Wicked Local Homes Real Estate

Renters Take Note:

Karen Mc Linden — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:41:55 +0000

Renters on the fence about owning a home here are a few facts to help you decide.

The vacancy rates of apartments are declining and rents are rising.

The National Association of Realtors most recent “Commercial Real Estate Market Survey” showed that multifamily housing is becoming a landlord’s market, vacancy rates are below 5% making it easier for them to get the rents they want.

It’s always just basic supply and demand. If the supply is low, the demand is high and rents go up.

The average apartment rent rose 3.8% in 2012 compared to 2.2% in 2011 and it is expected to rise to 4% in 2013.

Now if you look at the buying end of it, prices are still down, rates are still low and since the market has already started to turn you can be confident that the market will continue to increase.

So if you have considered buying now is a great time to find out if you qualify. Contact your local Realtor today to get started!

Looking Up: Bright flash on the moon

Wicked Local Staff — Fri, 24 May 2013 09:00:08 +0000

The meteor that exploded over Russia in February, resulting in widespread damage and injuries when the sonic boom struck, awakened us again that our planet is in the line of fire.

This should be of no surprise. Just look at the moon through any size telescope or even binoculars held steady. It's loaded with craters; craters upon craters, jumbled and uplifted rides, valleys, rifts and dark plains where lava long ago covered parts of the rough landscape.

Full moon is on May 25; craters are not as easily picked out at this stage because sunlight is beaming straight down and reflected straight back to admiring eyes on Earth. The easiest time to look for lunar craters is on any clear night centered a few nights around first or last quarter.

Literally thousands of craters of many sizes may be seen with a small telescope, a view that does not fail to astonish ever since Galileo first looked at them through a crude telescope over 400 years ago.

On Earth, thankfully most meteors are small enough to vaporize in the upper atmosphere before striking the ground. A few large ones have made it down, and we even have examples of craters. Most craters left on Earth by large meteors or asteroids have been eroded away through ages of inclement weather.

On the moon there is no weather, inclement or otherwise (clement?).

Thus, the craters stay for the eons, eroded only by pounding of subsequent bombardments and zapping by cosmic rays.

So with all the meteor showers that pepper the moon as well as the Earth, how come we don't see new craters with our telescope now and then?

The answer is that most strikes are by space rocks too small to make an impact easily visible from earthbound telescopes. That's really good because a big impact on the near side of the moon would likely send moon rocks our way.

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, a bright flash was seen on the darkened portion of the thick crescent moon. NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office monitors video of the moon's night side, and about every week detects a very brief and tiny flash caused by a meteor strike. This time the flash was so bright it could have been seen by unaided eyes if you were looking at the right moment.

The monitoring is done to assess the hazards to future lunar explorers.

The same night, five bright fireballs were recorded in the Earth's atmosphere. William Cooke of NASA, who leads the project, suspects the events were related and that the rock that hit the moon was about the size of a beach ball.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is searching for a new crater, suspected to be 20 feet wide.

Send your notes to news@neagle.com. For a video and more information on the March 17 lunar meteor, visit www.skyandtelescope.com.

Keep looking up!

Home Help: How to keep your grass looking its best

Wicked Local Staff — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Tip of the Week

Warm weather brings everyone outdoors to play on the lawn. How is yours holding up? To maintain a lovely lawn the experts at Lowe's offer these tips:

- Most lawns will grow well with about 1 inch of water a week. Water in the early morning, so the sun will help dry the grass. Night-time watering can result in prolonged moisture on the blades and can open the door to disease.

- How do you know if you're watering enough? Try the "soup can test." Set an empty can next to your lawn sprinkler. When there's about a half-inch of water in the can, it's time to turn off the sprinkler.

- When you're mowing, never cut off more than one-third of the grass blade. Leaving the grass longer shades the roots and encourages a deeper root system. To better protect your lawn on hills, mow up and down when using a riding mower and across when using a walk-behind mower.

- A healthy, actively growing lawn uses a great deal of energy. Natural soil supplemented with fertilizer will help your lawn stay healthy all season. Fertilizers promote new leaf and plant growth, reduce and control weeds, and replace nutrients lost to leaching. Look for a mixture of fast- and slow-release fertilizers that will green up your lawn quickly and then feed it over time. Remember, more is not always better. Nitrogen is the most important ingredient in a fertilizer, but if you put too much on your lawn, you'll burn it.

- Already dealing with weeds? Post-emergents are a great way to promote grass growth while killing actively growing weeds on contact. Post-emergents work best when applied later in the growing season – after weeds are established but before they've gone to seed. Read the fertilizer's label and strictly follow the application instructions for best results.

- Brandpoint

Home-Selling Tip

Appearances count, especially when you're trying to sell a home. Many of the most effective staging tips are also inexpensive. Nothing turns off buyers faster than a dirty house. Before you list your house, give it a thorough top-to-bottom cleaning. Painting is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to help your home look fresh and great. Choose neutral colors that will appeal to the broadest range of buyers.

- Brandpoint

Did You Know

While a sunflower appears to be one large flower, it’s not! Each sunflower is composed of hundreds of tiny florets that ripen to become the seeds. This is also true of all flowers in the sunflower family, which includes daisies, yarrow, goldenrod and asters.

Decorating Tip

If you're bored by your bathroom, you might think a total room remodel is the only way to make a difference. If you don’t have the time, expertise or budget to tackle high-profile projects, how about some small ideas to add big style? For under $25 you can refresh your vanity with new knobs and pulls. For under $50 you can update with a new hue and transform your bathroom's look with a new color scheme. For under $75, spruce up the shower by replacing a showerhead, adding a curved shower rod or adding a shower shelf.

- Brandpoint

Garden Guide

With many states facing drought this summer, homeowners across the country will be looking for ways to save their landscaping while conserving water at the same time. Take steps to capture natural moisture. A rain barrel situated beneath a downspout ensures you can catch run-off from your home's roof. You can also use household water, such as water left over from boiling vegetables or pasta, to water potted plants. Just be sure to let the water cool completely before using it.

- Brandpoint

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Treasures: Does glass pitcher reflect dollar signs for owner?

Wicked Local Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:36:38 +0000

Dear Helaine and Joe:

Enclosed are photographs of a glass pitcher that has three colors — yellow, clear and cobalt blue. Could you please give me information on when it was made and its worth? I believe it is Amberina. The condition is excellent with no chips. It is 4-1/2 inches tall. It has a reed handle and polished pontil.

Sincerely,

A.A.B., Methuen, Mass.

Dear A.A.B.:

We apologize for the picture of this rather unusual piece being a tad out of focus. Normally, we would just not have answered, but this is such an unusual piece that we thought we would — as they say — give it a go.

We are going to start by saying that this is absolutely not "Amberina," which is a heat-shaded glass with hues of red and amber.

Glass that changed color during the reheating process has been known throughout the 5,000 years of glassmaking. In the earliest days, when a craftsman making a green bottle placed it back in the fire to reheat it for finishing purposes, the reheated part turned red.

This, of course, was because of the chemical composition of the glass mixture, which was made using copper and iron (among other things), and the pieces that struck this color combination were often just discarded as defective. Glasshouse workers in Europe and America knew about this problem, but Joseph Locke, who was working for the New England Glass Co. in Boston, decided he could exploit this occurrence commercially.

In Locke's 1883 formula, a tiny amount of colloidal gold was suspended in a batch of amber glass, and when an object made from this recipe was reheated, the reheated portion turned red and Amberina was more or less born. Many companies around the world made this product, and it is still being made today.

In Wheeling, W.Va., a company made a glass that shaded from red to blue that it called Ruby Sapphire. And glass shading from a deep cobalt blue to ruby came to be called Bluerina.

All of the above were heat-shaded glasses, but other manufacturers devised a cheaper way to make look-a-like products by applying ("flashing") a layer of color (or colors) on top of another color of glass.

We believe the small cream or milk pitcher belonging to A.A.B. was probably made in Bohemia or Germany circa 1900. It is a lovely example of flashed glass worth $200 to $250 for insurance purposes.

Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Contact them at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928. Email them at treasures@knology.net.

Hobbies: Make a ribbon wreath

Wicked Local Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:34:49 +0000

I seem to accumulate ribbon scraps.

Like paper clips, rubber bands or buttons, they seem to magically appear in drawers, baskets and bags all over my house. Whether they are bits of recycled gift wrap or leftover pieces from sewing or craft projects, I can't throw them away. The result is bags full of ribbon.

Combine my stash of ribbon scraps with an urge to organize, and you're looking at a ribbon wreath that is so easy to make you might even buy more ribbon to make another one.

First, I organized the ribbon by color and trimmed the pink and red pieces to about 9 inches long. The support for the wreath is created by cutting a 2-inch ring from sturdy pink card stock that measures 11 inches in diameter.

If you have large round shapes around your house, they can be your guides. I used a circular trash can for the outer circle and a large round plate for the inner circle of my ring. I picked pink for the ring so that any gaps in my ribbon would not be obvious.

I highlighted a favorite photo by hanging it (with, of course, ribbon) so that it dangles inside the wreath opening.

Once the photo is in place, the fun really begins. Simply wrap the scraps of ribbon around the ring and secure them with a double knot facing the front. Once the ring is completely covered, add an extra-long ribbon for hanging.

Contact Sandi Genovese and find free video demonstrations of more photo projects at www.scrapbookshowgram.com.

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.

101 Ideas: Growing fruit trees in containers

Wicked Local Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:32:12 +0000

Even if you have limited space, you can still enjoy fresh fruit. Although not all fruit trees thrive in containers for long periods, you can grow any fruit tree in a container for a few years and then transplant it. You can also choose a dwarf variety, which is well-suited to living in a container.

Some of the most popular dwarf citrus trees to grow in containers are:

– Meyer lemon: First imported from China in 1908, it is believed to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. The fruit has a very sweet flavor and is less acidic than a true lemon.

– Calamondin: Prized for its attractive shape and foliage, it produces fragrant flowers nearly year-round. It is grown primarily for aesthetics and less for actual, edible fruit.

– Dwarf Kaffa lime tree: The rind of the fruit and the double-lobed, aromatic leaves are often used in cooking.

Master gardener Chris Dawson prefers mail-order bare-root trees. Inspect the tree when it arrives to be sure the packing material is still moist and the roots are in good shape. As with any bare-root tree, make sure the roots never dry out before planting. To plant:

– Use any kind of container as long as it has drainage holes and is an adequate size for the tree — 10 to 16 inches in diameter.

– Fill the container with a light, well-drained potting mixture. Make a small mound in the center of pot and arrange the roots over the mound. Cover the roots with soil and tamp in lightly.

– Leave the stake in place to help the tree remain sturdy while the roots become established.

– Place in full sun, southern exposure.

– Water to keep the soil moist, but not soggy.

– Fertilize with a formula high in nitrogen with trace minerals.

For thousands of other ideas visit www.hgtv.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.

Wellesley Home of the Week: 2 Sagamore Road

Wicked Local Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:41:40 +0000

Classic elegance never goes out of style, and this slate roof, brick and clapboard front Colonial on a .54-acre corner lot in the heart of the Cliff Estates offers character and beauty inside and out.

The 11-room home with 4,876 square feet of living space at 2 Sagamore Road has well-proportioned rooms and oversized windows that fill the house with natural light. An open floor plan with a spacious kitchen and family room and elegant living and dining rooms provide a perfect setting for formal entertaining as well as casual family gatherings.

Gail Lockberg and Sandy Avellone of Prudential Town and Country Real Estate have listed this five-bedroom house at $1,890,000.

The house features quality details from its 1940s origins such as hardwood floors throughout, fine trim work, solid doors with original glass knobs and stately proportions, but it also boasts a new kitchen and family room wing added in 1995.

A brick walkway leads to the center-entrance front door of the home.

The wide foyer is warm and inviting, with a through hall to the family room, entryways to the living and dining rooms and a staircase with a railing that ends in a volute at the newel post. High baseboards and dentil crown molding in the foyer continues in the living and dining rooms.

The dining room has a formal feel with a chair rail and wainscoting, large windows and a built-in corner china cabinet.

The living room is a 25- by 13-foot front-to-back room with oversized windows, a wood-burning fireplace, chair rail and wainscoting. French doors at the rear of the living room open to a sunny study on one side and a family room on the other.

The study has triple windows on three walls, recessed lighting and a tray ceiling with cove lighting.

An addition created a 29- by 17-foot family room with a dining area, a new kitchen with butler’s pantry and a mudroom.

The family room is bathed in natural light from three picture windows as well as a double glass door that opens to the yard from a dining area. The room has a wet bar and views of the private back yard with its stone walls and mature plantings. Two tray ceilings with cove lighting add interest to the large room.

A laundry room and half bath are in the hallway between the family room and the foyer.

A back staircase is off the kitchen and has a pocket door.

The chef’s kitchen has top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances including a gas cooktop, granite counters, custom white wood cabinetry with under-cabinet lighting and bountiful storage space in the butler’s pantry.

The mudroom also has great storage with four closets. A door from the mudroom opens to a covered slate porch and an entrance to the attached two-car garage.

Five bedrooms and three full baths are on the second floor. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a cathedral ceiling and skylight. One family bedroom has a private bathroom as well, and all of the bedrooms have good closet space.

The finished walk-out basement provides a lot of bonus space and includes a media room with a wood-burning fireplace with a stone hearth, a game room and several large storage areas.

The house was recently converted to gas with central air added. There is a security system and professional landscaping with a sprinkler system.

DETAILS

Address: 2 Sagamore Road, Wellesley

BR/BA: Five bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths

Size: 4,876 square feet of living space on .54-acre lot

Age: 1941; 1995

Price: $1,890,000

Taxes: $17,737

Features of home: Stately 11-room Colonial in the heart of the Cliff Estates has gracious dining and living rooms for entertaining, a serene study, a huge family room flooded with natural light, a chef’s kitchen and five family bedrooms; set on a professionally landscaped half-acre corner lot.

Close by: Upham Elementary School

Contact: Gail Lockberg of Prudential Town and Country at 781-389-5428 or Sandy Avellone at 781-910-5777. This home may be seen by appointment.

Ask the Plumber: Looking for a good plumber

Wicked Local Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:56:15 +0000

Q: I need to have a new toilet installed, and the plumber I have used in the past is no longer in business. I'm looking for a good plumber who will be fair with his price and will do quality work. Can you give me some tips to keep in mind when I start the search for my new plumber?

A: My book, "Ed Del Grande's House Call," includes a chapter on finding "your" best contractor. To reiterate some tips:

Finding a good contractor/plumber is kind of like being a private eye looking for a missing person. Get in touch with the people who are most likely to give you the information you need. Contact building-supply houses, town inspectors and friends who've had remodeling work done recently to get recommendations you can trust. Good contractors/plumbers usually pay bills on time to the supply house, have a good reputation with inspectors and are known to past customers for doing quality work.

The trick is to find a name that pops up more than once. Also, make sure your new plumber is licensed/insured and gives you a price up front.

Master contractor/plumber Ed Del Grande is known internationally as the author of the book "Ed Del Grande's House Call," the host of TV and Internet shows, and a LEED green associate. Visit eddelgrande.com or write eadelg@cs.com. Always consult local contractors and codes.

Too much house is too much of a headache

Wicked Local Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:54:13 +0000

I wasn't a total sucker.

I didn't lock myself into a crazy mortgage or buy a bunch of spec homes I couldn't flip.

But it was the boom and my wife and I got caught up in it in our own way: We bought too much house.

Don't do it, I'd like to tell anyone who might be about to make the same mistake — and, amazingly, a lot of people are.

They — we, really — haven't learned that size has little to do with happiness.

We haven't learned this no matter what you might have read about the passing of the era of monster SUVs and McMansions.

The average new home in the United States is bigger than ever — bigger than during the height of the boom and more than 50 percent bigger than in the 1970s. There are some complicated reasons for this — tight credit, for example, has squeezed people out of the bottom end of the market — but very simple reasons, too. People just want more space. They still think size equals luxury.

Maybe so. Maybe these buyers will convert spare rooms to offices and man caves. Maybe extra elbow room will give them extra peace and privacy.

But here's one thing I've learned in the 11 years since we bought our own four-bedroom, four-bathroom house that the county says covers 2,700 square feet but that feels much bigger when you're working a carpet cleaner or a pressure washer:

Space is a burden.

I know. I shouldn't complain.

And I won't deny that in many ways I love our house — loved the ego boost when we bought it, love the history we've built as a family, love the wide, open views from our big back deck.

But when I'm out there I can't help but remember that I once painted the cozy little front porch of our old house in an hour before heading to work.

Painting this deck fills a weekend so full that by Sunday I don't feel as though I've even had a weekend.

Big houses often come with big properties, which means homeowners either have to spend too much time on a mower or too much money for someone else do it.

As well as spending time and money on other maintenance.

And most of the added costs of owning large houses — especially heating and cooling them — fall not just on the homeowner but on the environment.

But make no mistake, prospective homeowners, those costs will fall on you, and need to be included if you are looking at your big house as an investment.

That was our thinking — everyone's thinking back in 2002 — that you couldn't go wrong putting as much money as possible into Florida real estate.

I probably don't have to tell you that it hasn't worked out, that our house is worth less, at least according to county appraisers, than it was when we bought it.

Which was about the only upside to finding out that, against all evidence, people still think bigger is better:

When the time comes to sell, I should be able to find another sucker like me.

Dan DeWitt can be reached at ddewitt@tampabay.com.

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com.

Hiring a Contractor? Read This First!

Karen Mc Linden — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:39:24 +0000

How many times have you heard the horror stories of “Contractor Jobs Gone Bad” it would probably make a great show! I know that it’s an expensive lesson to learn so I’m here to save you!

First, get recommendations! Start with family and friends that have had work done and were happy with it. But don’t stop there!

Make sure you get references from their suppliers and past clients. You want to hear from more than one person that their work was great.

Next take a minute to check them on the Better Business Bureau’s site. See if they are accredited or if any claims have been filed against them.

It’s a good idea to visit jobs that they have done and see the work in person. When you are calling the references ask if it would be alright for you to take a minute to see the work.

Get bids from at least three contractors to make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of and that the prices are all similar. This doesn’t mean to pick the cheapest one! Do all of the homework to check them out and don’t just rely on price. And don’t hire friends! Unless you don’t want to be friends anymore!

Make sure to set up a payment schedule in the contract. The contract should be detailed listing the steps that will be done, the specific material that will be used, the installation will be performed as per manufacturer’s instructions and make sure it has a start and completion date.

Lastly, it is VERY important to ask for proof of insurance (both liability and workers comp) and a copy of their license before any contracts have been signed.

Take the time to follow these important steps and you will have a great job that you can be proud of and happy to have spent the money on!