Michael Throckmorton

Go Green and Increase the Value of Your Home with Xeriscaping

Agritopia is on Facebook! Visit www.facebook.com/agritopia

Posted by Michael Throckmorton

For more information on Agritopia, or Green Homes for Sale in Gilbert, please feel free to contact me at 602-690-5955 or visit my free website at www.TeamTrealestate.com

Water is a precious commodity. So is time. Many of todays's home shoppers are looking for homes with landscaping that is attractive, easy to maintain and ecologically friendly. Subdivisions like Agritopia are green and lush all throughout. Water management and proper plant choices make all the difference in water consumption in places like Agritopia

Xeriscaping is a form of landscaping that can help you achieve all of these results with careful planning.

Whether you are landscaping in Agritopia, Gilbert, or anywhere in the valley, improving a home for sale or protecting your property investment, landscaping is an important element to consider.

Check out some ideas below I have seen at work in Agritopia.

Xeriscaping is a method of landscaping that:

• uses less water than traditional turf landscaping
• is easy to maintain
• focuses on native plants
• provides habitat for native wildlife
• takes advantage of natural landscaping qualities to maximize existing features
• can significantly improve the value of your home and property

You can achieve a beautiful xeriscape in any yard. Create xeriscaping all at once, or slowly incorporate the conservative method of landscaping over time.

Carefully study the yard you want to xeriscape. Create a plan. Determine which features of your yard are best suited for drought-resistant plants, shade-loving plants, sun-loving plants, turf, decorative rocks and other non-living yard decorations.

Next, set goals. Work on the xeriscape one area at a time. Identify your main goals for each area. Do you want to eliminate high water consumption landscaping features by replacing it with low-maintenance plants? Do you want to attract butterflies or other forms of beautiful wildlife that will add to your yard's appeal? Do you want to highlight existing features such as rocks, trees, and natural terraces? Create a plan for each area of the yard.

Focus on soil development. Good soil will provide more nutrients to your drought resistant plants. Soil that drains quickly, yet stores water is ideal. Strategically add organic material to soil and aerate it often. Many local extension offices and agriculture departments of colleges and universities offer soil testing. Soil testing will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your soil and help you determine what to add with the most positive impact.

Determine which plants are best suited to your yard's natural environment. Once you have determined which plants to use in your xeriscaping, group them together based on the amount of water, soil type, and level of maintenance each plant requires. Plants with high water needs should not be mixed with plants that require little water. Plants that like shade should not be mixed with plants that require full sun.

A carefully-developed watering system can save water, time and ultimately money. Even if you develop one area at a time, plan your entire watering system so you can build upon the irrigation system as you work on each area.

Dress plants with plenty of mulch to help them retain water. Mulch can include leaves, wood chips, tree bark, pine needles and even gravel. A mixture of these can be ideal. In addition to helping the plant retain water, mulch will help regulate temperature, reduce weeds and prevent erosion.

In areas where you do use turf, identify drought-resistant species that grow well in your location.

Most importantly, maintain your xeriscaping regularly to preserve its aesthetic and environmentally friendly appeal!

To view more of my blogs or to preview homes for sale, please visit my website at www.TeamTrealestate.com or contact me directly at 602-690-5955.

To View more of my Blogs, or if you are interested in Buying or Selling a home, please feel free to visit my website at www.TeamTrealestate.com or contact me at the infomation below.

Posted by Michael Throckmorton

Gilbert Green Homes, there are more than you know.

The concept of building an environmentally friendly home or business is more than just a passing political fad. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, buildings have a tremendous impact on energy consumption and the natural environment.

Following are statistics reported by the EPA online:

In the United States, buildings account for:
39 percent of total energy use
12 percent of the total water consumption
68 percent of total electricity consumption
38 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions

Whether you are building a new home in Gilbert, an office, or a large or small business, the best approach to environmental responsibility is to integrate conservative building strategies into your plans from the point of conception. Energy saving strategies can also be applied to remodeling plans and reconstruction.

In addition to the following benefits taken directly from the EPA Green Buildings website at http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/pubs/whybuild.htm, the value of your home or business will be greater for a variety of reasons including an appeal of social environmental responsibility to potential buyers and many buyers' interest in long-term savings through energy efficiency, maintenance and overall operational costs. Green buildings feature many major selling points that could help you close a sale or lease agreement over buildings that are not designed with the environment in mind.

Environmental benefits

• Enhance and protect biodiversity and ecosystems
• Improve air and water quality
• Reduce waste streams
• Conserve and restore natural resources

Economic benefits

• Reduce operating costs
• Create, expand, and shape markets for green product and services
• Improve occupant productivity
• Optimize life-cycle economic performance

Social benefits

• Enhance occupant comfort and health
• Heighten aesthetic qualities
• Minimize strain on local infrastructure
• Improve overall quality of life

Any building in Gilbert can be a green building. Homes, schools, commercial buildings, healthcare facilities and more are now being constructed with a vested interest in conserving energy and water. Green buildings are designed to reduce waste and toxins with building materials and specifications that also help improve indoor air quality and sustain smart growth in neighborhoods, on Main Street and in industrial developments.

Want more good news? There are many local, state and national programs in not only Gilbert, but all over Arizona that reward builders for incorporating responsible green building components in construction and reconstruction projects.

If you would like more ideas on how you can emphasize the environmentally friendly aspects of your building for sale, contact us today. If you're looking for a green building to buy, we can help you there too. Green buildings are the wave of the future and there's no time like the present to get started preserving our environment and our future. Thank You

Michael Throckmorton : Prudential Arizona Properties 602-690-5955 Direct www.TeamTrealestate.com

Posted by Michael Throckmorton

Thinking of buying a Foreclosure home in Gilbert but are affraid it needs to much work?

There is a loan that called the 203K loan. It is an FHA loan and it gives you money to fix up your home after your purchase and before you move in.


This was taken from a website online (actually many sites have this exact wording):

The 203(k) loan program offers borrowers the resources to rehabilitate a home that may be in need of repair, either the home that they currently live in, or that special fixer-upper opportunity. One single loan is used to pay for the purchase (or refinance) and the cost of renovating the home.

Is this new?

No, this program has been around for a very long time, about 30 years. But people were refinancing with equity lines of credit so the 203K was not something that many loan officers would suggest.

Now these loans are being revisited because when most buyers today purchase a home. The home has room for improvement (to say the least). Meaning both the need to fix it up and the value of the home is sometimes higher than the purchase price.

Most agents who just read that last line said "What?!?!?" This is because today the market is so crazy that appraisers are not appraising above the purchase price. In my opinion, it is probably because they do not want to get in trouble and do what they were doing in 2005. Yeah, over appraising!

But when you do a 203K plan the appraiser goes to the home looking for the actual value and appraising if there is room for money to be added for repairs. Most of the time there is.

If I were you I would look into the 203k plan if you plan on buying a real fixer upper.

With Gilbert Foreclosures and damaged properties for sale on the rise, a 203k loan could be a great loan product that will aid you in a great buy. Not only will you get a great deal, but the home is virtually customer to your taiste!


Contact me and I could connect you to a loan officer that could get you approved for a 203k loan.

We Service not only Gilbert, but all of Arizona.

Michael Throckmorton - Prudential Arizona Properties - 602-690-5955