Go Green & Buy Green to Save Some Green

Are you planning to buy a home? Why don’t you consider buying it green? Cost of a green home doesn’t differ hugely from that of a non-green home. But the energy-efficient features of a green home will start providing savings almost instantly. With the cost of electricity, water & gas fluctuating, finding out ways to safeguard our environment while saving money every month is undoubtedly a win-win situation. Even the top realtors recommend their clients to go green.

If you wish to go green, here are some tips for you:

1. Water Heating System – Water heater consumes more or less 20% of residential energy use in the United States. Conventional electric water heaters are simply guzzlers & most of them are outdated. A solar water heating system can be a great alternative to conventional heaters & radiators. By using solar water heating system, you can significantly save on energy bill & also ease environmental effect.

2. Solar Panels – These are the most powerful energy savers. They should be installed either on the ground or on the roof so that they can collect sunrays. DC electricity produced by solar panels passes through special type of converter that converts the electricity into usable voltage that can be used for running household appliances. The price of such panels has dropped recently. In spite of reduced rate most folks avoid them as they are difficult to install. But if you already have installed the panels in your home, then you can surely sop up the sun & save cash each month. Similarly, if you’re planning to buy a home & if your real estate agent informs you about a home that already have solar panels installed, you can surely go for it provided other criteria match your requirements.

3. Green (House) Windows – Even the windows of your home can let you save energy! Heat gets away through windows during winter & vice versa during summer. If the windows of your house are properly sealed with double or triple panes, you can efficiently regulate the temperature inside your home & that in turn reduces energy consumption.



4. Right Insulation – This is a very important aspect of going green. Properly insulated walls & roof can keep the heat inside during winter season & outside during summer season. Green insulation is usually made of recycled textile, wool or anti-allergen materials. So if you’ve not yet insulated your house properly, you must do it immediately.

Apart from the above mentioned ways, there are other items too that can also help you go green & save money. & those are:

- Timely upgrading heating system & air conditioning system can help a lot in energy savings. Old units of such appliances consume huge amounts of energy.

- Usually more amount of water is used in older toilets. So renovation of the older unit can let you save on water consumption.

- Old lead paint is not good for health; you must avoid using such paints in your home. Less volatile organic compounds or VOCs are environment friendly. You can use such paints to paint your home.

According to the real estate agents, buying a green home is undoubtedly a good investment both money-wise & healthy-wise.

Author Bio:

The author Alex Scott has been in real estate industry for more than 10 years, & worked with some renounced real estate agencies in USA.

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Home Buyers’ Guide: Tips To ‘Nail Down’ Your Home Loan & Avoid Rejections

Nothing can be more frustrating that your application for home loan getting rejected. Your dreams shatter and your hope nose-dives into the deep pit of failure. However, nothing is destined or a yield of your bad fate. Applying for a home loan and getting it sanctioned from the bank requires meticulous approach. Indian realty market is flourishing with increased FDI inflows and a number of cities with an amazing infrastructural make over. Therefore, you must now follow a strategy and lay emphasis on certain pointers so that you opt for a right home loan and that too successfully.

Here are few points that can help you to nail down your home loan successfully:

1. Maintain a Healthy Employment Status

Before deciding to go for a home loan, you must be assured that your employment status is stable and healthy. There can be lay-offs, on-bench projects being turned off or anything bad related to your job. Therefore, you have to feel the situation around you and then use your senses to make sure that the job is safe and secured. There are loans that are offered to people not in job but for home loan, the bank has to have a candidate with a secured career role.

2. The Income Level

The income level will decide the amount you can pitch for the loan. The bank may reject the application if you appear to be lacking sufficient income for the size of the loan. In such cases, you may be required to request about making a larger down payment or bringing in a co-signer, such as a relative and that too a with solid credit. Both the scenarios can be painstaking if you lack the much needed resources and capital.

3. Financial Stability

Apart from a secured job, banks in India take note of other aspects that will judge your financial stability. These aspects could be property or fixed deposits that will decide the fate of your home loan application. Apart from this, if you are already bearing a car loan and a personal loan then there are possibilities under all the legal circumstances that your current loan eligibility will come down and your home loan application will be rejected.

4. The ‘Flexibility’ Factor

This factor is very much accessible if you are planning to buy homes in some of the India’s flourishing markets like Bangalore property market or realty market of Chennai or Mumbai. The buyers can enjoy the repayment options and that too sans extra charges or if there are possibilities of re-fixing of interest rates. The Indian real estate market witness cut-throat competition and the banks with this understanding approach are now offering a great deal of flexibility in the home loans.

5. The Home Appraisal Value Matters

This is another important aspect that you must take into consideration now without any fail. If the bank feels that the home you wish to buy isn’t worth the amount that you seek to borrow then there are chances that the loan plan will fall through. Therefore, it is advisable to listen to what the bank has to say and be grateful that you did not overpay.

The Verdict

Nailing down an apt home loan and that too through a right path can be a little tricky as there are a lot of options in the market. Moreover, there are points that if missed can lead to home loan application’s rejections. So, ponder over the points and all the best for your dream home!

Author Bio

Vineeta Tiwari is a keen writer on Global Economy and Realty market. She has written articles on Global realty market and ongoing trends and tips for investors. An ardent reader, she is happy to pen down research based write-ups for global audience. Currently, she is professionally associated with popular realty portal, 99acres.com.

5 Tips to Market your Property through Real Estate Postcards

Marketing your Real Estate has always been a cumbersome job. Many often Realty Agents/individuals keep looking for ways & channels to aid their marketing strategy. Today we bring to you another means to market your property – Real Estate Postcards.

Real Estate Postcards have proved to be an effective marketing tool. The great feature of postcards is that they are distributed easily & do not cost a lot. Another benefit is that they give your future clients a visual to view & hold onto until they need your business & you also do not have to hire a marketing professional.

Postcard marketing does not take a long time to start generating leads for you. Make sure your marketing is effective; your postcard is direct & gives information that will capture the attention of the viewer. It will work immediately & create a steady flow of business over time. 

An example of Real Estate Postcard

  

How exactly can you create effective marketing through postcards?

Follow these 5 tips for the best outcome:

1. Analyse the Results - Measure & analyse the immediate results that you receive after your postcards are distributed & make sure to keep track of the business it generates over time. Make sure to put your email, phone number, website, etc. on the postcard so people can get a hold of you easily with their real estate needs or what they are interested in. Postcards are an easy way to open the doors of communication between you & future clients. 

Keep track of you appointments & note down where the source was generated from & what outcome it brought you. Measure the return of the investment & if it was able to provide you a positive lead.

2. Design the Postcards Creatively to Fetch Results - Add these five elements in your postcard to make it effective: 

1. The picture of practitioner on both sides
2. Pictures of Homes for Sale
3. Beautiful logo & text with striking font, color, layout, & design
4. A message specifically to target market
5. Call to action

3. Follow Consistency in Branding & Frequency - An effective real estate postcard marketing demands the frequency between 9 & 12 postings annually for the highest value market & 4-12 postings annually for other markets. The idea is to make a name yourself. Meaning that when people think of real estate your name will come to mind in a positive way. 

4. Focus on High Value Markets – High-value markets get you the highest returns on your efforts & investment. So obviously you need to send your postcards for real estate to groups that will be potential leads, & that will generate leads.

           High-value markets:

• Your area of influence which includes clients in the past
• Your work & resident neighbourhood
• Other markets that you are recognized by face or name

5. Do not forget the WIIFT rule – Make sure you always consider the mind-set of your audience before you put your foot forward for real estate postcards marketing campaign. Your primary objective should be to answer “What’s in it for them (WIIFT)”? What is going in their minds? Are they eager to know what the scenario of current real estate market is? Do they trust that you can serve their needs in the best way?

Closing Remarks

Initially, Real Estate pros did not believe that they could really do well in creating an effective message in their real estate postcards; however the messages can turn out to be real effective if these simple yet wonderful tips are followed.

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