Making energy saving changes in the kitchen of your Virginia Beach home is really easy. Consider these simple cooking tips.

Energy Saving Cookware:

• Match the pan size to the size of the element on your electric cook-top. Make sure the pan covers the burner without going more than an inch beyond it. If you use a burner that is larger than the pan, you are paying to heat not just the pan but the air over the uncovered part of the burner.
• Clean those metal burner pans under the burners so they are bright and shiny. They’ll reflect the heat better back up to the pan. Cover your pots when you can. The water will boil faster. That’s physics.
• Use the least amount of water you can get away with. It will take less time and energy to bring it to a boil. Use the lowest possible heat setting to keep the water boiling, steaming, simmering, or whatever your recipe calls for.
• If you have an electric cook-top in your Virginia Beach home, turn the burner off right before you finish cooking. Make use of the heat the burner continues to give off as it cools down.

More Energy Savers:

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The kitchen in your Virginia Beach home offers multiple ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce utility bills. Although seemingly small steps, the tips offered below are generally free or inexpensive and yet will result in creating a more energy-efficient environment in your home–and on the planet.

APPLIANCES are, of course, the most familiar to us when we consider energy output. True, they are not free or inexpensive, but they can be a real drain on your money if they do not function efficiently. Those that have earned the Energy Star have met the EPA standards for energy-efficiency and are recommended.

Refrigerators account for about 15% of your total electricity bill, but newer models use far less than those manufactured years ago. Consider the size you need when purchasing a new to avoid wasting energy cooling nothing.

Dishwashers offer opportunities to save, too. Run them only when they are full and scrap the dishes prior to washing so that you can use the light or normal wash cycle. Also, set the drying cycle to air dry to say energy.

Microwaves and toaster ovens are good alternatives to the use of a large oven in your Virginia Beach home, especially for smaller meals. You might also look into the use of light ovens (similar to a microwave but browns and roasts like a regular oven), induction cooking (extremely efficient because all the het goes into the food), and solar cookers (free and clean energy for slow cooking).

COOKWARE: Selecting the correct size, shape, and type can also prevent energy waste.

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Considering buying a newly built Virginia Beach home? Here are some things to think about.

ADVANTAGES:

• HOME WARRANTY: Generally this warranty is good for one year and covers heating, cooling, and electrical systems and plumbing. Some also cover appliances.

• INCENTIVE PROGRAM: Many builders use incentives, both large and small, to attract buyers. Examples include vacations or furnishing for your Virginia Beach home. Note: these incentives are often offered only if you use the builder’s lender.

• CUSTOM DESIGN: If you become involved with the builder early in the building process, you may have a say in the home’s construction–from customized features to flooring to colors.

• FASTER CLOSING. No titles to search.

• SAFETY/HEALTH: No worries about old wiring. lead paint, or asbestos.
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Interior Painting Tips

Whether your desire for a new look inside your Virginia Beach home is because of the arrival of summer or because you hope to hasten the sale of your house, you may be considering repainting in the near future.

While paining can be a long, and sometimes unrewarding, task, professional painters and expert “do-it-yourself-ers” alike agree on ways to make the process less frustrating and more likely to produce a finished product you’ll be proud of. Basically, these tips center around organization, preparation, and patience.

1. GET ORGANIZED

• Purchase all necessary supplies in advance. Include paint, brushes, rollers, and drop cloths on your list. Most pros advise using a canvas drop cloth because it absorbs drips and spills better than plastic, can be more easily contoured around corners, will lie flatter, and can be reused often. Consider buying a canvas runner (4’x15’) which can be more easily moved.

• Set up a work station in the middle of the room. This is the place to keep your paint, brushes and rollers, spackle, hammers and screwdrivers,  cleaning rags, plastic sheets and bags, painter’s tape, paint can opener, etc. Think of everything you might possibly need while painting and gather them together in this one place.

• Take everything down from your walls. Remove furniture completely or, if that’s not possible, move it all to the center of the room and cover with a cloth.

• Remove all hardware from the surfaces to be painted in your Virginia Beach home. This includes switch plates, outlet covers, doorknobs, and light fixtures.  Place the pieces from each one in a separate small plastic bag and label each one

2. TAKE TIME TO PREPARE

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For Sunday’s open house, your Virginia Beach home was in “show-ready” condition. With curb appeal at its finest, clutter nowhere to be seen, windows and appliances sparkling, and the aroma of freshly baked cookies wafting in the air, you were certain that potential buyers couldn’t help but be positively impressed.

However, now it’s midweek, and the house has fallen back into its “lived in” state. Clutter abounds, dishes are in the sink, laundry has piled up, and toys have proliferated overnight. What a time for your Realtor to call to tell you that she wants to show your Virginia Beach home to very serious buyers in two or three hours! What to do? First, don’t panic. Take deep breath, walk through the house to identify trouble spots, and make a mental plan following these handy guidelines.

REMOVE CLUTTER FROM ALL FLAT SURFACES. It’s amazing how quickly items accumulate on the kitchen counters, coffee and side tables, bathroom vanities, dressers, desks, and nightstands and how negatively this disarray affects a buyer’s impression of your home. Straighten papers, put books on bookshelves, stack dishes in the dishwasher, collect newspapers, magazines, and sundry items in shopping bags or pillowcases and stash them–neatly– in your garage or storage shed–or even in the trunk of your car!  Do not try to hide gathered items in your closet or cabinets because people touring your home will definitely be opening the doors to those areas. Also, be sure that your stairs are clear and clutter-free and that piles of dirty laundry are hidden from sight in the washer and/or dryer.

DUST, SWEEP, AND VACUUM. Don’t forget mirrors, wood furniture, or television and monitor screens in your dusting efforts. Also be aware of the need to remove animal hair from sofas and chairs (and perhaps the animals could stay with a neighbor during the visitation). In the living room, arrange area rugs and fluff throw pillows.

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Why would you refinance your Virginia Beach home mortgage at this time?  For many reasons.  Refinancing now can allow you to:

1. Lock in a lower interest rate

2. Reduce your monthly mortgage payment

3. Extend (or reduce) your repayment time

4. Help you pay off high interest debts

5. Free up money for investments, home repairs, or making your home more energy efficient

Since interest rates hover around all-time lows, anyone carrying a higher rate interest loan or an ARM will benefit from refinancing; just a .5 or 1 point drop in rate constitutes worthwhile savings. Even if the ARM on your Virginia Beach home is lower than the current rate, when rates rise again, your costs will certainly go up, perhaps dramatically. Refinancing to a fixed-rate mortgage now allows you to lock in a low rate for the duration of your loan. Do be aware, though, that lenders generally charge a risk premium for fixed mortgages.

If you, as a Virginia Beach home owner, want to shorten the length of time required to pay off your loan, you may want to consider refinancing to a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage with even lower interest rates. This move will increase your monthly payment, but you may save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run.

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Although the terms pre-qualification and pre-approval are often used interchangeably, the two differ greatly in the process involved in obtaining them and in the benefits they provide when buying a Virginia Beach home. Here’s what you need to know about each of them:

Pre-qualification:

This is a lender’s informal way of estimating how much you may be able to borrow. It is based on the information you provide (often by phone), none of which needs to be verified or documented. Since a letter of pre-qualification gives you an idea of how much house and the amount of mortgage payments you can afford, the best time to get pre-qualified is as soon as you decide you want to buy a Virginia Beach home.

You supply to the lender unverified information about your income, assets, debts, and possible amount of a down payment. There is no cost involved in obtaining pre-qualification, and there is no commitment for either party. Understand, however, that a letter of pre-qualification does not mean you will get a loan; it is simply a ballpark figure of the amount you can afford to spend on your Virginia Beach home and an indication that you might qualify for a mortgage in that amount.

Pre-Approval:

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Buy or Refinance Your Virginia Beach Home NOW!!

1.  Home Buyer Credit Act

• DEADLINE: April 30, 2010 (June 30^th with a signed, binding contract).
• ELIGIBILITY: First-time buyers and repeat buyers (those who have owned and lived in one residence for 5 consecutive years of the last 8).
• INCOME LEVELS; $125,000 individual and $225,000 for couples.
• PURPOSE Allows Virginia Beach home buyers to receive a tax credit (which may be claimed on this year’s taxes) of $6500 to $8,000.

***Remember that a tax credit is a dollar-for dollar reduction in what a taxpayer owes. If the credit exceeds the amount owed, a refund will be issued.

2. Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP)

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Just as fashion styles and automobile designs vary with time, so do house features most desired by potential home buyers. Current surveys concerning home trends indicate an emphasis on open space, use and function, size, design, and environment. The majority of these topics involve changes that go beyond the scope of home improvement projects and require actual remodeling of your Virginia Beach home.

Probably having the greatest impact on a potential buyer is your floor plan. Open spaces which make the living area appear large, airy, and unobstructed are most desirable. Flexible floor plans feature an eat-in kitchen which opens up into the dining and family rooms, thus allowing for family togetherness and ease of entertaining. To achieve this sense of space and unity, you should provide multiple accesses to the kitchen and ensure an unobstructed line of sight and a practical traffic flow. Here are specific suggestions regarding these layouts.

While buyers are no longer clamoring for extremely large homes with excess square footage, they do insist on functional areas with both specific and multiple uses. Home offices are still in demand, but several smaller work stations spread throughout your [city] home are also in vogue. Dual office/bedrooms, large and plentiful storage spaces, and a children’s retreat for study and recreation have become popular, as have entertainment centers such as a bar, a home theater, or an exercise room. Of primary importance is the idea that no space is wasted and that the need for both privacy and togetherness has been considered throughout your home.

In keeping with the “greening” of real estate, rooms which bring the outside in are valued by buyers. This effect can be achieved by a large expanse of windows overlooking gardens, a pool, or inviting landscaping and by carefully selecting eco-friendly paints. These should reflect the soothing colors of nature–from pastels to earth tones.

Of equal importance to a potential buyer of your Virginia Beach home are features which bring the inside outside. Today’s buyers want to extend their “open” atmosphere to a yard which has spaces, furniture, and equipment designated for specific uses–an outdoor cook/dining area, for example, a reading/relaxation corner, a children’s activity space, or a conversation area grouped around a fire pit.

You may also want to consider generational home buying trends as you plan your remodeling. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), both young buyers and the over 50 set are “driving the demand for smaller, smarter homes designed to function more efficiently with no wasted space and plenty of room for storage.” The Boomers desire “high-tech features, an open floor plan, and spaces to enjoy outdoor living.” (NABH Builders’ Magazine, July 2009, “Brave New World.”)

What’s your Virginia Beach home worth?

The prospect of relocating to a new place can be somewhat unsettling as you face emptying your present house and filling up your  Virginia Beach home. Not only must you deal with the onus of packing and the logistics of your physical move, you also find yourself a bit anxious–and possible sad– about leaving a place where you’ve grown comfortable. No wonder so many people dread making a move!

There is, however, a painless way to lessen the angst and allow you to cope well (maybe even enjoy) the relocation process–and that is organization. While you may be proficient at researching and hiring a moving company and finding reliable Realtors to sell your current residence and help you find the perfect Virginia Beach home, there are numerous “small” steps you can take to eliminate unpleasant surprises later on and to make the process go more smoothly.

FINANCES:

To alleviate any concerns you may have about the financial ramifications of living in a new city, you can compare the cost of living in two places by visiting HomeFair.com. This site will help you calculate how far your salary will go in your new location.

SCHOOLS:

HomeFair.com also provides pertinent information about school systems throughout the U.S. Here you can discover student/teacher ratio, instructional costs per pupil, special programs, number of students going on to higher education, etc. You can also Google the board of education in your new city for information.

AMENITIES:

The Chamber of Commerce can help you learn about religious facilities, cultural opportunities, parks and outdoor activities, hospitals and health care availability, and a myriad of other questions you may have–perhaps adult education

LOCAL REGULATIONS: You should investigate in advance property taxes and/or local assessments. Learn about average utility charges, trash/recycling rules and facilities, and licensing and car registration procedures in the area of your Virginia Beach home.

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