Flat Fee MLS Blog

  Need free boxes for your move or to store items while you sell your home?  If so, forget digging through the supermarket dumpster.  You can save yourself some money and trouble, while you recycle at the same time. 

The U-Haul Website has a Free Box Exchange Service.   The U-Haul Box Exchange is a messageboard that you can use to trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies. With every reuse of a box, a new box is prevented from entering the cycle.

To get started, you will need to create a U-Haul Customer ID.   To post a new message or to see posted messages in your region, simply click on that region listed below.

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P.S.  Sellers should remember to take advantage of a free home listing at the InfoTube.net homes for sale website.  Thousands of Home shoppers visit the site daily to look for new listings, video tours, real estate advise and more.  Don’t miss the traffic.  The Infotube Featured Home Service is Free for Why6 customers.

                                                                                                         If you put your pooch’s waste in a plastic bag, it takes up to 100 years to decompose. So, when it comes time to pick up after your beloved doggy, choose a biodegradable bag instead of regular plastic. Otherwise, you are wrapping one of nature’s quickest degrading substances in something that takes decades to break down, according to expert Brian Howard.

The typical dog produces 274 pounds of waste each year, according to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. For sanitary reasons, most towns require owners to pick up after their pets, but what to do with it?

Use biodegradable bags that several companies offer. For example, BioBags-the corn based product -are certified to break down in a matter of days. They work very well in communities that have aerobic landfills that are churned up. Biodegradable products don’t work near as well in closed anaerobic landfills, but they certainly won’t hurt.

This is one easy thing that you can do in your own backyard. Adding curb appeal to your property doesn’t hurt either, whether you’re marketing your home to buyers or just going green.

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During previous decades,  “draft snakes” were regular accessories in many homes, particularly during the Great Depression and in other tight times, according to expert Brian Howard. But as current homeowners have gotten used to relatively cheap oil, these handy items have largely fallen out of favor. However reducing drafts in the home can cut down  on energy use 5 to 30%, according to the U. S. Dept. of Energy.

Place a rolled bath tower or custom-made “draft snake” across the bottom of leaky doors and windows. This will improve the efficiency of heating and cooling, which are typically the biggest energy uses in the home, as well as make your rooms more comfortable.

The best thing about a “draft snake” is that it is an extremely cheap and easy way to green up your living space.  You can buy premade ones, reuse an old towel or get crafty and make one out of scrap fabric, filled with sand or kitty litter for weight. Add humorous touches with googly eyes or felt tongues. Another idea: recycle old neckties into adorable “draft snakes.”

Here are 5 tips to tighten up your home’s envelope:

1. Seal your attic door

2. Install gaskets in outlets

3. Seal ductwork

4. Replace door gaskets

5. Repair window gaskets

Sealing against drafts will save you both energy and money.

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If you garden consists of flowers, vegetables or a little of both, here are some tips to help you maintain a water-wise garden:

1. Water in the morning so roots have time to take up moisture before it evaporates during the heat of the day.

2. Install drip irrigation or soaker hoses to put water right at plants’ roots and prevent runoff.

3. Frequently check irrigation systems, sprinkler heads, etc. for leaks.

4. Water deeply but infrequently, causing roots to reach down into the soil for moisture and strengthen growth.

5. Use an organic mulch to keep roots moist and cool.

6. Reuse household water as much as possible (e.g.water from rinsing and cooking pasta and vegetables, cleaning aquariums and emptying coolers, vases, etc.)

7. Put up a rain gauge to help manage your water needs.

8. Clean decks, patios, sidewalks, etc, with a broom instead of a hose.

Remember, using rain barrels is a great way to water your garden and lawn and conserve water.

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              Collecting rainwater for use during dry months in rain barrels or other depositories is an ancient and traditonal practice. Historical records show that rainwater was collected in simple clay containers as far back as 2,000 years ago in Thailand and throughout other areas of the world after that.  With the rising price of municipal water and drought restrictions now facing much of the United States during the summer months, more and more homeowners in our own modern society are turning to the harvesting of rainwater to save money and protect this precious natural resource.                                                                                

        If you aren’t ready to install a green roof yet, you can accomplish much the same thing by directing water from your roof into a rain barrel.

The main goal is to reduce the amount of storm water that runs off your property and into an overburdened sewer system. If you save that runoff and use it to water your plants, lawn or garden, you will be both conserving a valuable resource and saving money on your utility bill.

Most German houses have a rain gutter that leads to a collection water drum, which is used to hold rain runoff to water plants. Use of such devices is kinder to our ecosystem. This is a simple energy and water conservation technology that is easy to import.

If you are selling your home FSBO or listing on the MLS, this is a great tip to pass along to your home buyers.

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              If you like to collect old stuff, such as salvage yard finds, you  might want to use your imagination and use recycled materials to build a unique, creative custom patio to replace a boring square brick patio. Landscape designer Diane Bloom devised a plan for a curved patio using some recycled materials.

A professional would charge about $6,000. to design and install a recycled patio, but a do-it-yourselfer can design their own patio and install it for about $700, assuming that they already have some recyclable materials on hand. The project can be completed in three weekends, with the help of friends for the concrete work.

Bloom designed a patio that reused some of the existing bricks, incorporated several wrought-iron treasures, and added colorful Three Rivers and Arizona flagstones and river rocks for an electic mix of materials, colors and textures. She curved the patio boundary to soften the landscape and grouped the wrought-iron artifacts for balance and visual impact.

Here are the steps to completion:

1. Preparing the site

2. Building the concrete form

3.Pouring the concrete

4. Placing the recycled objects

Bloom rates this project a 3 on a difficulty scale of 1(easy) to 5 (difficult).

Check out www.hgtv.com to view a video on Landscape Smart: Episode LDS-506

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