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Latest Lawn and Garden Tools Worth Buying

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Article courtesy of The Amerispec Team of SWFL (239) 277-7380

This article has great information that every homeowner needs, so I wanted to share.

Whether you are an avid gardener, or a relative novice taking care of both your garden and your lawn is a big responsibility. While gardening itself is a “back to the earth” type of task, in today’s world more and more people are mixing a little technology into their garden methods.  Finding the right mix of power tools and old standards can help you get the most out of your lawn and garden experience. Here are some suggestions:

Compact Lawn Mower

A walk behind mower is a staple of yard maintenance for homeowners whether they choose to grow flowers and vegetables or not, but traditional mowers can take up a lot of space and make it difficult to find what you need when you need it. A compact mower like Toro Recycler 22 inch SmartStow Briggs and Stratton PoweReverse Personal Pace Gas Walk Behind Mower fold up to take up less room in the garage but still have plenty of power to get the job done.

Portable Versions of Power Tools

Large contraptions are not fun to maneuver around the yard and take up too much space. It used to be, however to get the power needed, large chainsaws, blowers, and trimmers were necessary.  Some common choices include:

Pressure Washers

Chainsaws

Cordless Blowers

Cordless Hedge Trimmers

An Osculating Sprinkler

Keeping your yard properly watered is essential, and it is no fun to stop and move your sprinkler to different places in the yard. Having an osculating sprinkler makes this easier.

A Lightweight Expandable Garden Hose

Traditional hoses are notoriously heavy and can make you feel like you are carrying a hundred-pound python around your yard. Newer hoses are much lighter, and are still made of sturdy material, making lawn and garden care much easier for all.

Irrigation Kits

Having your yard aerated is a must to get the most out of your watering sessions. Some simply hire a lawn service each year to aerate, but more are tackling the task themselves with irrigation kits. These can be either special strap-on spikes or a push behind manual aerator that help your lawn to stay loose and breathe.

Raised Garden Bed

Rather than putting in a garden directly into the ground, many are choosing a raised garden bed. Not everyone’s yard has naturally good soil, so having a raised garden provides an opportunity to supplement the soil with bagged, and fertilize more thoroughly for a bountiful harvest.

LED Grow Lights

If you live in a region where weather is unpredictable, it can help to have LED grow lights to start your garden indoors. Some may even choose to continue a bit of indoor gardening this way, which brings the experience of gardening to those who may not have access to land, such as apartment dwellers.

Shears, pruners, hoes, spades, weeders, and rakes have long been standbys for gardeners and can provide better control and a stronger sense of connection with the earth. Good lawn care and gardening not only make you look good to the neighbors, put can also help support the planet and provide you.

 

The 5 Most Important DIY Projects for Selling Your Home Quickly

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The 5 Most Important DIY Projects for Selling Your Home Quickly

If you’re planning to put your house on the market, one of the most important things to you is probably how quickly it sells. While it’s easy to sell when you have an unlimited budget for hiring out professional designers and contractors, it can be a challenge when you have to strategize the money and time you spend preparing your home. Luckily, there are a number of projects you can do yourself that will help get your house on and off the market in no time. Here are the five you should start with:

Clean everything

The first thing you want to do is declutter and deep clean your home. Get rid of any unnecessary items (i.e. shoes, old magazines, worn out furniture, family photos, etc.), and rearrange the furniture to optimize space. Keep in mind that less is more when you’re trying to sell. Also, give your home a good deep cleaning. Dust and vacuum all the hard-to-reach areas from top to bottom and go from room to room scrubbing everything clean. Once you’ve deep cleaned your home (or hired someone to do it), you’ll want to come up with a solid routine to keep it clean.

Get the right tools

Tools are half the battle when it comes to DIY projects. If you don’t have the right tools, it will end up costing you time and money. Along with getting the appropriate tools, it’s worth investing in high-quality ones. For instance, look into high-quality vacuums to keep your wood floors shining, top-rated microfiber cloths for dusting, the best scrubbing cloths and cleaners, and so on. Purchasing good tools gets expensive, but it will make cleaning feel less overwhelming and save you a lot of headache in the long run.

Paint

Painting can dramatically change the look and feel of your home, and it usually doesn’t cost a lot of money. It can lighten up your home and make it more inviting, as well as make the rooms feel larger and cleaner. Since you’re selling, consider shades of gray or greige, because those are currently the most popular colors among buyers. Remember to declutter and deep clean your home first because it will make painting a lot easier.

Change out the faucets and hardware

Another thing you can do to add appeal to your home without breaking the bank is to replace your worn-out or dated faucets and hardware. The kitchen and bathrooms are the most important rooms to buyers, so giving them a little attention should be a priority. Put in a nice, clean faucet on all your sinks. Modernize your kitchen appliances and cabinets by changing out the knobs and handles. Also, putting in new shower hardware and towel bars can make a big difference at little cost.

Enhance the lighting

Poor lighting can make your home feel small, dirty, and uninviting, and it will quickly turn off buyers. Also, outdated fixtures can be all it takes to make your rooms look tacky. Go room by room, open all the curtains and blinds, turn on all the lights, and try to view each space as if it’s your first time looking at it. Add lighting if you need to and replace fixtures where necessary. You can find a lot of affordable modern lighting online or at your local home improvement store.

If you set aside a little time and money, you can make significant strides toward selling your home quickly. Start by decluttering, deep cleaning and keeping your home clean, and make sure you have the right tools. Put a fresh coat of paint in all the rooms to create an open and inviting feel. Switch out the faucets and hardware in the kitchen and bathrooms and make sure you have adequate lighting and nice fixtures in each room. These five projects could be all it takes to get your house off the market.

 

Author

Ms. Brittany Fisher has spent more than 20 years as a CPA, and is currently working on a book about financial literacy (due out in 2018). She also runs Financiallywell.info.

(Photo Credit: Pexels)

Building Your Home Security System? Start Here First

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Building Your Home Security System? Start Here First

“60% of burglars indicated that the presence of an alarm would cause them to seek an alternative target” –UNC Charlotte, Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology

Pretty amazing, right? If you’re a new homeowner or have recently decided to add some security measures to your home, it can be hard to know where to start. Fortunately, making the decision to monitor your home is shown to be an effective way to help thwart burglars. The only question is, where do you start? Do you need to pay bigger fees for a professional security system, or can those DIY kits really offer appropriate protection? 

The team at Reviews.com recently dove in to answer this very same question, and formulated a helpful step-by-step approach to home security installation. They recommend starting with the following questions:

Professional or DIY?

The first question to ask yourself is whether to opt for a DIY or professional security system. Both options present their own unique pros and cons, as seen below: 

Professional systems take on monitoring themselves. They’ll alert the police on your behalf if they can’t contact someone in the house to determine if an alarm is true or false. However, keep in mind that there is a large fine if they end up calling the police for a false alarm.

Service fees typically run about $40 – $50 per month, in addition to equipment rental costs.

DIY security systems allow you to monitor your own camera and sensor feed. So while you can more easily avoid false alarms, it’s also up to you to call the police if needed.

Service fees typically run about $10 – $30 per month, in addition to equipment purchase costs.

Choose your equipment options and placement

Control Panel – programs, arms and disarms your system. Do you want a sleek touchpad or a chunkier keypad? Look for an option that suits your preferences.

Video Cameras – monitor the comings and goings of people to the house (package deliveries, landscapers, animals, home-dwellers), and capture footage for the police. How will you set up your cameras?

  • Back door – cameras should be high enough to prevent wires from being clipped
  • Front door – cameras should also be similarly high up, or right by the doorbell where a burglar won’t want to do anything suspicious
  • Master bedroom – most burglars target the master bedroom first, so coverage here is important

Door & Window Sensors – chime when the connection is broken, typically even if the system is unarmed. When properly installed, they typically do not fail or produce false alarms.

Motion Detectors – keep in mind that these can’t always differentiate between a moving person or a wandering pet or radiator. In general, cameras are more effective than motion detectors, as they allow you to see what is moving.

Flood, smoke, and CO detectors – these sensors will call the fire department if the stimulus is detected in the house. Another tip: homeowners insurance companies will often give customers a discount for installing these safety measures, so be sure to ask!

For more information on how to choose and set up your home security system, check out the full guide here: https://www.reviews.com/research/tips-building-home-security-system/
 

The Hidden Value of Homeownership

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THE HIDDEN VALUE OF HOMEOWNERSHIP

Owning a home doesn’t just help you build wealth. It also impacts your life and your children’s lives. Here are some of the specific benefits homeowners may enjoy over renters:

1. Homeowners are healthier and live longer. Owning a home reduces the likelihood of divorce. Homeowners are less likely to suffer from depression.

2. City homeowners are less likely to be victims of crime. Children of homeowners often achieve a higher level of education.

3. Children of homeowners are likely to earn more over their lifetimes. Children of homeowners have signicantly lower teen dropout and pregnancy rates.

4. Homeowners are more likely to be involved in neighborhood groups. Homeowners have a better understanding of politics and are more likely to vote.

Sources: National Association of Realtors®, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health