Dean Graziosi

Keep your foundation clear of growth and well drained to avoid structural problems, drainage issues, and expensive repairs.

Shrubbery, flowerbeds, or other forms of landscaping around the foundation of a home are attractive, but when they get too close they may contribute to serious and expensive problems. Maintain a healthy buffer between growth and the foundation and keep an eye out for encroachments into this important zone. When you look at potential investments or send your building contractor or landscaper to work on your own home or your rental property, for example, make sure that foundation issues are adequately addressed.

Here are some guidelines to help you maintain an adequately clear foundation:

·         Keep about 18 inches next to your foundation clear, and make sure that soil drains away – not toward – the home. Take a watering hose and run water in that space next to the foundation. If it runs downhill away from the home, you’re in good shape. You don’t need a jogging path, mind you, so there is no need to go overboard. But an average sized person – or a child, for example – should be able to walk unimpeded around the entire structure with one shoulder hugging the outside wall.

·         Clear away any unwanted growth, accumulated dirt, or leaves and other debris left over from winter.  If growth is touching the wall of the foundation, it is too close. Have rotten wood, deteriorating brickwork, or termites tracks – that look like veins made of thin paths of mud – checked more thoroughly by a qualified contractor.

·         Drainage needs to slope away from the home, not toward it; otherwise water may pool at the base of your home and cause trouble. Or it could leak into the home if there is a severe rainstorm or if someone accidentally forget to turn off an outside faucet that is connected to the wall of your home. If the turf is piled up or sloped like a snowdrift against the foundation, that is also a problem. The landscape should grade gradually downhill, starting at the base of the foundation and extending outward.

If the gutters are clear, there is space around the outside walls of your home, and drainage is in the right direction, the foundation will stay uncluttered and dry and won’t be a suitable home for unwanted pests. Plus, one of the first places a home inspector or appraiser looks is around the outside perimeter of the house. If the foundation is not correctly maintained it can kill an otherwise smooth transaction or cost you a ton of repair fees to rectify the situation and appease a buyer or their mortgage company.

Make it a habit to conduct routine homeowner maintenance tasks such as this monitoring of your foundation. They don’t necessarily require a big budget or lots of weekend hours, but they can help to preserve the value of your property, improve the way it looks, enhance the enjoyment of your home, and boost your valuable equity.

Here are three simple, easy, and inexpensive ways to add green to your real estate – both in terms of attractive outdoor plants and those perennial greenbacks you can take to the bank.

#1

Lay the Groundwork

The first step to creating beautiful flowerbeds around your property – whether it is a home, an office building, or a cluster of condos – is to define or outline the beds. Curves add interest and are visually more natural and organic than straight lines, so keep that in mind as you plan your landscape. Once you have your idea envisioned, use a flat-ended shovel to cut into the turf and mark the outline of the flowerbed. You don’t have to dig a ditch, just cut into the earth to make a slight trench about an inch or two wide and 4-6 inches deep.

Once that is done use flexible rubber border material found at any home improvement store to create a boundary between the lawn and your flowerbed. If you need to add topsoil to the bed to ensure healthy plants, do that next. Then use a good quality weed block fabric to cover the area. This can also be found in rolls that look kind of like wrapping paper at home improvement stores. Staking it down controls the weeds so that you don’t have to spend your free weekends on your knees pulling weeds out from around your plants. But it also allows enough water to reach your plants so that they can grow up strong and healthy despite the fabric.

#2

Add Colorful Flowers and a Cheerful Border

With the help of someone working at a nursery – unless you happen to have a green thumb – select plants and flowers that not only look good but also are appropriate for the location, climate, and amount of attention you can reasonably afford to give them over the long haul.

Cut little X’s into your weed blocking fabric – which now covers the flowerbed dirt like a wall to wall carpet – and dig out holes just large enough to plant your flowers. Pat them into the ground with some dirt or potting soil, give them some water, and pat yourself on the back for a great job that is almost done.

#3

Mulch is Magical

Finally, use a thin layer of dirt to hide the weed block fabric. On top of that disguise the fabric completely with a liberal amount of mulch Hardwood mulch generally holds its color the best, while also helping to retain moisture during warm months and provide warmth to your plants in winter. The visual benefit of mulch is stunning if it is applied carefully and neatly. The contrast in color between the rich dark mulch and your colorful palette of flowers gives the flowerbed a thoroughly professional appearance and can dress up even the drabbest of landscapes. 

Home improvement stores also sell inexpensive fencing that is about two feet tall. Some is wooden, some plastic, and some metal. If you want to really dress up your flowerbeds, add some around the edges.

Using the exact same methods outlined above – on a budget of about $5-$10 per square foot or less – you should be able to jazz up flowerbeds, the sides of your walkways, and other prominent features of your yard.

New would-be real estate investors and pros alike are often confused on how to employ new strategies and techniques that discussed in a real world REI application. Be confused now longer, as real estate investing author and expert Dean Graziosi created a free video series call the “Deal of Month”. This series walks through, live, on site, how Dean was able to use a variety of real estate investing tips and strategies to make a lot of money, the kind of profits investors dream of.

If you haven’t a had a chance to watch this videos, you need to watch them now. It is in it’s 2nd month, so there are now two real estate investing videos posted, with plenty more to come.

Deal of the Month Real Estate Investing Video 1
Deal of the Month Video 2

Dean Graziosi’s Video Blog