house and home with tips

When Jack Holden was asked, “How did your family get started buying real estate?” here’s how he answered. “We scraped, borrowed, and leveraged from every resource we had to muster the funds we needed… . For seed money we cashed in savings bonds and borrowed from our insurance policies and c... How to Afford the Home You Want

We didn’t buy. We were afraid of making a mistake. LESSON: Educate yourself. Don’t let fear block you from home ownership. Kyle and Shannon Marks have been shopping for a home for more than two years. Yet, they continue to rent. Every time they get close to an of­fer, their worries overwhelm the... The Biggest Mistakes of All when you Buy a House

You’re about to enjoy the wealth-building and personally enriching experience of home ownership. But before you buy, check these issues. Are you confident this is the home for you? Or are you being pushed into it by others? Do your advisors understand your priorities and possibilities? Are... How Become a Satisfied Homeowner

It’s easier than ever for young people to buy a home,” writes Bill Rumbler of the Chicago Sun-Times. Lend­ers and builders are bending over backward to help first-time buyers. They’re lowering interest rates, reducing (or eliminating) down pay­ments, and cutting closing costs. “On top of t... The Best Loan for House at the Lowest Cost

Negotiators typically fit into one of three types of nego­tiating styles: (1) adversarial, (2) accommodating, and (3) win-win. Lawyers typically practice the adversarial style. Adversarial negotiators make outrageous demands. They push, pull, or threaten to move you as close as possible to their ... Negotiate Win-Win for your House

Based on your carefully thought-out list of possibilities and priorities, does this home feel right? Think where you are now in life—and where you plan to be in the future—will this house meet your most important goals? Does it fit within the amount you want to spend (invest)? Does the home off... Is This Home Perfect for You?

To judge a neighborhood, think about school district, appreciation potential, affordability, demographics, life­styles, government services (fire, police, waste disposal, libraries), shop­ping, parks, zoning, aesthetics, and other features. In choosing a neighborhood, you usually trade off a... How to Locate a Great Neighborhood

To make your home pay off as much as possible as an in­vestment, shop for a good buy just as you would shop for neighborhood or property features. To help you achieve this goal, the mistakes in this article alert you to principles of valuation. When you apply these principles, you will be able ... How to Find a Good Buyer for your House

In her 2000 book Everything You Know About Money Is Wrong, the nationally prominent financial advisor Karen Ramsey contradicts prevailing American beliefs about home ownership and presumes to tell her readers, “Your house is a roof over your head. It is not an investment… . To rent or buy c... Home Ownership: How to Make It Your Best Investment

We want to own, but we pay less to rent. LESSON: Over time, you will pay far more to rent than to own. Plus, homeowners gain the wealth-building power of home equity. Do you believe that you’ll pay more to own than to rent? If so, you’re ex­periencing the same confusion that troubles many of the... Explore Possibilities, Set Priorities for buying or rent a house

The following insects and animals have often been classified as pests. We think they deserve a little more tolerance—even appreciation­ they may well be doing more good than damage in your garden. CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES We all know the centipede was named because of its 100 legs, but wh... What Pests are in your Garden - Friend or Foe?

BORERS Borers can be either caterpillars, which plague annuals, or the larval stage of beetles (grubs), which mostly go after trees. They are called borers be­cause this is how they do their worst damage—boring into plant stems or stalks or tree trunks and then eating their way inside. They may ... What Pests are in your Garden - Tunnelers

APHIDS Aphids are probably the commonest pest in your garden, and they may be the most prolific of all insects. Thomas Huxley claimed that the de­scendants of a single aphid might at the end of one summer equal the population of China. Moreover, pesticides kill off the beneficial insects that ... What Pests are in your Garden - Suckers

SLUGS AND SNAILS Probably the most loathed pests in the garden, slugs and snails both eat large ragged holes in plants. They’ll eat the whole plant if it’s young and tender, and their destructive chomping and silvery trails are a dead give­away to their presence. Classified as gastropods, mean... What Pests are in your Garden - Slimers

JUNE BEETLES Also known as Junebugs and May beetles, these beetles mostly show up (sometimes in swarms) in May or June. They make bumbling but per­sistent attempts to fly into porch lights and through screens. When not attracted to light, they munch irregular holes in leaves of trees by night ... What Pests are in your Garden that Destroyers Root

CABBAGE LOOPERS AND IMPORTED CABBAGEWORMS Although separate species, the one being a moth and the other a but­terfly, these two caterpillars have many similarities. In addition to munch­ing on cabbage plants, they will both attack almost any vegetable you care to grow: broccoli, cauliflower, b... What Pests are in your Garden - Chompers

The average square yard in a typical garden contains more than 1,000 insects. They can’t all be gluttonous garden destroyers, or we’d have only bare dirt. Actually, less than 1 percent of all insects are considered pests, and virtually all have predators and parasites of their own to con­tend wi... Good Bugs in your Garden