The U.S. Department of Energy indicates that those who heat their homes with heating oil could see heating costs rise 25.6% this winter, compared with last winter. Those who use propane could see their costs rise 20.2%, and those who use natural gas could see a 10.7% rise. As a result, people who have put off home improvements to keep heating costs down are taking steps to indentify their property’s energy loss areas.

To help homeowners lower their heating bills, Energy Star recently released an online tool, the Energy Star Home Advisor, which can help homeowners decide which improvements to make. Consumers enter information including their zip code, how the home is heated and the type of water heater in the home.

The tool can be found at nergystar.gov. (more…)

search for : U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Star Home Advisor

The Charlotte NC housing market is booming as jobs continue to outstrip the supply of homes. The U.S. Department of Commerce ranks Charlotte number one in 2007 in its affordability index for cities with population between 400-thousand and 1-million. Housing permits have skyrocketed year after year. In 2006, residential building shot up 33 percent to more than 18-thousand single-family and apartment units.

The inventory of new homes on the market remains relatively lean and building moratoriums in some surrounding areas are keeping a relatively tight lid on new supply. Even though Charlotte is one of the nation’s largest financial centers, the city has largely escaped a direct hit from the housing slump and mortgage market troubles.

(more…)

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Some buyers perceive this slow market as an opportunity to secure a bargain priced home. The inventory of unsold listings continues to grow giving buyers more choice than is the case in a hot seller’s market when listings sell quickly. In a high-inventory market, there are usually fewer multiple offers so buyers can cut a better deal with the seller. However, it pays to be careful about what property is bought and how it is financed.

Buyers, particularly those that have never before owned a home need to give careful consideration about financing the purchase. If at all possible, stay away from mortgages that have short due dates and balloon payments. If the market stays soft for longer than anticipated, a mortgage holder doesn’t want to be caught having to refinance at a time when the property might not appraise for the price needed to complete the transaction. (more…)

search for : bargain priced home, mortgage, balloon payment

Christmas is the time for giving. For that avid do-it-yourselfer on your holiday shopping list, nothing says holiday’s gifting more than home improvement tools. Just some of the items you might consider are listed in this article in order of price. All are well worth considering.

One of our favorites (from personal use) is the DeWakt 18V Compact Drill/Driver Kit. This item features a compact size that fits into the tightest conditions, a lightweight design (5.2 lbs.) to minimize user fatigue, a high performance motor delivering maximum power of 380 unit watts out, a dual speed range: 0-450/0-1,500 rpm delivering optimal performance and comes with a 1/2″ single sleeve keyless ratcheting chuck for a tighter bit grip. (more…)

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Beautiful Wilkes County NC Timber Frame Home and Mountain Property.

MLS Number: 51166, List Price: $898,500

2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 2 half baths, 2 car attached garage, full basement, and a barn on 5 acres of land.

These terms are used to describe thousands of homes and yet some things just can’t be described, they have to be experienced. This is one of those homes that really has to be seen to be appreciated.

This majestic Timber Frame home of the Bob Timberlake genre is not just another house, it provides a feeling of home that is not about walls and floors and windows and doors. It creates a feeling of the flow between your outdoor and your indoor environment that is seamless. Everywhere you look there is a view. Everything you touch feels natural and beautiful in a way that cannot be described, only owned.

Contact Elizabeth Carter, 336.973.5594 or Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email eacarter@charter.net

click here for more information

Wind turbines have been popularized by those who lived outside the range of local utility lines. And, residential windmills have been used by those who wanted to live completely off the grid. With reductions in their size and cost, along with improvements in their efficiency, recently engineered installations are allowing suburban homeowners to install them in growing numbers. With concerns over rising energy costs and global warming driving the demand, energy from the wind is all in vogue. (more…)

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For some ten years now, the Internet has been a huge resource for new and pre-owned home buyers. With increased use of broadband services, more recent websites allow house hunters to screen prospective neighbors, evaluate school districts and see how members of the community rate a street’s Internet connectivity and cellphone service. With “opt-in” email reminders, Internet users can receive alerts when houses list for sale or when a registered sex offender moves to the area.

Using services from sites like trulia.com, Internet users can enter a city, town or ZIP Code and see a listing of every home for sale, sortable by price, address, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, broker or type of home. Searches can be by location, size and property type.The site’s home-comparison features allow prospective buyers to locate that dream home by a seemingly endless combination of search criteria. (more…)

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It’s always a good idea to hire someone to inspect the home during the buying process. Across the United States, those independent contractors call themselves “home inspectors” and are almost licensed on a state-by-state basis. Home inspectors sometimes prefer to work alone. However, if asked, the inspector should allow the prospective homeowner to observe the actual inspection process. After all, a consultant cannot consult when no one is there to listen. And mailing a report after the inspection does not provide adequate explanation of inspection findings.

Although buyers have the right to insist on their own presence at the inspection, they cannot forbid sellers from remaining in their own home when the inspection is taking place. Some sellers willingly leave for a few hours; some remain home without involving themselves in the inspection; and still others become actively involved in the process, engaging the buyers in lengthy conversations or shadowing the inspector every step of the way. (more…)

Those neighborhoods of high density homes are marketed as an affordable way to own a single-family home. Many new and young, first-time buyers love the freedom from yard work and the sense of old-fashioned community. However, there are potential risks to buying into some of these communities. The most dangerous of which is the chance that a fire could spread within an instant from one home to the next. Research done by the National Fire Protection Association in 2004 sheds some light on the issue. The lab tested how quickly fire spread between two mocked-up exterior walls six feet apart, typical of developments where three-foot setbacks from property lines are required. In the government test, it took three minutes and 42 seconds from the fire’s start for flames to break out a window. Then, in just 80 seconds more, flames leaped across the six-foot divide and ignited the neighboring building. (more…)

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In an ideal home the utility room, also by some called the laundry or mud room is a place for the washer and dryer, a place for wet and dirty clothes, a convenient place for muddy boots and chore jackets and a catch-all for other objectionable objects. Most of us have such a place in our home. Many of us wish that this multipurpose room could do even more with more efficiency. Here are a number of suggestions that allow this room to function even better. (more…)

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