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Go Green While Saving Green
- 1611 Westlake makes use of shade and multi zone air conditioning
Austin architect Peter Pfeiffer and Dallas architect Betsy del Monte have devised a Energy Use Pyramid, to determine which strategies save or create the most energy for their cost. Like the food pyramid we learned about in elementary school, the Energy Use Pyramid has a base of the most efficient green tactics working up to ideas that, like icing on the cake, are nice to have but less important.
The base of the Pyramid may surprise many – it has nothing to do with solar panels or windmills. To keep your home the most energy efficient for your money, according to Pfeiffer, has to do with design of the home and landscape, and proper insulation. An ideal house is oriented to avoid direct western exposure (which creates even more heat in the summer) and to use southern exposure to capture heat in the colder winter months. Shade trees and strategic overhangs create much of the same effect. Houses created with this mindset are smaller, and insulated with no air leaks. These ideas to maximize heating and cooling are the best investments you can make to keep your house greener.
The middle of the Pyramid deals with appliances and other electricity using items in the house. For example, one Energy Star front-loader washing machine uses 75% less energy, 60% less water and reduces more dryer time than a standard top-loader. Another strategy is CFLs – florescent lights that use a quarter of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs, reducing your electrical bill by around 10% if used throughout the home. They also create less heat for your air conditioner to cool – dropping that bill by as much as 15%.
The top spot of the Pyramid goes to the energy you can harness yourself with solar and wind power. While this is a great way to stay green, it is not the most cost efficient. Simple home improvements like correctly sized windows, efficient two-zone air conditioning, and big shady trees affect the aesthetic value of your home, resale value, and energy use. 1611 Westlake
Deck Your Halls a Little Greener This Year
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and many households are starting to decorate their homes for the holidays. Soon, our streets and neighborhoods should be filled with twinkling holiday lights. If lights are part of your holiday traditions, this year, LED lights offer a new option to save energy, save money on your bills, and more.
What are LED lights? LED is an acronym for “light emitting diode.” Lights are traditionally miniature incandescent bulbs, with a filament inside them. Basically, LED lights do not have this filament, but rather, are lit by moving electrons in semiconductor material.
These have many advantages. For one, they don’t burn as hot, making them safer, and cool to the touch. They can be encased in a plastic material, instead of the thin glass that older lights are made of, making them harder to break. The wires are thicker, making them harder to tangle. They last longer, sometimes 20 years. And of course, they save energy – using around 80% less energy than traditional lights.
LED technology has been around for a while, but has only caught on for holiday lighting in recent years. Now they come in all colors, and can blink. The past three years have seen LED lights grow more and more popular – they have been used on the Rockefeller Center tree since 2007.
Miller Creek Ranch
What are the disadvantages to LED lights? They cost more upfront, for one. You can expect to pay two or three dollars more, per strand. The main complaint with the lights is the appearance – the glow is just different, and some don’t like it. But as we get more used to seeing these lights, the safety and efficiency is something we can all feel good about seeing this holiday season.
Photo: Miller Creek Ranch
Read more:
“What We Are Decking the Halls With: LED Christmas Lights” from the Omaha World Herald
Steiner Ranch Model Home Price Reduction
Eagles Glen
This immaculate former model home backs to a golf course in the exclusive University Club section of Steiner Ranch, with stunning hill country views.
The home’s price was just reduced by $50,000. Take a look at the listing here before this stunning home disappears.
12 Reasons to Buy a Home Now
Reasons to Buy a Home Now
The Buyers Market
1. High Inventory: There is currently a balance of supply and demand that leans in the buyer’s favor. High inventory leaves a buyer with many available choices, and in all price ranges.
2. Negotiating Power: The high inventory also allows for decreased prices and more negotiating power for the buyer. Not only can a homebuyer find their dream home, but they can do so for a great rate.
Home Prices
3. Home Prices: Prices have come down a great deal from years past, and will only continue to rise over time.
4. Interest Rates: With interest rates also at the lowest point in years, a single housing payment is going farther than it did in the past. Interest rates will not remain this low, and are expected to rise again soon.
Tax Savings
5. Tax Deductions: Buying a home allows for many tax deductions, such as mortgage interest, mortgage insurance and real estate taxes. This means that after taxes, your mortgage payment will be lower than a rent payment would have been.
6. Tax Credit: The new tax credit for homebuyers has been extended through spring, with an $8000 credit for new buyers and a $6500 credit for repeat buyers.
Personal Savings
7. Appreciation: Home prices always move upward in the long run, appreciating the value in a home.
8. Equity: If you have an amortizing loan, each mortgage payment is building equity in your home. It is such a gradual change many people don’t notice it, but it is allowing you savings.
9. Rising Rents: Rents are expected to continue to rise.
Incentives and Extras
10. Material and Non Material Extras: With the buyer’s extra sway in negotiations, you are able to ask for things that may not have been previously included, such as material items (like appliances) or non material items (such as a home warranty) as part of the purchase of the home.
11. Home Improvements: Many sellers are working hard to make their homes move in ready, with extra home improvements and updates.
12. Maintenance Costs: With updates and repairs before the home’s purchase, a buyer can save money in maintenance along with having a newer looking home.
Austin and Texas are Looking Green
According to the EPA, the Energy Star program is celebrating reaching the one million mark throughout the nation. Even more exciting news for Texans, 28% of these homes are in the Lone Star State. The country’s fourth biggest city, Houston, tops the list of most Energy Star homes. Also appearing in the top 20 are San Antonio, and at #14, Austin.
Energy Star homes will save an average of $200-$400 this year on utility bills, and $270 million nationwide. They are at least 15% more energy efficient than regular homes and will save 4 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Call your Realtor today about your future Energy Star home.
Video Tour: East Creek Gentleman’s Ranch
Perfectly located gentleman’s ranch in community east of Dripping Springs. Country Living Along Spring-Fed East Creek. 25 Minutes to Austin in Exemplary Dripping Springs ISD.
Full listing with features, photos and virtual tour here.
Video Tour:
Video Tour: Stunning Land and Waterscaped Estate
Peaceful Hill Country Escape
Exclusive estate on 7+ acres of beautifully groomed & manicured, flat, park-like land with walking trails & benches throughout. A peaceful, gated hide-away only 10 minutes from the Hill Country Galleria and 25 minutes from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. This amazing retreat consists of 4 well built structures including a beautiful main home of 6,000+ square feet (5 spacious bedrooms, plus an office, gym, magnificent theatre and game room, gourmet kitchen and bonus room). The second structure has been nicknamed “The Treehouse”…a separate 3 car garage with a studio apartment upstairs, approximately 600 square feet, including a kitchenette, bathroom & 2nd story balcony nestled in the trees. A short walk away, is the 3rd home nestled in a beautiful forest of mature trees…a separate 2 bedroom, loft, one bath guesthouse that overlooks a beautiful pond with continuously running waterfalls and creeks. The fourth is a 6 car garage/workshop that can also hold a large RV… ample room to hold all of the toys of grown ups & children alike. This one of a kind estate is truly breathtaking with a certain feel of tranquility & privacy that few homes can match. Spacious, yet warm, cozy, nestled and homey.
More pictures and features here.
Video Tour of Property:
Waterstone Condominiums Grand Opening Party
Lake Travis
Waterstone Condominiums is a collection of 71 limited edition, luxury lakefront homes on Lake Travis in the Texas hill country that are both rustic and contemporary. With Lake Travis water levels up and the economy down, now is the time to buy lake property at an affordable price, and for a great future investment.
They are hosting a grand opening party on Wednesday, November 11 from 5 to 7 PM where guests can preview the 25 luxury condos included in the grand opening auction. The event will be catered, with wine, beer, and an assortment of food.
The RSVP deadline is Monday November 9th at 5 PM, you can call us before then at (512) 751-6060, or email thedavemurrayteam@gmail.com, if you are interested in attending.
The Results Are In
The results are in, and Texans have voted to pass all 11 proposed amendments to the state constitution, including those we’ve reported on, for appraisal reform.
Proposition 11, which limits the government’s power to eminent domain, was hugely popular and passed by an 80-20 margin. “The amendment bans governments in Texas from seizing private property and giving it to a private developer to boost the tax base,” reports KXAN News.
Over 43,500 residents voted in Travis County.
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