhaust the machine outdoors, do it.

If you put your canister and motor in your garage, be sure there is an outlet on the machine. If not, then put in a regular outlet in a wall on the garage. It's so handy to be able to use the central vac to clean a car.

Perhaps the most common mistake I see when installers put in a central vac, and one that does exhaust outdoors, is leaving out a fresh-air intake.

A central vacuum consumes vast amount of air when it's turned on. If you have a very tight home, the operation of a central vacuum could possibly cause backdrafting of combustion gases into your home, which could cause carbon-monoxide poisoning. It can also make a house smell like smoke if you have wood-burning fireplaces or wood stoves as the vacuum gets its replacement air by sucking it down a chimney.

Tim Carter is a columnist for Tribune Media Services. He can be contacted through his Web site, www.askthebuilder.com.

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Ask the Builder: Hardwood floors best left to the professionals

I'm going to install hardwood flooring. I'm talking about traditional tongue-and-groove hardwood that's 3/4-inch thick, not engineered hardwood flooring. My plan is to try it myself and only call in installers if I mess up. What do you think of this idea? It can't be that difficult - you just nail the boards to the floor. The cost of having the entire job done by professionals would really put a hardship on my budget. What tips can you share to help me do this job myself? -Susan W., Palo Alto, Calif.

I usually encourage people to try things themselves, for many reasons. First, it's fulfilling to accomplish a task and stand back and survey your stellar results. It's also possible to save money. But when it comes to a complete rookie installing hardwood flooring, I have to tell you that you're probably going to fail.

Installation is a true art, given the material you've chosen. And forget what you've seen on some of the cable television home-improvement shows, where they gloss over the finer points of installing the material that can last generations.

I'll never forget watching the first hardwood floor go down on one of my jobs. The tools the installer used were some I'd never seen. He had a funky-looking spring-loaded nailing tool that he hit with a rubber mallet. It drove special nails at the precise angle through the tongue of each piece of the flooring.

But that was the glory part. What's critical is that the material be given time to acclimate to your home. This means that the wood must be brought into the home and allowed to normalize with the house's temperature and humidity. This is a step often overlooked by rookies. If you don't let the wood acclimate, gaps may eventually form between the pieces. It can take days for the wood to become stable.

Professional hardwood installers know all sorts of tricks to ensure that squeaks don't happen. They use special nails that have tiny barbs and/or ribbing on the shaft that allow the nails to really bite into the subflooring.

You'll also see professionals install 15-pound felt paper under the strips of hardwood. This is an added touch that helps prevent vapor from entering the underside of the wood in case the wood is being installed over a crawlspace or a damp basement. The felt paper also helps, to a very small degree, with squeaking.

Have you thought about how you're going to deal with a subfloor that has humps and low spots in it? If you make a mistake, you'll absolutely end up with squeaks or gaps down the road. Professionals use a long straightedge to detect them. They fill the low spots with asphalt shingles to support the hardwood strips.

What are you going to do when you nail your first piece? How will you know it's perfectly straight? The entire floor builds off the first piece, so it must be correctly installed. The pros that worked for me carefully strung a line across the room and laid the first pieces exactly to it. It's important that the line hover just above the wood so that the pieces you install don't nudge it as you face nail them.

The initial layout of the flooring is very critical, especially if you're extending the hardwood into several rooms. You want to avoid cutting narrow strips next to any of the walls where the strips run parallel to the walls. Be sure on the where the wood runs parallel that you don't install it tight to the drywall or plaster. Leave a gap that's as thick as the baseboard that is on the wall. The bottom of the baseboard needs to be slightly above the flooring so that the wood can expand into the void space in case humidity soars.

Tim Carter is a columnist for Tribune Media Services. He can be contacted through his Web site, askthebuilder.com.

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Obama report on Fannie, Freddie plan may boost mortgage rates

The Obama administration wants to raise fees for borrowers and require larger down payments for home loans as part of a long-term effort to restructure the nation's housing market. But it warned that these measures could boost mortgage rates and make it harder for home buyers to secure the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a mainstay of American home buying for decades.

In a long-awaited white paper, the administration said it intends to wind down the federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and curtail the Federal Housing Administration to help reduce the government's outsized role in mortgage funding.

The housing finance system, which has ensured that Americans can get home loans, came crashing down in the financial crisis, helping fuel millions of foreclosures and the recession.

"I think it's absolutely the case that the U.S. government provided too much support for housing, too strong incentives for investment in housing," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Friday during a speech at the Brookings Institution. He noted that in addition to those fundamental mistakes, the government "allowed a huge amount of basic mortgage business to shift where there was no regulation or oversight."

But in proposing a strategy for the future, administration officials acknowledged they are walking a tightrope. Any steps that dial back government support too dramatically - making mortgages more expensive - could extend the housing decline.

Geithner said that a new housing finance system without Fannie and Freddie could take seven years to put in place, suggesting it might fall in part to future administrations.

"We have to see the process of repair in the housing market completed," Geithner said.

The white paper focuses on a series of short steps to increase fees and down-payment requirements. The administration hopes these measures will allow banks to more effectively compete in offering loans without government guarantees.

The report offers three options for replacing Fannie and Freddie. They include creating a new government agency that would continue to insure mortgages or a new agency that would step in only during times of crisis. Each, however, could put taxpayers at more risk of having to bail out the mortgage market during big declines.

The most drastic option would end government backing for home loans beyond the FHA. But the administration warned that this measure could affect access to credit for many potential homeowners. It could boost mortgage rates the most, the officials said, and it could make it harder for community banks to compete in the housing market.

In not offering a single long-term vision for the housing finance system, the administration sought to avoid a contentious clash with Republicans, who often have portrayed the mortgage giants as the chief culprit in the financial crisis. Republicans are likely to agree with the administration's plan to reduce taxpayer support for mortgages over time.

But Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that while the proposal includes elements that GOP lawmakers have embraced in the past, it "isn't a plan to move us forward, but rather a collection of opinions to consider. What's needed is a real plan, and we intend to sit down with administration officials to find common ground ... we need legislation that protects taxpayers from further losses and future bailouts and builds a stable housing finance system based on private capital."

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More details about the Cross Creek neighborhood

BOUNDARIES:The Intercounty Connector to the north, Old Gunpowder Road to the east, Briggs Chaney Road on the south and west. A few streets lie just east of Old Gunpowder and west of Briggs Chaney roads.

SCHOOLS: In Prince George's County, public schools that serve Cross Creek include Vansville Elementary School, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and High Point High School. In Montgomery County, the schools are Greencastle Elementary School, Benjamin Banneker Middle School, and the Northeast Consortium, which offers students the choice of James Hubert Blake, Springbrook or Paint Branch high schools.

HOME SALES: Sixteen homes in the Cross Creek community have sold in the past 12 months, according to Sharon DeGrouchy, an agent with Long & Foster, with prices ranging from $330,000 (a townhouse) to $620,000. Recently, four properties were on the market, including two short sales, with prices ranging from $350,000 to $695,000. Four homes were under contract, including two short sales and a foreclosure. Prices ranged from $329,000 to $589,000.

TRANSIT: Several Metrobus lines drop off and pick up passengers at the Briggs Chaney Park and Ride in Montgomery County, about five minutes from Cross Creek. Some of those buses travel to the Silver Spring Metro station. Montgomery County's Ride-On Route 21 also travels along Briggs Chaney and Fairland roads and stops at the Briggs Chaney Park and Ride. Commuter buses to Washington also stop at the Burtonsville Park and Ride, about 15 minutes away in Montgomery County. MARC commuter trains stop at the Muirkirk station, about 10 minutes away, off U.S. Route 1 in Prince George's County. The Greenbelt and Silver Spring Metro stations are 15 to 20 minutes by car.

WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE: Neighborhood parks, swimming pool, tennis courts.

WITHIN 15-20 MINUTES: Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex, the Gardens Ice House skating rink, Laurel Regional Hospital, the University of Maryland, the National Agricultural Research Center, the Food and Drug Administration, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, shopping areas in Laurel and Silver Spring.

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The plan to restructure

The Obama administration outlined its plan to phase out government support of the U.S. housing finance system - and wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.¶ The plan - a sharp change of course after a decades-long campaign to extend homeownership to more Americans - would shift more of the burden to the private sector. Underwriting standards for home loans would tighten. Borrowers could face higher rates and fees as well as bigger down payments.¶ Any steps that dial back government support too dramatically - making mortgages more expensive - could extend the housing decline and lock buyers out of the market. The blueprint emphasized the importance of rental options.

Business

New York Stock Exchange was near agreement to be acquired by Deutsche Borse in a $25 billion deal that would symbolize New York's fading role in global finance.

J.P. Morgan will accept gold as collateral in some transactions, putting the metal on par with triple-A-rated Treasurys.

Toyota electronics were absolved of fault by federal highway safety officials who said driver error was to blame for most accidents involving sudden acceleration issues. Pedals and floor mats were found to have contributed. LaHood: "Toyotas are safe to drive."

Twitter's estimated valuations of as much as $10 billion raise speculation of a tech sector bubble. Twitter made $45 million in revenue in 2010.

HSBC and Lloyds will begin reporting results on a quarterly basis, joining banks across Europe in a move toward greater transparency.

Investment banks say that banks have overcharged them for currency trades.

Nokia and Microsoft agreed to partner. The software giant's Windows Phone will be adapted as the operating system for Nokia's mobile phones. Nokia's stock dropped on the news.

Hewlett-Packard outlined plans to sell a tablet computer and smartphones using Palm software after acquiring Palm last year for $1.2 billion.

Chipotle, in a widening immigration investigation, let go hundreds of workers in Minnesota.

Alliant and an EADS unit plan to partner to pitch a new 300-foot commercial space rocket, called Liberty. Initial test flight as soon as 2013.

NFL offered hundreds of fans who went without seats at the Super Bowl tickets to the 2012 championship game.

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'Architectural editor' brings constructive ideas together in one place

Behind every really good writer stands a really good editor, the unsung hero who offers advice on ways to carve off excess words, make arguments more succinct and populate novels with more-compelling characters and plotlines.

Filmmakers also have editors. Their work is so valued, the movie industry includes it in the annual Academy Awards.

Architects do not have editors to offer feedback on their designs (a service that many critics and owners might suggest is sorely needed). But there are architectural editors whose function is similar to that of an acquisition editor at a large publishing house - their job is to acquire talent and sell their work. Dan Gregory, editor in chief of Novato, Calif.-based Houseplans.com, the nation's largest online home-planning service, is one of them.

Gregory's unusual credentials and depth of knowledge in home design are unequaled in the home-planning business. He has a PhD in architectural history from the University of California at Berkeley, where his studies included two years of studio design with students training to become architects. In a recent interview, he called it "an invaluable experience for understanding how they think."

During the 27 years he was an editor at Sunset magazine, he sifted through the work of hundreds of architects to showcase the most unusual and well-crafted houses in the Western United States, the area of Sunset's editorial focus. In addition to his editing duties, Gregory was involved in the design and construction of real houses. He helped select the architect for Sunset's annual Idea Houses and then worked closely with the architect and builder as those houses were designed and built.

Spectrum of choices

In the three years since he joined Houseplans.com, Gregory has reinvigorated a massive archive of 30,000 plans and added some unusual offerings.

Like any good acquisition editor, Gregory has gone after residential architects whose work he regards as widely appealing. Some of them, he said, needed coaxing to make their work available to a wider public and to homeowners with whom they would not have a personal relationship, while others, including Sarah Susanka, the best-selling author of the "Not So Big" series of books on home design, were already doing this.

A quick perusal of the "Exclusive Plans" section on Houseplans.com indicates that Gregory is catholic in his choices. Tacitly acknowledging that some very gifted home designers are not registered architects, his roster currently includes five designers and 27 architects. Collectively, the styles of the 27 solo practitioners or partnerships run the gamut from traditional Craftsman and Colonial Revival to cutting-edge modern. Each listing posts four or five plans, enough to sense the designer's style and "idea of home." Cleverly, the personal graphic style of each designer is retained in the presentation, which makes it easier to keep them straight, if you view five or 10 in a sitting.

In addition to the work of living architects, Gregory has secured permission from the Environmental Design Archives at U.C. Berkeley to sell the work of three distinguished California architects and one developer. Looking through the photographs and drawings of the late William Turnbull's tiny Sea Ranch cottage (designed in 1980 as employee housing for the Sea Ranch Community on the Pacific Coast, about 100 miles north of San Francisco), Web site visitors will be captivated by the wonderfully playful exposed roof trusses in the interiors. They are the kind of universally appealing detail that most people could never imagine having in their own house. The seriously interested visitor will note that the house is very small (650 square feet) and probably would want to make changes, which can easily be done, Gregory said.

A different kind of box

Beyond these unusual offerings to individual homeowners, Gregory and his new chief executive, Lisa Kalmbach, have more-ambitious ideas. As the home-building industry slowly recovers, they are developing a portfolio of plans for a home-buying public that appears to be embracing a dramatically different idea of "home sweet home," one that is both smaller and simpler than the houses they favored in recent decades. For home builders, this means a dramatically different type of box.

Home builders, especially those that build 10 or more a year, have always gone for houses that were in essence simple boxes that were easy to frame, Gregory said. Over the past 30 years, as the boxes got bigger, embellishments were added - more frills (six-piece crown moldings for huge rooms with 10- and 11-foot ceiling heights), more props (columned "arcade" vestibules for cavernous master suites) and multi-gabled roofs that made a house look bigger and more grand.

Gregory's "simple boxes" for today's market have shapes that can be easily executed by home builders who do not have the skilled carpenters who could deliver Turnbull's playful exposed trusses. Instead, the appeal - like that of an expensive Savile Row suit - is achieved by a consistency in detailing and good proportions. Gregory said that good but simple detailing can create the strong first impression that builders always want to project in their furnished models; it also has staying power. Offering an example, he noted that when the ceiling height is nine feet, which is almost universal in new houses now, using proportionally larger trim around the doors, windows, wall bases and ceiling line, and continuing this through the entire house, not just in the public spaces, will make the spaces feel more comfortable to the owners and give the house better "flow," another "desirable" that builders look for in choosing designs.

Elaborating on features for the 2011 version of the "simple box for home builders," but noting that they also apply to any well-designed house, Gregory said that he looks for floor plans that do not have "dead-end circulation" in the main living areas. For example, a living room with only one entry can become "unused real estate," a luxury that most households today cannot afford.

He also looks for flexibility in the floor plan. For home builders, this means appeal to more segments of the market; for homeowners, this means that rooms can be used differently over the years. Gregory likes designs that can be built out in different ways, depending on how many bedrooms, for example, the homeowner wants.

Gregory also prefers a simple roofline without the fake dormers, multiple gables or steep pitches of the McMansion era, all features that increased cost but did not provide any additional utility to the owners.

Katherine Salant has an architecture degree from Harvard. A native Washingtonian, she grew up in Fairfax County; she now lives in Michigan.

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How to fix holes in your home's concrete foundation

Q. I have to make an unexpected repair to my poured concrete foundation. A water leak led me to remove drywall in my basement, and to my surprise, I discovered rows of holes 5/8-inch diameter in my concrete walls. Some of the holes have water dripping through them. These perfectly drilled holes are not random and are as deep as the foundation is thick. What created them? How can I patch them so they don't leak? What's the best material to use when doing concrete repair for cracks or holes like this? - Bryan R., Cincinnati

A. The holes in your foundation were not drilled; they were created by smooth steel rods that were part of the foundation-form panels used to create your concrete foundation.

These rods passed through the concrete forms. Slots at each end of the rod held a steel pin that prevented the forms from expanding outward under the enormous pressure of the liquid concrete that filled the forms to create your foundation walls. Once the concrete set and hardened, the form panels were removed and the rods tapped out with a hammer, leaving these holes with the smooth bore.

I have to believe that the foundation contractor used a concrete repair product at the very least on the outside face of your foundation that's now covered with dirt. Unfortunately, he may have used the wrong product for basement concrete repair.

There are many concrete repair products out there, but my personal favorite for this situation is a powder that contains Portland cement, bentonite clay and some other ingredients that cause the patching material to harden and expand at the same time. Bentonite is a fine clay that expands when it gets wet.

Many homeowners might try to repair and patch these holes with bricklayer's mortar or a mixture of Portland cement and sand. Or they may think that an epoxy concrete repair is even stronger. The trouble with regular mortar and Portland cement is that they shrink ever so slightly as they harden and cure. This creates a tiny pathway for water to enter.

You need a product that actually expands as it cures, much like you see with spray foam insulation. If you've ever used this foam, you know it goes into a crack one size, but hours later, it's much bigger, as the foam has hardened.

These expanding hydraulic concrete-repair cement products are available at hardware stores, building supply businesses and home centers. They come as a dry powder in a can and will clearly say on the label that they expand as they harden. This is mission critical. Look for that on the label.

These products often contain ingredients that cause them to harden pretty quickly. It's not uncommon to have work time measured in just a few minutes. I'd only mix up what I could use in 10 minutes. You can sometimes extend the work time by refrigerating the powder to get it cold and using very cold water as you mix it.

Be sure to vacuum out the holes and remove all debris. If you can insert a small bottlebrush to get out any dust or silt that's on the concrete, this will really help ensure patching success. You want the concrete surface in each hole to be perfectly clean.

Just before filling each hole with the expanding concrete-repair product, use an old spray bottle and spritz the hole with a spray of clean water. You want the surface of the inside of the hole to be slightly damp. This will really help the patching material bond with the dry concrete.

Tim Carter is a columnist for Tribune Media Services. He can be contacted through his Web site, www.askthebuilder.com .

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Picky first-time buyers losing out on great housing deals

Picky, picky, picky! Are today's first-time home buyers passing up great deals because they insist on flawless "move-in ready" houses requiring little or no changes - even at the starter-home price levels at which shoppers traditionally have been willing to factor fix-ups and renovations into their offers?

Or are they simply reflecting market realities? They see record inventories of houses sitting unsold, and they may not have the money, time or inclination to do fix-ups after making the purchase.

Large numbers of real estate agents consider this a significant and perplexing issue, one that's having a negative effect on the housing recovery. New research suggests that they may be on to something. A survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 300 first-time buyers found that a startling 87 percent said that "finding a move-in ready home is important" to them.

A posting about fussy buyers on the 203,000-member "Active Rain" online real estate network in late February drew strong support from agents nationwide. Holly Kirby Weatherwax, an agent based in Reston, who wrote the original blog post, said in an interview that some shoppers are so picky that they walk out of well-priced houses solely because of relatively minor imperfections such as:

"They're missing out on some excellent, older lived-in houses - it's a shame," she said, "simply because they can't overlook" flaws that would not have bothered shoppers during the previous two decades.

Zillow, a giant Seattle-based online real estate research and data company, suggests that any shift by consumers toward greater attention to home details may be an inevitable byproduct of today's higher down-payment minimums and more stringent loan qualification requirements.

According to Zillow researchers, the median down payment in 11 major metropolitan areas has jumped to 20 percent, compared with "close to zero" in some of the same areas just five years ago. In other words, first-time buyers today have to put a huge effort into coming up with their down payment, and they want to make sure that equity investment goes into the house that will need the fewest and least-costly upgrades. Also, Zillow spokeswoman Katie Curnutte said, shoppers in 2011 "are really in the driver's seat. Nationally, buyers who purchased homes [last] December paid 4 percent less than the asking price. That points to a lot of room for negotiating and opportunities for buyers to be choosy."

Some agents suggest that buyers today tend to be hipper and more sophisticated about home design, furnishings, floor materials, countertops and appliances because they are exposed to far more information on cable TV than earlier generations. Michael Jacobs, a Coldwell Banker agent in Pasadena, Calif., says cable channels such as HGTV "certainly have opened the eyes of more buyers" to design and presentation details. He said he's held open houses where young buyers walk in and say immediately, "Oh, this house has been staged" - an observation virtually unheard of years ago.

But constant exposure to cable design shows may also be fostering a lack of realism on the part of some shoppers, according to agents. Cindy Westfall of Prudential NW Properties in Lake Oswego, Ore., said the shows have "given some buyers the impression that all homes should have granite counters, stainless steel appliances, etc. There are a few [shoppers who] want all the bells and whistles of that $500,000 house for $200,000, and no amount of talking to them on the realities can change their minds."

In an interview, Westfall said she recently had a buyer who was interested only in older houses under $200,000 - starter-home price territory - but who wouldn't tolerate even the sort of minor imperfections and nicks that older houses typically display.

"The fact is," Westfall said, "you just can't have it all. You can't have the big yard, the top-line updates and all that in a starter home. You've got to compromise somewhere or else you'll never buy anything."

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Dining Review | Connecticut: A Review of Spicy Green Bean, in Glastonbury

Wendy Carlson for The New York TimesColorful décor and convivial atmosphere define the dining at Spicy Green Bean in Glastonbury, Conn.

Let me begin my salute to B.Y.O.B. restaurants with a miser’s confession: I almost never spend more than $50 on wine. Whatever your particular price ceiling, bringing your own wine to a restaurant makes sterling sense. That $50 bottle on a restaurant’s wine list probably cost them $19, while they’d charge $100 for the $50 bottle you’re bringing. With the money you save, you can order a lot of extra starters.

Sliders stacked so high they sway.

And you’ll want to order them at Spicy Green Bean. The chef-owner Kathy Denisiewicz’s casual hole-in-the-wall eatery has built a cult following with its wildly eclectic, food-of-the-mood fiesta of delights. The dinner menu, rife with exclamation marks (“Super Duper Suppers!!!”) and neon-colored letters, hews to a simple format: each week, four different appetizers and four different entrees, as well as a big menu of sandwiches, soups and wraps, some listed under “Kooky Konkoctions.”

If it sounds cloyingly cute, the food is not. We enjoyed superb starter dishes, one after another. French onion soup contained a floating grilled-cheese sandwich made with sharp Irish Cheddar and bearing a dab of bright-green basil pesto. Pork sliders offered candied slabs of pork belly, fried nearly crunchy, on sweet rolls with lettuce, tomato and sriracha mayo. Equally yummy was a tower of fried green and vine-ripened red tomatoes layered with mozzarella, thin-sliced avocado and a generous pile of crab salad.

On and on it went, a jamboree of tastes. We dug eagerly into pancakes mined with spring peas and scallions and topped with smoked salmon, crème fraîche, dill and capers and bits of red onion. We fought over a plantain stuffed with ground beef and chorizo, welded together with melted Cheddar and slathered liberally with a cilantro-laden tomato salsa. Surf-and-turf sliders, stacked so high they swayed, combined a deep-fried oyster and seared steak and was garnished with lettuce, tomato and a horseradish cream. To make her out-of-this-world shrimp toasts, Ms. Denisiewicz coats slices of country white bread with cream cheese and scallions, crab Rangoon-style, then fries them and tops them with shrimp and a sifting of a secret spice combo from what she calls the Shaker of Love. (“Nice try,” she chuckled, when I asked later for the ingredients.)

Our final appetizer, an Asian short rib with macaroni and cheese, wasn’t on the menu, but a woman at the next table was eating it, providing my chance to utter the immortal restaurant line, “I’ll have what she’s having!” And sure enough, the dish proved the high point of the evening, a surreally tasty pork short rib, deep-fried till crisp, then tossed with salt and a sweet chili sauce combining scallions, brown sugar and habanero.

After such thrills, some entrees proved anticlimactic. A playful variation on surf-and-turf included a shrimp and crab custard too soupy in consistency and blasted with tarragon; the steak, a generously sized New York strip, got lost amid a busy orchestration of quartered tomatoes, pimento cheese, crisp-fried prosciutto and arugula. Fish Français suffered from an overly brothy sherried herbed butter sauce, with wilted spinach and fried twists of soppressata that overwhelmed the swai, a mild-tasting Asian white fish. Sweet-potato falafel, dry and bland, needed more tzatziki. And a platter of classic Italian treats — breaded fried chicken cutlet and eggplant Parmesan served with a meatball over bucatini in a heavy tomato sauce — seemed aimed at aficionados of diner-style red sauce.

Some entrees bowl you over through mass alone. Buttermilk fried chicken, half a bird served on a large tray with baked beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and corn, seemed sized for family sharing. A bowl of linguine smothered basil-and-sundried-tomato-inflected chicken sausage in roasted onions and bell peppers with an over-the-top creamy, cheesy red-pepper Alfredo sauce. A towering Cubano burger took a thick hamburger and piled it high with pulled pork, ham and cheese — a dripping colossus of a meal. I haven’t taken this much food home in a long time.

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March's gardening and nature programs around D.C.

Spring offers many opportunities for lectures, workshops, tours and other educational programs. Before you get busy in the garden, take advantage of one of the many sessions offered this month. Call to ascertain if pre-registration is required. If a fee is not shown, the event is free.

Washington

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW, 202-686-5807, www.hillwood museum.org

U.S. National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave. NE, 202-245-4521, www.usna.usda.gov

United States Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. SW, 202-225-1116, www.usbg.gov

March 12: Orchid Care Lecture & Repotting Workshops. Join orchid curator David Lafond for a lecture and learn orchid care, cultivation, classification and information about the collection of Marjorie Merriweather Post. 12:30-1:30 p.m. Bring one or two orchids from your collection (and an unglazed terra cotta pot for each) and learn repotting techniques in workshops. Limited to 10 participants per workshop. 10:30 a.m.-noon and 1:30-3 p.m. Suggested donation $25. Hillwood.

March 12: Garden Production Facility Open House. Once-a-year opportunity for the public to visit the U.S. Botanic Garden's growing facility, the largest greenhouse complex supporting a public garden in the United States. Meet the growers and wander through this working wonderland of plants. 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m. $5. U.S. Botanic Garden Production Facility. Directions provided after registration.

March 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29, 31: Join staff orchid experts and volunteers for a 15-minute orchid repotting demonstration. 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Hillwood.

March 17: Full Moon Hike for Groups. Put together a group of up to 25 people for a brisk two-hour walk under the full moon. It is not recommended for children under 16. 7-9 p.m. $550. Meet in the visitor information trailer, U.S. National Arboretum.

March 17, 18: Full Moon Hike. Join a four-mile full moon hike with a staff member as your guide. 8-10 p.m. $22. Meet in the visitor information trailer, U.S. National Arboretum.

March 18: Bobby Ward, author of "Chlorophyll in His Veins: J.C. Raulston, Horticultural Ambassador," will discuss Raulston, founder of the North Carolina State University arboretum, and some of his plant introductions. Noon-1 p.m. U.S. Botanic Garden.

March 19: Bonsai Repotting Workshop. Learn when and how to repot your bonsai with guidance from a museum curator. Individual attention is provided for each tree brought in by students (limit one large or two small bonsai). Soil and tools are provided. 1-4 p.m. $29. National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, U.S. National Arboretum.

March 20: Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World. This slide show presentation is a traveling exhibition by the American Society of Botanical Artists that explores the conservation efforts of scientists and illustrators around the globe. 2-3 p.m., U.S. Botanic Garden.

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Major changes ahead for mortgage system as U.S. seeks to scale back role in housing

Fundamental changes are probably ahead for the American mortgage system as the federal government pushes to unwind its unprecedented involvement in the housing market.

These changes could significantly raise the down payments demanded by lenders, curtail the availability of long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates, and increase the cost of borrowing in general.

The government's effort to scale back its role in housing could show up in small ways soon. In April, the Federal Housing Administration plans to raise the annual premium it charges borrowers by a quarter of a percentage point. In October, the maximum size of loans that the federal government backs is scheduled to drop to $625,500 from $729,750. The most dramatic proposal - eliminating mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - could take five to seven years.

The thinking is that the government cannot sustain its role in the housing finance system. Federally backed loans make up an outsize share of home purchases - about 90 percent - through Fannie, Freddie and the FHA. Taxpayers have kicked in more than $130 billion to cover Fannie and Freddie losses during the housing crisis, and they could be on the hook for more if the FHA depletes its cash reserves, which are already lower than the level required by law.

All three institutions guarantee that payments will be made to mortgage investors, even when loans go bad. Those guarantees helped keep the housing market from coming to a standstill during the darkest days of the economic crisis.

"But the government is taking on a lot of credit risk," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "So if loans go bad, it's on the taxpayer. Everyone would find it preferable if the private sector were to take more of the risk."

Loan limits

To that end, the federal government is eager to tackle the "jumbo" loan limits.

In the District and most of its neighboring counties, a temporary federal policy allows the government to back mortgages up to $729,750. Such loans typically carry a lower interest rate than those without government backing, in part because the federal guarantee makes them a safer bet for investors.

"Investors are willing to accept a lower return if their investment is less risky," said Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates.

The Obama administration has supported allowing the maximum loan limit to drop to $625,500 starting Oct. 1 , and Congress is expected to back that move. (Loan limits may be lowered even further for FHA-insured loans, federal officials said, though no details are available.)

Once the cap is lowered, loans larger than $625,500 will fall into the "jumbo" category. Jumbos are perceived to be more risky and therefore often face tougher requirements, such as 30 percent down payments and stellar credit scores.

Standards might ease if the private sector reenters that market, said Eric Gates, president of Apex Home Loans in Rockville. But if the $625,500 cap were in place today, it could lock many potential buyers out, he said.

View the original article here

Mortgage delinquency rates drop

As the labor market improved, the number of homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments dropped in the final three months of last year to the lowest level since 2008, according to a national survey released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

But the delinquency rate remains higher than what's traditionally normal, and the volume of homes in some stage of foreclosure returned to the record high of early 2010, the report said. The survey covered nearly nine out of 10 primary mortgages.

The data offer a mixed view of the housing market's prospects for recovery any time soon. While delinquency rates have improved across all types of home loans, a swelling supply of low-priced, foreclosed properties suggests that home values could keep eroding and further undermine the ailing housing sector.

"We have to clear out those distressed properties before we can talk about any kind of housing market recovery," said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. "There are signs of improvement, but I think it's a little early to break out the champagne."

The report's seasonally adjusted figures showed that 8.2 percent of the outstanding loans were delinquent in the fourth quarter of last year, down from 9.1 percent the previous quarter and 9.5 percent a year earlier. Those figures do not include loans that were in foreclosure.

Fewer loans were seriously overdue. The number that were at least three payments past due, for instance, fell to 3.6 percent from a high of 5 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Mortgages that were only one payment past due are at the lowest level since the recession began in late 2007, suggesting that the employment picture is improving, said Jay Brinkmann, the mortgage banking group's chief economist.

"First-time delinquency is very much a measure of distress in the employment system," he said. "I see all of this as pretty good news. It looks like we've clearly hit the turning point."

Even the percentage of homes entering the foreclosure process slipped a bit, to 1.28 percent from 1.32 percent, in the third quarter. Foreclosure starts rose in only 11 states, with the largest increase in Maryland, where the percentage of homes entering foreclosure rose to 0.9 percent.

Yet the number of loans stuck in foreclosure was up, and that was mostly because many of the country's largest lenders temporarily stopped seizing homes from delinquent borrowers in October after widespread reports of flawed and fraudulent documents.

With so many loans in limbo, the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure rose to 4.63 percent in the fourth quarter. That's up from 4.4 percent the previous quarter and 4.58 percent a year earlier.

About half of the foreclosures are concentrated in five states - Florida, California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, Brinkmann said. Four of those states require court approval for foreclosures. When problems with the foreclosure paperwork surfaced in the fall, many of the troubled loans got stuck in the legal process, adding to the foreclosure supply in those areas.

Bank of America, the country's largest financial institution, has since lifted its freeze, and other lenders are starting to do so. Even so, distressed properties continue to make up an unusually large share of home sales.

In January, nearly half of all home purchases involved a distressed property, namely foreclosures or "short sale" transactions that enable borrowers to sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgages, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Housing Pulse, an index that tracks such sales.

Foreclosures tend to drag down the values of surrounding properties, making many borrowers vulnerable to losing their homes. That's because many borrowers end up owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. If they lose their jobs or face other financial setbacks, they are unable to sell or refinance their way out of trouble.

Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance estimated that 4.5 million loans are seriously delinquent or in the foreclosure process already, based on Thursday's survey. Even if 1 million of those loans were modified each year and another 1 million foreclosures were sold, it would take more than two years to clear them off the market, he said.

"And that's assuming that no more foreclosures are added to that inventory," he said.

View the original article here

Mortgage rates down as investors react to Japan crisis

Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in almost two months, tracking a drop in Treasury yields as Japan's deepening nuclear crisis spurred demand for relatively safe investments.

The average rate for 30-year fixed loans declined to 4.76 percent this week from 4.88 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac. The average 15-year rate was 3.97 percent, down from 4.15 percent.

The average rate on adjustable-rate mortgages that are fixed for the first five years was 3.57 percent this week, down from 3.73 percent last week. Rates on one-year ARMs averaged 3.17 percent, down from 3.21 percent.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes, which are benchmarks for some consumer loans, fell this week to the lowest level since December, and stocks sank, reflecting investors' concern about the situation in Japan.

"There's been a little flight to - I don't want to say safety - quality," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, a publisher of consumer loan data in Pompton Plains, N.J. "As long as trouble remains in the forefront, interest rates are likely to be lower than they otherwise would be."

Mortgage applications fell 0.7 percent in the week ended March 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The association's measure of purchase applications declined 4 percent; refinancings climbed 0.9 percent.

Housing starts plunged to a 22-month low in February, and permits for construction fell to a record low, the Commerce Department said. Homebuilders are competing with foreclosures and falling prices for existing homes.

Mortgage rates began climbing from a record low of 4.17 percent in the week ended Nov. 11 and reached a 10-month high of 5.05 percent in February.

- From news services

4.88

Last week

4.76

This week

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As deficit looms larger, senators' eye cuts in mortgage interest deductions

Just because President Obama's latest budget proposal calls for rollbacks in mortgage interest deductions solely for high-income taxpayers, should you assume that all of your write-offs as a homeowner are secure from attack?

Absolutely not. In fact, those tax benefits - from capital gains exclusions to home-equity and second-home interest deductions -might be more vulnerable to broad-based cutbacks during the next two years than at any time in decades.

Here's why: An influential, bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, led by a so-called "gang of six" in the Senate, is drafting a legislative framework that would essentially seek to implement much of the president's deficit reduction commission report released last December. The legislation would set annual targets for higher revenues and lower spending in multiple budget categories, and would impose automatic, severe cuts if Congress did not hit those targets. Congress would have two years to figure out how and where to make the required reductions.

The Senate group, which is quietly working with deficit-reduction advocates in the House, consists of Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.).

Durbin and Conrad were members of the commission. Both voted to approve the final report, which called for $1.7 trillion in federal discretionary spending cuts and $180 billion in tax revenue increases over the coming 10 years. The commission argued that across-the-board trimming of spending and tax benefits is necessary to control the wildfire national debt, now more than $14 trillion and rising fast, which is projected to exceed 90 percent of the country's gross domestic product by 2020 if left on its current path.

Among the tax expenditures the commission specifically targeted were the annual breaks that now flow to homeowners, including mortgage interest write-offs for first and second homes, deductions for home equity lines of credit and second mortgages, property tax write-offs and the $250,000 and $500,000 capital gains exclusions for single and married taxpayers, respectively, who sell their houses at a profit.

President Obama praised the broad goals of the commission but only included a relatively small cutback in mortgage interest deductions - a 28 percent deduction cap on write-offs by single taxpayers with incomes higher than $200,000 and married taxpayers earning more than $250,000 - in his own budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.

The legislative draft, which is expected to be circulated to senators in March, already is controversial. For example, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) reportedly is demanding that Social Security changes be exempt from the plan. But members of the drafting group disagree and argue that, to be effective and fair, no major budget-related items - no matter how politically sensitive - can be omitted.

"Everything has to be on the table," said Coburn. "There can be no sacred cows and pet priorities." As to tax code changes, Durbin said that the only way to reduce the deficit is to "ensure that everyone pays their fair share . . . we need to look at the money we forgo every time we hand out a new tax break. These 'tax expenditures' cost the Treasury as much as we spend in appropriations each year with much less oversight."

What's on the line for housing and homeowners, whose write-offs have been widely assumed to be politically untouchable? Big money by any measure. According to the latest estimates prepared by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, the mortgage interest deduction will cost the government $99.8 billion in uncollected taxes this fiscal year and $107.3 billion in fiscal 2012. Homeowner property tax write-offs will cost $26.6 billion in uncollected taxes this year and $31.6 billion in 2012. The $250,000/$500,000 tax-free exclusions on capital gains for home sale profits are projected to cost the Treasury about $19 billion this year and $21 billion next year.

No one anticipates that these benefits could be eliminated or even severely slashed within a couple of years. And while housing trade groups have not yet spoken out about the plan being drafted in the Senate, they privately worry that, because of the sheer size of the national debt, leaders from both parties could conceivably join with the president to structure some form of grand debt reduction compromise that requires all special interests to chip in.

"We definitely take this seriously," said Rob Dietz, an economist and tax specialist for the National Association of Home Builders. "We are going to have to continue to make the case for housing, and remind [Congress] just how important housing is to the economy."

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Peak buying time ahead, mortgage rates rise

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage topped 5 percent this week for the first time since April, and higher rates could further hamper the struggling housing market ahead of the spring's prime home-buying season.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate rose to 5.05 percent from 4.81 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November. The average rate on the 15-year home loan, a popular refinance option, increased from 4.08 percent to to 4.29 percent. The average rate on a five-year adjustable-rate mortgage rose to 3.92 percent from 3.69 percent, and the average rate on one-year adjustable-rate home loans increased from 3.26 percent to 3.35 percent.

Thirty-year rates are following the yields on the 10-year Treasury note, which are spiking on fears of higher inflation. Investors have been demanding higher Treasury yields since the Federal Reserve began its $600 billion bond-buying program to boost the economy.

Rates may not have an effect on homebuying until they reach about 6 percent, said Tom Tzitzouris, head of the fixed-income department at Strategas Research Partners in New York. The current levels are a "neutral zone," and buyers are neither prodded to sign nor discouraged from the market, he said.

"If you get another uptick again next week, you may see some movement," said Tzitzouris, who previously worked as a valuation manager for Freddie Mac and as a debt securities analyst for Fannie Mae.

The payment difference between today's rate and the historically low rate in November on a $200,000 loan is less than $100 a month, not enough to price a buyer out of a market, said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com. There also are many buyers who are paying cash.

Mortgage applications fell for the second time in three weeks, a Mortgage Bankers Association index showed Wednesday. The group's gauge of purchases decreased 1.4 percent in the week ended Feb. 4, and its refinancing measure dropped 7.7 percent.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac collects rates from lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a single day.

The rates do not include add-on fees, known as points. One point is equal to 1 percent of the total loan amount. The average fee for the 30-year and 15-year loan in Freddie Mac's survey was 0.7 point. The average fee for the five-year and 1-year ARM was 0.6 point.

-From news services

4.81%

Last week

5.05%

This week

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Cash deals raise January sales of existing homes, report says

Sales of previously owned homes increased nationwide in January, driven by all-cash purchases that suggest investors are chasing after foreclosures and other bargains in an ailing housing market, an industry group reported Wednesday.

Sales rose 2.7 percent from December, to a seasonally adjusted 5.36 million, the National Association of Realtors reported. The purchases - which include single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses - were up 5.3 percent from a year ago.

Although the figures reflect an improved economy, they also capture some of the underlying weaknesses in the housing market, namely the persistently large number of foreclosures that continued to drag down prices in January and attract investors.

Foreclosures and other distressed properties made up 37 percent of homes sold last month, the group reported. The cheap homes lured investors, who accounted for 23 percent of buyers, up from 20 percent the previous month and 17 percent a year ago.

As more investors entered the market, all-cash purchases surged to their highest level since the group started tracking the numbers in October 2008. The increase suggests that stringent lending rules are shutting out traditional buyers and empowering people with hefty sums of cash to close deals, said Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist.

But the January sales numbers may be deceptively high, said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

After reports of widespread paperwork errors surfaced in October, many major lenders temporarily halted foreclosures. Some have since lifted the freeze. "Sales that would have normally taken place in October, November and December got pushed into January," Vitner said.

None of this bodes well for home prices, because foreclosures tend to drag down values. The median price nationwide fell 3.7 percent, to $158,000, in January, the Realtor group said.

Many economists said that if the economy takes a turn for the worse or oil prices rise significantly because of political turmoil in the Middle East, consumer confidence could wane and home sales could plunge.

Some economists also cast doubt on the Realtor group's numbers, suggesting that they were inflated because of its methodology. Most recently, mortgage research firm CoreLogic said the sales results could have been overstated by 15 to 20 percent in 2010.

Yun said his group will review data from the past few years.

He acknowledged a possible "upward drift" in the numbers. The sales data are collected from local multiple listing services. A Realtor, for instance, may advertise a home in two neighboring cities. When the home sells, the transaction may be counted twice, he said.

A decline in homes sold by owner may also distort the numbers, Yun said. Multiple listing services include mainly properties advertised by Realtors. As more sellers have turned to Realtors in recent years, the increase may register as an increase in sales when it is only a rise in transactions by Realtors, he said.

Yun cautioned that no housing data is flawless. The CoreLogic data, for instance, came from court records. As the recent foreclosure paperwork debacle shows, not all court records are accurate.

View the original article here

Major changes ahead for mortgage system as U.S. seeks to scale back role in housing

Fundamental changes are probably ahead for the American mortgage system as the federal government pushes to unwind its unprecedented involvement in the housing market.

These changes could significantly raise the down payments demanded by lenders, curtail the availability of long-term mortgages with fixed interest rates, and increase the cost of borrowing in general.

The government's effort to scale back its role in housing could show up in small ways soon. In April, the Federal Housing Administration plans to raise the annual premium it charges borrowers by a quarter of a percentage point. In October, the maximum size of loans that the federal government backs is scheduled to drop to $625,500 from $729,750. The most dramatic proposal - eliminating mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - could take five to seven years.

The thinking is that the government cannot sustain its role in the housing finance system. Federally backed loans make up an outsize share of home purchases - about 90 percent - through Fannie, Freddie and the FHA. Taxpayers have kicked in more than $130 billion to cover Fannie and Freddie losses during the housing crisis, and they could be on the hook for more if the FHA depletes its cash reserves, which are already lower than the level required by law.

All three institutions guarantee that payments will be made to mortgage investors, even when loans go bad. Those guarantees helped keep the housing market from coming to a standstill during the darkest days of the economic crisis.

"But the government is taking on a lot of credit risk," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "So if loans go bad, it's on the taxpayer. Everyone would find it preferable if the private sector were to take more of the risk."

Loan limits

To that end, the federal government is eager to tackle the "jumbo" loan limits.

In the District and most of its neighboring counties, a temporary federal policy allows the government to back mortgages up to $729,750. Such loans typically carry a lower interest rate than those without government backing, in part because the federal guarantee makes them a safer bet for investors.

"Investors are willing to accept a lower return if their investment is less risky," said Keith Gumbinger, a vice president at HSH Associates.

The Obama administration has supported allowing the maximum loan limit to drop to $625,500 starting Oct. 1 , and Congress is expected to back that move. (Loan limits may be lowered even further for FHA-insured loans, federal officials said, though no details are available.)

Once the cap is lowered, loans larger than $625,500 will fall into the "jumbo" category. Jumbos are perceived to be more risky and therefore often face tougher requirements, such as 30 percent down payments and stellar credit scores.

Standards might ease if the private sector reenters that market, said Eric Gates, president of Apex Home Loans in Rockville. But if the $625,500 cap were in place today, it could lock many potential buyers out, he said.

View the original article here

Do-it-yourself: How to remove soap scum

Q. I have a fiberglass shower wall and tub that have accumulated a lot of hard-water stains, soap scum and dirt. I have tried all kinds of products, and they just don't clean it. Can you help? ¿ C. Davis

A. Fiberglass surfaces are rather easy to keep clean once you get them that way, but removing existing crud could take a lot of scrubbing.

Don't use abrasive cleaners; they can dull or scratch the surface. One product worth trying is Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath Cleaner. This is an oversize version of the regular Mr. Clean Eraser. You will probably need several to remove a lot of accumulated grime.

Another product sometimes recommended is ordinary baking soda. Put a generous amount of baking soda on a soft, white cloth, moisten it and scrub.

Some hard-water stains can be removed by scrubbing with full-strength white vinegar. For tough stains, make a paste of vinegar and baking soda and scrub with that.

Once you get the fiberglass clean, here is how to keep it that way: After every shower or use of the tub, use a squeegee to wipe water from the flat surfaces. Then use your towel to wipe down the walls and tub, leaving them as dry as possible. The wipe-down takes only a minute or so, and it pays off by not giving the hard and soapy water a chance to form stains.

Q. I just moved into a building where the previous occupants must have played indoor baseball. There are several holes in the drywall about the size of a baseball. Is there a fast, easy way to patch these holes? ¿ G. Arnold

A. Holes in drywall aren't difficult to patch, but the job is seldom fast and easy. It is usually necessary to repaint the entire wall after patching.

As for the holes, which are often caused by the bumping of doorknobs or the corners of furniture, there are at least a dozen ways to patch them. Many do-it-yourselfers prefer to use a repair kit, sold at many home centers and on the Internet. Kits generally contain all or most of the materials needed to make the patch. Look for a kit that includes drywall joint compound, which is needed to smooth over the patch.

If you have several holes and don't want to use kits, you can buy the materials separately. Buy "setting type" joint compound, which comes in bags and lets you mix only as much as needed for the job at hand.

The following is my favorite method for patching drywall holes: Make a square pattern from cardboard that covers just the hole and draw an outline of the pattern around the hole. Neatly cut the edges of the drywall around the hole to match the pattern lines, using a sharp utility knife or a fine-toothed keyhole saw. Next, cut a piece of drywall that is about one inch larger on all sides than the pattern; this will be the patch.

Place the cardboard pattern on the back of the patch and draw its outline so that there is a margin on all sides. Cut out only the back of the patch, along the pattern lines, so that the front paper covering is left in place to form four thin flanges.

Test-fit the patch in the hole, then butter the back of the flanges and the edges of the patch with joint compound and press it in place with a six-inch-wide drywall joint knife. The paper flanges should hold the patch in place.

When the compound dries, smooth over the flanges of the patch with more joint compound; three coats are usually needed. Let each coat set up for several minutes, then carefully smooth it with a damp sponge and let it dry. This will reduce the need for sanding. When the patch is smooth and all the compound is dry, prime the patch and repaint the wall.

QUICK TIP: Reader Les Hamilton suggests trying an oscillating multi-tool for power removal of old tile grout. These small, hand-held power tools, sold under a variety of brand names that often include the word "multi," have a very rapid reciprocating action. They can be fitted with a variety of small blades that perform tasks such as sanding, sawing and scraping. Hamilton says his MultiMax tool kit, made by Dremel, includes a blade for grout removal. Dremel MultiMax kits sell for about $100.

If grout removal is one of the main reasons for buying a multi-tool, I recommend checking first to make sure a grout-removal blade is included or is available as an extra accessory. Multi-tools are excellent for working in tight places and are available in corded and battery-powered versions.

¿McClatchy-Tribune

Questions and comments should be e-mailed to Gene Austin at gaus17@aol.com. Send regular mail for Gene Austin to 1730 Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, Pa. 19422.

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Six steps to upgrading a kitchen without boosting the cost

Q. I'd love to move to a new home, but the economy is preventing that. So I've decided to do some kitchen remodeling, as it seems to be the center of activity of our current home. Based on the bids I'm getting, remodeling costs seem high. What can be done to keep the total cost as low as possible, as well as to minimize disruption? -Mandy W., Richmond, Va.

A. Kitchen remodeling can create financial stress as well as friction in your personal life. Most people simply don't grasp how much they use a kitchen each day, even if it's just walking to the refrigerator to get a glass of juice. Or they think nothing of walking over to the microwave and using it to heat up a cup of coffee. When those appliances are suddenly gone, life starts to imitate a deep-woods campground experience quickly.

Let's talk about the cost of kitchen remodeling first, and then I'll share some tips I've discovered after remodeling kitchens for nearly 35 years. There's no doubt that in the average home, the kitchen contains the highest concentration of fixtures, cabinets and appliances. When you add everything up, the dollar figure can be a frightening number.

If you want to keep the cost of your job as low as possible, I recommend that you keep your current cabinets and just paint them. That assumes the cabinets are in good condition. You'd be shocked at how dramatic the difference can be by just investing in a gallon of paint. Painted cabinets, especially ones that have some highlighting, can look gorgeous at the end of the day. You can save thousands of dollars immediately by deciding to paint instead of installing new cabinets.

I would watch for appliance sales if you're in the market for a new stove, refrigerator, cooktop or microwave. You will pay a penalty if you buy on impulse. Plan ahead and watch for sales. Scour the Internet for promo codes or rebate offers.

The odds are you may need to invest in new countertops and flooring. The plastic laminate countertops you may have shunned in the past should be considered. You'll discover many new patterns in durable plastic laminate that mimic the look of expensive materials that cost thousands of dollars more.

Don't reject affordable vinyl-tile flooring. Advancements in technology will amaze you when you see vinyl tile that looks like real slate, marble or granite. These are products you can install yourself in a day or less. That will save you sweet moola.

The disruption caused by remodeling needs to be minimized. I would not start the job until you have everything you need stored in your garage and double checked to make sure it's the correct item. Once you start tearing apart your kitchen, you should not be wasting valuable time driving around getting materials or making selections only to discover the thing you want will take three weeks to arrive.

Think about doing the remodeling job in warmer weather. If you decide to rip out your kitchen entirely, set up a temporary one in your garage where you can do basic tasks in relative warmth. Use an outdoor grill as much as possible, but do not use one in the garage. Fumes and the risk of fire are real threats.

If you're going to do some of the work yourself, practice the skills before you need to do the actual work. Discover if the paint you want will actually look good. Train yourself how to use additives in paint that will give you professional results. If you're going to paint your existing cabinets, go ahead and remove one cabinet front and paint it. When you get the perfect result, then advance to the rest of the kitchen.

-Tribune Media

Want free home-improvement information? Go to AsktheBuilder.com and sign up for Tim's free newsletter. Have a question for Tim? Just click the Ask Tim link on any page of the Web site.

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How to make rentals more attractive as the American dream evolves, adapts

Years ago at the University of Maryland, I taught "Economic Determinants in Architecture," an elective course introducing architecture students to the real world of capitalism and showing how that world influences design and development. Students learned that market and financial conditions, along with governmental fiscal and monetary policies, can profoundly influence what gets designed and built.

These lessons will be refreshed as government-backed mortgage funding provided by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration diminishes. The effects of more stringent underwriting standards - higher down payment requirements and lower loan ceilings -and tighter credit will ripple through the real estate industry, dampening home buying and construction. At the same time, demand for rental housing will increase, which means architects, including my former students, will have more multi-family projects to design.

Tougher mortgage financing standards are likely to slow creation of exurban, single-family subdivisions, which means less sprawl. While this is bad news for many homebuilders, it may be good news for smart-growth-minded jurisdictions. In areas well served by transportation infrastructure, counties and municipalities are crafting new master plans calling for development or redevelopment at higher densities with mixed-use buildings and lots of apartments. Examples in this region include Tysons Corner in Fairfax County; Potomac Yards in Alexandria; National Harbor in Prince George's County; the White Flint area in Montgomery County, and downtown Columbia, Md.

Rising market demand for rental housing is already a fact, the result of economic recession, rising unemployment, flat or falling home prices and more-conservative loan practices. For a growing portion of the American population, the probable reality is that conventional home ownership will be economically unfeasible and, with gradual or no appreciation in home value, relatively unprofitable. Increasing numbers of American households will rent.

But will this be detrimental to American society and culture, perhaps signaling the end of the American dream of home ownership?

Tomorrow's reality will not be a nightmare. Rather it will be the manifestation of a common-sense, rational concept disregarded during the housing bubble years: Homes should be bought and owned only by people who can sustainably afford to pay the full gamut of home ownership expenses, including mortgage principal and interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and repairs. For others, renting will be the economically prudent and necessary choice. Yet it can be a desirable choice.

Rental desirability will depend on several factors:

l Favorable location and multi-modal transportation options within a community, including convenient access to good jobs, good schools, ample shopping, restaurants, recreation, entertainment and cultural facilities.

l Adequate housing unit size and layout. Rental dwellings must be conceived as "homes," with more apartments designed to accommodate families with children.

l Higher levels of aesthetic and construction quality. Apartment buildings and individual apartments must be commodiously planned with well-designed kitchens and baths, soundproofed walls and floors, ample daylighting, reliable elevators, well-appointed public spaces and attractive landscaping.

l Convenient, shared amenities such as parking, outdoor terraces and gardens, playgrounds, swimming pools and spas, meeting and exercise rooms.

l Affordable rents. Desirability will always depend on rental rates being a reasonable percentage of total household income.

Although somewhat affected by tighter credit, rental housing will be less constrained by changing mortgage finance practices because most projects are funded privately without government support. Unfortunately low-income tenants will continue to struggle, since their rents are made affordable through government subsidies. Regardless of what Fannie, Freddie or FHA do, public-sector budget cutting is likely to reduce housing subsidies and cause considerable pain for low-income families.

Destined to be more urbanized, America will increasingly resemble European metropolises, where renting a home is more commonplace and bears no social or economic stigma. For some of America's next generation of citizens, the American dream of home ownership, and more specifically of owning a single-family detached home in a suburban subdivision, will be less compelling and harder to achieve. This is why rental housing must become a desirable choice and not merely an acceptable necessity.

Roger K. Lewis is a practicing architect and a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland.

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Potomac Crest: Montgomery's garden spot

One of the first things you notice about Potomac Crest, a community of 131 townhouses and duplexes and 31 detached homes near Seven Locks Road and Tuckerman Lane, is the landscaping. "The overall community is beautifully landscaped and maintained by the owners and a very active homeowners association," said Debbie Cohen, a real estate agent with Long & Foster.

The community's focus on its trees, shrubs and flowers earned it an award of excellence for its landscaping last year from the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. Potomac Crest was one of 34 winners of the 24th annual Keep Montgomery County Beautiful community beautification awards.

It's not the first time, either. "We've won the award of excellence multiple times since 2000," said Janet Levenberg, who chairs the homeowners association's landscaping committee. Levenberg worked with the Brickman Group, a national landscaping firm headquartered in Gaithersburg, to execute the design.

Judges for the contest, run by the Keep Montgomery County Beautiful Task Force, are not easy to impress. "Most of the judges come from the National Capitol Area Garden Club Design Council" and are master gardeners, said the assistant head judge, Paula Knepper, who is a master gardener herself. Knepper said that Potomac Crest stood out.

Levenberg and her committee, including longtime members Buddy Schmidt (also the homeowners association's vice president), Inga Frank, Barbara Wilson, Judy Miller and Tony Liccardi, didn't have much to start with.

In the early days of the neighborhood, which was built between 1992 and 1996, the landscaping was adequate, but an afterthought.

Levenberg moved to the community in the late 1990s and saw immediate room for improvement in the landscaping. "There were berms everywhere," she said, referring to the common practice in new developments to bury construction material under dirt and ground-covering plants. "There seemed to be no pattern to the landscaping," Levenberg said.

Landscaping isn't the only thing that draws home buyers to Potomac Crest. Commuters like Potomac Crest's proximity to major driving routes, such as the Democracy Boulevard entrance to Interstate 270 two miles away. Most residents say they use their cars to get to work. For mass-transit commuting, "the only option would be a Ride On or drive to White Flint or Grosvenor and park," Cohen said, referring to the county bus system and the two nearest Metrorail stations.

Shopping options are very close but not pedestrian-friendly. Though Cabin John Mall is less than a half mile away, the multi-lane thoroughfares bordering the neighborhood usually cause residents to drive there.

Within the neighborhood, surrounded by large trees, there's a sense of calm. "The homes are handsomely designed, nicely positioned on each lot in harmony with the rolling hills from which Potomac Crest gets its name," Cohen said.

"I wanted a small, quiet neighborhood," said JoAnn Marceron, who moved into her townhouse in 2001. She was originally drawn to consider the neighborhood because of the architecture of the duplexes. "What appealed to me was that those were the ones with the garage on the main level. There are very few communities that have those," she explained.

Owner Tony Liccardi, who originally came to the D.C. area in the 1960s to work at NASA, bought his three-bedroom, 31/2-bathroom end-unit townhouse in 1995 for $500,000. "I really love the house. It was situated just right," he said. Over the years he's served on both the architectural and landscaping committees.

Suzanne Wilson found the neighborhood when a friend was looking for a house. She and her husband, Buddy Schmidt, bought their home before it was built and were able to choose some of the finishes. "We chose a slate walk, the black-and-white tile in the bathrooms," plus large custom closets, among other things, she said. Their duplex lies at the edge of a narrow strip of woods. Beyond the woods is a wide-open field below the power lines that stretch along the edge of the community. "We like this a lot," she said.

Many residents enjoy the wooded land next to the development, where they can walk along the mowed field where power lines run. Owner Inga Frank says she and many of her neighbors, especially those with dogs, walk along the power lines.

Schmidt believes the only downside might be when groups of deer take naps in his wooded side yard, because they make his dogs bark.

One aspect of living in a community with garages and no easy way to walk to shops or ride public transportation is that there is little daily casual interaction with neighbors. As a result, the committee work is a good way for residents to interact, as are the somewhat regular block parties, said Inga Frank.

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Fewer and fewer plants are truly deer-resistent

As early spring approaches, gardeners are thinking about their properties, and I've received questions about vehicular circulation, screening, controlling damage from deer and other topics.

In your column discussing plants that you like, shall I assume that the only one of those not endangered by hungry deer is the arborvitae that you said has no serious pest problem? Deer invade my front and back yards at will. - Ross Summers

Deer are pests that eat arborvitae, but green giant arborvitae is the only one that I've planted that has not been damaged by deer. They will taste it but apparently don't like the flavor. If deer are a problem, don't plant it unless you want to test the theory. Also, it may depend on the deer. The Bethesda herds where we planted giant arborvitae have not eaten them yet.

The plants listed in that article as most deer-resistant are conoy viburnum, switchgrass and green giant arborvitae. I have found that they will taste Virginia sweetspire but seldom do more than prune it lightly; however, the damage depends on how many deer show up for the tasting.

There are fewer and fewer plants guaranteed to be deer resistant. Perennials they don't like are hellebore, rohdea, dicentra, heuchera, astilbe, black-eyed-Susans, peony, monkshood, achillea, and virtually all ferns and herbs with a strong flavor. Deer-resistant trees are beech, birch, black locust, most maples, oaks and honeylocusts. Spruce is the only conifer on the "will usually not eat" list. There are others you will discover, mostly perennials.

The trees deer don't eat are still victims of rutting by bucks, which will cause the trunks to snap.

We have a federal-style home, built in 1799, set well back from the road on three acres amid another 284 acres of fields that belong to another family. Our home sits on a rise. We'd like to improve the entrance from the main road, create more of an inner and an outer yard and bring the driveway, which now leads guests to the back door, around in a small circle to the front of the house and add some landscaping. Can you offer any suggestions? - Joe Johnston

Your three-acre parcel surrounded by pasture sounds idyllic and has wonderful possibilities for landscape design. The lane to the house could be lined with one or two varieties of native trees. Choices could be alternating hophornbeams (Ostrya virginiana) and red maples (Acer rubrum). Another possibility is an orchard of apples, peaches and pears at intervals along the entrance drive (unless deer are a nuisance). You might consider a lane that would meander onto the property with views of the house appearing along the approach. This depends on whether the lane was established in 1799 and your interest is to keep historic accuracy or the line can be changed to follow the contour of the land, taking advantage of the house's location on a rise. Plant groupings along the way, screening and exposing views until you finally see the house and the entrance gardens, which could consist of boxwood, perennials or sweet alyssum edged with perennials and walkways between them. Behind the formal edged beds plant a taller mixed perennial and shrub border.

What yucca species (not false yucca or yuca) will survive in our area, including our occasional long bouts of rain and moisture? - Michelle Michlewicz

Adam's-needle yucca (Yucca filamentosa) would be the best one for the D.C. region. It grows in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 9 and is native to the eastern part of the country. It performs well in almost any kind of soil but requires a well-drained site. Yucca roots will not do well in wet or soggy conditions. The trickiest part of designing it in your yard is coordinating it with the other ornamental plants on your property. Plant this member of the agave family to stand as a sculptural element in the garden.

Have you ever done therapeutic gardening/landscaping for the disabled? - Andrea Brown

When I was a college student, I studied some horticultural therapy, which probably relates closely in many areas to the therapeutic gardening and landscaping for the disabled to which you refer. It is a gardening and landscaping discipline that can build a tremendous amount of self-esteem among the mentally and physically challenged. I structured an independent study course in the early 1980s titled "Fitness Through Horticulture" using the premise that there are benefits to be derived from gardening by all populations who practice it by encouraging flexibility and balance, producing our own food, gaining strength, burning calories and increasing quality of life. You can get more information on the subject through the American Horticultural Therapy Association at www.ahta.org.

I had a conversation with the Fairfax County compliance officer for telephone/cable about a downed telephone line on our street. He mentioned that all the pines planted along the utilities' right-of-way were a real issue. What is your opinion on planting trees under power lines? - Mary Adams Lafsky

Your question about planting trees under power lines is one that has troubled me and has been a problem for years. When our local historical society suggested locating trees on county property, the county would not allow it for safety. Trees should never be planted under power lines because they eventually grow over and through them. Neither trees nor shrubs should be planted on top of communication lines, such as telephone, Internet and television. Also, it is the law to call the Miss Utility line locator company at 811 before you dig for footings, fences, shrubs and trees.

I have a very thin group of established deciduous trees that serve as my only screen between my house and an adjacent house.We have two-acre zoning, so the houses are not directly next to each other, but they are close enough that more privacy is desired. I would like to augment the existing trees with landscaping within the narrow strip without damaging the existing trees. - Tom Marshall

You have a number of options for screening between properties. Since you already have the deciduous trees, design a mix of conifers. It seems to me that a two-acre lot would have enough space between homes to plant several columnar or pyramidal evergreens mixed with the deciduous trees. Two that come to mind are Yoshino cryptomeria (C. japonica 'Yoshino') and green giant arborvitae. If your screening trees get at least six to seven hours of sun, you might be able to fit spruce trees with a narrow growth habit along the border. Serbian or Oriental spruce will grow into good screens. Before planting, ascertain mature size of the evergreens and space them far enough apart to allow room for them to grow together. Stagger them to give a natural appearance and place then strategically to offer screening where it's needed.

Joel M. Lerner is president of Environmental Design in Capitol View Park, Md.

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Smart growth bill capitalizes on Maryland transit

The Maryland General Assembly may soon make a really smart move toward achieving really smart growth: It could adopt proposed land-use legislation enabling "State Rail Station Overlay Districts."

House Bill 948 would empower local jurisdictions and the state to plan for and permit increased density and more diverse uses within designated areas around rail stations throughout Maryland.

If enacted, the Maryland Department of Planning, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, would collaborate with counties and municipalities to delineate rail-station overlay districts and to make new master plans, design guidelines and development regulations for them. The new plans and regulations would supersede existing zoning, replacing out-of-date concepts and regulations that obstruct desirable, sustainable development.

The SRSOD bill's most basic goal is to foster vibrant, pedestrian-oriented, energy-efficient communities centered on transit. Overlay district development, at appropriately higher densities with mixed uses, would be located within reasonable walking distance of Maryland's rail stations. Of course, what constitutes reasonable walking distance will depend on the agreeability of the walk.

Another laudable goal articulated in the bill is to improve public services and the aesthetic quality of the public realm - streetscapes, open space, civic amenities, architecture - within overlay districts. The bill sets forth urban design aspirations and outlines strategies for financing them. It envisions establishment of dedicated county or municipal amenity funds with revenues derived from state and local allocation of density rights; from taxing private transfers of density rights, and from special SRSOD taxing districts and bonds that would be paid off by new sales tax revenue.

A jurisdiction's amenity fund could pay for improving storm water management infrastructure, street landscaping and lighting, underground utilities, parks, plazas and playgrounds. Funds also could be used for preserving unique structures or protecting valuable natural features.

The SRSOD bill wisely recognizes that each rail station site is unique and that a statewide "one size fits all" planning approach would not work. Sites vary in historic and cultural character, surrounding physical and demographic conditions, vehicle access, topography, climate and economic potential, so planning and regulatory flexibility is essential. The legislation contains no prescriptive standards or quantitative criteria, only the requirement that jurisdictions establish them for each designated SRSOD site.

The legislation anticipates that jurisdictions will implement an efficient design review and development entitlement process. Qualified planning officials and design professionals would evaluate the functional, technical and, equally important, aesthetic quality of proposed projects.

Rational analysis and informed value judgments about urban design, architecture and engineering would guide development - instead of conventional zoning regulations that typically are mute about aesthetics. In fact, a rigorous- but fair and expeditious - review and permitting process motivates project sponsors and architects to strive harder to achieve design excellence.

It seems fitting - and long overdue - for Maryland to enact this smart-growth legislation. After all, the term "smart growth" was first coined in Maryland. Neither a fad nor a political ideology, smart growth is simply shorthand for prudent, sustainable land use and transportation planning guided by principles that planners today universally embrace:

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Concern grows over use of flame retardant HBCD

Hexabromocyclododecane, commonly known as HBCD, is a flame retardant that is starting to give a lot of green builders headaches.

Many people have never heard of this chemical compound, used in polystyrene insulation, but it could be in your house. Indeed, you are likely to be carrying some in your body.

This flame retardant has been found in human breast milk, body fat and blood. In the United States, "everyone has it in their tissues. In Europe, where HBCD is more widely used, the exposure is higher," said biochemist Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute and an expert on brominated and chlorinated flame retardants.

Not only is HBCD found in human tissues, but it's also found in wildlife and aquatic organisms all over the globe. In the United States, HBCD is carried through rivers and streams to the coasts, where it comes to rest in ocean sediments and enters the food chain. The highest levels of HBCD recorded to date were found in sea lions that were feeding on clams, shrimp and other bivalves off California, Blum said.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the European Chemicals Agency have said HBCD persists in the environment and does not break down into safer chemicals. It is toxic to aquatic invertebrates. According to EPA's HBCD Action Plan, released in 2010, "It also presents potential human health concerns based on animal test results indicating potential reproductive, developmental and neurological effects."

The European Union announced in February that HBCD is one of six substances of "very high concern" that "will be banned within the next three to five years unless an authorization has been granted to individual companies for their use." These substances "cannot be placed on the market or used unless authorization has been granted for a specific use."

How has HBCD become so widespread? Environmentalists have said the most likely primary source is emissions that escape during its manufacture or after it is applied as a flame retardant. Because HBCD is not chemically bound to the material it protects, it will eventually escape into the air, said Alex Madonik, a chemist with the Green Science Policy Institute.

But, Madonik said, in 2008, when the European Chemicals Agency determined that HBCD was a "substance of very high concern," it also concluded that when HBCD is used in insulation, its predicted exposure is low. For this reason, European polystyrene insulation manufacturers might request authorization to continue using HBCD. But even if this is granted, Madonik said, "they will be strongly encouraged to develop alternatives."

What is EPA's position on HBCD? Despite efforts to get precise information from its Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, I did not get answers. But EPA's Action Plan states that it is "considering initiating rulemaking" that "could take the form of a comprehensive ban" or "a more targeted regulation to address specific activities." EPA "intends to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking by the end of 2011," it said.

All this raises an obvious question for American homeowners and green home-builders: Is it okay to use materials containing substances that raise havoc with the environment and increase the chemical burden in everyone?

There are no easy answers.

Polystyrene insulation is favored by green-home builders because it creates an extremely energy-efficient building envelope. Reducing home energy use is a cornerstone of green building because it helps to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Home energy use accounts for about 20 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted by the United States every year.

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Thorny foreclosure questions

I never bought a foreclosure. I pay my mortgage faithfully. Now, is someone going to tell me a back-office clerk mishandled my title and their actions threaten my legitimate ownership? Will this mess hurt me when I try to sell my home?

That's exceedingly unlikely. Chaos would ensue if the millions of solvent homeowners who purchased their home - or refinanced their mortgage - in recent years had their ownership thrown into question. Even if investigators conclude that land titles have systemically been registered improperly as the associated mortgages were carved up into mortgage-backed securities and sold to investors, government would be compelled to avert such chaos by legislating a fix to the system.

And then there's the less-theoretical assurance provided by title insurance. Lenders require all borrowers to pay for a policy at closing. This protects the lender if there is a ownership claim against the title. (That's commonly called a "cloud" on the title.) Borrowers can choose to pay extra to have that coverage extend to them as well. Title insurers promise to pay legal expenses to defend a title - or to compensate owners if they lose such a challenge.

So, does that mean the foreclosure problem doesn't affect me at all?

It may not affect you directly, but the fallout could. If nearby foreclosures remain empty longer, or if buyers avoid bidding on foreclosures, your home value could deteriorate. Condominium-unit owners could face higher dues and special assessments if foreclosed units are not bought by dues-paying new owners. Existing condo owners also could have trouble selling their units because lenders refuse new mortgages at complexes that already have too many defaults.

More broadly, a prolonged halt to foreclosures could further damage the economy and the financial system, delaying the day when economic recovery gains real traction.

My bank says it is going to foreclose on my home. Is there any way to determine whether my documents were mishandled - and keep my home?

You need the advice of a lawyer who is expert on the foreclosure laws in your state. However, you can at least examine all the documents related to your home purchase and mortgage, dating from your loan closing to default and foreclosure notices, to look for errors and discrepancies. Are details such as account numbers, loan amounts, payment amounts, addresses and legal jurisdictions correct? Bring any errors to the attention of your lawer, who can advise you whether they will help you challenge the foreclosure.

I'm planning to buy a home. Will the foreclosure problem complicate things?

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