Prices nationwide rose nearly 6% last year — more than most ever expected, writes CNNMoney. While that has continued so far this year, leading builders to build again, prices in some places have risen faster than incomes. Eventually, they could fall back as homes become less affordable.
“If prices keeps going up at this rate for another six months, we will have a bubble, and people will get hurt,” Dean Baker, co-director of theCenter for Economic and Policy Research recently told Bloomberg.
.Day and night, pesticide-free organic gardens are abuzz with activity, much of it a life-and-death struggle between predators and prey, Pest Control in Mesa is the best ally you can have when we talk about insects. We seldom see much of this natural pest control, in which tiny assassins patrol their surroundings in pursuit of their next meal. Assassin bugs aren’t picky: They will stab, poison and devour a wide range of garden pests, including caterpillars, leafhoppers and bean beetles. Check out True Pest Control, they offer the best pest control in Adelaide. Soldier and ground beetles work the night shift, emerging after dark from beneath rocks, mulch and other daytime hiding places to feast upon soft-bodied insects and the eggs of Colorado potato beetles.
Aphid lions (the larvae of the lacewing) have a hooked jaw that helps them dispatch huge numbers of aphids, caterpillars, mites and other pests. The main reason why pest control is indispensable is the threat to human, plant and animal health posed by the pests. Almost all pests are carriers of some disease or the other and have even been known to cause severe epidemics and massive agricultural destruction. Apart from destroying valuable food supply, causing death and serious health problems such as allergic reaction, the pests also lead to serious property damage. Pests like termites can eat away huge wooden structures and render them hollow and useless. Almost everyone is revolted by these pests. In fact, the mere sight of a pest scurry around on a property is enough to turn you off and question the hygiene maintained at the place. Needless to say, pest control services is something you cannot do without.
However, it is a specialized service that you cannot manage on your own. The professional services of a pest control services company have to be hired if you want to rid your residential or commercial property of pests. For more information about the power pest control services, visit powerpestcontrol.ca. Locating the pests and eradicating them involves the use of special products and equipment that these companies have. Their technicians are trained in the use of these solutions and equipment in a safe manner. With their extensive knowledge of the different types of pests, they are able to identify the places of pest infestation and decide up on the best extermination plan to use for solving the problem, for example using a Flying Termite Removal Program. Their services are focused not only on one-time pest removal, but on minimizing the chances of future infestations as well. If you are interested in periodic pest treatment of your property as a preventive measure, the pest control companies can handle it too. According to Box Elder Bug, pest invasions can cause you great discomfort, physical harm and financial loss. It makes sense to engage a knowledgeable, experienced and reliable professional to deal with the issue. If you are interested in knowing about the pest control companies servicing your area, you can log on to a local business directory and get all the required information. Before we can get into trying to understand whether biological pest control is the answer to the pest-control related environmental concerns, it would be proper to give ourselves a little background information on this whole pest control business; for the benefit of those who may be encountering it for the very first time. Now, pests are organisms (typically insects) that are injurious to the interests of the people who refer to them as such. Thus to farmers, the insects that invade and eat up their crops (whether in the fields or during storage), would be termed as pests.
On the other hand, the ‘domestic insects’ that tend to mess up with things in domestic settings (like moths, that can mess up with cloths in storage), are seen as pests by housekeepers. Worth keeping in mind is that although most pests are insects, there are also quite are number that are non-insects: with the likes of rodents (that can mess up with crops in farms of things stored in domestic settings) being seen as pests too, the fact that they are not insects notwithstanding. Having seen that pests are injurious, it would be natural that the people who happen to ‘fall victim’ to them would want to get rid of them. In the meantime, people who haven’t yet fallen victim to pests would be keen to avoid such a ‘fate.’ Hosting pests, by the way, can be a serious fate: thousands of hectares of farmland have been known to be wasted by pests in a single day, leading to losses that often run into millions of dollars. It is the steps taken to avoid pest invasion then, or to resolve pest invasion if it has already taken place, that are referred to as constituting pest control expert services, like Pro Care. Now pest control takes various forms, depending on the pests one is trying to get rid of (or to prevent the invasion of). And while bigger pests like rodents may be controlled through mechanical means like trapping, for a long period of time, it is chemical control that has worked for the vast majority of pests, which tend to be insects as previous mentioned.
The chemicals used in this endeavor are what are termed as pesticides. And while pesticides are usually very effective in pest-control, the downside to them tends to come up when we consider the fact that they tend to be extremely environmentally unfriendly. Check out pestzone to see the best way to eliminate pests on your house. Worth keeping in mind, at this point, is the fact that the chemicals referred to as pesticides tend to be very potent ones. So it often happens that traces of them remain where they were used, even after the pests are gone. Those traces are eventually washed down to the water bodies where they wreck great havoc to the (non pest) plants and animals resident in the water bodies.
Learning about the beneficial insects in your garden will make it a more fascinating place, and help you tweak it in ways that intensify the work done by wild garden allies. This is often a simple matter of avoiding the use of pesticides (including organic ones), the service of bee removal Phoenix AZ, and growing plenty of flowers to provide beneficial insects with pollen and nectar. In greenhouses or other special situations, you may even decide to purchase and release certain lab-raised beneficial insects. This will not be necessary with the beneficial insects described here, because all will naturally gravitate toward a diversified organic garden.
Although, squirrels in an attic can be a real problem, professional Baltimore squirrel removal services are usually needed as a sound resolution. Don Brody from On The Fly Pest Solutions says squirrels may be cute but in a home a wild animal can cause nightmares, such as electrical fires from rodents gnawing live wires.
Below we feature the best beneficial insects for your garden, each one beautifully illustrated. Get to know these garden helpers individually and make a plan for how you can incorporate them into your garden as part of your natural pest control strategy.Do you have termites? The first step to avoiding a termite problem is having your home regularly inspected for termites. Termite inspections Brisbane provide customers with professional wood destroying organism inspections for real estate purchases and refinancing.
Check out the other sections of our our Organic Pest Control Series: Using Organic Pesticides and Common Garden Pests.
Braconid WaspBraconid wasps play an important role in controlling insect pests. Braconids are beneficial insects that lay their eggs inside or on host insects, and then the maggot-like wasp larvae weaken the host pest. |
Ground BeetleThe busy ground beetles’ diet can help control slugs, asparagus beetles, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, corn earworms, cutworms, squash vine borers and tobacco budworms. |
HoneybeeHave you ever wondered, “What do honeybees eat?” If so, and if you’d like to attract these beneficial insects to your garden, this piece crammed full of honeybee information is a good place to start. |
Hover FlyHoverfly larvae eat mealybugs and small caterpillars, and are especially helpful with organic aphid control. Adult hoverflies feed on nectar and pollen, and you can attract them to your garden with flowering plants. |
LacewingBeneficial lacewing larvae prey on aphids, cabbage worms, caterpillar eggs and more. Learn how to attract these garden helpers. | Lady BeetleLady beetles feed on all sorts of garden pests, including aphids, small caterpillars and insect eggs. They even feed on powdery mildew. Learn how to attract them to your organic garden for natural pest control. |
Mason BeeThe mason bee is a great pollinator and can work blossoms at a lower temperature than honeybees. Mason bees are so named because they pack mud into their nests, like brick masons. |
Praying MantisThe praying mantis is a beneficial predatory insect that provides grasshopper control and more. Learn to create an inviting praying mantis habitat. |
Predatory BugsIf your goal is to squash garden pests naturally by attracting beneficial insects, then welcome assassin bugs with open, dirt-covered arms. |
Soldier BeetleBrush up on your soldier beetle facts, including what soldier beetles eat, where they live, and how to attract this beneficial insect to your organic garden. |
SpiderPest outbreaks could be rare if you have lots of beneficial insects and spiders in the garden. Learn how to attract various types of garden spiders. |
Tachinid FlyThe Tachinid or “Diptera” species is well worth inviting to your organic garden because of its ferocious appetite for garden pests such as Japanese beetles and grasshoppers. |
Trichogramma WaspItty-bitty trichogramma wasp larvae develop inside of and eat insect eggs, especially those of cabbage worms, codling moths and European corn borers. |
Yellow JacketYellow jacket wasps feed their young liquefied insects, with caterpillars, flies and spiders comprising the largest food groups during most of the summer. The effect: Adios, garden pests! |
Source: IMDb
Newlyweds Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris may need to set a price limit for exchanging gifts. Shortly after Harris made her husband a homemade gift for his 87th birthday, the Playboy magazine founder dropped $4.995 million on a Hollywood Hills mansion for the 27-year-old Playmate.
The couple finally tied the knot in January. They’d been engaged for awhile, but Harris called off the wedding in 2011. Now the newlyweds have sealed the deal with their first real estate purchase. According toTMZ, Harris is a co-owner of the property.
The modern manse is constructed in a decidedly different style than the traditional and Tudor-esque architecture of the Playboy Mansion. The 5,917-square-foot home was built in 2011 with several modern amenities, as well as a view of the city lights. A gated entrance leads into a contemporary kitchen and up a floating wood staircase into a luxurious master bedroom and bath. Outside, a white-glass infinity pool and deck provide secluded relaxation while sliding doors out front provide open-air living space.
Hefner has lived in the famous Playboy Mansion for several years, but it may come as a surprise that the millionare doesn’t own it. According to details of the lease, filed with the SEC as an appendix to his employment agreement, Hefner pays rent for the 29-room house.
With the Playboy Bunny House (across the street from Hefner’s not-so-humble abode) recently listed for $11 million, time will tell whether Hefner decides to make the Hollywood Hills home is primary residence.
Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris Own First Home as Husband & Wife | Zillow Blog.
Mortgage rates dipped for the fifth consecutive week, following a first-quarter economic-growth estimate that fell short of expectations.
Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.35 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 2, down from 3.4 percent last week and 3.84 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The drop put the 30-year rate not far above the record low of 3.31 percent seen during the week ending Nov. 21, 2012.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loans and 1-year Treasury-indexed ARMs also dipped. Source: Fannie Mae
Anyone on Facebook in the last few days has likely seen the pink-and-red logo that many people are setting as their profile images this week in support of gay marriage, the subject of two cases the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing.
Bond New York, which claims to be the largest independently-owned brokerage in New York City with 500 agents and staff, has incorporated features of the Human Rights Campaign logo that’s come to represent support of gay marriage into its own branding.
The National Association of Home Builders called on Congress Thursday to maintain its support for vital housing incentives in order to meet the nation’s growing need for affordable rental housing and homeownership opportunities.
The housing incentives include the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the mortgage interest deduction and real estate tax deductions.
“Homebuilding is an industry dominated by small businesses, so the idea of simplifying the complicated tax rules related to business has great appeal,” said Robert Dietz, an economist and assistant vice president for NAHB.
Dietz added, “At the same time, our industry remembers painful lessons from the 1986 Tax Reform Act, when the commercial and multifamily sectors experienced a downturn due to unintended consequences.”
When housing is doing well, it spurs jobs and contributes to economic growth, notes Dietz. “For these reasons, we urge Congress to be cautious and thoughtful when it comes to housing and tax reform.”
The south wall of the greenhouse is made of 2-by-6s and four storm doors.NEVIN HAWLMAN
Early that autumn morning, I knew it was going to be a great day: I dropped my toast, and it landed honey-side up! Then in the morning newspaper, I saw an announcement for a public auction of “dozens of used aluminum storm doors.” I could hardly wait to hitch up my trailer.
My bid was $4 when the auctioneer said, “Sold! How many do you want?”
“All of them,” I said. I went home with 25 used double-track aluminum storm doors with screens and tempered glass.
Building the Greenhouse
I always wanted a home garden greenhouse to start my own vegetable plants (and a warm place to putter as the snow swirled outside). When I announced my new project at our Sunday family supper, my son smiled as he said, “I thought you were running low on things to do.” The next day he was helping me unload stones for the greenhouse base.
We made the greenhouse frame from 2-by-6s. The studs and rafters are on 36-inch centers to accommodate the 36-inch storm doors. Top and bottom plates are double 2-by-6s with overlapping corners. The frame is held together by three-eighths-inch bolts and galvanized spiral nails. The north side has no glass exposure. It is sheathed with oriented strand board and covered with vinyl siding. It shelters the greenhouse from cold winter winds. That sheltered side also makes working in the greenhouse bearable on hot summer days. The worktable is in the shade.
Heating the Greenhouse
The greenhouse is heated by hot water piped in via underground lines coming from a woodstove outside my shop. I modified the stove by laying a cast-iron radiator on top of it. The water in the radiator is drawn to the greenhouse radiator by a small circulating pump. The pump runs constantly in cold months. The greenhouse thermostat controls the blower on the remote woodstove so it maintains a water temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I think this is more efficient than having the water temperature fluctuate widely. I know it provides a more even temperature in the greenhouse, which ranges from 70 to 80 degrees on cloudy days.
If you love gardening and potting plants, build a greenhouse! Don’t expect it to pay for itself unless you value the excitement of seeing a seed sprout, you get a special satisfaction from eating your own harvest, and enjoy the flavors that have been lost in the quest for commercial produce that stays hard as wood in shipping (and also resembles wood in flavor).
Sales of new single-family homes in March rose 18.5 percent year over year, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Census Bureau released today.
March’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 homes represented a 1.5 percent increase from February’s revised rate of 411,000. In January, new-home sales hit a four-year high of 431,000.
The Census Bureau estimated that 153,000 homes were for sale in the U.S. at the end of March. That represents a 4.4-month supply at the current sales rate, the same as February’s supply level.
On Monday, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales were up 10.3 percent from a year ago in March, but down 0.6 percent from February.
Experts including NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun say that low inventory is preventing larger increases in home sales. The supply of homes for sale is down 16.8 percent from last year, when the months’ supply of inventory stood at 6.2 months, according to NAR data.
AOL Real Estate writes:
Adam Prince of ZeroEnergy Design said, “Think ahead about your decisions to improve your building shell, systems, appliances, lighting, and possibly add renewable energy. Having an energy plan in place will help avoid snap decisions and instead make the right decision — for example, if your refrigerator breaks, if the roof needs replacement, or if you are about to finish the basement.”
