Spruce Up Your Home For Spring!

1. Clean up
The first thing Manfredini recommends is to clean up and declutter the outside of your home. Winter can often mat down shrubs and break branches in your yard, giving it an unkempt look. Spend a day raking up dead grass, pruning your bushes or trees and using a pressure washer to clean away mud or dirt from the sidewalks and driveway.

“It will be remarkable how much better your exterior on and around your home can look,” Manfredini said. “And you really didn’t spend any money, it was just really more of your time.”

2. Paint
A new coat of paint can go a long way in preventing your home from looking drab or rundown. Manfredini recommended touching up areas where the paint has started peeling, whether on the house or fence. He also suggested using accent colors to make your home look fresh and new.

“If you really want to change the look of your home, then paint the front door a color, and I mean a real color — a deep green or a deep red or a purple,” he said.

He said if you have shutters on your home to paint them a corresponding color to brighten the overall appearance.


Cost: $10 for good paint brush and $30 for typical gallon of paint.

3. Add Lighting
Adding flood lights can go a long way in brightening and “adding life to your home in the evening,” Manfredini said. A simple way to do it is to buy two LED flood lights, attach them to stakes, stick them in your front lawn close to the front of your home and point the lights towards your house. You can also buy stake lights.

“It’s accent lighting that creates a funnel effect of light,” he said. “It’s really a beautiful look.”

Manfredini recommended centering the lights if you have a center-entry home.


Cost: $12.99 for stakes and $20 for two packs of LED lightbulbs

4. Condition Your Lawn

The largest area around most homes is usually the lawn and so if the lawn is yellow or untrimmed, it is very noticeable. Manfredini said one of the best ways to achieve a really green lawn is to use soil conditions, not just fertilizers.

He recommends using Milorganite, an all-natural soil conditioner, and sprinkling it on your grass about once a month during the spring and summer. Too much fertilizer can burn out the grass, but you can use soil conditioner more regularly, Manfredini said.

“It’s full of iron and so it gets inside the soil and it has so many nutrients in it that it gets inside the soil and it feeds the root of the plant,” he said.

Cost: $12.99 per bag

5. Fill In Cracks And Put in Sealcoat in Driveway

The largest area around most homes is usually the lawn and so if the lawn is yellow or untrimmed, it is very noticeable. Manfredini said one of the best ways to achieve a really green lawn is to use soil conditions, not just fertilizers.

He recommends using Milorganite, an all-natural soil conditioner, and sprinkling it on your grass about once a month during the spring and summer. Too much fertilizer can burn out the grass, but you can use soil conditioner more regularly, Manfredini said.

“It’s full of iron and so it gets inside the soil and it has so many nutrients in it that it gets inside the soil and it feeds the root of the plant,” he said.

Cost: $12.99 per bag

Source

Shauna Quick

Realtor

Exit Realty Success

801-550-4419

shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com

www.shaunaqsellshomes.com

6 Eco-Friendly Spring Cleaning Tips

1. Reduce your paper towel consumption
Recycle your worn clothing by turning old fabric into rags to clean quick spills and tidy up the house. Can’t find any holey clothes in your closet? Try E-cloth. Currently, Mom Ambassadors are sampling (and loving) e-cloth, a general-purpose glass and polishing cloth that reduces cleaning with chemicals, as it only requires water for use. These simple alternatives save you money and help conserve the environment.      

2. Recycle your old electronics properly
Many of us have the urge to upgrade to the latest electronics, while our past purchases are often sitting tucked away in a junk drawer or closet. In fact, in developed countries the average lifespan of a mobile phone is only two years! But electronics in landfills are hazardous to our environment because of the chemicals they contain. Search online for sites that offer you cash for your used electronics, such as Gazelle. And if you’re looking to ditch old electronics quickly, local supermarkets might offer drop boxes that recycle and send your property to developing countries around the world. Check out KIWI magazine’s online article for more ideas on how to “Turn You Trash into Cash.”

3. Create your own or shop for non-toxic cleaning solutions
Many household products, like baking soda and vinegar, serve as strong cleaning agents. Plus, they don’t contain harmful chemicals that can trigger rashes or irritate your respiratory system! And if you can’t picture yourself mixing it up in the kitchen, be sure to choose the safest options for your family by thoroughly reading product labels, as some purchasing guidelines do not require companies to list all ingredients. For an effective counter cleaner, mix ¼ cup baking soda and just enough liquid castile soap until it becomes a creamy consistency. Check out KIWI magazine online for more great DIY green cleaner recipes.

4. De-clutter your home
Have a yard sale or host a party with friends to swap toys and clothing items! During the Christmas season, our Chief Mom Ambassador, Annie, hosted a toy swap and became hooked on the concept of exchanging practical items for free.  You can also become a member of the fast-growing freerecycle.org community which allows locals to give and receive items for free, with the purpose of keeping decent items out of landfills.

5. Keep your house smelling fresh, naturally
Avoid air fresheners – which can cause watery eyes, nausea, and headaches – by creating your own fragrant alternatives. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, air within your home could be up to five times more polluted than the air outdoors. Make your own potpourri using herbs, spices, and flowers or simmer fresh spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, or vanilla on the stove. Learn more about how to keep your house smelling refreshing without unnecessary toxins by reading this blog post: 10 Alternatives to Synthetic Air Fresheners by Eco-novice.

6. Treat cleaning like a game instead of a chore
By assigning age-appropriate duties to your children, they gain a sense of responsibility and self-discipline within their household. Rid those dust bunnies by having the kids wear old socks and “skate” throughout the house. Be sure to properly inspect the area for hazardous items on the floor before the game begins. You can even incorporate music into the task. While the kids are “skating” around, play wax museum: Once the music stops, they must pause in place.

Source

Shauna Quick
Realtor
Exit Realty Success
801-550-4419
shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com
www.shaunaqsellshomes.com

Prepare Your Yard For Spring!

1. Prune away dead and damaged branches. 

Where tree or shrub branches have been damaged by cold, snow, and wind, prune back to live stems; use a handsaw for any larger than ½ inch in diameter. Shaping hedges with hand pruners, rather than electric shears, prevents a thick outer layer of growth that prohibits sunlight and air from reaching the shrub's center. At right, Roger neatens up a yew by pruning wayward shoots back to an intersecting branch. Prune summer-flowering shrubs, such as Rose of Sharon, before buds swell, but wait to prune spring bloomers, like forsythia, until after they flower.

Perennials and Grasses
2. Cut back and divide perennials as needed.

Prune flowering perennials to a height of 4–5 inches and ornamental grasses to 2–3 inches to allow new growth to shoot up. Where soil has thawed, dig up perennials, such as daylilies and hostas, to thin crowded beds; divide them, leaving at least three stems per clump, and transplant them to fill in sparse areas. Cut back winter-damaged rose canes to 1 inch below the blackened area. On climbers, keep younger green canes and remove older woody ones; neaten them up by bending the canes horizontally and tipping the buds downward. Use jute twine or gentle Velcro fasteners to hold the canes in place.

A pair of sharp bypass pruners makes a clean cut on both dead and living foliage.

Beds and Borders
3. Clean Up Around Plants.

Rake out fallen leaves and dead foliage (which can smother plants and foster disease), pull up spent annuals, and toss in a wheelbarrow with other organic yard waste. Once the threat of frost has passed, Roger also removes existing mulch to set the stage for a new layer once spring planting is done. Push heaved plants back into flower beds and borders, tamping them down around the base with your foot, or use a shovel to replant them. Now is a good time to spread a pelletized fertilizer tailored to existing plantings on the soil's surface so that spring rains can carry it to the roots. Add a 5-10-10 fertilizer around bulbs as soon as they flower to maximize bloom time and feed next season's growth. Use pins to fasten drip irrigation lines that have come loose and a square-head shovel to give beds a clean edge and keep turf grass from growing into them.

Composting
4. Compost Yard Waste.

Dump collected leaves, cuttings, spent foliage, and last season's mulch into your compost pile, or make a simple corral by joining sections of wire fence (available at home centers) into a 3-by-3-by-3-foot cube like the one above. Shred leaves and chip branches larger than ½ inch in diameter to accelerate decomposition, or add a bagged compost starter to the pile. Keep the pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge, and aerate it with a pitchfork every two weeks. Just don't add any early spring weeds that have gone to seed—they might not cook completely and could sprout instead.

Source: This Old House

Shauna Quick
Realtor
Exit Realty Success
801-550-4419
shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com
www.shaunaqsellshomes.com

Great News In The Housing Market

Local market fundamentals and conditions will be favorable for the real estate market for 2016. Job growth is expected to slow slightly but this will be offset by higher rates of net-migration and improving wage rates due to a tight-labor market. There are no signs of a bubble; both sales and prices are at sustainable levels. The market and now particularly prices are now largely free of the harmful effects of closures, short sales, and underwater mortages, which held back demand and prices. And there is no indication of waning demands as demonstrated by the extremely low "days on market" data. On the supply side, the inventory of existing home listings shows demand outpacing supply and there is little concern about completing unsold inventory from home builders; their inventories are very low as well. All these positive local conditions will be supported by a very healthy statewide economy in 2016.

But beyond Utah's borders both nationally and internationally, there are some potential dangers. Most prominent is the showdown in the Chinese economy and the possible unraveling of their debt bubble. China's problem has contributed in part to the recent selloffs in stock markets internationally. Declining oil prices have also negatively affected financial markets and put fiscal and financial pressure on oil financing countries; Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Nigeria. These worrisome, international conditions raised talk in some of a showdown in the U.S. economy and perhaps a recession. The US economy is now in the 77th month in expansion, a little long in the tooth as expansions go. The average post World War II expansion is 62 months, just over five years. The longest US expansion 120 months (1991-2001). It's important to note, however, that recent expansions have been getting longer due to structural shifts in the economy (more service oriented) and technological advances in inventory management. 

International and national conditions are legitimate concerns, but over the next 12 months barring a cataclysim in China or the Mideast, they will have little impact on the local residential real estate market. Total residential sales will increase from 17,100 in 2015 to 19,000 in 2016. An increase of 11%. Sales of single-family homes will be up 10% and multifamily sales a little stronger with a 13 percent increase in sales. The median sales price of a single-family home will increase in the range of 5-7 percent while the increase in the price of multifamily units will be higher at 8 to 10 percent.In 2016, the median sales price of a home will be near $290,000 and near $205,000 for a multifamily unit.

Presented by James Woods Ivory-Boyd Fellow, University of Utah

Shauna Quick

Realtor

Exit Realty Success

801-550-4419

www.shaunaqsellshomes.com

shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com 

ARTICLE: Despite Rebound, Home Prices Are Not Overvalued

For those who can qualify, housing is still relatively affordable in Salt Lake County. According to the US Census Bureau, the medium household income in Salt Lake County in 2014 is $62,672. Assuming a household with medium income devotes 30% of their income to a mortage payment (including taxes and insurance) that household can carry a mortage of about $290,000. In 2015 56 percent of family homes sold in the county were placed under $290,000 for a housing opportunity index of 53. An opportunity index number below 50 indicates less affordability; above 50 indicates more affordability. Overall, the local housing market, despite the rebound in prices, is not overvailued. There is still room for moderate increases provided mortage rates increases are incremental and gradual. Mortage rates forecast from another organization shows a concensus 2016 forecast of rates moving between 4 and 5 percent with a firm ceiling at 5 percent. In 2016, homebuyers will continue to enjoy some of the lowest mortage rates in the past 45 years.

Presented by James Wood, Ivory-Boyer Fellow, University of Utah

Shauna Quick
Realtor
Exit Realty Success
801-550-4419
www.shaunaqsellshomes.com
shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com

Winter-Proof Your Car In 10 Steps

From just-above-freezing temps to record snowfall, there's no shortage of wild weather when it comes to winter. Before the season sets in, it's important to assess your vehicle and prepare it for the months ahead, say the experts at the Car Care Council. This includes:

• Checking the battery and charging system for optimum performance. Cold weather is hard on batteries.

• Checking the antifreeze. As a general rule of thumb, clean, flush and put new antifreeze in the cooling system every two years.

• Checking that heaters, defrosters and wipers work properly. Consider winter wiper blades and use cold weather washer fluid.

• Checking the tire tread depth and tire pressure. If snow and ice are a problem in your area, consider special tires designed to grip slick roads. During winter, tire pressure should be checked weekly.

• Checking the oil and filter and be diligent about changing them at recommended intervals. Dirty oil can spell trouble in winter. Consider changing to "winter weight" oil if you live in a cold climate. Check the fuel, air and transmission filters at the same time.

• Checking engine performance before winter sets in. Winter magnifies existing problems such as hard starts, sluggish performance or rough idling.

• Checking the brakes. The braking system is the vehicle's most important safety item.

• Checking the exhaust system for carbon monoxide leaks, which can be especially dangerous during cold weather driving when windows are closed.

• Checking to see that exterior and interior lights work and headlights are properly aimed. During winter, drivers should keep their vehicle's gas tank at least half-full to decrease the chances of moisture forming in the gas lines and possibly freezing.

• Checking the tire pressure of the spare in the trunk and stocking an emergency kit with an ice scraper and snowbrush, jumper cables, flashlight, blanket, extra clothes, bottled water, dry food snacks and needed medication.

Shauna Quick
Realtor®
Exit Realty Success
801-550-4419 Mobile
shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com

4 Ways To Get Rid of Kitchen Clutter

The kitchen may be the heart of the home, but it's also home to a lot of clutter. Resolve to bring order to your kitchen once and for all with these tips, courtesy of the experts at Moen.

1. You don't need a large pantry or countless cupboards and drawers to find the perfect spot for all your stuff. If you have blank space on the walls, consider adding a few open shelves. They provide plenty of storage while keeping everyday dishes and staples, like the coffee canister or cookie jar, within easy reach.

2. The biggest pain point for homeowners is a lack of counter space. Instead of adding to the chaos, designate a specific "drop zone" for items that find their way into the kitchen each day, like mail, paperwork or electronics.

3. Extend the "everything in its place" mentality to another kitchen staple: the dishtowel. Instead of leaving it in a damp heap on the counter, install a towel bar, towel ring or hook to the side of a cabinet or island to create a spot for it to hang. Not only will it free up space, but like in the bathroom or powder room, you'll always know where to look for it when you need it.

4. If you have a pantry, go beyond simple shelves to make this area work better - and smarter - for you. Pullout baskets and shallow drawers will ensure your pantry offers a proper place for everything. Curved cradles can turn an ordinary shelf into a beverage storage center, allowing you to store wine, water or soda bottles on their sides. And instead of wasting the space on the back of the door, install a slim, vertical storage system to provide a spot for plastic wrap, aluminum foil and other awkward-sized kitchen must-haves.

Shauna Quick
Realtor
Exit Realty Success
801-550-4419
shaunaqsellshomes@gmail.com