One of us has spring fever, the result of a week in Florida where all was green and temperatures were in the 80s. We surfed–the Net, not the waves–for some spring-oriented websites and opened up the electronic mailbag, which was in need of some spring-type cleaning.
SPRING SITES. Toro Co. of Minneapolis offers a funky double-dip of yard-care information at its two web sites: a yard care home page (www.yardcare.com), which offers gardening guidance, and a company site (www.toro.com), where mowing mavens can see the latest in lawn mowers, tractors and trimmers. We’re talking model specs and product features here, folks.
One of our favorite features on the yard care page is “Ask Earl, the Yard-Care Answer Guy.” You can query Earl via e-mail or database searches about handling different types of grasses, fighting pests and battling weeds. A sample: “My lawn has turned a bluish-green color and footprints make a lasting impression. What’s the problem?” Answer: Drought stress. Solution: Water immediately. This site is a must for grass geeks.
Spring is also fixup time for many do-it-yourselfers, who may be interested in a visit to HomeArts (homearts.com), an electronic gathering place that’s a joint project of Popular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Country Living. The site offers more than 3,000 hyperlinked pages of tips, techniques and step-by-step instruction on topics ranging from gardening to food to decorating. Of specific interest: Popular Mechanics home projects areas, including sites called “DIY Buzz,” “Shop Talk,” and “Sweat Equity.” The latter is packed with step-by-step advice on fixing, renovating and do-it-yourself topics.
Another spot for handypersons: DIYnet (www.hygnet.com/diynet), which offers assorted tips, instructions and guidelines on home, yard and garden topics. Especially helpful are the frequently asked question (“FAQs” as they’re called) on topics such as floor coverings, paint, wall coverings and windows. A tip on visiting the DIYnet: Turn off the graphics function because the illustrations here are decidedly cheesy and don’t add much value.
* * *
E-MAILS, WE GET E-MAILS. Numerous readers sent electronic mail to us about our column on Internet sites where users can search for a home. Our column focused on a few of the new services that listed homes in the Chicago area. Several readers who are relocating wanted to know what websites they could use to find homes in places like Philadelphia, California and New York. Another reader wrote: “Do you know of any on-line sites for Kansas City, Mo., and Norwich, N.Y.? We want to watch real estate values in those communities due to our aging parents.”
As a service to readers, we provide a listing of additional real-estate websites. A disclaimer: We have visited some extensively; others we’ve surfed briefly. All need the http:// prefix before them.
The first group is the real estate companies, which mostly include properties the companies are listing. The growing roster includes, among others, such names as: Coldwell Banker (www.coldwellbanker.com); RE/MAX International (www.remax.com); Rubloff Co. (wwww.rublof.com); and The Habitat Co. (www.habitat.com). Habitat claims to have had more than a quarter million “hits” since coming on-line last June. No word on how many translated into sales.
The other groups to check out are the so-called “aggregators,” which compile listings, and the “indexers,” which provide links and hypertext links to other real estate home pages. A short list of sites that we like includes the National Association of Realtors’ Realtor’s Information Network, or “RIN” (www.realtor.com); the Home Web (www.us-digital.com/homeweb), which offers searches by ZIP code; The Guide to Real Estate (www.travelersonline.com//cgi/guide.exe/ALL), which provides hyptertext links to 200 sites nationwide. The list gets bigger everyday. If you’d like a comprehensive chart of what we’ve got, e-mail us.
———-
Don Hunt and Brian Edwards write about technology related to buying, renting and fixing homes. They can be reached via e-mail at hitekhome@aol.com, or you can write to them: The High-Tech Home, Chicago Tribune, Your Place section, 435 N. Michigan Ave. 4th Floor, Chicago, Ill, 60611.
