Monthly Archive

Source: AJC.com

Going green could become the rule of law, not just a trend, in Sandy Springs. Spurred by the ongoing drought, city officials are considering a mandate for water-saving systems in most new homes.

The options include a “gray water recovery system” for residential construction priced at $500,000 or more, which is the majority of new housing in the affluent city. If approved, the requirement would be a first for metro Atlanta.

The council on Tuesday is expected to vote on several building code changes that are designed to reduce long-term water demand. Most of the options carry a modest cost, including low-volume faucets, bath fixtures and appliances in all new construction, and waterless urinals in new commercial buildings.

The requirement for a gray water recycling system, however, has raised hackles among builders. The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association estimates it will cost $5,000 to $7,000 per home. The organization represents 2,000 builders in the metro area, and opposes the requirement.

“One, it’s going to be expensive. Two, I don’t see this as helping our drought conditions,” said Chris Burke, a vice president with the association.

Gray water is water that has already been used in a home and that can be used for other purposed, such as outdoor watering. It doesn’t include toilet water. Designs vary, but generally, a recovery system uses dual piping to capture the spent water, then deposits it in a storage tank, which is pumped for irrigation. Burke argues such systems will divert used water from the local sewer system and delay its return to the river system. Proponents, including some Sandy Springs officials, say the systems will reduce demand on the water supply, because landscapes can be irrigated with reclaimed water.

“All of the gray water is being recycled,” said Karen Meinzen-McEnerny, a council woman who supports the change.

She suspected future homeowners will support the water conservation measures. “We’re all in the same boat here,” Meinzen-McEnery said. “We all need to pull together. We need to be creative in how to conserve.”

Mayor Eva Galambos will vote on the water-conservation changes only in the event of a tie on the council. But she said she supports the changes, including the water recovery systems.

“If I had known this was a possibility when I built my home 10 years ago, if my architect had told me it was an option, I would have done it,” Galambos said.

The region need to respond to demands on the Chattahoochee River, she said.

“We have a long-range problem. This isn’t just the drought. The Chattahoochee River isn’t going to cut it if we’re going to continue to grow,” the mayor said. “You have to be constructive and look at water as a limited resource.”

Other council members are undecided. Dianne Fries said she’s worried about going beyond the norm of other communities.

“I know we need to look to conservation and we need to look to the future,” she said. “I worry about a mandate that would only put difficulties on the Sandy Springs builders and developers. This is a tough one.”

During a Housing Slump, You can Take Steps to Keep Your Home’s Value High

Source: ABCnews.com

The new bear in market housing, says the very man who fathered the bubble, Alan Greenspan, is likely to continue for another year or more. Even if you have no problem making your mortgage payments, watching the value of your home nose-drive is a grim business.

It’s grimmer still if you bought in the past year, as 14 million Americans have done, because in that case you probably are, or soon will be, looking at a paper loss. To pour brine in your wounds: should you realize this loss by selling, you can’t use the loss to shelter gains in your stock portfolio. Tax rules treat a loss on your home as a nondeductible personal item.

Nevertheless, a few tax tricks and other financing gambits are available that take the sting out of the bear market. Frank is trying one of them. Some ideas:

Get Reappraised - If the house has tumbled in value, your property taxes should, too. So get your house reappraised by your municipal assessor. You may even be bale to petition, or sue if you must, to get back some taxes you overpaid in past months.

Home Office - Got a room you use to make a living? Dust off your receipts. You might be able to deduct some depreciation and a pro rata share of utilities and maintenance. The depreciation lowers your cost basis, which can come back to bite you when you sell at a profit. But if the property has lost value, this is not an issue. Many caveats apply, since the Internal Revenue Service closely scrutinizes home-office deductions, warns Mark Nash, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ private company services. If you are an employee, (a) the home office has to be not just permitted by but useful to the employer, and (b) only the amount exceeding 2% of adjusted gross income can be claimed (as “miscellaneous” items). If you are self-employed, the home office can only reduce your taxable income; it cannot create a loss. For both categories of worker, the room in question has to be used regularly and exclusively for work; a den where you occasionally write software won’t cut it.

Sale-leaseback with Relative - Suppose the $1 million home you and your spouse bought five years ago in Washington, D.C. has been appraised at $1.8 million, but you’re convinced your neighborhood is in for a 20% correction. Sell now and you’ll pocket $500,000 of the $800,000 gain tax free, thanks to the exemption on profits from the sales of personal residences. You’ll pay a 15% federal tax on the rest. Sell the property to a wealthy relative you can trust, ideally a parent or grandparent who’s got a few million tied up in safe yet stingy Treasury bonds. Then become a tenant. Your rent, which covers your property taxes and insurance but not utilities: less than $6,000 per month. Have outsiders certify that the sale of house and the rent are done at market rates so the IRS can’t argue that the arrangement is a sweetheart deal designed to disguise a gift from the parents and thus keep their estate taxes. Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Atlanta Intown Newspaper 

Article by: Jesse Morado (Renovation Coach)

The holidays are here, everyone is busy with family and friends and there is lots of activity around the home - and water consumption increases. The record drought and recent news about the limited availability of one of our most precious resources, water, have really opened our eyes to the need for water management measures in and our of our homes. Atlanta’s robust growth, a record-breaking drought and and sharing water with our neighboring states have created the perfect storm: a water shortage that has us wonder “how long before we run out?”

This being the case, we all need to take action in working towards saving what little we have left. So what can we do to protect this valuable resource? What products can we integrate in our homes that will makes water go further?

If you’re planning a bathroom, kitchen or laundry renovation, you may consider looking into a variety of water-saving techniques and products that will help reduce water usage. About 65 percent of indoor use occurs in the bathroom occurs in the bathroom, with another 10 percent in the kitchen. Here are a few helpful tips to consider:

Dual flush toilets - These toilets use .8 to 1.1 gallons of water to flush liquids and light waste and the standard 1.6 gallons for flushing heavy waste - a family of four can save between 2,000 to 6,000 gallons of water a year using these water-conserving toilets. The toilets cost anywhere from $250 to $1,500 depending on the manufacturers flushing mechanism and style.

High efficiency washing machines - These new washing machines utilize much less water and some may reduce water usage up to 40 percent. These new washers can save between 5,000 to 7,000 gallons of water a year. If one of these new washers isn’t in your budget, was only when you have a full load to do. Quite a bit of water can be saved this way.

Water-saving faucets - All newly manufactured faucets have water-saving devices within to reduce the flow of water through the faucets. Therefore, for your next project shop for those that use the least amount of water. If you have any old faucets in your home, replace these with new water-saving faucets and showerheads as soon as possible.

Water-saving dishwashers - If you’re buying a new dishwasher, consider a water-saving product that can save up to 25 percent more water than your older unit. Some of these new water-saving dishwashers can do a load with only four gallons of water. Once again, like your washing machine, just wash when you have a full load.

Rain barrels - When the rain finally returns, consider installing rain barrels at a couple or all downspouts to collect this precious resource. The captured rainwater can be used to water your lawn and garden, and yes, even to wash your car.

Last of all, you may consider integrating a gray water system into your home when making plumbing changes. These systems recycle the water that flows from your tubs, showers, and washing machine and redistributes it to your toilets and for outdoor watering. Some gray water systems can cut 35 percent to 40 percent off your water bill and don’t tax the sewer and septic systems as much. Check with your local plumbing codes to determine if a gray water system can be adapted to your home.

For more water-saving tips, visit the EPA websites below and let’s work together to do our part in saving this much needed resource.

Water Conservation Tips for Residents

WaterSense

Source: The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Open houses. Love them? Hate them? A waste of a Sunday afternoon, or a great way to get people in the door? Many home buyers and sellers, and agents, too, have strong opinions about them.

We talked to Jack and Doranne Strama of Jenny Pruitt & Associates. This husband-and-wife team loves open houses, so much so that they’re known as the company’s “open house gurus” and teach a class on open house marketing. “It’s a legitimate business builder,” Jack believes, “and shows clients that you’re willing to do something others might not.

“The house doesn’t have to be beautiful to be a good open house candidate,” he says. “An ugly duckling house might be just the ticket for someone who is looking for a house to renovate and make their own.”

Let’s meet two home buyers who found their homes through an open house.

AN OPEN HOUSE SELLS TO THE NEIGHBORS:

We had just finished redoing our home: Twyla and Lee Strasburg love their Kennesaw neighborhood of Legacy Park. “There’s a great pool area, tennis courts, baseball fields, a town green, and amphitheater where we have movies and concerts and walking trails all in the center fo a circle of 10 subdivisions,” says Twyla. “We wanted to stay in Legacy Park and had thought about moving, but didn’t see anything we wanted, so we had just redone our home and were planning to stay there.”

The open house sign lured them in: “We definitely were not looking. But we always liked this particular street in the Bellingrath subdivision and so few houses even went up for sale. This house was one of my favorites, and when we saw the sign for the open house, we just thought we’d check it out. When we walked in, we knew we had to buy it.”

What they bought: They traded their three-bedroom, two-bath ranch for a home with four bedrooms and four baths and a finished basement with windows all across the back. They’ve taken advantage of that basement space and created a “Bulldog” room as well as a media room and bar area.

An open house sold their old home, too: “Of course our old house wasn’t on the market,” says Twyla, “so we had to get it ready for sale quickly. We used the same agents that had the listing on our new house and they held an open house for us the next Sunday. The house was under contract by the following Tuesday. It was just amazing. Everything happened so quickly.”

AN OPEN HOUSE ‘IMPULSE’ BUY:

It happened one Sunday afternoon: LaDonna Lagod got a call from her sister-in-law, “There’s thirty minutes left at this open house. Let’s go.” LaGod remembers, “I was so tired and I didn’t want to go, but another neighbor had told me that it was a great house. When I walked in I was just in awe. The house had everything I wanted. But we weren’t really looking!” Still, she called her husband. “I asked the agents if they could give us jsut a few more minutes so my husband could come look at it.” The agents agreed, and four days later the Lagods had made an offer.

Where they bought: The Lagods had been in Marietta’s Riverhill subdivision for 11 years. They loved the neighborhood, but with three children, had outgrown their house. ” We had looked at houses before, and even made offers but never found the right one. And we definitely wanted to stay in our neighborhood.” Their new house in Hampton Farms subdivision is part of the larger collection of neighborhoods that shares swim and tennis facilities with Riverhill. Read the rest of this entry »