Real Estate Investing

Without meaning to be completely flippant about this post, my friend Brittney Gilbert who is editor of Eye on Blogs in San Francisco tagged a couple of interesting stories that I wanted to share.

First, have you ever seen bags of hanging water at restaurants?  Apparently they repel flies according to Lifehacker.  I plan to try this trick immediately because I really hate flies.  I cheer President Obama for nailing the one at his interview several weeks ago - with insincere apologies to PETA.

Evidently, houseflies, being highly edible and defenseless, are nervous types, and don’t like to sit still when they see something moving nearby, because it could be a predator. The water bag acts a bit like a lens—try it some time—in which the movements of people in the area are reflected. Even if the fly is too far from the action to see it directly, it can see a shifting of light and dark in the water bag, which it interprets as nearby movement, and it will fly away from the bag.

Secondly, Brittney linked to Curbed SF - another of my favorite sites - because they feature a short-film about hoarding.  Originally featured on the Consumerist, here’s the description,

Possessed, a short film by Martin Hampton, explores the lives of four people who obsessively collect consumer detritus of one variety or another.

I’m going to try to embed it here, but if this doesn’t work, do go watch the movie at the Consumerist or Curbed SF sites.

POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

I had never realized just how great clover can be for a yard, though I vividly remember spending hours laying in the clover when I was a kid searching for the elusive four-leafed variety.  I was never any good at finding the lucky ones, but the clover always felt wonderful against my skin.  It was cool and soft… comfortable.

What I didn’t understand is that clover is an inexpensive yard cover that helps keep weeds out and acts as a natural pesticide, according to 101 Family Matters,

Planting clover rather than grass will make your care and lawn upkeep way easier. You won’t have to worry about fertilizer as much and you will not have to mow it even a fraction of the amount you would if you planted ordinary grass. And clover is a natural pesticide. This is nice because many people prefer not to lay down pesticide because much of these chemicals are not good for the environment. And let?s face it, manure is a giant pain in the butt, not to mention that it can be pretty expensive.

There are other benefits in addition to cost containment and a lush yard … Clover attracts bunny rabbits.  And deer.  If you live far enough out in the country and don’t have a garden you want to keep the deer from dining on, then clover really is a great alternative to constant watering, fertilizing, weeding, aerating, and mowing.

Meanwhile, don’t look at how high the grass is in my front yard … where a bunny often lounges under the shade of our picnic table while it nibbles on clover.

There are thousands of words in real estate contracts that I call the “Don’t Blame Us” clauses.

• If I give you names of home inspectors and they do a bad job, they have to be accountable for their own work. Don’t blame us.
• There could be neighborhood restrictions that prohibit you from having chickens. Don’t blame us.
• The school zones might change. Don’t blame us.
• The local utility companies may experience black outs. Don’t blame us.
• And one of the most serious… There is mold in this area because it tends toward the damp.  Some mold is deadly.  Most is bad. Get it inspected. Don’t blame us.

I just read my friend’s post about her battle over the bathroom shower with her husband.

After years of begging him to squeegee it and leave the door open so it could dry between showers I gave up and started using the upstairs bathroom. I figured his mess, his problem.

I didn’t realize that a shower I didn’t use could bother me so badly.

I waited.

I waited some more.

I think, but cannot confirm, advanced life forms developed in the stall. I heard the whispering late in the night.

Heather began feeling sick - her allergies were waging war on her body.  And then she discovered it was the shower.  Her husband has cleaned it, but now …

The downside is the mold started a cascade I haven’t been able to completely stop. The every day allergens I’m sensitive to, but haven’t bothered me in years are making my life miserable. I’m on new medications and I have an appointment with an allergist for Tuesday.

I once listed a home that really needed some TLC.  The sellers knew it.  The buyers knew it.  And the home inspector really knew it when he emerged from the crawl space with a look of horror.  Black mold.  The buyer thankfully *really* wanted the house so they were willing to renegotiate the price and had the mold eradicated using a full hazmat crew.

It’s dangerous stuff.  It’s so much more than “Don’t Blame Us” …. DO take it seriously.  Get rid of it and do it right.

Photo by Nicholas 11mos via Flickr Creative Commons.