Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. How will you spend the day? Here are a few simple ideas to save energy and reduce your impact on the earth.
Create your own Earth Hour
During Earth Hour, people around the world turn off the lights. Even famous places such as the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building go dark. Re-create your own Earth Hour tonight by turning off the lights and the TV. Play a board game, have dinner or read a book by candlelight.
Adjust your thermostat
Spring is slowly heating up into summer. Check that your heating and cooling settings are appropriate for the new season.
Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
If you haven’t already made the switch, think about replacing old light bulbs with CFLs. According to EnergyStar, if each home in America replaced just one light with an ENERGY STAR light, the energy saved would light more than 3 million homes for a year and save about $700 million in annual energy costs.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Upcycle
Upcycling is the art of taking something that could be seen as garbage and turning into something useful. Do you have a basement full of items that you're thinking about throwing away? Next time you want to run to the store to buy something new, head down to your stash and envision if there’s anything there that you could use instead, like this pair of rubber boots that became a flower pot.
Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,
Windermere Services Company (Seattle, WA) donated $1,000 over the past month to help families who had a child receiving medical treatment at Children’s Hospital. Social Workers at the hospital have very few resources to turn to when advocating for families in need of financial assistance – not for medical bills, but for things insurance simply doesn’t cover but are necessary for both child (patient) and family.
The most recent request was for a stroller for a little boy with Cerebral Palsy who also received the heartbreaking diagnosis of Leukemia. Due to the fatigue and bone pain caused by his treatments he is no longer able to walk on his own. With the Father being laid off from his job, the cost to purchase a stroller simply wasn’t in the budget.
The Windermere Foundation donated $150 for the purchase of a new stroller for this very deserving little boy. Another family was helped with rent expenses. When requests like these come across my desk, I’m especially thankful to all the donors who help make granting these requests possible.
Best,
Christine Wood
Windermere Foundation
This Windermere Real Estate Blog needs a name. What do you think it should be? Send us your idea and the winner will receive something special for your home.
You could leave a comment here, on our Facebook page or send an email to friend@windermere.com.
With this blog, we hope you'll share with us either here or on our Facebook page about the things that will give you and all our neighbors some ideas for selling a home and buying and creating a dream home in a vibrant community. We have a few thoughts to share as well.
Sincerely,
Windermere blog team
Official contest rules (PDF).
We’re pretty lucky because the people we have the opportunity to serve are more than clients; they’re our friends and neighbors. Creating vibrant communities for all of us to connect and thrive in is one of the things that inspires us to come to work everyday.
Together, we’re part of these communities everywhere we go: the grocery store, PTA meetings, when out walking the dogs and in the last several years, when we connect online.
Offline and now online, we at Windermere value our relationships with people like you, in our real and virtual communities.
It’s why we have this blog – to start a conversation about the ideas and resources that will help you live your dreams in a home and neighborhood you love.
Welcome to our online community. We’re excited to hear from you.
Sincerely,
The Windermere blog team
Greetings from the Windermere Foundation,
The Goodwill Development Association received $3,000 from five Seattle Windermere offices (Eastlake, Madison Park, Magnolia, Queen Anne & Wall Street).
The Goodwill Development Association’s mission is to help eliminate homelessness in the Greater Seattle area by providing transitional housing for low-income and at-risk teen mothers and their children. They also aim to help families obtain permanent housing, increase skills and income, and gain greater self-determination.
“Through our programs, we have seen many lives changed for the better. After completing necessary requirements at the Goodwill Development Association, they will be able to take full responsibility for themselves and their children. Since 1990, 227 teen mothers have successfully completed the program.” The Goodwill Development Association
The Windermere Foundation grant will be used to provide supportive services such as education, case management, life skills training and self-esteem workshops.
Best,
Christine Wood
Windermere Foundation
The U.S. economy created a significant number of jobs in March. The Labor Department indicated that the economy added 162,000 jobs in March which is the strongest growth rate in over three years.
Now, there are those that might suggest this increase is an overinflated figure due to temporary hiring of census takers but a deeper look at the figures suggests to me that this is not the case. The government did hire 48,000 temporary workers for the Census, but this number was below that which economists, including myself, estimated. Private payrolls added 123,000 workers – the largest increase since May 2007. This is in addition to the 8,000 new workers added to the workforce in February.
Here is my take on this. The number – ex-census – is good, but the makeup of the report is not completely encouraging. The number of long-term unemployed continues to go up which is a concern; however additional data shows consumer spending improving and the Household Survey (a separate measure of employment) also suggests that companies grew significantly in the first quarter. These are both positive signs. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am starting to believe that it actually is the end of the tunnel, and not a train coming our direction!
The April 15th deadline to file your taxes is less than two weeks away. Worrying that things would be complicated for me as a first-time homebuyer, I had my taxes done this year by a CPA. Here are a few quick tips for fellow new homeowners that I learned from the experience.
Claim the 2009-10 First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit
You could qualify for the up-to-8,000 credit if you bought a home in 2009 or are in contract for your new home on or before April 30, 2010 and have not owned a home three years prior to buying.
Deduct Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) and Property Taxes
Did you put less than 20% down on your home purchase and are now required to pay PMI? This year, you can deduct that cost.
Save those receipts for energy-saving improvements
Receive a credit of 30% of the purchase price for energy-efficient improvements on your primary residence made between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. The maximum credit amount is $1,500 over the two-year period.
Because my tax preparation skills are usually limited to answering the yes or no questions on Turbo Tax, please speak with your professional tax preparer or accountant for specific information about these and other tax related questions. Also visit irs.gov for official tax information.
Recently, Jamie Johnson, one of our Windermere Agents in Camano Island shared a great analogy about the current market that I would like to share with you.
"We slurp soup when we are ill. Or when the day is dark and gloomy, we hunker down and make soup. Why? It’s good for us, and gives us comfort. That is exactly what our real estate market has needed….a good soup recipe.
2010 is bringing a new “energy” to our business. Pending sales almost doubled in November compared to November 2008. The market is back in a big way. Think of our market as the perfect soup recipe. What is your favorite soup? Clam chowder? Chicken noodle? Whatever it is, it wouldn’t be good without all the ingredients to make the soup perfect. Too much salt, and it’s not edible. No chicken, well, then it wouldn’t be chicken soup.
The current housing market is the perfect soup for buyers and sellers. There are three main ingredients that make it yummy. Here is the recipe:
Market Soup:
First ingredient: Low prices. If you are a seller, you may say “this is not good for me.” But think of it this way….if prices were not low, there would be no buyers. And if you are looking to move into another home (most people are; they need a place to live!), you are going to find a GREAT buy on your next home.
Second ingredient: Low interest rates. Hovering around 5% right now. Wow! Almost free money!
Third Ingredient: Tax Credit. $8,000 for first time homebuyers, and $6,500 for repeat homebuyers. (more info at: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/). Since the beginning of this tax credit, we have seen a rise in interest in the first time home buyer market. Clients have been using the money for down payments or to simply upgrade their new home.
Directions: Combine all ingredients, heat up, and stir. Enjoy.
What is your favorite soup? Think about it. And jump. The perfect recipe doesn’t come around often."
Via Camano Island Real Estate blog
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