Fall - Winshire Green

Five Reasons to Buy a Home in the Fall

Autumn is known to be the season of cooling-off right between the blazing hot summer and the cold winter. But you can also call it a “cooling-off” for the real estate market. Many people believe the spring to be the best time for buying a home. But in our research, we have found the fall is the best time to buy a home. Here are a few reasons why fall is the best season to purchase a home:

1. Less Competition

It is widely known that in fall, there is much less competition from other buyers. Since the spring and summer are the most popular periods for the purchase of properties, those who are looking to buy a new home face little competition from other buyers and can more easily buy their dream home.

2. More Attention from Real Estate Agents

During the spring, real state agents, lenders, and property insurance agents are extremely busy and may not be able to give your questions adequate time or attention. When the market cools down in the fall, they can better focus on you and have ample time to guide you and help you get the best deals in the market.

3. Motivated Sellers

In the fall, sellers are more anxious as their homes were not sold over the summer, chances are better that sellers will be more motivated to make a deal. With a good negotiation, you may be able to get a better price for your home than in the spring.

4. Best Weather to Move In

It’s not easy to move somewhere in the scorching heat of summer or in the ice or snow of winter. Fall is the best time to move because of the moderate temperatures. Moreover, there are also usually sales on laundry machines, air conditioners, and kitchen appliances in the autumn which may make it less expensive to equip and furnish your home.

5. Low Prices and a Tax Advantage in Fall

The same house you saw in the spring could be 5% to 10% less expensive in the fall. Moreover, at the end of the year, you can take advantage of tax breaks. Thus buying a house in fall, could save you a large amount of money.

Don’t put off your home search until next year. Fall is a great time to find your next home, and you may even save more.

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Ten Reasons to Get a Fire Pit for Your Home

Having fire pits in the backyard of homes is an increasingly popular trend and for good reason. Fire pits make for an interesting feature around the house, and provide countless opportunities for entertaining friends and family. If you have been thinking about adding an interesting feature to your home, consider adding a fire pit.

Here are 10 good reasons to get a fire pit:

1. Attract crowds

One of the best reasons to have a fire pit around the house is they are a good way of attracting a crowd. Whether you have friends or relatives over, or just want to hang out with neighbors, people like gathering around a fire to discuss events or share stories.

2. Utilize unused space

If you have unused space outside of your house, whether it is a large portion of your lawn or a corner of your backyard, you can use a fire pit to utilize that space. Fire pits can be large or small, and they can fit in a variety of spaces.

3. Usable for every occasion

The great benefit of having a fire pit in your backyard is that they can be used year-round. Whether you’re having a family dinner, celebration, or just a gathering of friends, fire pits can liven up the evening. The usage of fire pits is not seasonal; you can gather around the pit during winter nights for warmth while sipping coffee, and you can sit out on starry nights during the summer and cook barbecue or make s’mores.

4. Versatile fuel options

Fire pits can work with a variety of different fuels. You can have a traditional wood fire pit, which is easy to set up and run, but can cause air pollution. You can also have fire pits that run on natural gas or propane, which may be more expensive depending on where you get your wood; but, they don’t create as much pollution.

5. Increase house value

A major advantage of installing a fire pit is that it can increase the value of your home. Buyers will pay more for a house that has additional backyard feature such as a fire pit. Adding an outdoor feature that makes the space more usable will also help a house on the market sell quickly.

6. Creative landscaping

Fire pits can be useful simply for their aesthetic value. They add interest to your patio or backyard, and you can use the opportunity to show off your creative landscaping skills. Fire pits come in all sizes and shapes: round, rectangular, square, and more. There are also a variety of rock designs to choose from.

7. Easy to clean

As compared to indoor fireplaces, outdoor fire pits are much easier to manage and are lower maintenance. For one, you don’t have to worry much about cleaning it if they are gas powered. And even if they burn wood, you can still leave the half-burnt logs where they are, ready to be used next time. And since they are already outdoors, you won’t have to worry much about ash and soot making a mess.

8. Environmentally friendly

Natural gas and propane fire pits are environment friendly. They produce no smoke and are odorless. Besides, a fire in a gas fire pit may burn hotter than wood, giving out a much more constant heat since new logs don’t need to be added to the fire.

9. Fire pits can be used to cook food

If you don’t feel like cooking inside the house, fire pits can provide a nice change in scenery and you can cook food or barbecue on a grill while chatting with friends or neighbors.

10. Easy to start and run

You can get a gas-based fire pit up and running in literally no time at all. All it takes is the flick of a switch, or a flame from a lighter or match, to light the fire. You can control the amount of heat you need, and don’t have to worry about constantly adding firewood.

Do you already have a fire pit? What is your favorite thing about it? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Fall Planting Guide

Planting a fall garden is an easy, fun, and even a therapeutic way to grow your own vegetables during the autumn season. Usually gardeners plant their vegetables in the spring to harvest in early summer. But in our region of Texas it is possible to start a vegetable garden in the Fall.

The first step is to choose your space, if you aren’t using your spring garden area. Just make sure the place you choose will get eight hours of sunlight and be able to drain well because of the large amount of rainfall we are prone to get. To prepare the garden make sure to remove any remaining plant material from the Spring garden and also pull out any weeds. The next step is to till the soil and add sandy soil and fertilizer before planting.

Here in Harris County we are in Zone 9 of the plant hardiness zone map. Meaning our growing season lasts from late February to early December. Our planting season almost extends year round. Local hardware stores sell many varieties of Fall vegetable plants or you can find seeds online. These are just some of the vegetables that thrive in our growing region: beans, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cucumber, endive, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsley, radishes, squash, tomatoes, and turnips.

Gardeners know that vegetables grown in their own garden often taste delicious compared to store bought vegetables. Tender and full of flavor nothing beats fresh vegetables picked from the garden and immediately consumed.