House Plants Keep Down Pollution
---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Better Judgements eZine Terria Judge, Realtor CRS, ABR, GRI, Broker Associate Better Judgements is a newsletter on home matters, from Terria Judge, your Garden City, KS real estate agent! Contact Terria Judge at 620-271-2129! Terria Judge Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. John P. Judge, Broker 1135 College Dr. Suite E Garden City, KS 67846 1-877-275-7497 x 223 620-275-7421 x 223 http://terriajudge.com http://gardencityksrealestate.com http://gardencityrentals.com Terria@TerriaJudge.com Subscription Management at end of newsletter. Thanks for your subscription to Better Judgements, the newsletter from your Garden City Kansas Realtor, Terria Judge. ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- In this Issue ============= 1. Article: Get Rid Of Air Pollution In Your Home With House Plants 2. Features at TerriaJudge.com 3. Featured & New Listings 4. Article: Preparing Your House To Sell – Understanding The "Buyer's Fantasy" 5. Article: Fall Planting ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Get Rid Of Air Pollution In Your Home With House Plants By Michele Lum Do you know that formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas can cause severe health effects to us? Sources of formaldehyde are:- - environmental tobacco smoke and combustion sources (burning wood, kerosene and automobiles) - preservatives in some paints, cosmetics and coating - finish used to coat paper products - pressed wood products and furniture made with these pressed wood products - certain insulation materials such as urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) and fiberglass insulation - durable press drapes, other textiles, and glues. Wow! Looking at the list, there must be plenty of formaldehyde in our home! The scary part is formaldehyde can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing when exposed at elevated levels. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions. High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. Since research shows that people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, be sure to keep our home well ventilated all the time. Besides that, try placing the following plants in your home:- - Chrysanthemum - Dracaena - !vy - Boston fern (Nephrolepsis Exaltata) - Areca Palm (Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens) - Spider Plant (Chlorophytum Comosum) - English Ivy (Hedera Helix) Apparently, NASA in 1973 has made an experiment to find a solution to maintain air quality inside confined spaces and the results show that the above plants are able to remove pollutants from the air. Since different plants absorb different pollutants, it will be a good idea to mix a minimum of two plants per 100 square feet of floor space. Of course, there are no harms in having more (not in bedroom though, you will need the oxygen at night!) as long as you know where to place them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michele Lum (michele@ideastoenhancehome.com) is the founder and CEO of Ideas To Enhance Home, a site full of tips and ideas on how to enhance your home for better life in health, business, romance, children and security just by placing interesting home decors and setting up simple systems. Sign up for a FREE subscription of tips and ideas on how to enhance your home by visiting www.IdeasToEnhanceHome.com Source: http://www.isnare.com ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- New Features at TerriaJudge.com ==================================== MORTGAGE CALCULATOR: http://terriajudge.com/calculator.html OPEN HOUSES: http://terriajudge.com/calendar.html ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- FEATURED & NEW LISTINGS ======================== *new* http://terriajudge.com/featuredlistings.html Just visit Terria at http://terriajudge.com/marketevaluation.html to fill out an interest form if you'd like to list your home! ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Preparing Your House To Sell – Understanding The "Buyer's Fantasy" By Reba Collins When selling your home, there's so much to do and getting the highest selling price possible is probably the most important thing to be considered. Yes, there are a lot of things to think about but the bottom line is getting the most you can possibly get. Sometimes, your situation will dictate whether or not you can fully utilize the suggestions we're going to cover in this article but understanding the what's going on in the buyer's mind will help you to get focused on what needs to be done first and what can wait until later. The first thing you need to understand is the psychology of your potential buyers. These people, in their minds, are trying to size-up your house and how it will fit into their lives. They are trying to figure out if they will be happy having your house as their home. A lot of people who look at your home will not like it. It's usually the "un-changeable" things they don't care for, like the floor-plan, the location, what school you're zoned to, whether there's a pool or not, if you have big trees or not, and so on, you get the picture. These are the things that can't be changed and these people just don't like them. Don't worry, everyone's different and you can't change these things either. There will, however, be plenty of people who love your "un-changeables". For these people it will be the "changeable" things that convince them to actually make an offer or just keep looking. So, what are the things that will convince these potential buyers to fall in love with your house? First, put yourself in one of these buyer's shoes, this shouldn't be hard because you were there once, when you bought YOUR house. This person is in a state of mind that can be compared to a fantasy, we'll call it "buyer's fantasy". They come through your house trying to "see" what it would be like living there. In their mind's eye, they "see" themselves always wearing a smile and laughing with their friends and family. They "see" themselves entertaining, relaxing, doing the things they love and loving the place they're doing it. Unapparent to them, all the things they "see" themselves doing leaves little time for cleaning, organizing, or home maintenance and repair. The last thing you want to do is take them out of their "buyer's fantasy" by reminding them of the responsibilities that come with owning a house, especially THIS house. You want them to live in their "fantasy" the entire length of their visit, you even want them to remember the "fantasy" in such a way that they want to return and soon. So, what to do you need to do set the "buyer's fantasy" in motion? Here's a short list. First Impressions Curb Appeal – The front outside of your house is the first thing the prospective buyer sees. It's the beginning of his "buyer fantasy". He sees his friends and family admiring him when they arrive at his front door. It had better be good, this will reflect on him. Your house must, with an emphasis on must, look good from the moment he drives up with his realtor, in other words, from the car. First impressions are very important and the front of your home is the first thing the potential buyer sees. So, at minimum, make sure · the landscaping is maintained at all times · the lawn is mowed and edged · the grass is green · the hedges are neatly trimmed · the landscaping or flower beds are weed-free and mulched · seasonal color? – all the better Obvious repairs need to be made. · make sure gutters are attached · shutters are attached · the doorbell works · screens have no tears · replace rotten wood · paint is in good shape, if not, paint or at least touch-up If you normally park more than two cars in the driveway or on the street in front, see if you can find another place to park until the house is sold. Maybe a neighbor will help you out, or park one car in the garage. What you want to do is feed the "buyer's fantasy" that the lawn is always green, cut, and beautiful. You don't want to remind him that he will have to do it. You want him to think there's plenty of room for his cars even if he decides he needs another one. You certainly don't want him to think about any minor repairs that will need to be done, so just do them yourself. The Insides First Things First – When a potential buyer steps into the house, it needs to smell clean. You don't need or want to burn incense or candles, spray air fresheners, or have a Glade Plug-In going. It just needs to smell clean. You should try to eliminate cooking odors as quickly as possible after a meal is cooked and there should be no pet odors or cigarette smoke odors. Pet and smoking odors are one of the first things that will turn a potential buyer away. Even if they smoke and own pets themselves, they don't want to buy another person's odors. Kitchen & Bathrooms – Once inside, the two rooms that go through the most scrutiny are the bathrooms and the kitchen. These rooms MUST be immaculately clean. They also must look like they have lots of room. To accomplish this: · clean thoroughly, especially the floors, toilets, sinks and tubs · be sure there is no mold or mildew to be found · check the grout in the tubs and sinks, it needs to be white – bleach it or re-grout if it's necessary · clear your counter-tops as much as possible – in the bath, leave out only one decorative item, in the kitchen leave out only the necessary appliances, as few as possible · clear everything off the front and top of the fridge · put all cleansers and cleaning items out of sight · pack for moving some of the stuff in the cabinets, you only want them to be about 60%-70% full · put all personal items away, there should be no clutter, no bills or mail laying out, no personal items pinned to a bulletin board or attached to the fridge with a magnet Remember, you want to continue the fantasy. The potential buyer should be able to imagine that when they move in, there will be plenty of space to grow. You don't want to remind him that he'll have to do any cleaning, seeing cleaning products is a reminder. The personal items? Do your best, it's hard for the "buyer's fantasy" to be fulfilled when your photos and personal items are everywhere, you want him to imagine "his" personal items in those spaces, having yours there makes it harder for his imagination. Living Areas / Bedrooms The rest of the house needs to follow the same rules as above. · everything needs to be clean · keep floors mopped and vacuumed · make all beds every morning · keep clutter out of sight · if you have a room that's an odd color, paint it an off-white color. Light colors make rooms look bigger and off-white will go with every decorating scheme – the "buyer's fantasy" doesn't include any time for re-painting · if you have repairs to make, get them done · if carpets need to be cleaned, clean them Making your space appear bigger is your goal, again, you want the "buyer fantasy" to continue. You want your house to appear so roomy that the buyer won't be able to fill the space. Eliminating some of your furniture may help a room look bigger and packing away some of the stuff in your closets will help sell your house as one that has "lots of storage space". Your goal should be for your closets to only be 50%-60% full. Packing Tip Here's a tip to help you get your cabinets and closets down to 50% full – go ahead and start packing for your eventual move. Yeah, why not? Your goal is to sell your house, right? So you'll be moving, right? Then go ahead and get some of it done and here's a helpful tip to get you started and make unpacking in your new home easier as well. Most people have stuff they A. use every day B. use sometimes C. rarely use Start by packing your "C" items in nice stackable boxes that aren't too large so they're easy to handle. Mark the side of the each box with where the stuff came from, i.e., the closet, which room it came from, i.e., Brittany's Room, and put a BIG letter "C" on the side. Maybe even use some bright paper, like yellow or orange and tape it to the side with the letter written really big with a Magic Marker. Stack these boxes in the garage, people don't much care how crowded the garage is, they just figure you've started packing. The "buyer's fantasy" doesn't put those items back into the house. If that doesn't get your closets and cabinets down to where you want them, then start packing your "B" items. If you use bright colored paper to mark your "Cs" and "Bs", use one color for all your "Cs" and a different color for all your "Bs". When it's time for you to move, you will then have to pack all your "A" items. Again, use yet a different color of paper. Now, when you get to your new home, you won't have to unpack everything at once and you'll know which boxes you'll need immediately. Hopefully your situation will allow you to use some of these strategies to help you get the most money from your home. But don't let all this stuff stop you from getting your house on the market, don't use all the things that need to be done as an excuse to not get going. Do what you can, get the house listed, start showing it and keep plugging away. Good luck with the process! About the Author: Reba Collins is a homeowner and work at home mom. Follow her journey to sell her home of 18 years at her blog ~ http://www.PuttingUpTheForSaleSign.com. Find out how she copes with all it takes to sell her home and whether or not she follows her own good advise. Also find links, reviews for products, services, contractors and more! Source: http://www.isnare.com ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Fall Planting By Steve Boulden While it may not seem so, Fall planting of trees, shrubs, Perennials, bulbs, and cool weather grasses like Fescue is a great idea. Roots of newly planted specimens can continue to grow and become established in temperatures as low as 40 degrees. And since the roots don't have to supply the rest of the plant with energy to grow, more energy is focused on root production. Come Springtime, because of an established root system, plants shoot out of the ground with plenty of energy for top growth. Soil Temperature Planting in the fall, soil temperatures are still warm from a long Summer. The warmer soil temperature encourages root growth. In the Spring, the soil is still cool from the Winter and roots are very slow to become established. Even if you grow plants from seed indoors and transplant outside when the temperature warms, sprouts still don't have the head start of Fall planted plants When Exactly Is Fall? The Fall season officially begins with the equinox in late September. However, Fall weather varies considerably from one part of the country to the next. Basically, the best period for fall planting is around six weeks before the first hard frost. You can get an idea of the average first frost date near your area from here: http://www.almanac.com/garden/frostus.php . Just keep in mind that the roots need to be established before Winter sets in. Autumn Bloomers Fall isn't just a time to put the garden to sleep and start getting ready for Spring. The growing season isn't quite over yet. You can add color and new life to the garden by replacing dying Summer Annuals and Perennials with Autumn blooming plants like Chrysanthemums, Pansies and Ornamental Cabbage and Kale, Marigolds, and others. It's also the time to plant spring flowering bulbs and divide Perennials. About the Author: Steve Boulden is the creator of The Landscape Design Site. For more free information on landscaping and plants, visit his site at: http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/plantselection.html Source: http://www.isnare.com ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- This newsletter is compiled and published by Mitone Griffith, http://BIGad.org
Message Added: October 19th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
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