Have you ever wondered why some of the nicest houses in the neighborhood seem to stay on the market forever? Or why some of your neighbors seem to settle for less than their home is probably worth?

The right real estate agent is critical. In today’s market, it’s more important than ever that you choose to work with an agent that has the experience, knowledge and systems to get you the most money for your house, including:

As your local real estate expert, I understand:

1) How to set a price that will attract the most buyers.
2) The most likely buyer for your home and how best to reach them.
3) What features buyers are looking for and expect from the homes in our neighborhood.
4) What marketing techniques are driving the most buyer traffic.

Why settle for an agent who will simply put a “For Sale” sign in your yard, when you could have one that will get the “SOLD” sign up as soon as possible! As your local real estate expert, I would be honored to work with you on your next move. I work on referral base or sincere need base only. I’m not about numbers….just RESULTS!

To better cut your energy cost, you should know the thermal boundaries of your house. The boundary is usually determined by the area of the house that is conditioned (heated and/or cooled). To minimize energy usage, the boundary should be surrounded by insulation and an air barrier. Unconditioned spaces might include attics, crawl spaces and attached garages. Once you have determined the thermal boundary of your house, you should identify those areas lacking insulation and consider completing the thermal envelop. An energy audit of your house can assist in this review or you can play the detective and figure it out for yourself.

Consideration should be given to including unused basements and crawl spaces in the thermal boundary. Factors that favor inclusion are:
1) surface area
2) possible future occupancy of the basement
3) use of waste heat from the furnace or hot water heater to reduce heat lost through the floor
4) relative difficulty of insulating and air sealing the floor
5) possible freezing of basement pipes if they occur outside the thermal boundary.

There have been marked improvements in the efficiency of refrigerators and freezers over the past 25 years. Prior to 1990 the average, KWH/YR usage for a refrigerator was 1250 kilowatt hours. The 2001 standard is now 476 kWh per year, about 60% less. Similarly, the pre-1990 kWh usage per year for a freezer was 1025. The 2001 standard is 413.

In selecting a new refrigerator consider the following: automatic defrost models waste energy, chose a manual defrost if available in the size you want
side-by-side refrigerators/freezers use more energy than units that have the freezer apartment on the bottom or top
upright freezers use more energy than chest freezers operating two refrigerators uses far more energy than one larger model. Updating your kitchen is one of the most important considerations when preparing your home for sale. These are good options to think about when doing so.