Flat Fee MLS Blog

  Need free boxes for your move or to store items while you sell your home?  If so, forget digging through the supermarket dumpster.  You can save yourself some money and trouble, while you recycle at the same time. 

The U-Haul Website has a Free Box Exchange Service.   The U-Haul Box Exchange is a messageboard that you can use to trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies. With every reuse of a box, a new box is prevented from entering the cycle.

To get started, you will need to create a U-Haul Customer ID.   To post a new message or to see posted messages in your region, simply click on that region listed below.

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P.S.  Sellers should remember to take advantage of a free home listing at the InfoTube.net homes for sale website.  Thousands of Home shoppers visit the site daily to look for new listings, video tours, real estate advise and more.  Don’t miss the traffic.  The Infotube Featured Home Service is Free for Why6 customers.

                                                                                     The Environmental Protection Agency offers the following tips for those who want to conserve energy and water inside the home:

•  Visit energystar.gov to find energy efficient appliances that can save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
• Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven)
• Have leaky air-conditioning and refrigeration systems repaired.
• Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
• Insulate your home, water heater and pipes.
• Don’t let the water run while shaving or brushing teeth.
• Take short showers instead of tub baths.
• Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool.
• Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher, wash only full loads.
• Wash only full loads of laundry, or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine.
• Buy high-efficient plumbing fixtures and appliances.
• Repair all leaks (a leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water a day)
• Water the lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day (early morning is best)

It’s easy to be green while you are marketing your home and communicating with first time homebuyers who need to know these talking points.

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                                                                     Let the light of day brighten up your night! Powered by a built-in photocell, solar night-lights require no wiring and no electricity, and they turn on automatically at night. Now you can harness the sun to illuminate your driveway, paths, steps and decks with easy to install solar lights that recharge (for free) during the day. Your curb appeal is also enhanced for night time viewing by potential home buyers while you are marketing your home.

Designed to look great whether you like traditional or modern, these energy-savers are available both in-store and online. There is a vast array of holiday night lights available online, including Christmas and Halloween. They are becoming increasingly popular, particularly since they are so much easier to install than traditional wired systems. If you decide you don’t like where you put them, or simply want to expand or mix things up, they are also much easier to move than wired units.

By harnessing the sun for your night time lighting projects, you are saving money, saving energy, and enhancing your home’s curb appeal-this is an easy way to go green.

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                                                                                                         If you put your pooch’s waste in a plastic bag, it takes up to 100 years to decompose. So, when it comes time to pick up after your beloved doggy, choose a biodegradable bag instead of regular plastic. Otherwise, you are wrapping one of nature’s quickest degrading substances in something that takes decades to break down, according to expert Brian Howard.

The typical dog produces 274 pounds of waste each year, according to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. For sanitary reasons, most towns require owners to pick up after their pets, but what to do with it?

Use biodegradable bags that several companies offer. For example, BioBags-the corn based product -are certified to break down in a matter of days. They work very well in communities that have aerobic landfills that are churned up. Biodegradable products don’t work near as well in closed anaerobic landfills, but they certainly won’t hurt.

This is one easy thing that you can do in your own backyard. Adding curb appeal to your property doesn’t hurt either, whether you’re marketing your home to buyers or just going green.

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Yes, you heard right…according to expert Brian Clark Howard, the latest announcement from Sam’s Club (the big box retailer of modern consumerism) is that they are poised to market solar panels at nine Southern California Clubs: Corona, Murrieta, Glendora, Ontario, La Habra, Chino, Long Beach, Fountain Valley and Torrance. These locations  have Home Effieciency Centers that have been created to showcase green products and appliances.

Sam’s Club is working with Borrego Solar Systems and BP Solar, and buyers can expect to save in the neighborhood of $500. Consumers can expect to see kiosks in participating stores that tout the benefits of solar energy.  The company is also ramping up offerings of Energy Star appliances, low-flow fixtures, DFLs, LEDs and other green building products.

The news from Sam’s Club echoes recent reports that IKEA is investing $77 million into its GreenTech energy fund, with the goal of producing and selling solar panels, efficiency meters, and energy efficient lighting. The green trend is finding its way into home marketing, as a selling tool and to educate homebuyers and sellers regarding energy efficiency that saves them money.

That Sam’s Club and IKEA are making forays into home renewable energy is big news. This will make a real dent in our current energy crisis and pave the way for a cleaner future. Alternative technologies available in stores across the Heartland will make this possible.

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The “green” mortgage was born in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter signed an executive order directing federally sponsored secondary market institutions to offer consumers incentives for energy-efficient homes.

Green mortgages, or energy-efficient mortgages, allow homeowners to use their commitment to the environment to leverage bigger loans. The concept is based on the premise that a more energy-efficient home will have lower utility bills. That savings can be considered income, allowing a homebuyer to qualify for a bigger loan.

You have to provide a Home Energy Rating System report in order to apply for a green mortgage. HERS reports indicate that your house meets all engergy-efficiency guidelines. The builder can provide proof for a new home.

If you are a homeowner looking to upgrade your home’s energy-efficiency, you can commission a trained Energy Rater to issue a HERS report suggesting efficiency improvements. The Energy Rater can estimate the cost of those improvements, as well as the savings. Cost for the report is usually a few hundred dollars.

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       If you’re currently renting, consider the tax advantages of homeownership. Know what expenses you can deduct, and understand how new laws affect you.

Here are the top 10 tax tips for homeowners:

1. Deduct mortgage interest and real estate taxes-interest paid on home loans is deductible up to $1 million for a principal residence plus a second home. Property taxes on all real estate are fully deductible.

2. You can deduct any money paid toward points or origination fees if you bought a home this year. Closing costs are not deductible. Points paid on a new mortgage loan for the purchase or improvement of a principal residence are deductible for the year in which they were paid.

3. If you refinanced your mortgage this year or took out a loan to buy a second home or investment property, you can deduct any points you paid equally over the life of the loan.

4. Deduct private mortgage insurance (PMI)-taxpayers with adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less can fully deduct premiums for PMI. The deduction is allowable only for insurance on loans that were originated after 12/31/06 and before 01/01/11.

5. Deduct moving expenses if you moved 50 miles or more for a new job. If you relocated for a new full-time job at least 50 miles away from your previous home, you can deduct the cost of packing, transporting or storing your household goods.

6. If you sold your house this year, see if you’re subject to a capital gains tax-if the profit you received from the sale of your house is under $500,000 for married couples or $250,000 for single owners, you are exempt from the capital gains tax.

7. Home improvements and mortgage closing costs are not tax deductible, but when you sell your house, they can be used to offset your capital gains tax burden should you have one.

8. If you did a short sale this year, the debt forgiven by your lender can be excluded from your taxable income. Thanks to a new law, you can exclude debt up to $2 million if it was discharged by the lender in 2007, 2008 or 2009.

9. Take advantage of energy efficiency tax credits-going green is good for the environment and your wallet. You can quality for a tax credit with documentation of energy efficient updates to your home.

10. If your home was damaged from a sudden, unexpected event, such as a natural disaster, fire, vandalism or theft, deduct some of the loss. You may deduct all expenses not covered by your homeowner’s insurance, minus a $100. deductible and 10 percent of your adjusted gross income.

Some of the best perks of owning a home are the tax breaks. This may be the time to buy a home. Remember to consult your tax advisor.

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Here’s an easy tip to save money and conserve energy:

Turn your dial to cold water-with most clothes, you really don’t need hot water to get a good cleaning. Ninety percent of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating the water. The higher the temperature of the water, the more electricity you’re running and the higher the cost in terms of both energy use and money.

Add in one of the earth-friendly laundry detergents available everywhere these days and chill out about any harm to your clothes or the environment.

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Tips for a Lush Lawn:       

1. Mow less frequently and cut the grass longer so the top growth protects the roots. To force the roots to go deeper, water less frequently-this keeps them cooler and less susceptible to dry spell damage.

2. Use cornmeal or diatomaceous earth for a good insecticide.

3. Pull weeds before they set seed.

4. Use a soil conditioner with good microorganisms and aerate to encourage soil health. Try LazyMan Liquid Soil Aerator or Soil Conditioner for an easy spray-on solution without backbreaking work, available at outsidepride.com

A lush lawn doesn’t have to break your back, your bank or your planet.

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                           If you don’t think that hot water is a hot  topic, think again. The average electric water heater serving a family of four uses 6,400 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, releasing eight tons of CO2, according to the University of Wisconsin’s Solar Energy Laboratory. That’s more than a typical automobile! Gas-fired heaters release about two tons of CO2 a year.

Investing in a solar water heater is a simple and affordable way to save money on your utilities while helping to protect the environment. Solar water heaters are very reliable and can work in any climate. There are several different types, including those with pumps and those that work passively. You will need a storage tank and some type of solar collector. Some homeowners use the devices exclusively or sometimes with a gas or electric tankless water heater as a backup, while others pair them with other systems as pre-heaters.

You don’t have to go off the grid and the good news is that home solar water heating systems cost an affordable $1,500 to $3,500 and pay for themselves in four to eight years. If you are selling your home  ” fsbo ” or advertising on the MLS, why not schedule one into your next renovation?

Shop for a solar water heater online at: solarhome.org and solarroofs.com

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