Green Real Estate Appraiser

First-time Home Buyer; Get Your Docs In Order

Posted on February 2, 2013 | Leave a comment

Want to buy your first home? You’ve probably got some cash saved for a down payment and maybe even recommendations for realty agents from savvy friends you trust. But have you cleared up your credit report, hired a tax adviser or considered the benefits of FHA financing compared with a conventional mortgage?

Kasara Williams, 31, has taken all three steps in a year-long quest to buy her first home. “This whole experience has taught me that it’s important to have your financial act in order,” said Williams, a commercial property manager in Arlington. “It’s important to start your search early.”

Are values improving? For your value questions contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com.

Not every first-time homebuyer will need a tax adviser, like Williams did to fill out forms needed to withdraw part of her IRA without being penalized. But everyone interested in becoming a homeowner should prepare early with orderly finances, information and plenty of patience for the long and complicated process ahead.

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Portland Recycling Guru; Fills One Can of Trash in 16 Months

Posted on February 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

Taking 16 months to fill one 35-gallon can with trash is the best the Shelleys have done so far in reducing their waste.

They wrote no blog chronicling a year of sudden, anti-garbage inspiration with panicked Styrofoam-meat-tray-crinkly-cereal-box-liner moments. Instead, their effort to cut back on waste started slowly more than 20 years ago with the question: Where is “away” when something is thrown away?

That led to habits Jon Shelley says now come as naturally as breathing, making their feat not much trouble at all. But how does someone else get to that point?

A recycling information specialist at Metro, Betty Shelley heard that question enough she decided to teach a three-part class on reducing waste.

In “Less is more: Getting to one can of garbage a year,” she details her many habits and explains how, most importantly, she carefully considers what she brings home, asking, Where will it go when it’s used up, served its purpose or breaks?

Because while recycling matters, reducing consumption reigns.

Disclaimer: For information and entertainment purposes only

Trends in Bathroom Remodeling

Posted on January 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Tubs are mostly a thing of the past, at least when it comes to master bathrooms. For families with kids, a tub in the hall bathroom is still a necessity, but in a master bathroom, the tub has become a space-wasting nuisance.

That’s what Jeff Pregman of Two Poor Teachers told me when I met him on Saturday afternoon at the Home and Remodeling Show at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly. The exhibit hall was packed with exhibitors showcasing the latest in home renovation.

If you don’t take a bath in your master bathroom, there’s no law in Virginia that says you’ve got to have a tub in there,” Pregman said. “Now, if you have a massive bathroom, it makes sense to have a tub because it looks funny if you don’t. But if it’s a medium-sized bathroom, and it felt cramped in there before, let’s get rid of the tub that you don’t use. Let’s make it a bigger, spa-style shower.”

Bathroom remodels are big business for Two Poor Teachers. Founded in 1999 by two Fairfax County teachers — Ken Nies and Tom Pennell — the Annandale-based full-service residential construction company does about 300 bathrooms, 30 kitchen and 15 basement renovations a year in northern Virginia.

Will remodeling your bath add value? Contact the appraisers at www.scapprasals.com for your value questions

I asked Jeff if most people were remodeling their homes these days in order to sell them or if they were making the renovations for themselves. He said about 30 percent of the work Two Poor Teachers does are for people who are looking to sell their homes. But he expects that percentage to increase as home prices rise.

Two Poor Teachers doesn’t use subcontractors. They do all their own carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. They take pride in their ability to turnaround their jobs quickly. Pregman boasts that the firm can redo a bathroom in a week or less and a kitchen in two weeks or less.

“We’re not the high high or the low low,” Pregman said. “We want to be in the middle. Our average kitchen project is [$30,000 to $40,000] complete.”

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

First-time Home Buyer; Get Your Docs In Order

Portland Recycling Guru; Fills One Can of Trash in 16 Months

Trends in Bathroom Remodeling

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