Estate Agents In York

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Can I get a 20-year mortgage when I'm due to retire in 17 years?

I can afford a 17-year loan, but as a super-cautious person I’d prefer a slight reduction in monthly outgoings

Q I am expecting to buy a small flat, for between £90,000 and £120,000 with a deposit of 15% – just before my 50th birthday. I will retire at 67.

Although I can comfortably afford the payments of a 17-year mortgage, as a super-cautious person, I would prefer a slight reduction in the monthly outgoings of a 20-year mortgage. I like to save and have a good amount of emergency money.

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'Imagine using liquid water': why people water their house plants with ice cubes

Often touted as an easy solution to overwatering, the practice of placing ice cubes in orchids has become a ‘comedy horticultural moment’

One piece of houseplant folklore resurfaces from time to time: that we should water our plants with ice cubes.

For years everything from Reader’s Digest to Reddit offered up ice cubes as the trick to keeping potted friends alive. Recently the theory has returned thanks to a pair of meme pages.

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from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bf9u4D
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'Imagine using liquid water': why people water their house plants with ice cubes

Often touted as an easy solution to overwatering, the practice of placing ice cubes in orchids has become a ‘comedy horticultural moment’

One piece of houseplant folklore resurfaces from time to time: that we should water our plants with ice cubes.

For years everything from Reader’s Digest to Reddit offered up ice cubes as the trick to keeping potted friends alive. Recently the theory has returned thanks to a pair of meme pages.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3bf9u4D
via IFTTT

Truly, madly, deeply: meet the people turning their basements into secret fantasy worlds

It’s one thing turning your basement into a wine cellar, but some people are building replica streets, theme parks and even trains beneath their homes

When Jason Shron and his wife, Sidura, were house hunting in 2007, the Canadian model-train-seller would always head to the basement before viewing any other room. In fact, Shron had only viewed the basement of his current family home when he told his estate agent he’d purchase the property: provided Sidura liked the upstairs, he was ready to go. Shron needed the perfect basement because, for nearly 30 years, he had dreamed of building a life-size replica of a 1970s Canadian VIA Rail railway carriage inside his house, the exact train that took him from Toronto to Montreal to visit his grandmother when he was a little boy.

Step inside Shron’s basement today and you will be greeted by a 200lb blue-and-yellow train door. As you pass through it, an MP3 player will hiss the sounds of air circulation accompanied by the squeaking of gangway connections. Inside the carriage there are rows of vintage reclinable red-and-orange-striped seats, luggage racks, a real VIA garbage can removed from a scrapped train and a metal sign instructing passengers that smoking is indeed permitted. What Shron couldn’t find on the scrap heap, he made. He printed out orange litter bags, custom-printed napkins and engraved wine glasses.

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Three easy ways to ripen your tomatoes

They think they are still in the tropical Andean highlands, you have to talk them out of it

Ever since I can remember, I have had a passion for growing tomatoes. The diversity of colours and flavours of their fruit, the delicate ferny foliage of the young plants, even the resinous, green smell of the leaves, all bring me joy. However, there is one thing about these plants that is a constant source of frustration, particularly at this time of year: their infuriatingly slow ripening. As we edge towards the end of the growing season, here are a few tips and tricks to speed up their maturity.

Gardeners need to step in and stage a horticultural intervention to stop the self-destructive behaviour

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ENhUnT
via IFTTT

Three easy ways to ripen your tomatoes

They think they are still in the tropical Andean highlands, you have to talk them out of it

Ever since I can remember, I have had a passion for growing tomatoes. The diversity of colours and flavours of their fruit, the delicate ferny foliage of the young plants, even the resinous, green smell of the leaves, all bring me joy. However, there is one thing about these plants that is a constant source of frustration, particularly at this time of year: their infuriatingly slow ripening. As we edge towards the end of the growing season, here are a few tips and tricks to speed up their maturity.

Gardeners need to step in and stage a horticultural intervention to stop the self-destructive behaviour

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ENhUnT
via IFTTT

Truly, madly, deeply: meet the people turning their basements into secret fantasy worlds

It’s one thing turning your basement into a wine cellar, but some people are building replica streets, theme parks and even trains beneath their homes

When Jason Shron and his wife, Sidura, were house hunting in 2007, the Canadian model-train-seller would always head to the basement before viewing any other room. In fact, Shron had only viewed the basement of his current family home when he told his estate agent he’d purchase the property: provided Sidura liked the upstairs, he was ready to go. Shron needed the perfect basement because, for nearly 30 years, he had dreamed of building a life-size replica of a 1970s Canadian VIA Rail railway carriage inside his house, the exact train that took him from Toronto to Montreal to visit his grandmother when he was a little boy.

Step inside Shron’s basement today and you will be greeted by a 200lb blue-and-yellow train door. As you pass through it, an MP3 player will hiss the sounds of air circulation accompanied by the squeaking of gangway connections. Inside the carriage there are rows of vintage reclinable red-and-orange-striped seats, luggage racks, a real VIA garbage can removed from a scrapped train and a metal sign instructing passengers that smoking is indeed permitted. What Shron couldn’t find on the scrap heap, he made. He printed out orange litter bags, custom-printed napkins and engraved wine glasses.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2YNTQIC
via IFTTT