Turning a House Into a Home: The Benefits You Can Actually Feel

on
There’s a lot of conversation about home prices, mortgage rates, and affordability right now – and those things are important. But if you’re thinking about buying a home, it’s worth remembering something the headlines rarely talk about: people don’t buy homes just for financial reasons. They buy them for their lives. Because while homeownership can absolutely be a smart long-term financial move, it also comes with some emotional benefits spreadsheets just can’t capture. Maybe that’s why a 2025 survey from Fannie Mae notes : “Consumers were twice as likely to mention lifestyle benefits (67%)—like security, customization, and outdoor space—than financial benefits (34%) when explaining why their homes have become more important in recent years.” Here are a few reminders of what owning a home gives you that renting never will. 1. A Milestone You Get To Be Proud Of Buying a home is a big deal. First home, fifth home – it doesn’t matter. It’s a moment you’ll remember. And when you final...
0

Prepare Your Ears For Millions Of Extra Cicadas In North Carolina This Spring

on

Uh oh, North Carolina. Parts of the state will see and hear an insurgence of cicadas later this spring and, in case you don’t remember the last time cicadas invaded the landscape, it’s expected to get very noisy in some places. Read on to learn about the explosion of cicadas in North Carolina in the coming months.

It's believed that more than 3,000 species of cicada exist worldwide.
Flickr/Jason Means
Commonly mistaken for locusts, cicadas are known for living underground as nymphs for as little as one year to 13-17 years before emerging to breed and lay eggs again in the bark of trees that dot the landscape.
They exist in a number of emergence patterns, including annual cicadas and periodic cicadas. Both remain underground as nymphs when not actively breeding.
Kakizaki Hajime / EyeEm Collection via Getty Images
The species expected to cause all of the noise in North Carolina in the coming months is referred to as Brood Nine (or Brood IX).
wikipedia/Andrew M. Liebhold, Michael J. Bohne, and Rebecca L. Lilja/USDA Forest Service - public domain
Don't be surprised if you find yourself covering your ears. A single cicada has the capability to damage a human's hearing. Its 'song' has been clocked as high as 120 decibels!
It's no wonder that a group of cicadas is called a CHORUS!
Taunia Maple / EyeEm Collection via Getty Images
Only the male of the species is known to sing with such veracity.
Other than being utterly annoying with noise, cicadas are relatively harmless.
Cyndi Monaghan / Moment Collection via Getty Images
They feed on the sap from trees and occasionally break small limbs on young trees.
When can you expect the cicadas to emerge from their 17-year slumber?
jxfzsy / E+ Collection via Getty Images
The concert will begin when the soil reaches 64 degrees at least eight inches below the surface. The emergence also often coincides with a spring rainfall in late April to early May.
With so many species of cicada, it’s possible for a different brood to appear every year. Do you recall seeing or hearing cicadas in your neck of the state in previous years?
Original Post in onlyinyourstate.com on 3/29/2020

Comments

Post a Comment