REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDS: 3D
House Harvey decimates
HOUSTON HOMES 2D
In the Garden
This undated photo shows a bare root tree being planted in New Paltz, N.Y. A cone-shaped hole about twice the width of root spread and just deep enough to get the tree in the ground is one step in getting this bare-root tree off to a good start. (AP photo)
Bare-root nursery trees do well with careful planting I got a look of disbelief when I told a friend I had planted a tree that had been shipped from a nursery 2,000 miles away. As I went on to explain that the tree had been sent "bare-root," I could see him shudder. But then I showed off my robust young plant in its second year of growth. Bare-root trees are so named because the plants are dug from the ground when dormant (leafless), and then their roots are shaken free of soil. Kept cool, with their roots packed in some moist material, bare-root plants are easy to store or ship in good condition. They're usually less expensive and are available in greater variety than potted or LEE REICH balled-and-burlapped trees. CARE FOR YOUR PLANT AS SOON AS IT ARRIVES Of course, it's not only the plant's quality that was responsible for the good growth of my bare-root tree. Proper siting, care on arrival and planting were equally important. Two threats to a bare-root tree before it is planted are that it is kept too warm and that its roots dry out. Immediately after I receive a bare-root tree, whether it has been shipped or brought home from a nursery, I soak the roots in a bucket of water for eight hours. If planting must be delayed, I keep the tree cool and its roots moist by storing it on the cool, north side of my house with its roots covered with moist soil or mulch. Or I put it in the refrigerator with its roots wrapped in moist peat and then plastic. Keeping the tree cool delays growth of buds along the stems. Just before planting, I inspect the roots, cutting off any that are dead, diseased or broken. I shorten any that are too long to be splayed out into a reasonably sized planting hole. PLANT IT CORRECTLY The soil needs to be crumbly — not sodden and not rock-hard — before it's ready to be dug for planting the tree. When I do dig, I make that hole just deep enough to get the tree in, twice as wide as the spread of the roots, and tapered down from its edges to full depth. After shoveling enough loose soil back into the planting hole to create a mound on which to set the tree, I start backfilling, tamping the soil in among the spread roots. No need to mix any other materials, such as peat or compost, into the planting hole. After I finish backfilling, I build up a slight ridge of soil around the outer edge of the planting hole to help contain water. If rodents are a threat, a cylinder of inch mesh hardware cloth will keep them at bay. Now is when compost can be put to best use; spread it on top of the ground an inch or 2 deep. A further topping of straw or wood chips no closer than 6 inches from the trunk will keep the roots cool, moist and happy in the months ahead. See Garden p. 2D
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THURSDAY MARCH 1, 2018
Check out current
MORTGAGE RATES 2D
Michigan housing permits up 42 percent in January LANSING — Michigan’s homebuilding industry started 2018 on a solid upswing, according to a press release from the Home Builders Association of Michigan. Housing permits for single family home construction increased 42.1 percent in Michigan during January. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 1,029 permits issue in January, compared to 724 for the same period in 2017. The January increase is encouraging news for the home building industry, the release states, which has been experiencing modest growth since the end of the recession. “It is certainly good news to start the year off with a large doubledigit increase,” Bob Filka, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Michigan, said in the release. “Realistically, it is important to understand that January is a light month construction-wise and the raw number of permits is relatively low. It is nice, however, to have some momentum as we head into the spring building season” Michigan’s homebuilding industry has been experiencing modest growth in recent years. In 2017, See Homes p. 2D
In this Monday photo, a sold sign is displayed in front of a new development in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. On Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index for December was released. (AP photo)
US home prices jump in 2017 at fastest pace in 3 ½ years By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose at the fastest 12-month pace in more than three years in 2017, as potential home buyers fought over a limited number of available properties. Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index jumped 6.3 percent in 2017, the most since June 2014. Home prices are rising much faster than wages and overall measure of inflation. Steady hiring and broad economic growth are making it easier for more Americans to afford a house, spurring demand. Yet fewer Americans are listing their homes for sale, in some cases because they would face a higher mort-
gage rate if they bought a new home. The number of homes for sale in January was the lowest for that month on records dating back to 1999. David Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones indices, compared the runup in home prices to the stock market gains of the past year. “The rise in home prices should be causing the same nervous wonder aimed at the stock market after its recent bout of volatility,” Blitzer said. “We are experiencing a boom in home prices.” Home prices in the S&P CoreLogic CaseShiller 20 city index have soared 62 percent from their low point in the housing bust, Blitzer said. That's much faster than the 12.4 percent increase in inflation. Still, sales of existing
homes have stalled in the past two months and may remain slow in response to sharp increases in mortgage rates since the beginning of the year. While the average 30-year mortgage rate of 4.4 percent is low by historic standards, that's up from 4 percent at the beginning of the year. Sharp increases can slow sales. A persistent slowdown in sales could rein in the pace of price appreciation. That might force some homeowners to list their homes for sale, before price gains slowed further, Aaron Terrazas, senior economist at Zillow, said. Existing home sales dropped in January by the most in three years. New home sales also fell in January. Unseasonably cold weather may have pulled down sales across the board.
RIGHT AT HOME:
Gear and gadgets for cleaning a dirty dog from home By KIM COOK Associated Press Those of us with outdoorloving pets know the downside to all that freewheeling frolic: muddy paws, tangled fur and often much worse. Animal behavior experts have many theories on why some dogs roll in noxious odors. Some researchers posit that getting one’s neck into a smell is an instinctive way to bring info about potential food back to the pack. Others think that rolling in rankness may simply be a dog’s version of teenagers dousing themselves with body spray. “Perfume or aftershave is used not just to make us more attractive to others, but because we like the smell too,” says Patricia McConnell, animal behaviorist and author of “The Other End of the Leash” (Ballantine, 2002). Alexandra Horowitz, in her book “Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell” (Scribner, 2016), points to a scent-oriented olfactory lobe in dogs’ brains that lights up when potent smells are nearby. Dogs, she suggests, don't really differentiate between “good” or “bad” odors. To them, every smell
This undated photo shows Paw Boss’s mobile paw washing system. With two reservoirs for clean and dirty water it can be decorated with one of several fun vinyl skins to coordinate with home décor. (AP photo)
— even rotten squirrel — is just more information. Luckily, whether you’re dealing with sand, mud or something more, there’s a lot of good gear on the mar-
ket to help you get Fido clean and fresh-smelling. If wrangling your pet into the bathtub is nigh on impossible, consider Bissell's Bark Bath portable system.
Sort of a wet vac for dogs, the kit comes with a lowsuds shampoo. Fill the reservoir with whatever See Dogs p. 2D
2D The Mining Journal
Thursday, March 1, 2018
House to Home Mortgage Index 30-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pts.
15-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pt.
High rate
4.500
1
4.000
1
Low rate
4.125
1
3.500
1
Average rate
4.375
1
3.906
1
This graphic represents a Tuesday survey of regional lending institutions. Figures are based on rates at Range Bank, First Bank of Upper Michigan, the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union and mBank.
Hom e s
from 1D
housing permits were up 10.2 percent over prior year levels. However, the number of homes being constructed in Michigan are well below historical highs and below levels most economists say are needed to adequately support long-term demand of Michigan’s population, according to the release. The modest growth being experienced in homebuilding is an issue that impacts more than just homebuilders. Potential buyers are facing a limited supply of available homes, rising prices which are forc-
Some midcentury homes in Houston decimated by Harvey floods
By NANCY SARNOFF Houston Chronicle AP Member Exchange HOUSTON (AP) — On a recent Friday morning Sam Scott walked through his house for the last time. The Houston Chronicle reports he grabbed a dust mask from his car and entered through the open garage. The door had buckled during Hurricane Harvey and had to be ripped off to remove the car trapped inside. “Bad things happened here during the flood,” Scott said, walking through each mold-infested room in a business suit and pink tie. Within hours, the home he and his wife raised three children in — the space they'd painstakingly renovated over two decades, one of the neighborhood’s remaining examples of midcentury architecture — would be just a memory. An excavator’s claw would take its first swipe at the home’s lowpitched roof. The machine would not stop until every red brick, every clerestory window and every wood beam was a pile of rubble left to be hauled to the dump. That same claw has torn through many other midcentury moderns in Memorial Bend, a west Houston neighborhood of about 350 homes. “Y’all have the contract on that one?” Scott asked a technician from the demolition company, pointing to a mod nearby. “I’m not sure. I got like 30 of ‘em,” came the response. In the months since Harvey, the city has issued at least 19 residential demolition permits in this family-oriented neighborhood where the street names are all taken from operas. Four on Figaro. Four on Faust. Two on Tosca. Not all of the homes have architectural significance, but historians,
Dogs
preservationists and homeowners are grieving over Memorial Bend and other postwar neighborhoods that are rapidly losing their traditional character. The process started years before the storm as land got more valuable and teardowns more common, but the flooding speeded the process along. Memorial Bend, which spans both sides of Beltway 8 between Memorial Drive and Buffalo Bayou, had one of the largest concentrations of 1950smodern houses in Houston, according to a website documenting the area’s modern structures. Many were designed by pre-eminent architects of the era. “These neighborhoods took about a decade to build. Now we’re seeing many of them lost in months,” said local architect Steven Curry, who runs Houston Mod, a nonprofit that advocates for the preservation of modern architecture. Braeswood Place and Meyerland, Curry said, are facing similar losses to their postwar structures whose designs represent a time of innovation and optimism, when people were asking: “How can we do more with less? How can we do things differently, but better?” Even many owners of midcentury mods who would like to repair their properties can’t get permits to repair because the city wants them to elevate their homes, said Robert Searcy, a real estate agent who specializes in selling 1950s-era properties. “The reality is, I don’t think people are going to do that,” Searcy said. “As much as it pains me and anybody else that appreciates that style, the grim reaper has come calling.” Scott and his family moved into Memorial Bend in 1996 when his wife, Leanne, was pregnant with their third
child. They moved from a bungalow in the Heights because their oldest was about to start kindergarten and they liked the schools out west. The couple renovated. They added on twice. When they became empty-nesters a few years ago, the Scotts bought a house in Willow Meadows to be closer to Leanne Scott's job in the Texas Medical Center. They put the 1957 house in Memorial Bend on the market and spent about $75,000 making it move-in ready. They listed it at close to $800,000. But as the oil slump took hold, the market softened and the Scotts dropped their price to $700,000. “The only ones calling on us wanted to buy the lot,” Scott said. So they decided to find a renter. A family with four young boys moved in. The Scotts were planning to try to sell their home again just before Harvey. Over the summer, they spent $17,000 on a new roof. As the storm bore down, the renters evacuated. When the water finally receded, Scott returned to the home. He removed the furniture, sprayed the walls and floors with fungicide and opened all the windows. It was hard to imagine putting the house back together. “The floors weren’t just ruined but they had bubbled up with odd mounds sticking 2 feet up from the floor,” Scott said. He spoke to a contractor who told him it would cost about $30,000 to remediate. The house had flood insurance, but the cost to repair it would have been far more than what the structure would be worth. Harvey accelerated the demise of Memorial Bend's mods, but it wasn't the cause.
from 1D
temperature water your pet prefers, and then use the handheld wand to alternately squirt on the water/shampoo mixture and to vacuum up water and residue. One touted feature: Whereas in a traditional tub you’d use about 19 gallons of water to bathe a Labrador-size dog, with the Bark Bath you’ll only use 40 ounces. It can also be used just as a vacuum to remove moisture if you’re dealing with a soggy but not sludgy pet. McConnell advises easing balky bathers in slowly. Start by lining the tub with treats and adding some to the inside of the tub. Turn the water on gently and reward your pet with a treat. Work your way up to the washing hose using the treats, and be patient. You may need several sessions before a fearful dog is comfortable with the bathing experience. Don’t use human shampoo on dogs; the pH level is much higher and too acidic for dogs’ skin. Just need to wash paws? Consider this gadget from Paw Boss: a low-profile water tray equipped with nubby pads in a wash cup, into which you dip paws. City dwellers might appreciate
This undated photo provided by Bissell shows their Bissell BarkBath Portable Dog Bath. Less water used and less mess to contend with make the BarkBath appealing to those with minimal space and/or pets who are bath-averse. The system, similar to a carpet shampooer, can also be used to simply suction water off a soggy dog. (AP photo) being able to quickly rinse the street grit off their canines’ feet. Bonus feature: vinyl skins for the unit, so you can customize to suit your decor. Options include faux wood, pop-art geometrics, bubbles and metallics. Simpler still is Pet Product Innovations’ Paw Plunger, a rugged mug with a handle and a soft membrane over the mouth, where you dip the paws. It comes with a lid so you can tote the mug on a
walk and rinse off salt or dirt. If you’re nowhere near water and need a quick cleanup, consider a gentle wet wipe like CleanWell’s , which is steeped in thyme oil instead of the usual disinfecting wipe chemicals like triclosan, benzalkonium chloride or alcohol. Babyganics is another brand made with plant-based ingredients, and no artificial fragrances or dyes. To deal with tangles and
simple hair mats, consider using any inexpensive yet sturdy wide-toothed comb; gently work your way from the back to the head, combing in the direction of the fur. The FURminator tool, which gets under the top coat to remove loose hair, comes in both a long- and short-hair version. For short curly coats, consider Conair’s Top Paw, with boar bristles on one side and synthetic ones on the other.
ing many potential homeowners to the sidelines, and sluggish revenues for local governments and schools that rely of tax revenues that homebuilders traditionally deliver to their communities. The Home Builders Association of Michigan has warned of a looming housing shortage in Michigan when it issued a proposed 13-point action plan to aggressively attack challenges faced by the industry. Copies of the HBAM report, “Housing Challenges Threaten Our Economic Growth—Where Will Ten Million Michiganders Live?” can be downloaded at HBAofMichigan.com.
2017 study highlights home-buying preferences 6 out of 10 millenials prefer walkable communities, short commute MARQUETTE — Identifying their preferences for the type of home and neighborhood to live in are typically among the first things potential homebuyers do. Debating between the convenience of a short commute versus the spaciousness of suburban living can be challenging when deciding upon the right home. “In the home-buying process, understanding the preferred characteristics of a neighborhood can be as important as those of a home,” Pam Caron, president of the Upper Peninsula Association of Realtors, said in a press release. “Whether it’s a suburban single-family home with more schooling options for children or a townhouse in the city with better access to public transit, Realtors — members of the National Association of Realtors — can help homebuyers identify the communities that best serve their preferences and needs.” The National Association of Realtors’ 2017 National Community and Transportation Preferences Survey polled adults from across the U.S. about what they are looking for in a community. It found that young buyers continue to view their dream neighborhood as a walkable, mixed-use community. In fact, according to the survey, six out of 10 millennials prefer walkable communities and short commutes, even if it means sacrificing living in a larger home with space to stretch their legs.
“It is not surprising that younger buyers prefer the convenience of a neighborhood close to work and enjoy living near amenities like restaurants and retail,” Caron said. “Real estate professionals continue to see a trend in millennials moving to areas where they don’t have to be in bumper-to-bumper traffic and can get around during their free time with little stress.” However, millennials are not the only generation of homebuyers who prefer walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, the release states. Members of the silent generation, those born before 1944, also prefer smaller homes in neighborhoods with easy walks to shops and restaurants. Over 50 percent of the silent generation prefer walkable communities and short commutes, even if it means living in an apartment or townhouse, according to the release. Gen-Xers and baby boomers show a preference toward suburban living, with 55 percent of both groups saying that they are comfortable with a longer commute and driving to amenities if it means living in a singlefamily, detached home. Homebuyers with children tend to shift their priorities when their kids get older. According to the report, six out of 10 millennials with kids in school characterize the ideal neighborhood as more of a conventional suburban area with homes containing more square feet and larger backyards.
Garde n
is maintained for at least a few years. After that, the mulching can be continued or the ground could be planted with some groundcover, either of which keeps lawnmowers and weed whackers — hazards to trees young and old — at bay.
from 1D
DON'T FORGET THE TREE AFTER PLANTING IT Large trees or trees in very windy sites need to be staked for a year, until their roots take hold in the soil. Tie the trunk to one or two stakes set alongside the tree, using some soft material or wire padded where it touches the trunk. Allow for some movement of the trunk or else it will be too slow in thickening. The final step in tree planting — watering — is critical. I slowly and thoroughly soak the ground beneath my new plant. It's important not to turn your back on any sapling after that last step in planting. Throughout its first growing season, longer for large trees, a weekly watering schedule must be diligently maintained. Figure on about 1 gallon per week per square foot spread of the roots. And that mulched circle
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Thursday, March 1, 2018
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4D The Mining Journal
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Northern
TROPHY PROPERTIES
Michigan
Land Brokers
Little Huron River Mouth, Big Bay
2817 Acres, Timber/Mineral/River Tract, Norway
Amazing Lake Superior 11,000 feet of sand beach and river MLS #: 1102734 $4.5 Million BOB SULLIVAN
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640 Acres Co Rd 601, Republic
Clear Lake, Michigamme
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MORE FEATURED PROPERTIES 6343 F Road, Bark River
1652 Engman Lake Road, Skandia
Locally crafted and constructed Hiawatha Log Home set on a beautiful 3 acre parcel in Delta County MLS #: 1106010 $499,000
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BRIAN OLSON
TBD Silver Creek Rd, Republic
635 E McLeod Avenue, Ironwood
$70,000 NATHAN BRABON
$159,900 SUE FELDHAUSER
Motivated Seller! MLS #: 1101544
New residential lot MLS #: 1106565
196 E Johnson Lake Road, Gwinn
E5313 Sunset Road, Ironwood
Great building site on Blue Lake MLS #: 1103939 $49,900 BRIAN OLSON
Turn key home with new furnace and many updates MLS #: 1105586 $35,000
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3147 Maple Ridge Road, Rock Start your own hobby farm or just enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the Upper Peninsula with 38 acres and a lovely 5 bedroom, 2 bath home. MLS #: 1103593
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Reduced price! 370 acres of prime forest land and includes a great camp! MLS #: 1105465 $440,000
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N5679 N. Sundell Road, Skandia Hobby Farm or a great country home to enjoy open spaces and a wonderful rural life MLS #: 1104145 $192,000
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N2025 Co Rd 510, Marquette 113 Acres with frontage on Lost Creek MLS #: 1106072 $158,500 NATHAN BRABON
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