Here's all you need to know to have a great Lawn....and it's simple

From the Best of the professionals:

 Don't cut the grass too low. When you cut off all that foliage, the grass is forced to live off its energy reserves, and a stressed-out lawn is not going to look very good.

Besides being more disease-resistant, taller grass does a better job of blocking out weeds, meaning fewer dandelions to deal with; and it provides thicker shade cover for the soil, reducing evaporation and helping the lawn through dry spells.

 

To avoid scalping your grass, Rossi recommends following the 1/3^rd rule, whereby you never take off more than 1/3rd of the height of the grass. That’s probably longer than you’re used to, but besides reducing plant stress and water-loss, it means you won’t have to mow as often, about 25% to 35% less frequently.

 

For best results, lawn care experts recommend letting the grass grow to a little more than 5 inches, then cutting it back to around 3.5 inches, removing about 1/3^rd of the blade.

 

Compare that with someone who cuts their lawn down to 2 inches, going for a more manicured look. To do that and still follow the 1/3^rd rule, they will need to cut the lawn when it reaches 3 inches. That’s 1 inch of growth between cuttings versus 1.5 to 2 inches under the best-practices scenario. Which translates into mowing every 5 days instead of every 8 or 9 days. Multiple that out over the course of the entire growing season, and you get back a few extra Saturdays!

 

For a lush, healthy lawn, avoid these other common lawn care mistakes:

 

Mowing with a dull blade. It will tear at the grass blades, leaving behind jagged edges that loose water and invite disease. Experts recommend sharpening your blade every 10 hours of mowing

 

Bagging, instead of mulching. Lawn clippings are a natural source of nutrients for the lawn that can reduce fertilizing needs by 25% or more. So instead of bagging them (which adds time and effort to the chore), use your mower’s mulching mode to deposit the clippings back onto the lawn.

 

Pulling every last weed. Forget about the perfect, weed-free yard. It’s tough to achieve without pumping the lawn full of chemicals. Plus, some weeds are actually good for turf grass. Clover, for examples, pulls nitrogen from the air and feeds it to the soil.

 

Watering every day. A daily sip won’t help your lawn’s root system. A good long soak once a week (or every few days during high summer) is a better irrigation strategy. Lawn’s need about 1 inch of water per week, including rainfall.

 

Food for Thgought

There is going to be a flood of homes coming on the market as soon as the Fed cuts interest rates. Sellers have been patiently waiting, and their patience is running low.

If you have been thinking about selling, now is a great time! 

Remember, low supply and higher demand = higher sales prices.

Higher supply of homes means a lowering of home prices.

This is Basic economics.

Just out opinion, but we've been selling homes for 33+ years!

Real estate market doesn't know what to do

 The risk of a "sustained downturn" in the housing market is rising, as home prices show further signs of cooling off.

• 🏷️ Home prices rose 2.7% nationally in April, compared with a year earlier, down from a 3.5% jump in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index released today.
• ⚠️ April had the smallest annual price gain in nearly two years, S&P noted.
• 📉 And on a seasonally adjusted basis, prices fell 0.4% nationally from March.

What they're saying: That decline "raises the risk that prices are entering a sustained downturn, as the market finally buckles under the weight of near-7% mortgage rates," Capital Economics North American economist Thomas Ryan wrote today.

• "Clearly, the existing homes market is losing momentum," Ryan added, citing sky-high borrowing costs and rising supplies pressuring sellers' price expectations.

Zoom in: Other recent datapoints also point to the housing market losing steam.

• Sales of existing homes fell 0.7% in May from a year earlier, according to data from the National Association of Realtors released Monday.
• And median home sale prices rose just 0.7% year over year in May — the slowest growth in two years, Redfin notes.

Reality check: Inventory, though rising, remains relatively tight as homeowners continue to cling to lower mortgage rates, which will likely prevent prices from seeing a significant correction.

Yearly appreciation of homes 1950-2024

 

Common Sense

 

Making a $50K salary, 

but spending $60K on a car 

is what keeps people broke!

 Quick Market Update:

The Home selling engine is revving. The market will go full throttle soon.

Thinking of selling? 

Now is a Good time to do some updates like painting, flooring....anything that will make your home look more updated!

Why? Move in condition homes that are really nice, are selling really well.

Low home inventory makes your updated home a hot commodity!

Remember, low inventory and higher demand increases home values, (for the really nice homes).

Once inventory increases, then buyers have more to choose from, competition gets stronger, and values may fall.

If your home has been neglected for years, don't count on top dollar, because you won't get it.

Updated homes will sell first. Non-updated homes will sit on the market unless the price is attractive. We're not talking a few thousand dollars, depending on your level of condition, it could be many thousands of dollars.

A few thousand dollars in updates, could increase your homes value substantially!

Digging in your Indiana Yard?

Think about this when digging in your yard:

 Installation of a new sewer on an Indiana farm led to an incredible discovery of 13,000-year-old mastodon bones. Originally, the Schepman family thought cow or chicken bones had been found, but were shocked when they saw the giant tusk and 4-foot-long thigh bones. 

The bones were confirmed to belong to a male mastodon that most likely weighed 12,000 pounds and was between the ages of 40 and 50 when he died.