The three most common categories that are reviewed when talking about green building are:

1. Energy Efficiency

2. Non-toxic materials

3. Reduced consumption (fuel and resource conservation)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

This category applies to everything from the car you drive to the roof over your head.  If you look at your monthly budget a good portion of it goes to gas for your car and your utility bill that cools and heats your home.  The price of energy, regardless of its form, is not going to go down significantly any time soon.  The only way that it will go down is if we explore alternate energy sources (wind power, solar power, fuel cells and the like).

 

In the meantime green building practices can help us reduce the amount of energy we need.

 

 

Energy Star ratings are a great place to start when you are looking at doors, windows, appliances and even roofs because they meet government standards for energy conservation. Although, if you are looking for tax credits associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (or the ‘Stimulus Bill’) beware that some windows with the Energy Star rating will not qualify after June 1, 2009.

Metal roofs are super energy savers, and may offer you reduced insurance premiums on your home owner’s insurance as well.  The metal roof we most often recommend is a Metro Roof Products GLAVALUME ® Steel.  These stone coated steel roofing systems create a strong, weather-tight, energy efficient cap to your home.

So your looking to sell your house, one of the biggest things you can do before anything else is get the home inspected. Once you receive your home inspection list don’t be discouraged, there are going to be a lot of things on that list. The inspectors will usually spend hours looking through every inch of your house, they will find faults, no house is perfect. The thing to keep in mind is that you need to bring the home up to good condition, not perfect-brand-new-in-the-box condition, just good condition.

Before the inspection takes place do your own inspection. Some simple things to look for are:

• Appliances
• Lighting
• Garage Doors
• Window Operations
• Outlets (Specifically GFI’s)
• Operation of Doors & Locks

Fix all the things you can before the inspection and then have the inspector come in and do their job.

Once completed start going through the list and you’ll begin to see a lot of simple to fix items that you missed during your own inspection. Start with those items and then work on to the bigger ones. Or, if the bigger ones are too big for you, call in a contractor to take care of them. Fix as many items as possible. If your budget is a little tight always fix the most important items first. These items will include:

• HVAC
• Mold & Mildew, if any
• Roof
• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Drainage

Always keep all receipts and records of any other inspections or fixes that you have done while living at the house. This will show potential buyers that you have always done routine maintenance on specific items. Examples are yearly inspections and adjustments on furnaces, hot water heaters, and AC units. Also keep records of any warranty work that was done for appliances.

A good book that I recommend for anyone that is about to have their home inspected or for anyone that wants to do some fixing up around the home is “How to Operate Your Home by Mr. Fix-It“. This book goes over a great deal of information for every home owner to know about their house. It has solutions for common problems and recommendations for maintaining your home.

Stocking Stuffers: Gifts under $10.00

• Mini Maglite Flashlight: A classic gift that never goes out of style
• Stripped Screw Remover: This is a must have around at all times
• Rapid Edge Utility Knife: Comes with a serrated blade so it stays sharp longer

Gifts For All: Up to $200.00

• Digital Protractor $135.00; One handy tool for hanging crown moldings and trim.
• Home Owners Manual $24.95; Great book that covers most homeowner questions.
• All weather extension cord $49.99; Stays flexible in the coldest MN temperatures.
• Gorilla Rack Shelving $30.00 – $90.00; you can never have enough storage space.

He/She’s Been Good All Year!: Gifts Over $200.00

• Magnum Paint Sprayer $299.00; pair this will the roller attachment and you’ll make quick work of all your painting projects
• Makita Drill Combo Set $299.00; read our review to find out why we like this set so much.

OK, OK, It’s by no means the “Be All, End All” gift giving guide of the year but cut us a little slack, it’s our first try, and after all it is the Holidays.  And on that note, Everyone at the JWC team would like to wish you and yours a Happy & Safe Holiday Season this year and a big thanks to all of our new and existing clients.

10 Reasons why you need Life Insurance

1.)    You have a loan on a vehicle

2.)    You or your children have loans for college

3.)    You have credit card debt

4.)    You have personal loans

5.)    Your spouse relies on your income

6.)    You are saving for retirement

7.)    You have outstanding medical bills

8.)    You have young children

9.)    You have a mortgage

10.)  You have a second mortgage

Why is life Insurance Important?

Life Insurance won’t guarantee you’ll never face a tragic situation, just as wearing a seat belt won’t keep you from crashing your car. Whatever hopes and dreams you have for your loved ones can still be realized, even if the worst were to happen.

REAL EXAMPLES:

~Husband/father was driving home from work and lost control of his vehicle. He was killed instantly leaving wife to raise two kids, a $200,000 mortgage and loan for vehicle.

~The couple each had a $500,000 dollar life insurance policy to pay for his $15,000 funeral, $200,000 Mortgage, $20,000 Car loan and also covered expenses to raise children.

~A 19-year old was riding in a vehicle with a few friends. The driver wasn’t paying attention and ran a red light getting T-boned by an on coming vehicle killing the teenager instantly.

~Her parents carried a $100,000 policy which paid for her funeral, college debt and some medical expenses. Parents also missed work for 6 months which life insurance paid for.

~Mother/Wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was given 6 months to live. Family incurred $90,000 in medical bills and many trips to and from hospital. They spent the last two months traveling and shortly after she passed away leaving two children.

~Husband/Father received $250,000 in life insurance which was used to pay for funeral, medical bills, travel expenses and time missed from work.

American Family Insurance offers 25% discount with your home & auto insurance. We offer another discount on your auto insurance with a life insurance policy.  To find out your rate on your home, auto & life insurance go to my link under partnerships and click on American Family Insurance.

Office: 763-428-1004      Fax: 763-428-3063

While at Marvin, we learned a great deal about some of their new products like SillGuard, and Venting Picture Windows. We also learned about their manufacturing process.

Marvin SillGuard is a new way of keeping out water and moisture by effectively moving it to the exteriors of window and door openings. The Marvin SillGuard is easy to install and is made from non-corrosive and non-conductive recycled polypropylene.

The new Marvin Venting Picture Windows are an industry first. The Venting Windows provide the beauty of a picture window with the opportunity for cross ventilation. It provides fresh air and outside noises without any actual breeze coming through.

Here are some of the highlights of the manufacturing process we noticed while at Marvin:

• Marvin does not ever use two different species of wood for any of their products.
• They can design and produce any window that you can think of.
• Some of their patio screen doors are operated by rollers on the top of the doors.
• It’s unbelievable how many steps go into making a window!

To sum it up, this tour showed us that Marvin has got some new ideas and great products. However, while we like what Marvin is doing, there are many other companies out there that build great windows. It’s important to choose a window that not only looks great, performs well, and fits within your budget.

If you’re interested in finding out more information about windows or would like an estimate on adding or replacing windows at your house, please feel free to contact us.

You can count on JWC to keep you in the loop on such topics as real estate, new homes, green building, the latest technologies, industry trends, trade shows, and who knows, we may even throw in a BBQ recipe every now and then.

We’d like to encourage everyone to participate. So feel free to leave comments, check out our polls, and subscribe to the RSS feed. Click on our partners tab to find out more about the companies that will also participate in our blogs.

Thanks for visiting and check back soon for our next post. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions; please let us know at info@jwcresidential.com