Spring clutterbusting

Dated: March 4 2025

"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air." –Emerson

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John Payton
404-840-6940
JPayton Real Estate

Spring Listing Offer

To get the highest offers for your home, start with my no-obligation "buyer's-eye" walk-through. Discover how to attract peak interest and offers during the competitive spring market. Call to schedule an appointment. ~John, 404-840-6940

Happy March!

This month: How to Clutterbust Like a Pro, Is it OK to use retirement savings to buy a house instead? and a bunch of fun factoids, like Why storks deliver babies.
Key dates in March: Time change, March 9, spring forward! — St. Patrick's Day, Monday, March 17 — First Day of Spring, Monday, March 20

Ever notice how clutter sneaks up on us? We accumulate things so gradually that we hardly notice. Something new comes in, nothing old goes out, and before we know it, we're drowning in stuff we don’t need.

Decluttering pros like Marie Kondo and Peter Walsh say the first step is simple: start noticing. Go room by room and take stock of what you don’t truly like or need—but have been tolerating.

Kitchen: Too many gadgets, expired spices, or chaos in the cupboards.
Living room: Unused furniture, a dying plant, or that lampshade you keep meaning to replace.
Closet: Clothes you last wore to an interview in 1999.

Next, grab a big box and start filling it with items to donate. For larger items, call a hauler or a charity that picks up.

Struggling to let go? Take a photo as a keepsake. Can’t decide? Place it in a "decide later" box and store it out of sight. Chances are, you’ll forget about it—and a year from now, you’ll realize you never really needed it. Once the excess is gone, refresh your space. Rearrange, update, clean, and even paint until it feels right. There’s no magic trick to decluttering, just a lot of hard work and a push to get started.

REAL ESTATE UPDATE

SEE TODAY'S RATES ►

Mortgage rates are still bouncing

Rates at the time of publication are 6.87%. Click above for today's rate.
Mixed signals for the real estate market. On one hand we have a strong jobs report, but on the other hand, weaker inflation numbers. The cumulative effect is a slight drop from 7% last month, but not a whole lot. We still don't have a clear picture of the effect of tariffs, etc.
If you’re planning to sell, contact me to discuss the timing, terms you can offer, and listing price. ~John, 404-840-6940

Should you put your money into a mortgage or into retirement?

The short answer is that it’s not a good idea to minimize retirement savings to buy a house. But it really depends on a lot of factors. Here’s one example: Let's say you're a couple in your 50's with about $195,000 in retirement savings and earning $125,000/yr. You want to buy a house, leading to a new $3,100/mo. mortgage. You'd pay for that by reducing your retirement contributions. Is it a good idea? Most financial planners would probably say no, for the following reason:

Using the popular 4% rule for withdrawing from your retirement accounts, a $195,000 nest egg gives you about $7,800/yr., plus your government pension of around $23,000/yr., you end up with $30,800/yr. for retirement. Yikes! You should be putting more, not less, into your retirement.

But having a house gives you options, too. You can sell it if needed. You can age in place. You don't have to worry about a landlord. You have something to pass on to the kids. So, what should you do?

You have a few options. You can boost your income through a side hustle, new job, or raise. You can look for a more affordable home. You could buy a property with a rental unit—tenants don't have to be permanent.

The goal is to retire without the fear of losing your home. Paying too much for a mortgage instead of saving may leave you house-rich but retirement-cash poor, with your money tied up in property instead of savings. But as said at the outset, there are numerous factors involved. Talk to your financial advisor, or call me to discuss house prices and possibilities in our local market. Call anytime: 404-840-6940

March Quiz Question

Which word below is the odd one out? (HINT: The answer isn't related to the definitions of the words.)
LIVE - POTS - PART - BACK - FLOW

Send your answer here

Send your answer for a chance to win a $5 coffee card! Last month's Q&A: Why is the sentence below used to teach keyboard skills? "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" contains all the letters of the alphabet. Congratulations to last month's winner!

LIFESTYLE TIPS & FUN FACTS

Why do storks deliver babies?

With spring on the horizon, the stork will soon be arriving to nests everywhere, including our human nests. But where did the myth of a stork delivering babies come from? Historians believe it likely took flight in medieval northern Germany and Norway when couples commonly married around the summer solstice. Nine months later, right around the time that migrating storks were returning from their winter roost in Africa, the couples would start having babies. Thus, the insinuation that storks were bringing the babies.

Life in the coldest town on earth

Imagine living in a place where 0°F/18C feels like a balmy summer day. That's how it is for the Siberian people who live in Oymyakon, where temperatures regularly fall to -58F/-50C and the coldest ever recorded temperature for an inhibited area reached -96.2/-71.2 in 1933. To live here, the 500-or-so residents use flame throwers to thaw machinery, keep cars running in heated garages, build double-walled homes, go without plumbing, and cover every molecule of exposed skin to avoid frostbite. Why live here? For most, it's their ancestral home and lifestyle. Many have no option to move anyway. Even a few outsiders have moved here for the unique challenge of living in a harsh environment. Interested? Call me to help get your current house sold.

The real reason bird flu is sending egg prices through the roof

Bird flu is spreading, causing egg availability to plummet and prices to rise. Egg-laying hens are more susceptible than other flocks, like broilers (chickens for meat). When an outbreak hits an egg-laying flock, the entire flock must be culled. The purpose of culling is to stop the virus from spreading to other livestock, which could lead to severe farm losses, affecting milk, beef, and other meat industries. While the risk to humans is low, there is evidence that it can jump to humans and our pets, adding urgency to the need to stamp out the problem. So, while egg prices are a serious issue, it's probably better to bite the bullet now than deal with more pain later.

Modern day truffle hunters are man's best friend

In nature, truffles are lumpy, unappetizing looking balls of fungus that grow underground around the roots of trees. The taste of a truffle is earthy and spicy, with pungent sharpness more like garlic than a typical mushroom. Scientists recently discovered two new species of truffles, Tuber canirevelatum, which means “dog-found truffle,” and Tuber cumberlandense, named after the Cumberland Plateau, where it was uncovered by another dog.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Maddening Word Search

Someone mentioned that my word search puzzles were too easy. So I gave them this one. Enjoy! Click here to play online instantly. No registration or login necessary.

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John Payton
404-840-6940
JPayton Real Estate

John Payton

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Address:	2750 Premiere Pkwy - Suite 200 Duluth, GA 30097
Phone:	404-840-6940