Sprucehaven Farms

Making concrete products,including cement blocks and garden ornaments,is a low cost business opportunity.

Concrete bird baths are,by far,the best selling garden ornament.There is a huge demand and they sell readily.You can make a variety of these easily with hand made molds and you can sell them to local building supply or garden stores. Transporting these heavy items from a distant supplier is expensive.These businesses will be happy to find a local supplier who has low costs and competitive prices.With no transportation costs you can make an excellent profit from your work.

You can also make many other types of concrete garden ornaments and garden furniture from available plans.Vases,large and small,including ‘Ali Baba’ style vases,are easy to make without molds.You can learn the simple production methods quickly and make a wide variety of these.They are very popular decorative items for patios and gardens.Your basic business of concrete block making can be supplemented by these items.They are easy to produce and very profitable.

You can make many other types of garden ornaments from either hand made or commercial molds and you will find a ready sale for your products. By starting part time,in your garage,you eliminate all risk.Plywood and sheet metal are the only materials needed to make your cement block molds which makes starting cost low.The appropriate concrete mix is made from Portland cement,gravel,sand and water in the correct proportions.As your business builds you can decide to go full time when you are ready.

For volume production of concrete blocks you will need a concrete block making machine.Commercial models are available.They are quite expensive however. The other option is to build your own machine.From available plans you can build a fine concrete block making machine.The components are used auto parts,sheet metal and a few odds and ends. You can build one of these at very low costand it can turn out all the blocks you will need very easily.

As business grows you will probably need to rent premises large enough for the racks needed to store your cement blocks for drying.You will also need a helper to move the blocks from the machine to the racks.At this stage however your business will make enough profits to more than justify the extra costs. You can start your own concrete product business on the proverbial shoestring. With hard work it will rapidly grow into a full time very profitable business.You will give up your job and be an entrepreneur.The sky is the limit in this business. Demand never dies for concrete products and you can have an income you could only dream about while working at a job.

Due to the current down market, more and more people are looking for alternate, non-traditional ways to sell their home. The days of sticking a FSBO (For Sale By Owner) sign in the yard or simply listing it with the realtor that your friend at work used, just isn’t having much effect these days. Depending on your selling situation, selling your home to a professional home buyer can be the right selling decision. As with other home selling options, selling your home to a real estate investor has benefits.

Working with an experienced investor can really simplify and expedite the process. Some of the great benefits of selling your house to a professional property buyer are: you are able to sell your house fast, “as is” on the date or your choice, you do not have to pay large real estate commissions to a Realtor, you do not have to spend your time, energy and money updating and making repairs and you only have to have one showing. There are many other benefits that an honest, experienced and well trained Charleston real estate investor can provide, such as knowing exactly how to handle problem properties or situations where Low Country folks are taking the brunt of the current economy on the chin and are facing many of the more and more common financial problems like foreclosure that need short sales in order to sell their over leveraged home and avoid foreclosure.

I would recommend selling your house to a local real estate investor if you are in any of the following selling situations:

• I am behind on monthly mortgage payments
• I need to sell my home fast
• I am moving out of state or out of my local area and can’t afford two mortgage payments
• I have been transferred by my job
• I am going through a Divorce and need to sell my house
• My home is 100% financed and I do not have enough equity to list my home with a Realtor
• I need to Stop Foreclosure and avoid ruining my credit
• I am currently in Bankruptcy
• Someone in our family has health problems and can not work, therefore we can not pay our bills
• I am tired of being a Landlord and do not want to deal with tenants anymore
• My home needs lots of repairs and I do not have the time or money to fix it up
• My home is in pre-forclosure
• I want to cash out of my investment property
• My home has been on the market with a realtor for many months and my listing agreement is now expired, I want to sell my house fast, now
• We recently inherited a property and want to sell it quickly and want someone familiar with an estate sale and the probate process
• I own my house free and clear and am willing to wait for the market to turn around but would consider taking payments for my equity if I can get my asking price now

As you can see there are many reasons why you should consider selling your home to a local home buyer, and these are not all of them. Simply put, listing your home with a Realtor or trying to sell your home FSBO cost you money and time, it also does not get you offers within just a few hours/days. If you do not have time, do not have money, or simply do not want to deal with the hassles of selling your home, then sell it to a real estate investor. You may be happily surprised by the offer you get.

Before calling some random number on the side of the road off one of those “We Buy Houses” signs, it is important to make sure you know who you are dealing with. Unfortunately, there are a few unethical investors, like in any business, and currently the real estate market is a prime target. Thanks to the Internet it is relatively easy to locate information about a legItimate business. South Carolina business owners are required to register with the South Carolina Secretary of State and you can see if they the business you are calling has bypassed even that basic requirement. The Attorney General’s office handles consumer complaints, as does the Better Business Bureau. Realtors and brokers are licensed through the Real Estate Commission. These agencies can help to ensure you are working with a licensed, legitimate, complaint-free business or real estate investor.

Charleston Home Buyers, LLC is an Accredited Member of the Better Business Bureau, a registered LLC with the South Carolina Secretary of State, and an active member of the Charleston Real Estate Investors Association. “We pride ourselves on our integrity and conduct business under strict ethical principles. We say what we mean and do what we say!” Many references and testimonials are available upon request and some of which are posted on our website. We buy houses in Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley County and work with a group of nationwide investors. We currently are looking to buy more real estate in Summerville, Goose Creek, North Charleston, Ladson, Hanahan, West Ashley, James Island, Johns Island, Mt. Pleasant, Downtown and all other area in the tri-county area.

If you need to sell your house quick, submit your property information via the “Sell My House” form at our website today for a Free, Confidential, No-obligation offer or call our toll free 24 hour recorded message at 888-52-BUYER (888-522-8937) for more information about selling your home to a professional house buyer. You can also always call us direct 843-72-BUYER (843-722-8937), however it is usually better to take 5 minutes to fill out our property information form first so that we can save you time by having the information already and do some research so that we can get an offer to you right away.

Here’s what some of our sellers have had to say:

“I had been trying unsuccessfully to sell my house for 9 months with a realtor…tired of having the house perfect… we closed the following week” Frank P. – North Charleston

“In less than a week’s time, all of my headaches were over… I would recommend anyone who needs to sell their house to this group of caring people…” Rev L. Greene – Summerville

“My experience with Charleston Home Buyers began and ended with extreme kindness, genuine concern, and sympathetic professionalism…” Brenda M. – West Ashley

“Selling a house can be quite difficult and stressful unless you can find someone like Charleston Home Buyers …… They saved me from losing my house to foreclosure and I was able to make some money and not lose everything.” B. Harvey – West Ashley

“….selling our home to Charleston Home Buyers was the best decision we made. They handled our affairs with the utmost care and efficiency…..” The Daniels Family” – Charleston

Copyright © 2009 Charleston Home Buyers, LLC. All rights reserved.

You can make your landscape design sing in harmony with nature by using wind chimes that have been perfectly tuned to audible perfection. It doesn’t matter what type of unique home décor you have, or what your landscape and garden yard décor is — a wind chime will add charm, and can create a subtle sense of feng shui mystique.

A set of properly tuned wind chimes blends in with the forces of nature to create a sense of balance compatible to the feng shui philosophy. The rich notes and soul-stirring ambiance produced as wind greets the clapper or striker, sends a sweet, haunting melody vibrating through each pipe. A sense of calm and tranquility washes over every ear.

You can purchase wind chimes online. Available in a variety of styles and sizes, in price ranges to please every pocketbook. A wind chime is the perfect choice for anniversary gifts that will touch the heart and symbolize marital harmony, and bliss. They also make great personalized housewarming gifts, sure to delight the recipient.

Enhance your garden with their song. Though pleasing to the ear, the activity of wind chimes dancing in the breeze is a good deterrent for feather and fur marauders.

Tuned with precision, the different lengths and diameters of tubular pipes create a different set of tones, each of which harmonize with the other. Some wind chimes are reminiscent of church bells, while others carry tones that echo the spirit of nature and hint of the exotic.

Those knowledgeable in music are especially appreciative of precision tuned wind chimes. Place two smaller ones at opposite ends of a garden on fence posts, or a larger one centered in the middle, hanging from a shepherd’s crook. Select an area for the wind chime that will enhance the sense of peace and calm and mingle with the natural sounds of nature, helping to mute unwanted background noise that clutters the mind, such as traffic and barking dogs.

With May fast approaching, tuned wind chimes also make perfect gifts for Mother’s Day. It will enhance her garden, and bring tranquility to her yard. And she’ll have you to thank for it!

There is a strong belief among many people, that Australian Natives are beautiful but have no perfume. A stroll through the bush will dispel that rumour easily.

The fragrance of crushed leaves and scented blossoms can be almost overpowering at times. But many of the natives have a more subtle fragrance; you have to be close to them at the correct time to appreciate the flavours and scents.

The perfume of native plants is often produced at different times of the day or night. Perfumed native flowers include many of the Grevilleas (some like G. biternata and G. G. buxifolia have a strong honey-like perfume others like G. buxifolia have a light fragrant perfume), Boronias ( e.g. B. floribunda, B. serrulata and B. megastigma), Sowerbaeas (Vanilla Lilies), Xanthoreas (Grass Trees), Banksias, Eleaocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash) which has a strong almost aniseed scent, Hakeas, Pittosporum undulatum (Native Daphne) — the perfume of this species may becoming overpowering in the evening –, Leptospermum species (e.g. L. flavescens), Homoranthus species (which has a Baked Biscuit scent) and Hymenosporum flavum (Native Frangipani). Many of the white flowering Eucalypts, Melaleuca and Callistemon species have a strong honey scent.

There are a number of fragrant orchids particularly the Dendrobium species: these tend to be strongest from early morning to the early afternoon. While some of the Cymbidium species such as C. suave have a good perfume during the middle of the day). The Sarcochilus species have what is best described as a spicy aroma.

The aroma released by some plants foliage is not revealed until it has been disturbed, crushed or brushed against. These include the Backhousia citriodora (Lemon Myrtle) which is probably the best of all native lemon scents and is also used commercially as a cooking ingredient, while the foliage of B. anisata is strongly scented like aniseed; Eremophilas, Eriostemon species, Prosantheras,

Leptospermum petersoni (Lemon-scented Tea-tree — also good as a hedging plant), Darwinia citriodora (a light lemon scent) and some Melaleucas (Paperbarks) also have scents.

Of course you can’t forget the Eucalypt family with its famous eucalypt scent, which is redolent of our bushland. But now many other countries are growing vast plantations of them for timber, firewood and revegetation programs on every continent bar Antartica. One species, the E. citriodora gives off a strong lemon-come-eucalypt scent while Agonis flexuosa has a combination of eucalyptus and peppermint scent.

Calomeria elegans has been used as a substitute for lavender. Some species of Boronias also have strongly scented foliage.

And let’s not forget the grassy type plants, the lomandra’s and the Grass trees, both of which give a lovely honeyed smell when in flower.

So why not think about using some fragrant native plants in your garden. Not only will you get the benefit of supporting your local environment. But you might also get other benefits, like attracting birds, other wildlife and butterflies to your garden.

Even though an economy in recession has put almost all financial dealings to a minimum, it is actually the right time to get a home loan for many reasons. If you have been planning to buy a house, then this is definitely the best time to do so with house prices at an absolute low. Secondly, home loan prices have also dropped, and if you have a regular monthly income that can easily support a loan payment, then you can actually end up saving thousands of dollars in the long run.

However, it pays to remember that even cheap home loans often turn out to be extremely costly over a long term simply because they are taken for long periods of time, and you often end up paying an amount equal to or more than the principal as interest by the time you finish off your home loan payments. Taking all steps to ensure that you get the lowest possible home loan rates can therefore end up saving you loads of money by the time you finish off paying your home loan.

Some things that will help you get the lowest home loan rates are:

A Good Credit Score: If you live in the US, then you can actually bargain for good home loan rates if you have a credit score above 680. No matter what your credit score, there is always scope for improvement, so it is advised that you actually spend some time in improving your score before applying for a home loan. The easiest way of doing this is to get your free credit report from any one of the three agencies that provide it, and correct any errors that might be present, like a wrong address, or a default that has never happened etc. Also cancel all the credit cards that you hardly use and pay all your bills on time for a month or two. Then get another free credit report and when you are sure that your score has improved as much as it can, apply for a home loan.

Try To Avail Of A Scheme: There are a number of organizations in the US like the FHA (Federal Housing Administration), VA (Veterans Administration) and the Rural Development Services that tie up with various financial institutions and banks to provide citizens with low interest home loans. Before you apply for a home loan, check out whether you are eligible for any government assisted schemes, because if you are, you can actually save thousands on fees and interest on your home loan.

Shop Around: Due to a high level of competition among lenders in the current scenario, you might find that there is a huge variation in the home loan rates offered by different lenders to the same person. Therefore, make sure that you shop around properly before finalizing a home loan. Get free quotes from as many lenders as possible and compare them. Even if the interest rates seem similar, don’t forget to check all the fees and payments applicable, because this is where a lot of unscrupulous lenders are making the big bucks. You will also find that online lenders will offer you better rates than brick and mortar ones, so give preference to one provided the firm is solid, honest and reputable.