Take steps to minimize risk of bedbug infestations
Q. A couple of our neighbors have bedbug infestations in their homes, and it’s making their lives miserable. We don’t have an infestation, and we’d like to keep it that way. What precautions can we take?
A. There’s no sure-fire way to prevent a future bedbug attack, but there are several steps you can take to minimize the risk of one.
Calling those reddish-brown pests — about the size of an apple seed — “aggravating” is a vast understatement. They can be found in everything from mattresses and other bedding to clothing and couches.
Contrary to popular belief, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) states that bedbugs don’t feed on cotton stuffing. They get their nourishment by sucking blood from humans and animals, usually at night; then the bedbugs they nest in various items throughout a house during daylight hours.
One way to help keep bedbugs at bay is to cover your bedroom pillows, mattresses and box springs with store-bought plastic covers or similar protective wrappings. Such covers aren’t always attractive or comfortable, but they can contain an outbreak of bedbugs — or even prevent one.
Cut clutter in your home to reduce hiding and breeding places for bedbugs, and vacuum frequently. Wash linens and clothes in the hottest temperature the fabric can handle.
Regularly inspect your home, paying special attention to bedbugs’ favorite nesting places. They include mattress tags and seams, baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets and even picture frames.
A key sign that you may have a bedbug infestation is that you get small reddish-brown spots on your arms and other extremities that “can cause itchy, irritating welts that prompt excessive scratching and can keep you up at night,” according to the CDC. Another telltale sign is small black inklike stains left on a bed.
If you do eventually have a bedbug attack, start an eradication program promptly, because problems can quickly spiral out of control.
Some big-box stores sell bedbug-extermination kits to do-it-yourselfers for as little as $20 to $30. Expect to pay $500 to $1,500 if you want a professional to do the work for you, according to Angie’s List (www.angieslist.com), a company that helps consumers link up with exterminators and other contractors in their area.
Pest-control giant Orkin (www.orkin.com) recently published its annual list of the nation’s 25 most bedbug-prone metropolitan areas. The list was topped by Washington, D.C., followed by Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio.
Q. I read your housing forecast for 2020 in this column about a month ago. It was pretty thorough, except that you didn’t write much about what the hottest markets for apartments and other types of rental-property investments will be. Which parts of the country do you think will have the best real estate investment potential this year?
A. Rental real estate investors, especially those who work as full-time professionals, are a different breed of cat than a typical homebuyer.
Most homebuyers focus on a property’s curb appeal and functionality, its proximity to their jobs and good schools, and the neighborhood’s overall crime rate.
Professional investors have a lot more to consider, in part because they usually would have more money at stake. Beyond recent home price gains or increases in rental prices, they pore over an area’s population-growth rate, check its local economic outlook and study several other factors that may provide clues about whether long-term real estate values or rents seem likely to go up or down.
That said, a recent study performed jointly by researchers at the prestigious Urban Land Institute and realty consulting powerhouse PwC found that Austin, Texas, will likely be the strongest real-estate investment market this year. And it could stay there for a while, the report suggests, because the capital of the Lone Star State is projected to see the greatest population growth over the next five years of all the 80 midsize and large cities that were analyzed.
The Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina, fabled for its Research Triangle and outstanding universities, was ranked No. 2. It was followed by Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Boston.
Completing the Top 10 investment list for 2020 are the sprawling Dallas/Fort Worth area; Orlando, Florida; Atlanta; Los Angeles; and Seattle.
I didn’t have anything to do with this study, but in the interest of transparency, I occasionally write for ULI’s flagship publication, Urban Land magazine.
REAL ESTATE TRIVIA
The top-ranked investment spot of Austin’s semiofficial slogan is “Keep Austin Weird,” popularized by dozens of small retailers and community groups to celebrate the area’s diversity, street performers and special events, and to drive more customers into their shops.
Q. Who pays for the cost of a professional home inspector during a sale, the buyer or the seller?
A. There’s no cut-and-dried rule, but instead, it’s subject to negotiation. In most deals, though, the buyer pays for the cost of the inspection because the inspector’s report is aimed at giving the buyer a better idea of the property’s physical condition.
ABOUT LIVING TRUSTS
Forming an inexpensive living trust means that your heirs won’t be “bugged” by long and costly probate proceedings to inherit your assets after you die. For a copy of David Myers’ “Straight Talk About Living Trusts” booklet, send $4 and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to D. Myers/Trust, P.O. Box 4405, Culver City, CA 90231-4405. Net proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross.