Asheville ECO-GREEN Real Estate

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In an effort to reward homeowners for energy efficient upgrades to their homes, the recent Stimulus Bills included some very valuable additional tax credits !

 

Water Heater, Boiler, or A/C new Installations

A tankless water heater installation with a 90% + efficiency gets you a 30% federal tax credit up to $1,500.00. This may also qualify for a gas utility rebate of $300.00. Total job deduction $1,800.00.  If the total job was $5,000.00 the deduction would be approx. one third of the job right off the bat.  Same deductions go for boiler & A/C installations.

 

Newly Installed Energy Efficient Certified Windows & Doors

Qualifying Windows and Doors purchased between February 17, 2009 and December 31, 2010 are eligible for a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the product cost up to a maximum credit of $1,500

 

...I myself took advantage of this one and received a certified letter from the Window and Door company that I can submit to my accountant at tax time, and bingo ! ... $1500 cash savings right back in my wallet !!!!

Now these installations must be "placed in service" from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010, and must be for taxpayer's principal residence, but if you were ever considering upgrading your home's utilities or windows and doors for better Energy Efficiency !?!?! ... well NOW is the time to do it, as you will get a portion of your cost paid for you in these specified cases !!! 

And as a reminder, like the $8,000 Tax Credit for Home Buyers this year, these are actual dollars that you keep - they are NOT interest free LOANS, and they are NOT simply deductions to your taxable income - it's real money that you would have had to pay the IRS !

If you are in Bergen County, NJ, feel free to call me for more explanation on these outstanding Tax Credits, or talk to your local Realtor or Service Providers for more info.

 

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Sheldon Neal is a Realtor(R) with RE/MAX REAL ESTATE LTD, serving buyers and sellers in Bergen County.
You can contact Sheldon for more infor on these tax credits, or any other real estate questions at 201-481-2891, or email at SheldonNeal@remax.net.

 

 

Loaded down with tools, work gloves and safety glasses, at 7:30 am yesterday morning I met up with about 15 other Realtors at a modest home in our community.  After a brief introduction by our site captain about safety and the list of projects we were to complete, everyone put on their gloves and got right to work.

Our mission: 

1. Rip out the old, rotted side porch and build new one
2. Build and install two crawl space doors
3. Scrap old paint off of front and side metal railings and steps
4. Paint
5. Spruce up garden if time permitted

 

 

The ripping out of the rotten wood did not take long but we were not prepared for what we found underneath: 6-week old kittens, a dead rat, an old tire and a rather unpleasant smell!

It turned about that the homeowners cat had a litter of kittens. One of the Realtors was able to catch all 4 and took them to a local pet store who had agreed to find them homes!  While not on our list, this showed the kindness that prevailed all day.

 

 

 

Our site was just one of 22 homes being fixed up during "Realtor Care Day" in the Charlotte/Lake Norman area.  Over 700 members volunteered.  We were assisted by physical inspectors and contractors who supplied their expertise when needed.

A homemade lunch was donated by a local church.  We were able to share much of it with the neighbors who stopped by to see what in the world was happening at their friend's home!  Our homeowner was an elderly woman who had volunteered for 30 years in the community and had lived her entire life in either this house or the one next door.  She was quite a character; entertaining us with stories and even a joke or two!

 

 

Despite an unusually hot spring day of 90 degrees, we were able to complete all of our assignments and much more.

Some of the Realtors worked hard in the garden and even purchased bales of pine straw out of their own pocket.

Two other brave gals cleaned out the crawlspace.  There were jars of pickles and various other foods that were so old looking that we figured the crawlspace hadn't been cleaned in 50 years!

 

 

 

We were hot, tired and dirty but felt great.  Not only had we finished our original list and added to it, but we had brought some fun and good food to the neighborhood and particularly our delightful homeowner Barb!

From what I understand, the Charlotte Region Realtor Association is going to try to make this an annual event.  I hope so!

 

 

I have never been prouder to be a Realtor than I was yesterday.  Despite our own challenging financial times, 700 of us were out in our communities working hard to make those less fortunate's lives a little brighter!

If any of you would like to put on a Realtor Care Day or can share about your Realtor efforts to give back in your communities, please share them with us.  If we can compile a list of everyone's ideas perhaps we can encourage more to try to make a difference during these tough times.  It's so nice to have something positive to share about us Realtors!

As reported in a previous post, we recently had a Home Energy Audit performed on our own 22 year old, brick bungalow.  Although it ranked very well with respect to our over-all energy efficiency, there are still things we can do to make it better and in this post, I'd like to review some of the grants available to assist homeowners with their retrofits.

After having the audit, you have 18 months to complete the recommended work after which time, the auditor will come back to re-assess your home.  In our case, we have a few areas to concentrate on:

1. Improve our attic insulation up to an R50 value
2. Seal air leaks predominantly behind outlets and around pipes
3. Replace two of our toilets
4. Replace two windows

I estimate that our costs will be roughly as follows:
 1.  Attic Insulation: $800 (DIY style)
 2.  Air Sealing: $60
 3.  2 new toilets $400
 4.  2 new windows $800
TOTAL           $2060.00

If we do this recommended work, the rebates (combined Federal and Provincial) we will be eligible for include:
 1.  Attic Insulation: $600
 2.  Air Sealing: $300 (plus a possible bonus of $150 if we exceed targets)
 3.  Replace 2 toilets $200 ($100 each)
 4.  2 new windows $120
TOTAL $1220.00

So in terms of the bottom line, our net investment in these improvements will be under $850.00.  But wait...  We can also claim these under the new Home Renovation Tax Credit reducing our net outlay by up to a further 15%.  Not bad!  On top of that, I calculate that these changes will reduce our home operating costs by about $250-$300.00 annually.

We'll make our home more comfortable, improve our home's resale value, save on energy bills AND help to have a cleaner environment.  Gosh, is there any reason NOT to do this?

There are many other rebates available that I have not listed here but our local Environment Network website has a complete list of the consolidated Federal and Provincial grants available.

I'll keep you posted on our own progress as this evolves.  So far, we've purchased outlet and door gaskets and insulating foam at a total cost of $67.00 which should lead to a $300.00 rebate for this step of air sealing.  Hubby did the gaskets, caulking and foaming for the whole house in under three hours.  Not bad. It took another 30 minutes to clean the range vent and dryer vent which now close properley again.  gosh, I feel warmer already!

Some time ago Kristal Kraft wrote a wonderful post: www.activerain.com/blogsview/15304/Got-Goburb Please take the time to read it again.

 

In this post Kristal talks about the population coming together in metro areas. (I'm expanding the idea) The idea is that you wouldn't need a car, only mass transit, if necessary. Communities would grow up and not out. Everything you would need would be within a short distance.  Ant the rural areas would become rural again. The people who live in outlaying areas wouldn't go into "town" except on occasion. The urban sprawl won't exist anymore. People would either live "in town" or "out of town - rural."

 

Recently I heard of a buyer looking for his perfect property. He considers himself a green minded person. His perfect property isn't in a "sub division" it's on large acreage of 160 acres or more. He doesn't like the idea of paving over the land and urban congestion. He hates the idea of dividing land into small parcels of 40 acres or less. This buyer wants to live off the land, hunt, ranch and farm. He wants his own well and septic, no popes running from any municipality. The idea of being self sufficient appeals to him.

I'm asking: Do we (Americans) go back to the way life was pre World War 2? Is there a better way to use the land?

I love talking about the Kitchen because there’s so much going on there that can be impacted.  I break my thoughts into 2 categories: Behavior Changes and remodeling ideas.

 

Behavior Changes:

Many of the things we take for granted as “typical” kitchen behaviors can be changed to reduce waste:  Just a couple of examples would be:

1 - Stop accepting plastic bags at stores (they’re rampant these days).  Plastics inevitably make their way into the trash can to be dumped somewhere.  Start using a canvas grocery bag or two. 

2 - Another idea is to start a compost system.  You’d be amazed how much composting can reduce your trash load.  My family started this a couple of years ago (here’s a link to my blog article) and it works great. 

3 - A quick changeout (not really remodeling) is to replace bulbs with CFLs – kitchen lights seem to be on the most in our house.

4 - Environmentally sensitive cleaners are available everywhere today – replace toxic stuff under the sink and in the dishwasher.  This is great for kids, too, who are often exploring under the sink.

Then we get to the really little items that nobody seems to do – like filling the dishwasher all the way before running and running it late at night when the rates are lower, or leaving the blinds open if you get morning light, so the sun can warm the kitchen better than your heating system.

 

Remodeling:

Replacing all or part of the kitchen should be accompanied by some research into green alternatives to traditional materials.  Nearly everything (flooring, cabinets, countertops, lighting, appliances, windows) is now available in several styles and price ranges to meet any taste while reducing environmental hazards and energy bills. 

1 – Cabinets – Use products utilizing FSC certified woods or new materials such as wheatboard rather then traditional formaldehyde-laced pressboard.  Even better – if you already have serviceable cabinets just get them refaced or refinished with new hardware, etc.  Substantially cheaper and old cabinets are reused.

2 – Flooring - New materials such as Recycled rubber and Marmoleum (updated) compete with ceramic tile these days.  Cork and Bamboo flooring is hot these days but they can be more soft and less suited to heavy kitchen traffic in my opinion.  (I’ve seen bamboo take a beating).

3 – Appliances – everybody knows about energy star appliances, but look closely at the ratings on the mandatory info sheet.  There will be differences in performance and savings over time.

4 – Countertops – I’ve seen concrete ones and they’re pretty neat.  With all the negative stuff coming out about granite (radon emissions) if you’re looking to remodel you should check out concrete or another surface that’s made of recycled stone materials. 

4 – Lighting – the hot new topic in lighting is LED – technology is catching up and these things are cheap to operate!  I think the expense is still a bit prohibitive, though.  Skylights and “solatubes” are nice too, but take more work (of course they’re free after that).

 

I’ve been advising home buyers on green remodeling ideas for a couple of years now.  I’m formalizing it into a program offering called “smartgreen”  

 

More on that later…press releases are coming!

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Listen to this article as a podcast at:

 For Lancaster PA homes for sale click here. Jeff Geoghan is a top real estate expert in Lancaster County, PA, and an involved community member. Jeff's work has been featured in the Lancaster Newspapers, WGAL Channel 8, PA Business Journal and Wall Street Journal. Jeff's blog on Lancaster County and its homes is nationally-featured. Contact Jeff for more help with your Lancaster PA Real Estate needs. Jeff is also a photographer - view some of his lancaster pa photography portfolio. Comments are welcome!

 

 

       "It ain't easy being Green!"      Kermie 

KERMIT THE FROG  "It ain't easy being Green."  This quote made famous by Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street & The Muppets described pre-1970's sentiment about environmental issues.  Energy costs and gasoline were very inexpensive compared to today.  Some of us may remember gas prices under $1.00, right?  Landfills accepted all waste products and few thought about recycling or reusing.

EARTH DAY On Wednesday, April 22nd, the world will celebrate Earth Day and more and more individuals and companies are proclaiming their greenness.   Today it is hard to turn on the TV or internet or thumb through print media without hearing or seeing an article about Green.  The organizers of the first Earth Day in 1970 hoped to bring attention to the fragileness of our planet.  Rallies were held on college campuses and in a few major cities around the world.  Many main-stream adults viewed the participants as grown-up hippies or cross-over demonstrators of the anti-Vietnam rallies.

OIL EMBARGO The oil embargo in the fall of 1973 led to long lines at the gas pump and a moratorium on new installation of gas lines to new construction.  Gone were the days of cheap gas and for a brief period  Americans traded their big gas guzzlers for smaller more economical vehicles. 

BIG IS BETTER  Big Is Better is about as American as apple pie & ice cream. So it wasn't long before long many Americans reverted back to "Big Is Better" motto in both vehicles and housing.  Full size cars included the Lincoln Town Car, Crown Vicotoria and Cadillac.  The SUV market replaced the station wagon from the 50's and steadily grew bigger & bigger each year. Popular SUV's were Cadillace Escalade, Lincoln Navigator and the granddady of SUV's the Hummer.  New residential homes grew in size from three & four bedroom homes with an average of 2000 square feet and two car garage to 3,500 to 5,000 with five bedrooms and three car garages.  Just listed for $150,000,000 is the largest residence in the United States with 100 rooms and 56,500 square feet.  The current owner is trading her McMansion for 16,500 penthouse condo in downtown LA high-rise.

THE GREEN BUZZ  Today it is hard to turn on the TV or computer or thumb through print media without hearing or reading an article about Green issues.  What caused the shift to being Green?

• GLOBAL WARMING  The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 but received little attention outside the scientific world until late in the 20th century.  During the 1970's and 1980's a few environmentalists worked tirelessly to garner interest in global warming and the need to conserve natural resources and begin recycling. Former vice-president, Al Gore, an active proponent of environmental issues, won an award for his documentary film An Inconvenient Truth bringing the magnitude of global warning to the forefront.
• RISING ENERGY COSTS  Gas prices began rising rapidly in 2007 and reached over $4.00 per gallon by fall of 2008.  Once again Americans flocked to smaller, more efficient cars especially hybrid cars that get 50+ miles per gallon.  However the cost of these cars is often more expensive than traditional vehicles.  Many 2008 presidential candidates pledged to work toward curbing energy costs from traditional sources and to continue the search for alternative energy sources.
• INDOOR AIR QUALITY Concern for a healthy environment has been gaining strength since Legionnaire Disease was first diagnosed in 1976.  Americans spend as much as 90 % of their time indoors whether at work or home.  The EPA reports that indoor air can be much less healthy than even the most polluted outdoor air.  More and more people are suffering from asthma, migraines and allergies.  Among the pollutants causing the problem are lead paint, UFFI, radon, asbestos and mold along hazardous waste buried in the ground.  Fortunately, many state laws now require the seller to complete a disclosure at time of sale.
• DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES  Environmentalists have been warning us that the increased demand for oil, gas and coal by industrialized countries is rapidly depleting our supply.  Recent droughts in Africa, southeastern Australia and southwestern United States have received much coverage recently.   

 

GREEN SHIFT  The change in the lighting industry from incandescent bulbs to CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) is one of the most visible shifts to Green.  Interestingly CFL light bulbs were invented in 1937, but the technology to mass produce them economically did not exist until 2007.  The initial cost for CFL bulbs is still higher but last longer and use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.  The market reaction was slow at first because the light produced was dim when first turned on and the bulbs were larger than some lamps could accomodate.  The CFLs sold today are smaller and turn on almost instantly (within one second).  They are available for use with dimmer switches, three-way lamps, track and recessed lighting.

KERMIE  Today it is easier than ever for pads like his to go green.    "Rib-bit"

 

 

It seems that not a day goes by that someone asks me, "Hey Joan, has the housing market in New Hampshire hit bottom yet?

I always reply "It is impossible to know when the housing market has reached the bottom until things start to go back up... If I knew the answer to THAT question, I would be making the big bucks.. like the pundits on CNN"

 

 

There is good news for New Hampshire home buyers...

According to Peter Franchese, a well known demographer for the State, New Hampshire is close to or at the bottom.  Franchese agrees that it is impossible to call the bottom, but in a press conference last week he indicated that he was reasonably comfortable in saying that a house will be worth about the same or more in a year.

Figures recently released from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors® indictred the statewide median sale price was $195,000 in the first quarter of 2009, which is $40,000 less than the first quarter one year ago.

Franchese uses a ratio that compares the median home sale price to the average household income.  Franchese concludes that homes are affordable and people who would have been priced out of the market are now able to buy a home.

This is good news for homebuyers.  There are a lot of reasons to buy a home in New Hampshire. 

• Home are more affordable.
• Interest rates remain at an historic low. 
• First time home buyers may be eligible for the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.  However, only homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009 are eligible for the Tax Credit.
• The First Time Home Buyer Tax credit may be used along with New Hampshire Housing Financing Authority loans and grants.
• There are green and energy tax credits available to buyers.
• New Hampshire does NOT have a state income tax.

New Hampshire is a great place to Live... and It is a Great Time to Buy! 

Find out why  New Hampshire recently was chosen as the Most Livable State in America! and the Third Healthiest State in America.

Photo Courtesy of: Stever Parker_FLICKR, creative commons

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Disclaimer:   Information herein may come from various sources, some of which may not be reliable and may change without any notice.  Joan Whitebook does not guarantee or is any way responsible for the accuracy of the information in this blog and information provided is without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.  Information on this blog represents the opinions and ideas of the author; comments by others may not express the views of the author.
Copyright © 2009 By Joan Whitebook, all rights reserved.*Copyrights "Have We Hit Bottom Yet?   ...   What Buyers and Sellers Want to Know"

Whether you are relocating to New Hampshire or already live in New Hampshire and you seek buyer focused representation, contact me, I would love to show your this beautiful state.\ Information used with permission of Peter Franchese and NHAR.

 

More and more homeowners are working on building geywater systems, many without governmental concent, or permits. The hardest part of many of these grey water projects is just too much paperwork and jumping through hoops to get the powers that be to give you the OK to build a system. The process can be different for big projects. Lots of developments these days are partnering up with water companies to offer a great way to dispose of treated waste water; using it for watering and other non-potable needs.

You probably have never noticed a purple fire hydrent, but they are showing up more and more these days. And those purple fire hydrents are reclaimed water. Water that used to just be dumped into local rivers and streams. This water is often tested cleaner than drinking water after it has been through the system. People are not using it for drinking, but why not use it for things like fire fighting and watering.

So from now on notice those purple hydrents. After all they really are GREEN!

Seems I have been green longer than I care to admit.  Ever since I was a kid, like 40, there I said it, years ago.  My mom is from Germany and they have always recycled and reused as part of their culture for years before we showed up. 

We never wasted anything, brown grocery bags, they were our trash bag, when they changed to the plastic kind, ditto. If we ever got food in those plastic containers, we reused them to save leftovers.  We always found at least a second use for everything.  Thanks Mom, who knew you were so cool??

We had those grocery bags that you took to the grocery store way back when.  However, when I went to the grocery store we would never use them back then, they weren't so cool.  None of my friends did it , you know what I am talking about.  Now it is the THE thing.

Fast forward to today, I am the recycle police in my office.  Actually, I am pretty obnoxious about it and making sure others follow the green rules as well.  Living in Montgomery County Maryland, it is pretty easy to recycle.  They provide residents with recycle bins for paper and plastic and we have free pick up once a week. 

I was showing a condo in a high rise in Bethesda and there was a representative from the county speaking to the building manager.  He was telling, actually insisting, the manager that they need to have the paper recycle bin next to the mailbox area in the lobby so the residence could automatically throw away their junk mail/paper right there in the lobby. 

If you are a business in Montgomery County, MD it is mandatory that you have recycle bins for paper and plastic.  I swear I will pull regular paper I find in the trash can and put it in the bin.  My assistant thinks I am a nut.  Too bad, I have my convictions.

I was looking for a marketing idea for a "Pop by".  If you are a Buffini student you will know what a pop by is. For those of you who are not, a pop by is when you have an item of value to drop off to your past client.  One day I had an "Aha Moment" for a great pop by idea and it was a very green one that I thought I would share with you.

I was in Whole Foodsand they had the reusable grocery bags.  You know the ones I wouldn't be caught dead with when I was younger?  Well there they were, .99cents each.  I bought 150 of them for my pop bys. 

So what I did was group the bags in twos and made a postcard that said the bags were from me. I tied them together with a ribbon with the note that said they were a way to pay it forward to our Mother Earth.  Then drove around to my past clients homes and dropped them off.  Some of my folks were home and it was fun to see them too.

I will tell you that I got the most calls and emails from those bags.  I still need to do another run to more of my clients and will because I had such a great response from the bags.

The good news is that you spend some green and everyone is happy to help Mother Earth breath a little easier.

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