Cleaning Tips to Reduce Household Dust

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

Keep closet floors clear for easy cleaning

Closets are dust reservoirs, full of tiny fibers from clothes, towels and bedding. Every time you open the door, you whip up an invisible dust storm. You can't prevent clothes from shedding fibers, but you can make closets easier to keep clean and vastly cut down on dust.

• Box or bag items on shelves. Clear plastic containers are best—they lock fibers in and dust out and let you see what's inside. When you dust, they're easy to pull off the shelves and wipe clean.
• Enclose the clothes you rarely wear. Those coats you wear only in winter shed fibers year-round. Slip garment bags or large garbage bags over them. They help to contain fibers and keep the clothes themselves from becoming coated with dust.
• Keep closet floors clear. If the floor is cluttered, chances are you'll just bypass it while vacuuming. But a wide-open floor adds only a few seconds to the vacuuming chore. And a wire shelf lets you clear all those shoes off the floor without losing storage space.

Box or bag items on shelves
Keep fibers inside and dust outside closed containers

Enclose the clothes you rarely wear
Enclose rarely worn clothes in garment or garbage bags

Keep closet floors clean
Uncluttered floors are easier to vacuum

Mortgage Approval with Bad Credit

Enlightenme.com

If you have less than perfect or bad credit you may still be able to get a mortgage. When determining whether or not you will be approved for a mortgage the lending institution will be looking at your credit history, income and current debt load. It is important to do all that you can to pay down or eliminate existing debt, and to avoid creating new debt. Saving for a down payment is wise as well.

Bad Credit: Is it Really My Fault?

Bad credit usually comes from many sources and is not always simply the result of poor choices and over spending. Your bad credit may have been caused by circumstances and situations that were beyond your control such as a serious illness, divorce or poor choices made by another family member that has adversely affected you. Only you can honestly say how bad credit was created in your particular financial situation.

Whatever the reasons for your bad credit don’t count yourself out of home ownership or the chances to get a mortgage. Credit reporting agencies can be contacted and in certain instances you can have some of those negative financial reports removed, particularly if they occurred long ago. There is a mortgage lender that will work with you, even with bad credit but remember your loan will probably be at a higher rate of interest.

The most important thing for you to look at is the real reason for that bad credit and how you handle your finances now. If indeed your bad credit is a result of poor choices and careless spending on your part, it’s time to face that and make some changes. Once you do realize your dream of owning your own home, keeping that home by faithfully making those monthly mortgage payments for years to come is essential.

Bad Credit: Changing the Future

The first step to planning and preparing for your future is to leave your financial past in the past while retaining the lessons learned from it. Getting serious about living on a budget is not difficult once you have set some goals and made some wise decisions as to how you’ll reach those goals. You may have some habits to break that have contributed to bad credit but when you consider the long term benefits, the choices are obvious.

Keep track of your spending for a few months and you will no doubt see plenty of ways that money has simply slipped through your fingers. Take control of your money and don’t allow it to continue controlling you. You can get to the root of your bad credit and instead of a temporary quick fix, actually eliminate it. You can get a mortgage with a history of bad credit but let it be just that… history as you gain financial freedom.

Katharine Hepburn's Lifelong Connecticut Estate on the Market at $14.8M

 BY MELISSA ALLISON
ZILLOW
The actress built it after the first home was destroyed by a hurricane.

The Connecticut seaside home where Katharine Hepburn spent family vacations and returned often throughout her life, and where she spent her final days, is on the market for $14.8 million.

The acting legend’s parents bought the property in the Fenwick section of Old Saybrook, CT, around 1913, when Hepburn was a child. The home was washed away by a hurricane in 1938, several years after she’d won her first Academy Award. The actress dug her mother’s silver service out of the sand and rebuilt the home, creating the brick structure that still stands along the banks of Long Island Sound.

According to the listing from Colette Harron of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Hepburn used a large set of building blocks from FAO Schwarz to construct a model of the house.

Bathed in white with stunning water views, the home’s interior encompasses 8,368 square feet over three floors. It has 6 bedrooms, each with its own bath, plus 1.5 more bathrooms and 7 fireplaces.

The current owners renovated the home and lifted the structure 5 feet to protect it from water damage. The estate has been on and off the market since 2011.

The home sits on 1.47 acres with a private beach where The New York Times says Hepburn took a daily dip no matter the season. There’s also a private dock and pond.

Tip for a Weed Free Yard - Weedy Tip

From the FamilyHandyman.com

When you sow seeds, it can be hard to tell little weeds from the young sprouts. Cut cardboard tubes from toilet paper into one-third sections to encircle the seed and keep you from plucking out your young plants.

Brad and Angelina Letting Go of Big Easy Mansion

 BY MELISSA ALLISON
ZILLOW

Actor Jonah Hill crashed there and heard fans give ‘a collective audible sign of annoyance when it wasn’t Brad Pitt.’

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have listed their prime French Quarter mansion for $6.5 million, but a rep tells US Weekly the couple remain committed to New Orleans and will look for “something off the beaten path down the road.”

They bought the renovated 1830s home in late 2006 for Pitt’s filming of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and they let Jonah Hill crash there when he was filming “21 Jump Street.”

It has 5 bedrooms, 5 baths and all the grandness you’d expect from a Big Easy mansion: Venetian plastered walls, marble mantles and fireplaces, crown moldings, a grand spiral staircase and — bringing it into the modern era — an elevator. There’s also a two-story guesthouse.

Hill, a months-long guest, called Pitt “the nicest guy” for letting him stay there but said it came with some fan baggage.

“I would go home every day from work, and there’d be a tour outside and they’d be freaking out,” he told Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show.” “I’d get out of the car, and you could hear a collective audible sigh of annoyance when it wasn’t Brad Pitt.”

Cleaning Tips to Reduce Household Dust -

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

Reduce dust in your house with these eight easy steps to keep the dust bunnies from multiplying. We'll talk about better furnace filters and proper vacuuming to clean closets, cushions and more.

Overview

The solution to most household problems is to attack the source. But you can't eliminate the sources of household dust. You can't even do much to reduce them, because more than 90 percent of household dust comes from people and fabric. Our bodies constantly shed tiny flakes of skin. Our clothes, bedding and furnishings constantly shed barely visible fibers. These flakes and fibers float on the slightest air currents and settle on every surface in your house. In a spot sheltered from air movement, the particles stay put. In other areas, they constantly rise and settle as doors swing open and people pass by.

Even if fighting dust is a battle you can never completely win, you can save a lot of time and energy with these dust-busting strategies.

Interest Only Second Mortgage Options

Enlightenme.com

You can define a second mortgage in a number of ways, with the two most popular being a secondary mortgage at the time of home purchase or a way to pull cash out of your existing home. Borrowers who need flexibility in the way they use their equity and make their payments like the interest only second mortgage. You may also know this loan product as a home equity line of credit, but you may not know if it’s the best option for you.

How it works

This special kind of interest only second mortgage comes in the form of a revolving line of credit. Once you close your loan, you are free to borrow against your credit limit and repay it as you would with any credit card you own. Unlike credit cards that require you to repay a portion of your balance in addition to accrued interest, lenders do not require you to make principle repayments as long as your equity line is in the draw or advance phase.

As with any home equity product, your state regulates the maximum loan to value you can borrow and the minimum amount of time it takes to close the loan, if a waiting period exists at all. The lender secures the interest only second mortgage with the available equity in your home and often gives you a favorable interest rate in return. Your line of credit has two phases: one for you to advance funds and another where you begin to repay the full principle and interest balance. They call these the draw and repayment periods, respectively.

Why people like it

The home equity lending process is not quick by any standards, so a traditional equity loan forces you to borrow as much as possible all at once, whether you need it or not. This strategy leaves you with higher monthly payments. On the other hand, using an interest only second mortgage means you can sign loan documents once and borrow exactly what you need, when you need it. Because interest only accrues on what you borrow, your payments are never higher than necessary.

Is it right for you?

A disadvantage of the interest only second mortgage is that many come with a variable interest rate. When you suspect you must advance a hefty portion of the credit line near the beginning of the term, a home equity loan with a fixed interest rate may be the better option.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's Party House Lists for $3.9M

BY MELISSA ALLISON
ZILLOW
His and Zelda’s raucous nights here spurred the writing of half-facetious house rules.

If F. Scott Fitzgerald was right that we’re “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” then it’s fortunate when there are photographs to go with those backward glances.

And there are photos to accompany the $3,888,888 listing of the Long Island estate where Fitzgerald began writing “The Great Gatsby,” as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

He and his wife, Zelda, rented the now-remodeled 7-bedroom, 6.5-bath home for two years in the early 1920s.

Zelda called it “our nifty little Babbit-home at Great Neck,” and it became their base for parties and visits to even more luxurious homes in the vicinity, which eventually became the class-conscious West Egg and East Egg of “Gatsby.”

The Fitzgeralds’ raucous parties here spurred the writing of half-facetious house rules such as, “Visitors are requested not to break down doors in search of liquor, even when authorized to do so by the host and hostess,” according to Andrew Turnbull’s biography of Scott Fitzgerald.

Scott and Zelda left this home in Great Neck for France, where he finished “The Great Gatsby.”

The listing agent is Nurit Weiss of Coldwell Banker.

Tip for a Weed Free Yard - Set Your Blade at the Right Height to Control Weeds

From the FamilyHandyman.com

Cutting grass too short weakens it. Longer grass grows stronger and thicker and crowds out weeds. Weed seeds can't germinate easily since they don't get much light. Established weeds have a tougher time competing with the surrounding turf.

Each type of grass has an ideal mowing height to maintain its health and thickness. It's about 2-1/2 in. for most cold-climate species. Cut most warm-climate grasses a bit shorter: 1-1/2 to 2 in. If you're not sure of your grass type, take a sample to a local nursery. Or type "identify grass" into an online search engine for help. Although most lawns contain a mix of grass types, they should have similar ideal cutting heights.

Clinton Hotel South Beach sells for $28.5 million

Emon Reiser

South Florida Business Journal

Clinton Hotel South Beach has sold for $28.5 million.

The buyer calls itself Stellar Clinton LLC and is affiliated with New York company Stellar Management and Shawn Vardi. SM Think Clinton LLC also owns a 10 percent interest in the property, according to records.

According to reports Miami Beach based Think Hotel Group is the company behind the hotel's new owner. The company's portfolio includes the Boulan South Beach Hotel, the South Beach Hotel, the Ansonia House and the Plymouth Hotel.

The seller, ECRV Clinton LLC, is affiliated with Maryland-based East Coast Realty Ventures and its president Frederic Richardson.

The 88-room hotel was previously sold for $19 million in 2007. The structure was built in 1930, according to Miami-Dade Property Appraiser records.

It's at 825 Washington Ave. in Miami Beach.

Paula Deen Taking $12.5M Savannah Estate Off Her Menu

BY MELISSA ALLISON
ZILLOW
The riverfront acreage includes two guest cottages, a dock house and a barn with an 8-car garage.

Celebrity chef Paula Deen is asking $12.5 million for the Savannah estate where she cooked up her Food Network shows. “When Paula is in Savannah, she wants an easier and simpler life,” a source told People magazine of the listing.

The nearly 4-acre riverfront acreage, called “Riverbend,” is set up like a private resort with an outdoor kitchen, a pond and a swimming pool with a dive-in theater.

It boasts a French Caribbean-style main house, two guest cottages, a dock house and a barn with an 8-car garage. Altogether, the 2009 estate includes 8 bedrooms and 8.5 baths across 28,000 square feet of living space.

The former doyenne of Southern cooking has been off the Food Network for almost two years and is now hawking her subscription-based Paula Deen Network, a mobile game and a line of food including chocolate butter sticks.

Elaine Seabolt of Seabolt Brokers has the listing.