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Pest Control for Homeowners

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty ONE Group Inc.

Being a homeowner means handling your own home maintenance.  That includes pest control.  That means battling the ants that like to visit most Orange County households at certain times throughout the year.

Even if you live in a community that does exterior spraying every so often, that usually isn't thorough enough to keep those unwanted house guests from entering your home.

Over the past couple of months, my own house was invaded by ants.  What a true inconvenience, to say the least!  They got into my pantry and forced me to clean it out.  They marched around one of my windows facing the backyard.  Took me a couple of hours to get rid of all of them in the pantry.  Took another hour to find their source of entry into my house and kill them off there.  I later found their trail in my backyard - they were marching in from the street behind my house.

Recent ant infestation in my pantry.

In talking with several of my neighbors, it turns out just about all of them use a pest control service.

I've been resisting using one of these services for the past few years since I felt that I could just buy an insect spray at The Home Depot or Lowe's for less than $20 and spray the perimeter of my house every 3 months myself.  For some people, that's perfectly fine.  But once my son became a part of our household, I decided that I wanted a safer product used in and around my home.

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for regular pest control service earlier this month.  While doing so, I thought about my past clients and homebuyers out there who are planning to buy their own homes soon.  Wouldn't it be nice for them to NOT be surprised by an ant infestation in the coming year?

Note to homebuyers:  Don't forget to factor in "pest control service" into your home maintenance checklist.

Don't have a home maintenance checklist yet?  See below for one to help you get started:

If you have your own tips about pest control in your home and/or recommendations of a good pest control service in Orange County, please feel free to contact me and/or leave a comment below.

Here's to having an ant-free year!

Posted by

Alicia J. Mendoza

REALTOR(R)

CA DRE Lic #01778667

Realty ONE Group Inc.

(949) 870-9020

aliciajmendoza@gmail.com

Blog: www.aliciajmendoza.com

Website: www.alicia-realestate.com

 

Comments (3)

Dan Edward Phillips
Dan Edward Phillips, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA - Eureka, CA
Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, CA

Good Morning Alicia, excellent input for home owners on maintaining their investment.

Jan 15, 2011 08:58 PM
The Homefinding Center - Southern California Real Estate
The Homefinding Center - Corona, CA

I like your small chart that you linked to the larger one on your site.  

Jan 15, 2011 09:07 PM
John McCarthy
North Hampton, NH
Realtor - Seacoast NH

Alicia,

I came down here to comment that I wished your Home Maintenance Checklist was larger, but found my answer from #2 The Home Finding Center. The chart provides excellent suggestions and a timetable. I am going to forward this to some of my clients past and present. Thank you!

Jan 15, 2011 11:11 PM