Pontotoc Homes May 2019

MAY 2019

Real Estate Guide to Pontotoc County & the surrounding area

FEATURING (Page 9)

Dennis Cox, Tommy Morgan, Inc. Inside a piece of history on Main Street

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 5 5 5 6 6 6 8 9 15 16 18 20 22 25 26 28 32

Patty Turk Properties, LLC First Choice Insurance Pickens Pest Control Distinctive Design Matthews Real Estate Washington Holcomb Tractor Company Peeples Plumbing & Electrical Dennis Cox, Tommy Morgan, Inc. Live in a piece of history on Main Street Hamilton Mortgage Improve your curb appeal Mossy Oak Properties Must-have kitchen remodel features Potential culprits behind thinning grass Southern Hills Realty & Appraisal, Inc. How empty-nesters can tranform their homes Crye-Leike Realtors, Beth Walker First Choice Bank

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Advertising Consultant: Angie Quarles • Designer: Chelsea Williams Pontotoc Progress • 13 Jefferson Street • P.O. Box 210 • Pontotoc, MS 38863 • 662-489-3511

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116 South Main Street | Pontotoc, MS

Live in a

Piece of History on Main Street

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Story by

REGINA BUTLER, PONTOTOC PROGRESS

W

Photos courtesy of Dennis Cox

hen do you find a home that was built at the turn of the last century for sale on Main Street in Pontotoc? Today is the day.

Dennis Cox with Tommy Morgan Realtors recently listed a home at 116 South Main Street that has all the charm of the Twentieth century with all of the amenities today.

“It has been remodeled over the years, but the character of the old home is still there,” Cox said. “It has a lot of history. The home is 119 years old.”

The 3,292 square foot two story home features two fire places and a spiral stair case as well as two and a half

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baths. There are five bedrooms with 12 foot ceilings.

Many of the lights in the house are the original lights with the home.

“There is also a large arched entry way into the kitchen,” he noted. There is also a food bar that features an open gas grill that allows you to cook and serve your family right in the same area.”

That bar divides the kitchen from the dining room where guests can sit and chat while you are cooking. And in the corner if the kitchen is a little nook for doing studies or place where one can sit and enjoy a meal while looking outside.”

“It has been remodeled over the years, but the character of the old home is still there. It has a lot of history. The home is 119 years old.�

Dennis Cox Tommy Morgan, Inc.

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“There is nothing about this house that you won’t like if you are looking for an older home.”

Dennis Cox Tommy Morgan, Inc.

The front of the home features a wrap around porch where you can sit and chat with friends and neighbors as they pass by, or “if you want some privacy there is a small screened in porch on the back.”

The back yard is also private. “It has a large back yard, so there is plenty of room for visitors.”

The home is in an ideal location for someone who wants to be able to walk to town and shop.

And when it comes to parking your car, “there is a detached garage at the back.”

And speaking of privacy, you have two options when it comes to soaking away the day’s troubles. There is an old fashioned claw footed tub as well as a long sunken in type tub. Just turn the water on and let the warmth engulf

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you.

Cox said one of the neatest things about the home are the windows. “It still has the original windows that have the wavy glass. It’s like grandma’s old house.” And speaking of glass, that is what you notice the most about this home. Windows, windows, windows. Plenty of light is let in to every room because of all the windows.

“There is nothing about this house that you won’t like if you are looking for an older home. There are only a handful of older homes in Pontotoc and they don’t come on the market very often.”

If you want a tour of the home call Dennis Cox at 662419-2175 today and capture your piece of history on Main Street.

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IMPROVE YOUR

R

CURB APPEAL

eturns on home improvement projects vary. In its annual Cost vs. Value Report, Remodeling magazine notes the projects that yield the best returns on investment in a given year. But a host of factors, including the type of market (buyers’ or sellers’) and the region where the home is being sold, ultimately combine to determine if homeowners’ investments in home improvement projects will provide the returns they were hoping for.

Though there’s no way of guaranteeing a home improvement project will yield a great return, real estate professionals often cite improving curb appeal as an excellent way to attract prospective buyers and potentially get the asking price or more when selling the home. Improving

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curb appeal makes even more sense in today’s real estate market, when many people do their own searching via real estate websites such as Trulia or Zillow. When using such sites, buyers will likely be less inclined to click on a listing if exterior photos of the property are not eye-catching.

Various projects, including tending to lawns and gardens, can improve curb appeal. An added benefit to focusing on landscaping to improve curb appeal is it promotes spending time outdoors in spring and summer. In addition, many lawn- and garden-related home improvement projects need not require professional expertise.

Curb appeal can go a long way toward helping homeowners sell their homes, and a lush lawn can be used to catch the eye of prospective buyers.

3 ways to use your lawn to improve curb appeal MAINTAIN A LUSH GREEN LAWN

Lawns that fall into disrepair may not give buyers a correct impression about how homeowners maintained their homes. Lawns with multiple dead spots and grass that appears more brown than green may lead many buyers to assume that the home’s interior was equally ill-cared for. Maintaining lush green lawns is not as difficult as it may seem. Applying fertilizer and aerating at the appropriate times of year (this varies by region) can promote strong roots and healthy soil, making it easier for grass to survive harsh conditions like drought. When watering in summer, do so in early morning or evening so as little water is lost to evaporation as possible.

ADDRESS BROWN PATCH

Even well-maintained lawns can fall victims to brown spots. According to the lawn care professionals at TruGreen, lawns in regions with hot temperatures and high humidity can be infected with brown patch, a common lawn disease that is caused by fungus, which can produce circular areas of brown, dead grass surrounded by narrow, dark rings.

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences notes that removing dew that collects on grass leaves each morning, which can be accomplished by mowing or dragging a water hose across affected areas, can be an effective way to reduce brown patch. Homeowners without much lawn care experience can consult professional landscapers to address the issue. But those looking to sell their properties should note that buyers often walk the grounds of homes they are considering buying. So addressing any issues on the lawn should be a priority for sellers.

CONFINE DOGS TO CERTAIN AREAS

Dog owners may want to let their pets roam free in their yards. But homeowners about to put their properties up for sale may want to confine their four-legged friends to certain areas. That’s because dog urine can be high in nitrogen. Nitrogen itself is not harmful to lawns, but in high concentrations it can contribute to yellow or brown spots. Also, highly acidic dog urine may even adversely affect pH levels in the soil.

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Must-have kitchen remodel features

H

omeowners looking to renovate often see room for improvement in their kitchens and bathrooms. The National Association of Home Builder’s Remodeling Market Index Survey, which measures conditions in the remodeling market, indicates that, in 2015, the two most common remodeling jobs were bathroom remodels (81 percent) and kitchen remodels (79 percent). According to HGTV and Statistics Brain, a new kitchen remodel for a kitchen measuring

12 by 12 feet may cost homeowners anywhere from $17,000 to $37,000.

Before investing so much into their remodeling projects, homeowners should think carefully about the features that will improve their time spent at home. When planning a kitchen renovation, homeowners may want to consider the following upgrades to make the room more enjoyable while improving its functionality.

OVERSIZED SINK

BOTTOM’S UP

Although high-efficiency dishwashers are popular, deep sinks to soak soup pots or woks are still useful.

Deep sinks may be preferable to double sinks, especially for homeowners who use lots of kitchen tools when preparing meals.

People likely spend more time raiding the refrigerator than the freezer on any given day. Rather than having to bend down to seek out that favorite flavor of Greek yogurt, choose a model with the fridge on top and freezer on the bottom, especially if anyone in the household has mobility issues. When shopping for refrigerators, French-door style units may offer even SOFT-CLOSING HINGES When replacing cabinets (or just the hardware), con- more access, making it easy for homeowners to slide sider installing soft-closing hinges and slides on doors fruit trays, sheet cakes and other large items into the and drawers. These devices eliminate slamming and fridge. caught fingers, reducing noise and injuries in the kitchEXTRA LIGHTING en.

A kitchen should be a balance of form and function.

A combination of overhead lighting, decorative lighting FOOT-PEDAL WATER OPERATION When outfitting a sink, think about foot controls, and task lighting can illuminate all areas of the space which are popular in doctors’ offices and hospitals. effectively.

Turning on the water with the tap of a foot can reduce the transfer of pathogens to faucets from hands during APPLIANCE GARAGES food preparation. These pedals also free up hands for Architectural and design resource Houzz says that appliance garages are popular kitchen additions, too. other tasks.

Set at countertop level, these cabinets allow people to keep small appliances plugged in but tucked neatly behind closed doors.

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Potential Culprits Behind

Thinning Grass

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T

hick grass is often a hallmark of a healthy lawn. If grass begins to thin, homeowners may feel as though all the time and effort they spent tending to their lawns was for naught.

Thinning grass can be caused by any number of things. And while it might take a little effort to address, thinning grass can be treated if homeowners correctly identify that cause of the problem.

Various issues can cause grass blades to thin. Working with a landscape professional is a great way to combat such issues before they compromise the look of a lawn.

Correctly identify the cause of thinning grass LEAF SPOT

The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Amherst notes that leaf spot diseases affect both cool- and warm-season turfgrasses. Various fungi can cause leaf spot. Symptoms and the timing of the appearance of leaf spot will vary depending on which fungi is causing the problem. For example, bipolaris sorokiniana, which affects grasses in warm, wet summer months, produces small spots that are dark purple to black. Dreschslera poae is another fungi that causes leaf spot, and it also produces dark purple to black spots. However, it tends to appear in the spring when the weather is cool and moist. Understanding the different fungi and when they typically strike can help homeowners identify what is causing their grass to thin. In such situations, professional landscapers can be invaluable resources as well.

STRIPE SMUT

The University of Maryland Extension notes that stripe smut primarily poses a threat to Kentucky bluegrass that is older than three years. Pale green streaks that run parallel to the veins in the leaves and leaf sheaths are symptomatic of stripe smut, which tends to be noticed in spring and fall, when weather is cool. As the disease progresses, stripes turn black or a silvery gray, causing the leaf blade to shred and curl. After the blades have shred, they turn brown and die. The grass thins because stripe smut makes it vulnerable to problems like drought.

ASCOCHYTA LEAF BLIGHT

Lawns suffering from ascochyta leaf blight will become straw-colored. According to the lawn care and pesticide experts at Ortho®, when a lawn is affected by ascochyta leaf blight, its healthy grass blades will be mixed in with diseased grass blades. Most prevalent in the spring, this disease can affect grass at any time during the growing season. That’s because the ascochyta fungi invade leaf blades through wounds, such as those that can result from mowing. Ortho® notes that dull lawn mowers can contribute to the disease, which might disappear on its own and can even return after it’s seemingly been cured.

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How empty-nesters can

TRANSFORM THEIR HOMES A

fter bringing home a bubbly baby boy or girl, it can be hard for parents to imagine that a day will come when their kids are off to college and then onto their own apartment or house. After spending decades nurturing and caring for children, parents are then left with a suddenly quiet house and probably much more time to spare. If saying goodbye to the kids also means extra house, there’s the option to downsize or make that extra space more useful.

Homeowners who choose to stay put can renovate vacant rooms into spaces that meet their newfound needs.

An empty nest can be a bittersweet experience, but parents can make such situations work for them by transforming their homes to better reflect their current needs.

HOBBY HAVEN

If you’ve always meant to set up a crafting room, home-brewing station or an artist’s studio, now is an ideal time to do just that. Figure out which supplies you will need and begin reworking that former bedroom into a new sanctuary for leisure interests.

GUEST SUITE

If you’ve never had a spare bedroom to entertain guests, a child’s former bedroom can fit the bill. It may not be that difficult to transform such spaces into relaxing and inviting rooms for overnight guests. Be sure there is at least a queen-sized bed and a dresser or chest of drawers to stash belongings. Select paint colors and linens in neutral tones so the room will be inviting to guests.

LIVING ROOM REDO

When there’s an entire soccer team coming over to hang out, that large sectional sofa or modular seating may be ideal. Now that the kids are out of the house and their friends are no longer coming over for movie night, living rooms can be made more intimate with small-scale seating. A small sofa and two comfortable chairs may be a more fitting option.

AT-HOME GYM

Save on gym membership fees by building a mini studio right at home. Choose one of the larger bedrooms and then fill it with some fitness equipment, such as an elliptical trainer, a bench press bench and some free weights. Store rolled-up mats in the closet for yoga or Pilates sessions.

EXPANDED BATHROOM

If space has always been at a premium in the bathroom, borrow area from an empty bedroom and turn it into a spa. Install a soaking tub separate from the shower, and fill the room with other amenities, such as a warming lamp or even a small sauna.

HOME OFFICE

Working from home a few days a week may be more plausible when nearing retirement, as it will be a smoother transition from heading to the office each day to spending more time at home. Turn a bedroom or den into an office space with a new desk and bookshelves.

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