Guest Blogger Archives - Page 2 of 3

June 13, 2015 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Best Guidelines to follow when Choosing Solar Panels

Since electric power costs are not exactly all that great in many areas around the world, there is an increasing need for alternative sources of electricity that happen to be eco-friendly and easy to use. Although solar power has been around for a fairly long time now, there have been developments in the field that it a better choice as time goes by. The best thing about this is that solar power will give you a chance to stay either partially or completely independent from your local power grid with the right solar power setup. You would do well to look for an installation company that allows you to get the job done without worrying about the details, but that will require some inquiries and research so you can find the right company for your needs. The following guidelines will give you a few ideas you can use in making this happen:

Lowering your electric bill

There needs to be a certain balance between how many panels you have and the space you have to work with. For the most part this will depend on the budget you have available and the space you may possess around your home. Consumption levels still depend on your appliances, electronic devices and more, so these details will need to be tracked before you can move on to actually purchasing a solar panel setup.

Breaking even on the costs

This is one really important part of the process of purchasing, installing and using a solar panel setup, since the price of one still happens to be a pretty hefty one. You will need to find a proper balance between your setup and consumption, as well as the orientation of the panels and what you have to work with in terms of landscape. A great time to install solar panels would be right after moving into a new home, straight after the reliable moving company has dropped off your belongings and you still have some freedom to choose what you want to do without having to deal with a lot more work than you otherwise would.

Keeping your system efficient

There are some hours of the day which happen to be more productive for solar power, which is between 8 AM and 4 PM, so you will need to keep that in mind so the solar panels will be unobstructed in those hours for maximum efficiency. Any shade on the panels will only diminish their ability to collect and store energy, so you will need to focus on moving any items out of the way if the shadows become a problem.

Maintaining the panels

You need to choose an installing company that allows you to get regular maintenance done to your panels once in a while as part of the original deal. Although they require minimal maintenance, you should still keep that in mind when you look for solar panels, avoiding shady companies and second hand solutions.

P.S. Real estate is booming this Spring! Homes are selling fast and for the highest prices in years. It is never too early to get your home ready for the market or for buyers to call me to discuss the Spring market. Don’t miss out on your dream home & interest rates below 4%. Call me for details today!

May 28, 2015 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Fifteen Shades of Green: Building Design Tips

Green building is not an invention of 21st century. However, sustainable design has been out of the scope of architects for quite a long time. As the resource shortage and the severe climate changes impose actual dangers on the environment and the society, “green” building reached its peak. These constructions are healthy for both the nature and their occupants.

The most impressing thing to the ordinary viewer is probably the ingenious design. Each building has unique and transcendent look. Although architects are free in the expression of their creativity, they still follow certain techniques. On the other hand, the expert builders should adopt specific techniques and get updated on the current trends.

1. Long Life, Loose Fit, Low Energy

In other words – sustainability, flexibility and energy – efficiency. The idea was presented by the Welsh architect Alex Gordon. His prophetic vision has become the basic of the nowadays green building.

2. Social impact and Functionality

Designing a built environment that complies with both the social and ecological needs is corner stone in sustainable architecture. The building should not only serve its primary purpose as an administrative space or home, but it should also improve or add up to the surrounding environment.

3. Location

The location determines the approach that the architect and the expert building team will undertake. What are the benefits and the downsides of a certain area? Making use of the natural resources such as light, water, wind and soil will shape the future design of the building.

4. Adjusting To The Climate

What makes a sustainable building so special is that its design is perfectly adjusted to the local climate. This allows making the most of a certain environment, even if it’s not exactly favorable.

5. Reuse, Reduce and Recycle

These principles don’t apply simply to the materials used in the construction. Many architects choose to work with buildings that don’t function anymore. Instead of destroying the old place and rebuilding it again, they use the existing structure. In this way builders and architects reduce the waste.

6. Quality Materials

Sustainable buildings are made to last. That’s why these constructions usually incorporate good – quality and eco – friendly materials.

7. Landscape

As mentioned earlier, sustainable building is not only about creating a structure. Include also the exterior that surrounds it. The outdoors environment will contribute to the aesthetics and the energy –efficiency. For instance, strategically situated trees can shade out the area, decreasing the energy for cooling the building.

8. Durable Interiors and Low Maintenance

One of the primary characteristics of sustainable building is an interior with timeless design. The indoors spaces should require minimal resources for their maintenance.

9. Indoor Air Quality

The building services should use low or no – VOC s products such hard surface flooring and non – toxic paints and finishes to ensure the high quality of indoor air.

10. HVAC System

This system will control the residential climate, ensuring that building doesn’t use more energy than needed.

11. Energy Conservation

Architects come with different creative ways to incorporate renewable energy resource in the construction – from solar panels and passive solar integration to glazing and high – efficiency appliances.

12. Water Systems

The most popular choices are rainwater harvesting systems and tankless water heaters. The collected water is then used for the sprinkler systems in the landscape.

13. Insulation

This is another feature that has huge influence on energy conservation. Heating and cooling contribute sufficiently to the building’s energy consumption.

14. Ventilation

There are two types of ventilation – passive or natural and mechanically powered. The choice depends on the local climate specifics.

15. Eco – friendly appliances

Everything that can save you energy and thus decrease the carbon pollution can be incorporated – from water and energy conserving household appliances to office equipment.

Real estate is booming this Spring! Homes are selling fast and for the highest prices in years. It is never too early to get your home ready for the market or for buyers to call me to discuss the Spring market. Don’t miss out on your dream home & interest rates below 4%. Call me for details today!

April 22, 2015 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Top 5 Real Estate Sales Tips and Guidelines to Follow

There are a lot of things happening on the real estate markets around the world, but things may not be all that bad for everyone involved. It has a good set of challenges involved, but with the right time and research being done, you will find a buyer for your property without too much trouble. The tips ahead will give you more information on that matter and how you can make your sale a reality:

1. The first and foremost thing you need to do is to ensure you have a proper maintenance done to your property before you put it on the market. There is no point in trying to sell something that doesn’t have a good look and happens to be in disrepair. A potential buyer will want to see all aspects of a home and if they see something that doesn’t work all that well, they will not feel interested in what the property has to offer. You need to ensure you manage even the smallest of issues, as they will become a big problem. Broken doorknobs, faulty duct-work and pipework, as well as any other types of damage will need to be dealt with promptly or else you will have little chance of a sale on any market.

2. You can focus on getting some staging done for the exterior of your home. A nice, fresh coat of paint, making your landscape shine and even some nice furniture to add to the overall appeal. The more comfort you have out there, the more welcoming the home will look overall and potentially more interesting to buyers.

3. You need to make sure your future buyers have unrestricted access to your property so they can see it in all its glory. There are many ways you can do this, but you should ensure you have done this ahead of time to allow your real estate agent to look at things and let them point out the good parts of your home while downplaying its weaknesses. Giving the agents a key and access is extremely important, so make sure you also have a good time they can do viewings, since this will make your potential sale more likely to happen.

4. Stick to keeping your prices as reasonable as you can. There are many buyers today that happen to be aware of the ways they can find more about prices in the area, so you will need to keep that in mind and that they will know if your price is abnormal and bloated. You can ensure a faster sale if you set your price at about a 10% or so lower than the rest of the homes in your area. This should still give you what you need, but you will not have to wait for a long time to make your sale as a result.

5. Another step worth taking is to de-clutter the entirety of your property, keeping it clear and allowing it to shine with more space than it had before you do that. If needed hire a professional house clearance company to help you out. You would do well to remove any personal items from the property as well, as this will allow people to project their own vision of what the home must look like instead.

For more helpful property maintenance tips read at this site

October 7, 2014 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Looking for a Quick & Easy Way to Grow your Business?

One key component of being successful is to stay connected and build a relationship with your customers and clients. As a business grows, most businesses owners realize after the fact, that they don’t have the same amount of time to stay in touch and build customer loyalty as they once did.

What is the solution then? Find a system that will help you stay in touch.

The SendOutCards system is a valuable tool that will help grow your business. Never underestimate the power of sending a personalized greeting card and/or gift. Sending cards is a simple and easy way to help build better relationships with your customers who will become life long, faithful customers. And those types of customers provide referrals without ever asking. In other words, free word of mouth advertising. (The best kind!)

If you are a business owner, please take a moment to check out just a few of the ways you can use SendOutCards in your business to help you get and keep more customers.

Send Birthday Cards to all your customers. You will stand out because you will be the only “business” to remember their birthday.
Upon meeting a new customer, send a nice to meet you card. If you can get a picture with them, add that to the card! They won’t throw away a card with THEIR picture in it.
Send a Thanksgiving holiday card. Your card will get there before others send the typical holiday card, thus making you stand out.
Upon closing new business, send a gift or gift card with your thank you. Think about the impact of a real estate agent or mortgage broker including a $50 Home Depot or Target gift card with their thank you, to help the new owner make their home nicer.
Use a SOC card to ask for referrals. Ask them “Who else do you know that would love the XYZ service I have provided you?”
Thank people for giving you referrals!
Be mindful of your customers’ life events (i.e., sickness, births, anniversary, death, marriage, graduation, moves, loss of pet, etc.) Send an appropriate card.
Send a thinking of you card for no reason other than to say “Thinking of you and hope you have a great day!”
Send a reminder postcard for appointments, meetings, and new announcements (like an open house, new services or products, etc.)
Send a heartfelt card of gratitude every day (preferably in first thing in the day). It will make YOU feel better and put you in a better mood knowing you touched someone’s life. You will then start your day off right.
Use photos to personalize your cards. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words” and for a business person, “A picture could be worth a thousand extra dollars (or more).”
Use SendOutCards to build and strengthen your personal relationships. Never forget a birthday again by utilizing SOC’s easy-to-use contact manager, complete with birthday and anniversary reminders!

Think about it this way. Do you remember the last greeting card you received? Of course you do. Did you open the envelope and read the card? Did you even save the card for awhile? Display it? Now think about the last email you received from someplace you have previously done business with? Are your answers the same? I’d bet not.

I believe appreciation marketing is the best way to grow your business. If you like, you can click on the link below to Send a Free Card. SendOutCards is an easy to use system. Or feel free to contact me and I’m happy to give you a guided tour.

To your success!

Lory Fabian

Lory Fabian is a Marketing Distributor for SendOutCards – https://loryfabianmarketing.com/about/

August 21, 2013 by changescapeweb Leave a Comment

Downsizing Your Home before Moving

Are you by chance moving to a smaller place? If so, then you already know how much belongings we can accumulate as the years come and go. Eventually we end up with large quantities of possessions stuck in our drawers, wardrobes and closets, necessitating a big change in our home right before a move. Why would you need to downsize your home? The reasons are quite simple, mostly being that the less belongings you have available, the cheaper your move will be and also the faster you’ll deal with all you have to deal with.

Downsizing-Your-Home-before-Moving2-200x300 The following article aims to help you get rid of all those things you won’t need in the future in exchange for a carefree moving experience:

• Consider your needs realistically

For the most part we collect many things that we would love to use, but we simply never get around to. For example, having exercise equipment that has been collecting dust over the past two years is something you don’t want to deal with. Consider things and decide whether you will use it within the next few months. Don’t do any wishful thinking, instead opt for what you absolutely know will happen. You will thank yourself later when the moving fees are smaller and your day goes smoother. Take a good look at your life and prioritize your needs accordingly. Sell or donate what you won’t need in the future and you may even gain some money to counter the expenses you’ll be dealing with.

• Clearing everything

One thing you will have to do is to go through every shelf, cabinet and closet you have so you can take what you plan on downsizing. Leave only the things you absolutely need. This will mean getting rid of anything that doesn’t have a functional purpose and those who won’t have one in the near future or ever.

• Take measurements

It would be a good idea to make a floor plan that allows you to track the dimensions of your new home. This will easily allow you to predict whether your furniture will fit there or not, letting you sell or donate pieces you don’t need well before you have to ship them anywhere. Keep the locations of doors and windows handy as you write down the new home’s dimensions. Without such a plan you simply won’t have a chance to be accurate in your assessments, thus leading you to being stuck with a bunch of furniture with no place around your home.

• Assess your storage areas

If you have moved into a new home and you have found out your storage is limited – well then you are out of luck. Never underestimate the importance of storage, so while you’re getting the measurements of your home make sure you keep the size of your storage in mind as well. For example, having less kitchen space than before will limit your possible chance to bring everything along with you, forcing you to keep it elsewhere. Donate or sell what you don’t need and you’ll have much more space to work with and less expenses overall.

Bio: Ella Andrews is freelancer and blogger, who has rich experience in home maintenance and home renovation projects. Therefore these topics are some of her favorites to write about. Visit: https://www.movingservicesremovals.co.uk/removals/SS16-movers-basildon.html and obtain some valuable ideas for your own household.

Contact Sandra

Follow Sandra