Simple ways to make you home more green , and save you monet as well
Adding:  CFLs in high-use areas is a great start. Cocking in leaks that your windows or doors have; to lower your heating, and cooling bill.
Subtracting: Energy efficient cooling means cooling your house while minimizing air conditioner use. It doesn’t get simpler than that. To save money on air conditioning, the best trick is to find other ways to stay cool.
Cutting back: Saving electricity is easy if you know where you’re wasting it. The key is to measure and understand your usage, and cut wherever you see waste. You don’t have to live in the dark to shave dollars off your electricity bill.
Checking:  Just because you have a newer furnace doesn’t mean you’re getting energy efficient home heating out of it. Even a 90%-efficient furnace can waste energy – if it heats your house hotter than it needs to
Hot water heaters sure look different outside North America. North Americans heat huge tanks of water, and keep them hot all the time, so that we can have as much hot water as we want, whenever we want it (until two loads of laundry, or a deep-soak bath, uses it all up).

California Markets

Like suffering through a painful New Year’s hangover, California is slumbering through the fallout of the real estate crash after twin tax credits artificially boosted its housing market only to return to a slowdown.As the world’s sixth largest economy on its own, California isn’t exactly falling into economic ruin, but it isn’t making headway into an economic recovery either. The housing market is still pained by a foreclosure crisis that leads the nation in terms of the sheer volume of foreclosed properties and bank assisted short sales. Home sales improved from the federal and state tax credits, which offered a combined credit of $18,000 but then slowed after the programs ran their course.
In San Jose, which encompasses hard hit high-tech Silicon Valley the market is transfixed on discount deals as high-tech titans desert commercial dwellings in unprecedented order. Lay-offs in the computer industry, real estate, and financial services lead the highest unemployment numbers in the region’s history.

The lack of wherewithal to purchase homes is hurting the economy even with near record low mortgage rates. Home sales in San Jose and adjacent Santa Clara are projected to remain soft through 2011 on average housing deflation of 4.1%. In San Francisco the boost in home sales will be short lived as another round of declining sales hits the city that sparkles like a jewel. Home values are projected to be weakened by lack of consumer confidence with forecast deflation of

4.6% for the year. In the east bay, Oakland will adjust to similar consequences with declining home prices that are forecast to average 5.0% in 2011. The state capital of Sacramento should see improving conditions towards the middle of the year with more home sales as the area adjusts to the new economy with less bank lending and higher levels of joblessness. Any sort of stabilization for the market will take at least another year to develop with home prices forecast to decline a modest 2.8% in 2011. Near record high unemployment is hurting the Fresno economy and housing market, which has seen some of the highest numbers of foreclosed properties in the Central Valley. Slashed home prices on bank owned properties are adding a surplus inventory of homes that are holding the market back from recovering. Fresno home prices are forecast to drop an additional 4.7% on average during the year. In Southern California markets are suffering from a sort of real estate paralysis as consumers grow increasingly weary over the market. Home sales in Los Angeles and from Glendale to Calabasas are sluggish as double-digit unemployment troubles the region. The artificial sugar-high that boosted home sales with tax credits hasn’t transitioned into any permanent sort of change. The road to a recovery in housing has proven to be a long one as forecast by Housing Predictor. Home prices in most of the Los Angeles region are forecast to sustain average losses of 5.4% in 2011. Pricier areas like Beverly Hills, Laguna, along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway ) and Bellaire should expect steeper declines. Tight mortgage lending criteria and record foreclosure sales are troubling Orange County, one of the state’s most prominent counties in terms of home values and the residence of Mickey Mouse. But there’s no frolicking about the troubled housing market, where home sales picked-up because of the federal incentive only to return to previously sluggish levels. Orange County is projected to experience a slowdown that will last most of the year in 2011 and sustain average home price losses of 4.3% as the double-dip in housing slumbers into Southern California. Riverside and San Bernardino counties, which help compose the Inland Empire, will see more drastic declines as sales slow amid a tough lending environment. Home values are forecast to fall 5.5% in the region, long recognized for being one of the hardest hit foreclosure centers in the nation. Like many other Southland locales San Diego saw home sales shoot up, but rigid requirements for home mortgages quelled the market even as home values moved higher. The refinancing boom helped many homeowners, who were able to hold on to their homes for the long haul. San Diego average home prices are forecast to decline 3.8% in 2011

http://www.housingpredictor.com/2011/california.html

New Hud Home

                                               Desirable Clovis Unified School District.
                                                                     $150,000
For more information, or other homes like this one give Julie Salinas a call
559-478-2090

Great Energy challenge

National Geographic news
Like food, air, and water, energy is essential to human existence. The hopes of billions for a better life depend on plentiful and accessible sources of energy. But with the world’s population fast approaching seven billion, how do we meet the growing demand for energy in a responsible, equitable, and sustainable way? It’s a question we must ask ourselves as a society and as individuals. That’s why National Geographic, in partnership* with Shell, is launching The Great Energy Challenge.
The Great Energy Challenge is an important three-year National Geographic initiative designed to help all of us better understand the breadth and depth of our current energy situation.
National Geographic has assembled some of the world’s foremost researchers and scientists to help tackle the challenge. Led by Thomas Lovejoy, a National Geographic conservation fellow and renowned biologist, the team of advisers will work together to identify and provide support for projects focused on innovative energy solutions.

• Use the cutting-edge online Personal Energy Meter to measure your energy consumption and share your score with your friends.
• Find energy projects and initiatives around the world, and become an advocate by making a donation, volunteering, or just spreading the word. http://www.actionatlas.org/energy
• Achieve your ideal “energy weight” by following a month-by-month “diet.” http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/energy-diet/
• Read energy news, try our quizzes, and explore http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/advisory-council/ To meet the team

Clovis Hud Homes



191 W Serena Ave $364,900


Call Julie Salinas at Green House Properties for a list of Hud Properties in your area.
559-478-2090














                                                                          Clovis APT 441 W Alamos #4

                                                                                                            $55,400

Find Hud Homes in your area

For A Free list of HUD Homes like these; in your area give Julie Salinas at Green House Properties a call

559-478-2090

Hud home in 93703

4762 E Michigan Ave, Fresno CA 93703

Home on a deep lot, enough room in back for a pool. House features dual pane windows, hardwood floor, and tile throughout. Detached garage has been partially converted.
Call for an appointment to go see today
Julie Salinas     559-478-2090

Foreclosure activity drop

Foreclosure fillings have dropped in California according to RealtyTrac. In January it was down 16% compared to January of last year. Part of this drop is due to the major overhaul to the foreclosure process and court challenges by homeowners.

Easy ways of being Green

Reduce,Reuse,Recycle
1. while recycle is important, what you should try first is using less.
2.The things you do use can often be used over and over again—either for the same purpose or for something totally new. Be creative. Not only are you cutting back on your resource use; you could also end up with some, eye-catching conversation starters.
3.Make sure your home has a seperte can for recycling.  To collect: paper, plastics, glass, newspapers, and bottles.
4.Many computers, monitors, cell phones, and other electronic devices include toxic materials that should not be sent to landfills, where they can poison wildlife and contaminate groundwater. You’d be surprised how many retailers and other companies will take your old gadgets for recycling. The Enviromental Protection Agency can help you find local electronics recyclers.
5.There are some things people often dont think could be recycable, but you’d be suprised. Athletic shoes,Techo-trash (VHS tapes, game cartridges, digital cameras, MP3 players, cords, cables, cassettes) computers, Matresses, hand held devices, dry cleaning hangers and plastic, solid glass and plastics.
For any questions on what you can recycle give you local recyle company a call(621-2489) Or visit the Fresno city website at http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/PublicUtilities/SolidWaste/Recycling/Default.htm

Borrows Face Higher Monthly FHA Premiums

The FHA has increased the mortgage insurance premium by 25 basis points for loans with case numbers assigned after April 18. This is the 3^rd increase in the last 12 months, which FHA states is necessary to restore the agency’s finances. The National Association of Realtors opposes the increase. What does this increase mean? It means another $30 dollars a month out of the pocket of the average home buyer. For more information on this please visit www.hud.gov.

Buliding a better tomorow

My Goal this year is to close 400 transactions.  By doing this according to  NARs calculation that looks at real estate transaction's contribution to gross domestic product, for every two transactions, one job is created.  A single transaction can touch dozens of jobs including movers, painters, remodelers, Gardner, lenders, title professionals, and those who operate the technologies and tools we use to market properties.
If we all got together and take sales from 5 million to 6 million that could generate 500,000 jobs, reducing the unemployment rate by 1/2 a percent nationwide.  Now that's doing something for our county, our industry, our clients, our families, and ourselves.
John Locke, who inspired the founding of our republic, said a property's value comes from the labor put into it. Today we aren't tilling the soil, but we labor to keep up with our mortgage, taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance.  Julie Salinas is committed to responsible home ownership. Knowing that home ownership encourages self-reliance rather then reliance on the government.
Share the challenge as we build a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Building Safety Month Green and Energy Week, May 1-7

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- May marks the 31st anniversary of the International Code Council Foundation's (ICCF) Building Safety Month. Throughout the month, ICC Members will educate the public and builders about building safety and sustainability issues, and sharing ideas to create more energy-efficient and durable structures.
The first week of Building Safety Month will be devoted to green and energy efficiency issues—a timely topic because of the forthcoming introduction of the International Green Construction Code by the International Code Council in 2012.
"The emergence of green building codes and standards is an important next step to provide communities with the opportunity to build sustainable and safe buildings," Richard P. Wieland, ICCF Board of Governors and CEO of the Code Council said. "We talked to communities that indicated their voluntary green building programs reach only, but an important, 30 percent of the built environment. That told us there is a clear need for a regulatory tool to establish a baseline to help jurisdictions meet their sustainability goals."
During Green and Energy Week, consumers will learn comprehensive strategies, such as replacing insulation, windows, and roofs, as well as low-cost strategies for increasing energy efficiency.
BASF, The Chemical Company, and a presenting sponsor of Building Safety Month, has created a series of online video diaries to show consumers the real-life benefits of durable, energy-efficient building materials.
"Many people don't realize that BASF is a major supplier of products that vastly improve the energy efficiency and the durability of homes and commercial buildings," says Michael Sievers Business Manager, BASF.  "We provide insulation, pervious pavement solutions and impact resistant exterior wall systems that hold up better against natural disasters, and so much more."  To view the video diaries, visit BASF on YouTube.
Green and Energy week also relates to creating healthy homes. "New studies show that green homes can also be healthier homes," says Rebecca Morley, Executive Director of the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), platinum sponsor of Green and Energy Week. The National Center for Healthy Housing recommends that all green building and energy efficiency programs incorporate the Seven Principles of Healthy Homes: Keep homes dry, clean, pest-free, ventilated, contaminant-free, safe and maintained. "By following these simple principles, builders, architects, and others in the housing industry can keep families safe and healthy at the same time they are reducing impact on the environment and helping their clients save money on energy."
"Green" has come to encompass many aspects of creating safer, more sustainable and healthy environments in homes and commercial spaces. ICCF, BASF and NCHH are leaders in finding solutions for common problems and educating consumers and builders.
More information about products, resources and ideas for "greening" your home or business can be found at the following sites:
www.buildingsafetymonth.org
www.basf.com
www.nchh.org
First observed in 1980 as Building Safety Week, Building Safety Month is a program of the International Code Council Foundation. The International Code Council Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission to promote public awareness of ideas‚ methods and technologies that encourage the construction of safe, durable and sustainable buildings and homes, reducing the devastating effects of building damages due to natural disasters and other tragedies.

SOURCE International Code Council Foundation