Here is a great example for my last post about What the Real Estate Ads Really Mean.
This is the sort of house that would be advertised as a “fixer upper with character” in a “nice neighbourhood”, as you can see that the house next to it isn’t so bad…
We’ve all read the ads that say “Needs a little TLC” and “A Great Fixer Upper”. If we’ve been looking at houses for a while we know that really means “Floors, walls and all wet areas need renovating” and “May need significant structural work to avoid being condemned”. That may be a slight exageration, but we all know that it’s not far from the truth.
When we were looking around for our first house we got sucked into a lot of those sort of homes. Thankfully wisdom prevailed and we didn’t actually purchase one of those homes. We ended up moving into a suburb about a 15-minute walk away from my work into a house that needed a bit of cosmetic work, but nothing too major.
Below is actually a pretty good article about what real estate agents do to sell their own homes, as opposed to someone elses home. It also talks a bit about what words to use in writing ads for selling your home, and what words to avoid…
At the moment here in Townsville our the Ross River dam (our main dam) is at only about 22% capacity. We have been under minor water restrictions for as long as I have lived here, only able to water three days a week, which isn’t really much of a restriction. With Townsville’s current water usage, and the usual increase that comes in October and November, we will reach “level 4” water restrictions soon, which means we can only water at night.
I don’t understand why is daytime watering not already banned?
I find it quite surprising how many people water their lawns during the middle of the day under the hot North Queensland sun! We have some neighbours behind us that seem to water their lawn almost every day, despite the water restrictions, and in the middle of the day so most of the water evaporates and isn’t even absorbed by the lawn.
Every web-site that I have read tonight points out that the best watering time are after dusk or before the sun is up, with most preferring the early morning water. Apparently about 40% of the average household water usage is outside usage, and a lot of water can be saved by following even simple water conservation ideas in the garden.
Here are a few links to some sites that can help you with your own water conservation plan for your garden, and can help you to grow a stronger and healthier lawn:
This morning Tamara received a phone call that our trade contractor’s “off sider” has quit. His off sider was his second man in all of his construction work. This basically means that now all of our plans are pretty much on hold until he can find either another “off sider” or an apprentice to work with him on the building work.
From what our main trade contractor told Tamara he is eager to pick up an apprentice as he won’t have to actually teach as much as he has had to in the past. An apprentice should be able to pick up the work and run with it a lot more so then a casual worker will.
My only hope is that he find a new employee soon, otherwise this project will draw on well into the new year and probably mess around with our plans to visit family in Canada next year…
