Winter driving conditions can be tricky for even the most experienced drivers. While a snow-covered road can be an obvious driving hazard, a road that just looks wet can also be deceivingly slippery.

Black ice is a dangerous wintertime hazard because the icy road may not always be visible to the driver. Indeed, melted snow or ice that refreezes may still look deceivingly like a dry road. And temperatures don’t have to be below freezing for black ice to develop. Black ice can occur if temperatures are near the freezing mark–or even a few degrees above it.

While a shiny road surface indicates an obviously wet or icy road, a road covered with black ice will look a little different. Keep an eye out for pavement that is slightly darker and a little duller looking than the rest of the road surface– this may indicate that black ice is present. Because black ice is so tricky to detect, a driver may not realize there is an icy road surface until his carbegins to slide. Here are some winter driving safety tips on how to drive on black ice:

1. As soon as your car begins to slide on black ice, take your foot off the gas pedal. In fact, the last thing you want to do is give your car more gas. It is very important to slow down when you are driving on black ice or in any other winter road conditions.
2. Don’t slam the brakes. While it may be a natural instinct to slam on your brakes, this will only cause your car to lose control and slide even more. Tap the brake pedal lightly instead of pushing down hard on it.
3. Look for trouble spots ahead. If you have an idea that there may be black ice ahead (if you see carsahead of you sliding, for example), downshift to a lower gear before you come onto the black ice. The lower gear will force you to drive more slowly and it will give you better control of your car.
4. If your car does begin to skid on the ice, turn the wheel in the direction of the skid. This should help to steer your car back on the right track.
5. Leave plenty of space between your car and the other cars on the road. When driving on black ice road conditions, stay well behind the car in front of you (at least a couple of hundred feet)–this is definitely not the time to tailgate. Even if you feel confident that you know how to drive safely on black ice, that doesn’t mean the driver in front of you does. Be prepared in case other cars start to slide.
6. Don’t think you’re invincible just because you drive a truck or a big sports utility vehicle. While 4-wheel drive vehicles are great for driving in heavy snow, you’re on your own when it comes to driving on black ice. In fact, 4-wheel drive vehicles have no advantage over regular cars when it comes to driving on black ice, so be sure to take the necessary safety precautions no matter what type of vehicle you are driving.

More and more real estate property owners are appealing their property taxes. Most of them find that the appealing an assessed value of the property is simple and easy. In most cases the assessor comes back with an adjustment notice via mail or the differences are settled through an informal hearing. Very few of the disputes end up in court cases. Follow these 5 steps to appeal your property tax.

1. Compare the assessed value of your real estate property with the purchase price or the latest home appraisal based on any refinancing that you may have done.

2. Find the assessed value of similar properties in your neighborhood. You can find this information on many online real estate websites like Trulia, Zillow, etc. Also get a list of all sales of real estate properties with similar size for last 3 to 6 months in your neighborhood. Approach a local real estate agent to get this information.

3. Create a list of 5 properties that are very similar to your real estate property from the above list of properties. Compare these properties with your property to find differences in lot size, covered area, and any other factors such as location of property near railway tracks, highways, etc.

4. Take pictures of the 5 properties and your real estate properties. Walk around the property and find all flaws that you can with the real estate property. For example if you have a crack in the foundation, take its picture.

5. Determine the property tax reduction and fill out the property tax appeal forms for your locality and make sure that your appeal paperwork is turned in on time.

Take action today by following the above steps and put more money in your pocket

This blog post for Real Estate Professionals, Investors, Landlord, Property Manager, and Property ManagementCompanies is brought to you by SimplifyEm Pay Rent Online and Property Management Software

Wood Floors

• Floor cleaner is a solution of 1/2 cup of white vinegar in 1 gallon of warm water. Damp mop with a mop squeezed nearly dry. It is safer to mist the mop with the cleaner than to apply to floor. Do a section at a time and throw an old towel on the floor and scoot back and forth with foot to dry and prevent streaks. Standing liquid from mopping, spills, and pet accidents can damage floors.
• The greatest damage done to wood floors is from grit. Mats at doors are necessary to collect grit and it’s important to keep these clean. Frequent dust mopping in high traffic areas to collect grit is the best prevention. This should be done based on the amount of traffic, which may require dust mopping several times a day in an active household. The brush attachment of a vacuum can be used (no beater bars). Felt and furniture protectors should be installed on furniture. Never scoot furniture on wood.
• Put a piece of waxed paper under your dust mop. Dirt will stick to the mop and the wax will shine your floors.
• Use a paper bag over spilled candle wax then lightly iron
• 
  
• Removin Stains
  • Water Stains
    • Rub the spot with No. 2 steel wood and rewax. For more serious water stains, lightly sand with fine sandpaper, clean the spot with No. 1 or 00 steel wool and mineral spirits or floor cleaner then refinish and wax.
  • Cigarette Burns
    • If not severe, the burn can be removed by rubbing with steel wool moistened with soap and water.
  • Heel and Caster Marks
    • Rub vigorously with fine steel wool and floor cleaner. Wipe dry and polish.
  • Ink Stains and Other Dark Spots
    • Use No. 2 steel wool and floor cleaner to clean the spot and surrounding area. Thoroughly wash the affected area. If the spot remains, sand with fine sandpaper, re-wax and polish. Stubborn stains may require that you replace the affected area.
  • Chewing Gum and Wax Deposits
    • Ice until the deposit is brittle and crumbles off. Pour floor cleaner around the stain so the fluid soaks under and loosens it.
  • Alcohol Spots
    • Rub the spot with liquid or paste wax

Vinyl Floors

• Sweep then damp mop using a gallon of water and a dash of dishwashing detergent.
• No-wax floors eventually need waxing, this will help to prevent further deterioration.

Cleaning Carpets

• To clean dry spots, loosen soil and vacuum away prior to moistening it.
• When taking out stains, always use a white cloth.
• Wax dropped on carpet or upholstery? Set a clean, absorbent cloth over the wax stain and hold a hot iron on it. Then remove the cloth.
• Coat mildly greasy stains with aerosol shaving cream, use a hair dryer to speed dry. Then vacuum.
• Sprinkle a greasy stain with baking soda, cornstarch or talcum powder. Leave on at least 8 hours, then vacuum.

It is very hard to look at your home objectively when you love something so much and have worked so hard at it and put so much of you and your family into it. The truth is when you have buyers go through your home you want them to be able to see their selfs living in this home and a lot of times when you have so much personality in it, it is very hard for them to imagine living there.

A very good idea is to go to a model home and look how they have homes staged. Staging does not have to cost a lot of money, and if you can’t afford a professional stager,  your Realtor should go though and give you suggestions and tips. A lot of times it is a matter of declutting and cleaning. Well here are some strong tips to get you started.

1.Clean, your house must sparkle. If you can have a professional cleaning service come in. When you get it clean keep it that way. Make sure you keep things like sinks clean, trash cans empty, floors, etc. One thing when I list a house I put shoe covers at the front door for them to wear or ask them to remove their shoes. Don’t forget to get carpets cleaned and replaced if too worn.Those little things just take it up a notch.

2.Fix, got a leaky faucet get it fixed, got a tile missing in the bathroom, get it fixed, is your caulking in good repair, recaulk. When buyers see little things not working it can be a real turn-off and then they always start looking for other things wrong.

3.Eliminate Clutter, in closets, don’t stuff them take the clothes somewhere else if need be. A cluttered closet makes it look smaller. Take all the nick nacks down. Don’t have too much furniture it will make a room look smaller.

4.Neutral Colors, that is what sells a house. Buyers want to imagine theirselves living in the home, neutral colors will do that. It is also good to freshen up that paint before you put your house up for sale.

5.De-personalize, personal items you have on display such as pictures, awards, etc., will keep a potential buyer from seeing thierselves in your house.

6.Landscaping, don’t forget cleaning up the outside, add some flowers, bushes and keep the lawn cut.

Well I hope this has been helpful and please remember Lynn Nichols when you are ready to sell your house.

Water Saving Tips In the Garden

Gardening can be a fulfilling activity to help you relax outdoors. But, if you aren’t careful, an environmentally-friendly activity can quickly turn into a sink for precious natural water resources.

Millions of gallons of water are used in gardens and lawns each year —many of them wastefully. Here are some ways to cut back on the amount of water you use in the garden:

• Adjust your lawn mower to a higher setting. Longer grass retains water better.
• Water in the early morning, when temperatures are cooler, to minimize evaporation.
• Check your sprinkler system regularly and adjust sprinklers so only your lawn is watered and not the house, sidewalk, or street.
• Collect and use rainwater for watering your garden.
• Direct downspouts or gutters toward shrubs or trees.
• Install a drip irrigation system around your trees and shrubs to water more efficiently.

I hope you enjoyed todays tips and you enjoy yourself  in your garden. When you are thinking of buying a home or selling a house keep Lynn Nichols in mind and remember you can search all Maryland properties at www.MarylandHomesbyLynn.com

During this special holiday of Easter I love to count my blessing and be thankful. It is a time to spend with family and friends and enjoy being with each other,  especially with spring here and everything blooming and so beautiful. I wish you all a very safe and Happy Easter, and enjoy the great weather we are having..

RISMEDIA, April 1, 2010—From the Museum of Hoaxes, here are the top 10 out of 100 April Fool’s Day hoaxes of all time, according to their website, as judged by notoriety, creativity, and number of people duped.

#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

#2: Sidd Finch
1985: Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the “art of the pitch” in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the “great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa.” Mets fans celebrated their teams’ amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. In reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.

#3: Instant Color TV
1962: In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station’s technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

#4: The Taco Liberty Bell
1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

#5: San Serriffe
1977: The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian’s phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer’s terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.

#6: Nixon for President
1992: National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon’s voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
1998: The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the ‘Biblical value’ of 3.0. Soon the article made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly spread around the world, forwarded by email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by physicist Mark Boslough.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper
1998: Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, “many others requested their own ‘right handed’ version.”

#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
1995: Discover Magazine reported that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had found a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. “To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin,” the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.

#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
1976: The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth’s own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

To see more hoaxes, visit http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/.