Love it or Leave it!
A healthy, well-maintained lawn is more than just good-looking—it’s a key to preserving the value of your home. Regular lawn maintenance enhances curb appeal, making your home—and neighborhood—attractive to passersby and potential buyers.
According to Su Chi Straka-Phillis, a residential real estate appraiser with Central Appraisal Services of Parma, Ohio, a well-kept lawn preserves a home’s value.
Put off routine maintenance, and you risk devaluing your home. In fact, an unkempt lawn can be a warning sign to buyers of other potential home maintenance issues, explains Cecilia Sherrard, a real estate agent in Rocky River, Ohio. “The outside of the home is the first thing people see, and if it’s not properly maintained, many will not be interested in scheduling a showing to see the inside.”
Know your grass type
There are two main types of lawn grass: cool-season and warm-season. Homeowners living in the Northeast, Midwest, and Northwest should grow cool-season grasses. As depicted on the Plant Heat-Zone Map provided by the American Horticultural Society, the regions for cool-season grasses are approximately zones 1 through 7.
Cool-season grasses do most of their growing in spring and fall, often going dormant in the summer. Cool-season grasses include tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass.
Those living in the Southeast and Southwest (zones 8 through 12) will generally have warm-season grasses. Warm-season grasses thrive from late spring to early fall and go dormant in the winter. Varieties include bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, and St. Augustine grass.
If you’re unsure which zone applies to you, check your state extension service.
Mowing
Grass type: All
Maintenance schedule: Spring to fall
“The taller the grass, the deeper the roots, the fewer the weeds, and the more moisture the soil holds between watering,” explains Richard Hentschel of the University of Illinois Extension. Hentschel recommends the mower blade height be permanently set to 3 inches.
In prime growing season (spring and fall for cool-season; summer for warm), homeowners should mow frequently enough so they’re removing no more than one-third of the grass blade. If possible, resist the urge to mow the grass when wet, as the practice can spread diseases that affect lawns.
Mower blades should be sharpened monthly to ensure clean, sharp cuts. A dull blade tears the grass, leaving jagged edges that discolor the lawn and invite pathogens. Consider spending about $20 for a backup blade so that a sharp one is always on hand.
Watering
Grass type: All
Maintenance schedule: Spring to fall
Deep and infrequent watering is better for lawns than frequent sprinkles, which promote shallow root growth, says Hentschel. In general, lawns need about one inch of water per week to maintain green color and active growth.
Lawns that receive less than that will likely go into dormancy. To stay alive, dormant lawns should still receive at least 1 inch of water per month.
To check the output of a sprinkler, scatter some pie tins around the yard to see how much water collects in a specific length of time. Having a rain gauge ($5 to $20) will help you keep track of how much water the lawn receives naturally. Allowing a cool-season lawn to go dormant in the summer can save hundreds of gallons of water, depending on the size of your lawn.
Feeding
Grass type: Cool-season
Maintenance schedule: Early fall
Grass type: Warm-season
Maintenance schedule: Late spring
“It used to be common to fertilize a lawn three or four times per year,” says Hentschel. “Now we suggest just once a year when it will do the most good.” For cool-season grasses, that time is early fall, so the grass enters winter dormancy in a much healthier state.
For warm-season grasses, the best time to fertilize is late spring, just as the grass begins its most active growth. For best results, closely follow the application directions on the product. Cost is around $50 to $75 per application.
People interested in organic fertilizers have never had an easier time finding them at local garden centers. Homeowners who mow regularly with mulching mowers are encouraged to leave the clippings on the ground, where they’ll decompose and recycle nutrients into the soil.
Weed-control herbicide application
Grass type: Cool-season
Maintenance schedule: Fall
Grass type: Warm-season
Maintenance schedule: Late winter
Homeowners should embrace the idea that an occasional weed is OK, says Hentschel. For minor weed invasions, removal by hand of the entire plant and roots is recommended. When the situation becomes impossible to contain by hand, it might be necessary to apply an herbicide.
For cool-season grasses, the best time to apply a weed killer is in fall, when both old and new weeds can be eliminated before winter. Warm-season grasses often benefit from a late-winter application of a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent weeds from growing.
In place of weed and feed products, which are spread over the entire lawn, Hentschel prefers liquid-based herbicides that are applied only where needed. It’s imperative to read and follow all directions on herbicide labels. Cost is around $15 to $45 per application.
Grub control
Grass type: Cool-season
Maintenance schedule: Early summer
Grass type: Warm-season
Maintenance schedule: Late summer
Grub worms, the larval stage of June, Japanese, and other beetles, feed on the tender root systems of lawns. Affected lawns exhibit browning and wilting patches.
To be certain that the culprits are grubs, Hentschel suggests that homeowners pull back the sod and look for white, C-shaped grubs. If they’re present at a rate exceeding 10 per square foot, they should be treated with a chemical pesticide.
Milky spore is an environmentally friendly way to control some species of grubs. When using insecticides, read and follow all label directions and water the product into the soil immediately. Cost is around $50 to $75 per application.
Patching
Grass type: Cool-season
Maintenance schedule: Early fall
Grass type: Warm-season
Maintenance schedule: Early summer
The best time to patch bare or thin spots in a lawn is at the start of the grass’s most favorable growing period. For cool-season grasses that means waiting until the hot, dry days of summer have given way to cooler fall temps.
Warm-season grasses thrive in summer, so it’s best to sow seeds at the start of that season. Hentschel says to buy only high quality disease-resistant seed with good germination rates, which by law have to be listed on the label. Cost is anywhere from $20 to $75, depending on the size of the areas to be patched.
Cleanup
Grass type: All
Maintenance schedule: Spring to fall
Although small particles of grass are fine to leave on the lawn, large piles that exit a side-discharge mower should be removed. Fallen leaves, twigs, and debris should be raked up regularly. In climates where it snows, it’s best to remove fall leaves before winter. A thick layer of wet leaves can smother a lawn if not immediately removed in early spring.
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/lawn-maintenance-calendar/#ixzz1PJ3OeMk8
9 Unexpected Energy & Money $avers
Give your pocketbook and Mother Nature a gift this season by taking advantage of these simple, surprising ways to save energy and money.
Put lamps in the corners: Did you know you can switch to a lower wattage bulb in a lamp or lower its dimmer switch and not lose a noticeable amount of light? It’s all about placement. When a lamp is placed in a corner, the light reflects off the adjoining walls, which makes the room lighter and brighter.
Switch to a laptop: If you’re reading this article on a laptop, you’re using 1/3 less energy than if you’re reading this on a desktop.
Choose an LCD TV: If you’re among those considering a flat-screen upgrade from your conventional, CRT TV, choose an LCD screen for the biggest energy save.
Give your water heater a blanket: Just like you pile on extra layers in the winter, your hot water heater can use some extra insulation too. A fiberglass insulation blanket is a simple addition that can cut heat loss and save 4% to 9% on the average water-heating bill.
Turn off the burner before you’re done cooking: When you turn off an electric burner, it doesn’t cool off immediately. Use that to your advantage by turning it off early and using the residual heat to finish up your dish.
Add motion sensors: You might be diligent about shutting off unnecessary lights, but your kids? Not so much. Adding motion sensors to playrooms and bedrooms cost only $15 to $50 per light, and ensures you don’t pay for energy that you’re not using.
Spin laundry faster: The faster your washing machine can spin excess water out of your laundry, the less you’ll need to use your dryer. Many newer washers spin clothes so effectively, they cut drying time and energy consumption in half-which results in an equal drop in your dryer’s energy bill.
Use an ice tray: Stop using your automatic icemaker. It increases your fridge’s energy consumption by 14% to 20%. Ice trays, on the other hand, don’t increase your energy costs one iota.
Use the dishwasher: If you think doing your dishes by hand is greener than powering up the dishwasher, you’re wrong. Dishwashers use about 1/3 as much hot water and relieve that much strain from your energy-taxing water heater. Added bonus: you don’t have to wash any dishes.
REPRINTING WITH PERMISSION OF HOUSE LOGIC
Five Things that Buyers Do That Turn Sellers Off!
On today’s market, every savvy seller wants to know what turns buyers off, so they can get their homes sold as quickly as possible, for as much as possible. But buyers, take note – there is a minefield of seller turn-offs you can trigger that hold the potential to keep you from getting the home you want at the best price and terms, or to unnecessarily complicate dealings with your home’s seller.
Lest you think all of today’s sellers are under the gun and will just put up with whatever behavior buyers dish out, be aware that there are still many multiple offer situations in which buyers have to compete with each other to get a home – buyers who trigger these turnoffs tend to lose in those scenarios. Also, avoiding these seller turnoffs can create a transactional environment of cooperation and avoid things turning adversarial. That, in turn, can empower you to score a better price, get extra items you want thrown into the deal, and even negotiate more flexibility around your escrow and move-in timelines – all perks that can make your life easier and your budget go further.
For sellers, these turnoffs pose the potential of irritating you out of an otherwise good deal – maybe even the only deal you have!
Here’s a few of the most common buyer-perpetuated seller turnoffs, with tips for sellers on how to keep an emotional (and economic) even keel, even if your home’s buyer makes some of these waves:
1. Trash-talking. Trash-talkers are the home buyers who think they’re going to negotiate the list price down by slamming the house, telling the sellers how little it is really worth, how the house across the street sold for nothing, why the school on the corner should make them desperate to give the place away, etc. This strategy never works; in fact, when you attack a seller and their home, you only cause them to be defensive, and think up all the reasons that (a) their home is not what you say it is, and (b) they shouldn’t sell their home to you!
Sometimes this happens with buyers who actually love a house and just walk around it fantasizing about all the ways they would customize it to their tastes while a seller is there. Sellers: avoid being at home while your home is being shown. Buyers: save your commentary for your agent; if you do encounter the seller in person keep your conversation respectful and avoid critiquing the house or the list price.
2. Being unqualified for mortgage financing. When a seller signs a buyer’s offer, most often the seller agrees to effectively pull the home off the market, forgoing other buyers who might be interested. As such, the only thing worse than getting no offers on your home is getting an offer, getting into contract, then having the whole thing fall apart when the buyer’s loan falls through – especially if that could have been predicted or avoided up front.
Sellers: Work with your agent to vet your home’s buyers’ qualifications, including their loan approval, down payment and earnest money deposit – before you sign a contract. It’s not overkill for your agent to call the buyers’ mortgage pro before you sign the contract and get a level of comfort for how robust their qualifications are. Buyers: Get pre-approved. Seriously. And make sure that you don’t buy a car, quit your job, deposit lottery winnings or do any other financial twitchery between the time you get loan approval and the time you close escrow on your home.
3. Making unjustified lowball offers. No one likes to feel like they are being taken advantage of. And sellers generally know the ballpark amount that their home is worth, as well as what they need to sell it for to get their mortgage paid off. Yes – the price you pay for a home should be driven by its fair market value, rather than the seller’s financial needs, and deals are more available in a market like the current one, in which supply so vastly outpaces demand. But just throwing uber-lowball offers out at sellers hoping one will hit the spot is not generally a successful strategy, especially if you really, really want a given property.
Sellers: Don’t get overly emotional about receiving a lowball offer; counter at the price you and your agent decide makes sense based on the total circumstances, including your motivation level, recent comps and the interest/activity level your listing is receiving. Buyers: Work through the similar, nearby homes that have recently sold (a/k/a comparables) before you make an offer to factor the home’s fair market value into your offer price – also factor in how much you want the place, too. Don’t be amazed if you make an offer far below asking, and don’t get a response.
4. Renegotiating mid-stream. Sellers plan their finances, moves and – to some extent – their lives around the purchase price a buyer agrees to pay for their home. If you get into contract to buy a home, find out during inspections that costly repairs need to be made, then propose a lower sale price, repair credit or even actual repairs to the seller, that’s sensible and fair. But if you were aware that the property needed a lot of work before you made an offer on it, then you come back asking for beaucoup bucks’ worth of credit or price reductions midstream, expect the seller to cry foul. And holding the seller up two weeks into the transaction because you caught a case of buyer’s remorse? Not cool, and not likely to foster the spirit of cooperation you may need to get your deal closed.
Sellers: avoid mid-stream price renegotiations by having a full set of inspection reports and repair bids at hand when you list your home. Buyers: try to avoid renegotiating the entire deal unless you get some major surprises at your inspections or inflating small repairs to try to justify a major price cut.
5. Misleading or setting the seller up. Remember when we talked about buyer turn-offs? Being misled by listing photos or very fluffy property descriptions was high on the list. The same goes for sellers.Offering way over asking with the plan to hammer the seller for a reduction when the house doesn’t appraise at the purchase price? #LAME Making an as-is offer planning the whole time to come back and ask for every penny ante repair called out by the inspectors? Lame squared.
Sellers: If you get multiple offers and are tempted to take a sky-high one or one that claims to be all cash, consider requesting proof that the buyer has sufficient funds to make up the difference between what you think the home will appraise for and the actual sale price, and statements showing the cash truly exists. Buyers: Don’t be lame. I’m not saying you have to tell the seller exactly what your top dollar is, but making offers with terms designed to intentionally mislead is really, really bad form – and can result in losing the home entirely if and when your bluff gets called.
