Many devoted gardeners are looking for ways to spruce up their gardens this time of year. Feng Shui is a great way to set your garden apart and incorporate it into your modernized lifestyle. According to the core principles of Feng Shui, everything consists of one of the Five Elements: Metal, Water, Earth, Wood and Fire. Keep the Five Elements balanced in your garden to raise chi (Life energy) and keep it flowing energetically. When choosing pots for your Feng Shui garden, keep the following guidelines in mind:
· Use planters and pots made of stone, metal, wood and terra cotta to incorporate some of the Five Elements.
· Double up on two Elements by placing clay pots inside metal containers or wicker baskets: clay is the Earth element, metal is the Metal element and wicker is the Wood element.
· When using colored pots, make sure the colors of the pots and the plants they contain work well together according to the Five Elements.

(Source: Jennifer Lawler and Holly Zeigler, Feng Shui Your Garden for Dummies [New York: Wiley Publishing, 2004])

SYNOPSIS: Buying or selling a home is never easy. Many people tend to find themselves intimidated by the process or concerned that they will not get the best deal. A recent Wall Street Journal article shares good tips on successful homebuying and selling negotiations.

There are several simple tips to keep in mind when buying or selling a home. First, you need to learn these critical core principles: Convince, Collaborate and Create. According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal,

Convince refers to changing the way the person you’re dealing with sees things.

Collaborate involves both sides changing the negotiation focus to one of problem solving.

Create takes a fresh look at how you’ve done things in the past and coming up with more effective ways to achieve your objectives.

Now, in addition to these principles, it is important to remember the following tips when you are ready to buy a home:

· Do your homework. Studying and understanding the market where you want to buy is invaluable. It is important to pay attention to how quickly houses are selling and for what price similar properties are going. If the market is “hot,” you need to be ready to buy immediately, as good houses won’t stay available for long and you may not have a lot of leeway on the price. If the market is slow, you know you can afford to browse and haggle about the price.

· Have vision. When you look for what others cannot see, you are bound to have an advantage. A broker who sells condominiums and co-ops on New York’s Upper East Side, Lisa Brown, says to keep an eye out for “a well-priced property that’s poorly presented.” If you are willing to renovate or put in a little elbow grease, you will have an edge in the market. Keep in mind, however, that major problems with a house, such as structural defects, cannot be solved by decorating.

· Try to remain impartial. Remember that when you fall in love with a property, it is almost impossible to negotiate well because you are unable to walk away. All of the preparation and vision in the world are no substitute for the powerful position of being able to say “no” if necessary.

When selling your home, you should try to accomplish the following things:

· Price your home correctly. As with buying a home, you should be familiar with the market. If your house is too expensive, buyers will not be able to justify the price. On the flip side, if you price your house too low, you won’t have room to negotiate when someone is serious about buying. People expect to bargain in real estate transactions, so be sure to set your initial asking price at a slightly high, but reasonable, level so you have room to bargain.

· Create a competitive atmosphere around your house. Buyers will feel differently about your house if they think they have competition. Also, if you can get more than one buyer interested in the property, you may end up with a bidding competition on your hands, which will result in a higher selling price!

When you learn the above guidelines and always remember the Convince, Collaborate and Create principles, you will always feel at ease when making real estate transactions.