Home and Garden
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Give a friend a mini-garden, the gift that keeps on growingJun 11, 2016 6:00 am - A summer garden is an instant source of gifts. A busy host will welcome the bowl of cherry tomatoes you bring for the table. A co-worker having a birthday would love a b...
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Some mortgage closing documents require less scrutinyJun 11, 2016 5:00 am - Editor's note: This is the second column in a four-part series that began last week and will continue weekly in HomesSaturday. Everyone who has ever closed a real estate...
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Investor offers for out-of-state propertyJun 11, 2016 5:00 am - Q. Our deceased parents left us a home in a state in which we no longer live. We have no intention of returning there. We renovated the house out of respect for our pare...
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Minutes should be available to owners in a timely fashionJun 11, 2016 4:00 am - Q. My townhouse association has a procedure for the approval of monthly board meeting minutes that takes two months. Basically, the previous month's meeting minutes are ...
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Beware of agents who'll 'buy' your listingJun 10, 2016 5:00 am - WASHINGTON - It's one of those hush-hush practices that homeowners rarely hear about but real estate agents know only too well: It's called "buying the listing." What it...
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Tax rules on refinanced loan can be trickyJun 10, 2016 3:00 am - The tax rules for deducting upfront points on a refinance loan aren't as generous as they are for monthly mortgage-interest payments. Q. We purchased our home three year...
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Got a garden problem?Jun 10, 2016 1:00 am - A master gardener plant clinic is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 13, at the Lake Villa District Library, 1001 E. Grand Ave., Lake Villa. University of Illinois master ...
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Air conditioner not correctly installedJun 08, 2016 1:00 am - Q. The people who are buying our house hired a home inspector. He reported two problems with our heating and air conditioning system, and neither seems to make sense. Th...
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Honeybee or yellow jacket wasp? How to tell the differenceJun 07, 2016 5:30 am - People often mistake yellow jacket wasps for honeybees, but the two insects differ in behavior and appearance. Honeybees • Hairy with a black stripe around body • ...
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How many beehives are too many in a backyard?Jun 07, 2016 5:30 am - Seven hives' worth of bees in a neighbor's yard created too much buzz for one Naperville resident, whose complaint to city council members has spurred a debate about how...