Did you know about the Platinum LEED home in Beverly?
Cleantech Homes LLC is an educational organization that specializes in the advancement, dissemination and integration of efficient, sustainable, healthy and green building practices. They are in the final stages of building a LEED certified home in Beverly which will soon be open to the public for seminars, tours etc.
It is an amazing project – Check out more about it by following these links:
What is LEED Certified Anyway?
Information on Partner Companies and Products used in the home
Add comment December 16, 2009
Life Instructions from a Teen Age Yogi
This post is from my friend, neighbor and yoga teacher’s blog. I loved it. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!
November 22, 2009 by katmansfield
My daughter and long-time yogi Sayer offered up this To Do list in a class assignment this, her senior, year. She starts with Adho Mukha Vrksasana, the king of all poses, and moves on from there. Here’s her list:
Do handstands. Nap. Read. Doesn’t matter the book, just read. Climb trees. Bake. Sing. Sing louder. Don’t wear socks when you sleep. Use an electric toothbrush. Cry. Drink water. Know that suffering is optional. Drop what you know. Look at old pictures. Take new ones. Play wiffle ball. Paint. Even if its only one time a year, paint. Eat spinach. Listen to music. Play music. Dance to music. Turn off the music and live in the silence. Walk. Run. Skip. Listen to stories. Tell your own. Yell. Don’t bite your finger nails. Blow bubbles. Travel. Travel some more. And some more. Play with your brother. Play with your sister. If you don’t have siblings, find some. Love your family. Dislike your family but never hate them. Find friends. Be a friend. Friends are your support system. Get off the computer. Laugh. Laugh harder. Make your stomach hurt when you laugh. Go upside down once everyday. It will keep the wrinkles away. Be afraid. Go to bed early. Wake up early. Wake up late. Ride a horse. Make snow angels. Eat. Breathe. Worry and then breathe again.
Add comment November 24, 2009
It is official… First Time home buyer tax credit extended and expanded
It has been extended until April 30th, 2010 and includes current owners as well -
Add comment November 18, 2009
News Update: Rumors are Credit is getting Extended and Expanded
It looks like the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers will be extended until April 30th of next year and expanded to include repeat home buyers.
Here are some key points of the proposal:
– A proposal from Senate Democrats would extend the credit to home buyers under contract by April 30 as long as they close the sale within 60 days. They would have to remain in their new homes for three years or otherwise repay the credit.
– Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said the new plan would offer a $6,500 credit for home buyers who have lived in their prior residence for at least five years. Couples earning up to $225,000 and individuals up to $125,000 would qualify for the break, Baucus said. That’s up from the current $75,000 limit for individuals and $150,000 for couples.
Add comment October 30, 2009
Check out my new listing!
I just listed a great house. It is super close to my favorite beach, Brackenberry in Beverly Cove. Or you can take a quick stroll down to Lynch Park. The house is perfect for starting out or downsizing. One level ranch with a really big back yard, gorgeous kitchen, fireplaced living room and two car garage. Just perfect!
200 Hale Street Beverly – Offered at $358,000
Add comment October 30, 2009
Wow! The Market is Still Moving
So I put on a great house a couple weeks ago, priced at $269,000. It is a large house, dated, but good bones. I had two open houses, Saturday and Sunday with 45 groups coming through to look. We got an offer right away. Well, a little buyer’s cold feet, more repairs than they liked and it is back on the market. I post it on MLS and have showing requests right away and then 2 more offers. We think we got a keeper this time.
It is just amazing. If you have a home, under $325,000 that is priced right, it will sell and fast.
Wondering why?
- Rates are 4.875 today!
- The $8,000 Tax Credit is due to expire November 30th
- There is very little inventory.
In Beverly – right now, there are 15 listings under $300,000 and 7 already have accepted offers.
Danvers – 20 listings under $300,000 and 10 with accepted offers.
So if you or someone you know is on the fence this is the time to jump!
Add comment October 8, 2009
On the North Shore, single-family house sales up, prices down
Printed Salem Evening News
August 31,12009
By Steve Landwehr
STAFF WRITER
Interest rates are down, first-time home buyers can get up to an $8,000 tax credit and consumer confidence appears to rising.
Any or all of those factors may have contributed to a 12 percent increase in recent single-family home sales statewide, mirroring the general level of activity on the North Shore, although results varied widely from town to town.
Compared to sales last July, home sales in the commonwealth were 12 percent higher in July 2009, and median prices, while still declining, dropped less than they have been, down 4.7 percent to $305,000 from $320,000. It was the first month this year sales have risen compared to the same month last year.
Of the four largest communities on the North Shore, Danvers, Salem and Peabody all saw home sales jump, although prices were down, as much as 12 percent in Peabody and as little 4 percent in Salem, close to the statewide average.
However, while Beverly sales dipped 26 percent compared to last year, it appears homeowners got closer to their asking prices, with the median price marginally up just over 1 percent.
And in Middleton, a hot market until the recession hit, sales dropped nearly 29 percent from a year ago, yet prices climbed just over 7 percent. And for the first seven months of the year, Middleton prices are 18 percent over the previous year’s.
Aside from Wenham, where sales are statistically difficult to extrapolate, Swampscott was the hot spot in July 2009, with total sales up nearly 54 percent. But while homes were moving, sellers were getting $44,500 less, on average, than a year ago, a 13.45 percent drop.
In Peabody and Salem, the only two North Shore communities where median selling prices were less than $300,000, sales were sharply up compared to last year, 32 and 35 percent respectively. In Marblehead, the only town where median prices were over $500,000, sales were down nearly 30 percent.
That reflects a nationwide trend, local Realtor Kathleen Sullivan said.
“The first-time buyer tax credit has definitely had a positive impact,” said Sullivan, who along with her husband, Terry Sullivan, owns Remax Advantage, with offices in the Cummings Center in Beverly. “The price range that’s hurting is the higher price range. The government hasn’t given any assistance for jumbo loans.”
And while July’s snapshot shows signs of improvement, the first seven months of 2009 were still slow compared to the previous year in nearly every community on the North Shore.
But in Ipswich, Salem and Topsfield, sales are ahead of 2008, from 34 percent in Salem to just under 12 percent in Ipswich.
Information obtained from the Warren Group was used in this report.
Add comment September 1, 2009
New Home Sales Rise as Housing Market Tries a Comeback
WASHINGTON—New home sales rose last month at the fastest clip in more than eight years as buyers eagerly took advantage of bargain prices — a clear sign, economists said, that the real estate market may finally be bouncing back. Discuss COMMENTS (33) Historically low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners also helped push home sales to their highest level since November, the Commerce Department reported Monday. While home prices are still falling around the country, sales have now risen for three months in a row. Construction of new homes is at the busiest level since last fall. And home resales rose in June for the third straight month. “The worst of the housing recession,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities, “is now behind us.” And as with the overall economy, the “recovery” is likely to be slow and arduous, he said. To read the rest of this article on Boston.com click here.
Add comment July 29, 2009
Use Tax Credit as Part of Your Down Payment!
Almost immediately after the $8,000 tax credit was signed by the President, MAR began working with MassHousing to explore ways that the credit could be used for a downpayment. “We are very pleased that the Patrick/Murray administration and MassHosuing have been able to make this happen,” said MAR CEO Rob Authier who had numerous discussions with MassHousing on the creation of the loan program. “We think it will help many people become homeowners in the Bay State.”
For more information on this loan program go to the Homebuyer Tax Credit Loan Program page at www.MassHousing.com.
1 comment July 17, 2009
