FIVE TIPS FOR MAINTAINING HOUSEPLANTS

Adding plants to your home will give it a fresher and brighter feel and will also improve your home’s air quality. Although it does take a little bit of work and consistency to maintain your plants, but it’s well worth the effort. Here are a few tips for keeping your plants looking great.

1. Use leftover water from cooking. Plants love the extra nutrients from your leftover cooking water that can’t be found straight from the tap. Instead of dumping the water right after boiling vegetables, let it cool and use it to water your plants.

2. Coffee makes great fertilizer. Rather than throwing your used coffee grounds in the trash, empty out your French press or coffee filter straight into a planter.

3. Dust your plants. This should be part of your regular dusting and cleaning routine. Keeping your plants’ leaves dust-free keeps them healthier.

4. Pay attention to soil types. Different plants require different soils. Do some research to discover each plant‘s preferred soil. For instance, succulents require sandy, dry soil.

5. Beware of root rot. Houseplants are prone to root rot because there’s often no where for excess water to drain from the planter. Prevent root rot by putting pebbles in the bottom of the planter, which elevates the roots. Use a water-hydrogen peroxide mixture for plants that are already showing signs of root rot.

AVOID THESE LAWN CARE MISTAKES

It’s easy to take a few missteps when it comes to lawn care, especially if you’re a new homeowner and it’s your first time being solely responsible for your yard and landscaping. Here are a few tips that will help you avoid lawn-related frustrations.

Cutting the grass short. Lowering the height of your mower blades may give you a few extra days between each mowing, but it’s bad for your grass in the long run. Don’t go any shorter than 2.5 inches, or your grass could be starved for sunlight.

Watch where your dog urinates. Finally out of an apartment and ready to let the dog into the back yard when it’s time to go? You might regret it. Your pets’ urine can kill your plants and grass. Try to train your dog to go in one spot, preferably in stone or gravel.

Be careful with fertilizer. Fertilizing your lawn isn’t as simple as picking up any bag at a local store. Choosing the wrong fertilizer, using too much, or ignoring the instructions is a recipe for disaster. Do plenty of research or ask a professional if you need help choosing.

Give your plants room to breathe. The nutrients in soil are a finite resource, and your plants and shrubs also need their fair share of water and sunlight. If you plant your shrubs, trees, and flowers too close together, they’ll have to compete for those resources and may become malnourished. Pay attention to the planting recommendations for each plant to make sure that they have the proper space to thrive.

SUMMER PROJECT: BUILDING A NEW FENCE

Looking for a home improvement project which will up your home’s curb appeal and give you some great exercise in good weather? Look no further than building a new fence.

Summer is an ideal time to tackle outdoor renovation projects. From driveway paving to sidewalk repair, the fair weather can be an ideal time to not only enjoy the outdoors, but take some time to improve the curb appeal and value of your home.

One common outdoor project? A new fence. Whether you’re looking to install a decorative wooden garden fence, a chain link border for your pets, or a substantial privacy fence, there are some things you’ll want to keep in mind before you begin:

1. A permit may be required for fence construction. These may be issued by your county or your city, depending on where you live.

2. The size of fence may dictate need for permit. Some communities do not require permits for smaller fences.

3. If your fence shares a border with your neighbor, certain permits may require proof of your neighbor’s consent, plus plans and/or drawings that detail how you’ll go about building your fence.

4. Permit fees for fences can range anywhere from $20 to above $100. If you use a company to build your fence, often they will secure the permits for you (but you’ll still be on the hook for the permitting fee).

5. You’ll need to know how much concrete to buy for your fence post footings. One easy way to figure this out is use this handy online concrete calculator:

http://www.calculator.net/concrete-calculator.html

6. Check YouTube for helpful fence tutorials, such as this handy and professional video produced by Lowe’s: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ24ykIBVOM

Best of luck with your summer project!

If you’re looking for a home with more land or new fences installed already, give your local REALTOR® a shout. He or she can help you find the ideal property.

TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR SCREEN TIME

Do you feel you’re wasting precious hours of every day staring mindlessly into your computer or mobile device? Then try these two helpful apps for managing your screen time.

Screen addiction is real, and it’s not just adults who are suffering from the impulse to reach for that phone or tablet. It’s also taking a toll on kids (https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/screen-addiction-is-taking-a-toll-on-children/). Even the parents of Silicon Valley giants are raising their kids with a dose of low-tech mindfulness (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-padnos-altamirano/raising-low-tech-kids-in_b_9559836.html). 

If you’re looking for ways to track and manage the amount of time you spend staring into your magic screens, you might want to check out the browser extension “Waste No Time” and the mobile app “Moment.”

According to the website, “WasteNoTime is a browser extension which is designed to help you manage your time spent on the Internet more efficiently. Time Tracker feature gives you reports on what web sites you spent most of your time. Instant Lockdown feature allows you to focus on your work for a period of time with limited Internet access. Time Quota feature automatically block selected web sites when you have spent a preset amount of time on them each day.”

As for Moment, “Moment is an iOS app that automatically tracks how much you use your iPhone and iPad each day. If you’re using your phone too much, you can set daily limits on yourself and be notified when you go over. You can even force yourself off your device when you’re over your limit.”

There’s also Moment Family to “manage your family’s screen time from your own phone and set up time for your entire family to be screen-free using family dinner time.”

If you want to break the cycle of screen addiction, check out these apps.

Waste No Time:

http://www.bumblebeesystems.com/wastenotime/

Moment:

https://inthemoment.io/

UNDERSTANDING HOW POCKET LISTINGS WORK

Have you ever wondered what a “pocket listing” is? 

Learn a little bit about this trend in hot markets and how an agent familiar with pocket listings can help you sell your home faster or find homes which haven’t hit the market yet.

If you’ve been searching for a home or have been considering selling your home, you may have heard the term “pocket listings” from real estate agents or even friends and family. What is a pocket listing? Where did the term come from? How are pocket listings being used today to buy and sell homes?

Pocket listings are homes which are for sale but not yet widely advertised or entered into typical MLS databases. Often an agent will enter into an agreement to sell a home, but will first reach out to their personal and professional network to see if anyone may be interested in a quick, private purchase. Ideally, the agent knows someone or another agent who has a client interested in the home and the whole process of listing and marketing the home is bypassed.

Originally, pocket listings were typically used for extremely high-end luxury properties with a limited pool of buyers, or with celebrities or other buyers/sellers who wished to avoid any publicity surrounding their transaction. But that’s changed a lot in the past few years, especially in competitive markets where there are eager buyers and relatively little desirable inventory.

You might think pocket listings would restrict the sale price of the home. After all, won’t a good home publicly listed attract lots of buyers, resulting in competitive bids? It depends. Once a home is listed in an MLS database, the home is officially on the market. The longer a home sits on the market (i.e. the higher its “days on market” number is), the greater the possibility the home will see price reductions or low-ball offers.

The pocket listing can be a very useful tool for exploring the level of interest in a home. A savvy agent with a good network will often reach out to their database in order to get a sense of whether the listing has real potential. It’s also a great way to drum up excitement about a house, especially if the agent conducts small, exclusive broker showings of the pocket listing. Pocket listing also gives a wary home seller the chance to see if it’s likely the home will sell for a price they can accept.

Experienced agents with deep connections in the community are the go-to choice if you’re interested in discussing the possibility of buying or selling via the pocket listing approach. 

Thinking of listing quietly? Want to see if there are any homes out there which are just about to come to the market? Contact a local REALTOR® to help you navigate a pocket listing situation. Get in touch today.