Protect your Tallahassee home from mold

Here in Tallahassee, Florida, we have high humidity, and humidity that settles in the home for long periods to time equals: MOLD.

Homes today are well insulated, and air cannot get in or out easily. Homes were not always so airtight. Think of the older homes before double pane glass, when air entered the home easily. Todays airtight home is good in some ways, relating to energy, and heating and air conditioning. However, moisture builds up in closed spaces, especially in the bathrooms. Over time, without any air movement, mold can develope to a danger point. Mold does not like air movement. In these airtight homes, ceiling fans, bathroom exhaust fans, and air conditioners need to be running, throughout the year. There is a mold danger in vacant homes sitting for a period of time without any air ventilation. Remember, we are in a high humidy zone.

I was speaking with a company that specializes in mold removal. The representative was saying that in this region, mold is everywhere, inside and outside, but is not dangerous unless it is or becomes a certain type of mold. I did not realize that there are thousands of different kinds of molds. He also stated that just opening windows to air out the rooms, does not help in Tallahassee, since there is little wind here, and the humidity in the air, just enters in the home, with mold pores.

If the home does get into an issue where mold removal is necessary, the cost will typically be $6,000 or more, much more. Let’s do what we can to protect our homes from the dangerous mold. Keep the air circulating, wipe up water from shower or bath walls, make sure there are no water leaks.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd, Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Cell 850-339-5753
Blog  http://KennethFach.wordpress.com
Web  http://KennethFach.com

Each office in independently owned and operated.

Tallahassee Ranch Style Home Basics

The ranch style home, with its low pitch, gable roof, typically fits in very well with the environment, and in its pure form, uses natural, and local materials. Tallahassee, Florida, has many ranch styles homes, and many of these are currently for sale. Ranch style homes are inside Tallahassee, and outside the city. In fact, ranch style homes are all over America, and have been since the 1940’s.

What is a ranch style home? This is a genuinely all-American architectural home style which was popular with the jet set generation of the post World War Two era. Soldiers came home from the war needing homes. Ranch style homes were built in great quantity and filled up suburbia as communities started to grow outward. With the automobile boom, people could live further from the town center, and commute long distances. Many ranch homes were built on big yards, at least big, relative to the yards offered by many of today’s new subdivisions. The ranch home was the perfect answer to a growing young family, and the need for a decent place to live. They were easy to build, and very affordable, and typically still are.

A ranch style home is a horizontal, low-lying, rectangular structure, which can be U shape, or L shape rectangular. The garage is an important part of the design, although, not all ranch style homes have garages. Later, split level, or raised ranch style homes became popular, allowing for more space within the home. However, there were always more one story ranches.

With a typical ranch style home, getting onto the roof to rake the leaves is no difficult task, since the roof is close to the earth, and the roof’s gable is low-pitched. I know it is easy to get on and off the roof. I did plenty of that when I was a teen growing up in a ranch style home. I just needed a small ladded, with just a few steps, and I was on the roof doing my regular task of sweeping, and raking the pine needles from the many pine trees that circled our Milton, Florida ranch style home.

The exterior of a ranch style home is simple. Here in Tallahassee, I see much creativity to bring interest to the facade of these kind of homes. People decorate the front with flowers, well kept shrubs, planters, mini waterfalls, sitting area, and rock garden. It is amazing what color and beauty you can bring to a simple, unadorned exterior.

The interior of ranch styles homes had open floor plans. In fact, the ranches made popular the open floor plan, and teh abundance of incoming light. The kitchen, dining, and living room were an open unit, with the master bedroom on one side of the open floor plan, and the smaller bedrooms off the hallway on the other end of the rectangular structure. These homes usually had a hallway.

Many of the features that homebuyers like today, open floor plan, spacious yard, big windows, or a lot of windows, brick or stone fireplace hearth, backyard patio or deck, separation of master bedroom from other bedrooms, built-in shelves, or cabinets, and natural materials, wood, brick, stone, all were made popular by the ranch style homes.

I suppose I love the ranch style home because I grew up in this kind of home. My friends lived in this style of architecture. I have more experience with ranchers. In fact, I am the self-designated, ranch style home specialist of Tallahassee, Florida. If you want to know more about ranch homes, or how to buy one, please contact me. Just remember one thing, there is always an abundance of ranch homes in northwest Florida, and in most places in America. The ranch remains an important home style, and most homes built today, in other architectural styles, traditional, contemporary, and other styles, contain elements characterizing ranch style homes.

Contact me for assitance with getting you into a Tallahassee ranch home. I can tell you where the best deals for ranch style home are in the neighborhoods of Tallahassee, and Leon County, Florida.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd, Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Cell 850-339-5753 Web http://KennethFach.com
Blog http://KennethFach.wordpress.com

Each office is independently owned and operated.

What Tallahassee homebuyers want

HomeBuyers have their real estate needs, desires and abilities. When homebuyers are interested in looking to buy a home, it is  lifestyle they are wanting to buy. Homebuyers want a lifestyle with a certain amount of space, in a certain geographic area, and with certain lifestyle home features.

I like to speak with buyers, first, about their needs, both lifestyle and financial, before even showing them the merchandise: the homes. We all have needs, specific to our lifestyle, and finances. My job as a Tallahassee real estate agent, is to determine what kind of lifestyle will best fit my buyers, reflected in a home that matches that Tallahassee lifestyle.

Once I can determine what the homebuyer has to have in a home, to fit their lifestyle,  the next focus is on what would be desirable. However, needs and desires, don’t amount to much without ability, that is, the financial ability to put desires and needs into a home. Buying a home is a big expense, and for most people, the biggest expense they will ever have.

 I ask basic questions, and I base my whole homebuying strategy around those answers. I ask what the needs are:

How much home is needed? How many bedrooms, and baths? How many square feet? Are handicap facilities needed? How far from work is the buyer willing to live? How much is buyer willing to put down as a down payment? What is the timeframe for buyer to have be in a home? Are walk-in closets needed? You can see why these are the needs.

Next, I ask what the desires are: These are features, usually.  After determining how much space and number of bedrooms and baths are absolutely necessary, we can work down to the desires; what is  strongly liked, and longed for. These are things that buyer can live without, but maybe would not be happy without them.  Many features can always be added later on too, provided the spacial dimensions, are adequate.
What home features are necessary?  fireplace, open floor plan, loft, built-in entertainment center, spacious kitchen, hardwood floors, a florida room, a big yard with a fence, a pool, an office, built-in bookshelves, kitchen counter, granite counter tops.

Basically, anything related to space is a necessity: space to store boxes, clothes, collectibles. Space for each member of the family, space for an office, space to put the books. Space to entertain, space for cooking, space to play outside, space for a garden. Space is alway a popular issue. It is the necessity it seems, for our Tallahassee buyers. So many buyers ask about walk-in closests, I find. That really is important. I have seen so many closets stuffed full of everything imaginable. Closets today are crucial elements: the must-haves.

Now, the issue of where is the money coming from? We need to consider mortgage loan, or how buyer will get the home. We need to discuss the best options, and in the case of first-time homebuyers, we need to discuss down payment assistance programs. Some good ones are the Tallahassee Lendors Consortium, Nehemiah, and FHA.

My job is to fit your lifestyle to a home. Please call me, or post a comment about what kind of lifestyle home you want, and what you are looking for. Write down your needs, and desires in a home based on the above. There is homework involved in buying a home. I do most of the work for you, however, in the process of buying your Tallahassee home.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Blvd, Suite B103
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Cell 850-339-5753  Blog http://KennethFach.wordpress.com
Web http://KennethFach.com

Each office is independently owned and operated. 

What Trees to do Me

Around my home are many trees. We have a green zone of trees in our back, with rabbit, deer, fox, turtle, and other living organisms. I grew up with trees and in  most homes i lived in, in California, New Mexico, northwest Florida, Connecticut, there was a green zone either in the back yard, or close by. Always there were trees around the homes. To this day, I appreciate what trees do for the world, what values they have, and the beauty they have. Dad took me camping a lot when I was a young child, and I grew up in boy scouts. We went to a lot of interesting forests. I learned a lot about trees, how to tell the age of trees from the trees rings, how to identify certain trees. I read inspiring poems from great poets about trees. I read the thoughts and stories of the earlier native cultures in the Americas about trees. I am now teaching my son, and other children that I come in contact with, the importance of respecting, honoring and protecting trees, and what trees do for us.

Not too many decades ago, real estate developers, and builders went into an area, and literally removed all the trees to build what they felt was more important that saving the lives of trees. Of course, some trees have to be removed, this is logical, but not every single tree. Trees are part of natural ecosystems, and can color the landscaping.

Today, some, not all, developers are careful about removing all the trees, and do keep some of the trees in place. Also, laws or local ordinances have sprung up making those who cut down trees in the course of their business, to plant new trees. Tallahassee, Florida, has such an ordinance. In fact it is very hard to cut down trees in this community without a permit. Neighbors have had old, enormous Oak trees in or near their property, and have had a difficult time getting permission to have the big guy cut down. Tallahassee folks love trees as I do, and we are blessed with having so many canopy roads, roads with tree branch ceilings. There is a local group as well as local government, working to protect those trees from future threats.

Trees give us so many things. I will name a few that come to mind. They give us oxygen. Remember studying photosynthesis in biology class. Yes, trees need carbon dioxide to make oxygen for us breathing organisms. Cut down too many trees and the oxygen supply is in danger, and will be reduced. Of couse the seas also give us oxygen, as well as bushes.

Trees are the home to many other living organisms, squirrels, birds make nests, and so forth. Also there is the symbiotic relationship between trees and other plant life.

Trees are fun places for children to climb and make tree houses. What boy does not want to play in a tree house, and have his own club for his buddies.

Trees give us rubber for our tires, wood for furniture, paper we so religiously use, and wood for our homes. Most homes built today have a wood frame. Just drive by most any new home development under construction. What do you see going up: wood boards. We get pencils from our trees. I cannot neglect to mention the vast amount of medicines, and other chemical products that come from trees.

I like looking out at trees. I like visiting parks and forests, camping in the forests, admiring the stateliness, beauty and perfection of the trees. I can’t get enough trees in my life. They are my friends, each and everyone of them.

My suggestion to the world, is that we think carefully before chopping down a tree, or having someone do it. I would suggest that we make sure our local representatives pass ordinances to protect the trees in their communities. I would also suggest that more of us get out in nature, camp among the trees, and review the workings of photosynthesis, which is an necessary process for our survival on earth.

Tallahassee and its surroundings have so many trees, state parks for camping, hiking, getting out in nature, and a big national forest. This is a community of green everywhere it seems. Many other communities in Florida, such as Jacksonville, and Tampa, have few if any canopy roads, and have cut down most of their trees. I am proud of Tallahassee’s stand to protect its trees.

Visting and driving through the older neighborhoods, you see what was trees that that have been standing in their ground for so many years. There are trees several hundred years old. Yes, there is an abundance of old trees here. When looking homes with your real estate agent, talk about the trees if you like trees. Ask that one of the features that your home must have is trees in the yard, or a green zone out back.

What a Home Means

There are many words that describe a home, that define what a home is to many people. A home can mean many things, for sure. Here are some of the words that I find describes a home:

Relatedness- the feeling of relating to something beautiful solid, and tangible.
Connectedness- humans need connection, the feeling of oneness with our surroundings.
Family- home is family solidarity, family togetherness.
Hearth- in ancient cultures, the hearth, fire, fireplace centered the home, the dwelling.
Comfort zone- a home is our zone of protection from the elements.
Storage facility- we need a place to put and store our belongings, our prized possessions.
Food bank- with those big pantrys, we can keep a lasting food supply.
Entertainment center- today’s technology makes the home an entertainment center.
Business center- we sit around the kitchen table and write checks, plan our finances. We even have home offices and work out of the home (some of us).
Planning center- what better place to plan that vacation than at home by the fireplace.
School house- with more people home schooling their children, the home serves as a school.
Escape from work- after a hard day, tiring day, the home is our peace and refuge.
Protection- we feel secure in our homes, from weather, society, and dangers.
Conversation- we use our home to hold conversations with family, and friends.
Gardening- a home serves as a place to plant the seeds of a healthy garden.
Trying new ideas- we can afford to experience and experiment with new ideas in the home, such as a new furniture arrangement, new decorations, a new shelf added to the wall.
Technology center- we test the latest technology in the home, and have quite a performance of computer, wireless, digital TV, fax, printer, and much more.
The hub- just like airlines have a hub, the home is our hub. We move in and our daily, but always return the Hub.
Colors- everyone is sensitive to colors, and certain colors we employ and others we paint over.

Maybe there are other words you can use to describe the feeling of home, but that is my list. Today, the home offers activities that were not found in prior eras. Technology is more advanced today, and more a focus of our lives: computer, cell phone, and the home serves to integrate these technological innovations.

There is one underlying element however, that keeps the home, the home, and that is the feeling of ownership, fee simple ownership. This is the right to do what you want in your own property, and hold title to the rights of ownership. It is a wonderful feeling, when you legally, and actually own a property. Renters have the rights of possession, but miss out on full ownership, fee simple ownership.

What make home to everyone however, is warmth and peace. When we have that, we have home.

Those Lovely Trees

So Divine, so Majestic. Those trees, those lovely trees that dot the community inside and out in and around Tallahassee, Florida. This is the number one reason why I and many others live in this area, because of the trees. These trees are protected by local ordinance, and are one everpresent fact about this community. We have many tree canopy roads, that are an established feature in the Tallahassee community. The trees relate to the regions’ history, the lumber industry of the past, and they identify the neighborhoods. Newer neighborhoods have smaller, younger trees, usually, and established neighborhoods have big, older trees, usually. Each tree tells its unique story, and is its own character within a big book of nature. A tree standing for years on someone’s front yard, has watched over a lot of history going on at that residence.

Why my adoration of trees. I have always felt at home around trees. I daily commune among the trees of my backyard, and often visit the forests of the regions many parks and forests. The trees tell my story, my love of nature, and fondness for the simplicity of life among the tall giants that watch over us. I often feel like the trees are divine messenger to us, telling us how to behave. I try to listen to their messages, while in deep contemplation of their presense. I delight in the joy the trees bring me. They are my best non-human friends within the ecosystems I inhabit and visit.

After long hours of toil, I feel comforted among the trees. Some of my favorite moments are camping with family and friends in the woods, making a campfire, hiking on the trails, and just being there in nature away from the office, the hustle and bustle of work life.

Maybe there are others reading this who share the same fascination, and longing to be among the trees. I would love to hear from you, and your tree tales.

My Leon County Florida Backyard View

My home sweet home. In the picture you see what I see looking out from the back of my house in northwest Leon County, Florida, just outside of Tallahassee.

It is not the greenest appearance of nature since the picture was just taken, here in December. Most of my life I have had nature scenes similar to this in the back of my home. I feel blest to have experience nature up close. Photosynthesis is working right before my eyes and I am breathing good air. Deer, rabbits, fox, turtles are some of the inhabitants out in that green zone separating my home from Little Lake Jackson.

I don’t usually pass a day without admiring this forested area and expanse of privacy. Other neighbors have a simillar view, a view that I hope they admire and rejoice in as much as I do.

My love of flora came from my early beginnings, those first 9 years
of my life in southern California. Dad often took me camping in Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park and elsewhere. Dad took me out rock hunting in nature to find rocks for his awesome Japanese Garden that he built in our California backyard. During that time, I also was active in Cub Scouts, (and later Boy Scouts). When we moved to New Mexico, where I lived for 2 years until age 11 or 12, I joined the boy scouts, and went camping almost twice a month. Dad also, took me hiking, rock hunting, and taught me about rocks. We explored abandoned ghost towns that were sitting in isolated regions of New Mexico. I spent much time in the outdoors with dad, growing up.

Then there was Grandpa Fach. He owned a canyon outside of Albuquerque, over 300 acres I believe. He used to take me on mountain hikes and taught me about the flora and fauna of his canyon. He was a naturalist among many other things. He kept a record of the number of bird varieties showing up in the canyon.

To this day, I am the happiest man on earth when I am in the presense of trees, green nature around me, (and maybe some rocks to go with it).

Some Practical Tips for Homeowners

We homeowners can sometimes need a review of things we can do for our real estate. We can learn new tips to better maintain our property.

I would like to share seven useful suggestions or tips for your home and garden. They work for me.

To clean my Garbage Disposal this is what I do:
I pour 1/2 cup baking soda into the drain. Next I pour 1 cup of white vinegar. Then, I pour hot boiling water from a tea kettle. This process cleans and kills odors. I am very happy there is baking soda and that it is so cheap.
I also want to keep my disposal blades in top condition. I take ice cubes, and
fill the drain 1/2 full with then before running the cold water as hard as it will come out. Lastly, I turn the system on. I don’t do this much since I try to not use water if not necessary.

Tip number two is to keep wood, and leaves or straw from touching the bottom foundation of the home so as to help prevent insect or termites from getting inside the home. termites and other organisms like wood. Most homes have wood inside the walls as part of the foundation.

Keep your used coffee grounds for enriching the soil of your flower or vegetable garden. I keep a compost pile in my garden and periodically spread the food substances there to have a healthier soil body.

Contact an air conditioning/heating company to arrange for a regular maintenance plan. I just started doing this. They come out twice a year to inspect and service the system ans at other times they come by with air filters. Filters need to be changed monthly if you use the system daily.

One way you can give your home a new home smell, is by painting the walls, at least a few walls or a few rooms. As time progresses, there will be odors in the home. Paint solves that problem, but don’t neglect to shampoo or replace the carpet if necessary. Oh, I forgot, who has carpet anymore!
When I paint my home, I think of a theme and color scheme. I get my inspiration from the surrounding nature and outdoor colors. I want the inside to transition smoothly to the outside.

If you have a two story home, remember, heat rises. It is warmer upstairs in the winter. Blow some of that heat down stairs by keeping the upstairs ceiling fans on. Depending on home’s layout this may not be possible. Remember, bigger homes theoretically consume more energy, but a smaller home that is not energy efficient, does not keep in heat in the winter, could waste more energy than a bigger home.

If you have vertical blinds, keep the panels facing up when you close, not down. If they face down it is easy for people to look in at night when the lights are on inside. This is a security tip.

If you have some home tips to share, let me know and I will probably add them and if you want, even give you the credit of providing them.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
Tallahassee, Florida
Direct/Text 850-339-5753 Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com

Each office is independently owned and operated.

Bigger Kitchens but Fewer Cooks

I see many new and older homes in and around Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida. I have observed that homebuyers want bigger kitchens and that the kitchen is very much the center of activity, conversation and planning. It is used as an office, decorative piece, place for preparing checks to pay the bills. It is a place to read the mail, the coffee house, a location for viewing the television or listen to songs. Some even have a computer in the kitchen. The kitchen is bigger, no doubt, than many kitchens in the days of the popular ranch styles homes of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Many of those homes however, had bigger food closets, pantries.

Today, people are cooking less it seems. There are more restaurants, more eating out, and the dishes people do prepare at home are not of the quality or richness of the meals prepared by our parents and grandparents. Times are different of course. Foods are often less healthier, filled with preservatives, and people are too busy and overworked to cook complete, healthy, or interesting dishes. We often cook the easiest, fastest dishes possible for ourselves and those we entertain. Yet, we buy bigger bigger homes with bigger kitchens, and many of these beautiful kitchens (and they are beautiful) have small pantries, or no pantries at all to store food items. Another example of less emphasis on cooking at home.

If you one of the few who take the time to cook nice, healthy, complete meals, and want to stock up on food and ingredients, be sure that the home you like with the big kitchen also has a decent size pantry. You will determine what is decent size, but most home cooks like a big pantry and will complain of lack of storage space if there is not a place to keep the essentials. A cook without the ingredients for the desired dish is not a happy cook. I know, I get irritated when I forget to by baking soda, or other items for a recipe that I must prepare at the moment of inspiration. I do have a nice pantry too. Some builders of new homes with big kitchens put in very tiny pantries, sometimes, even in upper priced neighborhoods. If the kitche is so important, you may want to make sure that it is not only big, but complete. Something that I like in my kitchen is a place to hang a bulletin board. Not all new kitchens in contemporary style homes have wall space for a bulletin board, or even pictures. These are open kitchens, that swiftly flow into the surrounding rooms.

When looking at homes, you may not want to rule out the older homes since many of the older homes, including ranch style homes, have big pantries, and plenty of functionality, even if not as attractive or elegant.

Kenneth Fach, REALTORm ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS- Anchor
1607 Village Square BOULEVARD, Suite B 103
Tallahassee, FL 32309
Direct/Text 850-339-5753
Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com

Each office is independently owned and operated

Tallahassee Doors

Doors are everywhere. Look at all the homes in your community and all the doors connected to those homes. As a real estate agent, I see plenty of doors in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. The doors of homes reveal so much: about what the interior is probably going to look like, and what the attitude of the people living there are like. The door is the like the mouth of the house.  When people see a home, they often see the door first and will remember if the door is interesting, and colorful, or dull and dirty.

You know when someone has a dirty mouth, a milk mustache, food hanging on the side of the lips, unshaven around the mouth, just an undesireable sight. We often tell children to clean their mouth when they are eating as they do not always know to do that, or remember to do that. The mouth is not the beautiful part of anyone’s  body. The act of eating with the mouth is not a beautiful sight to behold either.

However, the door of the house is the important factor in how we connect to the house. I have observed that doors that need painting, have dirt or finger marks on them, indicate that the inside of the house is anything but an interior decorating showroom. Renters often ignore dirt and marks on their doors. This one element, the cleanliness and attractiveness of the door, is what separates the homeowner mentality from the renter mentality. If you care about something, you will do just that, care for it. Often, renters don’t care about the structure they live in. They are there because of the price, convenience or necesity. They lack responsibility for maintaing a clean facade and clean door, or else they are apathetic, and do not care since it is not their property legally. I say, if they live their, it is their property to a certain extent.

Here are some things we all can do to make our door attractive. These are seven suggestions. Treat the door as part of the property’s curb appeal, whether you plan on selling or not.

1. Paint the door a contrasting color to attract attention to the house.

2. The door color should reveal the inside. It should make the transition inside.

3. Put a plant, flower pot, docorative table, or statue beside the door to give expression to the entrance.

4. Have an attractive light fixture.

5. Make sure the door opens easily, does not scrape, and does not make ugly sounds.

6. Have an attractive door handle. There are so many to choose from.

7. Get rid of any wood rot if there is any on the door. I believe that most doors in Florida have some degree of wood rot. It needs to be treated and removed before it grows up the door and presents a ugly mess, a real eye sore.

As long as we have our homes, are homeowners or renters, we can take care of the doors. For a homeowner, it is a sense of ownership. For a renter, it is a helpful act of kindness to the landlord, and also a feeling of possesiveness for the renter. We clean our mouths when we wake up in the morning. We should also clean,  maintain our doors, and make them an attractive sight leading into the interior of the structure.

I like the Spanish expression, “Mi casa es tu casa,” which means, “My house is your house.” Let our guests feel like they are at home in the house, and are attracted to it.

Who knows, with an attractive door, and clean attractive yard, you might be the Yard of the Month winner in your neighborhood.

Kenneth Fach, REALTOR, ePRO
Weichert, REALTORS-Anchor
1607 Village Square Boulevard, Suite B 103
Tallahassee, Florida 32309
Direct/Text 850-339-5753

Each office is independently owned and operated.