5 “resolutions” to make the most of your home in 2012

House Logic, a site for homeowners, has taken the most common New Year’s Resolutions and turned them on their head — or perhaps “roof” would be more apt — to apply them to your home.

Lose weight

Reduce your energy consumption — and your energy bill — by implementing at least one energy-saving measure this year, such as

·      changing the light bulbs in your home to CFLs (don’t think “all or nothing” – try the least noticeable ones first, like in your halls and closets)

·      changing the temperature setting on your thermostat one degree

·      check and repair insulation around your doors, windows and especially your ductwork

·      For more energy saving tips and ideas, check out Energy Savers Guide: Tips on Saving Money and Energy at Home from US Department of Energy, Energy Saving Tips from Flex Your Power, and Save Energy at Home from Energy Star.

Quit smoking

Purify indoor air — according to the EPA, poor indoor air quality is one of the leading environmental health hazards we face today. Here are a few ways to keep your home air cleaner:

·        for painting projects, choose low-VOC paints, which produce fewer toxic fumes

·        make sure task-specific ventilation is installed and working in your kitchen and bathroom to properly remove cooking fumes, smoke and humidity

·        if you have a fireplace, choose real wood rather than packaged logs that could contain toxins like formaldehyde

·        For more clean air tips for your home, check out Tips for Making the Air in Your Home as Clean as Possible from Clean Air Plus, How To Keep Polluted Air (If You Really Want To) from Air Purification and Indoor Air Publications and Resources from the EPA

Get out of debt

Create an annual budget for improvements to your home — putting money aside for home projects will help you handle common repairs and maintenance that’s likely to come up during the year:

·        lending institutions like HSH Associates and Lending Tree estimate that average home maintenance costs are roughly 1% to 3% of your home’s initial price

·        Trusty Guides’ Home Improvement section can help you analyze the cost, budget and value of specific projects

·        For some ideas and tips on home maintenance planning and budgeting, see Budgeting for Home Maintenance and Repair Costs from Mint Life and How to Write Up a Household Budget from The Nest

Get organized

The three key words to organization are: Routine, Storage, and Disposal

·        establish a routine to handle the most common (and repeated) tasks and items that create clutter (e.g., mail, magazines, outdoor wear, toys, etc)

·        ensure that everything has a place and that there’s a place for everything — and, no, “on top of the pile” doesn’t count

·        keep what you need, and immediately throw away what you don’t — it’s amazing how much clutter can be removed merely by sorting through it and tossing what you don’t need to keep

·        For more tips on organization, clutter and storage, try Peter Walsh’s Ten Ways to Declutter Your Home, Zen Habit’s 18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess, Real Simple’s Home & Organizing, and HGTV’s Organization

Be less stressed

Less maintenance should mean less stress — so where possible, use maintenance-free materials and solutions in your home, such as

·        LED and CFL bulbs require a bigger initial outlay than traditional light bulbs, but they not only pay for themselves over time through lower energy costs, they last anywhere from seven to 40(!) times longer than traditional bulbs, which means a lot less bulb changing for you

·        fiber-cement siding is some of the longest lasting (50 years or more) and toughest (resists fire, dents, and rot) siding you can choose for your home — and according to Hanley Wood, replacing your existing siding with fiber-cement has the highest return-on-investment of any home improvement project (of $1200 or more)

·        For more tips on low-maintenance home materials, see LSU Ag Center’s Low-Maintenance Materials and Products and Top 23 Low-Maintenance Projects from DIY Network

For more resolutions you can make for your home this year, see HouseLogic’s Top-10 List of New Year’s Resolutions for Your Home.
 

An interesting infographic says “yes”

The site One Block Off the Grid (1bog.org), a free group discount site focused on solar energy solutions for home owners, recently published the following infographic showing some statistics about why some houses sell faster than others.

Time to say goodbye to the bulb that Edison made

Between now and 2014, lighting your home will by law become a more energy efficient endeavor. Standard incandescent bulbs, as per the “Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,” will no longer be allowed to be manufactured in or imported to the U.S.A, which will change the lighting options available to you.

You can still get (and buy) regular lightbulbs

To be clear — the regulations that passed in 2007 (and that went into effect Sunday, January 1^st) mandate a three-year phase out of the manufacture and import of incandescent bulbs. Buying and selling these bulbs is not against the law. According to the schedule laid out, the 100-watt bulb is the first to go — this year, 2012. In 2013, say goodbye to the 75-watt bulb. And in two years, 60- and 40-watt bulbs will no long be allowed.

Banned, but not enforced—yet.

In a rather peculiar turn of events, however, the government voted to disallow spending any money to enforce the ban on 100-watt incandescent bulbs — at the very earliest until October 1^st, 2012.

In fact, not exactly banned at all

Although there are plenty of posts and articles about the total demise of the incandescent bulb, this is not actually the case at all. What the new rules demand is that incandescent bulbs manufactured or imported into the U.S.A. must conform to new energy standards. A normal 100-watt incandescent bulb draws 100 watts of power to produce the amount of light it does, but uses most of that energy to emit heat. The new rules require that a bulb that throws off the same amount of light only draw a maximum of 72 watts of power.  In April of last year, Philips Lighting launched a new line of incandescent bulbs that meet the new requirements. These bulbs are not as energy efficient as LED or CFL bulbs, but, according to Philips, the light they give off is the same as the light from traditional incandescents.

The EcoVantage bulbs are available at Amazon.com, Home Depot and a variety of online and local stores, if you want to see what kind of light they produce.

For more information on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and how it could impact you:

·        New York Times: Almost Time to Change the Bulb

·        The Advertiser: Out with the old-fashioned light bulb

·        The Washington Post: The incandescent light bulb is dead; long live the incandescent light bulb?

5 events that really had an impact

Time Magazine and AOL Real Estate each have lists of the most significant news in real estate in 2011:

AOL’s #1: “Foreclosure Crisis”

The “emotional and economic distress.” The “drag on a recovery.” The “tighter lending practices.” The robo-signing scandal. The prospect of a settlement that will only result in more foreclosures.

Time’s #1: “Robo-Signing Reverberations”

The record average foreclosure processing time of 2011 (631 days) can be directly linked to the speedy foreclosure processing scandal in 2010 — without proper or complete documentation. Many homes are still stalled somewhere mid-process, but when a settlement with the banks is reached, experts expect to see a distinct increase in foreclosure volume in 2012.

Time’s #2: “The Debt Ceiling and the Budget Deficit”

“One idea that both Republicans and Democrats didn’t totally disagree about was reducing the mortgage interest and other tax deductions. If and when that happens, high-income homeowners with mortgages would pay a lot more in taxes.”

AOL’s #3: “Bankrupt Policy”

The very definition of too little, too late — the administration’s multiple attempts to support homeowners in distress (HAMP, HARP, EHLP, or 2MP) all fell flat, failing to reach a substantial percentage of their intended beneficiaries and/or failing to provide substantial assistance.

Time’s #4: “Natural Disasters Cause Insurance Disaster?”

The federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NIFP) is still reeling from Katrina, a problem for the housing market that felt the spotlight when Irene struck this year. In a catch-22 of nearly epic proportions, if NFIP goes under, flood insurance goes away, bringing the housing market in flood-prone areas to a dead stop— as you cannot get a mortgage without flood insurance.

How a little “magic” can make a big difference

Remodeling your kitchen can run anywhere from $1,200 for new countertops to $50,000 or more for a complete overhaul and the process can take anywhere from a week to six months or longer.

To spruce up your countertops, drawer fronts or appliances with a new look without the big investment (of money or time), however, Carter Oosterhouse has a few suggestions.

Featured in a “10 Minute Kitchen Makeover” segment on the Rachel Ray Show, Oosterhouse touts the ease, affordability and flexibility of adhesive faux finishes. You can get faux stainless steel to apply to your appliances, or even drawers and cabinet doors if you’re going for an industrial look. One sheet, about three feet wide by 26 to 28 inches long, runs about $20.

For your countertops, he suggests a faux granite — the sheets are also about three feet by 30 inches, and run about $30 per sheet.

Another stainless steel finish option is stainless steel paint. Thomas’ Kitchen Art offers Refrigerator and Range/Dishwasher kits to refinish your appliances with a paint that contains flecks of real steel. The process is a bit more involved than Oosterhouse’s peel and stick solution — requiring three coats of paint topped with one to three coats of clear urethane. See Consumer Reports’ video review of the paint here.