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Branden Schroader
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 Branden Schroeder is Maryland's first "EcoBroker" designated real estate agent. To search for Severna Park real estate or for more information on Maryland Real Estate and Property, visit Branden online at http://MarylandHomesAndProperty.com.
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Articles by this Author
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Innovations in Insulation
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It's no secret that energy efficiency is a good idea. It wastes money, electricity and resources to have an energy inefficient home. Therefore, insulating your home is very important to saving money on your heating and cooling bills, and earning you "green points" towards environmental protection.
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Landscaping Like You Love the Earth
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It is just a little bit ironic that landscaping, the practice of caring for and arranging the earth and growing things in a certain area, can potentially be one of the worst things for adding toxic pollution to the ground. With the abundance of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and similar products that are being spread on lawns, parks and gardens around the country, it's almost enough to have them designated as toxic waste dumping sites. Further, water use in the average city can rise as much as 50 percent when people start watering their lawns and gardens in the summer, making resource use another negative environmental impact of landscaping. Fortunately, this isn't necessary, and there are a lot of ways to garden and landscape safely, in ways that will promote health instead of increasing the chances of illness.
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Polish Your Home
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Real estate is like any industry, a product has to look appealing for people to want to buy it. Just like the bruised and scabby apples will be the last ones chosen in the produce isle, so the houses with glaring flaws sit on the market, unsold. Sure, there are those that scout-out the best deals and often buy up damaged homes on potentially valuable lots, however your average home buyer needs to want to live somewhere in order to consider buying it.
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Get Focused For Successful Flipping
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There are essentially two types of real estate investors, those who buy homes with the intention of re-selling them for a profit within a relatively short time-frame, and those who want to rent out the home, ideally collecting a monthly profit and then eventually selling for a profit much further down the road.
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Odious Odors: The Olfactory Factor
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I was recently showing a home, and the couple viewing it found the home's smell quite unpleasant, so much so that I think it greatly influenced their decision not to consider the home for purchase even though it met all their criteria. The home itself was nice, although a bit older. However there was an overall aroma of dog, and each room seemed to have its own unique, and unpleasant, smell. The kitchen area smelled of stale grease. The "sunroom" smelled like it had been used for smoking cigarettes. The teenagers room had a particularly sour smell that could have been partly caused by old socks, but the psychedelic posters on the wall confirmed our suspicions that it wasn't cigarettes being smoked in that room.
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While The Cat's Away, Install A Scratching Post
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Sometimes it seems like we don't notice all our home's flaws until it comes time to sell. Because we live in our home every day, we become accustomed to dealing with minor annoyances, and tend to overlook the gradual accumulation of natural wear and tear. For those of us with pets, this wear and tear can be greatly accelerated.
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DIY - Child-Safe Water Feature Increases Home Value
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One way to catch a prospective buyer's attention to your listing is to mention the water feature that is installed in your back yard. We all love them, especially when they are already set up and running. There are many reasons why a water feature draws everyone's attention, including the hypnotic effect of watching the never ending motion of water; it is said that the sound of running water is relaxing.
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Women - Getting Down and Dirty!
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Well done women! You did not sit and cry for a man's help when the plumbing leaked! According to two recent surveys, you have successfully embraced the do-it-yourself market. Yes, more women than men are now shopping for builder's supplies and more women than men are planning and tackling home improvement projects. Research published in a Yankelovich Monitor study and also research by Home Depot has shown that women are outnumbering men in the home improvement markets.
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