Olga

Planting trees can spruce up your home landscape, but choosing the wrong tree can cause some major headaches. Here are five species you might want to avoid when planting a tree:

1. Black walnut tree

Black walnuts are often grown for their shade and edible nuts, but their buds, roots and nut hulls release significant levels of juglone, a chemical that robs sensitive plants of needed energy.

Garden vegetables planted ...

The experience of buying your first home often brings up a lot of emotions. With so many new considerations and complicated processes to navigate, it's easy to get tripped up in details and make costly mistakes.

Read on to learn how to avoid making common first-time buyer missteps.

Don't skip home loan qualification

Once you decide to buy a home, it's tempting to start touring properties right away. Don't do it - resist.
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Before you put your house on the market, your real estate agent will likely provide you with a seller net sheet, which outlines all the fees you'll owe as part of the transaction and estimates of closing costs and commissions.

In total these typically amount to about 10 percent of the sale price of the home.

Fees vary from state to state, but read on for a general overview of costs to expect during the home selling process.

- Realtor ...

Does your home have a mysterious bad smell? If you've already checked the fridge and your trash bins and can't find the source, it could be that you're in need of a carpet cleaning or carpet deodorizer.

Just like stains, carpet fibers can trap odors, making them linger in your home indefinitely.

If you think your carpet could be the problem, consider the possible sources of the odor.

Moisture or dampness

Sometimes, ...

If a friend tells you she's renovating her home, when she finishes gushing about her new herringbone marble backsplash, expressions like "our place is a wreck right now," "I'm so stressed" and "I've had it up to here with my contractor" may soon follow.

Yes, renovations can be a major headache and they're certainly a challenging time to be living at home. Thankfully, many have survived remodels, and so will many more.
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What could be more wonderful than relaxing at home?

These days as people are looking for opportunities to enhance their homes, many are investing just as much on their exterior space as they are on their interior spaces.

Outdoor environments can be useful and functional, not only in warm months but in cold months as well.

From selecting the ideal project, pricing your project and selecting those to perform your winter renovation ...