KEEP KIDS BUSY AND HAPPY THIS SUMMER!

Here are some ideas for keeping your kids happily occupied throughout the summer — giving you time to get things done.
 
Stock up on indoor activities. Keep board games, puzzles and a deck of playing cards on hand for when your kids need a break from the sun.
 
Go on backyard adventures. Plan a picnic or let your kids camp overnight in your own backyard.
 
Start a lemonade stand. Teach your kids a simple lemonade recipe and watch them become instant entrepreneurs. Bonus: They can practice their math skills counting change!
 
Invest in storytelling tech. Collect audiobooks your kids love and play them when you need some quiet time to yourself.
 
Create a chore chart. Make housekeeping a game! Assign simple chores to your kids and offer a small prize, like getting to choose what’s for dessert. Your kids will help you out and have fun in the process.
 
Decorate your sidewalks. Give your kids a bucket of sidewalk chalk and watch your yard transform into an art studio. Teach them to draw hopscotch frames for creative exercise.
 
Send your kids on a scavenger hunt. Give your kids a list of small items to collect from neighbors or friends. The first one to collect everything on the list wins!

RELAX - IT'S SUMMER

STAY COOL AND SAVE MONEY

Here are some ways to keep your home cool during summer without using expensive air conditioning:

1. Close and cover your windows. Use drapes, blinds or curtains to block sunlight. Keep your windows sealed during the day to keep in cool air.

2. Adjust fans to turn counter-clockwise. This movement sucks hot air up and cools your skin. Fans don’t create cool air, though, so turn them off when you leave the room.

3. Disconnect any idle technology. Appliances and electronics produce heat, even if you aren’t using them. Unplug them and turn them off.

4. Switch your lightbulbs to energy-efficient ones. Incandescent lightbulbs produce more heat than light. Switch to LED or CFL bulbs instead, and turn off lights when you aren’t in the room.

5. Start cooking outside. Much everyday heat comes from cooking. Avoid using your oven and stove by grilling outside. Eat more raw or cold dishes, like sushi or salad.

6. Prime your bed for cool evenings. Switch to 100% cotton bedding and sprinkle baby powder over your sheets to reduce sweating. Remove bed risers or set up a sleeping mat on the floor to avoid rising heat through the night.

7. Make permanent changes to keep your home summer-ready. Plant trees in your yard to block sunlight. Install awnings over windows. Ensure your attic is properly insulated and have any air leaks sealed. These changes will stop heat before it hits your home.

BUY A HOME FOR 50% OFF?

Would you like to buy a home for 50% off the listing price?

Believe it or not, you might be eligible to do just that. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a program called “Good Neighbor Next Door,” designed to help put hardworking people in homes for a significant discount. From the HUD website:

“Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a discount of 50% from the list price of the home. In return you must commit to live in the property for 36 months as your sole residence.”

(Source: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/sfh/reo/goodn)

The program requires you to buy an eligible single family home in designated revitalization areas, and you may search for listings online using the HUD portal here:
http://www.hudhomestore.com/Home/Index.aspx

One of the real benefits to this program is the significant upside should you decide to sell the home after your three year occupancy. When you sell, you are entitled to keep the entire profit from the home, even though you purchase it for half of its listing price. You don’t even have to be a first-time buyer to participate in the program.
Details about financing, occupancy commitments, revitalization zones and more can be found on the FAQ page concerning the Good Neighbor Next Door program:
https://www.hud.gov/program_off…/housing/…/reo/goodn/gnndfaq

Oh, and there’s also one more catch… you must work with a real estate agent or broker in order to buy the home. That’s where your local REALTOR® comes in! They’d be happy to work with you in your search to buy a HUD home.

TOP DAYS TO LIST YOUR HOME FOR SALE

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• ATTOM Data Solutions conducted an analysis of more than 29 million single family home and condo sales over the past eight years to determine the top days to list your home for sale.

• The top five days to list your home brought in a 10% premium over market value and are all in either May or June!

• “Families start their home search when they know their kids will be out of school and when the weather is ideal for home viewing and moving, giving home sellers an upper hand in price negotiations.”

There is still time to list your home before these dates pass you by!

FIVE WAYS TO ACHIEVE A GORGEOUS LAWN

Spring is here, and it's time to truly make your landscape shine! After all, one of the joys in owning your own home is attending to and personalizing your own yard! Since the focal point of most landscaping is the lawn (also one of the trickiest things to maintain), I'm including a special list of tips and tricks to help you whip your lawn into perfect shape. Giving special attention to the lawn now will help to keep it healthy throughout the summer; I hope you find this list to be as helpful as I have!

 

Water = Green: Water is one ingredient that your lawn cannot live without, so make sure that you've got a great routine in place for keeping the lawn damp. If you have a good sprinkler system installed, you're already a step ahead of the game! If not, make sure that you're reaching all areas of the lawn if watering by hand or by moveable sprinkler. Water in the evening or very early morning for best results, but don't overdo it!

Know how to mow: Make sure your lawn mower has sharp blades; mowing with dull blades can tear the grass, altering its healthy appearance. Also, the more often you mow, the healthier your grass will be! Mow the lawn at least once per week for optimal results.

Fertilize and vitalize: Invest in a good fertilizer and use it regularly for the thickest, greenest grass. Ever wonder why the fairways and greens on a golf course manage to look beautiful throughout the year? Fertilizer is the key to the greens keeper's success. For the greenest grass possible, purchase a fertilizer with iron content.

Weed it out: Weeds are an obvious eyesore when it comes to the care of your lawn, and you've probably noticed how quickly they can grow. With a good fertilizer program in place, you'll get a step ahead of weeds in no time. For the pesky, hardier plants, manage the growth with a little weed spray (or dig them out by hand for best results).

Don't get bugged: Lawn pests are not just annoying; they are bad for the grass. If you're properly watering, fertilizing, and mowing your lawn, but still have an insect or pest problem, try aerating the lawn; this should help to eliminate the little buggers!

A TALE OF TWO MARKETS

Some Highlights:

• An emerging trend for some time now has been the difference between available inventory and demand in the premium and luxury markets and that in the starter and trade-up markets and what those differences are doing to prices!

• Inventory continues to rise in the luxury and premium home markets which is causing prices to cool.

• Demand continues to rise with lower-than-normal inventory levels in the starter and trade-up home markets, causing prices to rise on a year-over-year basis for 85 consecutive months.