Cape Deb - your Guide to Paradise » newsletter http://capedeb.com specializing in Southwest Florida Real Estate Thu, 17 May 2012 15:01:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 April 2010 Newsletter….Cape Coral FL Real Estate News from Cape Deb……… http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/04/april-2010-newsletter%e2%80%a6-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6/ http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/04/april-2010-newsletter%e2%80%a6-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6/#comments Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:18:18 +0000 CapeDeb http://capedeb.com/?p=691 April 2010

 

State and National News:

Taxes and Insurance:

Cape Coral and SW Florida News:

Real Estate Tips:

Green News:

_____________________________________________________________________

Check out my new website at

www.CapeDeb.com

 

______________________________________________________________________

7 Gardening Mistakes to Avoid

Article From HouseLogic.com By: Oliver Marks
Published: March 15, 2010

Novice gardeners can get their landscapes off to a healthy start by heeding some tried-and-true tips from the pros.

Gardening is just about the simplest do-it-yourself home improvement work there is. If you can dig a hole, turn on a spigot, and snip a dead flower off a vine, you’ve got the basic skills down. Still, you do have to make some judgment calls, so it helps to know the ground rules, so to speak, that can help you avoid making some rookie mistakes.

Mistake #1: Making changes too soon

Take the excitement of buying a home, add a nice stretch of spring weather, and you get a lot of enthusiasm for doing yard work. That’s great; seize the day, but don’t jump into wholesale landscape changes, like pulling out plants or reorganizing the layout quite yet.

“That weed that you want to yank out in the spring might turn out to be a gorgeous fall-blooming vine,” says Gary Blondell, owner of Gary’s Gardens, a nursery in Severna Park, Md. Plus, it takes time to learn the landscape and figure out exactly what changes make sense.

Avoid this by: Living with the landscape for a full year, so you can observe it in all seasons.

Mistake #2: Planting too close together

You buy a wheelbarrow full of young shrubs and perennials and plant them in a pleasing arrangement. But if they look properly spaced now, they’re actually way too close together.

Unless you’re creating an evergreen hedge, when the idea is packing things tightly together, the immature plantings will grow into each other in a few years and struggle to compete for sun, water, and soil nutrients. You’ll either have to dig them up and transplant them-or possibly throw them away.

Avoid this by: Following the spacing requirements on the plant label-even though the results will look absurdly sparse at first.

Mistake #3: Planting without a plan

Putting in new garden beds without a long-term landscape plan is like tiling, painting, and wallpapering your house before you figure out your future remodeling plans: There’s a good chance you’ll have to undo your efforts in the near future.

Avoid this by: Drawing a simple, bird’s eye view sketch of your yard, and figuring out the rough location of any future construction-additions, patios, outbuildings, pools-so you can plant around them.

A good local nursery or home improvement store can help you with your design. Or you can hire a landscape designer to create a starter plan for as little as $250 to $500. Find a professional at the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (http://www.apld.com) or the American Society of Landscape Architects (http://www.asla.org).

Mistake #4: Neglecting the root ball

Even the hardiest plants need a little help getting their roots established in their new locations. But just turning on the sprinkler every day to douse the foliage isn’t enough to ensure that they get the nutrients and hydration they need. You have to get the water to a plant’s nerve center–the root ball below ground–or it’s going to be stunted or short-lived.

Avoid this by:Placing the hose near the root ball and setting the water to a trickle for about 20 to 30 minutes. Do this twice a week-more during hot, dry spells-for the first four to 12 weeks. Choosing the right irrigation system can help with this task while saving water (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/water-saving-irrigation-strategies/).

Mistake #5: Ignoring your yard’s sun conditions

Too many nursery shoppers pick plants based only on looks-not the growing conditions they need, which are almost always indicated on a label wrapped around the trunk or a marker pressed into the soil. “They put a sun-loving perennial under a dense tree or something that wants partial shade out in full-day sunshine,” says Blondell. “It looks great for about a week, and then it begins to die.”

Avoid this by: Watching the spot where you’re going to put the plant and estimating the amount of sun it gets over the course of the day during the growing season. To translate that to the language on plant labels, use this key:

Full Sun 6 hours a day or more Part Sun/Part Shade 3 to 5 hours Shade Less than 3 hours

Mistake #6: Misusing irrigation systems

An automatic irrigation system is a luxury that allows you to keep your landscape hydrated throughout the growing season with almost no effort. Unfortunately, with the wrong settings, it can also bring disease, root rot, and an untimely death to the plants in your landscape.

“People tend to set their systems to come on for 15 or 20 minutes each morning,” says Blondell. “That provides a nice saturation of the surface, but not a deep penetrating soak to reach the roots of large shrubs and trees.” And a deeper soak is better for the lawn, too, because it promotes deep root systems.

Avoid this by: Watering for longer intervals-say, 40 to 60 minutes-only two to three times a week. Check with the company that maintains your irrigation system for local recommendations.

Mistake #7: Not budgeting for landscaping during construction projects

Whether you’re building a house or an addition, the bulldozers that excavate the job and the pickups that park on the lawn will damage the grass, trees, and shrubs. And the new building configuration will call for new landscape plantings.

Unfortunately, homeowners don’t often include money in their budgets for this work. So you wind up with a beautiful new family room, screened porch, or solarium, with a few azaleas thrown in around the foundation as an afterthought.

Avoid this by:Allocating 10 to 20 percent of your construction budget to the landscape-both hardscaping and plants-or at least making plans to spend that money as soon as possible after the construction job is complete.

A former carpenter and newspaper reporter, Oliver Marks has been writing about home improvements for 16 years. He’s entering his second summer at his house and has big plans for upgrading its scraggly foundation plantings.

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Copyright 2010.  All rights reserved.

______________________________________________________________________

Deb Cullen, CRS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, RSPS, SFR

deb@CapeDeb.com

www.CapeDeb.com

239.233.2322

To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here

Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/04/april-2010-newsletter%e2%80%a6-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 March 2010 Newsletter….Cape Coral FL Real Estate News from Cape Deb……… http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/03/643/ http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/03/643/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:08:35 +0000 CapeDeb http://capedeb.com/?p=643 MARCH 2010

 

State and National News:

Taxes and Insurance:

Cape Coral and SW Florida News:

Real Estate Tips:

Green News:

_____________________________________________________________________

Check out my new website at

www.CapeDeb.com

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

The Pros and Cons of Condos…….

Condominiums and townhouses offer an affordable option to single-family homes in most areas. But consider these facts before you buy.

  1. Storage. Some condos have storage lockers, but usually there are no attics or basements to store belongings.
  2. Outdoor space. Yards and outdoor areas are usually smaller in condos, so if you like to garden or entertain outdoors, this may not be a good fit. However, if you hate yard work, this may be the perfect option for you.
  3. Amenities. Many condo properties have swimming pools, fitness centers, and other facilities that would be very expensive in a single-family home.
  4. Maintenance. Many condos have onsite maintenance personnel to care for common areas, do repairs in your unit, and let in workers when you’re not home.
  5. Security. Many condos have keyed entries and or even door attendants. Plus, you’ll be closer to other people in case of an emergency.
  6. Reserve funds and association fees. Although fees generally help pay for amenities and provide savings for future repairs, you will have to pay the fees agreed to by the condo board, whether or not you’re interested in the amenity or not.
  7. Resale. The ease of selling your unit is more dependent on what else is for sale in your building, since units are usually fairly similar. Single-family homes usually are more individual.
  8. Freedom. Although you have a vote, the rules of the condo association can affect your ability to use your property. For example, some condos prohibit home-based businesses. Others prohibit pets. Read the covenants, restrictions, and bylaws of the condo carefully before you make an offer.
  9. Proximity. You’re much closer to your neighbors in a condo or townhome. If possible, try to meet your closest prospective neighbors before making a decision.
Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.                        www.REALTOR.org/realtormag

______________________________________________________________________

Deb Cullen, CRS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, RSPS, SFR

deb@CapeDeb.com

www.CapeDeb.com

239.233.2322

To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here

Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/03/643/feed/ 0 January 2010 Newsletter….Cape Coral FL Real Estate News from Cape Deb……… http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/01/january-2010-newsletter-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb/ http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/01/january-2010-newsletter-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:06:09 +0000 CapeDeb http://capedeb.com/?p=435 January 2010

 

State and National News:

Taxes and Insurance:

Cape Coral and SW Florida News:

Real Estate Tips:

Green News:

_____________________________________________________________________

Check out my new website at

www.CapeDeb.com

 

______________________________________________________________________

8 Steps to Getting Your Finances in Order…….

Develop a family budget. Instead of budgeting what you’d like to spend, use receipts to create a budget for what you actually spent over the last six months. One advantage of this approach is that it factors in unexpected expenses, such as car repairs, illnesses, etc., as well as predictable costs such as rent.

Reduce your debt. Generally speaking, lenders look for a total debt load of no more than 36 percent of income. Since this figure includes your mortgage, which typically ranges between 25 percent and 28 percent of income, you need to get the rest of installment debt—car loans, student loans, revolving balances on credit cards—down to between 8 percent and 10 percent of your total income.

Get a handle on expenses. You probably know how much you spend on rent and utilities, but little expenses add up. Try writing down everything you spend for one month. You’ll probably see some great ways to save.

Increase your income. It may be necessary to take on a second, part-time job to get your income at a high-enough level to qualify for the home you want.

Save for a downpayment. Although it’s possible to get a mortgage with only 5 percent down—or even less in some cases—you can usually get a better rate and a lower overall cost if you put down more. Shoot for saving a 20 percent downpayment.

Create a house fund. Don’t just plan on saving whatever’s left toward a downpayment. Instead decide on a certain amount a month you want to save, then put it away as you pay your monthly bills.

Keep your job. While you don’t need to be in the same job forever to qualify, having a job for less than two years may mean you have to pay a higher interest rate.

Establish a good credit history. Get a credit card and make payments by the due date. Do the same for all your other bills. Pay off the entire balance promptly.

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.                        www.REALTOR.org/realtormag

______________________________________________________________________

Deb Cullen, CRS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, RSPS, SFR

deb@CapeDeb.com

www.CapeDeb.com

239.233.2322

To remove your name from our mailing list, please click here
Share/Save/Bookmark]]> http://capedeb.com/index.php/2010/01/january-2010-newsletter-cape-coral-fl-real-estate-news-from-cape-deb/feed/ 1