Energy-Saving Methods from Around the World to Adapt at HomeGermany leads the world in energy efficiency, followed by Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom, according to an international scorecard. The United States is tied for eighth with South Korea. What are other countries doing so much better than the U.S.? Can the big steps that Germany, for example, is taking to be more green be broken down for individuals to do? The 2016 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard from the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, looked at performance in buildings, industry, transportation and overall national energy efficiency efforts. Those are broad areas and apply to entire countries. But there are plenty of small things that an individual or a family can do to save energy that are more widely used around the globe. Here are a few: Build better: If you’re adding on to your home or remodeling, consider green building materials that will make your home more energy efficient. Forty percent of all energy is consumed in buildings, and most of that is used for heating. Buy green: When choosing a refrigerator or freezer, pay a little more money upfront if you have to for the one that’s more energy efficient. Products with the Energy Star certification clearly make it easy to see how much energy something uses and how much it costs per year to power it. Look for the most energy efficient product you can when shopping, such as light bulbs and consumer electronics. Ride a bike: Germany has extensive bicycle transportation networks, with more than 200 long-distance bicycle paths. Riding a bike to work every day may be difficult, but try riding on errands a few miles from home to see if it improves your health and lower the gas bill for your car. Take public transportation: The German public transportation system is so large that 88 percent of Germans live near a bus or train stop. Share your car or take the bus to work and save money and help the environment. Recycle: If your city’s garbage collector doesn’t have a recycling program, ask for one. Germany has a complicated recycling system where items must be sorted and recycled properly. Recycling helps reduce pollution, conserves resources and saves energy. For example, about 95 percent of the energy used to produce an aluminum can from virgin materials can be saved by using recycled aluminum instead. I hope you found this real estate information helpful. Please contact me for all your real estate needs today!

Germany leads the world in energy efficiency, followed by Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom, according to an international scorecard. The United States is tied for eighth with South Korea.

What are other countries doing so much better than the U.S.? Can the big steps that Germany, for example, is taking to be more green be broken down for individuals to do?

The 2016 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard from the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, or ACEEE, looked at performance in buildings, industry, transportation and overall national energy efficiency efforts.

Those are broad areas and apply to entire countries. But there are plenty of small things that an individual or a family can do to save energy that are more widely used around the globe. Here are a few:

Build better: If you’re adding on to your home or remodeling, consider green building materials that will make your home more energy efficient. Forty percent of all energy is consumed in buildings, and most of that is used for heating.

Buy green: When choosing a refrigerator or freezer, pay a little more money upfront if you have to for the one that’s more energy efficient. Products with the Energy Star certification clearly make it easy to see how much energy something uses and how much it costs per year to power it. Look for the most energy efficient product you can when shopping, such as light bulbs and consumer electronics.

Ride a bike: Germany has extensive bicycle transportation networks, with more than 200 long-distance bicycle paths. Riding a bike to work every day may be difficult, but try riding on errands a few miles from home to see if it improves your health and lower the gas bill for your car.

Take public transportation: The German public transportation system is so large that 88 percent of Germans live near a bus or train stop. Share your car or take the bus to work and save money and help the environment.

Recycle: If your city’s garbage collector doesn’t have a recycling program, ask for one. Germany has a complicated recycling system where items must be sorted and recycled properly. Recycling helps reduce pollution, conserves resources and saves energy. For example, about 95 percent of the energy used to produce an aluminum can from virgin materials can be saved by using recycled aluminum instead.

I hope you found this real estate information helpful. Please contact me for all your real estate needs today!

Achieving a Near Perfect Indoor Environment for Your Home

Achieving the ideal indoor environment involves managing quite a few elements within the home. In addition to keeping you and your family comfortable, the right indoor air system regulates circulation and can keep allergens, various pests and irritants away from you, your family and your guests.

Though many homeowners want to achieve the perfect home environment, short of living in a sterile lab, the perfect indoor environment doesn’t exist. Fortunately, there are a number of technologies available today that make it easy to achieve near perfect conditions that let you live in comfort.

What Does Near Perfect Indoor Environment Involve?

When it comes to indoor environmental quality, there are a number of factors involved. Interior factors taken into consideration when constructing a home involve lighting, external sound or vibrations, and air quality and temperature.

Given these factors, what should homeowners ultimately expect? For one, lighting should provide the right balance of natural and artificial ambiance for desired tasks. Interior illumination has taken a major step forward by covering a wide spectrum of light ranges that work with the body’s natural daily rhythms.

Second, sound dampening insulation should not only minimize noise pollution from the outside, it should also include activities from adjacent rooms.

Finally, the central air conditioning unit should provide a level of air quality that is pure and free from harmful pollutants, toxicants and contaminants.

As homeowners and/or their family members spend most of their time at home, air quality becomes a necessity to a good home life.

The Importance of Air Quality

The importance of indoor air quality cannot be overstated, especially in the cases of people with allergies, asthma, or other respiratory diseases. Poor indoor air quality can have significant negative effects on one’s health. Ozone and particulates can worsen respiratory conditions, trigger asthma attacks and cause allergic reactions.

Multiple studies reinforce the impact of air quality on health. The National Institutes for Health concluded significant causal relationships between dust mites and cat allergens and asthma, for example. A 2014 study by the World Health Organization reported 7 million premature deaths annually from poor air quality.

How Can Homeowners Improve Air Quality?

Fortunately, there are a number of appliances and technologies that can help to improve indoor environmental quality. Each of these can have a significant impact on air quality in your home.

Smart Thermostat: These programmable devices let you cool or heat your home remotely via a smartphone, tablet or desktop. These devices let you save energy and adjust the temperature while you are en route home from work, for example. Some models even can detect outdoor allergens and adjust accordingly.

Air Purifiers: By cleaning the air, a purifier helps to eliminate dust, pollen and bacteria, all of which can trigger allergies. When the purifier uses a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, a purifier can dramatically improve air quality.

Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers: Dryer air can irritate nasal passages and the lungs while moist air can harbor bacteria and mold. Keeping the humidity levels regulated is important to keep the indoor air healthy.

By regulating your environment in the areas of sound, light and air, that near perfect indoor environment is now within reach of each and every homeowner.

By Ashley Morse  Posted on Aug 18 2017 - 11:44am by Housecall

Ashley Morse is manager of operations at The Cooling Company, a provider of air conditioning, heating and plumbing repair services to the entire Las Vegas valley.

Sources
https://www.proudgreenhome.com/news/smart-thermostat-detects-outdoors-allergens-for-better-indoor-air-quality/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15330777

https://greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/new-research-effects-of-indoor-environmental-quality-on-students-test-scores-and-health/

Home Prices Surge on Strong Buying Season

Home prices continue on at a clip, surging 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017, according to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). The pace outdoes the previous peak observed in the third quarter of 2016.

“The 2.2 million net new jobs created over the past year generated significant interest in purchasing a home in what was an extremely competitive spring buying season,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “Listings typically flew off the market in under a month—and even quicker in the affordable price range—in several parts of the country. With new supply not even coming close to keeping pace, price appreciation remained swift in most markets.”

Single-family home prices went up in 87 percent of the markets assessed in the report, or 154 of 178 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Thirteen percent of, or 23, metro areas saw prices up by double digits. At the national level, the median existing single-family home price was $255,600, and the median existing condominium price was $239,500.

ome prices in the West grew at the highest year-over-year rate, 7.5 percent to a median existing single-family value of $372,400, according to the report. Prices in the South followed at 6.7 percent to a median $229,400, while prices in the Midwest were up 6.6 percent to a median $204,000. Prices in the Northeast grew at the lowest year-over-year rate, 3.2 percent to a median $282,300.

Affordability, again, shrunk in the second quarter. A homebuyer with a 5 percent down payment would need an income of $56,169 to afford a single-family home priced at the national median. A homebuyer with a 10 percent down payment would need an income of $53,213, and a homebuyer with a 20 percent down payment would need an income of $47,300.

“The glaring need for more new-home construction is creating an affordability crisis that needs to be addressed by policy officials and local governments,” Yun says. “An increasing share of would-be buyers are being priced out of the market and are unable to experience the wealth-building benefits of homeownership.”

The most expensive metro areas by median existing single-family price in the second quarter were San Jose, Calif. ($1,183,400); San Francisco, Calif. ($950,000); Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif. ($788,000); Honolulu, Hawaii ($760,600); and San Diego, Calif. ($605,000). The least expensive metro areas were Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio ($87,000); Cumberland, Md. ($98,200); Decatur, Ill. ($107,400); Binghamton, N.Y. ($109,000); and Elmira, N.Y. ($111,600).

Existing-home sales, including condos, fell 0.9 percent to 5.57 million in the second quarter, according to the report. Existing homes available for sale were down 7.1 percent year-over-year to 1.96 million at the end of the quarter, with an average supply of 4.6 months.

“Mortgage rates have subsided in recent months, which has only somewhat helped take away some of the sting prospective buyers are experiencing with the deteriorating affordability conditions in many areas,” says Yun. “Household incomes may be rising and giving consumers assurance that now is a good time to buy, but these severe inventory shortages will likely continue to be a drag on sales potential the second half of the year.”

For more information, please visit www.nar.realtor.

Wyndham Worldwide Splitting Hotel and Timeshare Businesses into Separate Publicly Traded Companies

Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) became the latest hospitality firm to spin off separate business units in a bid to boost shareholder value. 

The company announced that Wyndham Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, NJ, will become a new, publicly traded pure-play hotel company, while Orlando-based Wyndham Vacation Ownership, one of largest publicly traded timeshare companies, will be combined with Wyndham Destination Network, home to timeshare exchange company RCI, as a separate time-share firm. 

The corporate names of the post-spinoff public companies have not yet been decided. Wyndham also announced it plans to shop its European hotel brands separately. 

Wyndham's brands range from the budget Knights Inn, Super8 and Travellodge to the upscale Wyndham Grand and Dolce Hotels and Resorts. 

"After a comprehensive review process, the board of directors has determined that a spin-off of the hotel business and the combination of Wyndham Vacation Ownership with RCI is the best structure to unlock shareholder value and enable strong growth across the businesses," said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO, Wyndham Worldwide. 

The transaction, which is expected to be tax-free to Wyndham Worldwide and its shareholders, will be made via a pro rata distribution of the new hotel company's stock to existing Wyndham Worldwide shareholders. Wyndham Worldwide expects the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2018. 

As two separate public companies, the vacation ownership company and the hotel company will have separate boards of directors. Holmes will serve as non-executive chairman of the board for both companies. 

Geoff Ballotti, current CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group, will continue to lead the hotel company as president and CEO. Michael Brown, current CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, will continue to lead the timeshare company as president and CEO. 

Wyndham Hotel Group has a global portfolio of 18 hotel brands and more than 8,100 hotels with approximately 705,700 rooms. The company posted 2016 revenues of $1.3 billion. 

Wyndham Vacation Ownership has more than 220 time-share properties located throughout the U.S, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America and the South Pacific. It generated more than $2 billion in gross timeshare sales in 2016. The RCI timeshare exchange network has more than 4,300 affiliated properties. 

Copyright © 2017 CoStar News

Apps to Make Saving Easier

Saving for a home, retirement, a vacation or anything else can be difficult.

The median retirement savings of all working-age families in the United States is $5,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Given that many financial advisers recommend having about $1 million in retirement, that leaves many families far short of their retirement plans.

Don’t let such big goals keep you from striving for them. Many mobile apps help people reach multiple savings goals, often in painless ways that only require the change you’d normally get at the cash register.

For a retirement plan, home down payment or other large financial goal, you’re probably best off by maximizing automatic paycheck deductions or contributing regularly to a savings account. For smaller savings goals, here are some apps to check out:

Qapital: Set multiple savings goals and have money moved into savings based on rules you set. The service is free.

You won’t have to sacrifice the things you love buying. Buying an espresso every morning at your local coffee shop? Tell the app to save $5 every time you buy coffee. Or it can round up that coffee purchase by a lower amount, such as moving a $3.50 coffee to $4 and putting that extra 50 cents in your account.

Digit: This service has a different way of helping users save money. It connects to your checking account and analyzes your income and spending and finds money it can set aside for you. It never transfers more than you can afford, so you don’t have to worry about overdrafting your account.

Digit used to be free, but now charges $3 per month for its service. A 100-day free trial is available.

Acorns: This micro-investing app turns every purchase you make into an investment.

It connects your accounts and cards that you use to make everyday purchases and rounds your purchases to the nearest dollar. That spare change is automatically invested. You can also set up recurring or one-time investments.

Acorns costs $1 per month to use. For accounts of $5,000 or more, the fee is 0.25 percent per year.

SmartyPig: This online saving account lets you save for specific goals by making automatic transfers from your linked bank account. Want to save for a new TV? SmartyPig can help you set up an account for that.

The service is free. Up to six withdrawals per account can be made each month.

I hope you found this helpful. Contact me for more insights and info.

Insurance 101 for First-Time Homeowners

If you’re thinking of becoming a homeowner, you’ve likely spent time budgeting for additional expenses – property taxes, lawn care, a big-screen TV to fill up that extra space…you get the idea. But have you factored in protection for your new home?

While you’re crunching numbers, remember to include homeowners insurance. A standard policy will cover exterior and interior damage from incidents like vandalism, fire, wind and lightning. It also covers loss of use expenses, damage to structures like sheds or gazebos, and liability and medical costs if someone is injured on your property. Personal property is covered, too – good news if you really do have your eye on that big-screen TV.

Still, standard policies aren’t comprehensive. To help you estimate how much you’ll spend on insurance, keep these points in mind:

• Standard policy coverage can be for the cash value of your home and possessions (which may depreciate over time), repair or rebuilding costs based on the original value of the home, or replacement costs that exceed your limit if necessary. Coverage does not equal the sale price of your home.
• Projects like building a porch or another bathroom can add significant value, so you may need to adjust your policy if you’re planning to renovate your new home. Upgrades (like a new roof) can lead to discounts if they mitigate risks, but potentially hazardous features (like a pool) may require up to $500,000 in coverage.
• Ninety percent of natural disasters result in some form of flooding – that’s a risk insurers just don’t want to take. Even if your home isn’t in a flood area, you may want coverage anyway if you have a finished basement. You can obtain a separate flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). And don’t delay – it takes 30 days for new policies to go into effect.
• Residents in earthquake-prone areas might also want to supplement their standard policy, which doesn’t cover damage directly resulting from seismic activity. However, if a quake leads to further damage, such as a burst gas line causing a fire, your standard policy will cover it.

It may seem costly, but protecting what’s likely the largest investment you’ll make in your lifetime is worth it – and peace of mind is priceless.

Baby-proofing a New Home

Anytime you move into a new home, one of the most important things to consider is the safety of your little ones. Baby-proofing your home may sound like a daunting task, but spending a little time when you first move in kid-proofing the house will save you much worry as you get the rest of your house ready.

The kitchen is possibly one of the most hazardous rooms for a young child. With all the cooking utilities and electrical appliances, this room is one of the most important rooms to have childproofed.

Oven knobs are an appealing gadget for children to play with, so make sure that they are off and protected with stove knob covers. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand in the kitchen and keep it out of reach on a high pantry shelf, mounted on the wall or in a childproof cabinet.

Bathrooms can be one of the trickiest places when baby proofing your home. Implementing safeguards is imperative for your child’s safety. In order to safeguard from slips, use non-slip mats for in and out of the tub, as well as any hard-surface floors that are near the bathroom. The chances of chasing a wet toddler around the house at some point is high, so adding these non-slip mats will aid in preventing any scrapes or bruises.

It is also important to install a toilet lock so any curious little fingers don’t get caught and smashed by accident. This will also prevent the little ones from any exposure to anything unsanitary. It’s also useful to cover the tub spout in order to protect his or her head from any danger in case they fall.

In the nursery, make sure that your crib slats are 2 3/8 inches or less apart. For those with real little ones, you may want to remove all the bumpers, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals from the baby’s crib, as some reports have indicated that children could suffocate on them. This also includes mobiles with small hanging parts.

Rather than using the plastic outlet covers we all grew up with, consider using the new innovative sliding covers instead. This prevents children from choking on the little plastic covers if they manage to get them out.

When you think, “childproofing,” a baby monitor is a must-have. Although, you want to ensure that the cords are wound tightly and are always away from the crib. There is also the option of a cordless monitor as well.

Additionally, if you have pets, be aware that pet food is a choking hazard and should not be left unattended. Either keep the pet in a room where your child can’t get to, or remove the food bowl as soon as your pet is done eating.

Interested in more real estate tips? Feel free to contact me directly!